Harry Potter's Potions: Yours for the Making

The yew and holly trees at Green Spring Gardens in Fairfax County take on special significance during the "Harry Potter's Plants and Potions" tour. As any devotee of the epic J.K. Rowling series knows, the powerful magic wand belonging to Lord Voldemort was made of yew, while a wand of holly chose as its owner 11-year-old Harry, also known as the Boy Who Lived.

On the Potter tour, children learn that Rowling selected yew for Voldemort's wand because the tree historically has been associated with immortality -- perfect for the dark wizard who wants to live forever. Tour participants sniff the soothing fragrance of lavender and think of Lavender Brown, a classmate of Harry's and Ron Weasley's first girlfriend.

The program is the Fairfax County Park Authority's answer to a uniquely 21st-century question: how to engage a generation of children whose vegetables come from the supermarket rather than from the garden and whose lawns are increasingly cultivated by grounds crews rather than their parents?

"They're so estranged from nature," says Cindy Gustafson, children's education coordinator for the garden. "We really want to drag them away from those digitized screens and show them the basis of life that's right outside their front door."

The 90-minute Potter program, which is geared toward school-age children, was designed by 20-something horticulturalists and Potter fans Adrienne Staab and Ayla Reith. It includes potion-making and a garden labyrinth, albeit one much less scary than the one in "Goblet of Fire."

The potion-making involves mixing concoctions including "anti-petrification potion" using common kitchen ingredients (think vinegar and baking soda), which in this setting have been rebranded with names based on the series (blast-ended skrewt slime, serpentine soil).

"Professors" Adrienne and Ayla, dressed as "funky New Age witches" with "cheesy capes" and floppy hats, also give participants a "Hogwarts Handbook," with ideas for more magical experiments.

While touring the garden, the group learns spells and plants at the same time. The professors teach them about the herb echinacea, for example, which can help boost the immune system of non-wizards (muggles, in Potter-speak).

"We tell them how muggles use it," Reith says, "and then we tell them wizards can just point their wands and yell, 'echinacea immunus ,' " to get the same effect.

HARRY POTTER'S PLANTS AND POTIONS Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. (A second tour may be added if that one fills up.) Green Spring Gardens, 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria. $10. For reservations or information, call 703-642-5173 or visithttp://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/gsgp/ed-children.htm.