It’s only fitting that “a city set in a garden” should be getting ready to stage its 63rd Festival of Houses and Gardens! The collection of events in Charleston, South Carolina, is set for March 18 through April 17, 2010. More than 150 historic private houses in 11 colonial and antebellum neighborhoods will open to visitors during the peak of the city’s blooming season. Also planned are a picnic at Drayton Hall Plantation and daily walking tours through the Old & Historic District, plus a Luncheon Lecture Series with special menus, book signings and presentations by Charleston authors and historians. Tours feature seven to 10 properties each day in one of 11 neighborhoods, dating from the American colonial period, through the antebellum and Victorian eras, to early 20th century. It’s sponsored by the Historic Charleston Foundation, and there’s more information online.