Green Speak at Winterthur Garden in Winterthur, Delaware
Size 60 Acres surrounded by 1000 Acres of Woodlands and Rolling Hills
Climate Zone 7B
Themed Areas 7+
Note to Readers: Give yourself a treat and view these photos on a larger screen than a phone. So much more detail can be seen!
The Wild Garden
In my last Travelogue, I featured Longwood Gardens developed by Pierre S. DuPont. Winterthur was the home and garden of another part of the du Pont Family and was chiefly developed by Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969). His drive and love of gardens spurred the planting of a unique and quite natural garden in the hills of Delaware. He had read the book The Wild Garden by William Robinson (British Writer) and thought the garden style would suit his property very well. Unlike Longwood, Winterthur is carefully seated into the beautiful natural woodland setting of the area that has verdant green fields and hills interspersed. The garden has both native and introduced ornamentals that compliment the setting without elaborate fountains, structures or restructuring of the land.
The duPont Mansion is nestled into the garden becoming part of it rather than looming over it. Quite a feat considering its size!
The Garden is set into a park like setting with Ornamental trees blending easily with the native deciduous woodland.
The Azalea Woods has a large collection of ornamental and native Azaleas and Rhododendrons. Unfortunately, I visited in June so missed the bloom but I was thrilled to see they also have a large collection of Martagon Lilies in this area, which were spectaclular.
The garden is decidedly hilly with an extensive path system, in fact I got kind of lost while trying to find my way to the parking lot at the end of the day. Seems the majority of the staff had left for the day!
Anyway, no worries for folks with challenged walking stamina- there is a wonderful tram tour with narration that can take folks all around the garden. It is free too! There are many paved trails and roads for wheelchairs and handicap scooters also.
Enchanted Woods
One of the highlights of this garden, for me, was the fairy tale wilderness called the Enchanted Woods. It is a children’s wonderland with all kinds of magical forest themed areas tucked into the trees and plantings. I took a sampling of pictures but there is even more to be seen at the garden.
The heavily shaded and secluded children’s garden gives it a most appealing quality and children can explore and play hide and seek for hours here. There is even a huge nest with movable eggs!
The forest house or Hobbit House is the perfect playhouse for a group of children or a family.
Interior shown in the gallery above the nest pictures
Quarry Garden
Another of my favorite areas of Winterthur is the Quarry Garden. It is interesting that many of the gardens that I have visited came with an old quarry. I guess the stone and minerals were used for the building of the homes and farmland walls. But you know gardeners, they love a challenge and the quarries are often remade into beautiful sunken gardens. Winterthur’s is a great example and borders a stream and wet area that is perfect for reeds, grasses, wildflowers and riparian environment plants and wildlife. The stones and former quarry wall act as a foundation and backdrop for the garden.
The stone bridge adds a great accent for the vista. This photo is taken from the sitting area at the end of the quarry path.
Ferns, Iris, Primroses, Ephemerals, Saxifrage, flowers from bulbs and a myriad of woodland perennials give this tucked in garden a lush and wild feel, without being overgrown and messy. Of course, the gardeners take care of that!
The stream runs down to a lake and there are lots of hiking trails on the Winterthur Estate.
While the hills in California were becoming parched and tan, I got a breather in Delaware from the heat and rested my scorched eyes with views like this one.
Little Outdoor Theater
Another tucked in garden area is the little outdoor theater area with a formal pond and medieval looking stone buildings. Its at the base of a slope near the main house and has a wonderful view over the trees and garden from the top of the steps.
Actually, I called this spot the little theater area, but it is probably used for many events throughout the year.
The day was overcast so my photos are not highlighted by sunshine coming through the trees. I enjoyed the cool day and lack of full on sun as a break from the hopelessly and over exuberant sunny weather of Los Angeles.
Here is a photo of this area with the formal pond, and one of a Boy with his Goose. You never know what you will see!
Mansion and its Surround
The large house was expanded several times to add rooms for the ever expanding antique collection. Despite its size, the huge broadleaf trees envelope it.
I very much enjoyed hearing the wind blow through the tops of the trees along the path in the Azalea Woods. The trees protect visitors from the gusts and make a gentle rustling sound in their tops.
Blooming Shrubs and Dogwood
At the time of year I visited, There weren’t swathes of color throughout the garden, but there were some beautiful blooming Weigela, Deutzia and Mountain Laurels along with a full on loaded flowering Dogwood. The photos are in order of the shrubs listed.
For a West Coast gardener, seeing this particular mix of shrubs was a huge treat! Most of these are very uncommon on the West Coast or not grown at all. They love the summer rains, cold weather in winter and soils of the East Coast. There were also some lovely native roses growing on the slopes- not shown here- that are a good example of summer blooming shrubs.
As I was wandering in the shrubberies, I happened to meet up with one of the tram drivers and we had a good conversation about the cold hardy shrubs and flowers at Winterthur. He introduced me to a cold hardy Citrus (that was a new plant to me) that produces fruit best for flavoring drinks and for adding to recipes. He even saved me a front row seat on his tram tour! I love these chance encounters.
Winterthur’s Arboretum
Winterthur has a very mature group of trees as part of the garden, some of them dating back to its first planting in the 1800’s. Among them is this sculptural Japanese Maple or Lace leaf Japanese Maple. It is distinctly open on one side, since it used to be planted next to another maple and they grew together as a pair. Later transplanted, the very old and mature tree has never filled on one side.
Here is a view through the park setting of Winterthur with its mix of ornamental trees and with lawn, used as a grand path through the estate.
Large evergreens are not part of the majority of the garden here, instead broadleaf deciduous trees- some with enormous trunks- make up the bulk of the woodland areas. Upon entering the garden you descend down a path past some of the oldest trees, this sets the tone of what awaits you in exploring the area. There is no sense of newness here, the stone masonry, leafy woods, fully mature blooming shrubs feel like they have been here since the days of old New England.
It is a place of tranquil calm with only the birds and an occasional squirrel to break the forests quiet. So different from the places many of us inhabit each day, with a constant stream of traffic noise, background machinery sounds and the whir and buzz of technology and appliances in our homes. It is a place set apart with the feel of times before there was so much mechanization.
The Mansion does have a section open to visitors to view the interior decorations and amazing wallpaper. I include here a photo of a small conservatory at the entry, with some colorful plants and a carved Eagle. Winterthur doesn’t have large beds of annuals or show gardens with just color beds, but this potted interior garden is very showy.
One last photo of the Sundial in the Sundial garden. Sometime, I will do a whole blog on Sundials. They an interesting form of garden art that is meant to be a functional item also. Some are very intricate, indicating not just the time, but also the month and the earth’s’ position in degrees. This particular Sundial is one of the more scientific and sculptural versions. Small lines on the metal frame indicate time and season.
There are two other gardens in the region that are part of the du Pont legacy- the Nemours Estate in Wilmington, Delaware. It has a museum and very formal gardens. I missed out on that one, but I am very happy with the tours I got to do. The other is Mount Cuba Botanical Garden in Hockessin, DE. It looks very interesting and I might have to go back to see that one! Many thanks to the du Ponts for establishing these fabulous places that are now open to the public.
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the green, lushness of Winterthur. It is a truly enchanting place to visit.
To see other gardens that aren’t in the Travelogue or get some much needed advice on your garden, please visit my blog: