Longwood, Winterthur and Hershey Gardens

Longwood Gardens

I remember reading about Longwood Gardens when I was in college and thinking how nice it would be to do an internship there. I never did get to do that but 40 years later I did get to visit Longwood, at last. Recently voted the most beautiful garden in the world, I was very excited to spend 2 days touring the incredible themed areas within the overall Longwood Garden. Set in the Brandywine Creek Valley near the Kennett Square Village in Pennsylvania, the garden is 1000 acres of themed gardens, conservatories, elaborate water features, outdoor theatre areas and flowing lawns with stately trees. Longwood is an example of more is better. First purchased by George Peirce in 1730, the land was used as a farm but the family also planted an extensive Arboretum of native and specimen trees in a 15 acre parcel of the overall site.

Over time the Peirce family lost interest in the property and sold it. The new owners were on the verge of letting a lumberman come in and log the trees when Pierre S. duPont stepped in and purchased the property in 1906, mainly to preserve the trees, but soon realized the property could be a wonderful country retreat to entertain and relax. He didn’t relax long. Pierre duPont developed, engineered and planned every detail of the vast display garden that exists today. The garden was opened to the public in 1921 and became the Longwood Foundation in 1937. The duPont family enjoyed traveling and brought back many of the ideas and elaborate masonry from Europe, creating a unparalleled formal garden in the U.S.

More is Better

You want to see some outstanding water features and fountains? Longwood has at least 6 different large fountain areas- some with synchronized water displays set to music and lights! Maybe you would like to tour an indoor garden at a Conservatory? Well, this is the place with 4 large conservatories housing not only plants but whole gardens including water gardens! There are bonsai, huge topiaries, endless pathways, several eateries and even a bell tower that chimes tunes on the 1/2 hour. WOW. Sounds silly, but one of my favorite things were the comfortable lawn chairs they had set out in groups of 2-6 by the lake, at view points in the garden and on the big lawns, It was such a welcoming and hospitable thing to do for guests to enhance their enjoyment of the gardens.

Here are some photos of the glory of Longwood Gardens- a great introduction to touring the gardens of Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Fountains, Lakes and Streams

Here are some photos of the many water features at Longwood.

Winterthur, Delaware

The property, on which the gardens reside, has been in the duPont family since 1810 passing down or being parceled and sold to various members of the family until it finally came into the posession of Henry Francis duPont in 1902. It was his interest in collecting American antiques and decorative arts that led to a transformation of the French Style Manor House into a show place for his collection tripling the size of the home. It was his intention to eventually turn the house into a museum and open the gardens to the public. The gardens were fashioned after the ideas of author and gardener William Robinson who wrote “The Wild Garden” published in 1870. The wild garden celebrates untidy edges, where the garden blends into the landscape- this was a deliberate departure from the formal gardens of Europe and stately homes in the U.S. (like his cousins home at Longwood). A foundation now runs the multiple museums on the property. the house which has a short self guided tour, cafe, gardens and other attractions and events.

Winterthur is what I would call a park like setting with intact woodlands, native plants mixed with ornamentals, large expanses of lawn, use of natural stone and informal mulched path areas through the gardens. The site has a distinct look and feel to it. It is a soothing place with abundant bird song and breezes ruffling the leaves of the huge trees.

The garden has one of the most charming children’s gardens that I have seen. Named “The Enchanted Woods” it is home to fairy houses, a hobbit house, steaming toadstools, water play area with a running brook and a classic troll bridge. I wished mightily that my Grand daughters were with me on this tour!

The first and fourth photos in the set below is the Quarry Garden. This area was my favorite garden at Winterthur. A natural spring feeds the stream and the garden contours to the natural terrain of the area. Fieldstones and boulders frame the garden and plants gro up freely through the crevices and edges. The perfect secret garden.

Here are a few photos of Winterthur to enjoy

There are two more duPont gardens in the Pennsylvania and Delaware area that I missed- Mt. Cuba and Nemours Garden so I have a follow up trip to plan!

I opted instead to head up to Hershey, Pennsylvania to learn about chocolate making and tour the garden there- perfect stop for me!

Hershey Gardens, Pennsylvania

What could be better than a place called the world of chocolate right next to a beautiful garden full of outstanding trees and flower beds? Just call it heaven.

Hershey, Penn. has even more to be proud of, with its safe streets, sports complex, nice neighborhoods, all inclusive schools, amusement park and of course the Hershey plant. Milton Hershey is responsible for most of these things, since he planned and built the town, plant, and sports areas for his workers. He was a great guy, if you believe all the hype in the Hershey Museum. And why not, he donated so much to the community and started a school for orphans plus made the all American chocolate bar. I thoroughly enjoyed learning his history and the history of the Hershey Company. But what I enjoyed the most was watching the butterflies flutter around in the Hershey Garden Butterfly Atrium. Intensely colored and each unique, the experience was the perfect welcome as I came into the entry hall and atrium as a first stop in the garden.

Most impressive, from my point of view, is the vast collection of trees making this garden a true Arboretum. The rose garden is lovely also with admirable rose arches. I missed out on the Japanese Garden but did enjoy the folksy children’s garden and teaching area. The perennial are was very well done too.

Here are a few of my photos to give you a feel for the place

I wanted my blog readers to see some of the sites from trips to gardens in Pennsylvania and Delaware. I will do a more comprehensive write up of each garden in the travelogue, if you would like to follow along on my garden adventures. I visit Botanical Gardens frequently and update the content and photos in the blog and travelogue so everyone who visits the website can see these extraordinary places.