During my antiquing days, I had heard of Winterthur, and then while researching day trips from Philadelphia, I was surprised to find that Winterthur was on the list.  It is a little over an hour away from Philadelphia in Delaware.

Founded by Henry Francis du Pont, Winterthur (pronounced “winter-tour”) is the premier museum of American decorative arts, reflecting both early America and the du Pont family’s life here. Its 60-acre naturalistic garden is among the country’s best, and its research library serves scholars from around the world. (Winterthur.org)

Sweet Mother of Pearl.  Sign me up.  We put Winterthur on our itinerary.

After we arrived at the Winterthur visitor’s center, a tram transported us through the 60 acres of gardens that lead to Winterthur.  This was like no other garden I have ever seen.  It is one of the last of the original Wild Gardens that were popular at the turn of the twentieth century.  It is gardening on a grand scale.

Plants are strategically placed to appear as if they are growing wild.

Four layers of plants fill these “woods”.   There is the ground cover, shrubs, accent trees, and tall towering trees.

Honestly, this is beyond my comprehension.  It is difficult to plant a flower bed at my house.  How does one create beautiful vistas over 60 acres and plan where each plant should go so that it frames a view and still looks “wild”?

It appeared to be so natural.  

There are benches hidden away along the trails in some areas.

Tucked away along a path is an Enchanted Garden for the young and young at heart.  It is said that faeries live here, and it is magical.

 

Be still my heart.  Around every curve, the views took my breath away.

This was the front of Winterthur.  It is being refurbished, and scaffolding was around the front of the house.  Originally it was a nice large home, but… they added on to the home until it grew to be a home of 175 rooms.

This is the view of the back of the house.  Wow!  I could not believe my eyes.

There is more to share from Winterthur – a delightful surprise, and a disappointment.  To be continued…

Blessings to you and yours,

I thought the following information from Winterthur.org very interesting.

In 1956, after he had gardened at Winterthur for seventy years, the Garden Club of America awarded Henry Francis du Pont their Medal of Honor, proclaiming him, “One of the best, even the best, gardener this country has ever produced.” The award cited du Pont as being a master of gardening, noting, “The woodland trees under planted with a profusion of native wildflowers and rhododendron, acre upon acre of dogwood, great banks of azaleas, lilies and peonies, iris and other rare specimens from many lands, each planted with taste and discrimination, each known, loved and watched, looking as though placed there by nature, forms one of the great gardens.”

Don’tcha think they could have honored him a little sooner?