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And then we were off to Longwood Garden's. The Longwood Garden had originally been bought by a Quaker family- Peirce- from William Penn in 1700 for farming. Around 1800 the Peirce family established an arboretum. In 1906, after family descendents had squandered most of the money- the Peirce family put the arboretum up for sale. When Pierre du Pont (of the du Pont MONEY) heard that the trees- many well over 100 years old- were to be logged, he bought the farm to save the trees! In 1946, du Pont established a nonprofit foundation and opened the gardens to the public. Now I must admit that this was the most spectacular garden I have ever visited. The du Pont family lived on the property beginning in the early 1900's. Mr. du Pont created most of the gardens that are still on display today. It has grown to include 1050 acres of gardens plus a absolutely enormous conservatory that has 20 rooms. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. The following three were taken inside the conservatory.
I'm not sure what these were called, but they came from the Canery Islands.
Above was a large room with an array of different flower and below was a room full of Astilbes,
The outside gardens were absolutely spectactular. I think in order to really appreciate them, you have to actually visit the gardens. The duPont family gave a wonderful gift to the area.
The Wisteria were amazing.
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There were hundreds of "Jack in the Pulpit" in bloom.
Below is a picture of a very interesting azalea
This was labeled as a Carolina Allspice plant.
And these Foxglove were just wonderful.
After this day of wandering about in the Garden's, we spent the last evening at Farmicia Restaurant.
I actually had "Fiddlehead Ferns & Green Garlic" for a salad...
And because this was a BYOB restaurant we were able to take one of Don's really AMAZING bottles of wine from our basement here in Cincy...
A perfect ending to a perfect weekend!
5 comments:
Those pictures were beautiful!
I had the privilege of visiting Longwood Gardens way back in the '70's with my ex-Mother-in-law, a Quaker from around there (and someone far more pleasing than her son). She was a docent in the house, which has a clock made by her forebear, Thomas Savery. I did not visit at the perfect spring moment you did...just astounding!...but will never forget the beauty of the gardens and conservatories.
Great shots as always. I loved how the floppy hat seemed to make the rounds. Glad you guys had such a nice visit.
That bottle of wine was exquisite (Thank you!)and the pic of Matthew and I in front of Farmicia I think is my fave pic of us now. (I gotta wear that dress more often :P ) I'm so glad you enjoyed Longwood. It is quite an experience to visit. Have fun in Chicago now!
What a lovely garden! I have to chime in on the floppy hat; I think it has the most character on Matthew!
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