—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 14. 1977
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Winterthur Garden, Wilmington, Del., offers a wide variety of spedlaty gar
dens to visit. This sundial garden with the blooming snowball bushes accenting
a scenic delight
for garden lovers and ethers
Winterthur:
By SUSAN KAUFFMAN
Feature Writer
Winterthur Gardens, six miles northwest of
Wilmington, Del., provides its visitors with an opportunity
for serious study or sheer visual delight. Both the
specialist and the casual visitor can derive pleasure and
knowledge whether from a leisurely stroll through the
gardens or from a guided tour of the museum
Sixty of the 950 acres of the park, formerly a private
estate, are open to the public in the Spring and contain a
vast variety of blooming flowers and shrubs, protected
overhead by enormous, stately trees. Two and one-half
miles of tanbark walks and grass-covered paths wind
through the gardens which were developed under the
personal direction of Henry Francis duPont.
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Viewed from the pool on the east side of the
house, the Winterthur museum is barely visible
In a leisurely hour and a half stroll through the gardens,
which surround Winterthur Museum and merge unob
trusively into the surrounding woods and green meadows,
one can see innumerable species of flowering plants,
shrubs, and trees as if they had always been there, even
though many are rare or imported from various parts of
the world. Spring is the season of brightest color at
Winterthur, with snowdrops, crocuses, and great masses
of daffodils giving way in May to the famous beauty of the
Winterthur azaleas and rhododendrons.
Although last Winter’s bitter chill winds destroyed
many azalea blooms in central Pennsylvania, these
renowned azaleas in the Winterthur Gardens are as
beautiful as ever.
While walking along the winding paths between the six-
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the entranceway is dote to the pinetum (pine forest) shown in the backgroun
through the blooming trees and bushes.
foot-deep blanket of whites, pinks, reds, and lavendan,
one can absorb enough of the visual beauty to last through
dreary Spring days to come.
The landscape enthusiast-student, expert, or amateur
will observe skillfully planned areas incorporating
streams, pools, rocks, hills, vales, sculpture, and various
garden plans. Subtle combinations as well as striking
contrasts of color, mass, and texture of various shrubs
and ground-cover plants are artistically arranged to study
and enjoy. All the popular plants as well as mature forest
trees, magnificent flowering bushes and wildflowers and
shrubs can be seen growing naturally in swamps,
meadows, upland marshes, and beside creeks and ponds.
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