82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 4, 2002
From
There Is
MICHELLE KUNJAPPU
Lancaster Farming Staff
HERSHEY (Lancaster Co.)
To most people, the town of Her
shey is synonymous with choco
late. However thousands of visi
tors to Hershey Gardens, 23-acre
display of flowers, trees, shrubs,
and themed areas, have found
that chocolate is not the only at
traction that makes the town
sweet.
Administered by the M.S. Her
shey Foundation, a nonprofit ed
ucation organization, the gardens
were constructed upon Milton S.
Hershey’s instructions for a
3 Vi-acre rose garden. The garden
opened to the public in June 1937
and drew so many visitors that
Hershey decided to increase the
garden and expand the varieties
of flowers displayed.
The garden quickly grew to 23
acres and by 1955 more than
42,000 roses were present, fol
lowed by a collection of maples,
peonies, hollies, and evergreen
plants, besides six theme gardens,
walkways, and a seasonal flower
garden.
In 1996 a restoration projected
returned the rose garden to its
original appearance. Today the
rose garden includes 7,000 roses.
Roses, in fact, bloom on the
grounds from June through Oc
tober.
Other construction included a
Butterfly House in 1998 that was
created from the framework of
an original greenhouse. The mesh
Tulips of the “fan garden” surround a trellised sitting area.
Tulips To Butterflies To Mums,
Always Color At Hershey Gardens
enclosure boasts 300 butterflies of
25 North American species.
Thirty thousand tulips give
way to a cool-color annual dis
play that is offset by a hot-color
summer annual arrangement.
The diversity of heights and tex
tures of the annual bed give it ap
peal, said Susan Klein, public re
lations coordinator.
The summer annual display
contains 12,000 plants that are
bolstered by 500 chrysanthe
mums for the fall season.
“The nice thing about the gar
den is that there is a succession of
blooms so visitors can keep com
ing back,” said Klein.
In addition, a Japanese gar
den, arboretum, rock garden,
herb garden, and perennial gar
den round out the displays that
walkways take visitors through.
To have adequate time to
“stop, explore, sit down and
enjoy” the gardens, “it takes
about two hours to really get the
full effect” of the garden, she
said.
The season begins in late
March through the end of Octo
ber. Although the summer is, un
derstandably, the busiest season,
“membership and local visitors
make it a steady stream,” said
Klein.
With the onset of spring,
“we’re thrilled to be open,” said
Klein. In March the part-time
gardening staff returns, along
with nearly 200 volunteers. Seven
employees, including administra
Approximately 30,000 tulips color the landscape of the gardens in the spring.
tion and full-time gardeners,
work full-time at the Gardens.
The Butterfly House has lent
itself to the educational programs
that are presented there.
While younger children may
act out the butterfly life cycle and
watch a caterpillar, other elemen
tary students explore the differ
ence between a moth and a but
terfly. All students get to tour the
building and experience the hun
dreds of butterflies.
Now going into its fifth season,
the Butterfly House will open
June 8 and close mid-October.
Volunteers, dubbed “flight at
tendants,” guide visitors through
the host of nectar plants and but
terflies.
“It’s very magical,” said Klein.
“As the season progresses it be-
This garden re-creates a garden established by Milton
Hershey’s wife. A few of the plants were from her original
garden.
Many areas in the garden such as this one are popular
for weddings.
comes very lush.”
The butterflies propagate in
the house, so visitors can see
where they lay the eggs, watch
how they feed, and observe how
they move through the caterpillar
to the butterfly stages.
Since the foundation has an
“education mission,” said Klein,
the house provides a forum for
learning for not only students but
also for all ages of visitors. ’
Because of the success of the
Butterfly House in bringing
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