Spring at Winterthur

We here in the Brandywine Valley are lucky to have some great public gardens, which are the upside of it being the home since 1800 of the DuPont family and their black powder fortunes.

I recently visited Winterthur, the historic (1830 house with later additions adding rooms from all original 13 states) former home of Henry Francis duPont (1880-1969), Winterthur Museum and Country Estate. I can remember visiting the 60 acres of gardens when Mr. duPont was still alive, and seeing a slide show in the visitor's center which traced his daily walks through the grounds, pointing out to groundskeepers which walking paths should be open to lead to the horticultural stars in bloom that day.

Mr duPont is long gone, and most of the paths are open when the property is open to the public, unless they are in areas being renovated. Although most of the azaleas in local gardens are not yet in bloom, the estate has many Korean varieties which are at their peak now.

The Sundial Garden is a beautiful open space surrounded by winterhazels, quince, forsythia, and hellebores. Below is the area surrounding the Sundial Garden

 Flowering quince, below.