Today we went to Winterthur, a 1000 acre estate with museum and garden that used to belong to Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969). H F du Pont created a naturalistic garden in the 60 acres around his house, which was inspired by the ideas of English horticulturist William Robinson. Highlights of the garden were an Azalea wood which we were lucky to see in full bloom with a beautiful underplanting of Spring Ephemerals, a large specimen of Davidia involucrata var. vilmoriniana and an ingenious children’s garden ‘Enchanted Woods’. Our visit also included a tour around the museum where they have the largest collection of antique American furniture. This also gave us a fascinating glimpse into the eccentric character of H F du Pont.
Big thank you to Chris and Linda who were so generous with their time. We all really enjoyed our time at Winterthur and it was greatly enhanced by their insight and knowledge.
Alison Legg, Winterthur, Delaware, 07/05/2015