botanical gardens – Just Get in the Car

Nature and history in the city – Bartram’s Garden

Just Get in the Car — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 20:10:38 +0000

Although it is hard to imagine, 250 years ago Bartram’s Garden was considered the hinterlands of Pennsylvania. In order to visit the area it would have been an arduous trek from the Delaware River neighborhoods where everyone lived to the Bartram Home. The journey would have included a few miles over land to Grays Ferry, then a boat ride down the Schuylkill. However, instead of being greeted by houses, factories and warehouses like you would see today (perhaps via a Philly Fun Tour), you would be met with woodland. That is, until you came across the stately home of the Botanist, John Bartram.

Today, the journey is much less challenging- we drove from our home in Delaware County, down Lindbergh Boulevard, and through the crowded neighborhoods of Southwest Philly to get there. Now, the estate offers a great view of Center City Philadelphia, and the opportunity to reconnect with nature in an otherwise heavily urbanized part of one of America’s great cities.

The forecast called for rain, but we’ve never been a family to change plans due to the weather. Just kidding, we are fair weathered around here, but still, we decided to challenge the rain that was coming, and head out on our local adventure. We were lucky, and the storms that were predicted held off.

One of the more than 30 gardens surrounding Philadelphia, ‘America’s Garden Capital’, Bartram’s Garden is a hidden gem. I say hidden only because outside of its immediate neighborhood, many folks in and around the city of Philadelphia either don’t know about it, or haven’t yet visited.

Hopefully, we can highlight some of the garden’s qualities and encourage more locals to make a point to visit this historic and beautiful property.

It is worth mentioning that our kids were excited to get stamps in their garden passport – an initiative through America’s Garden Capital to encourage visits to these local horticultural treasures. Give our kids a scavenger hunt or something to check off or get stamped, and they are in!

Bartram’s Garden is a labor of love, three generations of family grew the gardens to include over 1,400 native plant species and 1,000 exotics. Of note, it was John Bartram’s granddaughter who expanded the collection to include the exotic species, despite having to run her family business under her husband’s name – Colonel Robert Carr.

Another interesting tidbit for those of you who enjoy the Outlander fiction and television series – in the stories, Claire Fraser makes a visit to these gardens, probably to learn about and add to her medicinal collection of herbs and plants.

While it is free to walk the grounds of Bartram’s Garden, there are some tours available – such as the house tour- for a fee.

For our visit, we were joined by Elizabeth Bressi-Stoppe, president of the board. Together we toured the National Historic Landmark Bartram House. Our tour guide Heather gave us an engaging history of the home and family. Thank you to Liz and Heather!

An interesting fact – the front door of the home was originally facing the river, as that is how visitors would arrive. Later in the history of the house, an alternate ‘front door’ was put in once road travel was the more prevalent means of transportation. You can see the difference between the ornate door and columns of the original entrance, and the less elaborate new entrance.

There was lots of historical information shared about the Bartram’s, and we encourage you to read more here, and visit the home and take the tour yourself!

After our tour of the home, we explored some of the grounds. Although we were on property for three hours, we saw only a portion of what is available for the public. This is a property you can continue to visit and find new and interesting things each time that you do.

We walked through the kitchen garden of the home and down past a pond – to the “best tree swing of all swings ever made” – direct quote from our kids. We would have stayed at the swing for the entirety of our visit if the children had their way.

Once we were able to pry the kids from the swing (it’s always the simple things, amiright?), we walked down to the river. In one direction is the meadow and wetlands, and in the other direction is a cider press, boardwalk, and community boathouse. We chose to check out the cider press, boardwalk, and boathouse. I for one would never have guessed that this was a cider press…Anyone know how it works? We do, now that Liz explained it to us.

Down toward the boathouse are artistic structures, or ‘river rooms’, created by artist Stacy Levy. The kids enjoyed checking them out. Shawn may have proclaimed he was ‘King of the world’… There are many opportunities for arts in nature at Bartram’s.

Something that I thought was super cool were the boats at the boathouse. They were each built and decorated by students from Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School, right in Southwest Philadelphia. Community, arts, education. It’s awesome!

During our visit we also got a glimpse inside the original barn, and the welcome center – where you can purchase honey made from the bees right there at Bartram.

Believe it or not, these are beehives … aren’t they cool?

The really awesome thing about Bartram is how it is a space for the community in which it lies. It is a place for the members of the neighborhood to connect with and learn about nature and history. How plants are vital to life, and how ecosystems work. It is a space for teachers to bring their classes, and parents to bring their children. Even though Bartram’s Garden now sits on the edges of an urban neighborhood, you can quickly forget that you are in the city when walking through the gardens (if you don’t notice the skyline of center city Philadelphia beyond the Schuylkill river).

Here are some cool things about to happen at Bartram’s:

The ‘Bartram Mile’ trail along the river is set to connect to the Schuykill River Trail in the near future

There are plans to launch a mussel hatchery, which will help to filter and purify the Delaware, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Rivers. Read more about this fascinating natural purification system here.

An innovative merging of art, science, and architecture, the FloatLab will be the first of its kind. Read more about it here.

Whether you are local or further away, we highly recommend giving Bartram’s Garden a consideration. You won’t be disappointed.

In fact, there are always cool events happening at Bartram’s. Check out their calendar here.

At the time of this post, they are gearing up for SouthWest Spring Fest, which looks to have a lot of interesting things to do and see. Check it out!

Have you already been to Bartram’s Garden? Tell us about your visit!

To read about another local treasure, click here.

-Kristin

Longwood Gardens: A local treasure

Just Get in the Car — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 16:10:04 +0000

Several years ago, we were traveling to Raleigh, North Carolina to visit family. On our way down, we needed an activity to fill an afternoon in Richmond, Virginia. The first time Shawn and I were in Richmond, on our way to the beaches of North Carolina, I was pregnant. It was hot. We were staying in the part of town that clears out at night, and I can’t say that I was overly impressed. It could have been the pregnant and hot thing that ruined it, of course. That is why I gave the area a second chance. This time, we were with our two young kids, and I found the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. Shawn was less than thrilled. The kids were young enough that they didn’t know to complain.

Welp, much to Shawn’s surprise, it was one of our best family days to date. We had such a wonderful time there, and we still talk about how unexpected the experience had been. Of course, I have fond memories of visiting this type of place with my parents, but it was hard to explain to Shawn. Sometimes if an experience is outside of your wheelhouse, you just have to go with it and see what happens. It won’t always be a success, of course, but this was. If you are ever in the Richmond area, you should absolutely plan to spend a few hours checking out the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. It is especially great for children, though you should keep in mind that there is a children’s area with sand and water features, so you’ll want a change of clothes. But definitely go. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Here in the Philadelphia area, we are lucky enough to be surrounded by all kinds of cultural, environmental, and plain fun spaces and experiences. Not the least of which is Longwood Gardens, a well known botanical garden in the Brandywine Valley. Although I had been to Longwood several times as a child, I didn’t really appreciate it until after our trip to the garden in Richmond. I sort of had a light bulb moment that we had something just as amazing in our own backyard.

Lots of people have preconceived notions about Longwood Gardens, or botanical gardens in general (ahem, Shawn): It’s for old people. It’s for people who are into flowers. It’s only for Christmas (Longwood’s Christmas display is quite extensive and probably its biggest crowd drawing event), it’s only for the warm weather, it’s only for adults. The list goes on, and it’s all incorrect.

The meticulously manicured gardens themselves are enough to entice many visitors. But over the years more and more features have been added to appeal to the masses, all while maintaining the beauty of the property.

Have children? Great! There is both an indoor and outdoor children’s area, three tree house structures, a wide open lawn to run around on, a bell tower to climb, waterfalls to see, trails to explore, etc. In the warmer months, the fountains get turned way up, and children can run through the spray and get quite wet. Bring a change of clothes, and you can sit back while they entertain themselves getting soaked.There are even special kid focused events.

Engineering enthusiast? How about those fountains and the behind the scenes exhibit highlighting how it all works. Interested in photography? No shortage of images to snap – flowers, trees, fountains, interesting structures and displays.

Do you love food? Guess what, the Longwood dining options are superb. Even the counter service food is quite delicious. They also have a sit down restaurant for special occasions.

How about ice cream and beer? Do you enjoy those? Stop by one of the carts that are stationed around to enjoy some refreshments while you take in the scenery.

Christmas time boasts an elaborate light display, as well as an outdoor train garden.

All of this before you even consider the conservatory. On a recent trip, we asked how many employees it took to maintain all of the displays throughout the gardens, inside and out. 1200. 1200 people working together to create something visually stunning around every turn.

Last Black Friday we grabbed a deal on a membership, and I am so glad that we did. Though our children fuss every time before we go, they always enjoy themselves. I sort of think fussing is just a thing that kids have to do when an adult suggests an activity … right? Even Shawn seems to want to hold onto his preconceived notions, but he also always enjoys himself when we go.

There are lots of special events and performances. And recently they have created a beer garden atmosphere for the weekends, complete with outdoor food and drink stands, and musicians.

The only drawback I can see is that people are catching on that it is cool to go to the garden, and when people catch on, crowds grow. Regardless, it is worth it! And in general, the garden pathways and outdoor spaces never seem to be overrun with people. There are timed tickets, but members can usually go in without a reservation. However, I feel like that may change as more and more people continue to come to experience this treasure in our backyard.

Have you visited Longwood Gardens? Do you have a favorite botanical garden or arboretum that we should check out? We’d love to hear your thoughts!