Ideas for a day out
The public gardens of Pennsylvania worth planning a whole day around, from Longwood and the Main Line to Hershey, State College and Pittsburgh.
Photo: PA Getaway
The countryside around Philadelphia is packed with public gardens. Quaker plant collectors, the great estates of the Main Line and the Brandywine Valley, and a long line of wealthy and devoted gardeners left behind arboretums and pleasure gardens that are each worth a full day. Farther west, Hershey, State College and Pittsburgh each have a garden worth the trip on its own. Spring is the peak almost everywhere, but Longwood and Phipps are just as good in December, and the arboretums glow in October. Most charge admission and some need timed tickets, so check their websites before you set out.
1Native plant preserve · Solebury Township, Bucks County
Trails wind through woods and meadows along Pidcock Creek, planted only with plants native to Pennsylvania. Late April and May, when the spring wildflowers bloom, are the time to go, and Washington Crossing Historic Park is next door.
Photo: Daderot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
2Public Garden · Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
The official arboretum of Pennsylvania, on a former estate in Chestnut Hill, with grand old trees, a rose garden, a Victorian fernery and Out on a Limb, a walkway that takes you up into the treetops.
3Public Garden · Philadelphia, Philadelphia County
John Bartram began this garden on the Schuylkill in 1728, and it is the oldest surviving botanic garden in North America. Look for the Franklinia, a flowering tree that survives today only because the Bartrams collected it.
Photo: Muran.Fox, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4Pleasure garden · Radnor Township, Delaware County
A former family estate in Wayne that its gardeners treat as a work of art, with inventive plantings, handmade furniture and fresh ideas in every corner. Smaller than the great gardens, and a favorite of gardeners looking for inspiration.
Photo: Photo by and (c)2007 Derek Ramsey ( Ram-Man ). Co-attribution must be given to the Chanticleer Garden. Both parties have shared, contractual copyright control., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
5Public Garden · Middletown Township, Delaware County
Some 650 acres of old trees, meadows and woods near Media, with miles of hiking trails and specimen trees planted by two Quaker brothers in the 1800s.
6Public Garden · East Marlborough Township, Chester County
Pierre S. du Pont bought this farm in 1906 to save its trees, then spent decades turning it into one of the great gardens of the world. Plan a full day for the conservatory, the formal gardens, the meadow and the fountain shows; the Christmas lights draw crowds every winter.
7Botanical garden · Derry Township, Dauphin County
Milton Hershey started this garden on the hill above Hersheypark with roses in 1937, and roses are still its heart, with a butterfly house and a children's garden added since.
Photo: Kris Bradley, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
8Arboretum · State College, Centre County
Young gardens on the edge of the Penn State campus, full of ideas, with formal beds, a children's garden built around the rocks and plants of central Pennsylvania, and room to grow. An easy stop on a trip to State College or Bellefonte.
Photo: Daderot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
9Conservatory and botanical garden · Pittsburgh, Allegheny County
A Victorian glasshouse that opened in Schenley Park in 1893, a gift to the city from Henry Phipps. Its rooms of palms, orchids, desert plants and seasonal flower shows make a warm escape on a winter day.
Photo: Dllu, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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