300 Years of History and Nature Intertwined

William Penn’s vision of Philadelphia as a “Greene Country Towne” set the stage for the region’s critical role in the development of horticulture in North America.

It is in Philadelphia that you will find America’s first botanic garden and the nation’s first horticultural society. It was here that the first garden club was formed.

It was to Philadelphia and Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the first American text on botany, that Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis to learn the scientific skills he would need on his famous expedition.

The Historic Landscapes tour explores colonial farms that grew into beautiful gardens, landscapes that were Revolutionary War backdrops, and a region that for 300 years has been America’s horticultural capital.

One-day tour highlights

Welkinweir
A 197-acre grand estate on the National Register of Historic Places that started life as an 18th century farm

Hopewell Furnace
Colonial iron plantation that cast cannons and produced shot during the Revolutionary War

Historic Yellow Springs
First a fashionable 18th century spa, then Revolutionary War military hospital, then home to Civil War orphans, and now a living village with a wonderful herb garden

The three- to five-day tours include the one-day tour sites plus:

Bartram’s Garden
The oldest botanic garden in North America visited by Ben, Tom, and George, where you’ll see Franklinia alatamaha saved from extinction by the Bartrams and named for John Bartram’s great friend, Benjamin Franklin

The Mill at Anselma
National Historic Landmark and working gristmill with mill pond and natural landscape

Tyler Arboretum
William Penn land grant estate and now the largest arboretum in the Northeast featuring a nationally recognized rhododendron collection

Jenkins Arboretum
Home of a Revolutionary War cabin and a spectacular azalea collection

Valley Forge National Historic Park
National Park that commemorates the long winter stay of Washington and his troops

Longwood Gardens
The nation’s premier display garden with conservatories housing four acres of exotic plants under glass also features its original 1730 two-story, brick farmhouse.

Brandywine River Museum
Nineteenth-century gristmill housing both a both a major native plant collection and a world-class collection of Wyeth art

Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve
A 100-acre living memorial to the patriots in Washington’s army who crossed the Delaware River near the site

©2007 by Plant Lovers Discovery Tours