The Du pont family emigrated from France to the US (The Brandywine Valley, to be exact, between Philadelphia, PA and Wilmington, DE) in 1800. One of them, E.I. du Pont, listed his profession as a botanist, although his credentials did not match that description. With substantial financial resources, the du Ponts bought land, established businesses, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. E.I,'s great-grandchildren were the ones who established gardens on their family estates, and we have them to thank for a great American horticultural legacy.
In Du Pont Gardens of the Brandywine Valley (Monacelli Press, 2023), author Marta McDowell and photographer Larry Lederman profile five du Pont gardens that are among the country's finest.
Each garden has its own distinct style, and many, like Longwood Gardens, Winterthur, and Nemours, will be familiar to readers and landscape designers. If you haven't been to the Hagley Museum and Library, you'll be fascinated to know that the garden is built over ruins of duPont mills, and it includes some of the old industrial artifacts as elements in the gardens. Parts of the garden are in need of restoration at the moment, but still, it is well worth a visit.
My favorite du Pont garden is Mt. Cuba, which was only opened to the public after the death of Pamela Copeland (wife of Lammot Du Pont Copeland) in 2001. Although there are formal gardens near the residence, designed by landscape architect Marian Coffin, the rest of landscape is naturalistic and filled with native plants of the Piedmont region. It's home to the Mt. Cuba Center for the Study of Piedmont Flora, well known for its research and educational offerings.
The book is filled with magnificent photographs that will surely inspire any reader to plan a trip to see all of these gardens in their glory.
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