Winterthur is very excited to announce a gift of $1 million from Alice Cary Brown and W. L. Lyons Brown, Jr. (Lee) to fund the creation of the Brown Horticulture Learning Center. This gift will be used to adaptively renovate an original estate greenhouse to house the 3,000-square-foot center. Featuring a classroom and meeting space, the center will allow us to expand our educational programming for Members and the public.

The idea for the Horticulture Learning Center grew out of the enthusiasm of our garden supporters, including the Browns. Winterthur’s garden programs, such as the popular Wednesdays at Winterthur and Second Saturdays Garden Walks, have attracted a large audience of avid gardeners interested in exploring the history of the Winterthur Garden as well as learning sound horticultural techniques. With the Horticulture Center, we will be able to expand and diversify these programs.

I am just as excited as the quote made me sound in the newspaper about our ability to reuse a historic piece of architecture for the center.

“The design for the new Horticulture Learning Center is sensitive to the historic nature of the garden, and I am so pleased that our architect, Moeckel Carbonell Associates, and facilities staff were able to design such a creative solution to our classroom needs,” says Chris Strand, Winterthur’s Director of Garden & Estate. “The building that will be renovated was at the heart of Winterthur’s horticultural activities for nearly a century. The character of the old greenhouses and workspaces is something we cherish and will maintain with this project.”

Our Director, Dave Roselle, went on to say, “This gift will transform Winterthur, as the Brown Horticulture Learning Center will be at the core of the estate, joining the museum complex with the Visitor Center. Lee and Alice Cary Brown are leading the way in helping us address the needs of Winterthur, and we applaud their generosity and leadership.”

Below are some images of the greenhouse area in use for our programs, programs taking place out in the garden, and a couple of renderings of the Learning Center that will give you a sense of what it will look like when completed.

On behalf of all of the garden staff here at Winterthur I would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Brown family for this generous gift.

If you happen to visit Winterthur in the middle of the day on a Wednesday during the growing season you will have the opportunity to enjoy a lecture by one of our staff members on a horticultural or historic topic. Most guests are surprised to learn that these lectures require no pre-registration, carry no fee, and offer an opportunity to learn a bit more about the behind-the-scenes world of the garden.

We’ve been offering these ‘Wednesdays at Winterthur’ lectures for 5 years now and the positive response has been wonderful. As someone who loves gardening and the Winterthur garden in particular, it has been so rewarding for me to meet and talk with others about horticulture and the history of the estate.

This year, as a follow-up to a very strong season of programs, we held a luncheon during which we solicited the feedback and opinions of Wednesdays at Winterthur participants. It was a very informative lunch and I have listed their comments below. If you have any comments you would like to offer, feel free to respond to this post. Your input is welcome.

As we look forward to next year, I’d like to thank all of the staff, volunteers, and participants for making this program such a delight. These programs don’t happen by themselves – all of your efforts are what make them possible.

 Thank You! 

1. Native Plants (3 seasons)

2. Attracting specific birds, butterflies, hummingbirds

3. Loved and for repeat: ferns, barn, sheep, hike, containers, flower arranging, koi

4. Meadow walk

5. History talks

6. Repelling deer and groundhogs

7. Water management, especially the streams and ponds

8. Energy conservation. Any plans for solar?

9. Future plans and projects

10. Request a more effective loudspeaker system when the group gets large or break into smaller groups. Increase number of walks.

11. Change the time. Make it earlier, like 10:30

12. Impact of technology on Winterthur – computer analysis, solar power, STA/Nav system

13. Wildlife at Winterthur; migration of birds, deer, Fox, etc. Impact of wildlife on care and maintenance.

14. Certainly, Enchanted Woods!

15. Ferns

16. More history, inside and outside ok

17. Start season in March for March bank

18. Start walk a little earlier, around 10:30 or 11:00, especially in middle of summer

19. A tour of the library covering what is available to members and schools.

20. Common garden weeds and how to get rid of them!

21. Creatures/birds and their interactions with the plants and trees

22. More about the farming. What fields did the cattle graze?

23. Inside of Barns

24. Liked printed material

25. It would be nice to visit the same area (any given area) at least once during early season to observe the changes and the introduction of the plants with each other as the season change.

26. Tree IDs

27. New plant developments – you may be constrained to renew & replace plants chosen by Mr. DuPont, but when and if you can introduce newer cultivars and materials unknown, what do you bring in? What would horticulturists like to bring in (wish lists?)

28. How have populations of birds, insects and other animals changed over time? Anything you are trying to bring back?

29. Follow in the footsteps of horticultural staff to see what they do on the grounds and behind the scenes.

30. See inside some of the barns and railway station, etc.

31. Environmental benefits of some plants

32. History and general info re: iron work (gates, fences )

33. How about putting some photographs that Chris was talking about on display somewhere? (Longwood has rotation photo exhibits on display in their visitor center.)

34. Full Moon Walk

35. Woodland walk to “hidden lake”

36. Guyencourt Tour

37. Summer Houses

38. Shade Gardening

39. More container gardening

40. Interplanting vegetables in flower borders

41. Vines and climbing plants

42. Integrated pest management

43. For formal gardens: How did fountain pump water before motors were invented? How were gardens watered?

44. Urban shade gardening

45. The Making of Enchanted Woods

Today, Duncan Pike led a fun fact-filled Wednesdays at Winterthur walk out to Sycamore Hill. I especially enjoyed the fragrance of the tree lilacs, the fine texture of maples and the fabulous camouflage of the stewardia tree’s bark.  The quarry garden is still looking pretty good – it seems like the primroses have been blooming for over a month.

The peony garden is another hot spot of color, especially the lower area below the greenhouses.  Of course you’ll want to stop at the museum plant shop. What’s Memorial Day weekend without a spirited parade honoring our veterans and a new plant for your garden?

Two events are fast approaching: the Bank to Bend lecture on April 4th and the beginning of the Wednesdays at Winterthur walks. The first W @ W is on April Fool’s Day when Michelle Stapleford will lead a walk among the Winterhazels.  For a pdf of all the programs in the garden, take a look:

http://www.winterthur.org/pdfs/garden_programs_flyer_2009.pdf

And speaking of birds, on Friday, March 20, Winterthur hosted the Delaware Nature Society’s birding series. The visit is featured on the DNS blog for March 21. We had a great time spotting 33 species of birds including a belted kingfisher, ring-necked ducks and a rusty blackbird.

We’ve just completed a successful run of Wednesdays at Winterthur walk/talks/demos for 2008. Thank you for your participation and interest!

Time to begin thinking about next year. What are your ideas for topics?  What interests you? What would you like to learn about? Who would you like to hear from? Any part of the estate or garden you’d like to explore? What challenges do you face in your own garden?  (Sorry…we can’t address problems with human gardening partners!)

Help us plan a fresh, lively and pertinent program in 2009!

(Wednesdays at Winterthur are held each Wednesday, March through October excepting August, at 11:30 a.m. They last about one hour and are open to all ticketed guests and members.)

Stone wall behind the Cottage

Wednesdays at Winterthur walks will resume on September 3rd and continue until October 29th.  Each will begin at the greenhouses at 11:30 and will last about 1 hour. Come out, get some fresh air and enjoy the Winterthur Garden.

I’m getting a little worried though – I’m leading the first one on stone walls and bridges. While I’ve been investigating them off and on for nearly a year, I’ve only scratched the topic’s stoney surface.  Turns out, the geology of Delaware is pretty cool – or should I say hot? – involving continents crashing together and pulling apart along with molten-hot volcanoes just off the coast.  My ace in the hole for September 3rd is Winterthur’s master mason, Don Blevins who will walk along with us to answer technical questions. Then, God willing and the mortar doesn’t set, he’s going to do a short demo on pointing a stone wall near the post office.  Hope you’ll join us on September 3rd! 

Topics and presenters:

9/3 Stone Walls: Fresh Research on Stone Walls and Bridges with Karen Steenhoek

9/10 What’s Up? Meet the Big Trees of Winterthur with Duncan Pike

9/17 Hidden Gems of the Winterthur Garden with Jeannette Lindvig

9/24 Low Maintenance, High Enjoyment Ground Covers with Fair Bauernschmidt

10/1 Estate History Ramble with Jeff Groff

10/8 Native Plant Possibilities with Nora Sadler

10/15 Off the Beaten Path with Mary Patterson and Tom Maddux

10/22 Make Your Garden “Pop” in Autumn with Melissa Epstein

10/29 Falling Leaves: The Mysteries of Fall Color Revealed with Ted Lewis

Dress for the weather and wear garden-worthy shoes!

No reservations necessary. Included with all admission tickets; Members and staff free.

http://www.winterthur.org/calendar/garden_programs.asp