July 1, 2020.  Winterthur, Delaware. Legacy of Henry Francis du Pont, 1880-1969.

 

A walk not long after dawn through the grounds of  Winterthur which opened its grounds to the public today.

The museum is still mostly closed.

 

 

 

Twin trees of a kind which form the high canopy of this parkland greet you as you enter.

 

 

 

 

American Beech and Tulip Poplar

 

 

Heavy dew on the ground at this hour.

 

Sundial above the Reflecting Pool

 

 

 

Fresh plantings of boxwood and forsythia  have been introduced for a little formality in the Sundial Garden. 

This is the boxwood whose fragrance is unbearable to some people and heavenly to others.

 

 

 

 

New boxwood with a dawn redwood ending the sight line

A reminder of man-made order at a time of man-made disorder.  I don’t know how conscious this planning was on the part of Winterthur.  So welcome, though.

 

 

 

The great flowering bushes and trees are, in the main, done.  An exception is an azalea with luscious deep coral flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The hydrangeas are queen now:

delicate and robust. White, lilac, the palest blue and green, pink, mauve and periwinkle.

 

 

 

Oak-leaved hydrangeas, considered a native

 

Oak-leaved hydrangea at Mt. Cuba, Delaware

Tea of Heaven cultivar, Hydrangea serrata, Shirofugi 

 

at Mt. Cuba, Delaware

at Mt. Cuba, Delaware

at Mt. Cuba, Delaware

at Mt. Cuba, Delaware

at Mt. Cuba, Delaware

at Mt. Cuba, Delaware

 

Panicle hydrangea

Panicle hydrangea

Panicle hydrangea

Panicle hydrangea

 

Oakleaf hydrangea, Mt. Cuba, Hockessin, Delaware 

 

 

 

The native cohosh (bugbane), gesticulating in the woods and thrusting into your path, vie for attention.

 

 

 

Native cohosh  

 

Ferns massed like armies and seldom alone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and thistles, even lowlier than ferns because they are often pulled out

 

 

Thistle in bloom and in seed

 

 

 

Chinese astilbe at the carp pool

 

and the orange day lily

 

 

 

orange day lily at the carp pool