photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
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DuPont Gardens of the Brandywine Valley
photographs by Larry Lederman
text by Marta McDowell
a book review
Friday, 17 November 2023
I have a mantra: I'd rather be gardening. If I'm not gardening, then I'd rather be visiting a garden. There is a caveat though. Garden visits are infrequent, occasional events. and as gardeners know, there are frequent changes as often as between morning and evening. Day to day, week to week, season to season. Flowers change from bud to blossom to fruiting, autumn brings a change from green to yellow / orange / red then fall. So a book such as "DuPont Gardens of the Brandywine Valley", the splendid result of Larry Lederman's more than a year of photographic visits is wonderful, with images of these family gardens through the seasons.
photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
All in the family. The du Ponts settled in the Brandywine valley and there they thrived. Among other interestes they created gardens on their estates, wonderful gardens, five of which are open to the public. Each is different, combining elegant formal plantings with separate woodlands, carefully managed to appear untouched. Some, such as Longwood Gardens, are iconic. Others, like Hagley Museum and Library are less well known (but distinctly worth repeated visits.) Larry Lederman's repeated visits to all five gardens share the beauty of these gardens at different times of day and around the seasons.
Beautiful images are a major portion of this book's appeal. Equally interesting is Marta McDowell's text. To properly review I feel I would need to provide the entire book. Instead here are some snippets of pictures and text that I trust will encourage you to obtain a copy of the book for yourself. And then make visits to the gardens.
Were you aware that when Éleuthere Irénée du Pont arrived in the earliest years of the 19th century there was nothing there, where he would create Elutherian Mills. In his own words there were "no road, no decent house, no garden." And (I can certainly relate) "Being without a garden was the greatest deptivation, and it is the first thing that occupied my time."
photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
The allee of sweet gum trees lines the original carriage drive, framing the entrance of Elutherian Mills.
photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
Flowering cherries, Prunis serotina, are reminders of the original Shrub Terrace that grew beyond the gate.
Careful research presented in a lively manner, accompanied by photographs and a few historical black and white photographs and garden plans bring these gardens to life.
Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library may not be quite as well known to the general public as Longwood but it comes a close second. Henry Francis du Pont inherited the property in 1927. A year later he was already thinking of rearranging the house, tripling it in size to hold his collections of antique furniture, architectural features, decorative arts . . . and creat a garden. Marion Coffin, reknown landscape architect and longtime friend, became involved in what was to be a plantsman's never ending project.
photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
The spring-fed Quarry Garden glows with candelabra primroses
(Primula species and hybrids) and yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus) in May.
photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
An elegant armillary sphere is the focal point for the Sundial garden.
Garden visits are a delight for garden clubs, horticultural organiztions, and the general public too. While it can be an enjoyable occasion for the visitors it is an effort for the property owners managing the occasion and hosting them. And in its earlier days visitors to Nemours were quite limited, if allowed at all. Designed in the grand jardin français formal style of seventeeth century the gardens of Nemours were said to transport visitors to a day in old France. Today the house and grounds, largest jardin français in the United States, are open to the public, .
photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
An allée of ren maples, Acerrubrum, create a cool green entranceway in summer.
photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
Reflected in the water, the Humpback Bridge and weeping Higan cherries, Prunus xsubhirtella 'Pendula'.
Mt. Cuba is a relatively recent du Pont garden, for it was in 1965 that Lamont du Pont Copeland set forth his plan to turn his 280 acre property into a public garden, one that would be "something considerable less formal that either Longwood Gardens or Winterthur." True, at this point in time the couple had been developing the grounds for more than 30 years. When the du Ponts came to the site, the tall hill that would become Mt. Cuba offered a view of cornfields, with a few stands of trees. Today its focus is on native plants of the Piedmont, much of it as woodland.
photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
Near the house, the Round Garden has a changing palette of cultivated flowers,
so very different from the naturalistic style for which Mt. Cuba is today renown.
photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
Along a woodland rill and pool, spring flowering natives - woodland phlox, Phlox divaricata, foam flower, Tirella cordifolia, and golden ragwort, Packera aurea, - mingle with non-native Japanese primroses, Primula japonica. While they strongly advocate for native plants of the Piedmont, Mt. Cuba does not have an exclusivist plant selection policy.
The second lecture of The Garden Conservancy's Fall Literary Series was offered on November 2nd, 2023. A zoom presentation, Larry Lederman spoke about his work as photographer of DuPont Gardens of the Brandywine Valley. Jeff Downing,executive director of Mt. Cuba elucidated details of the relevant images. The grounds are open November 19, 2023, Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm. Classes offered year-round
Longwood Gardens. Epic Landscapes. "All gardens are theater, but some gardens are more theatrical than others." From the very first paragraph opening this section, we learn that it was an impulse that lead Pierre S. du Pont to purchase the old Pierce place in July 1906. His quest, the rescue of a collection of old trees that had been planted over the previous century and were now destined to become lumber.And from that small beginning, a little seed sprounting in "a very pretty place" did Longwood Gardens develop and mature.
photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
The sunken marble floor of the Exhibition Hall in the Main Conservatory may be flooded with water.
In the du Ponts heyday, it would serve, sans water, as a place for musicians to entertain party guests.
photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
Contempraneously (well, less than a decade ago, in 2014) saw the opening of the Meadow Garden. There are trails leading through open fields and wetlands to ponds and to the forest edge. The Webb Farmhouse exhibits share stories of people who have had an influence on the land since the lenni-Lenape, and the landscape's seasonal changes.
Water. Water as little rills, small streams, flowing together into ponds. Playful water as fountains jetting into the air.
photography copyright Larry Lederman, provided courtesy Monicelli, a Phaidon Company>
A nighttime illuminated performance of the Main Fountain Garden. Magical.
An excellent book in all regards, both photography and text that brings the reader
into the gardens and traveling into their history.
DuPont Gardens of the Brandywine Valley
photographs by Larry Lederman
text by Marta McDowell
published by Monacelli, a Phaidon Company
ISBN 978 1 58093 603 3, hardcover $60
A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher
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