Carolyn's Blog

Last week was the Delaware Center for Horticulture Private Gems Garden tour, and as I have already reported on the country part of the tour, this article will feature those gardens in the City of Wilmington.

Being a sucker for flamingos, I loved this little fountain nestled in a garden in Union Park Gardens. And this side yard on Baynard Blvd. is the home of an Italian gardener who featured bounteous flowers as well as a very healthy fig tree.

These 2 pictures are of Samantha Hunter's garden on Baynard Blvd. which is very unusual for a few reasons. For one, the lot goes through to the next street, offering lots of room for creativity. For two, this garden has nearly year-round interest, holding many plants which were given by family and friends. It won 1st place in last year's garden contest in the Flower Category. And, the proud owner was present and offered refreshments to her visitors.

What a great tour, and thanks to the Delaware Center for Horticulture!

(Note: Since this posting, this home has sold for a December 28, 2010 settlement) If you are seeking a restored historic home with new systems, new kitchen and baths, you will love this Yorklyn, Delaware stone home, which is thought to be about 200 years old. Not only is this home beautiful, but its private setting is unmatched. 

    Located adjacent to the new Auburn Heights Preserve, a State park, there are possible financial rewards for a buyer interested in preserving the exterior of this home (Carolyn can give you more information on this). There is an extensive system of stone walls for terracing and retaining walls which were recently constructed. A garage across the road has a second floor studio/workshop. The kitchen was created by the present owners where there had been a shed in the past. The finest materials have been used--there are hardwood floors throughout and the exterior walls of the kitchen addition are cedar, as is the roof. The main house is of local Avondale stone.

This historic Yorklyn, Delaware area is adjacent to the newest Delaware State Park, the Auburn Heights Preserve, which is the location of an historic Victorian home and a museum housing steam powered cars and other oddities such as musical instruments.Located high on a hill over the Red Clay Creek, generations of mill owners operated their businesses in the Auburn Heights area, which is on land given by William Penn to his daughter Letitia.The present owner did extensive restoration on the house, uncovering beautiful Avondale stone exterior walls, as well as 2 fireplaces which had been covered over many years ago. He also built many stone retaining walls and terraces, taming the hills surrounding this almost 3 acre property.

Facts: 702 Benge Rd. in Yorklyn, Delaware has 5 Bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, is about 3000 square feet on a lot of 2.79 acres in the Greater Hockessin, Delaware area. A short walk from the Pennsylvania line drawn by Mason and Dixon. Close to the shops in Hockessin and the Lantana Square  Shopping Center. Off Route 41 which leads east and southward to Wilmington, Delaware 20 minutes away, and Philadelphia, 45 minutes away, and north to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The price is $675,000.

On the banks of the Red Clay Creek, Yorklyn, Delaware is near the border with Pennsylvania that was drawn by Mason and Dixon. The swiftly moving creek once powered numerous mills from Pre-Revolutionary times to the early 20th century. Industry began here with John Garrett in 1730, when he opened a gristmill in an area called at the time "Auburn." He had purchased the land from the estaate of Letitia Penn, William Penn's daughter. Later members of the Garrett family built snuff and paper mills and added to the family fortune.

Above are some of what remains on the site of the Garrett Snuff Mills, which finely ground tobacco from Maryland and Virginia into snuff (which is a type of smokeless tobacco). Flooding from a hurricane in the 90's destroyed shops which were located in some of the buildings, along with long abandoned mill buildings.

Today, one center of activity in Yorklyn is the tiny post office, located on the left side of this building on Yorklyn Road. Just 100 yards past the post office is the bridge over the Red Clay Creek.

 Yorklyn is part of the Greater Hockessin, Delaware area, which is just down Yorklyn Rd. There are many historic homes in Yorklyn, as well as the new Auburn Heights Preserve, a State park which features the 1897 Marshall mansion as well as a collection of steam powered cars and machinery.

The Delaware Center for Horticulture hosted a garden tour today that concentrated on 2 areas--inside the City of Wilmington, and north of the City in the Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania area.  Today we will talk about the Pennsylvania gardens.

The first property, with the classical vista, is owned by a former garden center owner who has lived for over 30 years in his home in Chadds Ford.  On about 7 acres with well-tended paths, it crosses a stream and has numerous viewing areas among the mature canopy of trees. The second Chadds Ford garden has been tended by the same owners for 25 years and I must say that for a wooded property, the edges of the woodland paths are all groomed and mulched for the neatest looking woods I have seen outside of a public garden.

Living in a farm house built in 1796, the last owner's property has an impressive gated entrance from Kennett Pike, and boasts the only Paulownia forest garden I have ever seen. It has everything from picturesque barn ruins to a formal American boxwood garden.

And being an old house person, I could not resist showing you the 1796 Chadds Ford farmhouse which is the center of this flowery, ferny, creatively tended property.

South Graylyn Crest is a  community of 328 homes is located in popular Brandywine Hundred, close to Concord Mall on Rt. 202 out side of the City of Wilmington, Delaware. It is East of Rt. 202 and North of I-95, which is just 5 minutes away, and 25 minutes from Philadelphia International Airport.

Back when Graylyn Crest was built between 1955-1957, New Castle County required each community to have parkland.
Since one of the parks was between Graylyn and Chatham, they called the park Chatham Park, but  its entrance is from Faun Rd. in Graylyn. The park is located on land that has a creek and springs, and has  tennis courts, a basketball court, and a children's playground.

One nice thing about Graylyn Crest is the trees. The story is that when the neighborhood was newly built by Gray Magness, the developer, someone came around selling trees which were mostly planted in the grassy strip between the sidewalk and the street.  Of course, many of us had to later replace these trees, and we planted many others.

There are currently 3 homes for sale in South Graylyn (as distinguished from North Graylyn Crest, which is across Silverside Rd.), there are 3 pending sales, and since the first of the year, 14 settlements have taken place, with an average price of $280,000. The homes have either 3 or 4 bedrooms, one or one 1/2 or 2 baths, and a family room on the lower level, and some have basements below this. A creek winds through the community and gradually joins Shellpot Creek, and then the Brandywine Creek and the Delaware River.

All in all, South Graylyn Crest is a very pleasant place to live!

The Delaware Center for Horticulture hosted an event last night which offered the opportunity to visit 2 gardens in the city of Wilmington, plus those on the grounds of the DCH.  We started at Goodstay Center, a former duPont home now owned by the University of Delaware and used for events and classes.

Dating from about 1740, the house was purchased by Ellen duPont Meeds in 1923. She later married landscape architect Robert Wheelwright. They designed the garden as a colonial "knot" garden, which is a series of squares. It was restored in the 1990's and above you see the house and a spot where a spring emerges into a ferny area and flows out to the rest of the garden as a stream. 

Above you see the former swimming (now reflecting) pool and a garden vista from Gibraltar, which was built in 1844 by John Rodney Brinckle and named after the rocky outcropping on which it sits. It was expanded in 1909 by Hugh Rodney Sharp and his wife, Isabella duPont Sharp, and is across Pennsylvania Avenue from Goodstay. The garden was designed by prominent landscape architect Marian Cruger Coffin between 1910 and the 1920's. It has become controversial in recent years as it was first proposed by the owners to be torn down and developed, and saved by being put under the care of Preservation Delaware. They could not find a workable plan for using the house as an inn, and later a plan for offices was developed, all objected to by wealthy neighbors.  There is finally a plan to restore the house for a business use, and a group has been formed to take over the gardens from Preservation Delaware, which is more interested in the building than the grounds, although they had done extensive work on the grounds in the past.

Above is a view from inside the walled garden, and the overgrown and neglected mansion, soon to be transformed for an office with a distinguished interior. So cross your fingers and hopefully we will see both a restored garden and mansion in a couple of years!

Tyler Arboretum in nearby Media, Pennsylvania has a new theme for the current outdoor exhibit, which is sprinkled along their wooded trails. Local artisans from the tri-state region were invited to bring nature alive on The Magical Path of Tyler's woodlands. Seen below are the Gnome Home and a Green Tree House (which is totally climb-able).

Running until October 31, 2010, this Tyler Arboretum exhibit has special events always happening, including Sunday, June 13 1:00 - 3:00 pm, when you are invited to weave your way in and around the enchanted Magical Path, but don't forget to first 'pay' your Troll Toll! Your exploration will lead to the homes of many of nature's magical beings - learn about how they protect our natural world and enjoy activities along the way - and make a take-home green man mask, too!

These Green Men are hidden among the trees in one spot  along the trail, and you are challenged to find them all.

A special reason for those of us from the Wilmington, Delaware area to come to the exhibit is to see the work of 2 local artist/artisans, father and daughter Daniel and Susan Benarcik (although Susan has moved on to the NYC art scene). Daniel makes fanciful bird houses out of gourds, and Susan created a fanciful grouping in a clearing.  For directions to the Arboretum and more information, see Tyler's website at http://www.tylerarboretum.org/index.asp