Three years ago I visited the March Bank at Winterthur. That was before I began this journal so I never posted on what I found there. It was spectacular. H. F. DuPont created magnificent gardens on his “Country Estate,” Winterthur. The March Bank, a part of it, contains thousands of “Glory of the Snow”…Chionodoxa Lucilliae, and Siberian Squill…Scilla Siberica, all of which blanket the hillsides in a stunning March display of lush color. Here is one image from that visit, and more can be seen in the gallery I made at that time.
The Winterthur March Bank
During that visit I was told that the azaleas would be in bloom in May in their section of the landscape known as Azalea Woods. Well it took three years but we finally returned and it was superb. We took the 25 minute tram ride from the Vistor’s Center which gives one an overview of the main gardens. Then we returned to Azalea Woods and browsed.
Every effort was made to create informal forest scenes. There are curved paths through the woods and ’round every bend there is another beautiful scene. Intermixed in the ground cover there are clusters of wild flowers including white, yellow and red Trillium and other flowers beyond my botanical knowledge to identify.
Many plants are old enough to be well up towards the tree canopy, and one can stand under them for yet another experience.
For others, I confess to having hunkered down in order to shoot up into back lit blossoms.
Two-winged Silver Bell
It was a rewarding and enjoyable visit. In about two weeks the Peony Garden will be in bloom. We saw the swollen buds waiting for a little more sunshine. Meanwhile, there were just plenty of azaleas to enjoy amongst the tall trees and the emerging forest bed greenery.
May 9, 2011 at 9:30 am
Just beautiful. I too have visited Winterthur and it is indeed a beautiful place.
May 9, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Hope you are going back for the peony bloom…..gorgeous shots..
May 9, 2011 at 4:11 pm
FANTASTIC recent images Ralph! Your work keeps getting better and better! You go to a lot of the places I would like to revisit. I admire your consistent dedication and great planning! I photographed the Siberian Squill this year too but at Longwood and will be showing an image in my next blog post. Too bad all the Spring blossoms don’t last longer.
May 9, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Thanks Kathy, Jane and D. Barbara’s a member and took me through on her pass. It was a beautiful day in Henry’s gardens, and hard to take an unpleasant image.
D, you were unknowingly mentoring me. I thought about your comments about photographing the Bowman’s Hill wildflowers so I was feeling a little guilty about just photographing flowers but I thought “What the hell, I like ’em.”, but I did find myself trying to frame for a little character. I was pleased with the results. Ain’t it fun?
May 9, 2011 at 4:51 pm
P.S. D. I worked them up with the Nik Viveza you put me onto last fall.
May 10, 2011 at 2:03 am
Nice post Ralph….. love the shots taken by looking up. I agree some of NIK’s filters can be fun. Lets see Bowmans Hill and now Winterthur. My places to see just keep getting better thanks to my advanced scouts 🙂