E. I. Du Pont Restored Garden

E. I. Du Pont Restored Garden. . , On this site in 1803-1804 Eleuthère Irénée du Pont planted a small garden reminiscent of the formal gardens at Bois-des-Fossés, the du Pont family home in France. By 1826 the garden had expanded to more than two acres and contained both common and rare varieties of flowers, ornamental trees and shrubs, herbs, vegetables, and fruit trees. Many were acquired through plant exchanges with other gardener[s] and botanists in America and his homeland., Beyond the southern and western borders of the garden grew an orchard of pear, apple, peach, cherry, and plum trees, partially restored in accordance with E. I. du Pont's 1804 plant list., Successive generations of the du Pont family maintained and expanded this site including the creation of the later Victorian rose garden. They also developed additional gardens with materials transplanted from this first du Pont location. This horticultual tradition influenced the establishment of extensive gardens at Winterthur, Longwood, Nemours, and other gardens in the Brandywine Valley., A severe powder mill explosion in 1890 resulted in the abandonment of Eleutherian Mills as a du Pont family residence and the subsequent disappearance of the garden. Based upon research and archaeological excavation, Hagley Museum and Library restored it to the appearance it bore during E. I. du Pont's lifetime on the Brandywine, 1802-1834., The garden is funded in part by the Emily Tybout du Pont Memorial Endowment., GARDEN STRUCTURES , A. Summerhouse . B. Rose Garden . C. Pump D. Coldframe site , E. Greenhouse site . F. Arbor of Lady Apples, PLANTS , 1. Dwarf pear trees en quenouille , 2. Dwarf apple and pear trees esplaiered on fences , 3. Vegetables and flowers , 4. Dwarf apple trees in single horizontal cordon espalier , 5. Quincunx (five pointed arrangement) of cherry trees