Winterthur's Azalea Woods

Imagine that it is the early 1920's.
Your name is Henry Francis DuPont.
You have more than 1000 acres to work
with...and you love horticulture.

In fact, as a child you were home schooled
and as part of this education you
took many nature walks where you
learned the Common and Latin names of
the plants around you.
The dinner table was your quizzing place.
This was where you proved your knowledge
at the end of the day.

Imagine that one day you decide to
try growing azaleas. So, you choose
seventeen varieties from Europe.

They do so well that you end up
planting more than 1,000 azalea
bushes in an eight acre wood.

What you get all of these 90 years later....

Eye candy....
Lot and lots of eye candy.

Every way you look it is a
different color palette but
each is absolutely stunning.

Sadly, this annual beauty is short-lived.
That is why I would not consider
basing a garden exclusively on azaleas.

However, I don't have a thousand acres
to work with either.

Due to our early warm weather this Spring
all of our plants and trees are about
two and a half weeks ahead of schedule.
So, while these are normally at peak
Mid-May....this is Peak Week.
Gardeners can plan and plan,
but plants have their own timetable.

We followed path after path of
nothing but azaleas in bloom.

Some of the bushes bore two colors.
It was rather shocking.

We greatly enjoyed our visit
to these colorful woods....
but this was only the beginning
of our lovely day.

I cannot wait to show you the
rest of our day.
It will take several posts over
the next week or so.

And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
Isaiah 58:11

Wouldn't you like to be compared to
the loveliness of a garden such as this?

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Isaiah 61:11

Ahhh....Bring it Forth, Lord.
I am ready!

More From Winterthur

Forgive me for insisting that you see
more from Winterthur. It is at places
like this that I remember how much I
love museums...especially since we got
there just as it was opening and we had the
place nearly to ourselves. Amazing!

Here we have a chest with Fractur design
on it. Mrs. Rabe wrote a post about Fracturs.
You can see that here.



What kind of bedcap do you wear?
How about this?
You know if you do not have much
heat in your colonial home you might
be grateful for help in keeping that
heat in your head...



If I were choosing dining room chairs
and these were an option...I'd get them
in just a split second!
It was love at first sight!



The colors and design in this quilt
were amazing. I just had to take a
picture for all of you talented quilters.




Ancient Birdcage.


Leaving the museum gallery
and moving into the main home...
a guided tour.

Now this is a dining room!
When Mr. Dupont planned a dinner party
the first person he spoke with was his
gardener to discuss what flowers were in
season. He then had his staff match the
china to the centerpiece.
The table is amazingly three pieces.
A dropleaf at either end and a rectangle
in the middle.
Not much was said about Mrs. Dupont so I am
not sure about her interest in all of this.




A sideboard in the dining room held a
unique knife urn. The handles of these
knives are ivory, painted green...to represent
jade. Embarrassingly enough,
I thought perhaps it was a cigar
dispenser...silly me! So glad I didn't
volunteer that piece of information in
front of our very proper guide!




The fireplace in the dining room.
Very detailed and so perfect.




I will tell you that if you walk into this
room your first response will be shock.
It appears way too busy at first glance.

The chinese wallpaper is on all four walls
and then the room is filled with amazing
furniture and details.

But what is impressive is that this is the
original wallpaper and it has not faded after
more than 50 years.



In order to put the wallpaper on these walls
it was necessary to curve the top of the room.
That was the only way to get to use all of the
paper as it was a bit tall for the room.



I am attracted to fans...
every time! These are so pretty.
See the security string.
I didn't see what would happen
if you touched them.
It was enough that Warren was
scolded for leaning on a doorway
about halfway through this
tour. It happened...really!
Poor guy!



Do you see the seat of the chair
in the front of this picture?
The upholstery is taken from a
skirt or dress that was being
recycled. Many chairs were recovered
in this manner.



This room is the area where guests
would come to wait for the time to be
ushered into the dining room.
I thought it would be a nice view
from this window, but only in the
summertime as dinner was always served
at 8:30 pm.
Really?
I always thought
people went to bed early in times before
electricity and easy lighting.
I guess this is another sign of the amazing
wealth of this family.



Mr. Dupont purchased rooms from homes that
were being torn down, brought them home and
fitted them into this building. This included
all of the ceiling plaster, wood trims, door casings
and fireplaces. The whole room.
If there was a need for something to
be filled in to match materials purchased
local craftsmen were hired to replicate
and complete the element in the room.
You cannot tell where one stops and the other
begins. It is truly masterful.






In one case Mr. Dupont purchased a
staircase and had it installed as a
surprise for his family while they were
on a cruise. I can't imagine walking
in my front door to a new stairwell
that looked like this!



And for my blog friends who collect
transferware...check this out!



This photo was taken from the tram
which takes you around the property.
It mainly tells you about the landscaping
and trees but this particular spot shows
the area that was once the main door.
They added a conservatory at some point
to this entrance, but if you could walk
straight in here you would be looking
at the staircase in the previous photo.

If you look closely you will see one window
had a balcony. This was one of the few references
made to Mrs. Dupont. Our tour guide on the tram
said that she loved to come out on the balcony
and overlook the colorful hillside in the Spring.
Thousands of bulbs are planted here and it is said
to be an incredible sight when they are all blooming.
A sea of yellow, white and lavender.



This just scratches the surface of the things
that you would see if you were to visit Winterthur.
I hope that if this kind of thing makes you happy,
you'll have opportunity to spend some time here
one day soon.

Have a Happy Tuesday!

Thanks for stopping by.
It amazes me each time someone
takes the time to leave a comment!
I am truly blessed
to enjoy your visits.

Soup Tureens in Blue...and More!

Friday found Warren, Jonathan, Chelsea and Myself
at Winterthur, pronounced Winter-ture.
The second 'T' is hard.
Be a snob...
it is the proper pronunciation.(smile)

Anyway...we were so excited to see the preview of
the Art Exhibit featured in the photo above.

While we weren't permitted to take photos in
that gallery we were allowed to take them
everywhere else. I will start with some photos
from the Campbell's Soup Tureen Collection.

There are some very unusual tureens represented
here.

But first, the more conventional ones with blue
in their design...just for my friend, Sally, at
The Smiling Sally Blog.



















And now...the unusual!











We highly recommend a visit to this
wonderful museum and grounds. There
is much to see. I will show more as
the week progresses. This was our first
visit but we purchased a membership so
know that it won't be our last.

Have a very Happy Monday!!!