Category: PhotoGallery

Last week on a gloriously perfect fall day, I had the pleasure of visiting Hershey Gardens, a 23-acre botanical garden and arboretum. The gardens were built by Milton S. Hershey, the chocolate magnate, as a gift to his community and to honor his wife, Catherine.

The gardens opened in June 1937 with a display consisting solely of 7,000 roses arranged in formal beds. Over the years, Hershey Gardens has grown to contain five themed gardens and a rose specific area with nearly 14,000 roses and some 800 varieties.

As a Member of the Friends of The Frelinghuysen Arboretum, I took advantage of the American Horticultural Society’s Reciprocal Admissions Program (RAP) that Hershey Gardens participates in and my entrance fee was waived. Just one of the many benefits of being a Member of the Friends!

The photos show the Rose Garden with the Conservatory in the background, the Japanese Garden and Swan Lake with the Rose Garden behind it.

Over 400 gardens participate in the RAP program. Click here to see a list of participating gardens: https://ahsgardening.org/ahs-garden-network/

 If you are not currently a member of the Friends, you can join us here: https://www.arboretumfriends.org/benefitshowto/

Margery Ennist

Paul Gatzke presented a cooking demonstration entitled Hassle Free Holidays on Saturday, October 3rd. By all accounts, Chef Paul outdid himself this time around! Along with his able assistant, Russell Gatzke, a beautiful Charcuterie Board, Baked Brie and other yummies were prepared and sampled by the lucky attendees.

Thanks to attendee, Kathleen Levey, for the photograph of Paul and Russell. And to Betsy Oliveira and Susan Ricciardi for photos of the dishes, they certainly captured them in a very appetizing way!

The lovely Dahlia bouquet was created with flowers grown by Russell in his Community Garden plot. Thank you Russell!

Our bus trip to Chanticleer Garden in Wayne, Pennsylvania last Friday could not have provided a better experience, even the weather cooperated: we enjoyed a perfect mid-70s, partly sunny day with no rain!

As we exited the bus, we were met by a Visitor Services representative who handed out maps and provided information on where to go to find picnic tables for lunch. We were also asked to return to the entrance for our 1:30 PM guided tour. Our tour guides were terrific, full of information about the property, the house and the horticultural staff.

The gardens were in their early fall glory with many plants blooming and just a hint of fall in the air: Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’ (Japanese Anemone or Windflower), Tricyrtis hirta (Japanese Toadlily), a fantastic looking pitcher plant, and a lovely floating flower arrangement

 were just a very few of the blooming plants we saw. Also the Chanticleer Hillside looking down toward the Serpentine and perennial gardens and a lovely garden bench created by one of the very talented Chanticleer gardeners.

Following the 1-1/2 hour tour, we had plenty of time to explore the property on our own. A tired but happy group boarded the bus and departed for the Arboretum at 5:00 PM.

Picture credits: Margery Ennist.

Lisa Bencivengo shared a couple of photos taken at the Arboretum recently. A lovely dark pink water lily (family Nymphaeaceae) in the pond in front of Matilda’s cottage, and a Bonfire Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum ‘Bonfire’) in front of the Mansion beginning to show early fall foliage due to root girdling.

For an explanation of this problem by Kristin Prommel, Superintendent of Horticulture at the Arboretum, click here: https://youtube.com/shorts/jj-Bby1kG6c?feature=share

Thank you Lisa.

A few more photos courtesy of Lisa Bencivengo.

The Arboretum’s gardens are overflowing with lots of colorful, and some unusual flowers. The bright orange Zinnias are a cheerful addition to this garden bed. Love-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus) is a dramatic annual flowering plant with long strings of dark red flowers; lovely surrounded by Purple top vervain (Verbena bonariensis) and Lantana. And who can resist the beautiful yellow Sunflower (Helianthus sp)?

Thanks Lisa!

Lisa Bencivengo was at the Arboretum recently and shared a couple of her photographs with us. Hard to believe we’re in the final couple of weeks of summer, you certainly can’t tell from what’s still blooming in the gardens at the Arboretum! Schedule a visit soon.

In the meantime, enjoy Lisa’s photos of a delicate, pale yellow Canna, a gorgeous apricot colored Rose and the architecturally striking Celosia ‘Cramer’s Burgundy’ flower.

Thanks Lisa!

That’s to Steve Kanan for another in his long-running Sunday Saunter series. As always, he has nicely captured the beauty of the gardens at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum.

August marches on and with it the beautiful blossoms of Summer.

Thanks to Steve Kanan for chronicling summer at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum.

Chef Paul Gatzke presented a cooking demonstration on Saturday, August 8th, which by all accounts was wonderful and a lot of fun. Among the dishes he prepared were curried apple walnut deviled eggs, fresh peach ice cream with grilled balsamic peaches and chilled Andalusian gazpacho. Lucky attendees were able to sample everything!

Thanks to Meri Tango for the photographs.

Thanks to Steve Kanan for another batch of his pictures from the Arboretum. Summer is showing off her splendid garb in these beautiful pictures.