Gardens of Germantown, Philadelphia (8/10/2022)

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

A short tour of local (Germantown, Philadelphia) mansions and their gardens.

Grumblethorpe House (1744) is also known as
"John Wister's House" was closed,
but a gardener let us in to explore the gardens

The property was primarily a working farm, and it dominated Philadelphia's horticultural trends for nearly two centuries (1740-1910). In 1777, the house was occupied by British General James Agnew during the Battle of Germantown. He was wounded and later died in the front parlor of the home, leaving a lasting bloodstain.

Third generation Charles Wister, Sr is thought
to have influenced botanist Thomas Nuttal
in the naming of Wisteria sinensis

A chicken coop

Garden plots

On the right is the male Ginkgo biloba
and on the left is the female, specimens
from circa 1830; the female is the oldest
fruiting female gingko in North America

Do you recognize the leaves of the gingko?

Kent stands by the trunk of the male gingko

One of several wisteria vines on the property

Across the street is the
Trinity Lutheran Church (1723, plus additions)

Wyck Mansion (1690 log house by Quaker Hans Millan,
then c 1700-1720 with additions in 1736,
and 1771-1773 replacing the log structure);
the house was renovated in 1824 by William Strickland

The end three bays are the oldest section of Wyck Mansion

Not sure how they managed this
replacement Liriodendron tulipifera/Tuliptree
in the South Lawn

Damaged water pump

Grape arbor

The spotted pale pink near the fork of the vine is the
back of the invasive Lycorma delicatula/Spotted Lanternfly
that apparently also likes sap-sucking from grape vines (KSS)

Ice house (1836)

Smoke house (c 1797)

Coach house (1794) (KSS)

Greenhouse (1914)

Wyck Mansion home farm

Beehives (KSS)

Wyck Mansion outhouse

The oldest rose garden in the country was started by
Jane Bowne Haines I, the wife of sixth generation
Rueben Haines III, while eighth generation
Jane Bowne Haines II founded the first school of
horticulture for women in the United States

Off-season view of the rose garden

Lycoris albiflora/White Spider Lily

The granddaughter of Hans Millan, Catherine, married the German Caspar Wistar, who became a Quaker and amassed a fortune in button-making, glassmaking, and investing in land. Rueben Haines III was a member fo the American Philosophical Society along with Thomas Jefferson. Haines conducted experiments in scientific agriculture, led school reforms, and helped to found the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Franklin Institute, and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Eighth generation Caspar Haines helped to design the Mexican railway system, while his brother, Robert, invented a gauge for measuring steel in rolling mills. Their sister was Jane Bowne Haines II.

Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion (1859,
in Victorian Eclectic style) is billed as
Philadelphia’s only authentically-restored
Victorian House Museum 

The gardens (c 1978, by Reed Engle) represent two time
periods during the Victorian era; one (c 1870) is based on
the designs of Frank Scott who sought to beautify
home gardens in a formal style (KSS)

Plants in a formal border

A stone outhouse?

The second time period (c 1841) is based
 on the designs of Andrew Jackson Downing,
who believed country residences should
fit into the surrounding landscape
and blend with its natural habitat