Taking a Mid-Atlantic road trip? Stop at these native plant gardens along the way.

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Last October, as I approached the two-acre meadow at the Delaware Botanic Gardens, I had to grin at the improbable cotton-candy clouds of pink muhly grass. I’m still amazed that this airy pastel plant is native to the Mid-Atlantic. In 2020, I had planted some muhly grass along my front sidewalk, not really knowing what to expect. The meadow’s grass was probably planted a year or so ahead of mine, which means I can anticipate similar pink clouds wafting above my yard this autumn.

That’s one of the reasons I love to tour gardens across the Mid-Atlantic: They help me to reimagine my little pocket of our ecosystem. Like many across the region who are turning to native plants and trees, I’m trying to boost my environment by choosing species that support pollinators and birds instead of annuals and shrubs that were introduced from other habitats. That motivation fires me up, and my desire for sensory inspiration leads me to explore our regional gardens, many of which feature native varieties.

As we resume road trips across the Mid-Atlantic, it’s easy to plan a refreshing and informative stop or two at these eight lush regional gardens.

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Bulbs, and restrooms, set to bloom at DBG

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As the season begins, hours are being extended at the Delaware Botanic Gardens in Dagsboro, new restrooms will soon open and thousands of bulbs planted last fall will bloom into a spectacular display of color beginning around mid-March.

Staff and hard-working volunteers situated 84,000 crocus, tulip and grape hyacinth bulbs with crocuses in shades of lavender, purple, orange and blue. Red, white and yellow tulips will open and grape hyacinths will bloom in pale blue and bright purple.

“Everyone is looking forward to that. The bulbs are planted very close together, lining the pathways in large groups so you get a feel for something very natural,” Director Stephen Pryce Lea said.

“We wanted a colorful walkway from the Welcome Center. I chose four or five types of bulbs in large numbers and put them in bold swaths throughout the meadow among the grasses there. It looks quite amazing now. Even with the temperatures we have had, and snow, we are already seeing crocuses coming up, already an inch or inch and one-half above the ground. Crocus tends to be first. You can get very early ones. They bloom in early March to mid-March. There were no daffodils planted. We wanted to keep it very natural and leave the daffodils for the wild factor elsewhere. We wanted a rainbow palette and other areas have just one variety.

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DBG to open 2022 season on March 17

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Ray Sander, president of the Delaware Botanic Gardens (DBG) announced this week that the 37-acre botanic gardens near Dagsboro will open for the 2022 season at 9 a.m. on Thursday, March 17.

“Our staff and volunteers have been working all winter creating new features for guests to enjoy in a safe natural environment,” Sander said. “We have added to the beauty of the 2-acre Piet Oudolf Meadow Garden by planting 84,000 new spring bulbs. The Folly Garden has a new reflecting pool and an additional 37,500 bulbs to enjoy. Welcome back for the 2022 season of natural beauty and see the gardens and wildlife spring to life again.”

“At noon on opening day, March 17, we invite all to join us, with the Bethany Beach-Fenwick Chamber of Commerce, to celebrate a ‘ribbon cutting’ at our new 800-square-foot restroom building,” said Sheryl Swed, DBG executive director. “This new rustic cedar building is the creative design of award-winning architect Scott Edmonston and his SEA Studio team.

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DBG announces new advisory council chair

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Ray Sander, president of the Delaware Botanic Gardens (DBG) announced this week that David Small has accepted the invitation to become chair of the DBG Advisory Council.

“David Small has been a member of the Advisory Council since its earliest days,” Sander said. “David’s outstanding leadership on the full range of environmental issues has been a great asset to DBG and even more now as chair of the Advisory Council.”

Small’s 30-year career at DNREC included 14-years as deputy secretary and three years as secretary. His leadership was recognized by his being awarded the Order of the First State, Delaware’s highest civilian honor. He is also the recipient of the 2016 Delaware Public Official of the Year award by the America Public Works Association, and the 2016 Environmental Achievement Award from the Inland Bays Foundation. Small is currently a senior consultant at Verdantas (formerly Duffield Associates), an engineering and consulting firm with offices in Delaware and 29 locations across the country.

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David Small

Share: Botanic gardens volunteers to receive governor’s award

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Delaware Botanic Gardens volunteers are among the groups to receive 2021 Governor’s Outstanding Volunteer Service Awards.

Recipients were selected for significant contributions, engagement and impact in diverse service activities. 

Ray Sander, Delaware Botanic Gardens president, thanked Gov. John Carney for recognizing the exceptional contribution of the botanic gardens volunteers and especially the tireless work of its garden stewards.

“Public botanical gardens are places of beauty and conservation where the public can enjoy and be educated about the role and importance of horticulture. The Delaware Botanic Gardens is one of the newest public gardens in the United States, and one of the few where volunteers perform the full range of gardening, administrative and management tasks. We are very proud of the thousands of hours that our volunteers have donated. Without their time, energy, and dedication, there would be no beautiful gardens in Sussex County for the community to visit and enjoy,” said Sander.

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Delaware Botanic Gardens volunteer garden stewards planted 84,000 new spring bulbs in the Piet Oudolf Meadow. Shown in back are (l-r) Tony Broomfield, Jeanette Akhter, Carl Shuck, Todd Hacker, and Jeff Johnson; middle, Rodney Lau, Bob Arner, Tom Rondeau, Lauren Caro, and Jane Peters. In front are Carol McCloud, Stephen Pryce Lea, George Hammond, Cheryl Millet, Maureen Morano, Debbie Woods, and Beverly Miller.

Electric vehicle chargers installed at botanic gardens

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Ray Sander, president of the Delaware Botanic Gardens (DBG), announced this week that the DBG has two electrical vehicle chargers installed in the main guest parking lot.

“DBG’s core values include environmental stewardship, and we have taken another environmentally-friendly step in giving electric vehicle guests the ability to enjoy the beauty of the gardens while recharging their vehicles,” Sander said. “In this venture, we proudly join our partner, Electric Vehicle Institute (EVI).”

Matthew Wade, chief executive officer of the Electric Vehicle Institute, said, “EVI is pleased to partner with Delaware Botanic Gardens in this important installation of these electric vehicle chargers. We see great synergy between our mission of improving EV mobility in the region and DBG in showcasing nature in a pristine and beautiful setting.”

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Dave Baker, DBG treasurer, left, and Ray Sander, DBG president, look over the new electric vehicle charger station.

Coastal Point | Submitted (Sheryl Swed)

Veterans, food-bank donors get free admission to botanic gardens on Nov. 11 DBG to close for season on Nov. 14

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The 9-foot-tall DBG Sea Witch, is visited by docents, from right, Sally Scarangella, Judy Martin and Angela Schaab. Coastal Point | Submitted (Ray Bojarski)

The 9-foot-tall DBG Sea Witch, is visited by docents, from right, Sally Scarangella, Judy Martin and Angela Schaab.

Coastal Point | Submitted (Ray Bojarski)

Ray Sander, president of the Delaware Botanic Gardens (DBG), announced this week that, on Thursday, Nov. 11 — Veteran’s Day — all veterans showing their military ID cards will have free admission to the Delaware Botanic Gardens in appreciation for their military service to the country. Veterans will also receive a free pass.

In addition, other guests who bring food donations for Food Bank of Delaware will receive free admission.

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Butterfly Program Taking Center Stage at Delaware Botanic Gardens

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DAGSBORO, Del.- It is peak season for butterflies and the Delaware Botanic Gardens are the host to many different types of them.

Thursday was the first day of the new program where volunteer teachers talked about the different characteristics of butterflies and what people can do at home to attract them. Following the information session, participants were able to tour the gardens and tally the different butterflies they found. Teacher Margaret Kimmel says there are about twelve different types of butterflies that can be found at the gardens.

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Share: Delaware Botanic Gardens to host COVID-19 vaccine clinic July 22 Walk-up clinic participants will receive free DBG admission

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July 13, 2021

Delaware Botanic Gardens will host a COVID-19 vaccine clinic from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, July 22, in collaboration with the Sussex County Bookmobile vaccination partners Sussex County Libraries, Beebe Healthcare and Sussex County Emergency Medical Services.

“We welcome all to get a vaccine shot and then visit our 37-acre gardens for free,” said Ray Sander, DBG president. 

“We are so thankful for our community partners like the Delaware Botanic Gardens to be able to offer more Sussex Countians the COVID-19 vaccine that is saving lives during this pandemic,” said Kim Blanch, RN, community service manager for Beebe Healthcare Population Health. “This is a walk-up clinic for those 12 years of age and older. We will be providing both Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Anyone under the age of 18 will need to be accompanied by a parent/guardian to receive the vaccine.”

The Rhyne Garden at DBG is planted with over 12,000 native perennials. SUBMITTED PHOTO

The Rhyne Garden at DBG is planted with over 12,000 native perennials. SUBMITTED PHOTO

DBG celebrates peak blooms at Piet Oudolf Meadow Garden

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Delaware Botanic Gardens hosted 150 members, guests and supporters at a Sip & Saunter event June 16, celebrating the Piet Oudolf Meadow Garden at peak summer bloom.

With 70,000 native plants and grasses spread over two acres, summer is the best time to see this unique garden.

“If you have been thinking of visiting the DBG, summer is the time to see the gardens at their blooming best,” said Ray Sander, Delaware Botanic Gardens president.

“A delightful mid-June evening spent amongst flowers at DBG, from the swaying heads of the coneflower, echinacea ‘hula dancer’ to the steely blue sea holly, eryngium ‘big blue.’ Our evening guests enjoyed a sip beneath beautiful, clear-blue, sunlit skies while sauntering amongst the delicate blossoms and grasses of Piet Oudolf’s prairie meadow, reveling as the sun’s golden rays set on an enchanting evening with friends and honored guests of the gardens,” said Stephen Pryce Lea, DBG head of horticulture.

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Coneflower, echinacea ‘hula dancer’ and blue sea holly at Delaware Botanic Gardens.

Coneflower, echinacea ‘hula dancer’ and blue sea holly at Delaware Botanic Gardens.

Summer flora and fauna on display at Delaware Botanic Gardens in Dagsboro

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Visitors to the Delaware Botanic Gardens (DBG) are greeted by a magnificent avenue of 34 seedless red “Brandywine” maples, 12,000 perennials and more than 300 native shrubs that surround the banks of the Rhyne Garden. All these colorful native pollinator plants welcome guests and wildlife steps from the parking lot.

In late May, the Rhyne Garden is a parade of colorful baptisia (false indigo), an early flowering native perennial in the pea family, and by early summer, the spent flowers rapidly form large attractive seed pods that last until fall. Spring blooms of baptisia are quickly replaced by a carnival of colorful daisy heads in the form of echinacea (coneflower), with summer-flowering phlox and monarda (bee balm) soon to follow.

The range of native perennials was selected to provide season-long interest, as well as a welcome source of nectar, food and habitat for visiting insects and birds. While the flowers of the Rhyne Garden attract both guests and wildlife, the plant roots act as a natural filter for the rain wastewater runoff and help to combat soil erosion on the banks of the most colorful water-retention ditches in Sussex County.

The Rhyne Garden at DBG is a parade of colorful perennials, featuring echinacea, phlox and bee balm.Coastal Point • Submitted (Ray Bojarski)

The Rhyne Garden at DBG is a parade of colorful perennials, featuring echinacea, phlox and bee balm.

Coastal Point • Submitted (Ray Bojarski)

DBG: THE CAPE GAZETTE 2021 Spring Home & Garden Guide

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What do you do with a former soybean field surrounded by a greenbrier-filled forest close to local beaches and businesses?  Maybe if you are Kevin Costner, you turn it into a baseball field.  But thanks to the foresight of the Sussex County Land Trust, these thirty-seven highly desirable acres were saved for Open Space.  In early 2012 a visionary group of energetic and garden-loving women and men saw the potential for a botanic garden in the field next to Pepper Creek.  As they stood in that field nine years ago, they envisioned a thirty-seven-acre garden, a place of beauty, tranquility, and relaxation that would fill the need for horticulture education and gardening resources representing coastal Delaware. This dedicated group cultivated the non-profit known as Delaware Botanic Gardens at Pepper Creek.  The Delaware Botanic Gardens Board of Directors includes a diversified group of individuals from across Delmarva, bringing with them the experience, knowledge, and most importantly, the needed passion that would bring Delaware Botanic Gardens to life and ultimately reconnect our community with the natural world and bring the dream to reality. 

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Botanic gardens hosts Frolic in the Folly

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BY Chris Flood April 26, 2021

The Delaware Botanic Gardens recently hosted a Frolic in the Folly, and while the weather was a little windy, the sun was out, which brought to life the plants in bloom and set the stage for what the rest of the gardens will look like in coming months.

In addition to being a time for people to see what’s blooming, the April 16 frolic allowed supporters to see the most recent version of the Meadow Pavilion, which will serve as a large indoor gathering and classroom space.

Sheryl Swed, DBG executive director, said she was excited about the future project and its possibilities. It will house offices and be able to accommodate 300 people when it’s done, she said.

The frolic also served as the first public event for new Head of Horticulture Stephen Pryce Lea, who joined the team a little over a month ago. He was most recently director of garden operations at the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens in Philadelphia.

Lea said he’s looking forward to moving the gardens forward as planting varieties and garden areas continue to grow and expand. This is a magical place, with a diverse group of dedicated volunteers, he said.

Delaware Botanic Gardens hosted Frolic in the Folly April 16, and Leslie Sinclair takes a picture of a weeping redbud tree during her visit. CHRIS FLOOD PHOTOS

Delaware Botanic Gardens hosted Frolic in the Folly April 16, and Leslie Sinclair takes a picture of a weeping redbud tree during her visit. CHRIS FLOOD PHOTOS

A New Partnership for an Innovative Shoreline Project

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Fall / Winter 2020 - Center for the Inland Bays - Inland Bays Journal

The Center for the Inland Bays and the Delaware Botanic Gardens at Pepper Creek partnered in the summer and fall of 2020 to stabilize about 300 feet of shore...

Along the banks of Pepper Creek near Dagsboro, a new partnership propelled by the power of volunteers is helping a stronger shoreline take root.

Staff and supporters from the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays and the Delaware Botanic Gardens at Pepper Creek braved the hot, humid days of summer to build one of Delaware’s most innovative living shoreline projects using logs and branches gathered from the nearby woodlands.

“Using nature-based materials to stabilize shorelines is just as effective, and in some cases more effective, than hard-armoring methods such as bulkheads,” says Dr. Marianne Walch, the Center’s Science and Restoration Coordinator.

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Botanic Gardens’ Shoreline Stabilizing Project Makes Progress

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October 01 | by Chris Flood in the Cape Gazette

It’s been about a week since sand was placed along the Delaware Botanic Gardens’ Pepper Creek shoreline, and Brian Trader said a newly constructed anchored-branch toe is already doing its job.

The sand was white when it was put here, but it’s beginning to silt in, which is why it looks so dirty, said Trader, Delaware Botanic Gardens deputy executive director and director of horticulture. The sand is the naturally occurring base for other plant life found along the shoreline there, he said.

For the better part of 2020, Delaware Botanic Gardens staff and volunteers have been hard at work completing a shoreline stabilization project, which includes an anchored-branch toe hundreds of feet long and thousands of grass plantings.

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Birds Nest Revetment made from wood found on site. Photo by Chris Flood

Delaware Botanic Garden in Bloom During COVID

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August 29 | by Claire Jones in the Garden Diaries

Rhyne Garden. Photo by Ray Bojarski

On a breezy, refreshingly warm, not hot day, I visited the Delaware Botanic Gardens to see see how things have developed in a year of many happenings, most importantly the impact of COVID. Like most other public gardens, DBG has been closed to the public all season and as a young, still expanding public garden, I was apprehensive that the closing would have a detrimental effect of rampant weed growth which could quickly overtake new plantings. And I was curious if the pandemic had any impact on the garden creation progress, when I pulled up to the DBG parking lot.

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