Going to Philly and NY in the fall

Does anybody have any arboretums or nurseries or areas to stop at along the way to Philly and upstate NY from Chicago? We will be going probably around the 1st week in October to catch some of the fall colors and visit the sis-in-law. I figured maybe Dawes Arboretum. As far as Nurseries go, I like conifers and maples and only have a Corolla so they would have to sell stuff in 1 gal or small sizes for me to buy anything. I can skip the normal good nurseries, just tell me where the freaks are to be had.

Bill

I imagine you've got Winterthur & Longwood Gardens on your list? (a bit south of Phila?

RareFind in NJ is a wonderful nursery for the "freaks" for ericaceous shrubs.

Tam

No list yet Tam. You people are witnessing the creation of it, how exciting :) I would imagine we would only go to a couple of places since the purpose of the trip is to see the sis and the fall colors and maybe camp and hike if my wife feels up to it (she'll be a little past 5 months pregnant and might not want to sleep on the ground).

Bill

Longwood Gardens is incredible, any time of year. The Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College is really nice. Chanticleer Garden is another near Philly

www.chanticleergarden.org

www.scottarboretum.org

I also vote for Longwood Gardens or Winterthur: both are gorgeous!

I totally forgot Chanticleer!!! Fantastic modern.

Longwood started out as an arboretum, wayyyyy back (I'm too lazy to look it up right now but it
was started out by a family as a collection of trees in the 1700's and bought by a logging company
but saved by one of the DuPonts.) They have something like 4 acre's under glass too. Huge property!

Winterthur is a heavenly peice of property beautifully designed by another of the DuPonts.
The house has antiques that were used to create a collection by Jackie Kennedy for the Whitehouse.
They also have dinnerwhere/porcelain etc. So its got stuff for the non-gardeners too.

Tam

So far it looks like Longwood and Dawes. Now just need to find a nursery closer than NJ for the coniferite and maple addict in me. Thanks for all the links and suggestions. All good ideas, just not enough time.

Bill

Hi Bill,

I'm jealous! I had wanted to make this trip in May, but we opted for the Carolinas instead. Morris Arb at the U of Penn. might be worth checking out. Supposed to have a nice collection of conifers, and are promoting their approval to hold a national collection of Firs. That might make it worth while in itself.

http://www.business-services.upenn.edu/arboretum/greekfir2.html

Bill, depending upon your route, don't forget Holden (near Cleveland), the largest arboretum in America.

Guy S.