When you walk around Philadelphia you will see patches of green and a flower pot or two but, it isn’t the first place you think lovely gardens and greenery. When Philadelphia was planned it was desinged with squares for meeting and spacing out communities. A few of these squares remain like Washington Square and Rittenhouse Square and all around the historic area have federal property with grass that is just lovely but, other than these little parks concentrated in one small area of the city there is not a lot more for parks and gardens. If you are looking to venture a bit outside of the city 10 minutes or so there are a couple gems to soak in.
Bartrams Garden was built in the 18th century and it is pretty amazing you can get there by car, boat, or bus and enjoy the oldest botanical garden in America.
The Barnes Foundation has a beautiful arboretum that does not get as much attention as the museum but, is such a great escape. It is like an english garden and it feels like the secret garden. There is something magical here and once the Barnes art collection moves to Center City the arboretum will stay and continue thriving in its own right.
Filed under about town · Tagged with barnes, bartrams, gardens in philadelphia, philadelphia city planning
what a beautiful garden! Your pictures are wonderful. You are showing sides of Philly that I never knew existed.
Gorgeous! Where in the city is this?