Published on: Wednesday, March 31, 2010

www.tripsandgetaways.com

Spring has sprung at Winterthur Gardens! Winterthur Museum & Country Estate is nestled in the heart of Delaware’s beautiful Brandywine Valley, halfway between New York City and Washington, D.C.

Winterthur offers a variety of tours, exhibitions and programs for all ages to enjoy. Discover the museum’s magnificent collection of American antiques, celebrating the best in style and craftsmanship. Delight your senses with a stroll through the glorious 60-acre garden and surrounding landscape of woodlands, waterways and rolling meadows.

Winterthur is the former home of Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969), an avid antiques collector and horticulturist. In the early 20th century, du Pont and his father, Henry Algernon du Pont, designed Winterthur in the spirit of 18th- and19th-century European country houses.

The garden is full of rejuvenation as the spring blooms in sheets of color. The rest of the museum is recharged as Winterthur rolls out new exhibitions and programs this spring.

And it’s not just the garden that will be in bloom! Flowers abound in the spring version of the introductory house tour, showing highlights of the collection in beautiful fifth- and sixth-floor rooms decorated with lovely floral arrangements.

In the Lost Gardens of the Brandywine exhibition, the Brandywine Valley is the backdrop for some of the finest gardens in the country. Through the exhibition, guests will be able to see the elegance of these gardens during the 1920s and ’30s through rare early color images and a display of garden ornaments and relics.

In the Lost Gardens Lunchtime Lecture Series, beginning April 8, Winterthur experts and local historians and horticulturists will discuss notable gardens of the area, from Main Line estates to the evolution of Nemours and Winterthur.

In the galleries, new displays will highlight fascinating and unexpected aspects of the collection as well as new accessions.

New exhibits of ceramics, furniture, lighting and a special loan from the Plimoth Plantation—a stunning embroidered jacket created entirely by hand by more than 300 people using 17th-century techniques—will all be on display.

Winterthur’s new café is now open. Located in the cottage, within the museum store, the café, with patio and view of Clenny Run stream, will be a delightful place to enjoy afternoon tea or lunch with friends.

Visit .www.winterthur.org/calendar for more information. Unless otherwise noted, programs are included with admission ticket.

For more information on Mid-Atlantic getaways, visit www.tripsandgetaways.com