By Richard Larkin

Early Summer at Nemours Mansion & Gardens

Following a wet winter and an early spring, the weather in this part of Delaware has now turned dry. Over a recent four-week period we planted 1,600 annuals and 1,500 cannas. Keeping everything watered has been a greater task this year than it was last, when we had frequent rains.

Any rural-area garden must contend with many kinds of competition from nature, and the gardens at Nemours are no exception. Now that the summer plantings are in the ground, young fawns and does come out of the woods to enjoy the smorgasbord, and groundhogs and rabbits help themselves from our “salad bar.” We intentionally have kept some animals on the property so visitors can get an idea of what it probably looked like when Alfred I. DuPont was alive, but we also must take steps to keep the flowers and plants from being totally destroyed.

Our partnership with the local 4-H club and the University of Delaware is going well. Both the club and the university maintain vegetable gardens at Nemours and those plots are thriving, thanks to a fence and coyote urine that keep away the deer. We expect that produce from these patches will be ready for sale to Nemours employees by July.

The restoration of the water tower is nearing completion; only the clock still needs work. We are also looking forward to restoring the Southern Gardens; that job will begin later this year and continue into the next.

Each season the gardens continue to grow and change and a new set of challenges arises. Wet, dry, hot or cold the garden “show” must go on!

Photo below: A view of the Water Tower from the Horseshoe Court