We visited Jenkins Arboretum on Wednesday this week. Wednesdays are our ‘mini field trips’. They aren’t required (well, none of the trips are required), but these trips are not chaperoned or anything.

Its located in Devon, PA, which isn’t all that far from Longwood. We all managed to cram in a mini van (shh, there were 9 of us.. which I’m pretty sure is two over legal in that car… haha) and get there without too much pain.

Unfortunately we missed the best time to be there. The gardens primary are a focus on native woodland species, and have an emphasis on azaleas and rhododendrons. And of course its past the normal season for those to be in the bloom, so we didn’t get to see the spectacular collections of color that the garden is known for in spring.

But it was a beautiful day and the garden was still really nice. The trails were easy to walk and some even had ‘path markers’ to show you which way you were going.

Click HERE for a link to the website. They actually have some photos on there that show some of the areas when the azaleas and other native fauna are at their peak. I’m hoping to get back there next year during the peak time.

They just completed a new visitors center, which received LEED certification at the Gold level. Hopefully more Botanic gardens will have the opportunity to do that with their buildings. They call the lobby are the “Gateway to the Gardens”.

(Me and Jamie)