Jenny, But I gotta think he got a tremendously good deal on the property...just can't romanticize any of the "Great American Industrialists" or think of them as saviors of trees.
Well, I cannot comment on what he may have paid for the property (the country paid pennies to the dollar for lands that would be developed into National Forests and National Parks), but come on Jenny, give credit where credit is due. Du Pont Industries has a lot of properties (particularly around the Chesapeake Bay) that have been preserved for conservation and wildlife studies. Du Pont industries is also a large grant contributor (money-wise) regarding wildlife and fisheries (and other environmental) studies. Many of the "Great American Industrialists" have provided a lot of modern necessities and luxuries that you and I enjoy and may take for granted. American industries are more environmentally conscience than most foreign entities, so I'm not willing to bash the "American way" and neither should you. While there may be some "bad apples" within the realms of industry regarding exploitation of natural resources, it would be unfair and erroneous to lump all into the same pot. So don't fall prey to this. Longwood Gardens has some great tree specimens; Giant Sequoia, Cedar of Lebanon, among others. They also have developed some popular azalea cultivars such as "Delaware Valley White" (if you are a gardener and/or plant 'appreciator' like me!). Also, it is a pretty place to visit during Christmas time! All this plus the fountains make it worth the visit when in the Philly area. (Barry, have you been to Longwood Gardens?) Steve Springer ________________________________ From: [email protected] on behalf of JennyNYC Sent: Tue 7/7/2009 6:02 PM To: ENTSTrees Subject: [ENTS] Re: Longwood Tulip: PA height champion Steve, Yes, he bought land that belonged to a Quaker family, the Peirce's. They had owned the land nearly 200 years and along the way some trees not normally found in that part of the world were planted. It was a sweet little grove with, alas, many lovely and infested hemlocks. But I gotta think he got a tremendously good deal on the property...just can't romanticize any of the "Great American Industrialists" or think of them as saviors of trees. The lover of fountains will be in water-plumed heaven at Longwood, . Shows on the even hours....at night, set to music and incorporates light shows. Or visit the nice trees... Jenny On Jul 7, 5:54 pm, "Steven Springer" <[email protected]> wrote: > Jenny, > > Longwood Gardens is a neat place to visit. There is a story that the > whole place was started because Pierre was interested in saving a grove > of trees from development! How about that from a businessman!? Du Pont > has done a lot of positive things regarding conservation and > environmental study, in addition to general "giving back" to the public. > Because of him, the state of Delaware does not have a sales tax. He > seems like he would have been an interesting individual to befriend. > > Steve Springer > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > > Behalf Of JennyNYC > Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 4:16 PM > To: ENTSTrees > Subject: [ENTS] Longwood Tulip: PA height champion > > ENTS, > > I visited Longwood Gardens outside of Philadelphia yesterday and found > some great tulip trees, including one recently measured by ENTS member > Scott Wade! 163.3' height. PA height champion. > > Nice forest, beautiful meadow...The rest was all about Fountains and a > massive Conservatory designed by early 20th century biggo Pierre du > Pont. Supposed to be an important botanical garden, but I just liked > the trees and meadow. > > Fountains??? Can you get more cliche for one of these corporate > Napoleons? I read he used to 'entertain' his nieces and nephews by > putting secret fountain jets around the grounds and suddenly turning > them on to surprise them. They were probably traumatized by Uncle > Pierre... > > Anyway. Here's a link to what i think is the tulip tree that Scott > measured. There was a beautiful maple too beside the meadow. There > were so many sugar maples that I assumed this was one, but it could be > a red. > > http://picasaweb.google.com/JennifDudley/TulipTreesAndASugarMapleLongwoo > d?feat=directlink > > Jenny --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
