Spring Field Trip: Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve and Hortulus Farm

Travel with us to upper Bucks County to visit two of the regions great gardens. The first stop will be Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, the only accredited botanical garden in the country dedicated to native plants. In fact, there are over 700 native plant species growing naturally on the preserve’s 134 acres. Guided by trained naturalists, you will see many of these beauties scattered along 2 1⁄2 miles of trails in a variety of habitats including mature hardwood forests, a meadow, steep hillsides, a creek, a pond and other wetlands. In addition, you can shop for plants at their Native Plant Nursery.

Hortulus Farm is a 100-acre property featuring twenty-four separate gardens on 30 of its acres, linked by paths, greenswards, and bridges passing over local Fire Creek. In spring, the Hortulus Farm lawns and woodlands are ablaze with over 200,000 daffodils, narcissus, bluebells, native dogwoods, and Delaware Valley white azaleas. The garden includes a lake, birch and pine allées, pool and fountain gardens, and a splendidly re-conceived kitchen garden. The historic barns and outbuildings at Hortulus Farm are home to a colorfully diverse family of farm animals, including 
dogs, horses, cats, sheep, chickens, ducks, swans, peacocks, and pheasants.

We will be guided by Renny Reynolds and Jack Staub, the Founders of Hortulus Farm. This is a rare opportunity to see the house and museum, and learn about the evolution of the gardens through the eyes of the two individuals who created them. Want more? There is also a nursery, but not just any nursery. This nursery features the rare and unusual in every category, each variety chosen for its outstanding beauty and performance. Their ever-changing stock includes tropicals, standards, espaliers, topiaries, caged and frame-grown specimens, and a superb collection of hard-to-find perennials, shrubs, and annuals, many of which can be viewed in the gardens.

$80 for members, $95 for non-members

Schedule Outline:
Arrive at Bowman’s Hill at 9:00
Tour BH from 9:00 – 11:30
Lunch at Hortulus from arrival (noonish) until 12:45
Tour Hortulus 12:45 – 3:00
Home by 4:00

Pre-registration required. Space is limited to bus capacity.
Please register early.