KINGWOOD GARDENS
As the sun shines ever earlier and more brightly, gardeners turn away from their winter, armchair pursuits and begin to think seriously about their gardens. Those armchair pursuits may have included idle turning of the beautiful, seductive pages of the many flower and garden catalogues that start coming to our homes even in December. It is very tempting to order from catalogues, but sooner or later a serious gardener wants to see a real blooming specimen of the plant they admire in a book or a catalogue.
Kingwood Gardens is the perfect place to see many plants in bloom which are adapted to our climate. Kingwood is often compared with Longwood Gardens, the Dupont family's famous botanical gardens near Philadelphia. Longwood is much larger with 70 full-time gardeners, compared to Kingwood's five gardeners and three groundskeepers . Longwood has a multimillion dollar budget, while Kingwood gets by on $700,000 a year. Longwood is so huge that visitors are herded along by ticket-takers who steer them along from one garden gate to the next. At Kingwood, visitors come and go as they wish and ask questions of the grounds keepers, who are sources of information about pests and diseases. In the summer months, an army of volunteers help the groundskeepers weed and keep the beds tidy.
Charles Kelley King, the millionaire head of The Ohio Brass Company , made few restrictions about how his estate was to be used.. Kingwood should provide educational programs, particularly on nature and horticulture, for "the enrichment of people's lives" . Each year the Educational Coordinator, Bill Collins, organizes dozens of workshops, lectures, plant sales, and flower shows. He takes calls from worried gardeners. One example: "What do I do with my tulips now that they're no longer blooming?" The answer, "Leave them alone until the leaves lose their color." is followed by a careful explanation of why this is necessary. The library has more than 8,000 volumes, most of which can be borrowed free of charge. Kingwood is one of the few public gardens of its size that charges no admission, due to the $10 million trust left by Mr. King.
Kingwood Hall is a large, well proportioned house of soft, rose-colored brick in the French Normandy style. The public rooms are maintained much as Mr. King left them. They are formal with hand-printed wall-papers, tall windows, splendid antiques, and many fresh flower arrangements created by volunteers.
The head gardener, Charles Applegate, directs the massive effort that is needed the first week in June to lift 45,000 spring flowering bulbs, so that 30,000 summer flowering annuals can be planted. The director, the librarian and secretaries all come out from behind their desks to help the gardeners in this effort. The annuals will be in peak bloom in mid-July when thousands of tourists will come to Kingwood to see one of the country's most extravagant displays of summer annuals.
The formal gardens are arranged in a series of "rooms", each hidden by a tall boxwood hedge. Each bed is a breathtaking display of color, texture and form. The duck pond is a major attraction for children and adults alike. The groundskeepers also tend the waterfowl. They live-trap the raccoons, opossums, minks and foxes that persist in sneaking into Kingwood for an easy lunch.
Kingwood provides a list of peak blooms from February, (crocus) through September (mums and dahlias). For a schedule , write Kingwood Center, 900 Park Avenue West, Mansfield 44906 or call ( 419 522-02ll) Some Spring events are: Daffodil Society Show , April 25 &26, Sat. 2-5, Sun, l0 – 5. Ohio Lily Society Spring Bulb Sale , April l9, ll:30 a.m., Kingwood Perennial Plant Sale, May 2 &3, Sat. 9-5, Sun 12 – 5. Blooming dates are Daffodils: Mid April to early May, Tulips: Early to Mid-May, Perennial Garden: April to Fall Frost.
Kingwood Gardens is open daily from 8 A.M. till a half an hour before sunset. The plant sales area in the greenhouse is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30. The mansion is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except Sunday, l-5 p.m. It is closed on Monday. To reach the gardens take US 30 to the Trimble Road. The center is bordered by Trimble Road, Park Avenue West, and Linden Road.
-- Mary