By Scott Fulford, Visitor Experience Lead, PHS Meadowbrook Farm

They come from Horsham, Allentown, Pittsburgh, and sometimes just around the corner. Some were born in Puerto Rico, Turkey, or Cambodia; others still call those places home. They arrive with cameras, birding apps, baby strollers, and loved ones. More often than not, they leave with faces that seem a little calmer, a little softer, and a little brighter. 

Everyone brings a story, and the gardens become part of that story. In turn, these stories become part of the gardens. 

From early spring through mid-autumn, PHS Meadowbrook Farm welcomes thousands of visitors each year. As a free public garden, it opens its gates to everyone, offering inspiration, beauty, and respite to experienced horticulturists, beginning gardeners, and people who simply come to walk, wonder, or rest. 

People Come Alone

Some people come seeking ideas, others to see a particular tree or shrub, and still others for a moment of peace and quiet. Some are on a quick mission to see what's new in the fluttery, buzzy Pollinator Garden or to discover how the fragrance of the fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) has changed since the week before. Others linger, unwinding after work or trying to remember or perhaps forget something in the shelter of a mature Japanese stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia) with a full view of the property entrusted by J. Liddon and Alice Pennock to the PHS in 2004.  

One young man from North Philadelphia found the garden after Googling "chill place for a walk near me." He spent part of his birthday here and said he especially loved the Circle Garden, where the "thick" Angelica (Angelica atropurpurea) had become his favorite plant. 

People Come in Pairs

Glowing young couples stroll hand in hand. They may or may not notice the plants around them, but they often pause for a selfie, sometimes framed ironically by the sweetly scented blue-lavender flower spikes of the chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus 'Abbeville Blue'). 

A couple who have visited the gardens for many years now arrive late in the day. With walker and cane, they make their slow way through the Display Garden, stopping now and then to photograph the cobalt flash of blue pimpernel (Anagallis monelli ‘Blue Light’) and the unearthly sprays of pineapple lily (Eucomis comosa ‘Sparkling Burgundy’) with gently trembling hands. They no longer try to see everything; just a short walk through the garden is enough now. 

Sisters, brothers, and lifelong friends reunite in Meadowbrook’s gardens after weeks or years apart. They find the bench tucked in the shade behind the Oyama magnolia (Magnolia sieboldii) a welcoming place to catch up, reminisce, or simply sit together in companionable silence. 

Groups Come to Tour

Grandparents who remember the Pennock place lead their children and grandchildren to the Rock Garden pond to see the frogs and fish. Before long, the grandparents are the ones being expertly led around the property by youngsters clutching maps in their small hands. 

Plant-hunting garden club members from Colorado and New Jersey marvel at the audacity of a cactus and succulent garden in southeastern Pennsylvania. Many linger over the California tree poppies (Romneya coulteri) and beaked yucca (Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies’) growing there before turning their attention to the dragon pine (Pinus densiflora 'Oculus-draconis') nearby. 

Members of the camera club, intent on photographing hummingbirds, wait patiently beside the threadleaf giant hyssop (Agastache rupestris) and grape honeysuckle (Lonicera reticulata 'Kintzley's Ghost'), hoping for that one perfect, almost mythical shot of their elusive quarry. 

Unexpected Discoveries at Meadowbrook Farm

The gardens and the plants within them touch people in unexpected ways. 

Visitors from "around the corner" are often delighted to discover that Meadowbrook’s dawn redwoods (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), monkey puzzle trees (Araucaria araucana), and windmill palms (Trachycarpus fortunei) are growing practically in their own backyards.  

Longtime Flower Show volunteers, coming for a dose of color and community, are enchanted by the exquisite flowery stage sets of the front and back courtyards. The spectacular display of annuals, tender bulbs, and tropicals in the Queen’s Garden, Rose Garden, and Eagle Garden never disappoints them. 

One day, a couple who had recently moved from South Carolina to be closer to their son and his family paused beside a bald cypress (Taxodium distichum 'Peve Minaret') in the Rain Garden and found themselves talking about the South. Another day, a woman from Ukraine, her eyes misting, shared that the kaleidoscopic strawflowers (Helichrysum bracteatum) in Alice's Garden were the first she had seen since leaving home. 

Why Meadowbrook Farm is More Than a Garden 

Scores of people pass through PHS Meadowbrook Farm each year, yet no two visits are ever quite the same. Plants grow, seasons turn, and the gardens are constantly changing, just as the people who come to them are changing. Whether visitors arrive searching for a rare tree, a perfect photograph, a peaceful walk, or simply a place to breathe, the gardens offer each of them something a little different. In that quiet exchange between people and plants lies PHS Meadowbrook Farm's greatest gift: not simply a remarkable collection of gardens, but a place where beauty, memory, curiosity, and hope can take root.