“History and Horticulture“
Malvern, PA • May 7-9, 2025
The Desmond Hotel
Convention hotel price $169 plus taxes (reservations made at least 30 days prior).
Convention Chair: Steve Wright — Devon, PA
REGISTRATION IS CLOSED
The 2025 National Convention will be held in the Philadelphia region from May 7th through May 9th. The tagline “History and Horticulture” could not be more appropriate as the region is loaded with both. The historic sites go well beyond Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. In fact, there are more than 1,200 properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia and its four surrounding counties! Philadelphia is also the birthplace of American botany and home to John Bartram’s garden, created nearly 300 years ago. Bartram’s legacy lives on as the Philadelphia countryside is now peppered with dozens of beautiful gardens, both public and private. With more than 35 public gardens within 30 miles of Philadelphia, the region has been dubbed “America’s Garden Capital”. As the host of the Convention, Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens is excited to invite you all for a few days to explore some of these great destinations.
The Convention Hotel
The Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA will be our home base. This beautiful, award-winning hotel sits in the middle of Philadelphia’s historic countryside with easy access to Valley Forge National Historical Park and Brandywine Battlefield, and a short distance to all our trip destinations. Reservations will include free parking, a local shuttle, complimentary wi-fi and a free hot breakfast each morning.
We have reserved 80 rooms for this event with the special Convention rate of $169. In addition, 20 rooms have been blocked with that rate for Tuesday night for any early arrivals as well as Saturday night for those wishing to extend their stay. Please contact the hotel directly at 1-800-575-1776 or reservations@desmondgv.com to make your reservations. Be sure to let them know you are attending the Convention and use the three-letter code “ASA”. Blocked guestrooms will be released Tuesday, April 8th, so be sure to make your reservations by then.
Wednesday Activities
Convention registration will open at noon and continue until 8:00 PM. Early arrivals might enjoy visiting nearby attractions or one of the area’s many public gardens. You might also take advantage of opportunities to visit small private gardens during their “open house” hours. A list of those gardens will be available at the registration desk. Dinner will be on your own before we come together for a welcome social from 7:00-8:30 PM. There are three dining options at the hotel with several others within walking distance.
Thursday Activities
The first full day of the Convention will be one filled with horticultural delights. We first visit a garden that has been called “the most romantic, imaginative, and exciting public garden in America.” Chanticleer is a study of textures and forms, where foliage trumps flowers, the gardeners lead the design, and even the drinking fountains are sculptural. It is a garden of pleasure and learning yet filled with ideas to take home. This “pleasure garden” draws visitors from all over the world, and for good reason.
From there, we take a short drive to Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens with its nationally accredited collection of rhododendrons and azaleas. In addition, the garden displays a remarkable collection of native companion plants that not only add beauty, but also significant ecological value. Thousands of plants have been added in the past few years and Jenkins will be in its fifth year of collecting for its Native Rhododendron Germplasm Repository. Many plants collected for that project will be on display.
There will not be a sale at the hotel this year. Instead, Jenkins will be hosting the Convention plant sale and we have planned extra time at Jenkins to allow for shopping. Sale plants will include a large selection of azaleas and rhododendrons, including some rare selections propagated over the past few years. There will also be hundreds of other native trees, shrubs, ferns and wildflowers.
We end our travels on Thursday with a trip to WynEden – the garden of celebrated horticulturist Wayne Guymon – which is widely recognized as one of the premier private gardens in the Mid-Atlantic. This superb, ten-acre garden features an extensive collection of azaleas, rhododendrons, and hosta. Wayne celebrates form, color, and texture with a richness of plant material carefully managed to emphasize order and serenity. This lush oasis is filled with many horticultural surprises. WynEden is a unique achievement of artistic vision, horticultural skill, and sustained effort, not to be missed.
We will arrive back at the hotel for a buffet dinner and presentations by Nicole Juday and John Lonsdale. Nicole is a local author and horticulturist who recently published the book called “Private Gardens of Philadelphia” with noted garden photographer Rob Cardillo. Nicole will speak about the historic gardens in her book and will follow with book sales and signing. John is the owner and creator of Edgewood Gardens, a small private garden and nursery west of Philadelphia. John has grown a wide variety of alpine and woodland plants and bulbs for more than 40 years and has traveled extensively to study plants in situ, especially Trillium species in the Southeastern US. John’s garden is chock full of rare and unusual botanical wonders and his presentation will showcase a selection of bulbs, perennials, and small trees and shrubs he grows as perfect complements to azaleas.
Friday Activities
We will spend Friday exploring two of the region’s du Pont gardens. First, we head to Winterthur, a spectacular, 60-acre public garden surrounded by over 1,000 acres of farmland, meadows, and waterways. Winterthur stewards a large collection of flowering trees, spring ephemeral wildflowers, and an extensive collection of evergreen azaleas. The beautiful garden we see today is the result of the artistic vision of its creator, Henry Francis du Pont. The views in every direction were carefully designed and important to the visitor experience. The paths are an integral part of the overall design, curving rather than straight, following the contours of the land, passing around trees, drawing walkers into the garden. Mr. du Pont’s 175 room Mansion holds a world-renowned art and furniture collection of more than 90,000 objects. Though most of this collection is unavailable to the public, visitors can enjoy a small museum containing a sampling of items from the collection.
We will then travel to Mt. Cuba Center, one of America’s premier native plant gardens. The collection focuses on plants native to the Eastern Temperate Forests of the United States with a particular emphasis on the Appalachian Piedmont. Their North American Hexastylis and Trillium collections are of national significance and have been accredited by the American Public Gardens Association’s Plant Collections Network. Mt. Cuba also has one of the most extensive collections of eastern native azaleas in the country, displaying almost every species and their various naturally occurring forms.
We end Friday with our banquet and speaker, Karel Bernady. Karel has been a mainstay in the Rhododendron world having filled many high-level leadership roles on the local (Philadelphia), regional, and national level for nearly 40 years and earning the ARS’s Gold Medal in 2015. Karel’s fascination for rhododendrons and azaleas has led him on many botanical adventures. While he frequently joins others to explore wild populations in the southern Appalachians, he has also spent considerable time exploring the native azaleas in the northeast. Throughout his travels, he has discovered many exceptional specimens and noteworthy populations closer to home. His presentation will feature many of these native azalea “hot spots” in the northeast.
Saturday (Post Convention)
We hope you will have an opportunity to continue exploring on your own but have also organized some post-convention activities.
For anyone interested, we have planned a hike in nearby French Creek State Park. French Creek is an 8,000-acre natural area in the Hopewell Big Woods – the largest contiguous forest in southeastern Pennsylvania. We will be hiking part of the Mill Creek Trail, a moderate, five-mile loop through natural forest with lots of opportunities for stops and photographs. Along the way, you will see many pinxterbloom azaleas and hundreds of woodland wildflowers including seven different species of native terrestrial orchids, most of which should be in bloom.
You might also consider heading back to Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens to continue shopping and to see the annual cut flower competition (aka “truss show”) hosted by the Delaware Valley Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society.
Or use this opportunity to visit one of the many other public gardens or historic sites. And, of course, no trip to Philadelphia would be complete without an authentic Philly cheesesteak! You will receive a long list of options for all these things in your registration packet.
Registration Information:
A registration fee of $350 will cover all expenses, including meals. Registrations must be received no later than April 7, 2025, after which time a $50 fee will be requested. Refunds are available for cancellations made before March 7, 2025. You can register online by clicking here, or you can print the registration form and send it with your payment to Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens, 631 Berwyn Baptist Rd., Devon, PA 19333.