The Oldest Garden in America, and I Still Haven’t Been

Bartram’s Garden has been sitting on the Schuylkill in West Philadelphia since 1728, it is free, and I still have not been. It is at the top of my wishlist.

John Bartram’s 1728 stone farmhouse seen through the green front garden at Bartram’s Garden in West Philadelphia.

I have never been to Bartram’s Garden, which is ridiculous, because it is the oldest surviving botanic garden in North America, it has been sitting on 45 acres along the Schuylkill in West Philadelphia about ten minutes south of Penn since 1728, and it is free.

The details I know from a distance make it sound great. The stone farmhouse John Bartram built starting in 1728 is still standing, and on Saturdays from May through September a boathouse on the property lends out kayaks and rowboats for free. The kayak thing is what put it at the top of my wishlist. The official site is here.

Hero photo: Muran.Fox via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.