The last public garden I visited on my road trip down the East Coast last October was newly opened Delaware Botanic Gardens in Dagsboro, Delaware. The big draw? A 2-acre meadow designed by revered Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf, who also designed the plantings of the High Line in New York City. Driving south from the Wilmington area, I arrived mid-morning on October 15th, when pink- and white-flowering muhly grasses were as frothy and gossamer in the morning light as freshly spun cotton candy.

Located on the coastal plain, Delaware Botanic Gardens was founded through the fundraising and organizing efforts of garden-loving locals, not via wealthy benefactors. Oudolf was sufficiently impressed by their goal to create from scratch a public garden focused on native plants — a garden that anyone could visit rather than a private residential garden hidden away — that he signed on to design the signature meadow garden.

Piet Oudolf Meadow

My visit in mid-October was near the end of the garden’s open season. It turned out to be a spectacular time to see the meadow thanks to the muhlies and other grasses.

I’ll let the photos mostly speak for themselves. If you’d like to pore over Oudolf’s plant list (much abbreviated, no doubt), here are links to the Upper Meadow, Middle Meadow, and Lower Meadow.

‘Hula Dancer’ echinacea

Meadow view looking toward an outdoor classroom sheltered by a shade sail

Pink muhly foaming like a breaker wave coming at you

The meadow is laid out like a figure 8, generously bisected by broad, crushed-gravel paths that allow you to explore among the plants, not just view the meadow from the perimeter or a central path.

Viewing mound

In the center of the upper meadow, a turf berm resembles a green island, encircled by paths leading off in four directions. A crossroads…

…and an elevated view spot.

It draws visitors to climb up and survey their surroundings.

I went up and did my own meerkat-like look-about.

It’s a clever feature to include in a flat garden, much like the seating berms at equally flat Houston Botanic Garden.

I’m sure the birding is excellent in the meadow, especially when perennials and grasses go to seed.

Other wildlife can be spotted here too, like this big praying mantis.

A pollinator en route to white asters

Immersed in inflorescence!

‘Mariesii’ balloon flower

I was a bit early for the amsonia to turn gloriously golden, but it was close.

Learning Garden

At the end of the upper meadow, an outdoor classroom shaded by sun sails looks group-ready.

Here’s the instructor. Just kidding! This is one of several creative scarecrows placed throughout the gardens last October.

Hyacinth bean vine climbing a small tree at the woodland edge

Folly Garden

The entrance to the Folly Garden…

…a bright-shade garden in a grove of trees. In October it was adorned with pumpkins and squash, but in spring it comes to colorful life with daffodils, tulips, and other bulbs.

A shady spot to sit, with a view across the Oudolf meadow to the visitor center

A gardener scarecrow with her trug basket

A simple grass-and-ivy planter with pumpkins

Asters

Beautyberry

Woodland Garden

Woodland gardens make up 12 acres of DBG, with circuitous walking trails offering meditative, shady strolls.

Gigantic nests appear here and there among the trees.

They seemed made just to look at, not to play in. Perhaps this is what the gardening staff does with fallen branches?

The Point

Pepper Creek flows along the edge of the woodland garden. Several trails lead to the Point, which offers a pleasant spot to view the water.

The marshy woodland edge

Visitor Center

Currently a small, open-air building serves as the welcome center, but plans are in the works for a larger visitor center designed by Lake|Flato, a San Antonio-based firm. During my visit, contractors were busy constructing permanent restrooms next to the visitor center. In some ways, the garden still feels brand-new, although the meadow garden is already lush and full just a couple of years in.

Greeting visitors, a 9-foot-tall, green-faced sea witch stood proudly adorned with oyster shells and a curved, pointy hat.

She was marvelous, and surprisingly realistic looking!

She was the garden’s contribution to the Rehoboth Beach Chamber of Commerce Sea Witch Festival. That’s something I need to see one day. Comparable perhaps to the fun Zombie Crawl in Eureka Springs, Arkansas?

Inside the no-frills visitor center, laminated copies of Piet Oudolf’s meadow plans are displayed.

It’s fascinating to see how he lays out matrixes of thousands of meadow plants.

It must have taken an army of volunteers to plant everything.

Rhyne Garden

Along the parking lot, a stormwater-management garden includes 12,000 native perennials, shrubs, and trees planted in a wide swale to slow and capture runoff and give it time to soak into the soil.

As the sign explains, the (eventual) tree canopy slows the rain, vegetation captures the runoff, and plant roots filter out pollutants.

Delaware Botanic Gardens is off the beaten path in rural Sussex County but within driving distance of Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and even New York. It’s definitely worth an hour or two of exploration, even before the rest of the planned gardens have been completed. As of this writing, visiting hours are Thursday through Sunday only, so plan accordingly.

For a look back at Part 6 of my tour of marvelous Chanticleer Garden, click here. You’ll find links to my other Chanticleer posts at the end of each article in the series. Up next: The final post from my big road trip, a visit to Chincoteague and Assateague Islands — with pony sightings! — on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

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Digging Deeper

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