September 13, 2023 • 7 mins
On this week's episode of WTN, I'm joined by Emily Emerich, Commissioner of Ladew Gardens! Emily gives me the back story on Ladew and how it came to be, what there is to experience at the gardens, various upcoming events, and more! We also touched on the importance of green spaces, especially during times like the pandemic, and how we can support Ladew's efforts!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to WhereTo Next? A travel podcast with me.
Your host my name is Franciska Presti, on with Emily Emeric, executive
director of Ludou Gardens, on withus today. Emily, Welcome, Welcome.
I'm so happy to have you onthis phone and so delighted to talk
to you about one of my favoriteplaces in the world. Francesca, Oh
my goodness, you are so welcome, so excited to get you on to
(00:20):
talk all about Ledue Gardens. SoI mean, quite honestly, we can
just dive right in. Tell meall about Ludu Gardens, Emily. Ludou
Gardens is located about twenty miles twentyfive miles north of Baltimore, and it
is the property that was left toa private foundation. A gentleman from New
York who loved the equestrian sport offox hunting bought two hundred and fifty acres
(00:41):
out here and created a beautiful manorhouse that houses English antiques and sort of
equestrian related antiques and artwork and thenstarted on gardens. And Harvey Ludoux,
who was this founder, had traveledthe world with his parents when he was
growing up and had seen some ofthe most beautiful gardens in England and in
Europe, and he transformed this sortof barren farm to twenty two acres with
(01:04):
topiary being the main item that delineatesLe Dou and makes it different from other
gardens. So what is topiary.Topiary is the shaping of living plant material.
So you'll see small sort of rosemaryChristmas tree shaped rosemaries, and you'll
see myrtles that have little balls onthe top of them. Those are tabletop
(01:26):
Topiari's imagine that some of ours aretwenty two feet tall, so I know
it's really remarkable. And they're madeout of a variety of different plant material
because you don't want to have amonoculture in any garden. If some critter
decides it lakes to eat that plantand you're out of luck. So a
variety of evergreens and deciduous plants,and Le Dou designed fifteen garden brooms on
(01:47):
the twenty two acres of property,a very arts and craft style of gardening,
and each one has a different eithertheme based on a plant or a
color. We have a rose garden, an Irish garden, a sculpture garden.
It's absolutely beautiful and stunning. Andthen when the foundation inherited this property,
(02:08):
it was established by Ludu and itwas inherited in nineteen seventy six by
the community. We realized that weneeded to broaden it a little bit because
we had this beautiful natural land surroundingthe garden. So we have a mile
and a half long nature walk thatwas added. We have a butterfly house
that's in season. When you cometo Ludou you can check to see if
there's still tickets available and go downand see the butterflies and the chrysalis and
(02:30):
the caterpillars and eggs. We've addeda fabulous cafe. We have two brilliant
chefs down there right now and thefood is just to die for. So
we've started with this wonderful gift fromthis visionary gardener and have ended up fifty
two years later with this wonderful placethat really has something for everybody. Yeah.
(02:50):
Absolutely, Emily Emeric, executive directorof Ludou Gardens, on with me
this morning. Ludou Gardens dot comis where you want to go for more
information and to start planning your triptoday. And I know that we touched
on quite a few things for peopleto explore if they're a first timer or
if their returning guest to Ladu.But can you tell me a little bit,
I guess rather expand a little biton the mission of Ladu Gardens.
(03:13):
The mission of Ladu is to maintainand preserve this gift that was left to
us when mister Ladu passed away innineteen seventy six, and it's broadened beyond
that. He was a bit ofa visionary. He was a fan of
Rachel Carson, who wrote The SilentSpring about the responsible care of plant material
and careful use of pesticides and beingthoughtful about how you garden and what your
(03:36):
impact is. And we've taken thatto broaden and then establish and then broaden
really healthy environmental education programs. Sowe have field trips to bring children out
starting in second and third grade.We have camps in the summertime. We
welcome schools in for field trips,all of that with an environmental science base,
with our hope being that today wasso much technology absorbing the time I'm
(04:00):
of younger people. Getting them outsideand getting them to interact with nature is
a wonderful opportunity for them to beginto value it, and if you value
something, you will look out forit and hopefully preserve it in your life.
Start him young. It's exactly exactly. And it's funny because our head
of education here calls it stealth education. They're not even sure exactly. They
(04:21):
don't even know what's happening. Donot even know. One of our staff
members said years ago, and itwas a lesson that I really took to
heart. He said, I don'tremember one thing I learned in elementary school,
but I remember every field trip Iwant to And I think that's a
really good lesson. I think it'strue of many of us. So so
getting kids out here and then alot of them educate their parents, so
(04:42):
you know, those in both directionstotally really doing the Lord's work. Emily,
let me tell there, you go, there, you go. Well,
you know, it's it's it's it'sa beautiful place. We're really lucky
that he decided to gift this becausewe could be sitting in the middle of
a community of townhouses and things,and you know that's fine, but you
know, town houses and development reallyor one aspect of our lives that is
(05:03):
necessary. But we need to keepour green spaces and we need to keep
those wonderful things that connect us.We really discovered during COVID how important the
outdoors and sort of the piece ofgreen space, how important that is to
people. And we were delighted becausewe were all sort of searching, as
everyone was, for something to doto be helpful, and just being able
(05:24):
to be open once the state reopenand welcome the people into the gardens.
That was the thing that made thebiggest difference. It really was such a
nice reprieve to get outside during thepandemic and just you know, a change
of scenery, to be honest withyou, because man, four walls,
they get they get old quick.And I know that you guys have quite
a robust event calendar going on overthere at LUDU, and I know there's
a few pretty exciting things on thehorizons, So do you want to touch
(05:46):
on those really quick? Absolutely?Thank you. Garden Glow is our illuminated
art event that we hold in Octoberevery year. This one sells out so
quickly. I don't want to breakanyone's heart by saying that there may still
be Tick's available, but we aredoing some promotions with Hartford County, so
there may be some if people wantto check out our website and take a
look there to see if there's sometickets available. We'd love to see people
(06:10):
for Garden Glow. That's the eighteenthto twentieth of October. We have a
Christmas event here where the house isdecorated by local designers and garden clubs.
Our cafes open, serving sort ofa holiday menu. Are Fabulous Gift shop,
which I forgot to mention is open, and then we do some small
Christmas displays in the gardens and thatcomes up in December, and then we
(06:30):
have a little bit of quiet timeand then we open April first. We're
open every day but Wednesdays, andour hours are on our website. Our
big spring event is a garden saleGarden and Garden Plant, a garden antique
sale called Garden Festival the first Saturdayof May, and that one brings people,
vendors and people from as far awayas Maine. So if you are
(06:53):
a plant person or if you area garden antique person, you don't want
to miss that one. It's spectacularabsolutely. LDU gardens dot com is where
you want to go to learn moreinformation, check out a list of events.
I'm on with Emily Emeric, executivedirector of Ludou Gardens this morning.
And Emily, before I let yougo, why don't you let everybody know
how we can support your efforts inthe garden. Well, I would say
(07:15):
a couple of things. Come visitus. Number one, join if you
have the inclination and the ability,and get out and see your public garden.
If you're listening to this an areathat's a little bit too far away,
go out and support your public garden. These are really important places in
this country and we are just gettingto the point now where we understand their
value. That the English have understoodthese things for ages, but supporting them
(07:38):
and making sure that they're here forgenerations to come is a really important thing.
We'd love to see any of yourlisteners, Love you guys, and
we'd love to share the gardens withyou absolutely. For more, you can
check them out at Ledu Gardens dotcom. That's ladew Gardens dot com.
Emily, thanks again, Thanks Francescoso much. Take care,
Good morning, and welcome to WhereTo Next? A travel podcast with me.
Your host my name is Franciska Presti, on with Emily Emeric, executive
director of Ludou Gardens, on withus today. Emily, Welcome, Welcome.
I'm so happy to have you onthis phone and so delighted to talk
to you about one of my favoriteplaces in the world. Francesca, Oh
my goodness, you are so welcome, so excited to get you on to
(00:20):
talk all about Ledue Gardens. SoI mean, quite honestly, we can
just dive right in. Tell meall about Ludu Gardens, Emily. Ludou
Gardens is located about twenty miles twentyfive miles north of Baltimore, and it
is the property that was left toa private foundation. A gentleman from New
York who loved the equestrian sport offox hunting bought two hundred and fifty acres
(00:41):
out here and created a beautiful manorhouse that houses English antiques and sort of
equestrian related antiques and artwork and thenstarted on gardens. And Harvey Ludoux,
who was this founder, had traveledthe world with his parents when he was
growing up and had seen some ofthe most beautiful gardens in England and in
Europe, and he transformed this sortof barren farm to twenty two acres with
(01:04):
topiary being the main item that delineatesLe Dou and makes it different from other
gardens. So what is topiary.Topiary is the shaping of living plant material.
So you'll see small sort of rosemaryChristmas tree shaped rosemaries, and you'll
see myrtles that have little balls onthe top of them. Those are tabletop
(01:26):
Topiari's imagine that some of ours aretwenty two feet tall, so I know
it's really remarkable. And they're madeout of a variety of different plant material
because you don't want to have amonoculture in any garden. If some critter
decides it lakes to eat that plantand you're out of luck. So a
variety of evergreens and deciduous plants,and Le Dou designed fifteen garden brooms on
(01:47):
the twenty two acres of property,a very arts and craft style of gardening,
and each one has a different eithertheme based on a plant or a
color. We have a rose garden, an Irish garden, a sculpture garden.
It's absolutely beautiful and stunning. Andthen when the foundation inherited this property,
(02:08):
it was established by Ludu and itwas inherited in nineteen seventy six by
the community. We realized that weneeded to broaden it a little bit because
we had this beautiful natural land surroundingthe garden. So we have a mile
and a half long nature walk thatwas added. We have a butterfly house
that's in season. When you cometo Ludou you can check to see if
there's still tickets available and go downand see the butterflies and the chrysalis and
(02:30):
the caterpillars and eggs. We've addeda fabulous cafe. We have two brilliant
chefs down there right now and thefood is just to die for. So
we've started with this wonderful gift fromthis visionary gardener and have ended up fifty
two years later with this wonderful placethat really has something for everybody. Yeah.
(02:50):
Absolutely, Emily Emeric, executive directorof Ludou Gardens, on with me
this morning. Ludou Gardens dot comis where you want to go for more
information and to start planning your triptoday. And I know that we touched
on quite a few things for peopleto explore if they're a first timer or
if their returning guest to Ladu.But can you tell me a little bit,
I guess rather expand a little biton the mission of Ladu Gardens.
(03:13):
The mission of Ladu is to maintainand preserve this gift that was left to
us when mister Ladu passed away innineteen seventy six, and it's broadened beyond
that. He was a bit ofa visionary. He was a fan of
Rachel Carson, who wrote The SilentSpring about the responsible care of plant material
and careful use of pesticides and beingthoughtful about how you garden and what your
(03:36):
impact is. And we've taken thatto broaden and then establish and then broaden
really healthy environmental education programs. Sowe have field trips to bring children out
starting in second and third grade.We have camps in the summertime. We
welcome schools in for field trips,all of that with an environmental science base,
with our hope being that today wasso much technology absorbing the time I'm
(04:00):
of younger people. Getting them outsideand getting them to interact with nature is
a wonderful opportunity for them to beginto value it, and if you value
something, you will look out forit and hopefully preserve it in your life.
Start him young. It's exactly exactly. And it's funny because our head
of education here calls it stealth education. They're not even sure exactly. They
(04:21):
don't even know what's happening. Donot even know. One of our staff
members said years ago, and itwas a lesson that I really took to
heart. He said, I don'tremember one thing I learned in elementary school,
but I remember every field trip Iwant to And I think that's a
really good lesson. I think it'strue of many of us. So so
getting kids out here and then alot of them educate their parents, so
(04:42):
you know, those in both directionstotally really doing the Lord's work. Emily,
let me tell there, you go, there, you go. Well,
you know, it's it's it's it'sa beautiful place. We're really lucky
that he decided to gift this becausewe could be sitting in the middle of
a community of townhouses and things,and you know that's fine, but you
know, town houses and development reallyor one aspect of our lives that is
(05:03):
necessary. But we need to keepour green spaces and we need to keep
those wonderful things that connect us.We really discovered during COVID how important the
outdoors and sort of the piece ofgreen space, how important that is to
people. And we were delighted becausewe were all sort of searching, as
everyone was, for something to doto be helpful, and just being able
(05:24):
to be open once the state reopenand welcome the people into the gardens.
That was the thing that made thebiggest difference. It really was such a
nice reprieve to get outside during thepandemic and just you know, a change
of scenery, to be honest withyou, because man, four walls,
they get they get old quick.And I know that you guys have quite
a robust event calendar going on overthere at LUDU, and I know there's
a few pretty exciting things on thehorizons, So do you want to touch
(05:46):
on those really quick? Absolutely?Thank you. Garden Glow is our illuminated
art event that we hold in Octoberevery year. This one sells out so
quickly. I don't want to breakanyone's heart by saying that there may still
be Tick's available, but we aredoing some promotions with Hartford County, so
there may be some if people wantto check out our website and take a
look there to see if there's sometickets available. We'd love to see people
(06:10):
for Garden Glow. That's the eighteenthto twentieth of October. We have a
Christmas event here where the house isdecorated by local designers and garden clubs.
Our cafes open, serving sort ofa holiday menu. Are Fabulous Gift shop,
which I forgot to mention is open, and then we do some small
Christmas displays in the gardens and thatcomes up in December, and then we
(06:30):
have a little bit of quiet timeand then we open April first. We're
open every day but Wednesdays, andour hours are on our website. Our
big spring event is a garden saleGarden and Garden Plant, a garden antique
sale called Garden Festival the first Saturdayof May, and that one brings people,
vendors and people from as far awayas Maine. So if you are
(06:53):
a plant person or if you area garden antique person, you don't want
to miss that one. It's spectacularabsolutely. LDU gardens dot com is where
you want to go to learn moreinformation, check out a list of events.
I'm on with Emily Emeric, executivedirector of Ludou Gardens this morning.
And Emily, before I let yougo, why don't you let everybody know
how we can support your efforts inthe garden. Well, I would say
(07:15):
a couple of things. Come visitus. Number one, join if you
have the inclination and the ability,and get out and see your public garden.
If you're listening to this an areathat's a little bit too far away,
go out and support your public garden. These are really important places in
this country and we are just gettingto the point now where we understand their
value. That the English have understoodthese things for ages, but supporting them
(07:38):
and making sure that they're here forgenerations to come is a really important thing.
We'd love to see any of yourlisteners, Love you guys, and
we'd love to share the gardens withyou absolutely. For more, you can
check them out at Ledu Gardens dotcom. That's ladew Gardens dot com.
Emily, thanks again, Thanks Francescoso much. Take care,
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com