October 8, 2024 • 27 mins
It’s easy when you live somewhere to overlook the beauty that’s right in your backyard. I always think back to when I moved to Philadelphia for a few years. One of the things I wanted to see was the Liberty Bell. I asked a friend who had lived in Philly her entire life to go with me one day. She told me she had never seen the Liberty Bell. I was dumbfounded. If you’re not familiar, the Liberty Bell is literally right in the middle of the city. I would’ve thought that just dumb luck would’ve brought her by the bell at one point. But I guess not.
I’ve lived in Baltimore now for nearly 17 years. I like to think that I’ve gotten around to see a lot of the big spots, but I know there are still plenty of places I haven’t gone. There’s this mental thing with me where I think about visiting one but then say, “nah I’ll see it next time.” Then it just keeps getting pushed off.
Today’s conversation is about one of those places. I’ve driven by Ladew Topiary Gardens so many times. Each time I say to myself, “we need to come check this place out.” Then one thing leads to another and we never do. After having this chat, I’m feeling very embarrassed for not visiting earlier.
I’m speaking with Emily Emerick. She’s the Executive Director for Ladew Topiary Gardens. She has been there for a long time and knows the gardens inside and out. This was a fascinating conversation. I’m definitely planning on making a visit here soon. I hope you’ll consider it too. Please enjoy our chat about Ladew Topiary Gardens.
I’ve lived in Baltimore now for nearly 17 years. I like to think that I’ve gotten around to see a lot of the big spots, but I know there are still plenty of places I haven’t gone. There’s this mental thing with me where I think about visiting one but then say, “nah I’ll see it next time.” Then it just keeps getting pushed off.
Today’s conversation is about one of those places. I’ve driven by Ladew Topiary Gardens so many times. Each time I say to myself, “we need to come check this place out.” Then one thing leads to another and we never do. After having this chat, I’m feeling very embarrassed for not visiting earlier.
I’m speaking with Emily Emerick. She’s the Executive Director for Ladew Topiary Gardens. She has been there for a long time and knows the gardens inside and out. This was a fascinating conversation. I’m definitely planning on making a visit here soon. I hope you’ll consider it too. Please enjoy our chat about Ladew Topiary Gardens.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
What's up everyone. Welcome to Delightful Destinations. My name is
Jeff Saint Pierre. Delightful Destinations is a show designed to
give you an inside or a deeper look at maybe
an attraction or a vacation location around Maryland, the mid Atlantic,
and of course other spots as well. My hope always
is to speak with the folks that know these areas
best and inspire you for your next outing. It's easy,
(00:24):
I think, when you live somewhere to overlook the beauty
that's right in your backyard. I always think back to
when I moved to Philadelphia for a few years. One
of the things I wanted to see when I got
there was the Liberty Bell. I heard about the Liberty
Bell from childhood on. I asked a friend who had
lived in Philly for her entire life to go with
me one day and she said, you know what, I've
never seen the Liberty Bell. I was dumbfounded by this.
(00:45):
I'm like, you grew up here and you've never seen it,
and if you're not familiar, the Liberty Bell is literally
right in the middle of the city, like you drive
by it and you can see it. I would have
thought that just dumb luck would have brought her by
the bell at one point, but I guess not now.
I lived in Baltimore for about seventeen years, and I
think that I've been able to get around and see
a lot of the big spots here, but I know
(01:05):
there are still plenty of places that I haven't gone.
You know, there's this mental thing with me that I
think about visiting one and then I say, now, you
know what, I'll drive by it next time. We'll do
it then, and it just keeps getting pushed off, pushed off,
and pushed off. And today's conversation is about one of
those places. I've driven by La Due Topiery Gardens so
many times, and each time I say to myself, we
need to come check this place out. Then one thing
(01:27):
leads to another and we never make it. After having
this chat, though, I think I'm feeling very embarrassed for
not visiting earlier, because La Duo Topieri Gardens sounds incredible.
Today I'm speaking with Emily Emricks. She's the executive director
for LaDue Topieri Gardens. She's been there for a long
time and knows the gardens inside and out. This really
was a fascinating conversation I'm definitely planning on making a
(01:48):
visit up there soon. I hope you'll consider it too.
Please enjoy our chat about LaDue Topieri Gardens. How are
you great?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Have you ever been out here before?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
You know? I have to admit I have not. I've
driven by many times, but have not pulled into the
parking lot before. And it's one of those places that
for me, every time we drive by, my wife and
I always like we should go there, and then we
just we just don't find ourselves in that region that often.
So I think it's it's like out of sight, out
of mind, you know what I mean. But it looks
so beautiful when we drive by. It's just like, I
don't know, bad timing for us all the time.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
You know. It's very funny because that fence can be
really intimidating, and if you are a passenger and a car,
when you go by, you can sort of set up
in your seat and look over the fence and see in.
But I did that for years. I mean I lived
down the street and I didn't come in here for
about five years, and now I've never left. So you
should bring that daughter, because it really is great for that.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Oh, I know, we were just in Hawaii about a
month ago or so, and we went to a botanical
gardens and she loved it. My kid loved it. I mean,
she was kind of in a bad mood anyway, but
she wanted to see flowers. And I think we missed
flower season, but it was still like she enjoyed running
through the grass and looking at all the plants and
the trees. And so I think you're right. I mean
I think we got I get up there to the
(03:00):
topiary gardens and we.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Have giant koi in the pond at the iris gardens.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
She'll love it.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
So yeah, that is I have to tell you. You
get a meltdown with a child. We have two things here,
grilled cheese and koi.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Oh perfect. Yeah, I mean you just sold me on
that right there. You've been there at is it le dou?
It's l du do okay ladu Topiary gardens. You've been
up there for twenty one years now. I think that's
kind of remarkable.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Twenty four twenty.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Four, Oh your bioy of the updated bio.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah, you know what I have. My my reasoning on
this is that I either am lazy, I'm unimaginative or
I landed in the right place, and I like to
think I landed in the right place. I don't live
very far from here, and I have had many opportunities
in my life to explore different things, and LUDU has
(03:53):
been so fabulous at its core, but also there's been
so many opportunities here to broaden what we do, to
broaden the audience we reach, to broaden the programming we offer.
It's never been boring, So twenty four it's sort of frightening.
It's amazing. I came here when I was six.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
You don't look at day over twenty nine, so I
got you is It is remarkable to stay anywhere that long.
And I think proximity to home always plays a big part,
at least for my wife and I. We both live
and work within two miles of it. So it's like,
when I think about moving anywhere else, we're like, yeah,
but that's going to be a further commute. I don't know.
This two miles seven minute drive is kind of awesome.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah. I worked in downtown Baltimore when we were first
out here, So my husband came from Vermont with three
Golden Retrievers, and I lived in Rogers Forge and three
Golden Retrievers and Rogers Forge is a huge commitment. So
we moved out here and I was still working downtown,
and that drive from every perspective, from the amount of fuel,
(05:00):
the amount of money, on every part of it was
exhausting except for that quiet thinking time and radio time
on the way back and forth. When my kids were little,
leaving here to pick them up at school, I had
about three minutes. That is not, as you know, enough
time to turn your brain off and to go into
family mode. But that's my only complaint. I've loved working
(05:23):
as close to home.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah, I think that's for me. Like I listened to
podcasts and stuff in the car, and it takes me
a lot longer to listen to a podcast now than
it used to because my drive is seven to ten
minutes long, So it'll take me a week to get
through a podcast as opposed to you know, one day
before before you exactly, yeah, exactly. So tell me about
the du Topieri Gardens. So I think it's a name
that a lot of people in this area recognize, they're
(05:45):
familiar with it, and I'm sure a lot of folks
have been there too. But I also think just like myself.
It's the kind of place that you drive by sometimes
and think, oh, we got to stop there, and we don't.
So explain more about what the do Topieri Gardens is
all about.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
This is it's two hundred and forty eight as total.
That was purchased by a guy from New York, Harvey Ladoue.
He was a very wealthy person. His family was in
the leather industry. So if you think about the microchips
during the Revolution, the electronic revolution, during the Industrial Revolution,
all the equipment was run by leather belts, and his
(06:20):
family was in the leather belt industry, so he had
a lot of money. He traveled his entire life, traveled
all over Europe, apparently learned to speak French before he
learned to speak English. And he saw all these fabulous things,
collected art and saw these gorgeous gardens throughout his travels.
He came down here and purchased his farm. There was
(06:41):
nothing here but the house. He fixed the house up
and added his beautiful English antiques and then just picture
that mind full of all these fabulous things that he
had seen, he created these beautiful twenty two acres of gardens.
So they are influenced by his travels throughout the world
and by garden designers of the time. If you have
gone to Longwood, which a lot of people have traveled
(07:04):
up to Pennsylvania to see, Longwood, LaDue is a much
more intimate garden, much more accessible, smaller, quicker to get around,
but incredibly charming. I think it's fair to say it's
a more personal garden than some of our larger Pennsylvania neighbors.
It features twenty two or fifteen garden rooms. In the
(07:26):
garden rooms are featuring plants that are either the same
color or have a different theme related to them. There's
an orchard, and there's an iris garden. But the most
remarkable part about it was that this place was created.
This guy was in his later years and he wanted
to figure out a way for it to be available
(07:47):
for people to see forever. No small task, and a
group of his friends came together and they decided to
run the gardens for him, and they collected a dollar
in a little cigar box at the entrance. And that
was fifty two years ago that that started, And now
we welcome about fifty five thousand people a year and
(08:07):
they come for the gardens and the house but we've
also added so many different elements just looking at his
inspiration and looking at the whole property. We have a
mile and a half long nature walk, so you can
see these cultlivated gardens which are beautiful and give you
examples of plants that you can plant and colors that
you can bring to your gardens at home. Or you
can wander through the woods, great programming and signage down there.
(08:31):
There's a bird blind, great place to take three year
old children to exhaust them and run them around. There's
a quarry in there with turtles and wood ducks. And
then we added in twenty fourteen a native butterfly house,
and that's only open during the summers when the butterflies
are active, but it's a great way to learn about
(08:51):
the different plant material that local pollinators, both the caterpillars
and butterflies need to survive. So there's a lot of
stealth education running through all of this under the wonderful
experience you have. And then I may have mentioned to
you the cafe, so you know you have the great,
great opportunity to see all these beautiful things, and then truly,
(09:13):
some of the best food that I have ever had,
and that is a hard thing to say for a
place like this, because we have been very lucky to
get too brilliant chefs. You know, I eat there every
single day from April through October, and I'm never bored.
I'm always looking forward to the handmade potato chips and
the grilled cheese sandwiches and things.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
So I'm glad that you made the comparison there to
Longwood because I used to live near Longwood, so I've
been there a couple of different times and I've always
found it a very enjoyable place and loved my time there.
But there is a this might be the right word,
but a mechanicalness to it, like you know, you're going
from one spot to the next. Hearing you talk about
La Doux, it sounds much more like guided, you know,
(09:53):
like you just get a chance to roam and take
a look around. And yes, you have those exhibits, but
there's also the opportunity just to kind of wander around.
You said two hundred and forty eight acres of land.
I mean that's a lot of space to check out
and take a look at.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, And you know, the point to the difference between
a place like a Longwood and LaDou is there's this
sense of whimsy here, and it's not unintentional. Lad had
a great sense of humor, and he also had this
great approach to sort of the journey. So you're always
coming around a corner and seeing something new. Lots of
ponds and water features. I mentioned the koi. The bottom
(10:28):
of the Iris Garden ends in a pond that has
a topiary junk as in a ship Chinese ship on
an island at the bottom of the bottom of the stream,
and the Iris Garden, and they're giant koi in there.
So you know that's not necessarily what you expect to
find when you come around the corner. The children find
it immediately, I must say. And then if you add
(10:51):
to all of this, over one hundred and twenty programs
and events a year, So not only is it a
fabulous place to explore and come wander in and let
your children run in the grass or roll down the
hill that I'm looking at right outside my office window,
all the work we do to put together programming for
children and rolling down that hill is by far the
(11:12):
most popular thing. But the events and programs have grown
in popularity. Garden Glow this year, which is the sixteenth,
nineteenth of October sold out in seven minutes when tickets
went on sale to the public. We love that, and
we also hate that because we want more people to
experience it. So there'll be some opportunities for ticket giveaways,
(11:34):
and we want people to hold out hope because there
are some opportunities still to go. And then in the spring,
we have our Giant Garden Festival in May, which is
two days and about twenty five hundred people and it's
vendor selling plants and garden antiques from up and down
the East Coast. Really wonderful. I mean, if you are
(11:56):
interested in gardening at the beginning level, or if you
are a serious involved gardener, there is something for you
at that event. You know, you can get a houseplant
or an orchid, or you can get one of the
most unusual, sought after beautiful varieties of Msnia to grow
in your garden.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
So this fall, I'm sure exhibits change from time to time.
This fall, what are a couple of your highlights that
you have there?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
So outside, we just switched over all of our window
boxes and most of our containers for fall planting. So
we have not only the gardens, but a lot of
containers and different features in the gardens that get switched
over in the fall. So that's fun and quite beautiful.
And visitors will notice that when they get here the leaves,
(12:42):
and I think probably because of this drout more than
anything else, are starting to turn and fall. Colors here
are just brilliant. It's one of those things that we
forget every year, and then we're sort of gobsmacked when
we come in because the garden is up on a
hill and you're looking out over this beautiful Harford County
County streetside all the way along the east and north
(13:02):
side of us and a lot of it sugar maples.
The programming beyond Garden Glow our lectures have begun now
and we also have an art opening of our artists
and residence Annie Howe coming up where she's selling her
fabulous paper cut work. And I don't know if any
of your listeners are familiar with Annie, but she's brilliant.
(13:25):
She does paper cut art. We have three of her
panels installed in our art gallery down in the Great
Barn and there are I think they're ten by six
feet each. Paper cup tievek just beautiful stuff and you
can look her up on our website or on hers
annihow dot com. Just gorgeous stuff. And then beyond that,
(13:49):
we have our planning for our Christmas and we do.
We're expanding Christmas a little bit this year where we
sell fresh greens, decorations made here material and then we
bring in a variety of different vendors. Think sort of
the model of the European Christmas Garden where you can
see some lights outside. It's really not our big light
(14:12):
event that's garden Globe, but it is a celebration of
the season. All of the rooms in the manor house
are decorated by decorators or garden clubs and it looks spectacular.
It's lit by candlelight in the evening. Cafes open with
fabulous food, and people can buy gifts, stocking stuffers, live plants, decorations.
(14:33):
Our gift shop, which is open all year when we're open,
is stuffed to the gills with decadent things that you
can get for gifts for people.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I feel like Topieri Botanical any garden. Christmas is a
big time of year, Like people love to look at
the decorations around plants for Christmas time.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yeah, and for us it's slightly different because the outdoor
there are some outdoor lights at this The Woodland garden
is always fascinating to look at, but the interior decor
are great and a lot of people tell us that
they just like to get ideas, you know, for however,
you celebrate the holidays looking at how other people do it.
People that are affiliated with us from a garden design
(15:12):
perspective are really quite remarkable and they come in and
set up for two or three days and then there's
only the four days of opportunity to see what they've created.
But they're really quite beautiful.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Emily, you mentioned details on your website. Can you hit
me with that website?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Www dot ldoogardens dot com.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Nice and easy to remember there. What's your personal favorite
place to be on the gardens. You've worked there for
twenty four years, there's got to be something that you
come in every day and you're like, that's like the
place you want to go grab your lunch kind of thing, Like,
what's your favorite spot?
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Well, I'll tell you a unique experience for me and
this isn't something that many of our visitors could see
at this time of year that I'm going to mention,
but they certainly could come out and see this on
their visits. And that's the Great Ball, which is the
huge access the center of the gardens that has a
pool in the middle of it. And about eighteen years
(16:07):
ago and we had that huge snowstorm, eighty inches of
snow over two weeks. I skied over here and the
snow was blown so high up on the fence that
I really skied up to the fence and through my
skis over the edge and then skied out to the
Great Bowl. And I'll never forget being on the far
side of that looking back at the house, and that
image I think maybe even both wintertime and if it's
(16:29):
not on our web page in wintertime, I'll add it.
That image of looking back at the house across this
big giant ball with a pool in the middle of
it is going to stick with me for the rest
of my life. You know, when people have the kind
of talent that Harvey Ladoue had, and there are a
lot of them in the world, we very rarely get
(16:52):
to see what they've done and enjoy it in perpetuity
because these kind of things are created in personal you know,
in people's houses and in their lawns, and then they
sell the house, or the family can't keep it, or
they don't value it, or the new people aren't interested
in it, and it goes away. It's really remarkable with
a man who was so skilled from a design perspective
(17:15):
with interiors and with gardens, that this thing is still
here and that we can all see it. And I,
you know, it's remarkable to still feel that way after
twenty four years anywhere. So I know that when visitors
come here they have that same experience, and we welcome
them to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
You mentioned before that the goal was to have this
place available for people to see forever. And I think
you mentioned fifty two years is when they started collecting
donations to make this work. Has there been a time
in its history where forever was in question?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
When he established it, he had a plan for if
it failed. And it's become a little bit of a joke,
but it's also a sobering reality that you know, we're
a nonprofit. We're dependent on the supportive people. We're dependent
on the interest of the community. And maybe one of
the good things about that is that when you are
(18:11):
dependent on generosity and interest, you pay attention to what
people love and what they care about. So the historic
part of the garden is consistent where an easement property,
which means that we have an obligation to maintain it
in the spirit of the design that he created. But
our programming is very responsive to what our members and
(18:34):
visitors are interested in. And I think that models a
good one. You know, it keeps you relevant, and it
keeps you current, and you know, what's the point if
we're if we were well, really really well money to
not dependent on anything, we could sort of do whatever
we wanted and not necessarily pay attention to what the
community needs. Several years ago, right during as we were
(19:01):
sort of emerging from COVID, a really wonderful thing happened
for Le Doux because people couldn't travel Baltimore discovered these gardens,
and it has been a game changer in my mind
in terms of us serving the broader community. You know,
places like this can feel like they belonged to a
certain class of people, They can feel like they belonged
(19:23):
to the people that created them. And that wasn't his intent,
and that's not our intent. And it was so nice
when nice when COVID hit that is not it was
so nice that a yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean those
odd things that occurred, our chance to be home with
our families and connect with the people that we loved,
the chance because we were an outdoor venue. We were
(19:44):
one of the first things that was reopened. You know,
we had everybody going the same direction, staying six feet apart.
But consistently we have seen the broadening of the community
of people that supports us and the people that have
become members at LaDue, And consistently we hear from people
(20:05):
regardless of the programming that we offer, which we're very
committed to because it's you know, goes everywhere from design
to an environment, environmental education to celebrations and horticulture. But
we're dedicated to the one thing that's consistent across all visitation,
(20:26):
and that is that Ludou is a place of restorative,
contemplative enjoyment for people. And in this in today's world,
enjoyment and contemplative, reflective, peaceful time I think cannot be overvalued.
And I'm very happy that we've been able to see
(20:47):
this many people, to have this broad diverse audience of
members and visitors, and still people come away saying it
was just so beautiful and it was just so peaceful,
and even people with screening three year old children say that.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Jeff, well, I'll test that theory. I'll bring my screaming
three year old child up there and we'll test it.
I think I think the Doo is very lucky to
have you, because I'm I'm imagining everything you're saying. I
have not been there in person, but I feel like
I have this wonderful mental picture of what you expect
based on the way you describe it, and you describe
(21:24):
everything with such a love and a passion and a
genuine love and passion for what you do that I'm
now not surprised that you lasted there for twenty four years,
like it feels like you found the home you were
supposed to be in.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
You're nice to say that, and it really does feel
that way. And we need to fix this. You haven't
been out here things I know, I know, Come see us.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
It is. It is on our short list of places
that we need to go to. We just got to
get through soccer practice and dance class and then we'll
get up there.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Oh Dad, you live.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Oh my gosh, you're telling me, you're telling me. Let's
see one of the top ten incredible topee gardens around
the world, consistently one of the number one here in
North America. I mean that all these accolades just have
to make you feel fantastic.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Oh yeah, I mean, I've I agree with them. I
don't feel like I had any part in that that
That is a reflection of the genius of the person
that created this place and the incredible heart crew that
take care of it and have maintained it. You know,
it is not an easy thing to do. Think about
that last houseplant you killed. Multiply that by twenty two
(22:29):
acres and put it outside. You know, it's a challenge.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
You know, you keep talking about the people that created it,
and obviously there was someone that had the vision to
start everything, but it's been around for so long that
as much as they created it, it's people like you
and the folks that are still there that are keeping
it alive. I know you've been there, as you mentioned
the creation of the Butterfly House. You've restored a lot
of areas there. So I think you have to give
yourself a little bit more credit than you do, because
(22:54):
it wouldn't be the same without yourself and that team
that you work with there.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Oh well thanks, you know, it's it's a commun unity effort.
And I will not mention his name because he's very modest,
but one of our horticulture staff members, topiary artists, is
retiring this year after forty three years of taking care
of topiary. So he's been focused on the last few
years and bringing up a whole new generation of skilled
(23:19):
people who are now handling all the topieri. You know,
A it's definitely an art. It's a living, breathing sculpture.
And our arts programming that we have out here right
now is really based on all of that. The fact
that Ludoux was an artist. I mean, he was a painter,
and I don't want to get struck by lightning, but
he wasn't a terrifically good painter, but boy was he
(23:42):
a good plant artist. He was just fabulous. And thanks
to the leadership of those early the early board and
the early skilled gardeners, we've got another generation of people
that are taking care of the gardens.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Now, Emily, are you a gardener at home or are
you like I just left garden. I'm not touching any
plants at house in my house now.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
You know, if my husband listens to this, he is
going to laugh out loud. I'm a complete and total
addicted gardener. Wow, there's very little grass left at my house.
Both my kids got married at my house in the
last two years and it was great and wonderful and fabulous.
And I have now planted all the places where they
got married because we're not doing it anymore. One wedding
(24:26):
and you are done, each of you. But you know,
towards the movement of more native plants, I have expanded
into the area that used to be turf at my
house in with native plants and a vegetable garden surrounded
by a pollinator garden. When I look out the east
(24:48):
window of my office, I can look at our meadows
and we've got about ten acres of meadow here inside
the fence. That is the formal part of La Doux.
That is very intentional, our part, because the turf is
sort of the dirty word in garden design these days.
It's great blank space if you think about a garden
(25:09):
as a work of art. But grass is really irresponsible
from an environmental perspective. It takes a lot of water
and it's not necessarily a native plant being able to
supplement lawns, which all of us have. I mean, anybody
that has a house in most instances have a lawn.
But being able to supplement that with good garden borders
(25:33):
that include native plant material allows you to support pollinators.
That allows you, you know, all those overgrown flowers at
the end of the season with the seed pods, feed
the birds throughout the winter. I have been able because
of what I learned here to reflect some of the
plant knowledge at home. And I look out my window
(25:53):
all winter long and see cardinals, and you know, it
would be logical that I would go home and and
curl up in a ball and not go outside, But no,
I'm an addict.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
I love that for you. Emily, all right, LaDou Topiary Gardens,
give me some more details of where people can go
to find out everything they need to know about what
you do and how they can play on their.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Visit ladugardens dot com. All the information about our hours.
Will open every day through October thirty. First, we are
closed on Wednesdays. We are fourteen miles north of Towsond,
so straight up De Laney Valley Road, or if you're
coming up ninety five off of Mountain Road, it's easy
drive in. Cafe is open I believe until three o'clock
(26:35):
every day, so there's great food there and our calendar
of events with links for tickets and information. Our lecture
series actually is both in person and hybrid, so you
can sign up for the lecture series and watch in
the comfort of your own home. So all that information's there,
as well as our phone number. So if you get
stuck on the web page, give us a ring and
(26:55):
we'll walk you through it.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Emily Emeric, the executive director of the Dutpiery Gardens, it
has been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for
painting these pictures for us, and keep doing what you
do up there as long as you possibly can, because
I know you've got it under control.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Oh thanks Jeff so much and come visit big.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Thank you to Emily Emrick and Thedo Topiary Gardens team again.
You can find all the details and plan your trip
at Ladugardens dot com at L A D E. W
Gardens dot com. And thank you to all of you
for listening this week. Until next time, be well,
What's up everyone. Welcome to Delightful Destinations. My name is
Jeff Saint Pierre. Delightful Destinations is a show designed to
give you an inside or a deeper look at maybe
an attraction or a vacation location around Maryland, the mid Atlantic,
and of course other spots as well. My hope always
is to speak with the folks that know these areas
best and inspire you for your next outing. It's easy,
(00:24):
I think, when you live somewhere to overlook the beauty
that's right in your backyard. I always think back to
when I moved to Philadelphia for a few years. One
of the things I wanted to see when I got
there was the Liberty Bell. I heard about the Liberty
Bell from childhood on. I asked a friend who had
lived in Philly for her entire life to go with
me one day and she said, you know what, I've
never seen the Liberty Bell. I was dumbfounded by this.
(00:45):
I'm like, you grew up here and you've never seen it,
and if you're not familiar, the Liberty Bell is literally
right in the middle of the city, like you drive
by it and you can see it. I would have
thought that just dumb luck would have brought her by
the bell at one point, but I guess not now.
I lived in Baltimore for about seventeen years, and I
think that I've been able to get around and see
a lot of the big spots here, but I know
(01:05):
there are still plenty of places that I haven't gone.
You know, there's this mental thing with me that I
think about visiting one and then I say, now, you
know what, I'll drive by it next time. We'll do
it then, and it just keeps getting pushed off, pushed off,
and pushed off. And today's conversation is about one of
those places. I've driven by La Due Topiery Gardens so
many times, and each time I say to myself, we
need to come check this place out. Then one thing
(01:27):
leads to another and we never make it. After having
this chat, though, I think I'm feeling very embarrassed for
not visiting earlier, because La Duo Topieri Gardens sounds incredible.
Today I'm speaking with Emily Emricks. She's the executive director
for LaDue Topieri Gardens. She's been there for a long
time and knows the gardens inside and out. This really
was a fascinating conversation I'm definitely planning on making a
(01:48):
visit up there soon. I hope you'll consider it too.
Please enjoy our chat about LaDue Topieri Gardens. How are
you great?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Have you ever been out here before?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
You know? I have to admit I have not. I've
driven by many times, but have not pulled into the
parking lot before. And it's one of those places that
for me, every time we drive by, my wife and
I always like we should go there, and then we
just we just don't find ourselves in that region that often.
So I think it's it's like out of sight, out
of mind, you know what I mean. But it looks
so beautiful when we drive by. It's just like, I
don't know, bad timing for us all the time.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
You know. It's very funny because that fence can be
really intimidating, and if you are a passenger and a car,
when you go by, you can sort of set up
in your seat and look over the fence and see in.
But I did that for years. I mean I lived
down the street and I didn't come in here for
about five years, and now I've never left. So you
should bring that daughter, because it really is great for that.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Oh, I know, we were just in Hawaii about a
month ago or so, and we went to a botanical
gardens and she loved it. My kid loved it. I mean,
she was kind of in a bad mood anyway, but
she wanted to see flowers. And I think we missed
flower season, but it was still like she enjoyed running
through the grass and looking at all the plants and
the trees. And so I think you're right. I mean
I think we got I get up there to the
(03:00):
topiary gardens and we.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Have giant koi in the pond at the iris gardens.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
She'll love it.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
So yeah, that is I have to tell you. You
get a meltdown with a child. We have two things here,
grilled cheese and koi.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Oh perfect. Yeah, I mean you just sold me on
that right there. You've been there at is it le dou?
It's l du do okay ladu Topiary gardens. You've been
up there for twenty one years now. I think that's
kind of remarkable.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Twenty four twenty.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Four, Oh your bioy of the updated bio.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah, you know what I have. My my reasoning on
this is that I either am lazy, I'm unimaginative or
I landed in the right place, and I like to
think I landed in the right place. I don't live
very far from here, and I have had many opportunities
in my life to explore different things, and LUDU has
(03:53):
been so fabulous at its core, but also there's been
so many opportunities here to broaden what we do, to
broaden the audience we reach, to broaden the programming we offer.
It's never been boring, So twenty four it's sort of frightening.
It's amazing. I came here when I was six.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
You don't look at day over twenty nine, so I
got you is It is remarkable to stay anywhere that long.
And I think proximity to home always plays a big part,
at least for my wife and I. We both live
and work within two miles of it. So it's like,
when I think about moving anywhere else, we're like, yeah,
but that's going to be a further commute. I don't know.
This two miles seven minute drive is kind of awesome.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah. I worked in downtown Baltimore when we were first
out here, So my husband came from Vermont with three
Golden Retrievers, and I lived in Rogers Forge and three
Golden Retrievers and Rogers Forge is a huge commitment. So
we moved out here and I was still working downtown,
and that drive from every perspective, from the amount of fuel,
(05:00):
the amount of money, on every part of it was
exhausting except for that quiet thinking time and radio time
on the way back and forth. When my kids were little,
leaving here to pick them up at school, I had
about three minutes. That is not, as you know, enough
time to turn your brain off and to go into
family mode. But that's my only complaint. I've loved working
(05:23):
as close to home.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah, I think that's for me. Like I listened to
podcasts and stuff in the car, and it takes me
a lot longer to listen to a podcast now than
it used to because my drive is seven to ten
minutes long, So it'll take me a week to get
through a podcast as opposed to you know, one day
before before you exactly, yeah, exactly. So tell me about
the du Topieri Gardens. So I think it's a name
that a lot of people in this area recognize, they're
(05:45):
familiar with it, and I'm sure a lot of folks
have been there too. But I also think just like myself.
It's the kind of place that you drive by sometimes
and think, oh, we got to stop there, and we don't.
So explain more about what the do Topieri Gardens is
all about.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
This is it's two hundred and forty eight as total.
That was purchased by a guy from New York, Harvey Ladoue.
He was a very wealthy person. His family was in
the leather industry. So if you think about the microchips
during the Revolution, the electronic revolution, during the Industrial Revolution,
all the equipment was run by leather belts, and his
(06:20):
family was in the leather belt industry, so he had
a lot of money. He traveled his entire life, traveled
all over Europe, apparently learned to speak French before he
learned to speak English. And he saw all these fabulous things,
collected art and saw these gorgeous gardens throughout his travels.
He came down here and purchased his farm. There was
(06:41):
nothing here but the house. He fixed the house up
and added his beautiful English antiques and then just picture
that mind full of all these fabulous things that he
had seen, he created these beautiful twenty two acres of gardens.
So they are influenced by his travels throughout the world
and by garden designers of the time. If you have
gone to Longwood, which a lot of people have traveled
(07:04):
up to Pennsylvania to see, Longwood, LaDue is a much
more intimate garden, much more accessible, smaller, quicker to get around,
but incredibly charming. I think it's fair to say it's
a more personal garden than some of our larger Pennsylvania neighbors.
It features twenty two or fifteen garden rooms. In the
(07:26):
garden rooms are featuring plants that are either the same
color or have a different theme related to them. There's
an orchard, and there's an iris garden. But the most
remarkable part about it was that this place was created.
This guy was in his later years and he wanted
to figure out a way for it to be available
(07:47):
for people to see forever. No small task, and a
group of his friends came together and they decided to
run the gardens for him, and they collected a dollar
in a little cigar box at the entrance. And that
was fifty two years ago that that started, And now
we welcome about fifty five thousand people a year and
(08:07):
they come for the gardens and the house but we've
also added so many different elements just looking at his
inspiration and looking at the whole property. We have a
mile and a half long nature walk, so you can
see these cultlivated gardens which are beautiful and give you
examples of plants that you can plant and colors that
you can bring to your gardens at home. Or you
can wander through the woods, great programming and signage down there.
(08:31):
There's a bird blind, great place to take three year
old children to exhaust them and run them around. There's
a quarry in there with turtles and wood ducks. And
then we added in twenty fourteen a native butterfly house,
and that's only open during the summers when the butterflies
are active, but it's a great way to learn about
(08:51):
the different plant material that local pollinators, both the caterpillars
and butterflies need to survive. So there's a lot of
stealth education running through all of this under the wonderful
experience you have. And then I may have mentioned to
you the cafe, so you know you have the great,
great opportunity to see all these beautiful things, and then truly,
(09:13):
some of the best food that I have ever had,
and that is a hard thing to say for a
place like this, because we have been very lucky to
get too brilliant chefs. You know, I eat there every
single day from April through October, and I'm never bored.
I'm always looking forward to the handmade potato chips and
the grilled cheese sandwiches and things.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
So I'm glad that you made the comparison there to
Longwood because I used to live near Longwood, so I've
been there a couple of different times and I've always
found it a very enjoyable place and loved my time there.
But there is a this might be the right word,
but a mechanicalness to it, like you know, you're going
from one spot to the next. Hearing you talk about
La Doux, it sounds much more like guided, you know,
(09:53):
like you just get a chance to roam and take
a look around. And yes, you have those exhibits, but
there's also the opportunity just to kind of wander around.
You said two hundred and forty eight acres of land.
I mean that's a lot of space to check out
and take a look at.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, And you know, the point to the difference between
a place like a Longwood and LaDou is there's this
sense of whimsy here, and it's not unintentional. Lad had
a great sense of humor, and he also had this
great approach to sort of the journey. So you're always
coming around a corner and seeing something new. Lots of
ponds and water features. I mentioned the koi. The bottom
(10:28):
of the Iris Garden ends in a pond that has
a topiary junk as in a ship Chinese ship on
an island at the bottom of the bottom of the stream,
and the Iris Garden, and they're giant koi in there.
So you know that's not necessarily what you expect to
find when you come around the corner. The children find
it immediately, I must say. And then if you add
(10:51):
to all of this, over one hundred and twenty programs
and events a year, So not only is it a
fabulous place to explore and come wander in and let
your children run in the grass or roll down the
hill that I'm looking at right outside my office window,
all the work we do to put together programming for
children and rolling down that hill is by far the
(11:12):
most popular thing. But the events and programs have grown
in popularity. Garden Glow this year, which is the sixteenth,
nineteenth of October sold out in seven minutes when tickets
went on sale to the public. We love that, and
we also hate that because we want more people to
experience it. So there'll be some opportunities for ticket giveaways,
(11:34):
and we want people to hold out hope because there
are some opportunities still to go. And then in the spring,
we have our Giant Garden Festival in May, which is
two days and about twenty five hundred people and it's
vendor selling plants and garden antiques from up and down
the East Coast. Really wonderful. I mean, if you are
(11:56):
interested in gardening at the beginning level, or if you
are a serious involved gardener, there is something for you
at that event. You know, you can get a houseplant
or an orchid, or you can get one of the
most unusual, sought after beautiful varieties of Msnia to grow
in your garden.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
So this fall, I'm sure exhibits change from time to time.
This fall, what are a couple of your highlights that
you have there?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
So outside, we just switched over all of our window
boxes and most of our containers for fall planting. So
we have not only the gardens, but a lot of
containers and different features in the gardens that get switched
over in the fall. So that's fun and quite beautiful.
And visitors will notice that when they get here the leaves,
(12:42):
and I think probably because of this drout more than
anything else, are starting to turn and fall. Colors here
are just brilliant. It's one of those things that we
forget every year, and then we're sort of gobsmacked when
we come in because the garden is up on a
hill and you're looking out over this beautiful Harford County
County streetside all the way along the east and north
(13:02):
side of us and a lot of it sugar maples.
The programming beyond Garden Glow our lectures have begun now
and we also have an art opening of our artists
and residence Annie Howe coming up where she's selling her
fabulous paper cut work. And I don't know if any
of your listeners are familiar with Annie, but she's brilliant.
(13:25):
She does paper cut art. We have three of her
panels installed in our art gallery down in the Great
Barn and there are I think they're ten by six
feet each. Paper cup tievek just beautiful stuff and you
can look her up on our website or on hers
annihow dot com. Just gorgeous stuff. And then beyond that,
(13:49):
we have our planning for our Christmas and we do.
We're expanding Christmas a little bit this year where we
sell fresh greens, decorations made here material and then we
bring in a variety of different vendors. Think sort of
the model of the European Christmas Garden where you can
see some lights outside. It's really not our big light
(14:12):
event that's garden Globe, but it is a celebration of
the season. All of the rooms in the manor house
are decorated by decorators or garden clubs and it looks spectacular.
It's lit by candlelight in the evening. Cafes open with
fabulous food, and people can buy gifts, stocking stuffers, live plants, decorations.
(14:33):
Our gift shop, which is open all year when we're open,
is stuffed to the gills with decadent things that you
can get for gifts for people.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I feel like Topieri Botanical any garden. Christmas is a
big time of year, Like people love to look at
the decorations around plants for Christmas time.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yeah, and for us it's slightly different because the outdoor
there are some outdoor lights at this The Woodland garden
is always fascinating to look at, but the interior decor
are great and a lot of people tell us that
they just like to get ideas, you know, for however,
you celebrate the holidays looking at how other people do it.
People that are affiliated with us from a garden design
(15:12):
perspective are really quite remarkable and they come in and
set up for two or three days and then there's
only the four days of opportunity to see what they've created.
But they're really quite beautiful.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Emily, you mentioned details on your website. Can you hit
me with that website?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Www dot ldoogardens dot com.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Nice and easy to remember there. What's your personal favorite
place to be on the gardens. You've worked there for
twenty four years, there's got to be something that you
come in every day and you're like, that's like the
place you want to go grab your lunch kind of thing, Like,
what's your favorite spot?
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Well, I'll tell you a unique experience for me and
this isn't something that many of our visitors could see
at this time of year that I'm going to mention,
but they certainly could come out and see this on
their visits. And that's the Great Ball, which is the
huge access the center of the gardens that has a
pool in the middle of it. And about eighteen years
(16:07):
ago and we had that huge snowstorm, eighty inches of
snow over two weeks. I skied over here and the
snow was blown so high up on the fence that
I really skied up to the fence and through my
skis over the edge and then skied out to the
Great Bowl. And I'll never forget being on the far
side of that looking back at the house, and that
image I think maybe even both wintertime and if it's
(16:29):
not on our web page in wintertime, I'll add it.
That image of looking back at the house across this
big giant ball with a pool in the middle of
it is going to stick with me for the rest
of my life. You know, when people have the kind
of talent that Harvey Ladoue had, and there are a
lot of them in the world, we very rarely get
(16:52):
to see what they've done and enjoy it in perpetuity
because these kind of things are created in personal you know,
in people's houses and in their lawns, and then they
sell the house, or the family can't keep it, or
they don't value it, or the new people aren't interested
in it, and it goes away. It's really remarkable with
a man who was so skilled from a design perspective
(17:15):
with interiors and with gardens, that this thing is still
here and that we can all see it. And I,
you know, it's remarkable to still feel that way after
twenty four years anywhere. So I know that when visitors
come here they have that same experience, and we welcome
them to do that.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
You mentioned before that the goal was to have this
place available for people to see forever. And I think
you mentioned fifty two years is when they started collecting
donations to make this work. Has there been a time
in its history where forever was in question?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
When he established it, he had a plan for if
it failed. And it's become a little bit of a joke,
but it's also a sobering reality that you know, we're
a nonprofit. We're dependent on the supportive people. We're dependent
on the interest of the community. And maybe one of
the good things about that is that when you are
(18:11):
dependent on generosity and interest, you pay attention to what
people love and what they care about. So the historic
part of the garden is consistent where an easement property,
which means that we have an obligation to maintain it
in the spirit of the design that he created. But
our programming is very responsive to what our members and
(18:34):
visitors are interested in. And I think that models a
good one. You know, it keeps you relevant, and it
keeps you current, and you know, what's the point if
we're if we were well, really really well money to
not dependent on anything, we could sort of do whatever
we wanted and not necessarily pay attention to what the
community needs. Several years ago, right during as we were
(19:01):
sort of emerging from COVID, a really wonderful thing happened
for Le Doux because people couldn't travel Baltimore discovered these gardens,
and it has been a game changer in my mind
in terms of us serving the broader community. You know,
places like this can feel like they belonged to a
certain class of people, They can feel like they belonged
(19:23):
to the people that created them. And that wasn't his intent,
and that's not our intent. And it was so nice
when nice when COVID hit that is not it was
so nice that a yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean those
odd things that occurred, our chance to be home with
our families and connect with the people that we loved,
the chance because we were an outdoor venue. We were
(19:44):
one of the first things that was reopened. You know,
we had everybody going the same direction, staying six feet apart.
But consistently we have seen the broadening of the community
of people that supports us and the people that have
become members at LaDue, And consistently we hear from people
(20:05):
regardless of the programming that we offer, which we're very
committed to because it's you know, goes everywhere from design
to an environment, environmental education to celebrations and horticulture. But
we're dedicated to the one thing that's consistent across all visitation,
(20:26):
and that is that Ludou is a place of restorative,
contemplative enjoyment for people. And in this in today's world,
enjoyment and contemplative, reflective, peaceful time I think cannot be overvalued.
And I'm very happy that we've been able to see
(20:47):
this many people, to have this broad diverse audience of
members and visitors, and still people come away saying it
was just so beautiful and it was just so peaceful,
and even people with screening three year old children say that.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Jeff, well, I'll test that theory. I'll bring my screaming
three year old child up there and we'll test it.
I think I think the Doo is very lucky to
have you, because I'm I'm imagining everything you're saying. I
have not been there in person, but I feel like
I have this wonderful mental picture of what you expect
based on the way you describe it, and you describe
(21:24):
everything with such a love and a passion and a
genuine love and passion for what you do that I'm
now not surprised that you lasted there for twenty four years,
like it feels like you found the home you were
supposed to be in.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
You're nice to say that, and it really does feel
that way. And we need to fix this. You haven't
been out here things I know, I know, Come see us.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
It is. It is on our short list of places
that we need to go to. We just got to
get through soccer practice and dance class and then we'll
get up there.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
Oh Dad, you live.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Oh my gosh, you're telling me, you're telling me. Let's
see one of the top ten incredible topee gardens around
the world, consistently one of the number one here in
North America. I mean that all these accolades just have
to make you feel fantastic.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Oh yeah, I mean, I've I agree with them. I
don't feel like I had any part in that that
That is a reflection of the genius of the person
that created this place and the incredible heart crew that
take care of it and have maintained it. You know,
it is not an easy thing to do. Think about
that last houseplant you killed. Multiply that by twenty two
(22:29):
acres and put it outside. You know, it's a challenge.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
You know, you keep talking about the people that created it,
and obviously there was someone that had the vision to
start everything, but it's been around for so long that
as much as they created it, it's people like you
and the folks that are still there that are keeping
it alive. I know you've been there, as you mentioned
the creation of the Butterfly House. You've restored a lot
of areas there. So I think you have to give
yourself a little bit more credit than you do, because
(22:54):
it wouldn't be the same without yourself and that team
that you work with there.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Oh well thanks, you know, it's it's a commun unity effort.
And I will not mention his name because he's very modest,
but one of our horticulture staff members, topiary artists, is
retiring this year after forty three years of taking care
of topiary. So he's been focused on the last few
years and bringing up a whole new generation of skilled
(23:19):
people who are now handling all the topieri. You know,
A it's definitely an art. It's a living, breathing sculpture.
And our arts programming that we have out here right
now is really based on all of that. The fact
that Ludoux was an artist. I mean, he was a painter,
and I don't want to get struck by lightning, but
he wasn't a terrifically good painter, but boy was he
(23:42):
a good plant artist. He was just fabulous. And thanks
to the leadership of those early the early board and
the early skilled gardeners, we've got another generation of people
that are taking care of the gardens.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Now, Emily, are you a gardener at home or are
you like I just left garden. I'm not touching any
plants at house in my house now.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
You know, if my husband listens to this, he is
going to laugh out loud. I'm a complete and total
addicted gardener. Wow, there's very little grass left at my house.
Both my kids got married at my house in the
last two years and it was great and wonderful and fabulous.
And I have now planted all the places where they
got married because we're not doing it anymore. One wedding
(24:26):
and you are done, each of you. But you know,
towards the movement of more native plants, I have expanded
into the area that used to be turf at my
house in with native plants and a vegetable garden surrounded
by a pollinator garden. When I look out the east
(24:48):
window of my office, I can look at our meadows
and we've got about ten acres of meadow here inside
the fence. That is the formal part of La Doux.
That is very intentional, our part, because the turf is
sort of the dirty word in garden design these days.
It's great blank space if you think about a garden
(25:09):
as a work of art. But grass is really irresponsible
from an environmental perspective. It takes a lot of water
and it's not necessarily a native plant being able to
supplement lawns, which all of us have. I mean, anybody
that has a house in most instances have a lawn.
But being able to supplement that with good garden borders
(25:33):
that include native plant material allows you to support pollinators.
That allows you, you know, all those overgrown flowers at
the end of the season with the seed pods, feed
the birds throughout the winter. I have been able because
of what I learned here to reflect some of the
plant knowledge at home. And I look out my window
(25:53):
all winter long and see cardinals, and you know, it
would be logical that I would go home and and
curl up in a ball and not go outside, But no,
I'm an addict.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
I love that for you. Emily, all right, LaDou Topiary Gardens,
give me some more details of where people can go
to find out everything they need to know about what
you do and how they can play on their.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Visit ladugardens dot com. All the information about our hours.
Will open every day through October thirty. First, we are
closed on Wednesdays. We are fourteen miles north of Towsond,
so straight up De Laney Valley Road, or if you're
coming up ninety five off of Mountain Road, it's easy
drive in. Cafe is open I believe until three o'clock
(26:35):
every day, so there's great food there and our calendar
of events with links for tickets and information. Our lecture
series actually is both in person and hybrid, so you
can sign up for the lecture series and watch in
the comfort of your own home. So all that information's there,
as well as our phone number. So if you get
stuck on the web page, give us a ring and
(26:55):
we'll walk you through it.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Emily Emeric, the executive director of the Dutpiery Gardens, it
has been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for
painting these pictures for us, and keep doing what you
do up there as long as you possibly can, because
I know you've got it under control.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Oh thanks Jeff so much and come visit big.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Thank you to Emily Emrick and Thedo Topiary Gardens team again.
You can find all the details and plan your trip
at Ladugardens dot com at L A D E. W
Gardens dot com. And thank you to all of you
for listening this week. Until next time, be well,
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