College Hosting Tyler Formal Gardens Tour And Lecture In Newtown

NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — Bucks County Community College presents its 16th annual Tyler Formal Gardens & Landscaping Lecture featuring Tom Smarr, executive director of Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens, to be held on Saturday, April 27 at 10 a.m. at the college’s Newtown Campus, 275 Swamp Road, Newtown 18940.

The lecture topic is “For Love of Garden: Establishing Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens as a Community Resource.” Smarr will discuss one of the region’s great horticultural and botanical garden assets located near Valley Forge Park, and how its story began in 1968 as a loving gift that envisioned the property as a public space to explore a naturalistic botanical garden. Encompassing 48 acres of diverse plant collections, it is home to nationally accredited rhododendrons, azaleas, mountain laurels and eastern North American plants.

A tour of the impressive Tyler Formal Gardens will immediately follow the lecture. There will also be an opportunity to purchase raffle tickets to win accents for your garden.

Tickets for the annual Tyler Formal Gardens & Landscaping Lecture are $15 general admission, free for students with ID, and $10 for veterans and Bucks alumni. Register online by clicking here or mail your check payable to the BCCC Foundation and the registration form to: Bucks County Community College Foundation, Tyler Hall, Room 221, 275 Swamp Road, Newtown 18940.

The Tyler Formal Gardens & Landscaping Lecture series is part of the Bucks LIVE! series of innovative programs to inform, inspire and enrich the lives of greater Bucks County residents.

For more information, contact Professor Emeritus Lyle Rosenberger at [email protected] for more information.

Smarr has worked for numerous horticultural institutions from Longwood to West Coast botanic gardens and led the early establishment of horticultural programs at newly opened parks such as the Rose Fitzgerald Greenway in Boston; the High Line in New York City; and the Parklands of Floyds Fork in Louisville, Kentucky.

The landscaping around Tyler Mansion at Bucks. (Bucks County Community College Photo)

Tyler Formal Gardens served as the “outdoor parlor” of George F. and Stella Elkins Tyler, original owners of the estate that became Bucks County Community College. The gardens were constructed in the early 1930s to provide a formal landscape setting for the Tylers' magnificent home and to accommodate the large social gatherings that the couple enjoyed hosting.

The four-tier gardens, positioned on an acre of land, were greatly influenced by French and Italian gardens and demonstrated characteristics that were common in formal gardens in the Philadelphia area at that time. Architectural plans and photos from the 1930s show four terraces that included gravel walks, fountains, sculptures, staircases, parterres, planting spaces, swimming pool, and tennis courts.

The Tyler mansion is arguably the grandest home ever built in Bucks County and believed to be the last of the great estates ever constructed in the United States. In 1987, Tyler Hall (as the mansion is now known) and Tyler Formal Gardens were placed on the National Register of Historical Places.