Garden Self-Tours

For more than half a century, the Perkins Garden has welcomed spring with a magnificent display of color as more than 15,000 azaleas reach their peak. A lovely collection of delicate wildflowers adds additional color and sweet perfume to the scene.

The historic 2½-acre garden, tucked away in a tranquil corner of the vibrant campus, was planted by renowned WWII economist, Milo Perkins, and his wife, Theron, and became a living memorial to their sons, Landon graduates George and Randy, who both lost their lives before the end of WWII.

Randy, age 17, was tragically killed in a train accident en route to a summer job as a forest ranger. Grieving for their son, while surrounded by memories of him, they purchased a tract of land adjacent to Landon, at Paul Banfield’s request, and built a new home, the white, colonial Perkins House.

A friend, and well-known landscape architect, Rose Greely, created the design of the garden in the 1940s. Since Milo Perkins had served in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, his contacts there led to the planting of hundreds of new azaleas. There are 1,000 varieties in the garden.

In 1943, George Perkins, a sophomore at Swarthmore College, enlisted in the Marine Air Corps and was killed during dive-bomber training just a few weeks after earning his wings. The grief-stricken couple poured their energy and love for their sons into their garden refuge.

A friendship with Ben Y. Morrison, director of the U.S. Arboretum, led to the plantings of his hybrids, called Glenn Dales, named after the Plant Introduction Station where he propagated them. A tremendous achievement in azalea cultivation, Glenn Dales incorporate features of the large, showy blossoms of more southern varieties with the hardiness of northern plants. Nearly 360 Glenn Dales flourish in the garden, making it one of the largest collections on the east coast.

The Chugai hybrids in the garden were given to the Perkins by Albert Close, a chief propagator. This hybrid group had been introduced into the U.S. in 1938 and 1939 by the Chugai nursery in Japan. The Perkins also acquired 41Kurumes and 19 Southern Indian varieties.

The Southern Indian group arrived in the U.S. under the name of Belgian Incas. They became greenhouse plants in the north, while an outdoor collection flourished in Magnolia Gardens near Charleston, South Carolina. From this collection, a hardy group developed in the South known as the Southern Indian Azaleas, including the azaleas, “George L. Taber” and “G.G. Gerbing,” which also appear in the Perkins Garden. There are two Azaleas associated with Landon: the Princess Mary Lee and The Landon Pride.

To learn more about Perkins Garden and its history or see photo, check out the Perkins Garden page.