Guilford in Baltimore

Guilford in Baltimore 

                     Guilford Mansion

 Guilford is one of those neighborhoods that seems to have grown up among its gardens and gracious ways. Originally comprised of patents granted to British citizens from the mid-1600s through the 1700s, the area was valued for its "gentle swells, which has many beautiful views of the city and bay." The entire area sold in 1780 as confiscated property to a Revolutionary War General who gave Guilford its name. The area then passed through other hands until it was sold to the Guilford Park Company. Planning of the landscape design began in 1911 under the direction of Frederick Law Olmsted, and active development of Guilford began in 1913.

 

               Johns Hopkins University

This residential area of almost 700 homes has everything from modest townhomes to stately, historic mansions, most of which were constructed in the 1920s and 1930s. Built in what was once the country, Guilford retains a spacious feeling even as it is surrounded by the city that long ago grew up around it. The neighborhood reaches out to its surrounding communities, and benefits from being near the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University and Union Memorial Hospital.

                    Guilford House

Spring is an especially good time for a stroll through the area to enjoy the lush landscaping that makes this area a visual treat. It's not surprising that homeowners go all out for their trees and flowers, since a favorite section of Guilford is the massive Sherwood Gardens.

The Gardens are a center of community activity, especially in the spring when a spectacular display of tulips brings thousands of visitors to the more than six-acre park.

               Sherwood Gardens

Begun in 1927 by a local petroleum pioneer and conservationist, John Sherwood, the gardens started as his hobby and grew into a treasured enclave in Baltimore city. When Sherwood died in 1965, he left enough money to maintain the gardens for a year. The Guilford Association then purchased the gardens and some additional lots from the estate, and has continued to care for them ever since.

The best part of Sherwood Gardens? There are no fences or gates, and the public is welcome to stroll leisurely through the grounds and enjoy the 80,000 tulips and other spring flowering bulbs, azaleas, dogwoods, and magnolias. After Memorial Day weekend, the tulip bulbs are dug up and sold for 25 cents each. With this contribution from Sherwood Gardens, is it any wonder that Guilford is known for its gardens?

                                                         Guilford in Baltimore

Sherwood Gardens is Abloom in Baltimore, MD

The time is now: Sherwood Gardens is Abloom in Baltimore, MD with its annual show of flowering trees and plants. I love this time of year when we make our annual visit to the gardens begun in 1927 by John Sherwood. Gardening was his hobby then, and over the years his private garden has become public; it is now owned by a neighborhood association in Baltimore City. Over the years, Sherwood Gardens has grown to become one of the largest tulip gardens in the country with over 80,000 bulbs planted each fall. After they bloom, many are dug up and sold to the public over Memorial Day weekend – another Baltimore tradition.

Many people know about the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC that happens every year at the beginning of April. That's when the hundreds of cherry trees around the Tidal Basin near the Jefferson Memorial reach their peak. But you don't have to go to DC to enjoy cherry blossoms – the cherry trees at Sherwood Gardens are beautiful now. Since many of the trees were planted long ago, they are large and put on a magnificent show each spring.

Combine the beautiful pale or bright pink cherry blossoms with the brilliant colors of the tulips, and you have a springtime flower treasury. In about a week, the azaleas will add their brilliance to the show. There was one tree with wonderful rumpled bark; I think it might be a sycamore, but I'm no arborist - I just like the texture.

Since Sherwood Gardens is in the middle of the Guilford neighborhood, you pass some magnificent old homes while looking for a place to park. The gardens, surrounded by these homes, make for a stress-relieving mid-day vacation. I make it a point to visit Sherwood Gardens every year when they are abloom.