News Release
May 2003
News Release
Garden DaysFriends Hospital to Celebrate Annual
The beautiful azalea gardens of the nation's first private psychiatric hospital will be open to the public as Friends Hospital celebrates its 66th annual Friends Hospital Garden Days, Sundays, May 2 and May 9, 2004, Noon to 5 pm.
Each car entering the grounds is asked to donate $2 and will receive a free year-old azalea to take home. Other types of azaleas and some bedding plants will also be for sale. Boy Scout Troop 665 will be on hand to sell refreshments.
"Garden Days gives us the opportunity to share the beauty of our campus with the entire community," said Wayne Mugrauer, CEO of Friends Hospital. "Once again this event allows us to celebrate spring while bringing attention to the importance of awareness and treatment for mental illness."
Garden Days has been an integral part of Friends Hospital's outreach to the community for 64 years. The goal of Garden Days is to educate the public on mental illness while sharing Friends Hospital's 100 acres of brilliant colors.
The 100-acre campus of Friends Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia, is an arboretum brimming with numerous varieties of trees, spring flowers and flowering shrubs. The gardens of Friends are best known for being home to over 15 acres of azalea gardens.
The azalea gardens of Friends Hospital were planted in the 1920s, and soon became a popular attraction for many Delaware Valley residents. In 1938, the Hospital first began issuing formal invitations to the public to view the azaleas, beginning the event, which came to be known as Garden Days.
Dale Nemec, grounds coordinator at Friends Hospital, estimates that there are at least 20,000 azaleas representing 150 varieties of this popular shrub. Most, along with dogwoods, silver bells and other flowering trees native to this area, bloom during a three-week burst of spring brilliance usually occurring at the end of April into the beginning of May.
This year, visitors will be able to drive through the campus to see the beautifully landscaped lawns and plantings of Friends Hospital, with many spring bulbs and perennials in bloom.
For additional information about Garden Days, please call the Garden Days hotline at 215-831-7817.
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