Chimes Tower District

Aerial view of large grassy area with a small pond and stone tower surrounded by a forest

About This District

Originally designed as an arresting backdrop for the Main Fountain Garden, the Chimes Tower District is now a series of standout gardens and water features that warrant more than just a passing glance. The Hillside Garden features an enviable roster of rare and unique plants, thriving harmoniously throughout the sun-dappled slopes. At the crest of the hill, Oak and Conifer Knoll boasts an array of celebrated tree specimens, with some planted during founder Pierre S. du Pont’s time. The Eye of Water, Pear-Shaped Basin, and Waterfall—all originally part of the gravity-fed pump and reservoir system that once serviced the Main Fountain Garden—are three unique, and interconnected destinations for your exploration.

Gardens in this District

  • Hillside Garden
    a walkway lined with green trees and shrubs

    Hillside Garden

    Dappled sun flirts with open vistas and shady, intimate perspectives as you wander the paths past beds brimming with a who’s who of rare and unique plants from around the world, set to the occasional tones of the historic Chimes Tower.

  • Oak and Conifer Knoll
    A path winds through a walkway of green trees and bushes

    Oak and Conifer Knoll

    Towering, century-old trees and sun-dappled vistas await in this living gallery of champion specimens with four seasons of stunning highlights. In the early spring, sweeps of colorful geophytes bloom to create a stunning tapestry.

What’s in Bloom

  • Southern Magnolia

    Magnolia grandiflora ′Bracken’s Brown Beauty′

    The dense, pyramidal 'Bracken's Brown Beauty' has lustrous evergreen leaves of a dark-green shade. At maturity, it reaches a height of about 35 feet and a width of 20 feet. Its large white flowers are lemon-scented and bloom in the late spring.  These blooms form fascinating fruits with large red seeds after flowering.  This southern magnolia cultivar prefers full or part sun and moist soil. It has no serious pest problems and tolerates winter conditions far better than the species.  Considered a beautiful specimen tree, southern magnolia, with its many ornamental characteristics, earns a standalone place in the garden where it can be admired.  Look for other plantings of Magnolia grandiflora throughout the gardens!  

  • White, cup-shaped flower with many yellow anthers

    Japanese Stewartia

    Stewartia pseudocamellia

    Although known as the Japanese stewartia, Stewaria pseudocamellia is found in both Japan and Korea. It is a small, slow-growing, pyramidal, deciduous tree which typically matures to 20 to 40 feet. It has cup-shaped, camellia-like white flowers two and a half inches in diameter with showy orange-yellow anthers. The flowers appear in early summer. The Korean name for this tree is No-gak-namu which translates as "deer's horn tree", which symbolically describes the beauty of the mottled, peeling bark with its tones of orange, green and grey.

  • Butterfly-weed

    Asclepias tuberosa

    Butterfly-weed is a type of milkweed that is native to North America. It grows in open, upland woodlands, dry fields or prairies, and on rocky slopes or glades. This clump forming perennial has orange, occasionally red or yellow, flowers that bloom from late May until August, and which attract butterflies, as well as bees and nectar-loving flies.

  • Northern Catalpa

    Catalpa speciosa