PHS Travels to Gardens in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
June 23 - 26, 2008

Itinerary | Land Arrangements
For More Information | Responsibility Clause

ITINERARY

[Note: Where meals are included, "B"=Breakfast, "L"=Lunch, "D"=Dinner]

MONDAY, JUNE 23                  Philadelphia/Stockbridge -  RED LION INN

We’ll have an early start from the Philadelphia area this morning. Two or three places to board the bus will be determined when the passenger list is complete. We’ll drive to Stockbridge, stopping for lunch en route. After checking into the Red Lion Inn, we will have a little free time to relax on the spacious porch or perhaps start exploring the town. In late afternoon we’ll visit the Berkshire Botanic Garden in Stockbridge for a guided tour and a buffet supper. There are several gardens on the property, with the emphasis on plants that thrive in the Berkshires. We’ll see mixed borders, rose, herb and rock gardens, a wetlands and an arboretum before our return to the Inn in early evening.                                     (L,D)

TUESDAY, JUNE 24

After breakfast in the main dining room we’ll drive to Ashley Falls, Massachusetts, where Jeff Steele will join us for the day. A trained horticulturist and landscape designer, Jeff will guide us through several gardens, including his own. One is a vacation home where Jeff has designed a series of gardens around the beautifully restored late 1700’s house. We’ll see a rock garden created on the natural rock outcroppings and planted with white plants. There is also a cutting garden, herb garden and even a putting green. Another property is bordered with beautiful stone walls. The main garden has unusual fencing, boxwood-edged paths and a domed pigeon house. Jeff’s own garden has a boxwood parterre, reminiscent of the one he grew up with, a shade garden, sunny borders and a croquet lawn. Within just a few years, another gardener, who describes herself as a “tireless amateur”,  has transformed a four-acre field into island beds connected by winding paths, an orchard, a large vegetable garden complete with a sink to wash the fresh vegetables!  We’ll have a box lunch at Jeff’s before returning to the Inn in late afternoon for an evening at leisure.                                                                          (B,L)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25 

Designed in 1902, The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts, is the Berkshire home of author Edith Wharton, who wrote many of her books here. She also designed the gardens which reflect the classical designs she admired and wrote about in her book “Italian Villas and Their Gardens.”  The Mount gardens are a series of descending grass terraces, edged with clipped hedges. There are also fountains, perennial borders, and an allee of linden trees.  After the Whartons sold the property, it was used as a girls’ school for many years. We will tour both the house and the gardens, which recently have undergone a marvelous restoration.  After lunch on the terrace overlooking the gardens and a panorama of mountains, we’ll return to Stockbridge for a leisurely afternoon.  This evening we’ll gather in the Inn’s main dining room for dinner.                                                  (B,L,D)

THURSDAY, JUNE 26                        STOCKBRIDGE/PHILADELPHIA

This morning we’ll visit Stockbridge gardens which take advantage of the views of the mountains. Stone retaining walls on a steep hillside create terraces and a home for alpine plants. Perennial and rose gardens are planted so as not to intrude on the sweeping views. A nearby garden surrounds a white frame house that also has Berkshire views. Flower beds line the drive and a new terrace in the back of the house. We’ll return to the Inn for lunch on the patio before starting for Philadelphia. Refreshments will be served en route.                                          (B,L)

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Note: Some walking will be on uneven ground, and some gardens are on hillsides.

Private gardens are open by the kind permission of the owners. Although they make every effort to keep dates arranged for visits, particular visits may not always be possible due to personal commitments, changes of ownership, or other reasons. Every effort will be made to substitute gardens of equal interest.

LAND ARRANGEMENTS

LAND ARRANGEMENTS:  $1145.00 per person, based on two people sharing a twin-bedded room with private bath at the Red Lion Inn. Price includes full breakfast daily, lunch or dinner as noted (L or D); guide fees, entrance fees, transportation by private motor coach throughout trip; hotel porterage, taxes; tip to coach driver; services of  Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and JL Tours escorts. Price based on 25 paying participants.

SINGLE SUPPLEMENT: $240.00.

DONATION:  A voluntary tax-deductible donation of $150 per person (payable to PHS) is requested. A reminder will be included with your final bill.

REGISTRATION: A $300.00 deposit check payable to JL Tours is required to hold a reservation. The balance and the $150 donation to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society are due April 23, 2008.

REFUNDS, CANCELLATIONS: Cancellations of confirmed reservations are subject to a $100.00 cancellation fee.  After April 23, 2008, no refunds will be made unless a substitute participant is found.

FOR INFORMATION

RESPONSIBILITY CLAUSE

JL Tours and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society act only as agents for the passenger with respect to all transportation, hotels, and all matters of reservations and tour operation.  We and our agents accept no responsibility for loss, damage, injury, accident, delay or irregularity, expense or liability caused by the defect of any vehicle or negligence or default of any independent contractors, their employees, agents, or representatives.  Nor do we accept responsibility for losses or delays arising from sickness, pilferage, labor disputes, machinery breakdown, quarantine, government restraints, war, acts of terrorism, weather conditions, or acts of God.  All such losses or expenses shall be borne by the tour participant, as tour rates provide for arrangements only for the time stated and as described in this brochure.

We reserve the right to substitute services, features, and hotels of similar quality without notice.  We reserve the right to cancel any tour prior to departure in which case the entire payment will be refunded without further obligation on our part.  We likewise reserve the right to decline to accept or retain any tour participant at any time without being under any obligation to assign any reason therefore.  In the event of the exercise of this right, we shall be under no liability to such person(s) except to refund such amount as our absolute discretion deems reasonable to attribute to the uncompleted portion of the tour.  No refund will be made for the unused portion of any tour unless arrangements are made in sufficient time to avoid penalties.  Baggage is carried at the owner’s risk entirely.  It is understood that air, ship, or train tickets when issued shall constitute the sole contract between the passenger and carrier concerned.  The airlines and all other transportation companies involved in this tour are not to be held responsible for any act, omission, or event during the time the passengers are not on board their planes or conveyances.  All services are subject to the laws of the country in which they are rendered.  The tour participant agrees, on behalf of himself, his dependents, heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, to abide by the above conditions and to release and hold harmless JL Tours., the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and any of their representatives from any and all liability for any delays, damage, loss, injury, or death occurring in relation to this tour.