Garden gala draws crowd for cruises, live music

The lush green Bartram's Garden hosted a charity event last Thursday to mark founder John Bartram's 306th birthday. The event raised nearly $6,000 to benifit the garden, the oldest botanical garden in the world devoted to the study and collection of North American plants. Some attendees sat at round tables under a tent and enjoyed a meal. Live entertainment was provided by Heritage, a two-man ensemble playing 18th- century-style music and instruments. Others took a complementary cruise on the Schuylkill that lasted about an hour. The cruise boat passed by Penn, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the post office building on the waterfront, among other scenic and historic locations. Theodora Ashmead, director of development for Bartram's Garden, said, "We'd love if more students [and] professors" took part in the cruises, of which there will be five more this summer. She added that a group of Penn graduate students have already booked the August 25 cruise to capacity. Ashmead added that she was pleased with the turnout and the amount of money raised. The Executive Director of Bartram's Garden, Bill LeFevre, said, "We do this every year, we administer Bartram's Garden for the city of Philadelphia." The gala was attended by over 100 people, many of whom were from outside of Philadelphia. Germantown resident June Felley, a member of the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks, is a frequent patron of the Garden as part of her hobby. "For years I've been a gardener there in Germantown, and we come down here a lot to check out the plants," Felley said. According to Ashmead, the Garden's namesake has particular significance to the Penn community, as a result of his ties to the University's founder. Bartram was "Benjamin Franklin's best friend," Ashmead noted. She added that Bartram's son William was a professor of Botany at the University. As a sign of the close friendship they shared, Bartram's son named one of the flowers he discovered after Franklin, Franklinia alatamaha. Bartram was appointed the king's botanist for North America by George III of England in 1765. Also, he and his son are credited with identifying and introducing into cultivation more than 200 native plants.