Mary Morton Parson’s Courtyard is located outside the Exhibition Gallery of the Conservatory. Designed by Wambui Ippolito.
Wambui Ippolito is an award-winning landscape designer and horticulturist who in 2021 was named one of the “Eleven Revolutionary Female Landscape Designers and Architects Everyone Should Know” by Veranda magazine. She also won “Best in Show” at the 2021 Philadelphia Flower Show.
Her color inspiration came from the Valentino dresses in the 2011 Fall/Winter collection which reminded her of flowers in blacks, whites and muted colors. She focused on a black and white palette for Spring and pastel colors for Summer. The courtyard has spectacular views of the meadow below and beyond you can take in the Rose Garden, Sydnor Lake, and the Klaus Family Tree House.
THE MOON GATE
A large moon gate draws you into the courtyard and frames the view beyond. A Moon Gate is a type of rounded arbor that is popular in Chinese and Bermudian garden design. These complex structures symbolize renewal, balance, luck and welcome. Located within the Mary Morton Parsons Courtyard, our Moon Gate creates a symbolic frame from which visitors can simultaneously multiple areas of the Garden.