Mt. Cuba Center

Delaware, United States

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Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware, near Wilmington, is a 1,000-acre nonprofit botanical garden and conservation institution renowned for its focus on native plants from the Appalachian Piedmont region.

Founded as a family estate in 1935 by Lammot du Pont Copeland and Pamela Cunningham Copeland, the property includes a Colonial Revival manor house and woodland gardens designed by prominent landscape architects. Over time, the Copelands shifted their focus from formal gardens to preserving native wildflower habitats and naturalistic landscapes.

The center was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1989 and opened to the public in 2013, offering education programs, research on native plants, and extensive gardens that support ecological gardening and habitat conservation. Mt. Cuba strives to inspire visitors to appreciate the beauty and ecological value of native plants and to encourage environmental stewardship. It also merged with the adjacent Red Clay Reservation, expanding its protected natural lands.