Sunday at Delaware's Mt. Cuba

Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware is 600 acres of natural woodlands majesty, and is recognized as one of the region's finest woodland wildflower gardens.

Generally, the gardens is a place of quiet beauty, but on Sunday, a few thousand people descended on the center for the eighth annual Wildflower Celebration.

The narrow wooded paths were loaded with nature lovers, but the electric colors and the wide range of wildflowers still shined.

The center is exquisite in its neatness, its winding paths and towering trees. It's history is simple. In 1935, the president of the Du  Pont Company, Lammot du Pont Copeland, built a stately Colonial Revival manor house here and hired architects to build the gardens.

On all but a few special days of the year, the public can only see the gardens in a group of up to 15 people alongside a docent, who explains the history of the center and the different plants. Cost is $5, reservations are required.

• On Friday, May 11, the center is celebrating National Public Gardens Day, and admission is free. The public can stroll the gardens without a docent and without reservations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

For parties of  nine or less tours are available for Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 10 a.m.; Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m. For groups of 10 or more -- tours are available Tuesday through Sundays.

While the system might seem restrictive, the gardens are pristine, and are kept that way by controlling the crowds.