Name: A Celebration of Life for Neil Barger
Start: 2025-09-12T17:00:00-04:00
Location: Delaware Center for Horticulture

Please join Neil Barger’s Family, Friends, Plant Purveyors and Buyers alike for the happy occasion of celebrating the joyous and colorful life that he lived on Friday, September 12. Our plan is to share happy memories and stories as a tribute to him in a place that is a tribute to his chosen profession: The Delaware Center for Horticulture.
Gather with us starting at 5:00. Come by and grab a cocktail and share a story and a hug with the folks you’ve met at Neil’s plant sales, at Our Night Out, or in the back yard for his memorable bonfires. The storytelling will begin at 6:00 in The Founders Room at DCH.
Following that, we’ll continue the celebration at the bar at Piccolina Toscana at 7:00 for light fare and drinks. While the official celebration will wind down at 9:00, you’re welcome to stick around Piccolina Toscana for as long as the heart desires. We can say with certainty that is what Neil would have done.
We encourage dressing for the occasion. And by dressing for the occasion, we mean the occasion of celebrating the life of a horticulturist. Think flower prints, shorts, and summer shoes. If you don’t own flower prints, consider grabbing a boutonniere from your local florist. Or maybe something out of your native perennial garden and pinning it with a safety pin. We hope to see folks wearing bright colors and lots of beautiful flowers.
In lieu of flower arrangements for the service, we suggest either a donation to The Ambler Arboretum of Temple University (details in the link) or the planting of a native flowering garden of your choosing in your own back yard. Just don’t spend too much on the plants. Neil wouldn’t have wanted that.
https://www.chandlerfuneralhome.com/obituaries/neil-h-barger
Helpful details:
Delaware Center for Horticulture: 5:00-7:00
1810 North DuPont Street
Wilmington Delaware 19806
There is parking across the street for 40 cars. There is also parking on Gilpin Ave and in the surrounding neighborhood, or you can go and park up by Toscana and walk down - the two venues are three blocks apart.
Piccolina Toscana: 7:00-9:00
1412 North DuPont Street
Wilmington Delaware 19806
There is a parking lot for the restaurant and lots of parking on North DuPont and in the surrounding neighborhood.