Longwood Gardens—Spring 2024

By FCGN member Jeff Schuetz

Longwood Gardens was the fifth of six gardens my wife Nita Beck and I visited during our trip to Philadelphia in the spring of 2024. (1,100 acres; paid admission with required reservation; longwoodgardens.org)

Approximately an hour west of Philadelphia, the historic Pierre S. du Pont estate (started in 1870) has become one of the signature gardens of the eastern U.S. The operative word here is grand. Generally more formal, the various gardens are meant to be impressive (and they are!), though there are also areas of subtle beauty. The 600’ Flower Garden Walk, the Italian Water Garden with a lake and fountains and jets, multiple conservatories, the Rose Garden, the Topiary Garden, and the Main Fountain Garden all have a formal grandeur.

But there are more low-key elements as well: Pierce’s Woods is a quiet, shaded area with a feeling of discovery; the Meadow and Forest District has beautiful views over the vast meadow of former farmland; the du Pont House has a pleasant human scale about it; the conservatories have many beautiful and unusual plants; and the Chimes Tower District is more intimate with hillside plantings, woods, water features, and an Asian influence.

Plan to spend a good portion of a day at Longwood. (You’ll be doing a lot of walking, even if only a couple hundred acres are cultivated gardens!) Longwood is definitely something to experience.

People entering a building with a curved roof, surrounded by greenery and trees on a sunny day.

A landscaped garden with green grass, trees, and flowering plants under a partly cloudy sky.

A person walking on a paved garden path surrounded by lush greenery and trees, with a wrought iron archway in the background, under a partly cloudy sky.

People gathered around a fountain in a lush garden with green trees and a clear sky.

People walking and gardening in a lush, green botanical garden with various plants, trees, and colorful flowers under a partly cloudy sky.

A scenic garden scene with a stone-bordered flower bed in the foreground, lush green shrubs, large potted plants, benches, and tall trees under a partly cloudy sky. People are walking and enjoying the garden in the background.

People walking through a garden with lush grass, flowering trees with purple blossoms, and a wooden pergola, under a partly cloudy sky.

A garden scene with a large, flowering tree with cascading white blossoms, surrounded by gravel walkways, greenery, and a few people walking and enjoying the view.

A peaceful park scene with a stone path leading to a small pond, surrounded by lush green trees and a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds. There are a few people sitting by the pond and one person standing near the water.

Symmetrical garden with rectangular pools, fountains, neatly trimmed grass, and stone borders, flanked by pruned trees with leafless branches, under a partly cloudy blue sky.

People walking across a small wooden bridge with metal railings in a lush green park on a sunny day.

A rural landscape with a bright blue sky, scattered white clouds, green fields, a forested hill, a wooden railing on a bridge, and a small pond or water feature in the distance.

A landscaped garden with creatively pruned bushes and topiary shaped like towers, under a bright blue sky with fluffy clouds.

Inside a large glass greenhouse with a curved ceiling structure, lush green tropical plants surround a small fountain with water cascading from two central spouts.

People sitting on a bench and standing in an indoor botanical garden with lush green plants and sunlight filtering through a glass ceiling.

Indoor botanical garden with tall trees, lush green foliage, and colorful flowers in planters, under a glass ceiling with sunlight.

People observing plants inside a greenhouse filled with various cacti and succulents, with sunlight casting shadows through the glass roof.

Display of various potted orchids and green plants in a greenhouse.

A large, neatly landscaped park with trimmed green grass, hedges, and tree-lined walkways, under a partly cloudy blue sky.

A small stream flowing through a lush, green garden with trees, shrubs, and rocks, featuring a wooden footbridge over the water.