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.