06-09 Longwood Gardens

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

Monday we drove about 45 minutes from the campground to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. This is one of the premier botanical gardens in the US. It has over 1,000 acres of woods, meadows, and gardens. The gardens stretch over about 80 acres and include one of the largest conservatories in the world with almost 4 acres under glass in the series of connected green houses. The land was originally purchased from William Penn by fellow Quakers in 1700. In 1798 one of the descendants started planting unique trees and by 1850 had one of the best collection of trees in the US. In 1906 Pierre S. DuPont bought the property to prevent the trees from being harvested (I assume because the family had to pay its debts.) The DuPont’s built the initial Conservatory and Gardens as well as a large home to use as a summer retreat. They owned the property until 1954 when it opened as public gardens. The gardens and conservatory have since been greatly expanded.

Here are a few pictures from the grounds.

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

There are fabulous water fountains in the park. Two have special 5 minute shows every few hours. We saw one of them.

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

There is also a beautiful Italian Water Garden. It too has fountains that go through a sequence of different beautiful sprays.

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

The Conservatory and its flowers are breathtaking. Here are a few shots inside.

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

Here are a few close-ups of some of the flowers.

Canna:

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

Bromeliad

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

Orchids

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

Hibiscus

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

Just outside the Conservatory was a water garden with many different water lilies.

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

From 06-09 Longwood Garden

If you love gardens, this is a place you must visit if you are in the Lancaster or Philadelphia areas. Allow at least 1/2 a day. All day would be better. One suggestion, take a lunch break and leave the gardens for lunch. You can get a stamp to return. They have lovely restaurants on the property, but we were very disappointed in the food, especially for the price.