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All the United States Pennsylvania Kennett Square Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens

This palatial botanical garden is home to one of the largest pipe organs ever installed in a private residence, and a piece of Wood's cycad.

Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

Added By
Rachel James
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Longwood Gardens.   Forsaken Fotos
Main fountains at Longwood Gardens.   Adornix on Wiki
Fountain display   Sdwelch1031 on Wiki
Chimes Tower in Longwood Gardens   Geraldshields11 on Wiki
Longwood Gardens railway display, 2010   Sdwelch1031 on Wiki
Indoor conservatory   Cab02 on Wiki
Italian Water Garden in Longwood Gardens.   Apollo9000 on Wiki
  missingfilm / Atlas Obscura User
  missingfilm / Atlas Obscura User
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Part of the pipe organ   jennsylvania / Atlas Obscura User
Some of the organ pipes   jennsylvania / Atlas Obscura User
Longwood Tulips.   Jim, the Photographer
Italian Water Garden   Jim, the Photographer
Waterlily Victoria   anders pearson
Waterlily Display   Dylan Steinberg
Pierce- du Pont House   Gail Frederick
Blooms of the largest waterlily in the world.   Hilary Halliwell
Agave.   Sheila in Moonducks
The Eye of Water   Hilary Halliwell
Watery greenhouse   hfienberg / Atlas Obscura User
The Trident Maple   hfienberg / Atlas Obscura User
Throatwort   hfienberg / Atlas Obscura User
The Ezo Spruce   hfienberg / Atlas Obscura User
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The Satsuki Azalea   hfienberg / Atlas Obscura User
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Dragon statue at the tree house   jyackabonis / Atlas Obscura User
Interior of the Peirce-du Pont home   The Traveling Craig / Atlas Obscura User
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King of the Conservatory   skybeing / Atlas Obscura User
Orange cones of Wood’s Cycad   skybeing / Atlas Obscura User
King of the Conservatory   skybeing / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Longwood Gardens is open year-round, and at over 1,077 acres of fountains, woodlands, gardens and a host of events, it could take that long to soak everything in.

With its extensive horticultural and architectural offerings, Longwood is one of the most splendid botanical gardens in the United States. Originally a Quaker farm at its conception in 1700, it became more of an arboretum nearly a century later, and has been open to the public as such since, despite being turned into a private residence in 1906, when its new owner—Industrialist Pierre S. du Pont—rapidly expanded the estate after coming home from attending each world fair and returning inspired.

One of these inspirations came in the form of a giant pipe organ, its 10,010 pipes carried to Longwood via 14 railway freight cars. It resides in the Longwood ballroom, where it recently underwent a restoration and can once again be heard blowing its massive windy notes through the magnificent greenhouse structure, the conservatory.

Another extraordinary attraction at Longwood is the “King of the Conservatory,” the extremely rare Encephalartos woodii, an offset from the original Wood's Cycad. This prized specimen is extinct in nature, and only a few specimens exist is a handful of botanical gardens around the world, including Kew Gardens, Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam, the Botanical Garden of Naples, and the site of the original specimen, Durban Botanic Gardens in South Africa. Anxious to preserve the practically extinct species, Longwood botanists have successfully propagated several pups, although survival rate is still very low. 

If a record-breaking pipe organ and one of the rarest living things on earth doesn't do it for you, Longwood has acres and acres of attractions; the Palm House, an Outdoor Water Garden display, The Orangery, Acacia Passage, the Orchid House—5,500 species in the conservatory alone, 11,000 throughout the 20 outdoor gardens and rows of climate-controlled greenhouses. In addition, Longwood has an Orchid Extravaganza, Spring Blooms (including 240,000 tulips and other spring bulbs), a Festival of Fountains, featuring the Main Fountain Garden, the Mum festival, and A Longwood Christmas, in the peak season.

One of the many favorites of visitors is the Waterlily Display, which includes nine pools full of exotic waterlilies, cannas, and lotuses. You can see night-blooming waterlilies, lotuses, and many other aquatic plants, including the blooms of the world's largest waterlily, the Victoria.

Founder Pierre du Pont was fascinated by water. Reflecting on this, Longwood has the most fountains in an American botanical garden. There's an Eye of Water, an Italian Water Garden, the Main Fountain Garden, and many other water features throughout the gardens.

Events include lectures, tours, demonstrations, children's programs, live music, fireworks, fountain shows...more than anyone garden lover could possibly experience in one visit, making the estate somewhere you can visit over and over and always find something new. 

Related Tags

Botanical Gardens Flora Cycads Horticulture Music Plants

Community Contributors

Added By

Rachel

Edited By

dkmg, horticulturcat, skybeing, Kerry Wolfe...

  • dkmg
  • horticulturcat
  • skybeing
  • Kerry Wolfe
  • missingfilm
  • jennsylvania
  • The Traveling Craig
  • hfienberg
  • jyackabonis

Published

July 27, 2013

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  • https://longwoodgardens.wordpress.com/tag/woods-cycad/
Longwood Gardens
1001 Longwood Road
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, 19348
United States
39.8712, -75.6747
Visit Website
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