Located in the Brandywine Creek Valley, Longwood Gardens covers 1100 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows, indoors and out.
From formal gardens to children's gardens, the site includes an oak and conifer knoll, soaring fountains, lakes, and an expansive Meadow. The 1730 Peirce-du Pont House holds the Longwood Heritage Exhibit, a collection of historic photos, artifacts, home movies, and video that tells the story of the stewards of the land who preserved and developed the property. In 1914 the conservatory that became Longwood’s first ‘winter garden’ was added.
A 600-foot long brick walk is surrounded by flowering foliage plants and grasses that change with the seasons, offering fleeting moments of form, texture, rhythm, and color. The flowering season begins in April when sweeps of 125,000 tulips, daffodils, allium, foxglove, fritillaria, bluebells, and more come into bloom. Summertime brings favorite annuals combined with grasses, native perennials, and showy tropical foliage and flowers. As the days shorten, gardeners replace out-of-season plants with fall-blooming solidago, salvia, chrysanthemums, and asters that remain in the Garden through frost.
Each year, from late November into January, Longwood Christmas dazzles with holiday horticulture and a spirit of magic both indoors and out. From a spectacular outdoor light display with more than half a million lights … to Open Air Theatre fountains dancing to holiday music … to strolling carolers and festive organ sing-alongs … to the Conservatory decked out in the season’s finest, Longwood Gardens celebrates the season.