Last week I had the marvelous opportunity to walk through the beautiful Longwood Gardens—one of the world’s greatest gardens!

History of Longwood Gardens

The history of the gardens goes back as far as 1700 when George Pierce, a Quaker farmer purchased the land and passed it down to his descendants, two of which were great-grandsons, Joshua and Samuel. The two planted a 15-acre arboretum—making it one of the greatest collections of trees in the United States.

Saving the Gardens

After several generations of disinterest in the garden’s lands and arboretum, Pierre du Pont (yes Du Pont of gun powder & DuPont Company fame and fortune) stepped in to save the trees from the threat of being removed by a lumber mill. 

Du Pont Family

Pierre came from a family of long-time gardeners and personally created plans of his own to create the beautiful gardens you can walk today. From a young age, Pierre had a great fascination with water, which is very evident with the Italian-style water displays, fountains, ponds, streams and more found throughout the gardens. 

European Influence

Pierre often traveled abroad and studied the fountains and gardens of Italy and France for inspiration for his own gardens. Because of this, Longwood Gardens has one of the most advanced and impressive water displays, many of which reflect the European styles he studied abroad. 

Water Display Creation

Pierre personally conducted calculations using his expertise of hydraulics to create massive water displays, all controlled by a main switchboard holding over 400 different switches to control the fountains. Today, you can visit the “pump room”—the dedicated building housing the pumps that direct the water from the source to each of the fountains. 

Russell Brewer, Pierre’s Head of Maintenance said, [to] “turn the stately streams of water into columns of beauty, and the floating masses of gauze-like spray into mystic grandeur,” with the “expressions of appreciation escaping from the lips of the awe-inspired audiences” giving “undeniable testimony as to the magnificence of this man-made wonder.”

What to Enjoy at Longwood Gardens

These amazing water displays are not the only things you can enjoy at Longwood Gardens. Meadows, gardens, and woodlands at Longwood now span 1,050 acres, with 11,000 different varieties of native, tropical, and subtropical plant species. With so much to see, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Luckily, they also provide guided tours by experts and have an app with an interactive map & guide too. The Longwood Gardens website is also an excellent resource, where you can actually explore the different gardens and plants to do some research before you go! 

They actually have a really amazing gift shop filled with gardening/bee handling books, plants, and seeds, and even recommended gardening tools! Walking around can get tiring so just know you can grab lunch at their tasty cafe. I didn’t get to try any desserts, but they looked amazing!! You can also walk through several museums (including one that gives live organ concerts every so often!).  

If you’re ever looking for something to do in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania you’ll have to make a visit to Longwood Gardens! These pictures speak for themselves!