Explore Longwood Gardens

Trees with brilliant fall foliage reflect in a lake, with red berries on shrubs in foreground.
William Hill

Longwood Gardens, one of America’s quintessential landscapes, is a place of ever-changing seasonal beauty, handcrafted feats of horticultural wonder, and an awe-inspiring collection of the most beautiful plants from around the globe. 

From our humble beginnings as a Quaker farmstead and arboretum, to Pierre S. du Pont’s forward-thinking stewardship, to today’s collection of renowned landscape designers, horticulturists, and architects, our great garden of the world evolves and emerges again and again.

Through Longwood Gardens and its program of outstanding horticultural display, every visitor to the Gardens has the opportunity to gain, culturally and spiritually, a better peace of mind.

Russell J. Seibert, Longwood’s first director

Explore nearly 200 acres of lush, formal gardens, open meadows, and winding paths to breathtaking Brandywine Valley vistas. Together, mesmerizing displays, feats of engineering, and science-based research and conservation work harmoniously toward the overarching goal to unite and inspire our guests in appreciation of beauty—as only Longwood can. 

Explore Our Gardens

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  • Our Districts
    A stone path winds through a lush room of colorful plants with a hanging light above

    Our Districts

    Explore nearly 200 acres of lush, formal gardens, open meadows, and winding paths.

  • Our Seasons
    An old stone farmhouse with red shutters sits in the left background, fronted by yellow meadow flowers and foliage.

    Our Seasons

    We honor the four seasons with five unique Longwood seasons, celebrating the bounty of our gardens throughout the cycles of renewal, growth, and ever-evolving splendor. 

  • Our Plants
    close up of orange Clivia Miniata with green and yellow center

    Our Plants

    Explore over 10,000 species and varieties of plants, representing 200 different plant families. 

  • Our Science
    A person holds a small vial with plant material inside in a lab

    Our Science

    Our scientific work lays the groundwork for discoveries that expand our understanding of the natural world and help perpetuate and celebrate its beauty for generations to come.

What's in Bloom

See More of What's in Bloom

  • Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum

    Now on display, the traditional Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum, white flowering form 'Susono-no-Tsuki'.  This ancient technique, known in Japan as Ozukuri, originated hundreds of years ago in Asia and is the most exacting and challenging of all Chrysanthemum training styles!  It takes 17 months and more than 2,000 staff hours to nurture and train this single plant into a perfect blooming dome with one central stem. Each large flower is evenly spaced apart from each other using a supporting frame. Disbudding plants to allow just one flower per individual stem to develop creates a larger bloom. Flowers all are similar in size and bloom at the same time. Fun Fact: Two of the large Thousand Bloom mum plants are grown to maturity, and the strongest plant is selected in October for final display.  Only days remaining to view the splendor of our Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum! 

  • Bonsai Mum

    Tanuki is a bonsai technique that combines a piece of deadwood with a living plant and seamlessly blends them to appear like one.  The dynamic vertical lines of the deadwood contrast beautifully with the downward growth of the mum, resulting in a display that conveys a deep sense of age and character.