It’s our biggest, most magical season yet—the very first A Longwood Christmas for our new Longwood Reimagined spaces. We’re thrilled to welcome you to an unparalleled new chapter in our legacy—a 17-acre expansion and reimagination of our grounds, serving as the most ambitious undertaking in our history. With the addition of these 17 acres of new gardens, new landscapes, and new buildings are many more opportunities for holiday magic. Come along as we take a peek at our new spaces dressed for the season—we can’t wait to share them with you.
When you’re headed to our new gardens and landscapes from our Main Fountain Garden, a familiar friend helps lead the way—our 200-foot-long light tunnel, comprised of 20,000 lights and just-so curvature that gives the illusion that its lights continue endlessly. As you walk through the tunnel and towards the west, you’re greeted with a spectacular sight: a grove of hundred-year-old London plane-trees, uplit in a stunning blue hue and positively twinkling with stars placed throughout the canopy.
Our hundred-year-old London plane-trees take new form this Christmas. Photo by Hank Davis.
The London plane-trees, shown here in the reflection, point you toward the west entrance of our new West Conservatory. Two floating cone-trees of cool white lights, skimming the surface of the tranquil sheet of water that surrounds it, lead the way inside. Photo by Holden Barnes.
Our spectacular West Conservatory makes its A Longwood Christmas debut in elegant fashion. The centerpiece and largest component of Longwood Reimagined, this 32,000-square-foot glasshouse greets you with more than 1,000 pink and white-flushed Hippeastrum “Mystica’ beautifully woven throughout its interior landscape.
Hippeastrum “Mystica’ in the West Conservatory. Photo by Becca Mathias.
A series of six Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) float along the West Conservatory’s south basin, dressed in beaded ornaments, stained glass, and gold and white accents. Photo by Laurie Carrozzino.
Along the West Conservatory’s pathways, 11 floral columns await, each a towering 12 feet tall and swathed in Echeveria of varying hues and textures. Photo by Becca Mathias.
Overhead, 40 white Phalaenopsis orchid baskets add a lofty element to the space, as well as direct the eye upward to white lights and the West Conservatory’s arching beams—which are inspired by the lines of the London plane-trees just outside—and its soaring, crystalline roof.
Each orchid orb spans four feet in diameter and features 75 orchids. To create these orbs, our horticulturists layer wet sphagnum moss and Phalaenopsis orchids in rows along custom-built metal forms. Photo by Becca Mathias.
Situated just north of our West Conservatory is our new Bonsai Courtyard, a gallery-like space where bonsai are artfully displayed on pedestals and in stone areas. Throughout A Longwood Christmas, we’re featuring a selection of hardy bonsai, as well as a special tokonoma display placed in front of the Bonsai Courtyard entrance wall. Tokonoma is the tradition of displaying a carefully chosen collection. In this case, the tokonoma includes a Japanese black pine bonsai decorated with more than 600 glass icicles. We have placed a laser light projection onto the bonsai to highlight its ornaments and give a sense of movement, as well as placed a bamboo-inspired icy backdrop. As part of the tokonoma, we have placed a kusamono—or a small potted arrangement displayed as an accent—beside the bonsai.
Enjoy a selection of hardy bonsai in our Bonsai Courtyard throughout A Longwood Christmas. Photo by Becca Mathias.
Our tokonoma display includes a Japanese black pine bonsai decorated with more than 600 glass icicles. Photo by Kevin Bielicki.
While our reimagined Waterlily Court is still in process (this aquatic showcase will open in spring 2025), it’s still joining in on the fun. Here, you’ll find six branching chandeliers created by our in-house artisans that hang overhead along the new arcade—which is open and features new guest amenities. Illuminated white birch trees stand in the center pool of the Waterlily Court, while a series of boxes with cherry red dogwood twigs serve as a festive touch between our historic Main Conservatory and our new spaces.
A series of chandeliers hang in the new arcade adjacent to the Waterlily Court. Photo by Hank Davis.
Adjacent to our Waterlily Court arcade is our preserved Cascade Garden, the only intact garden design by acclaimed Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. We proudly relocated and reconstructed this prized garden stone by stone and plant by plant, in a way no institution has done before. We’re thrilled to welcome back the Cascade Garden, now in a new 3,800-square-foot glasshouse that’s timeless in its simplicity but designed to allow Burle Marx’s vision to thrive. In that spirit, we’ve decided to let Burle Marx’s design speak for itself this Christmas. You’ll find potted conifers outside of the Cascade Garden welcoming you inside, as well as subtle green lighting throughout the profusion of tropical plants in this equatorial coastal rainforest-inspired space.
Our preserved Cascade Garden awaits. Photo by Laurie Carrozzino.
All ages will enjoy our spectacular Main Fountain Garden display that emulates our iconic fountain performances, but with music and lights—not water. Those enjoying our extraordinary new dining experience in 1906 and our all-new Taste of Christmas in The Fountain Room can also enjoy the Main Fountain Garden display as they dine, as these all-new spaces overlook the Main Fountain Garden. A new festive holiday experience, Taste of Christmas in The Fountain Room features exclusive access to an imaginative menu in an airy, inviting space where you can warm up, recharge, and savor the tastes and sights of the season.
Our new The Fountain Room, as seen from the Main Fountain Garden. Photo by Laurie Carrozzino.
A view of our Main Fountain Garden light display, looking towards our Conservatory District—with our new West Conservatory to the far left—and arched-window façade of 1906 and The Fountain Room. Photo by Holden Barnes.
For 118 years, we have blended art and science to create a horticulture experience like no other—and we’ve taken this many steps farther with the realization of Longwood Reimagined. We are honored to have enhanced, stewarded, and preserved one of the most important, most beautiful collections of gardens and glasshouses in the world. And we’re thrilled to celebrate their debut with you at the most magical time of year.
