A 17-acre expansion and reimagination of our grounds, Longwood Reimagined is our most ambitious undertaking in a century—and it should come as no surprise that many, many moving parts came into play when planning for and opening our new gardens, glasshouses, and landscapes. One such component was the multi-faceted (and multi-year) approach to creating the hundreds of plant display labels that had to be ready when we debuted our new spaces. This effort, led by Longwood’s Plant Information and Mapping team, helps answer the simplest of questions—“what is that?”—but is by no means a simple process.
Year-round, the Plant Information and Mapping team gathers, documents, and disseminates information about Longwood’s plant collection and its land to staff, students, volunteers, and guests. One aspect of our work is to create the plant display labels found throughout our Gardens.
In an average year our team creates more than 4,000 display labels to place with plants that will be on display, from short-term seasonal displays in our Main Conservatory, to our long-term collections, such as trees. When the Longwood Reimagined project started, we knew that upon opening, hundreds of new display labels would have to be made and placed in time to welcome our first guests through the spaces.
A guest takes a picture of the display label of a containerized specimen of a hybrid tree aloe in the new West Conservatory. Photo by Becca Mathias.
Our team has a close connection with the horticulturists who create and maintain the garden spaces and the plants within them. By collaborating with the Horticulture team, we are able to plan for and create display labels in enough time to have them ready for a floral display. For short-term displays we create a temporary label of waterproof paper and plastic backs that mimic the permanent display labels that are made of anodized aluminum. While just a couple of hours are needed to create temporary labels, our permanent display labels can take up to eight weeks per batch to create—meaning we have to plan far in advance.
When planning for the opening of Longwood Reimagined, we knew that we wanted as many permanent display labels as possible to create a finished aesthetic in the newly opened spaces, including the West Conservatory, Cascade Garden, Bonsai Courtyard, and new outdoor landscapes. To do this, we needed to gather plant lists from the landscape architects and horticulturists as soon as they were finalized to start the display label process. We also monitored the planting of the outdoor landscape trees and shrubs throughout the years, so labels would be ready to go out.
Eucalyptus ‘Moon Lagoon’ growing in a nursery in California prior to being shipped to Longwood Gardens for planting in the West Conservatory. Photo by Kaylene Argot.
We started gathering lists of plant names for these spaces in 2021. By looking at planting plans we determined how labels should be ordered for each species. We also determined the size of the label needed based on the distance it would be in the garden from the path. Throughout the planning process, our horticulturists who traveled to the various nurseries from which we sourced our new plants helped support these efforts, by keeping their planting lists updated and sending us pictures of the plants with their nursery labels, such as the above.
The process of making a label starts with plant nomenclature verification. Depending on the name of the plant, that could take minutes or days. Since a scientific plant name is the universal name for a species, no matter where you live in the world or whichever language you speak, getting the most accurate name is important. We added these verified plant names, along with their nativity and plant family, to our plant records database and then exported and formatted spreadsheets for label ordering.
The creation of all the new labels that would be needed for Longwood Reimagined took much planning and organization, especially on the part of our Plant Information Field Specialist Joyce Rondinella.
Display labels distinguishing different cultivars of Aechmea in the newly preserved Cascade Garden. Photo by Becca Mathias.
Joyce, who was the Senior Horticulturist responsible for the Palm House, Tropical Terrace, and Cascade Garden prior to the start of the Longwood Reimagined project in 2020, joined the Plant Information and Mapping team in 2023 in her new role as Plant Information Field Specialist. Joyce’s 20-year history at Longwood was invaluable when gathering all the former display labels from around the Conservatory and compiling them. Many labels from the previous Cascade Garden were able to be reused. With the help of students and volunteers, Joyce was able to start ordering, preparing, and organizing the new display labels starting in November 2023.
Alphabetizing West Conservatory display labels preparing for placement in the Garden. Photo by Joyce Rondinella.
Each month from November 2023 to October 2024 Joyce ordered, received, and processed display labels for Longwood Reimagined. In the end, more than 600 new labels were ready to be placed in the new spaces . At the end of October and prior to the debut of Longwood Reimagined, we placed the labels with the correct plants. Years of preparing, gathering information, and creation paid off and the new garden spaces were labeled.
Since our displays are always changing, we continue to change and update the display labels as needed, which helps support one of our team’s most valued efforts—engaging our guests and inspiring learning through these labels.
