The Professional Horticulture class of 2024 has spent the past two years organizing and holding plant sales—selling numerous plants, many of which we grew ourselves—and last month we enjoyed the fruits of our labor with our trip to Portugal, a destination inspired by the Mediterranean garden design of the nearly completed West Conservatory of Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience.

Prescribed burns, which occur in such locations as our Meadow Garden, are a way in which we can maintain the meadow’s health by rejuvenating its native plant communities and suppressing woody vegetation that would otherwise quickly overrun it.

As part of the Longwood Fellows Program, Fellows spend two months with partner organizations around the world to immerse themselves in their host’s culture, learn from thought leaders, and share and grow their own expertise.

Much of our variety in plants, garden design, and horticultural expertise comes from our exchange of knowledge with other public gardens, horticultural organizations, and skilled professionals from all over the world.

Our 2024 Community Read book, The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly, isn’t just a remarkable selection that exemplifies the meaning we can all find in gardens—it also has a fascinating historic agricultural connection to Longwood Gardens.

Growing up in a small, rural town in the South, The Secret Garden (our 2024 Community Read selection for our youngest readers) sparked my imagination at an early age with the idea of gardens as cloaked in mystery and secrets, filled with hidden beauty (and stories) waiting to be revealed.

At Longwood, we create many spaces to explore your passions, practice your creativity, and deepen your wellness through diverse learning opportunities that allow you to dive deeper into your relationship with nature—and wellness.

We’re thrilled to have recently welcomed the five outstanding individuals that make up our 2023–24 Fellows cohort.

As the president and chief executive officer of Black Girl Florists and the owner of One Soul Events (Atlanta, GA), and in the spirit of Black Girl Florists’ mission, we are thrilled about our upcoming collaboration with Longwood.

Along with our Professional Horticulture Program classmates, we recently completed one of the most exciting parts of our two-year program—our opportunity to experience horticulture in another country through our study abroad trip.

This year, as part of the Professional Horticulture Program, our nine students have been asked to design, create and maintain three garden designs based on the scheme of change and adaptation.

Longwood is not only a spectacular setting to immerse oneself in a beautiful outdoor environment, but it’s also one perfectly situated to engage young students with nature.

As advocates for green spaces with the ability to inspire an appreciation for nature in others, alumni of the Longwood Fellows Program often go on to lead nonprofit institutions with meaningful missions rooted in plants, conservation, research, and education.

With its name composed of two Japanese characters that mean “grass” and “thing”, the literal translation of kusamono—a Japanese botanical art of small, potted grasses traditionally displayed next to bonsai as seasonal accent plants—may suggest that this Japanese botanical art is unassuming or falls secondary to its bonsai counterpart.

Our Fellows reflect on lessons learned and memories made during their field placements in London, Singapore, Niagara Falls, Cleveland, and Edinburgh.

Leaving home for the first time to travel to a different part of the world, to come to Longwood as part of the International Internship & Training Program, was a hard choice for me, but the right choice for my career, and a way in which I could experience a culture of kindness and inclusion.

We are proud to represent our Professional Horticulture Program classmates in leading the planning and preparation for the class of 2023 trip to Italy, taking place in late May.

At Longwood, our growing knowledge of horticulture is constantly expanded on by our staff, students, and fellow horticulturists—and as this year’s Today’s Horticulture Symposium hosted by the Professional Horticulture Alumni Association showed, horticulture is a practice of resilience, of roots, and of relevancy.

Over the ten years of Community Read, our program goals haven’t changed; we want to inspire generations to read, think, and engage with authors and their writing … plus, the more than 200 events in the community that explore the books each year help keep the conversation going.