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![three rows of linden trees without their leaves](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/2022-03/464112_Main%20Fountain%20Garden%20South%20Allee_Altenburger_%20Tyler.jpg?h=988a0e4f&itok=4JybFyaj)
Calculating Beauty: Our Main Fountain Garden Lindens
Our trees—including the 168 linden trees in our Main Fountain Garden’s south, east, and west allées —are among the most exceptional parts of Longwood’s past, present, and future.
![A delicate white bud dangles from a small, spring green flower stem on a field of pine needles](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/blog_post_images/winter-blog-image.jpg?h=f6e9ddeb&itok=WWnMf4Yi)
The Clear Beauty of the Late Winter Landscape
Wintertime allows the clear details of the garden to come forward and highlights the harmony that a garden builds with its surrounding landscape.
![a field of brown winter grasses with a thick layer of fog in the background](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/blog_post_images/meadow-image_0.jpg?h=6b8f4031&itok=0jAhVG70)
The Winter Meadow Garden: Full of Life
In the Meadow Garden this time of year, life is all around when you look for its clues—and careful observation yields beautiful results.
![a person sweeping the floor inside of an indoor garden](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/blog_post_images/child-garden-image.jpg?h=1c0963d9&itok=nexw8zhi)
Starting Fresh: Our Indoor Children’s Garden
The process of replanting, replacing the soil, and refreshing the Indoor Children’s Garden involves many staff from our Horticulture and Facilities departments. Our plumbers, electricians, masons, and painters work tirelessly to make sure all is in perfect, and beautiful, working order.
![zoomed in photograph of bright green and dark green plant leaves](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/blog_post_images/plants-image.jpg?h=6eefa894&itok=jtSvst2-)
Indoor Plants for Every Home
It doesn’t matter if you live in an apartment, cottage, or even a yurt … there’s an indoor plant that can easily match your lifestyle.
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Orchid Extravaganza: “Big Lip” is Big News
We’re excited to showcase a beautiful representation of the new and exciting Phalaenopsis “big lip” breeding lines, displayed for the first time here at Longwood.
![sunlight peeking through the tree tops above a walkway in the forest](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/blog_post_images/climate-change-image.jpg?h=1cb3b12d&itok=aBgu-zaP)
Climate Change and Our Trees
Trees are an exceptionally important part of Longwood Gardens’ heritage and our future … they are nothing less than the backbone of our Gardens. When considering our tree management efforts in the context of climate change modeling, we not only consider the future, but also the present.
![close up of an air plant ornament](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/blog_post_images/tillandsia-image.jpg?h=69006c8e&itok=bqpdoFl9)
Tremendous Tillandsia: How to Care for These Gems
From textural Tillandsia xerographica perched above the waterfall in our Cascade Garden, to tiny Tillandsia tectorum and Tillandsia ionatha tucked into wire and cup ornaments in our Silver Garden, Tillandsia are definitely having a Christmas moment.
![branch with bright orange and red leaves](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/2022-03/358084_Garden_Highlights_Ward-Candie.jpg?h=84275eba&itok=whPpOAh7)
Farewell to a Beloved Beech
Measuring about 90 feet in height, this particular copper beech is among those ordered in either 1928 or 1933 by Longwood founder Pierre S. du Pont, as well as one of Longwood’s champion trees.
![close up of a light pink chrysanthemum with long petals](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/2022-03/436482_spider_mum_Hill_%20William%20_Bill.jpg?h=2b3a1875&itok=5yTawO2G)
Chrysanthemums: A Class of Their Own
Cherished for their exquisite beauty, rich hues, and delightfully distinct variations, chrysanthemums are in a class—or rather 13 classes—all their own.
![root system of an azalea bonsai tree](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/blog_post_images/azalea-image.jpg?h=654c8ebd&itok=xNe4gk87)
Character Development of a Bonsai
It’s been five months since we shared with you the initial steps in training one of our azalea standards into a bonsai … and the many challenges about the process. Despite its challenges, the azalea has made tremendous progress and I’m so excited to share that progress with you.
![a close up image of a bead of grass](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/blog_post_images/grass-image2.jpg?h=da0c8362&itok=bNElv8NP)
The Beauty and Bounty of Grasses
Right now, beautiful examples of corn, rice, and sorghum in our Vegetable Garden (nestled in our Idea Garden) and even our Waterlily Display demonstrate the breadth and bounty of the amazing grass family.
![a field of flowers](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/2022-03/366726_Meadow%20Garden_Hill_%20William%20_Bill_%20_Longwood%20Volunteer%20Photographer_.jpg?itok=OUmKUkRh)
A Sea of Asters
While many cultivated plants in the Asteraceae are found throughout Longwood’s display gardens—from daisy-like gerbera and dahlias, summer favorites marigolds and zinnias, and fall’s spectacular asters and chrysanthemums—it’s in the Meadow Garden where you can truly appreciate the breadth of this plant family in a natural setting.
![three lotus flowers with pink petals](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/2022-03/417503_Lotus%20-%20Nelumbo_Davis_%20Harold%20_Hank_%20_Longwood%20Volunteer%20Photographer_.jpg?itok=nn1XbiVe)
The Luminous Lotus
While many flowers are worthy of captivating our attention, few have inspired hearts and minds throughout the ages quite like the lotus … a beautiful, interesting plant that is not only extremely useful but also incredibly symbolic.
![purple Nymphea waterlilies floating in water with green leaves](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/2022-03/417026_Nymphaea%20_Detective%20Erika_Davis_%20Harold%20_Hank_%20_Longwood%20Volunteer%20Photographer_.jpg?itok=qHtt0BCv)
International Waterlily Competition Winners Now Blooming
Waterlilies are so special to Longwood that they were designated a core plant collection in our first and subsequent plant collections policies … plants comprising core collections are the highest priority at Longwood and central to our mission.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/blog_post_images/iwg-image.jpg?itok=QfGRzjAZ)
Bent into Shape
Here at Longwood, we like to honor the Fourth of July with a flourish that bends the norm … a patriotic design in the turf of our Italian Water Garden, achieved by bending the grass just-so to achieve a desired aesthetic.
![person standing in front of an arched entry way](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/blog_post_images/image-pbr.jpg?h=446b8ae2&itok=RxmVE3M3)
Seeing Beauty to Save Our Global Garden
I had the absolute honor of sharing my thoughts on beauty and its role in protecting nature—our global garden—as a TEDxWilmington speaker.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/blog_post_images/seg-image.jpg?itok=HKSimgpA)
Seeds of Inspiration
For the second-year Professional Horticulture students who have designed this year’s Student Exhibition Garden, inspiration comes in the form of seeds—their resiliency, their resulting dyes and textiles, their importance in food crops, and the symbolism of seeding and growing an interest in biological science.
![a person pruning a fully bloomed pink azalea bonsai](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/blog_post_images/401100_azalea_bonsai_gross_carol.jpg?h=6f1cce0d&itok=nMzgkRSA)
Birth of a Bonsai
The art of bonsai is rooted in patience and harmony … a practice that entails contemplation and lots of decision-making along the way. Those decisions must be made from both a horticultural standpoint and an aesthetic standpoint in order to achieve the true goal of bonsai: nurturing and training a tree in a container to appear as it would in nature.
![young sycamore plants in pots](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_masonry_sm/public/2022-03/403049_Platanus%20occidentalis%20-%20Sycamore_Orlosky_%20Casey%20_Longwood%20Intern_.jpg?itok=ONR_f2MP)
A Tree with a Story to Tell
When it’s time to plant a tree at Longwood, I look to plant one with a story. … Our new sycamore originates from the incredibly massive tree just a few miles down the road at Brandywine Battlefield State Park in Chadds Ford.