Our Blog
Blog All Items Title
All Recent Articles
Squash Season is Here
When you think of autumn in a garden, pumpkins and squashes most likely come to mind—and for good reason! Follow along as we share more about these festive fall favorites, how to grow them at home, and how we’ll soon be featuring their flavor here at Longwood in what may be a very unexpected way.
Habenaria: A Palette of Possibilities
What if you could hold in your hand a bouquet of 50 neon orange, bright pink, or coral-colored flowers, all on a plant that could fit inside your coffee cup?
Time to Shine: Summertime Containers
Container gardening has many benefits—and can lead to beautiful displays, as you can enjoy right now in our Rose Arbor, outside of the Peirce-du Pont House, and outside of The Café.
Colors of Summer: The Square Fountain Garden
Follow along as I share the design of this summer’s Square Fountain Garden, the beauty you can see here, and how the plants chosen for the garden support pollinators, formalize the informal, and evolve throughout the season.
Ensuring the Longevity of Roses
From work we do here in our Gardens to manage such threats, to our support of related research led a multidisciplinary team from nine universities and the US Department of Agriculture to deepen understanding of such diseases—we are working to ensure the longevity of this iconic plant in our Gardens and beyond.
Cynorkis: A Jewel Box of Possibilities
Our first hybrid Cynorkis—Cynorkis Longwood Pink Gem—is now on view for the first time in our Orchid House for the next week, and ready to delight.
Winter is for Houseplants
Follow along as I share some fantastic houseplants to add to your home, as well as ways to keep your existing houseplants thriving and beautiful this season.
A Very Handmade Holiday
From living wreaths, to floral chandeliers, to creative ornaments, we’ve had so much fun rolling up our sleeves and hand-creating for the season.
A Delicious Blast from the Past: Retro Holiday Recipes
Just like our A Longwood Christmas display it’s the small details (and the deliciously big impact!) that make these retro recipes shine. What’s more, they’re perfect for your holiday table.
What Larry Taught Me: Photographing Longwood
I was asked to escort photographer Larry Lederman around the Gardens while he took photos for a book about the du Pont family gardens of the Brandywine Valley. At the time, I didn’t know that working with Larry would shape the next 14 months of my life and change how I view Longwood.
Following Nature’s Cues for Floral Design
Found in such spaces as the Visitor Center, by the Guest Services desk in the Main Conservatory, or in the conservatory of the Peirce-du Pont House, our arrangements take their cues from the seasons and are styled in natural ways to highlight their connections to the Gardens.
The Secret in Our Soil
Whether compost is being used in our Gardens or in your garden, its benefits are numerous.
How to Create an Ecologically Friendly Home Landscape
While we often think of the landscapes around our homes as self-contained, they’re actually part of a broader landscape mosaic —and each home landscape can make a profound impact on that mosaic and the variety of wildlife (and people!) that rely on it.
How to Create Your Own Living Succulent Tree
One of the many elements of botanical artistry on display during this year’s A Longwood Christmas greets you just as you enter the Conservatory—an 8-foot-tall, 4-foot-wide living tree swathed in 1,800 gorgeous hardy Sempervivum, or hens-and chicks.
Plants as Our Palette: Holiday Recipes
This year, as we showcase botanical splendor at its finest with our horticulture artists using plants as their palette, I’m inspired to showcase the jewels of the garden with a selection of botanical-forward dishes perfect for any holiday gathering.
A Summertime Tart Close to My Heart
Even though summertime is quickly coming to a close, there’s still plenty of time to savor the freshness of the season.
Visit the Tropics in Our Idea Garden
From fragrant dwarf cardamom to vibrant mandarinquats, a variety of tropical herbs and plants are thriving in our Idea Garden, all of which can be reliably grown and enjoyed by home gardeners in the mid-Atlantic region.
Disa, Redefined
Longwood is one of a small number of public gardens around the world who breed and display the Disa genus. We have recently met a major milestone that adds an entirely new dimension to our Disa history and our breeding program—and may increase the ease with which Disa can be grown at home.
Edible Plants that Feed Pollinators, Too
This week is National Pollinator Week, an annual event that celebrates pollinators, addresses the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations, and supports all we can do to protect them.
Warm Weather Recipes by a Rising Star
It’s a perfect time of year to prepare refreshing selections that celebrate the bounty of the season, crafted with fresh late spring and early summer herbs, fruits, and more.