As Longwood’s director of Outdoor Landscapes, I am always excited about winter. It’s one of my favorite seasons and when the interaction between a garden and its surrounding landscape is at its strongest. The bare silhouettes of the deciduous trees, shrubs, perennials, and grasses create a natural link to the wintery landscape beyond, creating a beauty unlike any other time of year. Low winter light really helps to elevate fine plant details, naturally highlighting the winter bones of Longwood.

The Fellows have enjoyed two salons in January; the first illustrating the importance of partnerships and the second focusing on the art of strategic planning.

Every day our guests marvel at the Orchid House in the Conservatory, but very few witness all the work that goes into creating this spectacular display. Let’s take a quick peek behind the scenes to see what goes into curating such a beloved exhibit, explore how we select plants for display, and examine how we best showcase their beauty—and lengthen their lifespan—by placing them in certain areas of the Orchid House.

Whether you’re peering into the tiniest detail of a golden intergeneric Oncidium orchid in our Cascade Garden, or looking up at the grandeur of the regal purple Phalaenopsis orbs that float overhead in our Exhibition Hall, every viewpoint of Orchid Extravaganza is one to enjoy—including the very first one when you step into the Conservatory.

Central Asia is home to an incredibly beautiful, exciting, and charismatic flora, much of which is found nowhere else in the world. Longwood plant explorers had never visited the botanical treasure trove of Central Asia before I traveled to Uzbekistan in early November—a trip that resulted in great promise of future field explorations to bring new and exciting Central Asian species back to Longwood and other US gardens.

Many guests visit Longwood Gardens to appreciate, enjoy, and study our carefully curated, world-class collection of more than 11,000 kinds of plants. Occasionally, plants find their way to the Gardens without the assistance of horticulturists ... Very rarely, a plant is found that defies logic and provides insight into the horticultural history and ecological health and capacity of the interface between Longwood’s gardens and natural lands.

Under the direction of Senior Horticulturist Pandora Young, staff and volunteers annually create the Wildlife Tree, an outdoor feature that calls attention to the birds and small mammals that live in the Gardens. This year, the Wildlife Tree has been dramatically redesigned as a spectacular 15-foot “tree” made of more than 200 illuminated birdhouses, located at the east end of Flower Garden Drive. Surrounding the tree are four smaller Fraser firs ornamented in suet and seeds to feed the wildlife.

Now is the time of year when you may find yourself pulling your boxes of Christmas ornaments and decorations from your basement or attic and getting ready to trim the tree. Here at Longwood, however, we like to do things a little differently with our ornament collection.

When it comes to the logistics behind Christmas at Longwood, we take this well-practiced approach: start with what you know and find out what you don’t. With this year’s floating forest display above the Fern Floor, we had much to learn, much to test, and much to love about this intensely logistics-focused display—with a beautiful result.

When you look at this year’s Ballroom Tree with its ornate gilded topper and more than 125 meticulously wrapped packages in rich pink and green hues, lobstering probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Interestingly enough, this beautiful tree was inspired by a tree made from, of all things, lobster pots.

The Longwood Fellows program is fortunate to be situated within the thriving cultural community of the Greater Philadelphia area. The aphorism “a rising tide lifts all boats” is an apt metaphor for the support network that exists for the thousands of cultural organizations in the region.

As Longwood received the first snow dusting of the season, the Fellows departed for Morris Arboretum for our third salon in a series held at culturally significant locations. For this salon, we focused on the concept of how creating financial endowments can provide consistency and reliability on an often bumpy financial road. In short—how to fund impressive new projects and pay the electric bills.

This year’s imaginative Christmas display, in which we look at trees in a whole new light, most certainly hits a high note in the Music Room. It’s here where creative paper and book embellishments, anchored by a rotating 18-foot Fraser fir graced with a garland of silver and copper books, truly sing in a masterfully reimagined library concept.

Over the past 11 months, Longwood horticulturists have meticulously trained their chrysanthemum bonsai in preparation for Chrysanthemum Festival. The result is a collection of more than 90 beautiful plants, which can be viewed on a rotating basis through November 18, 2018.

At Longwood Gardens, we start planning for our Chrysanthemum Festival more than a year ahead of our display. At our July 2017 planning meeting for this year’s display, Longwood’s Associate Director, Display Design Jim Sutton brought with him a photo of a mum grown into the shape of a Japanese handheld fan. Jim suggested we try to grow one of our own here at Longwood, and our work began.

Renowned for its rare cultivars and imaginative forms, our Chrysanthemum Festival is the majestic embodiment of our unwavering dedication to preserving the time-honored technique and culture of mum-growing.

One of the pleasures of organizing a convening like Designing Water, which happened last week at Longwood, is that—by setting up a theme of disciplinary concerns, a framework for discussing them, and gathering smart and talented people—something great unfolds. Usually, hopefully, you wind up with a conversation that is different from the one you imagined because of all the intelligence in the room. This convening did just that.

As Fellows, the Longwood Fellows Program helps us develop our leadership fluency and understanding of organizational management. As part of the program, we visit gardens with distinct missions that set them apart from others. Our most recent salon was hosted at Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens, which is nestled in the busy Main Line area of the Philadelphia metro region.

From shaded woodland paths to sunny wildflower-lined trails, our Gardens provide perfect spots for relaxed strolls as well as more energetic treks. Take a peek at just a few of our welcoming walking trails below and discover much more with a visit to our Gardens.

The Longwood Fellows Program curriculum includes salon-style discussions hosted by regional public garden and cultural arts leaders who have expertise in specific leadership-related areas. Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library was aptly selected to host the discussion of “How the Garden Fits into Institutional Mission.”