Even in winter the chefs at Longwood’s fine dining restaurant, 1906, bring fresh and seasonal flavors to our guests. The new menu just debuted, and Chef Will Brown and his team invite you to peek inside the kitchen to take a look at some irresistible selections. Follow the recipes we’ve provided and share some of 1906’s magic with your family this holiday. Photo by Erin McLaughlin.

A plant exploration team from Longwood recently spent three days climbing to the peak of Fan Si Pan Mountain, the highest peak in the Hoang Lien Mountain Range. One day soon you might find one of their delightful discoveries in our Gardens.

This fall, be sure to explore our Bonsai Display, where some of the best surprises of Chrysanthemum Festival come in small packages. Anemone Chrysanthemum x morifulium ‘Kotoi No Kaori’, photo by William Hill.

This year, 230,000 chrysanthemum blooms fill our 4-acre Conservatory in forms of cascades, shields, spirals, pagodas and of course, our most impressive Thousand Bloom Mum yet, featuring 1,515 blooms.

As Longwood's new Meadow Garden enters its first fall season, gardener Colin McCallum-Cook shares his expertise and excitement about the plants that make up the Meadow's palette of Autumn's Colors.

Pierre S. du Pont's extraordinary Main Fountain Garden has entertained guests with its beauty and showmanship for eighty-three years. Now Longwood Gardens will carry Mr. du Pont's legacy to New Heights through the Fountain Revitalization Project that begins in mid-October.

Longwood's history with growing and displaying Nymphaea dates back to 1957. A review of its development, management, and display.

July evenings in the Idea Garden can be home to some pretty raucous behavior. At this time of year, young martins negotiate the air on untested wings as they return to the nest sites where they were hatched and raised.

The Open Air Theatre celebrated 100 years of arts in 2014. A fond look back.

Our guests frequently ask me how to properly take care of orchids at home. Many home gardeners are intimidated by orchids, thinking that they are difficult to grow. However, with some simple instructions, many home gardeners will find great success. If you are considering buying an orchid, the most important thing to be aware of is the type of orchid you are purchasing so that you can replicate the conditions of the orchid’s native habitat within your home.

As part of Longwood’s Community Read of A Sand County Almanac, I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Curt Meine, author of Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work, published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Meine currently serves as Senior Fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation, Senior Fellow with the Center For Humans & Nature, and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot.” Aldo Leopold—conservationist, naturalist, philosopher—was one who could not. His career in forestry and wildlife management and his keen observations of the natural world inspired him to write A Sand County Almanac, so he could share his thoughts about nature, humanity, and the connections between them. From now through mid-April, Longwood Gardens invites you to take part in our first annual Community Read, which features Leopold's conservation classic. Read the book, think about the issues of land, legacy, and community that it raises, and engage in activities and discussions at Longwood, at one of our partnering institutions, or join in our discussion on social media.

Holidays celebrate tradition. Gifts—symbols of good will, of gratitude, of joy—are a part of that tradition. Many of our best-loved holidays take place in fall and winter, as we gather to share the fruits of our harvest, the company of family and friends, and our hopes for the coming year. Come join us for A Longwood Christmas, where the gift and tradition of fruit is the centerpiece of our celebration.

Trees have an immeasurable number of benefits such as being planted for use as shade or wildlife habitat in parks and recreation areas, or as sustainable forests to provide lumber. However when it comes to your home garden, it can get a little more personal.

For centuries, botanists, artists and hobbyists have enjoyed the art of pressing and drying plants. At Longwood Gardens we maintain a herbarium, an organized collection of preserved plant specimens. Our herbarium is comprised of almost 12,000 pressed and dried plant specimens.

In the remote flood plains of South America, a giant water lily blooms, attracts pollinator beetles, produces fruit and seed, and thus carries on through time. The discovery of Victoria regia, its world-wide cultivation, and the man-made works of beauty it inspired are the subjects of a new exhibit at Longwood Gardens entitled Secrets of Victoria: Water Lily Queen.

Gardens are always changing. While the Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre looking much as it did 500 years ago, every year, every season, and even every hour you are in a garden it is constantly in flux. As a gardener you can either try to fight this change or work with it. In the 10 years I have been working in Peirce’s Woods I have done both.

Our historic orchid growing houses, normally open only to Longwood’s staff, were constructed between 1926 and 1962. Today we use these houses to grow and care for the nearly 9,000 orchids in our collection. Visit us this Saturday, March 23, 2013, for our final Beyond the Garden Gates Day of the Orchid Extravaganza season, when you’ll have the rare chance to visit these spaces in person.

Our aspiration at Longwood Gardens is to create a place where our guests can take a deep breath and leave behind the stresses of our 21st century lives. This winter at Longwood, your escape is Orchid Extravaganza—a world filled with thousands of flowering orchids.

The tradition of orchids at Longwood Gardens began with a gift. In 1922, twelve Cattleya orchids were included in a gift of greenhouse plants from Mrs. Dimmick of Scranton, Pennsylvania to Mrs. Alice B. du Pont. It might have ended there, as one-time gifts sometimes do. These first orchids did not fare well, due to the grower’s limited knowledge of their needs and habits.