Our Blog

An observation posted from Longwood appeared to show a species long presumed extinct. What followed is a story about curiosity — but also about science, patience, persistence, and decades of thoughtful stewardship.

Want to learn how you could incorporate the best natives into your home garden or landscape? Read on for how to do so and where you can view native species here at Longwood.

Ten years ago, we opened the gates to an expanded garden—and one that’s markedly different from every other garden at Longwood.

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.

At Longwood Gardens, we manage our natural areas to both promote native species diversity across the landscape and to help our guests create memorable and inspiring experiences discovering the dynamic beauty of our native habitats.

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.

The practice of land stewardship constantly raises new questions—how best to approach a new problem; what methods work best—that can be answered using the tools of ecological science.

Through our new lepidopteran monitoring initiative, Longwood’s Land Stewardship and Ecology team is working with dedicated volunteers to understand which butterflies, moths, and skippers are frequenting our Meadow Garden, and what that says about not only the Meadow Garden, but the ecosystem of our greater landscape.

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.

At Longwood, how do we—Longwood’s Land Stewardship and Ecology team—work to address and advance these complex systems of study here at Longwood and beyond?

The Webb Farmhouse’s history spans a long time before Longwood Gardens existed, and the evolution of the land helps tell its story.

As Longwood’s Land Stewardship Operations Manager, a Chester County forest fire warden and first responder, and a wildland firefighter, it’s my absolute honor to protect the landscape.

A meadow is a moment in time, like the shape of a cloud or cherry blossoms in the spring. A meadow is ephemeral.

Deeply inspired by science and nature, artist Natalya Zahn—who created the more than 50 pieces of art that appear throughout our Meadow Garden—shares expert field sketching tips.

If you live in a place where Eastern bluebirds might thrive, you can support this species at home with your own bluebird house.

In the Meadow Garden this time of year, life is all around when you look for its clues—and careful observation yields beautiful results.

From our roles as part of the Longwood Natural Lands Team and prescribed fire crew, to our work fighting wildfires across the country through the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry Wildland Fire and Delaware Wildland Fire Program—including a deployment to the Idaho Panhandle National Forests this past summer—we are thrilled to be part of (and often on the front lines of) the evolving field of fire ecology. The field is a hot topic gaining traction at Longwood and beyond, and one that helps us steward the land we love.

What does it take to be an ecological gardener, beyond filling landscapes with a diverse selection of native plants? While the vast majority of our native fauna depend on plants directly or indirectly for their survival, many animals also have specific environmental needs that must also be met, as the physical environment of the garden provides shade, shelter, and living space for its residents.

This July, in the dark of the new moon, an unusual celebration will be taking place all over the United States. No, it’s not the Fourth of July—it’s National Moth Week! From July 22 through July 30, nature lovers and moth enthusiasts across the country will be celebrating these secretive, under-appreciated insects.