Science Facilities 

Our trial fields serve as testing grounds for evaluating plant performance, adaptability, and aesthetic qualities. We have plants in the research collection that are globally rare and threatened species. By trialing these plants for best horticultural practices, we can advance the conservation of these plants by sharing our insights with other gardens around the globe. With a 1.6-acre research nursery, and dedicated garden spaces, we can assess plant health, disease resistance, and overall suitability for display, eventually introducing new and exceptional varieties to our gardens. Our nursery site includes polyhouse spaces containing an incredible diversity of plants, including one area that contains more than 700 different species ranging from herbaceous bulbs such as lilies to woody plants such as willow oaks. Our trial fields consist of camellia plantings dating back to the 1980s and 1990s that are still being used to evaluate camellias for our breeding program. We conduct trials in two 5,000 square foot lath houses, a 13,000 square-foot boxwood trial field, a 5,000 square-foot Phlox trial field, and approximately one acre of shade and sun beds.

Our Soil Laboratory provides critical insights into soil composition and fertility. Our team analyzes key properties such as texture, pH, and electrical conductivity and work with industry partners for in-depth nutrient assessments. This laboratory informs decisions towards sustainable gardening practices, customized soil amendment recommendations, and optimized plant nutrition strategies, ensuring the health and longevity of our plants and gardens. 

Opened in 1989, the Tissue Culture Laboratory advances conservation and horticultural innovation by propagating rare and specialized plant species and preserving some of our core collections. The lab plays a crucial role in safeguarding orchids from Pennsylvania, across the United States, and in Equatorial Africa, as well as propagating clean plants that are highly susceptible to pests and pathogens, such as chrysanthemum cultivars. The lab is equipped to support test-tube propagation, meristem isolation, and research across a variety of plants. In 2024, 7,962 test tubes were prepared for subculture to support our collections of orchids, chrysanthemums, cannas, and pericallis.  

Seed banking is an important facet of conserving plants. Longwood’s conservation seed bank is the first in Pennsylvania dedicated to long-term seed storage for rare and endangered native plants. With an 80 percent expansion in 2024, funded by a competitive grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, our seed bank now houses thousands of additional seed packets, serving as a genetic safeguard against environmental threats and species loss. We store seeds at temperature ranges of both Cool (0° to 15°C) and Cold (-20° to 0°C). Our current priorities include collecting PA listed species, U.S. native terrestrial orchid species, and terrestrial orchids from Tanzania. In 2024 alone, we added in 5,343 individual seeds from species of conservation concern, 51 orchid seeds from Tanzania, and 22 ml of orchid seeds given their size, this equates to millions of seeds! This facility ensures that future generations will have access to the invaluable diversity of plant life essential to ecological balance and resilience.

Our Soils and Composting facilities cover five acres, including outdoor amendment manufacturing fields and warehouses for material and equipment storage. A fleet of swap loader trucks supports this work, with capabilities to swap bins for different project needs as well as material collection, truck loading, grading, soil mixing, and compost management. Infrastructure also includes a paved leaf wharf for collecting and making leaf mulch, along with compost and brush receiving areas. This multi-faceted facility ensures efficient material management, plant health, and sustainability across the gardens.

Our Plant Health Care Lab is equipped with a range of capabilities and specialized equipment to support plant health and integrated pest management. The lab is designed to support identification of insect pests, as well as the utilization of beneficial insects to support biological control efforts. Each year, we release roughly 14.2 million beneficial mites a year, 310,000 parasitoid wasps, and 54,000 beneficial beetles. This lab also supports plant disease diagnostics, including culturing boxwood blight, fusarium, and powdery mildew, as well as utilizing lateral flow assays to detect viruses. Additionally, the lab has the capability to perform Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) testing. Special equipment in the lab includes a mite funnel system for detecting eriophyid mites, an extensive insect collection, and stereo microscopes for detailed analysis.