Autumn’s Colors Highlights Fall Season at Longwood Gardens

Press Release

KENNETT SQUARE, PA– Longwood Gardens invites guests to experience Autumn’s Colors (October 3–November 16). From centuries old chrysanthemum traditions and bonsai craftmanship to the restoration of Roberto Burle Marx’s Cascade Garden, the season offers a chance to explore how living plant collections endure and adapt over time.

A Season of Color and Change Indoors and Out

Autumn at Longwood unfolds in golden light and fiery colors, with each corner of the Gardens offering a different perspective on fall’s final performance. 

Throughout the Gardens, seasonal touches add playful moments of delight. From October 3-31, bright orange pumpkins adorn the Rose Arbor, Idea Garden, and Peirce-du Pont House Plaza. The beloved Garden Railway returns for its 25th anniversary, featuring miniature Longwood landmarks, seasonal plants, and dozens of engines. To mark the anniversary, a new miniature model of the Chimes Tower and Waterfall joins the display that can be found near the Beer Garden. 

As autumn peaks and leaves change to showcase gold and burgundy hues, Longwood’s treehouses offer ideal viewpoints for seeing fall foliage. Climb the Birdhouse Treehouse for a 20-foot view of the surrounding foliage, wander into the ADA accessible Lookout Loft to listen to the gentle hush of leaves falling, or step inside the Canopy Cathedral Treehouse for grand views of the Large Lake, framed dawn redwoods, sour-gums, black tupelos, oaks, and more. 

In the idea Garden, borders and pathways glow with the warm tones of Carex testacea 'Prairie Fire' in fiery orange, the luminous yellow foliage of Arkansas Amsonia, Amsonia hubrichtii, and the shifting hues of little bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium, whose colors range from gold to red to purple.

Longwood’s Main Fountain Garden presents its final shows of the year, where jets of water dance and sway along to music under the autumn sky. Illuminated Fountain performances are presented at 8:15 pm on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings through October 26. 

Indoors, Longwood’s recently opened West Conservatory celebrates the season with seasonal dashes of color throughout. Striking blooms of Lion’s Tail, Leonotis leonurus, large firecracker plant, Cuphea ‘David Veridy’, and the vivid purples of purple spurflower Plectranthus ecklonii, and lavender spurflower, Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender,’ mirror the brilliance of autumn beyond its glass walls. 

Chrysanthemum Festival 

Beginning October 24, the East and Main Conservatories transform into a vibrant celebration of horticultural artistry during Chrysanthemum Festival. More than 5,000 plants in hues of yellow, orange, lavender, and maroon come to life on 66 sculptural forms such as spirals and cascading clouds. 

“Chrysanthemum Festival is one of our most ambitious displays,” says Chris Cole, Vice President of Horticulture at Longwood Gardens. “Our team spends more than a year planning every bloom so that we can create an unforgettable experience for our guests. It requires exceptional planning, creativity, and horticultural expertise to craft this breathtaking display.”

This year, Longwood debuts its first grafted chrysanthemum bonsai. To create this bonsai, horticulturists grafted the chrysanthemum onto artemisia and used tanuki training to quickly create a sense of age and character. Nearby in the Bonsai Workshop, guests can enjoy a display of chrysanthemum bonsai created by students and staff, on view October 1 through November 16. 

Joy Harjo: Inaugural André Harvey Fellow 

Celebrated poet Joy Harjo, the 23rd United States Poet Laureate and esteemed member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, will embark on a residency at Longwood from October 12-25 as the inaugural André Harvey Fellow. During her residency, Harjo will immerse herself in the Brandywine Valley’s iconic landscapes while exploring the connections between art, nature, and creativity. From 2-3:30 pm on Sunday, October 19, Harjo will present a public reading featuring passages from her recent books. The André Harvey fellowship honors the legacy of the late Brandywine sculptor by supporting creative inquiry rooted in profound appreciation for the natural world.

Design Preservation 

The recently reopened Cascade Garden, the last extant design of renowned Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx in the United States, is not to be missed this season. A quintessential example of Burle Marx’s work, its sculptural use of tropical plants, stone walls, and cascading water features combine to create an immersive rainforest-like environment.

As part of the Longwood Reimagined Project, Longwood undertook an ambitious preservation strategy to honor the garden’s legacy. Collaborating with a team of Burle-Marx experts, as well as international experts in design, preservation, and horticulture, the team developed a preservation plan that carefully dismantled the original garden and reconstructed it in a 3,800-square-foot glasshouse.

To further explore the intersection of design and preservation, Longwood will also host  Designing Change: Landscape Continuity in an Age of Uncertainty on October 15-16. Curated by Anita Berrizbeitia, Professor of Landscape Architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Designing Change invites professionals at the forefront of design and conservation to examine new frameworks for continuity—both cultural and ecological—through the lens of adaptation to anticipated design. The two-day conference is $329 to attend, and advanced registration is required. 

Garden Dining 

1906, Longwood’s signature restaurant, celebrates the one-year anniversary of its reopening during the month of October. Featuring a seasonally inspired menu crafted to showcase fresh ingredients sourced from Longwood’s Idea Garden and trusted local purveyors, dinner service is offered Friday through Sunday through October 26. 

For dining surrounded by the season’s colors, the Beer Garden offers relaxed al fresco experience. Beneath a canopy of golden ginkgo trees, guests can savor seasonal fare and craft drinks while the sounds of live music fill the autumn air on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings through October 26. 

Education

Longwood offers a variety of educational opportunities and experiences that encourage new skills and a greater appreciation for the natural world. From wellness to art, guests can discover more about nature in a variety of ways.  

Sound Bathing in the Gardens
Saturday, October 4, 2025
8:30–10:00 am
Fee: $59
This immersive experience is designed to calm the mind, relax the body, and awaken the senses. After the session, enjoy the Gardens at your leisure, as registration for this experience includes all-day Gardens Admission.

Tradition in Bloom: Longwood's Chrysanthemum Festival
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
6:00–7:00 pm
Fee: $12
Learn about this traditional horticultural art form, the history of the Chrysanthemum Festival at Longwood, and the forms and flowers featured in the 2025 display.

Milkweed and Monarchs
Saturday, October 25, 2025
2:00–3:30 pm
Fee: $49
Through guided discussion and hands-on exploration in the Gardens, learn how milkweed serves as a critical host plant for monarch caterpillars—and discover other essential plant-host pairings that support biodiversity. From pollinators to specialist feeders, explore how these relationships shape ecosystems and what you can do to support them in your own backyard.

Feeding Your Backyard Birds
Sunday, November 2, 2025
2:00–3:30 pm
Fee: $39
Learn what food is best how to select the perfect feeder, and how to provide shelter and water for the resident birds in your winter landscape.

Introduction to the History of Garden Design
Mondays, November 10 & 17, December 1 & 8
6:00–8:30 pm
Fee: $159
During this four-week online course, explore the evolution of garden design, from the formal elegance of French châteaux and the naturalistic styles of English country gardens to the wild creativity of modern landscapes. Gain a deeper appreciation of the artistic, cultural, and environmental influences that have defined garden aesthetics across centuries, and how those influences continue to be visible today.

Hours and Admission
Autumn’s Colors hours are 10 am-6 pm Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and 10 am-9 pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through October 26. From October 27 through November 16, Gardens are open Wednesday through Monday from 10 am until 5 pm. The Gardens are closed on Tuesdays. Timed Admission Tickets required and should be purchased in advance. Timed reservations required for Members Friday through Sunday from 3 pm to close through Sunday, October 26. Tickets and reservations are available now at longwoodgardens.org.
Two-Day Passes are available Wednesdays through Sundays from May 9 through October 26. Enjoy 10 percent off the price of two tickets and discover everything Longwood has to offer over two consecutive days.

Gardens By Day and Night Tickets are available Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from May 9 through October 26, 2025. For an additional $6 per ticket, guests can enjoy the flexibility of date-specific, un-timed entries, to explore the Gardens twice in one day.

About Longwood Gardens 
In 1906, industrialist Pierre S. du Pont (1870-1954) purchased a small farm near Kennett Square, PA, to save a collection of historic trees from being sold for lumber. Today, Longwood Gardens is one of the world’s great horticultural displays, encompassing 1,100 acres of dazzling gardens, woodlands, meadows, fountains, a 10,010-pipe Aeolian organ, and grand conservatory. Expanding on its commitment to conservation, in 2024 Longwood Gardens acquired the 505-acre Longwood at Granogue, a cultural landscape in nearby Wilmington, Delaware. Longwood Gardens is the living legacy of Pierre S. du Pont, bringing joy and inspiration to everyone through the beauty of nature, conservation, and learning. Open daily, Longwood is one of more than 30 gardens in the Philadelphia region known as America’s Garden Capital. For more information, visit longwoodgardens.org.