Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens is a public garden in the Brandywine Creek Valley in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, USA. It covers more than 1,100 acres (445 hectares) of gardens, woodlands and meadows and is one of the leading display gardens in the United States. It is open all year, with plants indoors and outdoors.

Its fountains put on shows with music and lights. The garden began when Pierre S. du Pont bought the land in 1906 to save its old trees from being cut down. It was Pierre S. du Pont, a member of the famous du Pont family, who rescued the old trees and shaped the grounds into the garden people visit today.

Saving the trees

The land was first fished and farmed by the native Lenni Lenape people. In 1700 a Quaker farmer named George Peirce bought part of it, and by 1798 his twin grandsons had started planting an arboretum, a garden of trees. By 1850 it held one of the nation's finest tree collections. When a lumber mill owner was about to cut the trees in early 1906, the entrepreneur Pierre S. du Pont stepped in. On 20 July 1906 he bought the farm and began creating Longwood.

What visitors enjoy

Longwood offers native and exotic plants, events and performances, seasonal and themed attractions, and classes and workshops. The name Longwood comes from "Long Woods", as the area was called before the Civil War. One account says that fleeing slaves found shelter here on the Underground Railroad, supported by local Quakers. The garden is open year-round and has seasonal and themed attractions, so a visit in spring can look very different from a visit in winter.

On the globe

The toy globe marks Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. Zoom in to find the big garden near the Delaware border.