“I must have flowers, always and always.”- Claude Monet
Needless to say, we all love flowers.
I am not into gardening, nor do I buy floral arrangements for home. However, I do love visiting botanical gardens especially to admire different varieties of flowers. Having visited several prominent botanical gardens in the country, I can easily say that I am fortunate enough to live close to the best botanical garden in the country- the Longwood Gardens.
Longwood Gardens consists of over 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands and meadows in Kennett Square, PA in the Brandywine Creek Valley, about an hour away from Philadelphia. They were purchased by a prominent industrialist Pierre Dupont in 1906 to save the trees from being felled for timber. Soon he developed it into a horticultural display to entertain his friends, and today they attract over 1 million visitors a year.
One of the best parts of these gardens is the indoor Conservatory containing more than 4500 plants and trees. The heated conservatory is accessible in every season, with seasonal display of flowers.
We have been visiting Longwood Gardens multiple times a year since we moved to Philadelphia. Infact I can actually create a photo album documenting my 6 year old’s milestones with these gardens as the backdrop!
Without further ado, here are some photographs of the gardens, focusing solely on the flowers:
Orchids on display at the Orchid Festival (Feb-Mar)
Waterlilies (summer)
Voluptuous chrysanthemums at the Mum Festival in Fall; the first photograph shows the Thousand Bloom Chrysanthemum (known in Japan as Ozukuri)
Christmas Display
Euphoria over Euphorbia (poinsettia) at Christmas
Dahlias, tulips and more mums
This makes me want to plan my next trip to Longwood Gardens-the Orchid Festival just opened last weekend!
The Circle of My Life 