A 2+ minute tour of the conservatory (or part of it, anyway — they skipped my favorite rooms) at Longwood Gardens, in my neck of the woods (Southeast Pennsylvania). Then below the jump, Resilience, a spot about how the pandemic affected the garden. Longwood is currently open although they are limiting the number of visitors.
Thanks for taking me back home, Robin. I love Longwood Gardens…I performed there on the stage with the water fountain curtain when I was a student at West Chester U, many moons ago. It was also holds many great memories of visits with my mom, who was a florist and gardener. As a dear friend once quipped, “It’s amazing what God can do with DuPont money!”
Seriously! Just about every attraction worth visiting around here is a leftover from a rich DuPont.
Winterthur has its own fabulous aspects, and I’ve made it there a couple of times when their azaleas were in bloom. Another plus is that I can remember how to get there. I find Hagley interesting, too.
Hello, fellow Ram (I’m a professor at WCU)! Longwood is one of my favorite places in the area – I am looking forward to being able to visit again soon.
Purple and Gold forever!! What department are you in? I graduated when it was still a State College, so you were probably not even born yet…it is lovely there, only good memories.
I’m in the English department. The picture is definitely a few years old at this point
I also love it – it’s beautiful, even though it has changed so much since I have been here!
I’ve met senior citizens who graduated when it was West Chester Normal School.
It’s not only that I’m an alumna. My mother is interested in what the professors from WCU have to say, too.
She’s enjoyed several of Dr. Betz’s presentations to the community. We’d see Dr. Betz at the public library every so often to see hello to before the pandemic. I’m bad at faces, so I hope I’m not giving a real name to an avatar…
I didn’t know you lived in the area, Starling.
Jepster had told me she is also an alumna of WCU.
Thanks for the videos, Robin.
I’ve only been able to watch the first one so far. Seeing the Main Conservatory and East Conservatory via drone was different. I was like, “That’s what the view from above the water features in the East Conservatory looks like. That’s what the hanging baskets in the Main Conservatory look like up close. I’ve got to go take a look at the waterlilies.” I try to get to the waterlily displays every year.
I love the waterlilies. Not likely I’m going to see them this year!
I do! For some reason, I hadn’t noticed comments on Robin’s previous Longwood posts (or realized that it meant a lot of us are in the area -whew, I should be ashamed of myself). I got really excited to see the videos, too, though I was a little disoriented because the drone went a different path through the conservatory than I normally do!
If I’m going directly to the conservatories, I usually go in the East Conservatory entrance. And obviously I can’t walk on water. LOL.
I go down the path that’s on the right when you go in that way. I like the little low dark blue fountain by the wall on that side. I’m not sure exactly why. I find it a tranquil little spot, so that would be part of it.
And I’ve never seen the lawn of the Main Conservatory directly from above, either, but I got my bearings as to the drone’s angles. I’ve spent enough time looking up at the hanging baskets in the conservatories.
I’d say my favorite room in the conservatories is the Orchid House. I’m glad I got to Longwood Gardens for the Orchid Extravaganza this year, at least.
I missed walking around there in the Spring Blooms season, but a large number of the daffodils I’d planted on the hill in front of our house in late 2017 and late 2018 came up this spring, so that was pretty. Even some tulips and hyacinths came back.
Mom and I walked around various parts of the development this spring, and saw that the majority of other residents had spring-blooming bulbs and trees. We wouldn’t have noticed if we hadn’t been staying close to home.
Also at Longwood Gardens, I like the Acacia Passage in the conservatories. I have yet to figure out if the fragrance there is of the cinnamon acacias, or floating over from the southernwood in the Silver Garden. I like the Silver Garden, but it’s usually too busy when I’m there for me to find it a tranquil place. I like the Mediterranean Garden. I’m sure that’s one of the few places you can see bougainvillea blooming in Pennsylvania. And I like to see the camellias in bloom in their section.
Hi Starling! We visited briefly the one week after they opened, when they were doing members only. But I did not feel comfortable going in the conservatory.
That is completely understandable, Robin – it gets so crowded in that conservatory, and just being inside somewhere in general feels really stressful right now. I am a member – I should reserve a time to visit soon, too.
I enjoyed the fly-through and have compassion for the challenges staff and volunteers face. Thank you for the armchair travel.
Plus, I guess they must have laid off a lot of people.
This was really lovely. I wish they’d been able to share the orchids, but it must have been too difficult to maneuver the drone through those smaller/tighter spaces.
And my favorite room, the cactus / silver garden.
I am pretty sure I need a green house large enough for a lap pool, surrounded by flowering tropical plants….and the 2 gardeners and one very fit pool boy to maintain the whole thing.
Oh yes!
Ditto!