The magic of Longwood Gardens

In 2023, I renewed a pilgrimage that meant a great deal to me from 1997-2007: I spent my birthday at Longwood Gardens.

If you’re not from the East Coast or have not visited the Philadelphia area often, you may wonder why that’s a big deal—if that is the case, read on. If you’re from these parts, this post will be a walk down memory lane for you. Longwood Gardens may be your annual pilgrimage too.

Its history, in a few words.

Around 1700, George Peirce purchased a few hundred acres from William Penn, land that Mr. Penn had acquired from the British monarch in payment for debts owed to Penn. From 1700 until about 1740, the Peirce family farmed their acreage. In 1730, George’s son built a red brick farmhouse for the family.

At the end of the eighteenth century, George’s great-grandsons Samuel and Joshua became interested in the relatively new ‘hobby’ of planting trees and studying them. Although the word “arboretum” had not yet come into usage, that is essentially what they founded on Peirce farmland.

Over the next fifty years, Samuel and Joshua Peirce enlarged their collection of trees and shrubs. Although they bought trees from botanists, they also sought out and replanted native species they found throughout Pennsylvania.

The two men recognized the significance of these woods for the community. They opened their newfangled arboretum to the public, permitting picnics and social events to be held on their land.

Since the Peirce family adhered to the Quaker faith, they found another, more important use for their dense thicket of woods: Those trees—the “long woods”—functioned as a stop on the Underground Railroad, harboring slaves fleeing southern states. This was not atypical for Quaker communities during and before 1865.

Saving the trees

As the Peirce family moved away from its roots, later generations lost interest in all those trees. First came lack of continued growth and expansion, followed by outright neglect. By 1900, it had become a burden to the Peirce heirs.

In 1906, Peirce heirs were on the verge of concluding a contract with a sawmill to destroy the arboretum, giving it over to lumber. When Pierre du Pont learned about the impending demolition of the property, he bought the land from the Peirces to save the trees.Initially du Pont intended solely to save the trees. He didn’t plan to do much beyond that. It was that pull of community, the original Peirce ideal, sharing sacred spaces with people du Pont cared about, that changed his mind.

As a self-taught gardener, du Pont designed the layout for extensive gardens for his new home himself. He wanted wide walkways, so friends could stroll arm in arm through the gardens—an art we’ve lost in our too-busy world.

Du Pont didn’t have kids of his own, but he enjoyed children, so even his earliest drafts incorporated accessibility for children.

Pierre du Pont eventually moved his residence to Longwood Gardens. The original eighteenth-century Peirce home was still standing. Du Pont made necessary repairs, added a second, more modern wing, with a greenhouse between the two houses. That greenhouse served as earliest conservatory for Longwood.

The foundation

About ten years before du Pont’s death in 1954, he began the process of setting up the foundation to ensure that his vision would outlive him. He had created the underlying foundation in 1937, but in 1946, he moved control of Longwood Gardens to the foundation’s trustees. His will provided a well-funded endowment for the continuation of Longwood’s work.

For almost thirty years, the Longwood Garden Foundation had no entrance fee. It was only in 1973 when funds weren’t stretching as far that visitors were charged admission.

Luckily for all of us, the board of Longwood Gardens took Pierre du Pont’s vision and ran with it. Because of its immense popularity, tickets are now “timed,” meaning sold according to date and hour you enter the Gardens. You must enter within fifteen minutes of your reservation.

Although you must enter timely, there’s no end time. If you go during the holidays (generally the last weekend in November through second weekend of January), when half of Philadelphia and a quarter of the Mid-Atlantic States descend on Longwood, purchase your entrance time for 3 or 4 o’clock in the afternoon. That way you can see the unlit parts of the garden in daylight and then stay as the lights come on. The magic happens when the lights come on…

Travel tips

If you want to go to Longwood this year, make your reservations by September or October. If you plan to dine in their extraordinary restaurant, reserve even earlier. I told visiting Germans that we were lucky to have gotten tickets for the grounds for January 2025. I reserved in November. There was no availability whatever before January 2. If you fail to reserve dinner timely, good dining alternatives are not far away in Phoenixville.

In 2023, I only spent about two hours roaming the Garden. Vast swaths were closed while they expanded. Normally it takes 3-4 hours. If it’s not bitterly cold, you can easily spend the entire day there.

Summer, Longwood sponsors theatrical performances. Sometimes Broadway shows, sometimes Gilbert & Sullivan, all presented by locals—top-notch community theater! It’s an open-air theater. Before and after the performances, you’re usually treated to dancing fountains. Longwood treats its paying members right. They reserve a few nights every year just for patrons, with fireworks and goodies.

Outdoor theater. The dancing fountains are a huge attraction. If nights are still mostly above freezing, you'll get to see them. Otherwise, you're out of luck. This was late November 2023. Photo (c) 2023 Denise Elaine Heap.

Unlike comparable organizations, Longwood’s memberships are affordable for most families. The cheapest is $120 annually, while their “Gardens Premium” membership—costing $775—covers nine people, family or friends, with no reservations needed. (With the lower tiers, entrance fees are waived, but timed tickets are still required.)

I went “last year” (2024/2025) at the tail end of the season, the next-to-last day their holiday decorations were up. I was reminded all over again that part of Longwood’s charm lies in its ingenuity. You may see their holiday display one year. The next year, it’s all new, all reimagined.

The same holds true for their winter, spring, and summer displays. One year, they may feature “lantana trees” and everything orange. Next year it will be purple and white, bows and ribbons.

Longwood is also an all-season destination. Post-holiday winter, they highlight the meadow. Their self-guided walking tours show you how forests and shrubs preserve themselves in Pennsylvania’s winter frost and freezes. Spring, everything’s busting out in full color, riotous in its glory. Summer, more staid, things moving more slowly in summer sun. Autumn, golds and reds beckon.

Although most of the exploring is done on self-guided tours, garden staff is always ready and willing to answer questions. They know their stuff, docents of the highest caliber. Their botanists and horticulturists work in plain view of visitors. If you have a question, just ask.

They are committed to spreading knowledge in an inclusionary environment (DEI is intact on their Web site), accessible to children, the elderly, and the disabled. Parts of their primary conservatory (my favorite place!) are dedicated to kid-friendly, handicap-accessible displays. The newest conservatory takes that concept to a wildly gorgeous extreme.

Best of all, Longwood encourages children (and grownups like me) to touch flower petals, run fingers through the water, walk on the grass, climb the treehouse, take off through the meadow. In the main conservatory, one entire wing is dedicated to exhibits just for kids.

Longwood is still a place where community gathers, where families head to explore.

This year, I’m changing up my plans a bit and going in April or May. It’s my favorite reset button. I intend to use it.

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