A Longwood Christmas - Now through January 6, 2019

I saw Longwood Gardens' lovely Christmas display on Sunday, November 25 and have some images to share with you:




































A Christmas tree constructed mainly from bromeliads:

Close-up view:

Paper artistry in the Music Room of the Conservatory; entirely done by folding, not cutting, the pages of books:

Pierre DuPont, founder of Longwood Gardens, and his wife Alice Belin DuPont bookended by more folded paper art:

More paper artistry:


Close-up:


Taken on Christmas day:

That certainly would put anyone in the Christmas spirit! Thanks for taking the time to take and post the photos, Carol. Wish I could see it all in person.

Yes, , how lovely to live close enough to visit and seee these wonderful displays. If I lived near you I would go to Chanticleer one week and Longwood the next then toss in Winterthur and a few others along the way. You live in an ideal gardening spot.

ardesia said:Yes, , how lovely to live close enough to visit and seee these wonderful displays. If I lived near you I would go to Chanticleer one week and Longwood the next then toss in Winterthur and a few others along the way. You live in an ideal gardening spot.

Alice,

You are so right about this being an ideal gardening spot! Quite a few very wealthy people in the Philadelphia area set up their estates to be public gardens after their own deaths. That includes the three you mentioned as well as the Barnes Arboretum in Merion, which has great collections of well labeled lilacs, hostas, magnolias, roses and other plants. https://www.barnesfoundation.o...

Wyck in the Germantown section of Philadelphia has a fabulous collection of old roses that sweeten the air in June. http://wyck.org/

The Jenkins Arboretum in Devon has a great collection of azaleas and other plants. It is also the site of the local rhododendron society and iris society plant sales. http://jenkinsarboretum.org/

Stoneleigh in Villanova is the newest such estate. It opened on Mothers Day, 2018, and is run by the Natural Lands Trust. https://stoneleighgarden.org/g...

I have never been to Winterthur, but your mentioning it is inspiring me to go next year. What would be the best season to see it?

Gosh, it has been 30 years since I have been there, I tend to stick to Longwood and Chanticleer when I visit family in the area. I would suspect spring is probably outstanding there.

Spring is the best time for Winterthur! Grew up very close to there, great place.
University of Delaware also has a small botanical garden which is open to the public free of charge.

An incredible display! I especially like the levitating Christmas trees in photo #10. I recall that 15 years ago Longwood's full-service restaurant used to hang an upside-down Christmas tree from the dining room ceiling, but every year a few visitors would complain that it was a sign of the anti-Christ, so I don't know if they still do that.

Winterthur garden was designed to be viewed in spring and fall, but I agree with Rj, spring is best.