The Conservatory at Longwood Gardens is of incredible size and is undergoing enlargement on a grand scale.

During our recent trip to Philadelphia we were eager to see many things. One lay beyond the city itself, and we rented a car to make a day trip of seeing Longwood Gardens, the great estate developed by the DuPonts. It lies west of Philadelphia at a distance of maybe 45 miles, so it was an easy drive. (Photo by the author.)

I could not have imagined such an incredible place, even after seeing several well- known gardens in England and Ireland. It of course is strikingly different from Bartrams Garden which I described in an earlier post. It is essentially a twentieth century garden and covers several hundred acres of specialized and architecturally planned areas. It also features a magnificent fountain display, again on a scale that confirms the garden was inspired by great European examples, like those at Versailles, Louis XIV’s residence near Paris. There is much on line about the gardens and it has been featured in many books on gardening and landscape architecture, so I will only share a few highlights of our visit with you.

The Bougainvillea was really amazing. The indoor plantings at Longwood that seems to cover about a dozen acres, making it possible for people with walking problems to enjoy a day on firm level ground entirely in doors. In fact, virtually all of the outdoor gardens seemed designed with accessibility in mind. The weather was warm but pleasant, but definitely dress appropriately for the season -and expect to be at Goodwood for several hours- most of the day in fact.. (Photo by the author.)
Scheduled fountain displays set to music are visible from park benches, or you may decide to sit on a manicured lawn and relax in the shade (if the sun is too warm). (Photo by the author.)

Just a foot note: because of the time involved in visiting this wonderful -and enormous-place we missed a chance to spend much time at the Brandywine Art Museum nearby which is devoted to the memory of three generations of artists: N.C. Wyeth, the famous illustrator of history books and children’s stories (my favorite of course), Andrew Wyeth, N.C.’s son, one of the best known of all American artists whose realism displaced the never- ending gallery shows of French impressionism for a time, and finally Jamie (Andrew’s son) whose sometimes unsettling vison of wildlife has taken some effort on my part to truly appreciate. Still, the gift shop was enormous and filled with examples of the three artists’ work with which we were already familiar -still we missed the artist’s studio and the exhibits on the history of the region. Make a special trip to see it. We were simply out of time.

N.C. Wyeth’s paintings illustrating TREASURE ISLAND have inspired many a boy’s dreams of adventure, have become the iconic vision that comes to most Americans’ mind when piracy is mentioned. Tragically, N.C. was killed when his car stalled on the railroad track not for from the Wyeth home.