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A Day of Botanical BlissBy Dina Gan
No two gardens are the same, so said the writer Hugh Johnson, and no two
days are the same in one garden. As a fan of visiting botanical gardens on
my travels, I've always known this to be true. What better way to get
acquainted with regional flora and fauna than by visiting a professionally
maintained garden, where the best in nature's show is on display in dense
concentration.
Recently I visited Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. I've known about it for years, since this was the place where my mother often took visiting relatives, yet I'd never been myself. My nature-loving husband, who has a green thumb and a whippoorwill bird call as his cellphone ringtone, didn't put up any fight at all when I suggested we visit Longwood. He was the one who had introduced me to our local Ladew Gardens and its magical topiary sculptures. 
So on a sunny day in June, we drove to Kennett Square, PA, and spent a few
hours strolling through Longwood's 40 indoor and outdoor gardens, which
cover more than a thousand acres. While Ladew is what I would call a
"boutique" botanical garden, small but high-impact, I pictured Longwood as a
horticultural mega-mall. Once the private sanctuary of Pierre du Pont,
founder of the DuPont chemical company, Longwood became a public garden in
1946 and appointed its first director after du Pont's death in 1954.
Longwood now boasts 11,000 different types of plants both indoors and out,
although not all may be blooming at any given time. To plan your visit, the
Longwood website has a guide to what's in bloom according to the season.
Outdoors, we were treated to fine specimens of dahlia, celosia, and
hydrangea, as well as imaginatively named species such as bear's breeches,
treasure flower, and purple poppy mallow. Indoors, we delighted in displays
of orchids, tropical palms, bonsai, and insect-eating plants. The highlight
for me was the waterlily garden. Here, the water in the pools is organically
dyed black to slow algae growth and provide a dramatic backdrop for more
than 100 types of colorful waterlilies, lotuses, and other aquatic plants.
The showstopper is the giant hybrid water-platter that can grow leaves up to
6 feet in diameter.
But rather than drone on about the plants, I think the pictures speak for themselves. That's another great thing about visiting botanical gardens: great photos are guaranteed. To find your own botanical bliss, try the search engine at the American Public Gardens Association website. |
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