Longwood Gardens
A du Pont estate garden in Pennsylvania with a four-acre conservatory and fountains that Pierre du Pont engineered himself.
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Pierre S. du Pont bought the property in 1906 to stop a stand of old trees being cut for timber, then spent forty years turning it into a garden on a scale intended to entertain. He was an engineer by training and designed the water systems himself: the Main Fountain Garden, rebuilt and reopened in 2017, has around seventeen hundred jets shooting up to fifty metres, with programmed shows including illuminated ones at night. The conservatory covers about four acres under glass with twenty indoor gardens, including an orchid house and a ballroom with a pipe organ of over ten thousand pipes. The Christmas display runs from November and is the busiest period of the year.
What you actually see
- The Main Fountain Garden - around 1,700 jets, up to fifty metres.
- A four-acre conservatory - twenty gardens under glass.
- An organ of over ten thousand pipes - in the conservatory ballroom.
- A garden begun to save trees - du Pont bought it to stop the felling.
When to go
April to October for the fountains; December for the Christmas display. A full day.
Honest expectations
Tickets are timed and sell out, particularly at Christmas. Fountain shows run to a schedule, not continuously. It is expensive. The site is large with a lot of walking.
Nearby
Winterthur is south in Delaware; Brandywine River Museum is east.
What to pack for Longwood Gardens
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.