How do you celebrate the holidays? Since childhood, I remember my parents organizing different activities to help us enjoy the season. Does anyone remember the Gimbel’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Or walking through the Christmas villages at Wanamaker’s, Strawbridge, and Lit Brothers? I created holiday traditions with my children. Even as an adult, I like to kick off the Christmas season with a visit to Longwood Gardens in Kennet Square. This year, Longwood Gardens is celebrating its most magical season. Why?
In 2021, Longwood embarked on a $245 million project called Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience. This revamped expansion includes many new additions and attractions contributing to this year’s magical moments. Longwood contributed to this year’s magical moments with many new additions and attractions. The opening weekend at Longwood was exciting as visitors experienced the latest horticultural wonders.
What’s new? There are now 17 acres of new gardens, new landscapes, and new buildings, including:
🪴 32,000 square foot west Conservatory featuring Mediterranean-inspired gardens set amid pools, canals, and fountains
🏡 Preservation and relocation of the Cascade Garden
🪴 New Bonsai Courtyard
🧑🏾🍳 New 1906 Fine Dining Restaurant
⛲️ The Fountain Room Event Space
Our first stop was 1906 Fine Dining in the new Fountain event space. What’s new? Reservations must be secured through the Tock App with a $50.00 deposit.
The menu selection remains seasonal and farm-to-table, which is excellent. The only disappointment is that lobster mashed potatoes are not available.
1906 Fine Dining Hours:
Lunch menu 11 am – 3 pm daily
Dinner Menu 4-8:30 pm nightly
Bar & Lounge 11 am – 9:30 pm
Longwood Gardens also has an a la carte cafe and a beer garden.
It’s always a delightful experience to walk through the original historic Conservatory at Longwood Gardens—the horticultural wonders of mixing colors and bringing the holidays to life using red and poinsettias.
Tiffany blue popped as the prominent theme for the large displays this year.
Tiffany Blue is a registered color trademark of Tiffany & Co. since 1998, although Charles Tiffany created the robin’s egg blue shade in 1837. But I bet Longwood didn’t call this color Tiffany blue.
To me, the Orchid House is more of a room with a gallery-like space. It was first added in 1929 and restored in 1966 to display a more extensive collection of orchids.
The new West Conservatory is a more modern greenhouse with a Mediterranean-inspired landscape and three planted islands set on pools of water. The glasshouse represents 32,000 square feet of well-appointed tropical plants and a peaked roof modeled after the historic Lord & Burnham greenhouses: Lord & Burnham, a manufacturer of greenhouses for 170 years.
The West Conservatory has over 3,500 permanent plants representing 60 species and more than 2,500 seasonal plants. As a plant enthusiast, this glass house speaks to my awe-inspiring green thumb, like my mother’s.
The Reimagined Longwood expansion includes the new Bonsai Courtyard. This Japanese Garden resembles serenity and peace, looking at the meticulous trees precisely cut to miniature status.
How about this Japanese Black Pine? I wonder how long it took to get these results; this is magnificent artwork.
The newly relocated Cascade Garden is a tropical rainforest with Bromeliads and Aroids amid the stone and waterfalls designed initially by Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994).
Here’s another indoor magical moment: this 33-foot-tall translucent tree featuring more than 900 hand-tied geometric shapes stands in the Exhibition Hall.
Remember to look up when at Longwood Gardens.
If you enjoy holiday illuminations and experiences, Longwood Gardens is the place for you and if you have grandchildren. The evening hours when it is dark are spectacular, with the many holiday lights and magical moments created for enjoyment.
Reimagined + Christmas
November 22 – January 12
Admission:
Adults: $42
Members need reservations (and there are blackout dates)
Premium and Innovative members do not need reservations
Parking is free
Wheelchairs are available for free on a first-come, first-served basis.
No smoking or vaping
Hours: 10:00 am – 11:00 pm
Thank you for stopping by and supporting The Age of Grace. I appreciate you.
