Longwood Gardens

"A garden is the best alternative therapy." So claims writer Germaine Geer. Scientists and counselors tout the benefits of allowing nature to sooth away the stresses of life. There is something soul-satisfying about watching a butterfly flit among the blossoms in the summer sun - and in less kindly moods, there's a smug pleasure in the zap of a bug-killer light dispensing mosquitoes on a dark, humid night.

Pierre DuPont was of a most kindly nature, though. In 1906, the multimillionaire industrial wizard, chemist, and financier purchased the Longwood Estate near Wilmington, Delaware. The original 'tree-hugger,' he'd heard that development threatened the arboretum planted on the grounds, and he was determined to prevent that. With a flourish of his signature on the check, the trees and estate were saved forever.

Longwood is a sort of horticultural Brigadoon. Modern Philadelphia may be only 30 miles away, but at Longwood, it's as though there's an invisible wall isolating the meadows, woods, lakes, waterfalls, fountains, and gardens from the rest of the world.

Once he was settled into his weekend retreat, DuPont indulged in an interest in gardens. A world traveler, he wanted to duplicate the classical gardens of Europe in the Pennsylvania countryside. He started small, with a basic formal flower garden - a brick walkway bordered by a seasonally changing display of colors and scents.

That was just the start. By the time Pierre DuPont finished with Longwood, 350 of the estate's 1000 acres were sculpted into gardens - and that doesn't count the conservatory with its twenty inside displays!

From the beginning, DuPont wanted to share the beauty of Longwood with the public. His garden parties were the high points of Wilmington's social season. Having no heirs and determined to protect his estate, he established an endowment which insures that everyone can enjoy the gardens.

Plan to spend a full day at Longwood. Meandering is the only proper speed. For visitors with limited mobility, a new tram service follows a continuous route from the Visitor Center to the Conservatory. Wheelchairs are also available, and the walkways between the gardens are accessible.

At one end of the estate is the Italian Water Garden, a festival of fountains in a wooded setting that DuPont designed. At the other is the 'idea garden,' a much more modern addition where homeowners pick up tips for transferring some of the beauty of Longwood to their own backyards or condo decks. In between? The sort of landscaping that would have fit in with the royal courts of the French Kings and the classical gardens of the Queens Elizabeth - both QE1 and QE2.

An engineer and tinkerer, DuPont loved water. The gardens gave him a great excuse for focusing his energies, curiosity, and engineering know-how on fountains. His first project was just what an engineer would design - a single spout that jetted water into a 20-foot pool in the Flower Garden - nice to look at, but mostly functional.

Sure of his engineering, DuPont's next project was the Italian Water Garden. This was just a tad more elaborate. A path through woods leads to 18 tiled pools where jets of water rise from carved limestone statuary. (Look for the five large frogs). They're surrounded by symmetrical lawns edged with carefully-pruned, mature trees. Not a blade of grass is out of place.

Confident of both his aesthetic and engineering abilities, DuPont then created his aquatic masterpiece, the Main Fountain Garden. On five acres of lawns, carved statuary, boxwoods, and maples facing the conservatory, water rises 130 feet into the air from 380 fountains. Several times a day, a five-minute display of the fountains flowing at full capacity charms visitors who watch from the patio of the conservatory. At night, colored lights inside the fountains and synchronized music illuminate and accompany the shows. Even more dramatic are the occasional firework displays exploding over the fountains.

Just as wet, but much more natural, is the 50-foot, manmade waterfall near the hillside garden and Chimes Tower. The hillside garden shows what can be done in a sloping, rocky area. The pathway weaves through small shrubs and wildflowers, ending at a large meadow that's covered with over 2-million miniature tulips, hydrangeas, and other bulbs in the early spring.

There's still more water at the Open Air Theater, the site of concerts, plays, and other performances. A sheet of cascading water creates the curtain. More hidden fountains are sometimes called into service for displays after the evening's performance.

The small, walled garden adjacent to the theater makes a pleasant transition to the larger Peony and Wisteria Gardens. Gardeners tend to an ever-changing variety of blooms, keeping the gardens alive with hues and scents from the first warm spring day through the first frost of autumn.

Fall brings a special beauty to Longwood. With an emphasis on native plants, the gardens reflect the blazing displays of color as the trees turn gold and crimson, accented with the wildflowers and cultivated flowers that thrive in the region.

Autumn also brings the Chrysanthemum Festival. During November, the outside gardens and conservatory are bedecked with yellow, white, maroon, and gold - and even newer hybrids of red and lilac. 20,000 mums are arranged in a horticultural tour de force, spilling from hanging baskets, cascading around columns in the conservatory, and lining walkways in the outside gardens. Topiary figures crafted from wire, moss, ivy, ferns, and other plants accent the floral displays. It takes at least eight growers aided by student interns to prepare the plants, and fifteen gardeners to install all the exhibits for the Festival.

The Conservatory houses a year-round indoor flower pageant that shows off plants from the rainforests of South America, silver-tipped cacti from the Southwest, and Mediterranean vines, as well as familiar foxgloves, daffodils, and bougainvillea planted in a rotating display in the Orangery and East Conservatory.

The twenty separate gardens in the conservatory hold the best specimens of that theme or flower. It's impossible to walk through the Orchid Garden without stopping. Even bus groups trotting through the whole complex in a few hours skid to a halt here. Every color and variety of the heavy-scented flower fills this special room from ceiling to floor with vibrant colors and intoxicating scent.

In the Cascade Garden, plants from the South American Tropics tumble from a landscape of rock cliffs and trickling waterfalls in a tangle of orange, purple, and vermilion leaves. None of the rocks are 'real;' they are fiberglass and other artificial materials that are easier to maintain. The moist air and steaming earth are authentic, however. A welcomed relief in the chill of winter or fall, but a climate that brings fresh appreciation for air conditioning in the summer.

The displays in all of the conservatory gardens are more than visual and horticultural accomplishments. Well-designed illustrations explain some of the forces of nature at work - why so many desert plants are silver, for example. (The color reflects some of the heat, which helps the plants conserve water) or how ferns reproduce. Throughout the gardens, all labels for plants give the common and scientific names, where the plant is found and its family name. (For example: Flowering Dogwood; cornus florida; Eastern U.S.; Dogwood Family).

Longwood's calendar is filled year round with more than 500 events. Home gardeners attend lectures, workshops, and garden walks; musical, dance, and theatrical performances attract appreciative audiences. Among the most popular are the October Sunday afternoon organ concerts on Longwood's 10,010 pipe organ in the Conservatory Ballroom.

Christmas is, of course, a delight. It's also the busiest time of year at Longwood, with more than 200,000 people visiting the grounds in December. The Conservatory overflows with poinsettias. They fill the gardens, often hanging from pots like oversized, living Christmas ornaments. Outside, the gardens twinkle with over 400,000 lights covering the trees and shrubs and shaped wire frames.

Even the fountains are part of the celebration. While the Main and Italian Fountains are inoperable during the winter, the Open Air Theater Fountain splashes with an ongoing five-minute show set to holiday music. A breeze and freezing temperatures transform the nearby trees into glistening crystal wonderlands.

There is almost as much music as there are plants at Longwood during the holidays. The 10,010-pipe organ in the Ballroom is featured in several seasonal concerts, but the gardens hear more than 200 musical events between Thanksgiving and the New Year.

Two restaurants are in The Terrace, just outside the conservatory. One is self-service; the other offers sit-down meals. Both serve good food at reasonable prices. Each afternoon through October, the Daily Bake Off features seasonal fruit cobblers still warm from the oven. A la mode of real vanilla bean ice cream is a dollar extra. Splurge! A good dessert, like a garden, is also great therapy.
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