Mr. Todd Stewart’s floral design and plant science students recently had the opportunity to travel down to Kennett Square, Pennsylvania to visit Longwood Gardens’ display of the art of horticulture.

      Horticulture is a “branch of agriculture concerned with growing plants that are used by people for food, for medicinal purposes, and for aesthetic gratification,” according to nifa.usda.gov. Senior Liora Tolliver explained how the groups saw a “ton of chrysanthemums and begonias. There was a whole room where the walls were lined with different types of orchids, that was fantastic and some of them had entirely absurd names.” Senior Emily Watt agreed saying she saw “a lot of Mums, wax flowers, [and] orchids.” Junior Toluwanise Oje said her group had seen “a surplus of flowers, some orchids, chrysanthemums, asters, sage, snapdragons, daisies, etc.”

      Currently, Longwood is doing their Chrysanthemum festival. It started on September 30 and will last until November 12. According to longwoodgardens.org “chrysanthemums are divided into 13 classifications, each featuring a distinct flower form, from the tiny pompon to the great irregular incurve—all on full, radiant display.” Many of those who went agreed that the chrysanthemums were their favorite Oje explained “they had some huge, round yellow mums that looked so pretty.” Sophomore Autumn Ferguson agreed saying “it’s their mum festival so they had these really cool hanging [baskets] of mums.”

      Many of the students explored all over Longwood’s extensive property. According to longwood.com they have “1,100 acres of dazzling gardens, woodlands, [and] meadows.” Watt explains how her group had “[gotten] to go to several of the tree houses, the observatory, the museum that showed the history of the place, the water gardens and the place with all of the bushes and pathways.” Watt explains how they “looked like a good lace out of Ancient Greece or Rome.” Tolliver explains how her group got to see just about everything but “it was a ton of walking” but she’s glad they saw so much. 

      Currently Longwood is “Adding new plantings and buildings across 17 acres, Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience will expand the public spaces of the renowned central grounds and connect them from east to west, offering a newly unified but continually varied journey from lush formal gardens to views over the open meadows,” according to longwoodgardens.org. Longwood reimagined construction is slated to be finished  around fall of 2024 says chestercounty.com.

      Longwood changes things up seasonally and the class plans to trip back during the winter and spring seasons. Ferguson said, “it think it’s really cool to see the different thing, like landscaping ways that you can do with plants, and it’s definitely different depending on the different seasons, because theirs different plants that you can use.” Longwood Christmas lasts from November 17 until January 7, 2024. You can experience a “riot of retro, a bevy of bright, and numerous nostalgic moments with us. Marvel at playful trees draped in throwback baubles to shimmering tinsel to childhood-favorite toys” according to longwoodgardens.org.

      Longwood’s garden hours are Sunday, Monday and Wednesday from 10:00 am till 6:00pm.Thursday, Friday and Saturday is 10:00 am till 9:00pm, And they are closed on Tuesday  according to longwoodgardens.org.