Longwood Gardens 2017

I just returned from a visit to Longwood Gardens S.W. of Philadelphia.

Entrance to Longwood Gardens.  There are eight flower beds in front, filled with

different flowers each season.  Marigolds, coleus, dahlias, and celosia here.

A different gardener gets to design the beds each year.  The Gardens use 1,300 workers -

employees, students, and volunteers.

Behind the entrance building is a beautiful arcade and fountains.

The fountain was decorated with Red Mandevilla and Yellow Thunbergia.

Yellow Thunbergia

The Long Path leads to Peirce Woods and the lake.  These are coleus.

A circular path, lined with Brugmansia Trees and pink and white impatiens,

leads to the main Garden Walk.

Pierre Dupont, the creator of Longwood in the first half of the 20th century, loved plants,

theater, and fountains.  This is the open air theater, where the Philadelphia Orchestra,

American Ballet Theater, and many pop musicians have given performances.

The Garden Walk was the first part of Longwood to be completed.  It is a path 600 feet long

and lined on both sides with flowers.  It is customary to start at the west end with dark purples and blues and gradually move through the other colors of the rainbow to white.  The flowers are

 different every week of the year.  We start with the dark blues and purples.

Down below are Calibrachoa / Mini-Petunias, then behind are Angelonia and Ageratum.

Beautiful blue Ageratum

Here you can see the various flowers and colors and heights.  The yellow containers held

candles for the evening candlelit tours.

Stunning Blue Angelonia

Behind the other flowers are 6 foot tall Midnight Queen Dahlias.

Purple and White Datura are also tall and in back.

And then we move on into the Pink Section.  The Gardens have found a number of

plants with dark black leaves, which make a great contrast to the lighter pastel colors.

The dark leaves here are Ornamental Peppers.

Pink starts off with begonias, angelonia, dahlias, impatiens, cannas, and zinnias.

Pink Asian Lily

Park Princess Dahlias

Pink and Peach Brugmansia Trees, highly hallucinogenic

Pink New Guinea Impatiens

Pink Rose Mallow, 12 inches in diameter, member of Hibiscus family.

Pam Howden Dahlia bushes five feet tall.

Pink cannas, impatiens, brugmansia, and Black Levant Cotton.

Puffy Pink Dahlias

"Janice" Dahlia

Bush of "Janice" dahlias.

Pink Cannas are 6-7 feet high

Pink Zinnias

Gomphrena / Globe Amaranths and Cannas

The Circular Fountain, halfway down the Garden Walk.

The walk from the fountain up to the Peirce House.

Blue Angelonia and Yellow Dahlias.

Then we start the Red Section with Cherry Red Impatiens.

Bishop of Llandaff Red Dahlias

Red Cannas form the background.

Red Wheel Dahlia, one of the new varieties this year.  Also a bug.

As we move in to the Orange section, there are Pumpkin Gerbera Daisies.

Giant Reeds, orange Cannas, Yellow Rudbeckia, and Orange Zinnias.

Transition from orange to yellow to white.

The transition to Orange continues with "Best Bett Dahlias" with dark leaves.

"Mystic Illusion - Knockout Dahlia"

Orange French Marigolds and Orange Tall Dahlias lead to yellow cannas and golden
 Black-Eyed Susans, along wih Yellow Alamanda Trees and Orange Zinnias.

Intense Red Cannas.

( Much more to come! )

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