Longwood Revisited

Honeyheads!

Lucky you, if you love gardens and tend a garden of your own.

Really lucky?  You have had a passionate love affair…with a garden. Or many love affairs with many gardens. Public gardens, private gardens, random gardens. Alleyway gardens, country gardens. Cozy gardens, cunning gardens, subtle gardens. Explicit gardens! Enchanted gardens!

Right? 

But really, really, lucky? Oh my! Do you get to TOTALLY GEEK OUT with other gardeners?

— and writers and artists and plant enthusiasts and garden industry professionals — in the most beautiful gardens on the continent? 

DAMM, gurl. 

Last month (September 2023) I got really really lucky.

I had the pleasure to again join a group of writers, influencers, and industry professionals who gather yearly to tour gardens, each time in a new location. The Fling. (#gbfling2023)

I have attended (and even hosted) the regional Midwest flings and this was my second North American (#gardenbloggersfling). Think of a fling as attending a playoff game for garden geeks–you get to get together with many many of your closest friends–friends you know and besties you have not yet met–to do the thing that makes you happy! (I heard quite a few first time flingers saying “I could be best friends with everyone here”–and I felt the same at my first fling: HERE ARE MY PEOPLE!)

Our fling began in Longwood Gardens (#longwoodgardens) in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania (#pennsylvaniafling), Chester County, an hour from Philadelphia (#phillyfling).

Also an hour from where Johnny and I lived on a truck farm as newlyweds so many moons ago. ❤

The 2023 Fling was my first visit since 2006, but I have been visiting Longwood since 1989. Johnny and I always took out-of-town guests to the gardens when we lived nearby (and to the Barnes Collection in Merion. ) At some point, we owned this book in both paperback and hardcover, with printing dates a decade apart. (Book publishing has sure changed!)

OMG, honeyheads! You should go back to Longwood too! the Resources! the Beauty! the People!

By the year 1850, Longwood was already an arboretum, with what may have been the largest collection of trees in North America. It is truly awe-inspiring to witness GIANT specimens of rare and unusual trees.

In 2023, Longwood boasts 1,100 types of trees. I want to hug them all. (Okay, maybe NOT the cockspur Hawthorns.)

Photo from a visit in 2006

Above is a picture from a visit in 2006. Can anyone identify the tree? Barbara Tiffany would almost certainly say that it should have been underplanted with variegated plants. At her gardens at Millefleurs, she told us how important it is– if you are featuring a variegated tree– to surround it with other variegated plants. “MAKE them see it!” she admonished us all. (Then she looked sharply at me and said “You can do this at any scale. If you have 7 variegated plants, plant them all together.”

(Should you speak with Barbara, please let her know that I have been obediently digging up and replanting all of my variegated perennials since I got home.)

Below is a picture of the Oak tree seedling that Johnny and I took home from Longwood in a dixie cup in 2006. Johnny grew it out in root control pots for a few years, then planted it with a fence around it for a decade. Today, our nine year old climbs up it and hides!

Center, left of chicken tractor, is the Burr Oak that came home in a dixie cup from Longwood in 2006.

Ever since that 2006 visit, too, I have specified an oak sapling on almost new every landscape we install. People sometimes object that oaks “take too long to get big” but I talk them into it. “Watch it grow! Know it will outlast you!” (which another flowering crabapple might not!)

Longwood Gardens

The #pennsylvaniafling began with a behind-the-scenes tour of the growing facilities at Longwood.

Flingers moved in groups, traded from one faculty person to the next as we toured the state-of-the-art the facility. (I wish we had a reel of that! OMG honeyhead Flingers, do we? Anybody?)

The staff was amazingly informed, articulate, entertaining, and passionate.

My main takeaway?

I noticed (we probably all did) a theme. The goal at Longwood is to be nothing less than extraordinary.

At Longwood, beauty is not sufficient. Perfect is not good enough. It is required to push boundaries. To find exquisite balance. To always verge on and not to exclude but also not indulge in (too much) —excess. 

To ALWAYS be extraordinary. While also improving. And insistently merging science and art— with art leading the way. 

And the thing is, they pull it off. Again and again.

Longwood, I love YEW!

Our host Karl Gercens may be the most enthusiastic horticulturist I have ever met in my nearly 30 years in horticulture–and we tend to be turnt bunch. He is the conservatory manager at Longwood Gardens, among other things. 

Karl not only curated an outstanding collection of public and private gardens for us to visit, his gusto for and detailed knowledge of every one of them–and for every aspect of Longwood–and for each and every activity— was unbounded and infectious.

(As a bonus, a leader as dynamic as Karl makes me look less of a giddy hyperactive nutcase).

The faculty members (I am sorry I did not get good people photos, but you maybe can find some by better photographers than me on the 2023 Philadelphia Area Fling Page) were all pretty much fascinating.

Just one example–Kevin, one of three bonsai curators who work at Longwood– studied bonsai in Japan with several world-renowned bonsai experts. He told the stories of the various bonsai we asked him about like a master storyteller. Oh yeah, he also had a PhD in art, specializing in sculpture, and was an accomplished artist. You get the picture.

Every person we met at Longwood had the same depth, breadth and passion. Even the volunteers (who help you get un-lost!) were impressively cheerful, helpful, knowledgeable, passionate.

After our behind the scenes visit, we were ushered through the luscious gift shop into the auditorium for a formal presentation the theme Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience.

My primary takeaway was overwhelm: Um. Wow. RESOURCES! Am I ever glad that people with all the money are willing to spend it improving public gardens. Go team!

After the presentation, it was time to explore…

My treasured friend Beth of Plant Postings (best kind of friend-she invited me into the fling community! ) and I are both avid walkers, and we have walked enough together to know we are a good team to cover a lot of ground at a similar pace. We set off.

The prairie’s edge and its pollinator activity beckoned us, and we soon found ourselves wandering quickly and catching up deep in the far-flung woodlands where escaped convict Danelo Cavalcante had recently been spotted on a trail cam. 

So we toured the gardens sort of backwards, starting as we did in the natural areas, wandering our way back through formal rose gardens to civilization, exploring the experimental gardens, getting lost in newest areas, and finally heading to the conservatory at nearly a dead run.

So many perfect roses!
Captivating foliage–a ROSE!
Love yews always–so versatile and elegant in their natural forms, so shear-able!
Masterful garden composition! Vertical Interest! Terrible photos!

I dug our trajectory. I am not so sure about Beth! My favorite part, almost always in gardens, is to visit dear old friends, rediscovering places I have known.

My pic from 1995 or so
Rachel’s pic and drawing from 2023

The annuals at Longwood are literally perfection. I have no photos good enough to demonstrate this, so won’t try. 

The perennials beds are inspired. The light was hard, bright, gorgeous for seeing in, impossible to photograph in. Most of my pictures did not turn out. I will NEVER fling again without a real camara!

The only disappointment was that I did not get to recreate my all time favorite picture of myself. Unfortunately, the water gardens were closed for renovations. I cannot wait to see them in 2024!

Goofy with the Lilypads was my very first image ever posted on the internet.

It may not look like it, but in the above photo, I was recovering from one of the most difficult times of my life, one of the most painful experiences I had ever known. Gardens exist for this: To make life bearable.

I love big old public gardens that are always asking for money, teeny public gardens on dead end streets, and nice plantings in the grocery store parking lot.

I have worked for 30 years in private gardens, but love public gardens–and their mission– with all my heart. They are democratic: of the people, by the people, for the people. Humans at their very best: Those who have every comfort that can be bought, sharing beauty with Everyone. We the people need them.

I need them.

I go to them to be inspired, to be educated, to heal. The gardens are public, but our experiences in them are intensely, deeply personal.

Places like Longwood are NECESSARY. The scale and capaciousness, the boundless resources, the excruciating beauty. Being in a garden as old and as storied as Longwood makes one feel more human, a part of history, a part of the natural world.

And we all should visit the conservatory in EVERY season!

Our visit to Longwood continued with a delicious meal (Yes, I have recreated that mushroom dish. I used farro in mine. Does anyone remembers what it was called?), yummy beers, a live band–and a sundown lightshow.

I am not that good at sitting still, especially after such a stimulating day, so during the light show, I wandered the area, enjoying both the show and my last chance to walk around. I came upon and stood adjacent to a large group of people on electric scooters, having the time of their lives, apparently.  

They were, it seemed, as giddy as I was. Because, you see, even though Longwood is as botanically sophisticated, as high-falutin, as exalted as a garden can be, it is also profoundly accessible, in every way. It makes space for everyone.

Thanks Longwood. Until we meet again!

After I took it, I realized it was a SELFIE!

Thanks also to Karl– and every flinger– and every sponsor! #baileynurseries  #chanticleergarden #cobrahead #crescentgarden #dramm #ealicata #gardenrant #thegreatgrowalong #monroviaplants #nwfs #northwestflowerandgardenfestival #picklewix #provenwinners #sandiaseed #stoneleighgarden #teakcloseouts

House Rules

Disclaimer and Plea

This information on this site is not intended to treat any condition or disorder, including but not limited to obsessive gardening, addicted conifer syndrome, or spring fever.

The contents and information on this site are for plant hardiness zone 5A, but if you live outside of that zone, you can mouth off here too. Please don’t brag about how you can grow Bear’s Breeches though, okay?

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Wwoof USA

Cultural Exchange

When all of our children were living at home we enjoyed the cultural exchange that came from hosting foreign exchange students with AFS and YFU. Nine young people spent at least a week, but most spent a school year, living as part of our family. It was fun and interesting to welcome these young people from Ghana, Germany, Italy, Austria, Pakistan, Finland, and the Ukraine. After our four oldest children grew up and moved out, we realized 1. We didn’t want to drive to the high school anymore and were a bit done with feeding growing teenagers who didn’t even help around the house. 2. We had a big house and 3. We could use some help!

Enter WWoof

While I was on staff at a yoga place in the Bahamas in the winter of 2014, I met people who worked at the yoga place sometimes, but also Wwoofed, whatever that was. Some of them were incredibly hard working, talented, smart people and when I learned that Wwoofing meant the exchange of room and board for work on a farm, I realized that we needed WWoofers!

What is Wwoof?

The acronym has changed meaning a few times since Wwoofing started in 1971 in England. It originally stood for Working Weekends on Organic Farms and was a work exchange that matched up people from the city who were looking for a way to get out into the countryside and experience “the good life” with farms in rural areas that had a shortage of seasonal workers.

Now it usually translated as Willing Workers on Organic Farms or as World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It is a loose network of national organizations that connect workers and farms in more than 200 countries around the world.

To date, we have hosted more than 14 WWoofers on our microfarm, Applewood, from as nearby as the next town over and from as far away as Germany. On our farm, we exchange 20 hours of work a week in exchange for a room and board. Many of our WWoofers have also worked for pay in our landscaping and gardening business.

It’s been wonderful.

Our Wwoofers have been former soldiers, professional writers, retired people, high school seniors, and artists and seekers of every kind. They live with us and learn about gardening, beekeeping, landscaping, and cooking with lots of vegetables. They help out with chores, animal care, and house-sitting. Some have returned to live and work with us form more than one season. Some have met and gone off to make babies with their life partner! Many have made a permanent change to our property. All have enriched our lives.

Obsessed Midwest Gardener

This was the introduction to my old gardening blog:

Do you yell at people to “stay on the paths!” when they go outside in your yard?  Do know more plant names than you do people’s names? Do you know what climate zone you live in?

Yup? Here is the deal:  If you think you are a gardener, you are a gardener. Lucky us. Gardeners are a fun, generous bunch of folks.

Welcome to the OBSESSED MIDWEST GARDENER.

I am Danniel, your host.  I grew up playing in the Wisconsin dirt, but instead of studying horticulture, I got a degree in English.  That did not stop me from starting a landscape gardening business in 1994. The business, begun with my husband and another business partner, Mark C. Olson, was called Mother Nature and Sons and introduced organic property maintenance to the shores of Lake Geneva. I few years later, my husband and I branched off and started Botanica Fine Gardens and Landscapes in 2001.  When we started Botanica (this link goes to Wayback Machine screen capture of an early website and blog) I not only wanted to continue to innovate and practice environmental landscaping, I also wanted to have and to install the prettiest perennial gardens.   I set to work learning everything about perennials.

The first thing I did was learn the Latin name for all 1200 or so perennials that bloom in Zone 5.

Then, I learned the cultural requirements for all 1200 perennials.

Then, I learned their bloom times.

About this point, I thought I knew something about gardening.  Ha! If you are an experienced gardener, you might be laughing right now, because you know that until you know something about plant dynamics, you don’t know diddly-squat.

What are plant dynamics, do you say?  Well, plants are not like furniture. Garden design is not like interior design, because, well, the darn things change!  They change all the time, from spring to fall, and then again from year to year.

And that, Dear Reader, is what this blog is about.