If you’ve ever paused between the Orangery and Exhibition Hall in our Main Conservatory, you may have noticed two impressive bronze plaques. These

This year, we’re able to learn more about conservatories through our Community Read 2025 selection, Paradise Under Glass: The Education of an Indoor Gardener by Ruth Kassinger, which expertly weaves her unplanned adventure of building her own conservatory at her suburban Maryland home with learning the basics of gardening, exploring the history of conservatories, and navigating personal grief and loss.

We’re proud to introduce our new Gardening Certificate and our newly-evolved Floral Design Certificate and Landscape Design Certificate—designed with you in mind.

When you hear the word "archive," it's easy to think of shelves full of letters, files, and other records that hold the story of an organization. But did you know that objects are also a vital part of that recorded history—and on display in some of our new Longwood Reimagined spaces?

Follow along as we take you behind the scenes of Longwood’s archives, including a typical day for the archives team and some collection highlights.

Many moving parts came into play when planning for and opening our new gardens, glasshouses, and landscapes. One such component was the multi-faceted (and multi-year) approach to creating the hundreds of plant display labels for our new spaces.

Throughout their unique garden leader-development program, our Fellows learn through interfacing with nonprofit leaders on challenges facing public horticulture, producing a cohort project that contributes to the leadership conversation occurring in public gardens, immersing in different Longwood Gardens departments, and much more.

On a recent trip to Washington DC, our 2024–25 Fellows cohort visited a number of gardens in an endeavor that not only allowed them to witness the remarkable diversity among the region’s cultural destinations—but also engage in a collective experience in which they could contribute diverse perspectives.

A new way to create, explore, connect—and get ready for the holidays—is now here at Longwood by way of our new Studios.

Coming to Longwood from California, Florida, New Zealand, Brazil, and New York City—with varied interests and backgrounds ranging from landscape design and plant discovery and propagation to the intersection of education and horticulture and enriching public gardens—our Fellows are here to change the world of public horticulture.

The Professional Horticulture class of 2024 has spent the past two years organizing and holding plant sales—selling numerous plants, many of which we grew ourselves—and last month we enjoyed the fruits of our labor with our trip to Portugal, a destination inspired by the Mediterranean garden design of the nearly completed West Conservatory of Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience.

Prescribed burns, which occur in such locations as our Meadow Garden, are a way in which we can maintain the meadow’s health by rejuvenating its native plant communities and suppressing woody vegetation that would otherwise quickly overrun it.

As part of the Longwood Fellows Program, Fellows spend two months with partner organizations around the world to immerse themselves in their host’s culture, learn from thought leaders, and share and grow their own expertise.

Much of our variety in plants, garden design, and horticultural expertise comes from our exchange of knowledge with other public gardens, horticultural organizations, and skilled professionals from all over the world.

Our 2024 Community Read book, The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly, isn’t just a remarkable selection that exemplifies the meaning we can all find in gardens—it also has a fascinating historic agricultural connection to Longwood Gardens.

Growing up in a small, rural town in the South, The Secret Garden (our 2024 Community Read selection for our youngest readers) sparked my imagination at an early age with the idea of gardens as cloaked in mystery and secrets, filled with hidden beauty (and stories) waiting to be revealed.

At Longwood, we create many spaces to explore your passions, practice your creativity, and deepen your wellness through diverse learning opportunities that allow you to dive deeper into your relationship with nature—and wellness.

We’re thrilled to have recently welcomed the five outstanding individuals that make up our 2023–24 Fellows cohort.

As the president and chief executive officer of Black Girl Florists and the owner of One Soul Events (Atlanta, GA), and in the spirit of Black Girl Florists’ mission, we are thrilled about our upcoming collaboration with Longwood.