Longwood Gardens
If you live in Pennsylvania or anywhere nearby and haven’t visited Longwood Gardens, you’re doing yourself a big disservice. Even if you aren’t into plants, this place will still blow you away. If I were filthy rich I’d have a place just like this. It has an interesting history that you can read about here. Many generations of people have had their influence on the property, but Pierre du Pont of the Dupont chemical and engineering family created most of what visitors see today including the massive conservatory and Italian fountains.
I took my Japanese friends there on Monday and we saw a spectacular chrysanthemum display as well as the regular things they have in the greenhouse – bonsai, carnations, orchids, xeric species, tropical plants and all kinds of other botanical exhibits. I could spend days there taking photos. Of course, at this time of year most of the outdoor exhibits have come to a close, but we did get to see a preview of the spring bulb planting:
There was still enough fall foliage around to make the walk through the outdoor gardens colorful and golden:
Here’s a flesh fly thinking he’s hot shit courting death on the edge of a pitcher plant.
Not a very smart move…but I guess one can’t expect much more from a maggot with wings.
A beautifully-shaped tree in the Gardens’ meadow area. I stood at the base and took this with my wide angle lens looking up:
