IN THE GARDENS AT LONGWOOD

Well it was a very relaxing weekend, surprisingly. My dear Mother was in town for the weekend, so I, Ms.Moorecock and the houseboys had to really clean up the acts around here. They were none to happy to be wearing a piece of material,and trust me, my mother was frisked on the way out, to make sure she didn't swipe any houseboys. She is smooth like that. She came to visit because she wanted to see the fabulous Longwood Gardens, where she hadn't been since she got married. I was more than happy to go, so it was beyond beautiful and I love being out of doors in the summer.

If your not familiar with the area, Longwood Gardens is a stunning botanical garden. It consists of over 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square, outside of Philadelphia. Longwood Gardens has a long and varied history. For thousands of years, the native Lenni Lenape tribe fished its streams, hunted its forests.In 1700, a Quaker farmer named George Peirce purchased 402 acres of this English-claimed land from William Penns commissioners. His family owned it up till no one in his family wanted to be bothered by the land anymore. As the 19th century rolled into the 20th, the family’s heirs lost interest in the property and allowed the arboretum to deteriorate. The farm passed out of the family through several hands in quick succession, and a lumber mill operator was about to cut down the trees for timber in early 1906.This threat moved Pierre S. du Pont, American entrepreneur, businessman, philanthropist, and member of the prominent du Pont family to take action. On July 20, 1906, 36-year-old du Pont purchased the farm primarily to preserve the trees. He wasn’t planning to create what would become the spectacular Longwood Gardens, but within a few years, his desire to make it a place where he could entertain his friends transformed a simple country farm into one of the country’s leading horticultural estates and gardens. I understand he and his wife would walk the grounds everyday.

**I warn you now... ton of gratuitous eye candy** 

After Pierre S. du Pont purchased the property in 1906, he began developing the outdoor gardens further, adding the 600-foot long Flower Garden Walk. Over the years he kept adding more and more gardens, built a new "small" conservatory, as seen from above, a stunning water lily pond and more fountains, followed by stunning rose gardens, a huge treehouse and a extensive orchid collection. I took these picture for the Dog's Mother....

Orchids....

This spacious country home Peirce-du Pont House ,  resulted from five major periods of construction covering nearly 200 years. The original two-story brick farmhouse was built by Joshua Peirce in 1730 to replace a log cabin built in 1709. In 1764, a two-story addition was made to the east end of the house and included a new dining room. The house was enlarged in 1824 adding a large addition to the north of the original structure. This building campaign doubled the size of the Peirce's house. In 1909, Pierre du Pont modernized the house with a two-story addition to the north. Plumbing, electricity, and heating were added throughout the house.

While we were there, we had an incredible lunch...they pride themselves on severing "green" and healthy foods, but thanks goodness also offer beer and wines. We also met a tour guide while resting at one spot and he gave so much information to us. We found out, that Longwood has about 400 full time gardeners, and over 800 volunteers. He also said it's only been since the late 80"s they stated charging people to get. Du Pont had left a healthy sum of funds so that all visitors could come and enjoy the garden at no cost. Now a days, it cost around 30 million to keep it running. And they are extremely meticulous how they tend to the gardens. It was fun to watch them trim the hedges. I think even the Queen of England would be pleased. Our day ended with the gorgeous flower walk. The cool part? It starts at one end with yellows and oranges, into the red and pinks, and ends at the other end in blues and purples.

It was a great weekend and pretty cool to hang out with ma. We concluded we needed to just live in the garden permanently and make that tree house home.