Longwood Gardens Water in Motion - September 2013

The water features at Longwood Gardens are an integral part of the gardens during the warmer months. Sometimes my favorite is the Main Fountain Garden. We have often stayed for the lights on the water on summer evenings so I find them less exciting during the day.

Other times the Eye of Water is my favorite just because of the sheer volume of water flowing over the structure and then downhill toward the Chimes Tower.

But recently - the Italian Water Garden has been my favorite. Many years ago when we first went to Longwood Gardens, the Italian Water Garden was open and people wandered around on the grass among the fountains. It was beautiful but crumbling. After a renovation, the fountains look much better but the area around the gardens is gated.

I’ve always liked the water stairs, the large central fountain, the smaller fountains along the edges shaded by trees, and the frogs contributing arcs of water to the fountain at the far end. 

Longwood Gardens Indoor Children’s Garden - September 2013

Mosaic under water

Dragon stair railing

Water umbrellas

Bird nest fountain

Floor mosaic

Hummingbird fountain

Ibis bubblers

Newt fountain

The Indoor Children’s Garden at Longwood Gardens was empty of children when we arrived earlier than usual last weekend. Every other time we have been in the gardens there have been at least a few children there - and sometimes it was pretty crowded. My daughter enjoyed the precursor to this enlarged garden when she was young. She delighted in the child height fountains where she could put her hands in the water. When the garden was renovated several years ago, even more water features were added and there is a visual richness beyond lush plantings that includes sculpture, mosaic, and stained glass.

The garden light is dappled - leaning toward the shady side. The stained glass lends color and tall plantings of bamboo create walls of green or round vertical elements extending from low growing plants.

Birds and lizards are the dominate themes for the fountains: peacock, hummingbird, ibis, robin, and newt are included in this post. Some are at a height for a toddler…others are about right for a child of 4 or 5. One fountain had some water toys. The best times to enjoy this garden with a child would be on a warm day….and it would be a good idea to bring a towel for when they are ready to trek onward to another garden.

Longwood Gardens - September 2013

We had a beautiful day last weekend to make a day trip to Longwood Gardens in southeastern Pennsylvania. I’ll be making thematic posts in the next week or so - but am showing the ‘best of the rest’ today.

We arrived within about 30 minutes of the garden opening and immediately headed for the conservatory since tripods are allowed during those first hours and my husband had some particular photographic experiments in mind. We wandered through the Indoor Children’s Garden (one of the upcoming thematic posts) before there were any children enjoying it.

The large conservatory rooms and exhibition hall were lush with green and every color of flower imaginable. After briefly going outside to the water lily display (another upcoming thematic post) we passed through the Mediterranean Garden and then, after a lot of picture taking in the orchid house (another upcoming thematic post) all the way to the cascade garden on the other end of the complex from the Children’s Garden before taking a short rest on an outdoor bench to look at the map to decide what else we wanted to see in the conservatory; the answer was the tropical terrace and silver garden. The ‘flower unfolding’ series below of one of the tropical plants from the tropical terrace.

Chimes TowerAnd then it was out into the rest of the garden - full of colors and textures. The fountains were lively (upcoming thematic post); my favorite is always the Italian Water Garden. The Meadow is closed to renovation and expansion until next summer but there is a wonderful border of wild flowers along the fence. The Chimes Tower rose from lush vegetation covered with ivy. There was a model train in one of the gardens and ripe vegetables in the demonstration garden. I’ve picked some of the best images for the slide show below.