Longwood Gardens. The Conservatory. Part 3.

Longwood Gardens - Part 1 Longwood Gardens - Part 2

After achieving success with his conservatory in the Peirce-du Pont home, Pierre du Pont wanted to create something on a grand scale. Longwood's Conservatory, one of the world's great greenhouses, was built in 1919. It has been periodically expanded and renovated. Sheltering 20 indoor gardens and 5500 types of plants, the conservatory covers about 195,668 square feet - about 4.5 acres.

Please check out the map. Join XKT and Rosie as we enter from the East Pavilion

and make our way throughout the 4 1/2 acres, including: The East Conservatory The Garden Path The Camellia House The Children's Garden The Orangery The Exhibition Hall The Music Room The Ball Room The Organ Museum The Acacia Passage The Silver Garden The Orchid House The Banana House The Rose House The Cascade Garden The Fern Passage The Growing House The North Passage The Estate Fruit House The Bonsai Display The Palm House The Mediterranean Garden

We did it all.

What a treat!

Our visit coincided with Lilytopia. Lilytopia, which debuted last year, is the largest lily show in North America and showcases the latest varieties of lilies developed by Dutch Breeders, many not seen before in the United States. Over 13,000 cut stems were on display in Longwood's Conservatory.

How Did We Do It? More than 13,000 lilies are on display throughout Longwood's Conservatory, making this the largest lily show in the United States. For the past year, Dutch breeders from fifteen different breeding houses have grown these display grade lilies for this exhibit. Display grade lilies are the highest quality grade of flower and are rarely seen outside of the Netherlands. The lily flowers were flown overnight on Monday, May 16 to the United States. An extensive logistical network of breeding houses, warehouse and shipping facilities, airports, export agents, import and shipping companies, government agencies, and trucking companies were lined up to ensure a safe and speedy transportation of the flowers. Once they arrived, the flowers were stored temporarily in four large cooler rooms and other storage areas in Longwood's Production Greenhouse complex. Then Longwood staff, craftsmen, and volunteers mobilized to prepare the flowers and begin setting up the display. This even took over a year to plan, but only four days to install.

The lily displays are stunning.

I've never seen lilies this big before.

I liked this grotto in the children's garden area.

Bird of paradise.

I particularly like the combination of lace cap hydrangia and white snapdragons.

You would not believe what it smells like in here.

The outdoor area is a work in progress.

Gardenia.

This plant is on my "To Get" list. It's throatwort, AKA Trachelium caeruleum, 'Devotion Burgandy.'

Attention Mar! And that would be my friend and fellow blogger of Foodies Untie. This next section is for you.

Aerial roots of Cissus sicyoides, a native of Brazil and member of the grape family.

Lovely hibisci.

Staghorn fern. Platycerium superbum.

I think I'll take a break now. We've been walking a looooong time.