Since Paul and I both had MLK Day off from teaching today, we wanted to treat our family to a little adventure. We decided on Longwood Gardens and spent the snowy afternoon wandering through its warm greenhouses. They have an indoor children's garden which we figured would be great for Emmeline to play in. She had a lot of fun, but with 17 fountains she got a *bit* soggy. Next time we must remember to bring her a change of clothes.
Longwood was started in 1906 by Pierre S. du Pont when he bought the Peirce Arboretum to save it from the lumber industry. Longwood now encompasses 1,050 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows. You can see over 11,000 different types of plants and more fountains that any other garden in the US (info from website).
We haven't been there for three years and then it was also on a snowy day (Valentine's Day, actually). We really need to go back in the spring to see the grounds; so far we have only explored the conservatory and greenhouse. Impressive as they are, we are anxious to venture up into the adirondack-style tree houses and watch towers and wander through mazes of groomed hedges, gardens and ponds.
But for today's adventure, we enjoyed Longwood's exotic plants and indoor splendor. It made our trip all the more fun to see the snow lightly falling from the windows of the greenhouses:
Paul and Emmeline winding their way through
the children's garden path
The children's garden boasts all sorts
of twists, turns and tunnels.
Emmeline is pointing out to Paul that the fountain
spit up water intermittently
This is a silly picture but I still like it; I was trying
to get Emmeline to smile at the camera but
she had other ideas...
Emmeline was a little nervous about the
"drooling dragon"
Emmeline discovers a fun fountain that
was timed to slither like a snake
Discovering yet another fountain; all placed
conveniently at toddler-height. It was nice
of them to provide towels!
The plant was tickling her right ear; see the snow
outside?
Pretty hibiscus!
Tropical plants with a snowy backdrop.
African mint hanging from the ceiling and
exotic lilies flanking the walk
Longwood Garden grounds in the snow
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