Longwood: A warm welcome
Arriving on what seemed to be always sunny days just outside of Philadelphia, I started my fellowship at Longwood Gardens. My first placement was in The Idea Garden, where I was warmly welcomed and spent from September to November gardening away in the Vegetable Garden, the Perennial Garden, and Combination Borders.
The vegetable garden is a curated collection of culturally significant crops, from cotton and collard greens to displaying local growing techniques like the Three Sisters method for beans, squash, and corn. Alongside being educational, the garden is productive. Crops are selected and grown for the local food cupboard, where more than 408kg was donated in the second quarter of 2022 alone.
Alongside my time in The Idea Garden, I helped plant bulbs along The Flower Walk. Around 300,000 bulbs were planted over two weeks featuring a medley of Tulipa, Narcissus, Allium, Hyacinthoides, Camassia, and Fritillaria for a display in April. My time outdoors came to a close with the Christmas changeover, a weeklong event where staff from all areas of the garden come together to turn Longwood Gardens into a Christmas wonderland.
