From Garden to Table in 1906

The Professional Gardener class, graduating in December 2010, has recently made an agreement with Longwood’s Terrace Restaurant to grow produce for their services this coming growing season. The restaurant’s General Manager, Tijs Wolters and Head Chef, Joe Labombarda, decided that the PG class would supply the restaurant with fresh, organically grown, high quality produce that would include more rare or newer varieties of produce. 

The agreement is meant to benefit both the students and the restaurant. The students will continue to aid their learning experience and further develop proper techniques to growing fruits and vegetables. They will also gain more experience in developing crop schedules, growing organic produce and different harvest techniques. Since there is a high demand for locally grown, fresh produce, the Terrace Restaurant would like to take advantage of the produce being grown by the students on the property.   The restaurant typically looks for organic produce and a few new or lesser known varieties of produce such as ‘Burpee’s Golden’ beets, ‘Scarlet Nantes’ Carrots, purple tomatillos and ‘French Breakfast’ radishes. 

"I would like to engage myself in actively growing and maintaining high quality produce that is also scheduled and estimated ahead of time," said Gavin Witmeyer, Professional Gardener student.  "These practices will help me in the future, whether it be running a CSA farm, selling local produce, or simply providing food to my own family when ‘times are tough’."

Great Gardens of America Book Signing and Lecture — Exclusive for Members!

"What Makes American Gardens American?"
Garden historian and author of Great Gardens of America Tim Richardson takes us on a whistlestop tour across the centuries to some of the country's most historic horticultural extravaganzas and reveals what it is about them that makes them quintessentially American.

"Chasing the Light"
Andrea Jones, photographer for the book Great Gardens of America,  reveals some of the adventures and challenges she encountered while documenting the 25 gardens across the USA and Canada. Her illustrated talk will show photography of the gardens themselves and explain to the photo enthusiasts in the audience how some of the results were achieved.

Thursday, March 18, 2010; 6:30  pm
Free for Garden Pass Members; $15 for Member guests. Registration open now.  Limited Capacity. Register online or by calling 610-388-5200.

Take a Deep Breath and Say "Aaah"

Longwood Gardens will present its first major exhibition, Making Scents: The Art and Passion of Fragrance, on view from April 10 to November 21, 2010. An intersection of flora, fashion and science, the exhibition will transform the Gardens’ gemlike conservatory into a museum for the senses. Visitors to the exhibition will experience the actual plants and flowers behind iconic perfumes, explore the mysterious power of the sense of smell, discover the unique combination of creative artistry and intricate science behind perfume composition, and have the opportunity to compose a basic fragrance.

“Making Scents: The Art and Passion of Fragrance will inspire and educate guests about the storied history and evocative power of scent,” said Longwood Gardens Director Paul B. Redman. “This exhibition is so perfectly suited to the setting of Longwood, where guests can experience first-hand the fragrant plants and beauty of nature that are at the heart of the fragrance story.”

Making Scents: The Art and Passion of Fragrance advances the mission set forth by Longwood Gardens founder Pierre S. du Pont (1870-1954) to inspire people through excellence in horticulture, education and the arts. The exhibition intertwines the beauty, science and artistry of horticulture, building upon Longwood’s renowned tradition of horticultural displays and educational programs for aspiring gardening professionals. Making Scents: The Art and Passion of Fragrance will debut during Longwood’s spectacular spring season, in which hundreds of lush acres of gardens are filled with daffodils, magnolias, azaleas, flowering cherries and more than 235,000 tulips.

“The history of fragrance cannot be separated from the history of civilization,” said Richard Stamelman, academic consultant for the exhibition, professor emeritus of Williams College, visiting professor at Dartmouth College, and author of Perfume: Joy, Obsession, Scandal, Sin; A Cultural History of Perfume from 1750 to the Present (Rizzoli). “Making Scents: The Art and Passion of Fragrance explores the aura of romance, mystery, and sensuality that for centuries has surrounded the experience of perfume as an important social ritual of everyday life.”