Longwood Gardens

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Hello, Friends --

Bob's sister Judy and I spent a morning at Longwood Gardens while visiting with her (near Reading, PA) on our way home. The Gardens (30 miles from Philly and 12 miles from Wilmington, DE) are enormous, encompassing so much to see and experience. I wish I'd been able to spend a whole day there, not just a couple of hours.

The original property was bought from William Penn by a Quaker family, the Peirces, in 1700. By 1798, the family had begun to develop an arboretum on the property. According to the web site: "Longwood owes its present-day success to the Peirces, who actively pursued a Quaker interest in natural history. By 1850, the site was known as one of the finest collections of trees in the nation, and one of the first public parks, and its aesthetic qualities were as important as its botanical significance." In early 1900, Pierre du Pont purchased the land to preserve the trees and from 1907 until the 1930s Mr. du Pont created most of what is enjoyed today. The du Pont Foundation has continued its involvement with the Gardens ever since.

For me, the most intriguing plants were the Victoria pond platters.
♦ The Victoria produces the second largest single leaf of any plant in the world (over 8’ 6” in diameter!)
♦ Each leaf can grow up to 10” in a single day
♦ Native South Americans use Victoria seeds as flour for cakes
♦ The Victoria is over 160 million years old—it appeared when South America was still connected to Africa and Antarctica. That makes it 10 million years older than the earliest ancestor of modern birds
♦ The Victoria is hermaphroditic: when it blooms, it changes from female to male overnight
♦ Its thorns, found on the “ribs” on the underside of the leaf, are sharp enough to puncture rubber
♦ The structure of its leaves inspired the architecture of England’s first greenhouse, the “Crystal Palace,” in 1851.

Who knew?

By the way, if you're just getting a notice about these blogs, all you have to do is double click the URL and there you are. You don't have to join anything and it's a great site to cruise -- photos from all over the world. If you want to see our earlier blogs, go to the third banner from the top and click on "previous entry" or something like that . . .

Paula & Bob

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