What Is Longwood Gardens?

Longwood Gardens is a botanical garden in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, founded by Pierre S. du Pont. It combines a 4-acre Conservatory with outdoor gardens spanning 1,077 acres, and it programs those spaces year-round with seasonal displays, fountain performances, live music, and family attractions. It is the kind of place you visit for a few hours of walking and looking, or for a specific evening event like a fountain show.

What you'll find there

The garden describes itself as a place to see horticultural displays, enjoy performances, watch fountains, and reconnect with nature. In practice, that means several distinct kinds of experiences on one property:

• The Conservatory — a 4-acre indoor growing space, useful when the weather outside is not cooperating.
• Outdoor gardens — 1,077 acres of grounds, including the Main Fountain Garden.
• Fountain performances — daytime shows plus evening "Illuminated Fountain Performances."
• Live music — including performances in the Beer Garden on many Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings.
• Family attractions — such as the Garden Railway, a model train display running along nearly 500 feet of track.

What's on during a season

Programming changes with the season, so what you see depends on when you go. The current example is Autumn's Colors, on view through November 15, 2026, which includes harvest displays of chrysanthemums, late-blooming annuals, pumpkins, and gourds in the Rose Arbor, Peirce-du Pont House Plaza, and Idea Garden.

Alongside the seasonal plantings, the autumn calendar includes:

"Free with Gardens admission" means the event itself does not carry a separate ticket — you still need to get into the Gardens.

Before you go: the reservation rule that catches people out

If you are a Member, note that member reservations are required to visit Fridays–Sundays after 3:00 pm. Members can make free reservations through the Member Portal. This applies through November 1. If you are planning a weekend evening visit as a Member and skip this step, you may not get in when you expect to.

For ticketed events with advance registration, such as Meet Us at the Mums, register ahead rather than assuming you can walk up.

Is it worth planning around a specific date?

Yes, if you care about a particular experience. Fountain performances run now through November 1, 2026, and the daytime and illuminated shows have separate schedules — check both before choosing a day. If your interest is the harvest displays rather than the fountain programming, you have a wider window, since Autumn's Colors runs through November 15, 2026.

If you simply want to walk the gardens and Conservatory, any open day works; the seasonal and evening programming is what makes one date meaningfully different from another.