Over the holidays I took advantage of a rare opportunity to slow down and actually took a local road trip up to the Brandywine Valley to check out Longwood Gardens’ Christmas exhibits and do a little shopping.
Longwood Gardens Exhibition Hall
The Longwood decorations were as beautiful as ever: not-in-the-least overstated, elegant, sophisticated. The conservatories featured the usual array of tropical flowering plants and evergreens decorated with lights and ornaments. Although I’ve never been a huge fan of poinsettias, Longwood had an extensive collection of varieties I’ve never seen that changed my mind on this holiday staple. If you’ve never been to Longwood in the winter, the main highlight is the conservatories–a series of connected glass houses containing everything from palms and orchids to roses and cacti. From about Thanksgiving through the first week of January, the conservatories feature Christmas displays unlike anything else I have ever seen, and the outdoor lighting display is beautiful. Check out the Longwood Gallery to see some of my favorite aspects of this season’s decor.
Lighting Selection at Terrain
What’s great about the Brandywine Valley is that in addition to Longwood, it has so much to offer. A Simon Pearce glass blowing facility and restaurant, Winterthur and Nemours house museums and gardens, colonial era Quaker architecture, the Brandywine River Museum, the Delaware Art Museum, great shopping and antiques, and more. Too much to list, and too much to do in one weekend. Since I only planned an afternoon, I limited myself to Longwood and the newish garden center, Terrain. Launched as Terrrain in 2008 by Urban Outfitters, Terrain at Styer’s continues the J. Franklin Styer’s tradition of bringing people and plants together–with a nice cafe and beautifully merchandised collection of unique home and garden products, Terrain is the type of place you could spend hours just wandering its 11 acres of greenhouses and showrooms. While Urban Outfitters does have plans to launch new Terrain locations in select markets, for right now the Glen Mills, Pennsylvania location is the one and only. I’ve posted a Gallery here, but seriously encourage you to make a trip of your own.
Links:
Longwood Gardens: longwoodgardens.org
Terrain at Styer’s: terrainathome.com
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