America's Largest Botanical Garden Is A Must-See For Any Enthusiast

With "America's largest" as a modifier, we often expect the next words to be something campy, like "truck stop" or "ball of twine." America's largest botanical garden, Pennsylvania's Longwood Gardens, holds back on the quirk and serves up the elegant and refined along with a refreshing dose of pastoral and exotic. For gardening enthusiasts, a visit to Longwood is the next best thing to touring the gardens of an 18th-century French chateau. But old-world symmetry and manipulation of nature is far from the only type of garden design you'll find at this Philadelphia-area landmark. Longwood's more than 1,100 acres are partitioned into six districts featuring wooded paths, kitchen gardens, conservatories, Italian water gardens, and an orchard. Scores of cultivars have originated from this Pennsylvania institution, among them viburnums, hollies, camelias, and boxwood. Longwood has even dedicated space to an idea garden meant to pique the imagination, but every planted acre will inspire you to create your own secret garden getaway at home.

Not only does Longwood Botanical Gardens hold the title as largest in America, but it's also spectacular enough for Time magazine to name it one of the World's Greatest Places of 2025. And while the garden is a must-see attraction for plant enthusiasts, it's not just the locale's botanical beauty that's worthy of accolades. Longwood also provides high-quality educational programs as well as entertainment in many forms. Whether you come for a concert or a family learning opportunity, don't leave without a visit to the three treehouses — one of which is ADA accessible — for a birds-eye view of this masterpiece.

Set aside a full day or more to wander the six districts of America's largest botanical garden. Visit Versailles without making a flight overseas in the Main Fountain Gardens. There, marvel at towering topiaries and the intoxicating scents of the rose garden. Linger in the Lakes District, where the Italian water gardens rub shoulders with a large and a small lake. Take in the hillside garden and the sylvan oak and conifer knoll encompassed in the Chimes Tower District. Escape to the verdant fields and groves in the Meadow and Forest District, which makes up a good portion of Longwood's natural areas. These planned and well-managed habitats attract a diverse variety of birds and are a top spot for observing wildlife.

The House and Theater District, centered around an outdoor stage and the stately Peirce-DuPont mansion, has its own spaces for growing things. There, you'll encounter wooded allées and a tranquil forest garden as well as indoor delights like the Monstera deliciosa vine that's thrived on site since the middle of the 20th century. Where most botanical gardens share one or two conservatories with their guests, Longwood boasts an entire conservatory district. Considered "the jewel of Longwood Gardens", the cluster of glass houses preserve orchids, acacias, and collections of Mediterranean plants, along with a small tropical rainforest. The plazas between them are dotted with bonsais, terraces, and a waterlily court that may have you rushing home to replicate Claude Monet's French Giverny garden.