The History and Evolution of Longwood Gardens' Research Program

Longwood Gardens is a premier display garden in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.  The Gardens began in 1906 when Pierre S. duPont (1870-1954) purchased 202 acres (currently 1040) that was known as Peirce’s Park.   Dr. Roger Seibert took over as the first director of Longwood Gardens in 1955 and began the Longwood research program that pertained to horticultural displays.  New and exotic plant material was regularly arriving at Longwood through plant exchanges and plant explorations to faraway places such as South America and the Himalayas.  To grow and evaluate new accessions, Longwood established a nursery in 1956 and built four research greenhouses in 1958.  In 1960, under the direction of Dr. Richard Lighty, a plant breeding program was initiated.  Through plant exploration, plant trials and breeding, Longwood has named and released over 130 cultivars.  In addition to evaluating and breeding new plants, Longwood also conducts research to establish and improve growing and propagation techniques for plants in the garden displays.  To assist with these goals, a plant tissue culture laboratory was established in 1999. Longwood’s research mission was and will continually be directed at improvement and advancement of the art and science of horticultural display.  Recently, the research mission at Longwood Gardens has evolved to include more in-depth and far-reaching research projects.   This will be accomplished through sound experimental design; increased publication in trade magazines, scientific journals, newsletters and via the Internet; increased presentations of results at professional forums; and further development of meaningful collaborations.   Currently, research at Longwood is being conducted in areas of breeding, propagation, nutrition, tissue culture, and environmental physiology.