Longwood Gardens
Longwood Gardens is a botanical garden in Kennett Square, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is operated under the Longwood Gardens Inc., a private foundation in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other public horticultural institutions that sponsors expeditions to many parts of the world in search of ornamental plants for introduction into the United States.
The land occupied by the gardens was acquired from William Penn in 1700 by the Peirce family, who decided to call it Long Woods. Two family members began planting exotic trees there in 1798. However, it was acquired in 1906 by industrialist Pierre Samuel du Pont, who renamed it Longwood and continued to develop its conservatories.