July 13, 2012 -- Flowers, trees, and light

After a drive from York, through Dutch country, and past numerous signs on local roads to "Avoid aggressive drivers", we arrived at our destination, Longwood Gardens. The day was, as usual for this trip, hot and humid. We were psyched for this visit, because at this time, there is an exhibition on Longwood grounds that has been created by light designer, Bruce Monro. We had seen pictures, but nothing prepared us for the impact of this "show".

Part of the Flower Walk

We arrived at the gardens at about 11:30 a.m., and were shocked that, for really the first time in our experience, there were few cars in the parking lots, and visitors in the garden were scarce. How lovely to be able to walk the garden paths and feel like we were strolling in our own personal garden. Longwood is the creation of Pierre duPont, who purchased a piece of property in 1906 to save an arboretum established 1798 from being sold for lumber. Subsequently, duPont developed the estate and added to it extensively. He added flower gardens, fountains and conservatories. Today, the gardens are comprised of 1077 acres, 20 outdoor and 20 indoor gardens, 4.5 acres of heated greenhouses (the conservatories),and 11,000 types of plants and trees, including 68 champion trees.

 We decided to tour the flower gardens during the day, go back to our hotel for a break and get dinner, and then go back for the light exhibition in the evening. The gardens are fabulous, a wonderful display of color, and texture, obviously perfectly professionally arranged. The 600 foot long "flower walk" takes you down a brick path lined on each side with flower gardens in successive hues of the rainbow. There are ponds on the estate, and part of the light display is arranged around them. Floating tranquilly in one lake, is one of the exhibits: comprised of foam disks topped with thousands of recycled CDs, the installation mirrors the changing hues of the surrounding landscape. Each disk looks like a lily pad.

Since the day was heating up, and I was beginning to melt (literally), we went back to the hotel and enjoyed a cold beer, then went for dinner at a local cafe. After a sensational dinner and an even better dessert, we set off for the light exhibition. Holy smokes! Nothing could have prepared us for the emotional impact of this show. In the greenhouse, during the day, we saw the installation called Light Shower. During the day, you can see teardrop shaped glass forms suspended from the ceiling. At night, this transforms into what appears to be a shower of diamonds that is reflected in the water covered sunken marble floor.

Hanging above one conservatory's green lawn, "Snowballs" features six large glass chandeliers that illuminate the indoor garden in a kaleidoscope of colors that change in unison.

Ouside, the magic continued. After a walk down a low-lighted path, we came to "Water Towers", 69 structures built of recycled one-liter water bottles filled with water, wood layers, and fiber optics connected to an LED projector and sound system. We strolled among the towers, entranced.

A small part of Forest Walk

But best of all, was an installation called "Forest Walk". The only word to describe this, is "WOW". Forest Walk is a dense area of tulip trees, oaks and maples, whose understory is the setting for 20,000 illuminated glass spheres that line the pathways. The points of light seem to spread out before you forever. The walk in the forest took at least 30 minutes, and everyone who walked the path had the same remark: WOW. It was magic; it was wonderful; it was like fairyland. So beautiful! Pictures can't do it justice.

These are just a few of the light installations. The light exhibition is there til September 29, 2012. If you can, GO!!