The Brandywine River Valley is a public garden hot spot. Some of the best display gardens and arboreta in the country exist in this small region of southern Chester County, Pennsylvania and northern Delaware and many have destination worthy holiday attractions. Some of the best known for their Christmas festivities are Longwood Gardens, Winterthur, Rockwood Gardens, The Tyler Arboretum and The University of Pennsylvania's Morris Arboretum. My goal this December is to take my daughter to as many of these displays as possible, so after Thanksgiving we started with the best, Longwood Gardens.


At Christmas, it's best to arrive at Longwood before the sun goes down. After dark the crowds, indoors and out, are huge.


If only I'd had my tripod.

Generations have enjoyed Christmas at Longwood. People come by the thousands to see the elaborate light shows, which include more than 500,000 indoor and outdoor lights, and floral spectaculars. Putting up half a million lights is no small task. Arborists, gardeners and interns begin preparing and placing the lights as early as summer. The lights come in all colors and extend to the highest treetops. Even the treehouses that dot the gardens are decorated.

The holiday conservatory displays are the most spectacular. Hundreds of diverse poinsettias, lilies, paperwhites, winterberries and other festive flowers fill the houses with color and scent. Each house has its own uniquely themed Christmas tree.

The floral carpet leading to the Christmas tree in the main ballroom is comprised of poinsettias, golden pine cones and potted greens.

'Winter Gold' winterberry and warm amber poinsettias glow in the far corner of the Main Conservatory.

Another highlight of Longwood's Christmas is the school tree display. Select schools in the region are given trees to decorate, which are put on display in one of the smaller greenhouses. This year they were presented in the Fruit House alongside the espaliered peaches and apples. My daughter enjoyed this room most and asked to be lifted up to see the decorations on all the trees.

Pink cyclamen and fragrant sweet alyssum lined the floor of the school tree display.

My daughter enjoyed the school trees most of all.

All the ornaments on the school trees are hand made by students.

We bundled up before leaving the conservatories and heading back into the dark night. Heavy coats, hats and mittens are necessary to fully enjoy the lights. It's also wise to have blankets and snugglies for children in strollers. As we were leaving we admired the lit train display in front of the fountain area and marveled over the now fully visible light show. 2009's Christmas display is so good we will likely return before season's end.

Colorful lit trees created the backdrop for the outdoor drain display.

The moon shone through the tops of the colorful trees as we left the garden.