ROOTED in SCIENCE

Chemistry, biology, and art combine together to produce Longwood compost. Made annually by our Soils and Compost team, it provides us with a sustainable amendment used throughout the Gardens to enrich and improve the quality and health of our soils.

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Opposite: Conservation is rooted in Longwood’s legacy, starting with Pierre S. du Pont’s act to conserve the trees in Peirce’s Allée. These trees remain a testament to the continued importance Longwood places on conservation and science. Almost 100 years later, the Longwood Science Leadership team meets here to review key accomplishments and priorities for the upcoming week. From left to right, Associate Director of Land Stewardship & Ecology

Dr. Lea Johnson; Land Stewardship Manager Joe Thomas; Associate Director Conservation Horticulture & Plant Breeding Dr. Peter Zale; Director of the Science Division Dr. Kate Santos; Associate Director of Floriculture Production Diana Shull; Floriculture Manager Betsy Beltz; Floriculture Manager Kevin Murphy; Associate Director of Collections Tony Aiello; and Soils and Compost Manager Erik Stefferud.

Longwood is a wonderful manifestation of beauty in all forms. The foundation for that beauty lies in a commitment to scientific endeavors that spans more than half a century. From plant exploration trips around the globe, to plant breeding and introductions, to land stewardship and conservation efforts, our scientific work lays the groundwork for discoveries that expand our understanding of the natural world and help perpetuate and celebrate its beauty for generations to come.

This is not a small undertaking, and we recognize that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. That’s why we have recently realigned our work under a single Science division, allowing us to better coordinate initiatives, resources, and partnerships, and in turn, expand our impact. Our approach weaves together the scientific disciplines of horticulture, ecology, and agriculture with art, stewardship, conservation, and sustainability, offering us the unique opportunity to demonstrate how cultivation and nature can not only coexist but thrive in the future.

The Science division, which includes full-time and part-time staff as well as volunteers and students, works to achieve our goal to be both a beacon for scientific contributions and a collaborative partner with institutions from around the world. Our intent is for the impact of our work to reach far beyond our garden walls. To accomplish this challenge, the division is divided into four disciplines: Conservation Horticulture and Collections; Land Stewardship and Ecology; Floriculture

Conservation Horticulture and Collections represents an opportunity for us to demonstrate how conservation and cultivation can coexist through the bridge of horticulture. Horticulture is often the missing piece in plant conservation and, as one of the great gardens of the world, we have some of the best horticultural scientists dedicated to celebrating and conserving plants. Our team is focused on conducting research projects that bridge gaps and contribute to solutions to conserve plant species. The Conservation Horticulture and Collections team comprises two integral tenets of our work: the conservation of species found both locally and internationally through plant exploration, horticulture research, and plant breeding; and the curation of collections that serve to preserve and share the importance of these key species with the world.

Our current research is focused on systemic, interdisciplinary approaches to plant discovery, conservation, and recovery in the wild and in the gardens. We start in the laboratory to understand factors affecting seed germination and cultivation, and as we learn (and the plants grow) our work extends into the greenhouses, field trials, our Gardens, and our natural lands and/or native populations. The impact of our work contributes to preventing loss of plant diversity locally and globally, conducting original conservation horticulture research, building ex situ collections, introducing new plants of ornamental interest, and by Daniel Traub. establishing a conservation network of collaborators. Key benchmarks include expanding our plant conservation efforts beyond orchids to other rare and endangered plants in the state of Pennsylvania (see p. 5 for more on this topic), such as Polemonium vanbruntiae, developing a strategic approach to increasing our capacity to support seed banking of rare and endangered plants, collaborating with the National Herbarium in Tanzania on terrestrial orchid population assessments and conservation, and planting trees such as Quercus virginiana (Southern live oak) in the gardens to evaluate climate resilience.

Right: Our plant trials program serves as a resource to evaluate and promote a diversity of plants. Our goal is to address outstanding questions from the horticulture team and to introduce them to plants not commonly used but will be well adapted to our current and future climate. Associate Director of Collections Tony Aiello and Research Specialist Jameson Coopman pictured here in our lath house trials area evaluating rare, heritage Rhododendron cultivars.

Mindful stewardship of our natural lands is a responsibility we take very seriously. Our Land Stewardship and Ecology team’s approach is science-driven stewardship, layering incremental changes that build towards the realization of a long-term vision for our natural lands to be a refuge for native plants and wildlife, and that advance understanding of our changing ecosystems and serve as a model for others to follow. Rooted in the landscape of Longwood’s natural lands, we engage in collaborative research to solve ecological problems at landscape to global scales.

Building on decades of work in land stewardship, our high-level management priorities for our natural areas are to protect and maintain our old-growth forests, shade our streams and improve water quality in the three watersheds that intersect our land, enhance biodiversity and species preservation, and continue our calculated efforts to reduce invasive species across all of our plant communities. In 2022 alone, we enriched our natural lands by planting more than 2,000 diverse native herbaceous and woody plants. In 2023 we will continue the momentum, planting trees and shrubs to help cool and clean streams, increase native biodiversity, enhance climate resilience, and improve habitats for wildlife.

To understand how our ecosystems respond to both management techniques and broader environmental change, we are setting an ecological baseline to serve as the foundation for measurement. In its first year, our baseline vegetation study mapped 216 distinct plant communities and we are establishing long-term ecological research plots in all of them. At the same time, our research specialists are evaluating different experimental reforestation techniques to help inform future larger-scale reforestation strategies and determining the effectiveness of invasive plant management considering costs, benefits, and long-term outcomes.

Agriculture, Soils, and Compost specializes in repurposing the greens, brush, soil, and woody debris generated by the Gardens to produce high-quality materials such as compost and mulch for the garden and local community. Our program focuses on setting the standard for sustainability and serving as a model for material circularity. Each year we work to close the gap between the amount of materials collected and the complete utilization of the subsequent materials we manufacture. On an annual basis, we are recirculating and transforming more than 9,500 yards of materials into compost and aged mulch. In addition, we continue to refine our product specifications to meet evolving garden expectations and standards; improve our facility design and infrastructure to support manufacturing, processing, and storage capabilities; elevate our community impact through material donations; and define new ways for materials to be used. Earlier this year our compost was STA certified by the US Composting Council, and is now available for purchase in The Garden Shop.

Longwood also maintains 150 acres of agricultural fields where we work collaboratively with Jamie Hicks. Owneroperator of Hicks IV, Hicks is the 2022 Chester County Farmer of the Year, recognized in the agricultural community for his sustainable farming practices. Our goal is to be a leader in regenerative agriculture practices through the implementation of innovative research that provides sustainable models for the agricultural community.

Floriculture Production epitomizes the combination of art and science in horticulture by bringing innovation and ingenuity to growing plants for our indoor and outdoor displays in novel, surprising, and inspiring ways. Each year we are cultivating and training more than 100,000 plants for our seasonal displays, spanning 1,300 taxa from around the world. The sophistication of our facilities reflects the complexity of our program. Growing plants from around the world requires a variety of different growing conditions that we simulate in our greenhouses.

Euphorbia purpurea is a Critically Imperiled (S1) species in the state of Pennsylvania. The Longwood Science team is part of a collaboration with the Pennsylvania Plant Conservation Alliance to innovate ways to propagate the state’s rare plants to help increase the abundance of this (and other) rare species. Pictured here from left to right, Research Specialist Kristie Lane Anderson, Senior Ecology Technician Pandora Young, and Associate Director of Land Stewardship & Ecology Dr. Lea Johnson inspect a recently planted Euphorbia purpurea near the Meadow Garden. Photo by Daniel Traub.

Management of healthy wildlife populations enables us to advance ecological science, inspire people with the beauty of native plants and landscapes and enrich the diversity across our Gardens. Habitat conservation is one element of this approach. Ecology Technician Ryan Pardue is pictured here monitoring one of more than 200 nest boxes found across the natural lands areas of the Gardens. Together with volunteers, our Land Stewardship & Ecology team works to preserve and restore habitats for species like the Eastern bluebird. Photo by Daniel Traub.

Our facilities and techniques have evolved to be incredibly specialized so that we can come as close as possible to mirroring the ideal growing conditions for every plant we produce so that they are at peak when put on display. Additionally, the multiple growing zones affords us the unique opportunity to grow plants with a wide variety of cultural requirements simultaneously. Few, if any, other gardens are able to do this in the same way. Our team of horticultural specialists are often only limited by their imaginations and their continued perseverance to innovate and inspire. Their experience, intuition, and understanding of how plants grow and develop is respected throughout our industry, with our colleagues often seeking advice to improve their own efforts. This expertise informs our approach to growing new plants, forms, and designs. Each year we surpass the last.

Our current projects include upgrading our crop culture and planning database, which is targeted for integration this fall. This upgraded system will enable us to capture and track critical milestones throughout our crop-production processes, making it both a real-time tool for decision making alongside a historical archive for reference and training. Additionally, we are actively trialing and evaluating new plants of interest for upcoming displays, alongside candidates for the new West Conservatory.

These are just a few of the many activities undertaken each year by our science team. and we are just getting started. Science is woven throughout our founding legacy, forming the bedrock for the prominence of our garden collections, research, sustainable production, conservation, and stewardship. It extends to teams across the Gardens and has grown to support our surrounding community and international network of collaborators. These connections ensure our work can contribute to finding solutions for some of the bigger challenges we cannot solve alone, such as climate change and protecting plant biodiversity, land, and water. We strive, through our work, to leave the world better than we found it, with the hope that it inspires others to do the same.

Our team of horticulture specialists in Floriculture Production are often only limited by their imaginations and their continued perseverance to innovate and inspire. Their intuition and understanding of plant growth and development, informs our approach to growing new plants, product forms, and designs—each year surpassing the previous year. Horticulture Specialty Grower Jason Simpson demonstrating the embodiment of this symbiotic balancing of art and science in horticulture. Photo by Meghan Newberry.