QVC and Longwood Gardens
I always try to make the most of business trips by visiting beautiful and interesting places in between scheduled commitments. It's even better when I can combine the two.
Last week, I traveled to QVC to debut my new fall/winter 2025 apparel collection. I was on several times that day with a special LIVE appearance right from Longwood Gardens in nearby Kennett Square. I love Longwood and came up with the idea to broadcast from there - everyone enjoyed the change. If you've never been to Longwood Gardens, it is home to many spectacular botanical collections including nine-thousand species and varieties of plants spread across more than 1,100 acres - all wonderfully maintained by hundreds of employees, students and volunteers. I encourage you to visit the next time you're in the area.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
- My time at QVC was dedicated to the day’s “TSV” or Today’s Special Value. Here is my latest version of my puffer vest, a quilted short sleeve jacket – perfect for this time of year, when days are still warm, but nights and early mornings have that autumn chill.
- My jacket comes in baritone blue, dark olive, caviar, burro, and moonbeam. Did you order yours?
- One of the day’s later appearances was at Longwood Gardens. Here I am with my hardworking team – Laura Smalls, Meegan Colgan, Judy Morris, Dipali Patwa, and Taymour Hallal.
- I was excited to see all the water lilies at Longwood’s newly renovated Waterlily Court. Victoria cruziana and Victoria amazonica were crossed to create these Longwood hybrids. (Photo by James Sutton)
- More hardy water lilies grace the south side of the new West Conservatory. (Photo by James Sutton)
- Hybrid water lily Nymphara ‘Detective Erika’ has prolific blooms that are purple and grow up to seven inches wide.
- Tropical day-flowering water lily Nymphaea ‘Rachel Presnell’ has large, flat blooms and heavily mottled lily pads.(Photo by James Sutton)
- This is tropical night-flowering water lily Nymphaea ‘Trudy Slocum’ with almost perfectly round emerald green leaves and nearly flat white flowers. (Photo by James Sutton)
- Longwood displays very easy-to-understand diagrams of how water platters or water lilies are structured. They have center mother plants with shallow, extensive roots. The stems are long and flexible and help to float the leaves and flowers to the surface.
- Here is a mother plant with its offshoot leaves and blooms.
- Some of these water platters can hold up to 160 pounds.
- This is tropical night-flowering water lily Nymphaea ‘H.C. Haarstick’ known for its dark reddish brown leaves and bold pink flowers. (Photo by James Sutton)
- This is a rare water lily species that was recently collected in Tanzania as part of Longwood’s conservation efforts in that country. (Photo by James Sutton)
- Here I am with Jim Sutton, Associate Director of Display Design at Longwood Gardens.
- Above the flooded floor of the Exhibition Hall in Longwood’s Main Conservatory are hanging baskets of Acalypha hispida. On both sides are potted Australian Tree Ferns, Cyathea cooperi. I am quite fond of these tree ferns and have several in my own collection. During the summer I love to display them outdoors. (Photo by James Sutton)
- These are Acalypha hispida standards. (Photo by James Sutton)
- This bed is filled with Canna ‘Brandywine’ and Capsicum ‘Santos Orange.’ (Photo by James Sutton)
- This is a Wood’s cycad, Encephalartos woodii – very striking and tall. It is actually a critically endangered plant native to South Africa, notable for being extinct in the wild and having no known female specimens.
- Can you see me? I am at the base of this remarkable Elm, the last American Elm at Longwood Gardens. This tree was planted in the 1930s and is the last to survive Dutch elm disease, a fungus that gums up the xylem cells, blocking the upward movement of water and nutrients to the branches.
- Here’s a closer look. The American Elm was once a staple on city streets. Valued for its shade, beautiful branch structure, and adaptability, one could fine this native tree in areas from Florida to some parts of southern Canada, and spreading as far west as North Dakota and Texas.
- While there I also had time for a quick bite at 1906 at Longwood Gardens, a restaurant named in honor of the year Pierre S. du Pont purchased the original grounds. The restaurant is open to Longwood Gardens visitors and offers seasonal fare with locally sourced and sustainable ingredients. Among the delicious foods we enjoyed: this Pull-Apart Brioche with honey butter and local sea salt.
- This is the Whole-Roasted Green Circle Chicken with garden lavender, and wildflower honey.
- Judy had the Atlantic Halibut, with rainbow radish, ocean trout roe, and miso beurre blanc.
- This is Spaghetti Alla Chitarra with Maryland and Blue crab, saffron and opal basil.
- Among our desserts – Sticky Toffee Pudding with pumpkin, spiced gelato and pepitas, or pumpkin seeds.
- And Cheesecake with honey, pear compote, and candied apple.
- Here’s a view of the sunset from inside the new West Conservatory.
- This view is from outside in the new Bonsai Courtyard. It was a very successful day at QVC paired with a wonderful early evening at Longwood Gardens – please visit when you can. You’ll love it there.