The Peirce family owned this land from 1700 to 1905 and collected and planted trees in rows near the house. By 1850, they had developed Peirce's Park, one of the nation's finest arboretums, and the adjoining woodland became known as Peirce's Woods. In 1906, Pierre du Pont purchased the property to preserve the trees. Though later overshadowed by magnificent gardens, fountains, and the Conservatory, the trees remained the reason Longwood Gardens exists. Today, Peirce's Woods has been developed as an art-form garden with various rooms within the woods emphasizing native deciduous azaleas, whose long bloom period and fragrance stand out from early spring to summer.
