Longwood Gardens

SPLURGE OF THE WEEK INDOOR WATERFALL The renowned Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa., marks its centennial this year, as well as 50 years of international plant exploration. To mark these milestones, Timber Press has published Plant Explorations for Longwood Gardens, by Tomasz Anisko, with abundant photographs and first-hand accounts of the expeditions seeking plants to add to the vast array of flora at Longwood, the former estate of Alice and Pierre S. du Pont III. RETAIL PRICE: $69.95 .....

Can't wait to shake off the cold and gloom of winter? Longwood Gardens can get you in a springtime mood real fast. Its "Welcome Spring" display, featuring 16 indoor gardens, is in full bloom. The 3-acre display highlights thousands of familiar and exotic flowers, including daffodils, blue poppies, hyacinths, tulips, roses and orchids. Visitors also can enjoy gardening and cooking demonstrations, as well as Sunday concerts in the gardens. A free audio tour with more than two hours of information about the gardens is also available.

Nearly 2,000 amateur and professional gardeners are expected to participate in the Spring Continuing Education Program at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa.The program runs from Jan. 22 to July 19, offering the public a variety of courses, evening lectures, garden tours and workshops in the magnificent horticultural environment of the former estate of Pierre S. du Pont.A detailed brochure is available by calling (610) 388-1000, Ext. 516.

Marjorie S. Dawson, a homemaker and avid gardener, died of liver cancer Sunday at her Rodgers Forge home. She was 82. She was born Marjorie Stelwagon and raised in Merion, Pa., and graduated from Merion High School in 1942. She studied landscape design at the Arboretum School of the Barnes Foundation, which was founded by Albert C. Barnes in 1922 in Lower Merion Township. Pa., and at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa. She was married in 1957 to Charles S. Dawson Sr., a clinical research associate with Wyeth Pharmaceutical Co. in Philadelphia, and moved to the Hampton section of Baltimore County in 1974.

Barbie through the ages Barbie, the multifaceted and successful 11.5-inch woman, is being scrutinized Tuesday by Kristina Milnor in "Barbie as Grecian Goddess and Egyptian Queen: Women's History by Mattel," presented by the Library of Congress. Milnor, a professor at Barnard College, discusses the "Great Eras Collection" that Mattel released from 1993 to 1997. She uses illustrated examples to dissect Mattel's marketing strategy and representation of women in the past in a series that was packaged as an educational tool for adult collectors.

Concerts at Longwood Gardens Listen to traditional music tonight and cheer on musicians and dancers from New Zealand Saturday evening at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa., a horticultural display and former estate of industrialist Pierre S. du Pont. The performances are part of the gardens' summer Festival of Fountains, which runs through Sept. 2. A half-hour illuminated fountain show set to music takes place at 9:15 p.m. in the Main Fountain Garden after each performance. This evening, the Philadelphia group Gypsophilia presents Greek, Balkan and klezmer traditional tunes.

Romantic musicJoin pianist Liz Story (pictured) for a romantic evening on Saturday at Frederick Community College, in the Kussmaul Theater, featuring selections by the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. Additionally, Story will perform previously released compositions, "Church of Trees" and "Ana." She will be accompanied by bassist Joel Di Bartolo. The Howard Burns Quintet will open the performance.The performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

More than 30 chefs from the some of the country's best restaurants and culinary schools (including New York's Culinary Institute of America and Rhode Island's Johnson and Wales College of Culinary Arts) will be poised to cook you a wine brunch Sunday in Wilmington, Del. While the event may be out of town, there's a local tie: The herbs and seasonings the chefs are using all come from Baltimore-based Vanns Spices. The annual event, called Meals From the Masters, raises money for local chapters of Meals on Wheels, a nationwide nonprofit program that delivers hot meals to homebound seniors.

An early spring Step out of winter and into spring at Longwood Gardens' "Flora 2000" and "Welcome Spring" displays, Saturday through Feb. 27 and April 7, respectively. "Flora 2000," a product of the American Society of Botanical Artists, is composed of flowers, tropical blossoms and trees -- all indoors. The exhibit features 60 works by artists from Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, England and the United States. "Welcome Spring" features indoor gardens, lawns, exotic plants, flowers and more.