Everyone loves pollinator plants, right? What’s not to love – butterflies, bees, moths and so many others. So, how do you get all these lovlies to your garden? Plant Pycnanthemum muticum, or Mountain Mint, one of the best native nectar sources for native butterflies! While the pinkish/white flowers in summer are rather small, the showy [...]
Tag: flower gardening
Diggin' the Natives: Pycnanthemum muticum
Diggin’ the Natives – Vernonia lettermannii ‘Iron Butterfly’ (Dwarf Ironweed)
The name is rockin’ but the fun doesn’t stop there! Vernonia ‘Iron Butterfly’ is one of the hottest plants on the market right now. Excellent, clean foliage, dwarf habit, AND purple flowers when nothing else seems to be blooming (in the fall). Many have been “scared” away from New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) due to [...]
Autumn Garden Late Show
An addition of a few plants can up the interest in your autumn garden well into the season. Perennials like Amsonia and Tricyrtis, and Anenome, as well as annuals that did cool temperatures or rely on foliage for interest, keep your gardens rocking even after Halloween.
Garden Photography from our Community
Great gardeners and great photographers abound in PA. Here are the winning photographs from the Highland Gardens facebook photo contest. Thanks to photographer Carl Socolow for his help in judging the entries. Enjoy!
Punk Anemone
As my second growing season as a garden blogger comes to an end…. I am giving in to an urge I’ve had for a long time. Safety pin piercing a flower. Yes, I could no longer help myself.
Secrets of Wisteria
Wisteria inspires drama. Many attempt to seduce this lovely plant to bloom. Deep in a cold December, a gathering of gardeners find themselves gossiping about the antics of temperamental belle.
Timepieces in our Plants
In order for plants to flower at about the same time every year, go dormant for winter and resume growth in the spring, it is vital for a plant to know the time of year. This is the first in a two part series on how plants mark time. The next article will discuss how temperature affects this process.



PA Herb & Garden Festival – York, PA
by Wendy Brister · April 3, 2012
The fourteenth annual Pennsylvania Herb and Garden Festival will be held on April 13 and 14, 2012 at the York Expo Center, Memorial Hall, located at 334 Carlisle Avenue in York. Formerly the Pennsylvania Herb Festival, the event was expanded in 2011 to include more plants and products for gardeners while continuing to offer all [...]