The National Garden Bureau, the non-profit education and marketing organization that came into being during the original World War I “Victory Garden” surge, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, the group surveyed nearly 2,000 gardeners and green-industry professionals to get a feel for what’s on gardeners’ minds – […]
So here we are into the second week of November, and the temperatures are still pushing 70 degrees. Since much of the Harrisburg area just missed that brush with frost the last week of October, the annual flowers and summer vegetables are still chugging along at this historically late point of the season. […]
A surprising twist happened this year on the way to a pandemically doomed gardening season. It actually turned out to be one of the best years ever for plant sales. Everybody from seed companies to garden centers to landscapers are reporting banner years – some of them record years. It seems […]
A pollinator garden was one of the first gardens built at the fledgling Penn State Arboretum, located at the northern edge of the university’s main campus. But the new and greatly expanded Pollinator and Bird Garden that’s now under construction is one that Arboretum Director Kim Steiner says will be unlike anything you’ll […]
A new line of blight-resistant boxwoods, a super-short version of native chokeberry, and a disease-resistant new leucothoe are among the best new trees and shrubs debuting in the 2020 growing season. Growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts picked the following for our annual four-part, best-new-plants series. Today’s best new trees […]
A hibiscus with nearly black leaves, a heavy-blooming version of a native pollinator plant, and a tropical that’s cold-tough enough to survive our winters are among the most interesting new perennial flowers debuting in the 2020 growing season. Growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts picked the following choices for our four-part, […]
A new line of disease-resistant impatiens, a sunflower that thinks it’s a blooming bush, and a velvety trailer that people can’t resist touching top the list of interesting new annual flowers debuting in 2020. Growers, local garden centers, and other plant experts picked those and more for the four-part, best-new-plants series I write […]
We’re only about nine weeks away from traditional pea-planting time (St. Patrick’s Day) and the beginning of a new growing season. It’s not too soon to think about what to buy, order, or make plans to plant while the selection is best. Especially with sought-after new varieties, supplies are often limited. For […]
Younger gardeners, succulents, eco-friendliness, and “plant parenting” are shaping up as some of this year’s hot trends in gardening. Here’s what gardening trend-watchers say they see in their 2020 compost-stained crystal balls: More gardening… and younger gardeners Interest in gardening continues to grow – and it’s no longer just mainly the over-50 […]
For 30 years, Erica Shaffer was Highland Gardens, that small-but-homey neighborhood garden center along South 18th St. in Lower Allen Twp. She was the face and voice of the business who answered bug and fertilizer questions, yakked about plants with loyal customers who were more like botanical brethren, and spoke to every garden […]