Our climate isn’t like it was just a generation ago, and our plants are showing it – especially trees. Many of Pennsylvania’s recent tree demises – from diseases on spruce and firs to branch diebacks on Japanese maples to “mysterious” deaths of sugar maples – are directly or indirectly related to climate changes. […]
A fellow commented on a profile I wrote about the majestic white oak that “maybe you’ll be able to enjoy a tree like the one in the photo when you’re 125 or so.” I hope I’m still planting daisies rather than pushing them up then, but assuming not, that over-used adage doesn’t discourage […]
The lawn-care pros who care for so many of our yards have no magic secrets on how to grow a nice lawn. They just know what conditions and measures lawns need to thrive – and when and how to deliver them. Any of us can do the same thing… if we learn […]
The horrors of World War II were still fresh as Japanese botanist Dr. Toichi Itoh focused on an apparent pipe dream that had long eluded plant breeders. Itoh was determined to cross herbaceous peonies with tree peonies to come up with a hybrid that offered the best traits – and none of the […]
If you’re investing the work into growing your own food garden – as so many stuck-at-home people did for the first time last spring – you may as well get the most out of it. As you plant cool-season crops now (onions, broccoli, cabbage, etc.) and summer crops in May (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, […]
Many of you no doubt noticed that new bug in town late last winter – the spotted lanternfly. This rather large (pinky-sized) flying insect with the spotted grayish-tan wings (red underneath) has now made its way from its initial 2014 invading point of Berks County to throughout the Harrisburg area. Lanternfly adults […]
So many plants to pick from… but which ones are the best? One bit of homework to go on is plants that have won awards from various plant-trial and plant-selection programs. Each year, organizations of growers, horticulturists, researchers, and other plant experts bestow awards on top plant performers – some new, some […]
I hope you got your 2021 supply of seeds already. If not, you’d better get busy ASAP because we’re seeing another seed slam in which seed-sellers can’t get seeds in the packets and out the door fast enough to keep up with another huge-demand year. For the second year in a row, […]
It’s hard to imagine Longwood Gardens getting much bigger or better. This magnificent botanical legacy of industrialist Pierre du Pont already graces 1,100 acres of Chester County countryside with elegant formal gardens, fountains that rival Versailles, a meadow garden that alone covers 86 acres, and just about every plant cultivated for garden use. […]
The end of February used to seem like the turning point to me between winter and the gardening season because that’s when the garden shows sprouted. Not that many years ago, we had the Pennsylvania Garden Expo kicking things off at the Farm Show Building the last week of February, followed by York’s […]