Blog

By Julia Lowndes

Despite what the name might imply, window boxes are anything but confining. They can be a great way to test the limits of a container garden and to experiment with new plants, while adorning your home with one-of-a-kind designs.

Ready to give your home and the environment a boost?

Set up your space:

Every window is worthy of beautification, whether with a small box in the shade or a large display in full sun. Each location comes with different requirements to consider. According to Leah Blanton, PHS Public Landscapes Project Specialist, it’s essential to assess your box, climate, and soil before starting your design. “The box will depend on your window dimensions and aesthetic,” she says

When it comes to location, not all boxes are created equal. A box’s material can be well suited to some climates or detrimental to its longevity in others. For example, a rainy area is better off with fiberglass or vinyl boxes than wood boxes, which are prone to rot. Gardeners in cold climates should avoid terracotta boxes and opt for more durable metal boxes. Not all boxes come with drainage holes, so drill them on the bottom to give excess water an exit route.

By Jenny Rose Carey, Senior Director of PHS Meadowbrook Farm

As we begin summer, it is time to take a good look at your garden and make sure that you have plants that will bring interest later in the year. Think of annuals, perennials, shrubs, vines, and trees. See where your garden is lacking in color, needs more screening, or maybe more shade. Visit PHS Meadowbrook Farm for inspiration!  Here are a few plants in bloom now:

1. Stewartia pseudocamellia – Japanese Stewartia. This small- to medium-sized deciduous tree is in full bloom now. My children used to call this plant the ‘fried egg’ plant with its yellow yolk-like center and the pristine white petals around it. The flowers look a little like a Camellia – hence the specific name S. pseudocamellia. As you walk up the driveway to the house, look for the Stewartia tree to your left. Many deciduous trees bloom in early spring, so it is always a treat to see the Stewartia flowers open now.

By Marion McParland, PHS Staff

Just a few steps off the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, nestled among magnolias, lilacs and Linden trees, the garden at the Rodin Museum invites passersby to step into a quiet enclave and take a moment away from the chaos of daily life.  

Built in the 1920s, the Rodin Museum and garden are known as “Paris on the Parkway” for housing the largest collection of sculptor Auguste Rodin’s works outside of France. The gardens were originally created by Jacques Gréber in 1927 and redesigned by OLIN in 2010 and 2011. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society managed the installation and oversees the garden.  

Marc Tissenbaum joined the PHS Public Landscapes team in March and is the first gardener assigned exclusively to caring for the garden full time. “It’s about introducing a lot of different species, especially native perennials and mixed grasses, to create a more sustainable garden,” he says. 
 
“The garden is always changing,” Marc explains. Visitors this spring experienced the tulips in bloom and the fragrance of Miss Kim lilacs. Also in blossom were alliums, asters, camassia, iris, foxgloves, salvia, catmint, hydrangea, viola and early beebalm.

The ever-changing display of blossoms is always intriguing and beautiful. This month, the Allium ‘Gladiator’ is in bloom, as well as Stachys ‘Hummelo,’ a perennial with bright lavender-rose spikes.  The dramatic, coarse foliage of Angelica gigas is emerging, with crimson-red flowers expected in mid-summer.  Monarda citriodora, an annual beebalm, is a PHS favorite, blooming in May, with intermittent blooms through July.

By Marion McParland, PHS Staff

Spending time outdoors with your mother -- at the playground, on a hike, or in a garden -- is a natural part of growing up. While her motives may have included tiring you out before bedtime, she also knew the value of fresh air, sunshine, and nature. In celebration of Mother’s Day, we spoke to PHS staff and family members about what they learned from Mom about gardening.  

Jacqueline Fisher, PHS Manager of Member Programs, thanks her mom, Sandra, for her love of gardening and floral design. “We always spent time together gardening,” says Jacqueline.

Growing up, Jacqueline and her brothers gave their mom a day of work in her garden for Mother’s Day.  “Even though I’m a mom now, I spend Mother’s Day gardening in my mother’s garden with my brothers, my children, and my husband. I’ve been doing this my entire life. The day begins with a trip to the nursery to purchase annuals like snapdragons and geraniums.”

By Marion McParland, PHS Staff

This Earth Day (April 22), show your love for Mother Earth by adopting environmentally friendly gardening techniques.

Use Salt Hay in Your Garden
“Salt hay is a way to proactively and naturally suppress weeds, relieving the need to intensively weed or use any type of herbicide later in the season. It’s mulch, essentially,” says Sara Ozawa, Haverford House Fellow/Community Outreach & Engagement Specialist at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS). “It’s a step up from straw because straw comes with seeds that move over to the garden and produce weeds. Salt hay grows in intertidal salt marshes, so its seeds are accustomed to a saline environment – meaning they will not germinate and create a weed problem in the garden.” PHS distributes 1400 bales of salt hay annually to 150 community gardens and urban farms.

Another plus: Salt hay should last the entire growing season, while straw will disintegrate. It will also help retain moisture in the soil and provide more nutrients to the crops being grown.

By Jenny Rose Carey, Senior Director, PHS Meadowbrook Farm

Shade gardens, especially those graced with dappled shadows from an elegant shade tree, are some of the coolest and most peaceful areas in our landscape.  They are a delight in the heat of the summer and a joy as their beauty changes throughout the year.

Gardening around tree roots or in the shadow of a building or tree canopy, however, does come with some challenges that are not present when gardening in the sun.

Here are ten tips that can help you make your shade garden more sustainable, beautiful, and plant-rich:

1. Know your shade:  Do you have full, part, dappled, morning, or afternoon shade? Planting in the correct shade gives you the greatest chance of success. Gardening under deciduous trees (those that drop their leaves) is easier than gardening under evergreens because many of our spring wildflowers emerge and grow before the trees leaf out.  Sanguinaria canadensis ‘Bloodroot’ is a great perennial for spring blooms.

By Caitlin Gemmi

The Sixties era is revisited at the nation’s largest flower show this week as designers from throughout the region channel their inner flower child. The Design Gallery section at the Philadelphia Flower Show is the perfect place to express yourself through floral arrangements and artistic creations. Many of the designers took this year’s Show theme, “Flower Power” to heart and created pieces that harken back to the era of peace and love. Here are just some of the groovy entries featured this year:

The Long and Short of It

Competitors in the Show’s “Open Platform category” were challenged to create a mini or maxi dress made primarily of plant material. Susy Baum, a design gallery participant of 19 years, created a winning design based on a dress gifted to her by her mother.

During the time of Woodstock, Susy’s husband was serving in the Army and received overseas duty in Vietnam. After six months of deployment, soldiers were given time off for some rest and relaxation, typically in Hawaii. Susy planned to wear the dress from her mother on the visit to see her husband. However, she fell ill and was unable to visit Hawaii. She never wore the dress but saved it all these years for sentimental reasons.

“The dress symbolized my mother’s support of my husband and me during a tumultuous time in our country,” Susy shared. “The dress class entry not only provided me a way to honor my mother and my husband, but it exemplified the healing power of flowers.”

By Rob Cardillo

We asked Rob Cardillo, award-winning photographer and Photography Director of PHS’s GROW magazine, to share some pointers for taking photos at the nation’s largest flower show.

Photo Opportunities:
There’s plenty of photographic opportunities awaiting you at the Flower Show this year, from individual blooms, and massive flower arrangements, to large scale landscapes with several focal points and miniature settings that require an up close view. How can you make photos that are worth keeping and sharing?

Fill Your Frame:
The best advice is to fill your frame and watch your backgrounds. Filling the frame with your subject can be done either by getting physically closer or by using a zoom lens. You might not think you have a zoom lens, but most phone cameras will allow you to use two fingers to pinch-zoom in on a subject.

Consider the Background:
Next, take a moment to consider the background. With so much going on at the show, it can a little tricky finding a complimentary background for your subject. Varied light fixtures and other displays behind your subject can be distracting. Move your camera a little bit left or right to minimize those distracting elements. You can also seek subjects that are already well-framed and have simple backgrounds like the large arrangements in the FTD pods, the artistic Niche categories or the Ikebana display. I find these areas photographically rewarding.

By Marion McParland, PHS Staff

Are you searching for a low-maintenance shrub, tree, perennial or vine that will stand up to the challenges of our growing region and outperform all others in your garden with exceptional splendor? Look no further than awardees of the PHS Gold Medal Plants exhibit at the 2019 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show, now through Sunday, March 10, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The PHS Gold Medal Plants program helps gardeners of all levels by spotlighting and promoting woody plants of outstanding merit. Since 1979, PHS experts have chosen plants for their stunning looks, performance, and hardiness in the growing region of Zones 5 – 7.

Featuring more than a dozen PHS Gold Medal Winners, this year’s exhibit showcases a dozen of these special plants. It is also staffed by PHS with volunteers from the Gold Medal Plant Committee and Pennsylvania Certified Horticulturists from the Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association.

First-time Flower Show visitors Lynn and Robert Beal from Fairfax, Virginia, fell in love with the Gelsemium sempervirens ‘Margarita’, Carolina Jasmine, (below) a strikingly gorgeous flowering woody vine in this year’s exhibit. “The plethora of blooms, its vibrant colors and muted leaves remind me of fireworks,” says Lynn.

By Caitlin Gemmi

The nation’s largest and longest running horticultural event, the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show, is a wonderful introduction for the children in your life to the beauty and importance of plants. From healing gardens to the winning entries of the Junior Flower Show, there are hundreds of displays and activities to spark an interest in gardening in your children.

Playful Exhibits:

Stoney Bank Nurseries’ exhibit this year is called “Unplug & Play!” and encourages children to turn off the computer, get outside and enjoy nature. Joe Blandy, President of Stoney Bank, explained the inspiration came from Kelly, his wife, who works with kids as an occupational therapist. He wanted to show the importance of playing outdoors and learning how to explore as a young child. They have two young boys who love playing video games, and he wants to make sure they spend plenty of time outside.

The exhibit features a balance beam, fairy garden, colorful kites, a rope swing and a swirling water feature. “We wanted to create a space that would attract and mesmerize children,” said Joe about the exhibit. “Our goal is to spark some imagination in them and inspire them to see the outside world.” All the features in this exhibit can also be replicated in your own backyard.

“I wouldn’t be who I am today if I didn’t spend my childhood in the outdoors. Spending time in the woods all day sparked my interest in plants, design and gardening,” Joe said.

By Marion McParland, PHS Staff

Flowers have the power to create a world of beauty, inspire, decorate, celebrate, and convey emotions without any language barriers. But did you know they also have the power to heal? In fact, don’t be surprised if your doctor writes you a prescription for light gardening, three to five times a week, as needed, for well-being.

The healing powers of plants and horticulture have been documented as far back as 2000 BC. According to the American Horticultural Therapy Association, ancient Egyptian physicians prescribed walks around a garden for patients with mental illness.

Main Line Health explores the healing powers of working with plants and growing a garden in its exhibit, “Cultivating Wellness from the Ground Up,” at the 2019 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show, open now through Sunday, March 10.

Also, on Monday, March 4 at 4 p.m., Main Line Health will present “The Power of Plants: Nutrient-Dense Plants” in the Gardener’s Studio on the Show floor. And on Thursday, March 7 at 4 p.m., they will discuss “Gardening for Good Health: It Makes ‘Scents.’” Learn more about how Horticultural Therapy helps achieve therapy goals and discover how Aromatherapy, a nursing initiative, is incorporated into practice at Main Line Health.

By Raelie Mulvey

With more and more people choosing to live in urban areas, interest in container gardening has seen a huge increase in recent years. And why not? In a small space, even a tiny succulent in a cute planter can make all the difference for boosting moods and beautifying a room.

At the forefront of the professionals in the container gardening world is celebrity gardener, Tu Bloom. Bloom began his gardening career as a child, growing simple crops in abandoned lots near his parents’ home.  “I grew up in a low-income family and I didn’t have the resources to get potting mix, so I made my own. I reused pop bottles and even aluminum cans! When you love gardening, you sometimes have to make it work and think outside of the box.” Today, he is known internationally for his container designs and is the florist of choice for the Grammy awards ceremony. 

Tu revealed that his Potting Party workshops at the world-famous Philadelphia Flower Show, sponsored by Subaru, will incorporate one of the biggest trends in container gardening: foodscaping.