September 3– PHILADELPHIA, PA – This Fall, get back to school and back in the garden with The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. While summer is winding down, now is the time to grow your gardening knowledge base, perfect whether you are “plant curious” or an expert gardener.
PHS offers educational opportunities for every level of gardener and interest. Whether you’re seeking hands-on instruction alongside experts, a unique lecture presentation, an immersive tour of a garden, learning to grow for the 2025 Flower Show’s “Challenge Plant” competition, or seeking an opportunity to trade knowledge and plants with fellow plant lovers, Fall is a fantastic time to grow your green thumb and embrace this back to school season with PHS.
Digital Learning
New this season! PHS will launch Know to Grow, a year-long educational series exploring gardening topics such as designing with tropical plants, pollinator gardening, foodscaping (incorporating edibles into your landscape), and more. This vibrant lecture series welcomes everyone, from seasoned gardeners to those with a budding curiosity about the plant world. Bring your questions and learn from world-renowned horticulturists. Know to Grow will be held virtually every second Wednesday of the month, starting in September, from 5-6pm. Sessions are free for PHS members, and $20 for the general public.
Tours
PHS will also offer monthly tours of PHS Meadowbrook Farm, a historic estate garden located in Meadowbrook, PA to learn about garden design and the history of this majestic public garden. Additionally, participants will tour the first floor of the garden’s estate house, and view gardens from original vantage points from within the home.
Enjoy spectacular views of the Center City skyline and learn all about the ecologic functions of green roofs via a tour of PHS’s garden at the PECO’s Green Roof in Center City Philadelphia.
Immersive Learning
Experience hands-on and in-person educational workshops at PHS and partner gardens!
Visit the PHS Pop Up Gardens in Manayunk and on South Street to participate in classes covering propagation, making pressed flowers, and more. The Pop Up Gardens will also host free, monthly Plant Swaps where participants can learn in a peer-led environment and take home a new green friend! The Manayunk Pop Up Garden will be open through October 6, and the South Street Pop Up Garden will be open through Halloween.
For those interested in spending time on a community farm, visit the PHS Green Resource Center at Norristown Farm Park on September 21st for an introduction to herbalism. Participants will explore traditional uses of herbs and the many ways you can use herbal preparations at home, as well as harvest them to make an herbal infusion.
PHS will also be partnering with Chanticleer to deliver immersive gardening classes throughout the fall season covering timely gardening topics such as Fall garden planning, with sessions led by horticultural experts.
Love the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show and have dreams of winning a blue ribbon? Learn how to grow a Flower Show “Challenge Plant” and see if you have what it takes to be an award winner.
Book Club
If books are your thing, join the monthly PHS McLean Library Book Club, where readers read and discuss works of fiction or non-fiction having to do with gardening, plants, nature, or the land.
To view and register for one of the education-focused events PHS will be leading, including the new Know to Grow presentation series, please visit below.
