Five Chuck Norris Native Plants

Five Chuck Norris Native Plants

Urban and suburban gardeners are no strangers to the battle with invasive plants. In large part, this is because many modern gardening practices seem to be almost perfectly designed to encourage invasive plants. Many invasive plants and weeds are adapted to a particular combination of conditions, namely low stress and high disturbance. Botanists call plants…

Farewell Maddalena

Farewell Maddalena

Maddalena Blondell began volunteering at Herring Run Nursery three summers ago when she was just 16. A budding plant enthusiast, Maddalena had an interest in learning more about the connection between plants and people. She volunteered repotting plants, staking sapling trees, working with other volunteers while learning as much as she could about native plants….

Six Perennials To Bring the Pollinators

When gardeners realize the value of our native pollinators and the crucial relationship those pollinators have with native plants, a natural question arises. What are the best native plants for pollinators? There are many different ways to answer that question but, thanks to the Penn State Extension, we have better data than ever before. We always…

What’s That Fly? Tiger Bee Fly
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What’s That Fly? Tiger Bee Fly

The diversity of insects in Maryland is sometimes astonishing. And in a healthy environment – full of native plants and free of pesticides – complex webs of life evolve. The webs often include what gardeners sometimes refer to as “beneficial insects“, which are species of insects that perform valued services like pollination and pest control….

BEE-more Native!

BEE-more Native!

Not sure which plants to use in your garden this spring? Go native! Plants native to an area are more well-suited to that area’s climate and soil, requiring less maintenance once established. Besides being good for you, native plants are good for the environment too. Native species provide valuable ecosystem services by creating a natural…

Six Great Native Plant Lectures, New for 2015

Wondering why using native plants in your garden is so important to the environment? Curious about which plants, and planting strategies, are best for attracting birds, bees, butterflies, and other wildlife? To make it easier, we are offering six great talks in our Spring 2015 Native Plant Lecture Series. Each two-hour session costs just $10…