PA Herb and Garden Festival

09/29/2026

🌺🦗 A Little Visitor Among the Mums! 🦗🌺

I spotted this grasshopper enjoying a visit to my deep burgundy chrysanthemums!

Grasshoppers are often attracted to flowering plants because they provide shelter, moisture, and nearby plant material to feed on. The dense foliage and colorful blooms of mums make a perfect little hiding place especially on a warm fall day.

09/24/2026

🍂🌼 Create a Beautiful Fall Container! 🌼🍂

Bring the beauty of autumn right to your doorstep with a colorful fall container filled with seasonal favorites! 🍁
Combine fall mums, ornamental grasses, ornamental kale, and ornamental cabbage to create a container full of color, texture, and interest. 🌾🌼

Choose mums for vibrant blooms, grasses for height and movement, and ornamental kale and cabbage for their beautiful rosettes of purple, green, white, and pink.

✨ A beautiful fall container is an easy way to add seasonal color to a porch, patio, entrance, or garden!

🍁 What would you put in your perfect fall container? 🌼🌾

09/14/2026

09/05/2026

🌺 Happy National Hummingbird Day! 🌺

Here in Pennsylvania, hummingbirds bring incredible energy and beauty to our gardens each year. Our Ruby-throated Hummingbirds arrive in spring, spending the warmer months feeding on nectar and tiny insects before migrating south in the fall.

You can welcome them by planting bee balm, cardinal flower, salvia, columbine, and other native flowers that provide natural food and shelter. 🌸🌿

These tiny birds may be small, but they play an important role as pollinators—and they bring so much joy every time they visit!

08/31/2026

🌻🌻 Why Two Sunflowers?
A single sunflower turns toward the sun, soaking in its warmth and light. But two sunflowers have a beautiful way of turning toward each other.
That’s why giving two sunflowers is such a special gift—it symbolizes friendship, love, companionship, and having someone beside you through every season of life.
So when I give you two sunflowers, I’m really saying:
“No matter where life takes us, you’ll always have someone to turn toward.” 🌻💛🌻

08/26/2026

The meaning of Simon & Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" blends a centuries-old English folk tale about unrequited love and impossible tasks with a modern anti-war message.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

The Symbolic Herbs: The recurring refrain (parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme) dates back to medieval herbal symbolism representing virtues needed for healing a broken heart.

Parsley: Comfort and dissolving bitterness
Sage: Strength and wisdom
Rosemary: Love, fidelity, and remembrance
Thyme: Courage and affection

08/04/2026

Turmeric: The 2026 Herb of the Year

Bathed in soft morning light, the graceful blooms of turmeric remind us that some of nature's greatest treasures are both beautiful and beneficial. Named the 2026 Herb of the Year, turmeric (Curcuma longa) has been cherished for centuries—not only for its striking tropical flowers and lush foliage but also for its golden rhizomes, celebrated in cuisines and traditional wellness practices around the world.
Whether grown as an ornamental in the garden or valued as a culinary and medicinal herb, turmeric is a remarkable plant that brings beauty, history, and purpose together. It serves as a wonderful reminder that the plants we cultivate can nourish both body and spirit.
Here's to celebrating the 2026 Herb of the Year—a golden gift from nature that continues to inspire gardeners, cooks, and herbal enthusiasts alike.