From our experience here at the nursery in southeastern Pennsylvania, the weather has been nuts! After a string of extremely warm days in March, we had a couple of nights when temps dropped below freezing. We scrambled to carefully stretch the frost blankets over the blooming spring phlox and blueberries covered in flowers. But there was no way to protect the tender young growth on rest of woody plants. As we moved past the late frosts and things warmed up, the woody plants pushed out new growth. And how about that wind–lately it seemed like it will never settle down. The wind gusting recently at more than 25 mph, we are doing our best to keep things upright and watered. After string of hot days in late May, then our soggy holiday weekend, things now look very LUSH!
If your home garden took a hit from the recent frost or wind, don’t worry–plants are more resilient than you think. If some of your woody plants were late to leaf out, be patient, as it looks like things are really pushing now! Swing by the nursery, and our team will help you find the best ways to refresh your garden for the season. By gardening, especially with native plants, know that we are each doing our share to combat climate change. Thank you for being in this challenge with us.
Regular Spring Hours Continue Through June
Our regular hours remain Wednesday through Saturday from 9 am to 4 pm, and Sundays from 9 am to 1 pm throughout June.
Following the Fourth of July holiday, we will transition to our summer schedule. Starting July 8th, our summer hours will be:
Wednesday through Friday: 9 am to 1 pm
Saturday: 9 am to 4 pm
Sunday, Monday & Tuesday: Closed
Did You Know…
That our sun perennials are arranged by bloom time? Yes, when you visit the nursery and take a left at the yellow sign ‘More This Way’ you’ll find 6 tables of perennials for sun. The first table features plants that bloom in early spring, think blue-eyed grass, thread-leaf bluestar and false indigo. The second table holds plants that bloom in late spring, like tickseed and false sunflower, before the third table that includes early summer favorites such as coneflower and summer phlox, and so on to the last table where you’ll find the late season stars, asters and goldenrods!
That our shrubs and trees are arranged in blocks and rows based on moisture tolerance? Starting from woody plants that can tolerate dry conditions, such as New Jersery tea, spicebush and chestnut oaks and moving to things that can tolerat wet soil, like winterberry holly, button bush and bald cypress.
That we feature perennials that tolerate hot, dry conditions? Here you’ll find butterflyweed (when it’s in stock), wine cups and dwarf blazing star.
That we also feature perennials that tolerate wet conditions? While we don’t have pond plants, we carry many perennials that can handle occasional inundation and wet conditions, such as swamp sunflower, rose mallow and copper iris.
That our plants are produced locally from growers that maintain ecolocial practices such as avoiding neonicotinoids and many plants are grown from seed? A big thank you to our growers: Octoraro Nursery, Pinelands Nursery, Pleasant Run Nursery, Tree Authority, Pennsbury Gardens, Cavanos Perennials, Sunset Farmstead, Glover Perennials, Kind Earth Growers, New Moon Nursery, and North Creek Nurseries.
Some Good News For A Change…
Robin Wall Kimmerer and Suzanne Simard were recently in Philadelphia for the premiere of Root Song, Listening to the Wisdom of the Trees. The weekend long program hosted at Bartram’s Garden also included a panel discussion with Robin and Suzanne moderated by Natalia Schwien Scott. It was a wonderful evening listening and learning from our own ‘Mother Trees’ as Natalia lovingly refered to Robin and Suzanne.
More Life, Less Lawn! This grassroots program to restore nature in your own backyard is growing into a movement that is working its way into the mainstream. The 4th annual challange has just begun, you can join here. Be inspired to take part by watching the keynote by Robin Wall Kimmerer, here. Robin also has begun a new call to action, Plant Baby Plant! As Robin puts it, “what’s more common than the ground?” We encourage you to join Robin in raising a garden and raising a ruckus, here.
Don’t miss Doug Tallamy as the keynote speaker on June 12 at the upcoming Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve Native plant Conference. Formerly known as the Land Ethics Symposium, this full-day conference will feature ecological pactitioners and explore themes of incorporating nature into daily life. Learn more and get your tickers through the Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve event page –and stop by the Redbud table to say hi while you’re there!
If you’re new here, you need to check out the Mt. Cuba Center in Hockessin, Delaware–an amazing garden focused on native plants. They run an extensive trial garden program featuring multi-year studies on various native genera. After gathering as many species of a given genus as possible and growing them for a few years, then they publish their findings to make us all more informed gardeners and better plant consumers. This year their Solidago study was published, which is available for free alongside all past publications on the Mt. Cuba Center Trial Garden page.
We learned about Solidago fistulosa (pine barrens goldenrod) from this study and were thrilled to find it in propagation as plugs from Kind Earth Growers and larger plants by Sunset Farmstead. These keystone flowers are avaialbe now in a one gallon containers and we will have them available in quart size contains soon. Use the Mt. Cuba report to find the best goldenrod for your garden, even if part shade.
Last but certainly not least, your favorite charismatic flora, Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed), is now available– Let the games begin! (Sorry people, no savesies on this one. You’ll have to stop by the nursery to purchase & limit of 5 per purchase.)
Keep in Touch
Please feel free to reach out with any burning questions via phone, 610-892-2833 or email: info@redbudnative.com. Or stop by during open hours and say hello. For the latest updates on programs and plant information please follow us on our social media channels. Reminder: Redbud is a BYOB nursery (bring your own box!)