Orchids: A Splash of Color to Brighten a Long Winter

What can be better on a cold, grey, winter day than stepping into a greenhouse bursting with color from exotic plants? Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square has an annual Orchid Extravaganza from January through March, with hundreds of orchids on display. You will find everything from more common plants such as Phalaenopsis, to rare gems such Fredclarkeara After Dark 'SVO Black Pearl', in many colors and creative displays.

One of the many orchid "trees" on display at Longwood Gardens.

The lovely Fredclarkeara After Dark 'SVO Black Pearl' not only looks beautiful, but it also has a subtle but pleasant spicy scent.

Growing Your Own Orchids
You can also enjoy the winter beauty of orchids in your own home, and having a windowsill full of blooming orchids is easier than you may think. With proper care, blooms will return year after year. Phalaenopsis, commonly referred to as moth orchids, bloom for extended periods of time and are readily available (you can even find them at many grocery stores). Here are a few pointers to keep your plants healthy:

• Potting medium: When you purchase an orchid, it will often be in a pot full of bark. Never transplant orchids to regular potting soil, as the specialized roots need the aeration that a loose medium provides.
• Light: Most orchids do best with all day exposure to bright, indirect light. 
• Water: Careful watering is important to keep orchids hydrated, but not too wet. Watering once a week is typically sufficient, though be sure that the potting medium is dry before adding more water. To increase humidity in the winter, you can place orchid pots on a tray with pebbles covered in water. 
• Fertilizer: You can use either a regular 20-20-20 fertilizer or an orchid-specific fertilizer. Apply a weak solution monthly to your regular watering

Whether you enjoy them at a greenhouse such as Longwood, or at home, the exotic flowers of orchids are sure to add some sunshine and color to your winter day. 

Architecture and Landscape Patrick Hauck - Master Gardener Class Presentation

Architecture and Landscape
Patrick Hauck - Master Gardener Class Presentation

I’m Patrick Hauck, and like all gardeners, I like to dig in and get my hands dirty.  I’ve spent nearly forty years working in the world of historic preservation, promoting the revitalization of historic buildings and landscapes, so I’m really in my zone when these two passions intersect.

This is a brief overview about our home and garden on Rural Lane in West Mt. Airy, an ongoing effort for the last 14 plus years.  The house is one of four identical Victorian cottages built in the late 1880s along the Chestnut Hill West rail line.

This is an image of the Allen Lane station showing the four newly built houses in the distance on the far left. 

Here is another image of the rear of the houses, circa 1920, as seen from a neighboring farm.  Our house is the second from the right on the ridge.

Here is the front of the property when we purchased it in 2004. As you can see the house is more than a little tired and the landscape features one dying tree and one planted way too close to house. A project after my own heart.

Fast forward to a few years ago and you can see what a nearly a decade of sweat equity, a good paint job and the introduction of a mix of plant materials including trees, perennials and annuals has done to breathe life into the situation.

Here’s another view of the front of the property at the start of the project, including a peek down to the back yard, showing a little more of the side of the house and the lack of plant materials.

And here we see that same view with the now more established perennial bed coming unto its own, helping to anchor the architecture to the land through the introduction of color and texture. 

And you thought the front was tired, check out the back.  It was time to roll up my sleeves (and get out the checkbook) in order to restore this crumbling porch and establish a new garden.

Sleuthing out the clues as to what the original porch looked like and creating a really close match was a long process, but the results still blow me away. In this image the establishment of the perennial garden beds at the base of the porch area is beginning.

Here is a view of the same perennial bed in the spring a few years later when it has become more established and serves as a stronger visual anchor to the house.

This is the rear viewshed in the backyard before any work began. Even in its ragged condition, it offered a gentle slope with southern exposure--a blank slate and a gardener’s dream.

Here is the same view in early summer a few years back with established perennial beds. Although the entire property is less than a quarter acre, the borrowed view of the woods of the Cresheim Valley provides the illusion of a much larger space.

Looking toward the lower part of the garden is another great borrowed view – this time of the neighbors’ beautiful copper beech tree.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This little metal 1920’s garage was rough, but full of potential and function.

Here is it, all buttoned up and painted. It serves as both a storage shed and garden folly and is anchored into the landscape with bushes, perennials, flower boxes and a raised bed.

Porch/Patio/Dining Room:

I love to create rooms in a garden--separate areas each offering a different feel, such as the back porch area pictured here The views from that room include the amazing mimosa tree in July and surrounding plantings.  It is a great gathering place.

Water Garden:

Tucked away in the side yard is another room- the water garden - featuring a koi pond on one side, and on the other side, my favorite luxury, an outdoor shower.

 Lower Garden/Outdoor Library: The lower garden holds what I call the library. It is wonder shady retreat for reading on a hot summer day. A gated opening provides a view of the woods behind the house, and the room provides a vantage point to see the entire garden and rear of the house.

Putting this overview together, I mused on what gardening has taught me both through failure and success. No matter how much experience we have under our belts, we are always learning. And our gardens reward us for our hard work with a bounty of beauty and color. 

I’m primarily pollinator gardener and keep expanding each year, doing the botanical math of addition, division multiplication and subtraction of plants. If there is one thing I’ve learned, it is to just keep plugging away. If you build it, they will come.

Thanks for letting me share this brief overview of my project with you, and happy gardening!

Master Gardeners at the 2019 PA Farm Show

Master Gardeners from across the state represented the Penn State Extension Master Gardener program at this year’s Pennsylvania Farm Show, part of a special informational booth highlighting program areas of Penn State University's College of Agricultural Sciences. 

Over the course of the week, Master Gardeners (and Master Gardeners in training) from various counties (Philadelphia included!) chatted with Farm Show attendees, answered gardening questions, and shared information about the Master Gardener program. 

Ready to dispense some gardening wisdom!

If you’ll be visiting the 2019 Farm Show on its last days (today and tomorrow) don’t forget to swing by the Master Gardener table in the Main Hall to say hello and pick up some gardening tips!

For general information about the Farm Show: https://www.farmshow.pa.gov/

Save Those Green Tomatoes Now! Jam to the Rescue

Walking through my Northwest Philly neighborhood on the way to work this morning, I noticed two things: air brisk enough to make me look like Puff the Magic Dragon and tons of forlorn green or semi-ripe tomatoes, hanging sadly from their cages and trellises.

In green, green Germantown, it seemed like nearly every block had a bushel of the unharvested fruit awaiting the final cold snap—one that looks likely to come this week as temps dip below freezing. Once the tomatoes freeze and thaw, all those burst cells inside will leave the meat mushy and unappealing.

But if you have a bunch of green tomatoes in the backyard because you (like me) couldn’t bring yourself to rip out this year’s bushes, this is your last shot to turn them into something wonderful: GREEN TOMATO JAM!

Picking the Perfect Pod

Kathryn Kamowski

As autumn begins, it is the perfect time to try your hand at saving seeds! Many plants are almost ready to put their seeds out, or already have. In this post, we’ll go over some of the basics of seed saving from pods. Feel free to experiment and have fun!

Pods are protective layers that can hold a great array in size and number of seeds, and can come in a variety of sizes and shapes. The important thing to remember about pods is to allow them to mature on the plant. A dry, brown pod is a ready pod! In many cases, the pod may split, exposing the seeds. This is when you know they are ready to be harvested. If you harvest them too soon, the seeds may not be viable.

If you are worried that seeds will fall out of the pods before you are ready to harvest them, a tried-and-true strategy for collection is bagging the immature pods. Lightly secure a small bag or piece of cloth fully around the pod. Be sure that the material you use allows air and light to reach the pods, and that you secure the material firmly enough that it will not blow off, but not so tight as to damage the plant. The bag will catch any seeds as the pods burst open, with the added benefit of critters not being able to get to the seeds before you do.

You can see in this photo that the milkweed pod is still green. The seeds will not be ready for saving yet. Thanks to Delco Master Gardener Christine Coulter for the milkweed pods!

This milkweed pod is bursting and is perfect for saving!

These cleome pods are still green. They need some more time.

This photo shows a sense of the progression of a cleome pod from green to completely dried out. You can see a bag would have been helpful in capturing these seeds!

One of the nice things about saving seeds in pods is that they are typically already dried out and ready for storage. To be certain no moisture remains on the seeds, you can spread them out on a paper towel for a few days. Some seeds, such as the milkweed, may have other elements (like fluff) attached to the seed which should be removed prior to storage.

When your seeds are dry, store them in a paper envelope (plastic or glass is OK if you are certain there is no moisture left in the seeds). If you plan on sowing the seeds next spring, you can store them in the refrigerator as a cold stratification method to imitate the winter temperature and assist in germination. If you choose to store your seeds outside of the refrigerator, make sure the location is cool, dry, dark, and out of reach of pests.

These cleome pods are dry and ready for seeds to be saved. The paper towel helps remove any remaining moisture from the seeds prior to storage.

Remember to label your seeds! Come spring, it may be difficult to remember which seed packet contains which plant seeds.

A quick word to seed swappers and sellers: be careful about saving seeds from plants that are patented. Some plant varieties are patented by their creators, and in many cases it is illegal to save seeds from these plants. If you are not sure, check your variety online prior to saving seeds, or do not share your seeds with others.

Have fun saving!


You can find more fall seed-saving tips from the Penn State Extension Philadelphia Master Gardeners here.