Category Archives: What’s New

Green Apple Day of Service on Sept. 30th

Park Forest Elementary receives the Green Ribbon Schools Award
Park Forest Elementary receives the Green Ribbon Schools Award

What:  Park Forest Elementary schoolyard clean-up and planting!  The full event includes a congratulatory assembly, student-led tour of the school’s sustainability initiatives, and Fox Hill Gardens is sponsoring a planting demonstration and donation of native plants that students will help to install during the school-yard clean-up.  Take it outside!

Why:  The school is celebrating its sustainability accolades, including the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools, Energy Star, and President’s Environmental Youth awards.  Organized by the Central Pennsylvania Region U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as part of the International Green Apple Day of Service.

When:  Friday, September 30th, 2016 @ 9 a.m.

Where:  Park Forest Elementary                                                                      2181 School Drive, State College, PA 16803

Who’s Invited:  Anyone interested in community service, green schools, and/or learning about landscape planting.  Bring a friend, a trowel, and some gardening gloves if you’ve got them!

More information and registration found here.

Herb+Garlic+Plant Festival at the Boal Mansion Museum

Boal Museum Herb + Garlic Poster (1)Join Fox Hill Gardens this Saturday, August 27th… starting at 10am, we’ll be vending plants and handing out literature at the Herb+Garlic+Plant Festival at the Boal Mansion Museum in Boalsburg!

The event includes other plant vendors, activities and edible goodies for all ages, and a speaker series focusing on various plant topics:

  • cultivating and caring for perennials and stinking roses,
  • how to make edible flower arrangements,
  • preparing the garden for fall and winter,
  • understanding plasticulture,
  • tips for mushroom hunters,
  • growing your own medicine, and
  • how to ferment vegetables.

The day ends with a hike around the estate grounds of the historic  Columbus Chapel and Boal Mansion Museum.  For more information:

Boal Museum Herb + Garlic Poster

Boal Museum_SpeakersSchedule_2016

We hope to see you there!

Edible Weeds

Garlic Mustard Rosettes: http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/garlic_mustard.htm
Garlic Mustard Rosettes: http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/garlic_mustard.htm

From our friends at Ghergich & Co., this infographic describes edible weeds available to harvest from your yard. As with any wild harvesting, keep in mind that untested soils may contain heavy metals taken up by leafy green plants. If you intend to harvest weeds on a regular basis, it’s worth conducting a soil test or sending your soils to the Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Lab (AASL) to check for contamination.

In addition, use this graphic alongside a plant ID guide to make sure you’re correctly identifying edibles as opposed to their poisonous counterparts. Here is a list of broadleaf weeds commonly found in Pennsylvania according to the Penn State Center for Turfgrass Science. Please take note that NOT ALL of the weeds in this listing are edible; rather, you may find it helpful for plant identification purposes.

For more interesting information about harvesting weedy edibles, other resources include Eat the Weeds by Green Deane, Rodale’s Organic Life, and Michigan State University Extension Wild Harvest.

Eat the Weeds
Backyard Bounty

New Discounts

Stop in for the following discounts on plants!

FRUIT TREES (2015 and earlier) – 30% off
A varied selection of plums, pears, peaches, nectarines, and apples (FHG_fruiting-apple-booklet_2016).

AMERICAN BITTERSWEET & SILVER LACE VINES – 40% off
Ornamental, vigorous, adaptable flowering vines to adorn trellises, rock walls, pergolas, or can be used as groundcover.
Male (Hercules) and female (Diana) bittersweet available for fruiting cross-pollination.

HANGING BASKETS – $10 each
We still have a good selection of hanging baskets, now on sale! The baskets can be up-potted as flower arrangements if you don’t have anywhere to hang them.

SELECT DAYLILIES – Buy 2, Get 1 Free
Choose from a rainbow of nine different discounted Hemerocallis while supplies last. This deal does not apply to all of our daylilies.

3″ HERBS and 4 1/2″ ANNUALS – Buy 2, Get 1 Free
Unique varieties of parsley, sage, oregano, thyme, basil, dill, fennel, and rosemary will liven up your herb plot or container garden. There is nothing like adding fresh herbs to sauces, beverages, baked goods, sachets, and bouquets! Cut off mature leaves and sprigs for a continuous harvest all season.
Select bold colors and a variety of styles from our remaining annuals; this deal won’t last long!

BUY 1, GET 1 FREE – Assorted Plants
Including Mukdenia, Sweet Violets, Vegetable Packs, and Spikes.
Violets are deer-resistant and great shade groundcovers, especially in moist soils.
Spikes add festive height to containers and flower beds:
spikes_planter

STRAWBERRIES and RASPBERRIES – 25% off
Applies to both flats and pots; garden fruits add delicious and healthy flavor to baked goods, breakfasts, afternoon snacks, fresh salads, and scrumptious summer desserts.

PLEASE RECYCLE YOUR OLD POTS WITH US – excluding flats, hanging baskets, novelty shapes, and cell packs. THANK YOU!

Annual Selections

planterbox

Annual Color and Edibles are Here!

Bedding Packs and Flats – All you need to paint your yard in floral color. Impatiens, wax begonias, petunias, zinnias, marigolds and much more!

4 ½” Planter and Basket Color – Fox Hill Gardens keeps our yearly selection fresh with new varieties of old faves like million bells, petunia, geranium, lantana and coleus.

Fresh Herbs – Lavender, sage, thyme, dill, fennel, parsley and much more!

Vegetable Starts – Cold season crops, tomatoes, peppers and more!

Hanging Baskets – Fox Hill Gardens has the prettiest hanging baskets in Centre County, fresh and beautiful – put the finishing touch on your porch, patio, yard, or sunroom with a suspended, living bouquet.

Annuals for Problem Areas

If you need annuals that deer and rabbits don’t like to eat, try these:

Ageratum
Alyssum
Pelargonium Geranium
Lobelia
Marigold
Petunia
Salvia
Snapdragon
Verbena
Zinnia

If you need annuals that take shade (and you’re sick of impatiens and wax begonias), try these:

Rex Begonia
Tuberous Begonia
Coleus
Fuchsia
Hypoestes
Iresine
Torenia
Browallia
New Guinea Impatiens

If you want to plant under a black walnut tree, try these:

Violas and pansies
Begonias, all types
Potato Vine
Zinnias
Marigolds

If you have a very hot, dry place, try these:

Celosia
Portulaca
Dusty Miller
Scaevola
Gazania
Lantana
Potato Vine
Verbena
Torenia
Zinnia

Happy Gardening!

Honeyberries are Here!

bluediamondPhoto:  “Blue Diamond” Honeyberry, Mid-Season Variety

Whether due to exorbitant grocery store prices for berry fruits, or the appeal of picking berries straight from bushes in your yard, cultivating berries can be a sweet and rewarding venture for the novice and experienced gardener alike.

Honeyberry hybrids thrive in the northern hemisphere, from Russia (called “Zhimolost”) and Japan (called “Haskap”) to the United States.  Often early-fruiting honeyberry cultivars are the first berries of the season, ripening ahead of or simultaneously with strawberries.  A member of the honeysuckle family, the honeyberry bush (Lonicera caerula) grows 3-8 feet tall and bears ½-1” oblong, blue fruits tasting a bit like blueberry, grape, cherry, and blackberry.  Much like other sweet berries, honeyberries taste delicious fresh off the bush, or in yogurts, ice cream, breads, jams, jellies, and wine.  Plus, the fruits are higher in antioxidants than blueberries, with high vitamin C and mineral content.

Fox Hill Gardens is happy to offer several different cultivars this season sourced from a leader of honeyberry production in the U.S.   Our selection:  ‘Blue Pinwheel’, ‘Blue Horn’, ‘Blue Diamond’, ‘Tiger of Hearts’, and ‘Happy Giant’.

The “edible blue honeysuckle” prefers well-draining soils with some clay ranging in pH from 5-8, is hardy to USDA Zone 2, tolerates afternoon shade, and some varieties will produce over 10 lbs. of fruit per bush after five years (i.e. time to maturity).  Honeyberry plants can live 30-50 years, well worth the investment.  But don’t fail to plant at least two companion varieties in close proximity to ensure adequate cross-pollination for maximum fruiting.

Compared to other Lonicera spp., honeyberries are considered non-invasive, with minimal suckering.

If you’re interested in adding honeyberries to your landscape, come visit us to survey this season’s selection of cultivars.  Honeyberries are largely disease resistant, but require some dormant-pruning as branches age.  Regular weeding and watering is essential for younger plants.  Protection of buds from late spring frosts is encouraged, along with ample humus, organic matter, and mulch around the base of the bush.

Birds love honeyberries, too, so setting up bird netting is recommended if you don’t intend to share!

For more information:

Edible of the Month:  Honeyberry

Haskap Seminars

Honeyberry Recipes