Over the garden fence: Central PA Native Plant Festival coming next month to new location
Diane Albright, a native plant gardener, contacted me recently to let me know about the upcoming Central PA Native Plant Festival and Sale to be held Saturday, May 6 at the Millbrook Marsh Nature Center, which is a new location for this annual festival.
Yes, spring is here, according to Diane, and what better way to celebrate the season of verdure and renewal than with plants? Put away your mittens, shake out your gardening gloves, and come to the 2023 Central Pennsylvania Native Plant Festival and Sale.
The great thing is that there is free admission, plenty of free parking, native plant vendors from across PA, informational presentations in Millbrook Marsh’s indoor classroom, local food concession trucks and a pavilion for eating, and music by folk rock duo Asbury Lane. Diane suggested that you bring a wagon, if you have one, to haul your new purchases or she says they will have a plant sitting area where they can hold your plants for you while you continue to shop. There will be over 275 varieties of native plants for sale and experts to advise you.
If you’re new to native plants, you might be wondering, “what’s all the buzz about?” Native plants are plants that are indigenous to our area and are therefore well adapted to our growing conditions. Because of this, native plants are often easier to grow and less susceptible to challenging local conditions than non-native plants. Easier can mean less watering, less fertilizing, and when you trade a spot of grass for a native ground cover less mowing and leaf-blowing. All in all, natives can be less demanding of resources, both Mother Earth’s and yours!
Native plants are also essential links in the life cycle of many insects, birds and other animals. Did you know that most birds feed only caterpillars to their young, even seed-eating birds like chickadees and cardinals? And butterflies and caterpillars are very specific about what plants they like, and they need native plants. The more native plants in your yard, neighborhood and community, the healthier your ecosystem, and the more likely you will attract birds and wildlife to your yard. You don’t have to completely redo your landscape, just start small by simply replacing some of your ornamental plants with natives. For instance, replace a forsythia with a spicebush or by planting a pollinator garden. The best way to protect our wild birds is to give them a habitat full of native plants, starting with your own yard or garden.
Native plants come in all shapes and sizes, so come discover a native plant your yard can’t live without. If you don’t know where to start, visit information booths to get ideas on gardening for birds, planting a pollinator garden, or just learn about native plants in general. Take in a presentation on what plants are best to attract birds or on how to identify invasive ornamentals and replace them with native plants instead. Or simply sit in the shade, enjoying a snack from local food vendors, and enjoy the acoustic music.
You can also contact the vendors and pre-order plants that will be ready for you to pick up.
Plant sale hours are 10 a.m.-3 p.m., with no sales before 10 a.m. so that the vendors can get set up. Visit PaNativePlantSociety.org for details, including the schedule, vendor list and plant list. Remember, choose native plants for pollinator and bird-friendly gardens so we can all celebrate spring.
Bill Lamont is a professor emeritus in the department of plant science at Penn State and can be reached by e-mail: wlamont@psu.edu.
