Kate's Newsletters

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Compositely Yours, Aster

Now that September has officially arrived (also known as the unofficial start of autumn, if you’ve been eagerly counting down the days to spooky season like I have), both us lowly humans as well as our plant companions are ready for well-deserved break from the summer heat. As the nighttime emerges more quickly and the sun seems wont to rise in the brisk early mornings, the purples, blues, and yellows that signal the arrival of autumn slowly begin to unravel. Asters and goldenrods are the champion perennials of late summer to early autumn, their complimentary hues playing against one another in the landscape. At a time when many other native perennials are at a standstill, these two provide critical nectar sources for pollinators late in the season.

By Kate Irvine Fall Bloom · Pollinators · Read More

Coneflower Crazy!

With its oldie-but-goodie status long established since the early 1700s upon classification, Echinacea purpurea really needs no introduction. Instead, we’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

By Kate Irvine Native · Pollinators · Summer Bloom · Read More

Autumnal Awakening

It’s here! Chilly nights, chunky sweaters, candied apples, roasting bonfires, pumpkin spice everything… but lest we forget the late season blooming plants that add an extra bit of the ol’ razzle-dazzle to the fall landscape. What better to contrast the plentiful reds, oranges, and bronzy greens of Autumn than seasonal golden yellows and diverse purples? Besides: purple is a classic Halloween color, and yellow is an Autumn mainstay. Why not play it up this time of year and really lean into seasonal color palettes? Don’t worry, this week’s helpful guide to fun Fall flowers will do exactly that!

By Kate Irvine Fall Bloom · Perennials · Pollinators · Woody Ornamentals · Read More

Send in the Skippers

Right on the back of butterfly week, we want to pay homage to some of the quickest workers of Pleasant Run Nursery – the skippers. True to their name, these flighty little creatures have been keeping the nursery alive with movement as they skip from flower to flower, hungrily snatching up nectar from a variety of plant material. One thing’s for sure: the skippers seem to have some favorite nectar plants, based on the abundant populations that can be observed watching certain crops for only a few moments. While the list could probably go on, this week we’re going to highlight only a handful of flowering showstoppers that the skippers can’t seem to stay away from, starting with Heliopsis helianthoides.

By Kate Irvine Perennials · Pollinators · Woody Ornamentals · Read More

Beckoning the Butterflies

Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone! It’s hard to believe that we made it through summer so quickly, but here we are. While we get ready for what is sure to be an incredibly hectic fall season, the Nursery is aflutter with butterflies of all sorts. This week, we’re going to touch on some ol’ timeless classics that can be found flitting about this time of year, including everyone’s favorites, the Monarchs and the Swallowtails. We’ll also dive into perhaps a slightly lesser known, but incredibly common native species, the Pearl Crescent butterfly. Let’s ogle some pictures and learn some fun butterfly facts, shall we?

By Kate Irvine Attracts Butterflies · Perennials · Pollinators · Summer Bloom · Read More

National Moth Week

Happy National Moth Week! We hope you’ve been celebrating by exploring and tracking down your local moth populations, à la Steve Irwin. If not, don’t worry – we camouflaged ourselves with moss and sticks, hunkered down beneath some decaying logs for an afternoon, and managed to creep around long enough to get these shots in celebration of the national holiday. Enjoy!

By Kate Irvine Perennials · Pollinators · Summer Bloom · Woody Ornamentals · Read More

Something for Everyone

This week, we’re highlighting something for everyone to suit a variety of site conditions. We have woodland groundcover, Sedum ternatum, sunshine-loving native shrub, Hypericum x ‘Blue Velvet’, and the unique but underutilized meadow perennial, Eryngium yuccifolium. Each of these natives play critical ecological roles in the landscape, from providing crucial nectar sources for pollinators, to soil stabilization, and everything in between.

By Kate Irvine Native · Perennials · Pollinators · Summer Bloom · Woody Ornamantals · Read More

Here Comes the Sun

If you haven’t been by the Nursery lately, now’s the time to come and bask in the rainbow of blooms that are coming to life in every nook and cranny, beckoning eager pollinators to partake in the abundance of delectable nectar. No need to fret if you’re behind on peeping the up-and-comers making an appearance this season: we’re here to update you with some of the brightest, sunniest blooms this side of the Delaware River.

By Kate Irvine Pollinators · Read More

Summer Solstice/National Pollinator Week

As many of you know, this year is turning out to be one of our busiest and best yet – we are expanding our inventory, increasing our production, and evolving to our fullest potential. Amongst our ever-growing list of plant material, the early summer-bloomers are beginning to make their presences known. This week, we’re going to take you across the Nursery, through an assortment of plants known for tolerating drought and inhabiting dry soil environments, each providing a different ornamental or ecological value to the landscape. What’s more fitting for welcoming the summer than plants that are ready for the heat and sun?

By Kate Irvine Pollinators · Read More

Earth Day

Just in time for Earth Day, we’ve approached that time of the season again where lots o’ crops are working on flushing themselves out, some of them inviting the gaze of admirers with the first colorful blooms of the season. It’s almost unfair and impossible to pinpoint simply one of the many lovely early Spring-flowering perennials that we offer here at Pleasant Run, so this week, we’re going to highlight several native selections that are in full spectacle and catching our eye. Without further ado, we bring you Geranium maculatum, Tiarella cordifolia ‘Brandywine’, and Aquilegia canadensis ‘Little Lanterns’.

By Kate Irvine Deer Resistant · Native · Pollinators · Spring Bloom · Read More

The Ethereal Epimedium

Huddled together in the shade of the early morning, our collection of Epimedium greets the cool air with its upright, misty sprays of spidery looking flowers. This somewhat diminutive, slow-spreading groundcover is a plant collector’s dream. Under the Epimedium umbrella exists approximately 58 species, with the heart or arrow shaped leaves and ghostly blooms presenting themselves in an array of colors, shapes, and sizes. One could enthusiastically collect Epimedium varieties over the course of a lifetime and fill a shade garden with an impressive assemblage. Our ever-expanding selection of Epimedium here at the Nursery is simply the tip of the Epimedium iceberg.

By Kate Irvine Deer Resistant · Evergreen · Full Shade · Groundcover · Pollinators · Read More