As the weather changes, and the thermometer takes an absolute plunge, having small kids who love being outside presents a challenge. Trying to impart the logistic reality that going outside in single digits means triple layers of clothes just doesn’t…
If you spot a hummingbird in Pennsylvania, it’s likely to be a ruby-throated hummingbird. Incredibly small and quick, it’s the only breeding hummingbird species east of the Great Plains, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Despite the name, you’ll only…
Wet areas of the landscape can seem daunting when it comes to gardening. However, there are plenty of flowers, shrubs, and grasses that thrive in soil that is wet. Planting in these areas can also be beneficial to the landscape.…
Pennsylvania is home to thousands of beautiful plants that naturally thrive in our climate and are part of our diverse ecosystems. But these systems are taking on more pressure than ever and we can’t afford to take them for granted.…
April is a very exciting month for gardening. After a winter’s rest, the trees are starting to turn green and the spring garden bulbs are starting to emerge from the earth and bloom. Between the rain drops, it’s time to…
My 25-year-old daughter turns to me for answers to questions about cooking, gardening and decorating. I turn to her when I have questions about physics, mathematics and coding, which is hardly ever. (I’m not even sure where to begin.) I…
Many people say they just don’t have a green thumb when it comes to houseplants, but Liz Magnuson, the Wolff’s Apple House annuals manager, believes otherwise. She says it’s just a matter of finding the right houseplant for their personality and…
As Pennsylvania’s color palette shifts from bright summer greens and pastels to the rich reds, oranges, browns and yellows of fall, many gardeners take time to intentionally bring fall colors into their home gardens. When it comes to fall gardens,…
Native plants — plants that grew here before European colonization — are a must-have for every gardener concerned with preserving biodiversity, beauty, and their own backs and pocketbooks. How is it that one group of plants can achieve so many…
When I visited my parents’ home in rural Berks County last month, all I wanted to do was look out the windows. I was plugging away at various writing projects in the upstairs bedroom that doubled as my office, but a cheerful…
Follow these tips to keep your hanging baskets and planters healthy and blooming all season long! Is my light right? When you buy your basket, you’ll want to have an idea of where it’s going and how much light that…
Avid gardeners know this problem well. We can’t leave for summer vacation without making sure we have a dedicated friend, neighbor or family member who will promise to come over every couple of days to water the garden. But, as…
Love seeing bees and other pollinators in your garden? Then you’ll want to make sure you know as much as possible about these incredible creatures! We’ve got lots of questions for you about how bees see the world, what their…
Even though winter is just around the corner, that doesn’t mean gardens can’t have value during the cold season. In fact, several Wolff’s Apple House employees attended the Independent Garden Center Show East in Baltimore, Md., last year and heard Martha…
Does fall make you sigh with relief for the cooler temperatures? Do you feel more comfortable when it’s cool and breezy? But maybe you feel pretty glad that the ground is still warm beneath your feet? That’s basically how your…
One especially worthwhile perk of investing energy in gardening is the freebies which sometimes reward you the next season. This can happen without much effort on your part thanks to seeds of certain flowers dispersing and finding their way into…
If you’re gardening this summer, your garden is probably keeping you busy! Take a break from weeding, watering and preserving your harvest and have some fun testing your garden know-how with this quiz fresh-picked from our growing collection of blog articles! True or False: “Hens…
With the first day of summer starting this week, it’s the season of succulents. Nan Reinert’s background in operating Chubby Pickle Farm in Robeson Township, Berks County, means she is plenty versed in succulents. Through the farm, which is her…
When the night sky shines bright light down into your backyard, it’s a wordless hint that a moon garden just might be a good fit for the space. Holly Cusumano of Phoenixville is the chairman of the Philadelphia Unit of the Herb Society of…
What is the “prim” in primrose? Is it prim as in “prim and proper”? That is what I first thought, and I always imagined primroses as old fashioned women in flouncy gowns, sipping tea from delicate tea cups, with their pinky fingers crooked. …
While watering plants may seem basic enough as a task in spring, summer and autumn months, it’s often the case that people mean well but don’t know they’re watering incorrectly. As the farm femme behind B & H Organic Produce…
“Landfills are full of things that don’t have to be there,” says Beth Finlay, Master Gardener Coordinator at the Penn State Extension in Berks County. The issue of reducing garbage is close to home for Beth. In scenic Berks County, there are…
This week, I caught up with Wolff’s Plant Manager Laura Dusenshine to learn more about designing early spring flower boxes to take full advantage of early spring flowers as we add splashes of color to our homes and gardens. Here…
Speaking is often something done without words, though we sometimes don’t realize it. The same can be said for the Victorian language of flowers, which lets us communicate to those in our lives through something as simple as flowers we…
Wolff’s is starting to blossom, and pansies are always the first flower we feature. Soon we will plant a row of these flowers along the roadside leading up to Wolff’s, and Linda Johnson, our plant and nursery manager, is planning…
The possibilities of fall gardening and decorating are now under way; the colors of autumn so iconic to the outside of homes as the weather cools down after summer beckon easily for the eyes at Wolff’s Apple House. Bloom-boasting hardy…
Imagine your ideal garden. Perhaps it’s lush with lilies, phlox, pansies, trillium, black-eyed-Susans and herbs. Or maybe it’s a vegetable garden with all the tomatoes, zucchini, chard, peppers and cucumbers your family and friends can eat. Now, picture the…
It’s time to start thinking about planting pansies, and we now have flats of them in our garden center! They are locally grown in Hatfield Pa, just 35 miles away! Conventional wisdom says that you can plant pansies as soon as the…
If you’ve spent much time with the Wolff family, one thing is pretty clear: they intimately know the products they sell, and they put a lot of effort into making sure their customers know as much about their products as…
