Gardening: Will the real perennials stand up?

Now is a good time of year to think "perennial": which plants really are, and which ones could be. The word perennial, among gardeners, usually refers to an herbaceous (non-woody) flowering plant - that is, one whose roots live year after year but whose top dies down to the ground each winter.

Volunteers sought for park garden

Join your neighbors and students of environmentally sound gardening to help transform 2,500 square feet of High School Park in Elkins Park into a native plant demonstration garden of native grasses, plants and wildflowers.

Gardening week ahead: Create a wild flower meadow

Now is a good time to begin creating a wild flower area. Many wild flower seeds need a winter before they can germinate, so autumn is the ideal time to sow.

The Simplified Garden: Good Planning And Some Tough Love Make It Easier

Raise your garden-gloved hand if you felt you labored a bit too much in the yard over Labor Day weekend. Or if you're questioning all the watering you have had to do during this summer's drought. Or if you feel a bit less energetic about the gardening chores that you used to relish when you were a younger and stronger. Or if you're just more pressed for time than you used to be and find yourself ...

Garden path

Our front page photo this issue calls attention to the produce drop-off points for a locally grown food-sharing initiative. Casual and serious gardeners alike are encouraged to share their surplus backyard bounty with those in need.