Posted: July 15, 2021
This is the third in the series on the progress of Project NatureScape. The Penn State Extension Master Gardeners are busy installing native meadow plants for the restoration of the demonstration garden.
Picture by Amy Girardi
The conversion of the two front half-moon shaped beds to two sample garden meadows continues to be the focus of volunteer efforts. Physostegia (Obedient plant) was again thinned and removed to make room for Echinacea (cone flower), Penstemon (Beard tongue), Monarda (Bee Balm) and Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), all of which were transplanted to the demonstration meadow from other beds within the overall garden. Physostegia, while it is a pollinator magnet, can also be an aggressive spreader and can crowd out other meadow plants. By reducing the amount of Physostegia in the garden and by installing around it plants with clumping roots such as Echinacea, Yarrow, Penstemon and Little Bluestem grass, the hope is the clumping plants will help to keep the Physostegia from spreading too easily.
