Loyalsock Garden Club

08/21/2026

08/16/2026

The flowers people admire most often aren’t the best ones to grow 🌿
Many of them spread aggressively and give nothing back to local wildlife. The good news? You can swap them for native plants that look just as beautiful — and actually support pollinators.

🌷 6 Smart Native Swaps (Same Look, Better Impact):

• Purple Loosestrife → Blazing Star (Liatris)
Tall purple spikes, but blazing star supports monarchs instead of taking over wetlands

• Orange Daylily → Butterfly W**d
Same bold orange color, but butterfly w**d feeds monarch caterpillars

• Yellow Flag Iris → Blue Flag Iris
Thrives in wet soil without invading waterways

• Crown Vetch → Wild Lupine
Holds soil while supporting rare pollinators like the Karner blue butterfly

• Lily of the Valley → Wild Ginger
Beautiful shade cover that spreads gently instead of taking over

• Dame’s Rocket → Woodland Phlox
Same soft lavender blooms — but with better fragrance and no aggressive spreading

🌱 How to switch successfully:
• Always check seed mixes — some invasive plants are still included
• Give natives time — roots first, blooms next, then natural spread
• Plant in clusters (3–5) for stronger visual impact and better pollination
• Best planting time: late spring to early summer

✨ Same colors. Same seasons.
But now your garden supports the ecosystem instead of working against it.

Grow beauty that gives back 🌿

🌱

08/16/2026

These native shrubs provide berries and shelter through the coldest months, keeping birds fed when food is scarce.

✨ Plant natives in spring or fall → support birds 🐦, pollinators 🐝, and a thriving backyard ecosystem

1. Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) – Zones 3–9 • Bright red berries shine against snow.
🕒 Plant in spring or early fall.

2. Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.) – Zones 4–9 • Fruits feed robins, cardinals, and thrushes.
🕒 Plant in spring or fall.

3. Viburnum (V. dentatum & others) – Zones 2–9 • Clusters of berries for dozens of bird species.
🕒 Plant in spring or fall.

4. Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) – Zones 3–9 • Late-summer fruit stripped quickly by birds.
🕒 Plant in spring or fall.

5. Dogwood (Cornus sericea, C. florida) – Zones 3–8 • Berries plus colorful winter stems.
🕒 Plant in spring or fall.

6. Bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica) – Zones 3–7 • Waxy berries feed migrating warblers.
🕒 Plant in spring.

7. Chokeberry (Aronia spp.) – Zones 3–8 • Tart berries persist into deep winter.
🕒 Plant in spring or fall.

8. Sumac (Rhus typhina) – Zones 3–9 • Red clusters stand tall even in snow.
🕒 Plant in spring.

9. Juniper (Juniperus virginiana) – Zones 2–9 • Blue berries loved by cedar waxwings.
🕒 Planted in spring or fall.

08/15/2026

🌸 Late-summer pruning is definitely not one-size-fits-all. A little trimming can refresh certain plants, but others are better left untouched.

08/10/2026

The two celestial events should both be visible on the same day in some parts of the world, including Pennsylvania.

08/10/2026

Sign up for Nature News.

08/03/2026

For a few remarkable decades Williamsport was said to be home to more millionaires per capita than anywhere in the world, and it was all thanks to logs floating on the Susquehanna. 🪵 The West Branch became the beating heart of Pennsylvania's timber boom.

Loggers felled the vast white pine and hemlock forests of the northern mountains and floated the logs downstream to a giant boom, a barrier of cribwork and chained timber that corralled millions of logs in the river. Sawmills screamed day and night, and lumber barons built the grand Victorian mansions that still line Millionaires Row to this day. The city swelled with workers, sawdust hung in the air, and the river ran thick with timber. 🌲

Then the great forests were cut, the boom broke in a catastrophic flood, and the industry faded almost as fast as it had risen. What remains is a stunning streetscape of gilded age homes that testify to those roaring years. Have you ever walked Millionaires Row and imagined the boom at its height?

08/03/2026

08/03/2026