Old Forge Pollinator Garden Buzzing with Activity

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Local bees continue searching for flowers as they near the end of long day pollen hunting.  These bees have visited close to 100 flowers today and have gone back between their colony and the great outdoors nearly 12 times in an effort to have enough honey for the hive to make it through winter.  Luckily, a local pollinator garden nestled just below Austin Heights in Old Forge, Pennsylvania has more flowers for bees to visit as they finish up their day.  The flowers in the garden burst with color and ultra-violet patterns, hoping the tired bees will notice them. These bees immediately see them and get to work loading up their pollen baskets on their hind legs!

Tiffany, a resident of Old Forge for over 10 years, loves tending to her garden.  Gardens are always changing and there is always more to learn and explore. This past year, Tiffany decided to replace some of her previous flowers with various flowers that pollinators adore!  Having a pollinator garden was important to her because she wanted to support the declining bee population.  She researched various types of perennial plants and is working through trial and error to see what plants do best in her front garden.  Tiffany says she loves a full garden, and she will slowly be filling in spaces as her plants get established.  

It's important to Tiffany that a garden has interest throughout the season.  Now in late July, some of her flowers have bloomed and passed.  Just a few weeks ago, her lavender was teeming with vibrant purples and many bees a-buzz flying from flower to flower.  Just as the lavender fades, sunflowers begin to bloom.  Tiffany has multiple varieties of sunflowers in the garden, a mix of both upright single stalk sunflowers, and a gorgeous bushy Oxeye Sunflower which is native to Pennsylvania.  She also has various native coneflowers including Purple Echinacea and Black Eyed Susan that will continue to bloom into the fall. Additionally, to keep three season interest, she and her husband planted a Temple of Bloom tree that will grow up to 8 feet tall and will produce fragrant white flowers that hummingbirds and other pollinators crave.  Once the white flowers have bloomed, their bracts will turn a vibrant crimson.

Tiffany's garden is stunning and will continue to change over time. We are grateful to Tiffany for showing us your garden and letting us highlight it on our Old Forge for Community Progress blog.  If you would like to have your garden featured on our website, please complete the form below after the gallery.