The American Horticultural Society

The American Horticultural Society We aim to inspire a culture of gardening and horticultural practices that creates and sustains healthy, beautiful communities and a livable planet.
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Fostering innovation and passion for gardening and horticultural excellence nationwide for over 100 years, the American Horticultural Society (AHS) serves as the country’s most respected and longstanding gardening organization. The Society’s membership includes over 22,000 avid gardeners and horticultural professionals, as well as numerous regional and national partner organizations. Through its e

ducational programs, awards, and publications, AHS connects people to gardening, raises awareness of earth-friendly gardening practices, introduces children to plants, and showcases the art and science of horticulture. AHS is headquartered at River Farm, 25-acre site overlooking the Potomac River that is part of George Washington’s original farmlands in Alexandria, Virginia.

Want more fireflies next summer? What you do after they disappear matters more than you might think. 💫⁠⁠The glowing adul...
08/24/2026

Want more fireflies next summer? What you do after they disappear matters more than you might think. 💫⁠
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The glowing adults that light up summer evenings are only the most visible chapter of a firefly’s life. Lightning bugs spend most of their lives hidden at ground level — in soil, leaf litter, moss and decaying wood.⁠
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Which means a tidy fall garden can be surprisingly inhospitable to next summer’s light show.⁠
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If you want to make your landscape more welcoming to fireflies, start with what happens after the glow fades.⁠
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🍂 Leave fallen leaves where you can.⁠
🪵 Let some logs and decaying wood remain.⁠
🌾 Grow layers of grasses, perennials and shrubs.⁠
🌙 Turn off unnecessary outdoor lights.⁠
🚫 Avoid broad-spectrum pesticides and excessive mowing.⁠
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Fireflies face growing pressure from habitat loss, pesticides and light pollution. But our own gardens can provide some of the dark, undisturbed habitat they need.⁠
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Next summer’s fireflies are already out there. How we garden now can help determine whether we see them.⁠
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Read “After the Glow” in the July/August issue of The American Gardener on our website.
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Not a member yet? Join AHS and get a copy of this magazine delivered straight to your door. ⁠
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⁠Writer: Nancy Lawson
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📸 creds: Unsplash, Tony Phan; Unsplash, Kevin Wang

Will AI change the way we garden? Almost certainly. ⁠Should it replace the gardener? Probably not. ⁠⁠AI is already provi...
08/21/2026

Will AI change the way we garden? Almost certainly. ⁠
Should it replace the gardener? Probably not. ⁠
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AI is already proving useful for identifying pests and diseases, recognizing plants, and even inspiring new landscape ideas. Platforms like iNaturalist and Pl@ntNet help people identify species and contribute valuable biodiversity data, while researchers are using AI to support conservation, agriculture, and ecological research.⁠
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But gardening isn't just a technical exercise. A beautiful AI-generated planting plan may overlook drainage, soil, microclimates, or how a garden changes over time. Good gardening depends on observation, judgment, patience, and experience—qualities that develop season after season.⁠
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Perhaps that's where AI fits best. Not as the gardener, but as another tool in the shed. It can help us ask better questions, explore possibilities, and learn faster, while the real decisions still happen with our hands in the soil.⁠
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💭 Here's the question we are most curious about:⁠
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As AI becomes more capable, what parts of gardening do you think should always remain deeply human?⁠
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For more on where technology stands in gardening today, check out “Artificial Intelligence, Real Gardens” by Erica Browne Grivas in our July/August issue on our website.
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Writer: Erica Browne Grivas ⁠
📸 creds: Kate Wollensak Freeborn, Erica Browne Grivas

Every great garden has stories that visitors rarely see. River Farm Diary is our new recurring series that shares the on...
08/19/2026

Every great garden has stories that visitors rarely see. River Farm Diary is our new recurring series that shares the ongoing work of caring for the American Horticultural Society's headquarters through the eyes of the people who know it best (our staff). ⁠
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In this first installment, Staff Writer Lillie Tynch talks with Gardens and Grounds Manager Ed Harrington and reflects on the daily work, seasonal rhythms, and long-term stewardship that shape River Farm.⁠
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"Like any garden, River Farm is never finished. It is tended."⁠
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Follow along in future issues of American Gardener as River Farm Diary documents the evolving life of this historic landscape—one season, one project, and one story at a time.

What looks like a mushroom hiding in the forests of Japan and Taiwan is actually one of the plant kingdom’s most extraor...
08/17/2026

What looks like a mushroom hiding in the forests of Japan and Taiwan is actually one of the plant kingdom’s most extraordinary survivors. Balanophora abandoned photosynthesis nearly 100 million years ago and now lives as a parasite on host trees, and in some cases can even reproduce without fertilization. But as scientists uncover new clues about its ancient evolution and remarkable adaptations, habitat loss is putting this rare plant at risk. ⁠
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For the full story, check out the July/August issue of American Gardener on our website. AHS members gets full access. ⁠
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Not a member yet? Join AHS and get a copy of this magazine delivered straight to your door.

GARDEN TIP OF THE WEEK 🌼🐝⁠⁠Want more tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and squash? Invite more pollinators into your vegetab...
08/14/2026

GARDEN TIP OF THE WEEK 🌼🐝⁠
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Want more tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and squash? Invite more pollinators into your vegetable garden.⁠
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Adding flowering plants among your vegetables—or planting a bed of blooms nearby—does more than brighten the garden. It attracts bees and other beneficial insects that help improve pollination and can lead to bigger, more productive harvests.⁠
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Try growing a few of these pollinator favorites:⁠
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🌼 Agastache foeniculum (anise hyssop)⁠
🌼 Symphyotrichum spp. (asters)⁠
🌼 Monarda spp. (bee balms)⁠
🌼 Liatris spp. (blazing stars)⁠
🌼 Borago officinalis (borage)⁠
🌼 Nepeta spp. (catmints)⁠
🌼 Allium schoenoprasum (chives)⁠
🌼 Echinacea spp. (coneflowers)⁠
🌼 Cosmos⁠
🌼 Lavender⁠
🌼 Nasturtiums⁠
🌼 Helianthus spp. (sunflowers)⁠
🌼 Lobularia maritima (sweet alyssum)⁠
🌼 Ocimum basilicum (sweet basil)⁠
🌼 Zinnias⁠
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🐝 Did you know? Cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins depend on insects to move pollen from flower to flower. Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants are mostly self-pollinating, but they still benefit from a little help. When bumblebees cling to their flowers, they rapidly vibrate their flight muscles, shaking pollen loose in a process called buzz pollination. Those vibrations often improve pollination and can lead to larger harvests.⁠
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What flowers do you grow to support pollinators in your vegetable garden?⁠
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Photo: Bumblebee on tomato flower (Purdue University Extension)

If your garden feels a little tired by August, take a look at what's still doing the heavy lifting. Chances are, it's th...
08/12/2026

If your garden feels a little tired by August, take a look at what's still doing the heavy lifting. Chances are, it's the foliage.⁠
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When most perennials fade, evergreen ferns are just getting started. 🌿⁠
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They bring texture, structure, and fresh green foliage to the garden long after flowers have disappeared—and some stay beautiful even beneath a blanket of snow.⁠
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In "Evergreen Ferns," Jane Roy Brown introduces a few favorites worth getting to know.⁠
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🌿 Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) keeps its glossy fronds through winter, earning its name from generations of gardeners who gathered it for holiday greenery.⁠
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🌿 Rock polypody (Polypodium virginianum) makes its home on mossy boulders, slowly weaving a carpet of evergreen fronds where few other plants can thrive.⁠
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🌿 Deer fern (Struthiopteris spicant) forms an elegant fountain of arching evergreen foliage around a central cluster of fertile fronds, adding year-round texture to woodland gardens.⁠
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🌿 Braun's holly fern (Polystichum braunii) is one of North America's hardiest evergreen ferns, bringing graceful form and lasting structure to shady landscapes across much of the Northeast and Great Lakes region.⁠
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Flowers may steal the show in spring, but evergreen ferns quietly carry the garden through the rest of the year.⁠
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Do you grow any evergreen ferns in your garden?⁠
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To read “Evergreen Ferns: The Plants That Never Fade” visit our January/February issue on our website. ⁠⁠
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📸 creds: Doreen Wynja, Christopher J. Earle, Mary Warren

It's pepper season. 🌶️⁠⁠If your garden is suddenly producing more peppers than you know what to do with, here's a fun fa...
08/10/2026

It's pepper season. 🌶️⁠
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If your garden is suddenly producing more peppers than you know what to do with, here's a fun fact to enjoy while you're harvesting.⁠
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The jalapeño, the ghost pepper, the Tabasco pepper, and the sweet bell pepper aren't just different varieties. They're members of five distinct Capsicum species, each with its own history, flavors, and surprising traits.⁠
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In "Heat, History, and the Human Condition," Krista Kjellman Schmidt and Matt Mattus explore the remarkable diversity behind one of the world's most widely grown crops.⁠
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🌶️ Capsicum annuum – The shape-shifters. Sweet bells, jalapeños, poblanos, cayennes, and countless others all belong here.⁠
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🌶️ Capsicum chinense – Home to habaneros, Scotch bonnets, ghost peppers, and Carolina Reapers. Famous for blistering heat—and surprisingly fruity, tropical flavors.⁠
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🌶️ Capsicum baccatum – South America's beloved ají peppers, prized for their bright, fruity flavor and starring role in Peruvian cuisine.⁠
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🌶️ Capsicum frutescens – Bird's-eye peppers and the peppers behind the iconic Tabasco sauce. Small peppers with a global impact.⁠
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🌶️ Capsicum pubescens – The outliers, with fuzzy leaves, black seeds, and an unusual tolerance for cooler weather.⁠
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So... what's ripening in your garden right now? 🌶️⁠
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To learn more about peppers, their flavor, identity, and culture across time and place, visit our July/August issue on our website. ⁠
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Not a member yet? Join AHS and get a copy of this magazine delivered straight to your door. ⁠
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Writers: Krista Kjellman Schmidt and Matt Mattus
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📸 creds: Matt Mattus

*NATIVE PLANT OF THE WEEK*Rough-stemmed or Wrinkle-leaf Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa, Zones 4–9)The flowerbuds of rough-st...
08/07/2026

*NATIVE PLANT OF THE WEEK*
Rough-stemmed or Wrinkle-leaf Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa, Zones 4–9)

The flowerbuds of rough-stemmed goldenrod produce an attractive, chartreuse haze in advance of it spectacular bright and clear, multibranched yellow flowers, which bloom in late summer to fall.

Rough-stemmed goldenrod is native to moist open woods, meadows, and fallow fields and along streams and in swamps in the eastern half of North America, from Newfoundland and Michigan south to Florida and Texas.

At a Glance
• Grows 2 to 5 feet tall
• Hairy stems; crinkle-textured, toothed leaves
• Arching sprays of yellow flowers bloom for several weeks in August to October
• This species can be variable in appearance

Why Grow It
• Flowers attract bees, butterflies, and other many insect pollinators
• Seedheads attract a variety of birds
• Larval host for several moths
• Long-lasting cut flower for informal arrangements

Growing It
• Full to part sun
• Adaptable to almost any soil type as long as it stays moist
• Clump-forming, spreads by rhizomes; may need to be divided every few years to keep plants in check
• Not generally bothered by pests or diseases, but may be affected by powdery mildew
• Plants may self-seed

Design Tips
• Naturally beautiful combined with purple or lavender asters (Symphyotrichum spp.), coneflowers (Echinacea spp.), liatris, ironw**d (Vernonia spp.) and Joe-pye w**d (Eupatorium spp.).
• Great for naturalizing in informal plantings and pollinator gardens
• Suited for rain gardens and cut-flower gardens
• ‘Fireworks’ is a notable selection for eye-catching flower clusters and a more compact habit than the species

Want to know more about goldenrods? Read “Glorious Goldenrods” by C. Colston Burrell in the July/August 2018 issue of The American Gardener, accessible in the magazine archive at ahsgardening.org.

Photos:
Solidago rugosa flowers (Jim Natale, iNaturalist)
Common buckeye butterfly on ‘Fireworks’ (Mary Free, MGNV.org)
‘Fireworks’ in mixed bed (Christa Watters, MGNV.org)
Solidago rugosa flowers, detail (consciencebae, iNaturalist)
‘Fireworks’ and stone path (David Stang, iNaturalist)

💐Do you know a landscape architect, a floral designer, a horticultural communicator, a garden educator, or an emerging h...
08/05/2026

💐Do you know a landscape architect, a floral designer, a horticultural communicator, a garden educator, or an emerging horticultural professional who is making a big impact? Nominate them for a 2027 Great American Gardeners Award!

🌱Since 1953, the American Horticultural Society has honored the trailblazers, educators, innovators, and community builders who shape American horticulture. These are the people and organizations transforming how we grow, teach, design, research, and connect through plants.

📌Explore the award categories and submit your nominations by September 25, 2026: https://ahsgardening.org/great-american-gardeners-awards/

Imagine looking at a flower and predicting an animal no one had ever seen. 🌸🦋⁠⁠In 1862, Charles Darwin examined a Madaga...
08/03/2026

Imagine looking at a flower and predicting an animal no one had ever seen. 🌸🦋⁠
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In 1862, Charles Darwin examined a Madagascan orchid with an 11-inch nectar spur and made an extraordinary prediction. Somewhere in Madagascar, he argued, there had to be a moth with an impossibly long tongue—long enough to reach the nectar hidden deep inside the flower.⁠
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Many dismissed the idea as ridiculous.⁠
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Forty years after Darwin's death, scientists discovered the giant hawkmoth Xanthopan praedicta, with a proboscis reaching up to 14 inches long. It wasn't until 1992 that researchers finally documented the moth pollinating Darwin's orchid in the wild—130 years after his original prediction.⁠
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The story didn't end there. In 2024, botanists described a close relative of Darwin's orchid and named it in honor of the remarkable hawkmoth that pollinates it—a reminder that evolution continues to reveal new chapters in a story Darwin began more than 160 years ago.⁠
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As our latest issue explores, Darwin showed that you could predict a living creature from the shape of a single flower—that the logic of evolution was powerful enough to reveal what no human had yet observed.⁠
Read more about this fascinating orchid’s importance in “Darwin’s Long Bet” in the May/June issue of American Gardener on our website. ⁠
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Become a member and gain full access to American Gardener magazine. ⁠
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Writer: Erica Browne Grivas
📸 creds: Marie Savignac, Missouri Botanical Garden; Grace Hensley, Otis Douglas Hyde Herbarium, Seattle, WA

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