Penn State Master Gardeners of Bucks County

09/03/2026

Leave the leaves for their ecological function. 🍂

They’re free, and so is this webinar. 👇

09/03/2026

🍁 LEAF PEEPING? THE BIG REVEAL IS STILL TBD. 🍂

Will Bucks County put on a spectacular fall show—or will drought take some of the color out of the picture?

The answer may depend on what happens next. 🍁

After significant drought conditions over the past couple of years, we’ve had a rather wet August. If rains continue into September, we could be in for a more vibrant fall. 🤞🍁

Why? Drought affects more than crops, livestock, fish, wildfires, groundwater, lawns and home gardens. It can also affect FALL COLOR.

🍂 EARLIER COLOR + SHORTER DISPLAY

When water is scarce, trees may change color earlier as a survival strategy. To conserve moisture, they begin shutting down their leaves, including sealing off the veins that transport water and nutrients.

This accelerates senescence—the natural aging of leaves—and can cause them to drop sooner.

The result? An earlier, shorter period of fall color.

🍁 MUTED OR LESS VIBRANT COLORS

Fall color comes from several pigments, and drought can affect how they develop.

💛 Yellow & orange come from carotenoids already present in leaves. They become visible as green chlorophyll breaks down.

❤️ Red & purple come from anthocyanins produced during autumn. Drought stress can limit their production, potentially reducing brilliant reds.

In severe drought, leaves may turn brown, wither and drop before developing much color at all.

🌳 NOT ALL TREES RESPOND THE SAME WAY

Shallow-rooted trees such as maples and birches can be more vulnerable to drought, while deeper-rooted oaks may better withstand dry conditions.

🏡 WHAT CAN HOME GARDENERS DO?

💧 Water deeply when trees and shrubs are stressed, concentrating on the root zone.

🌿 Mulch to conserve soil moisture—but keep mulch away from tree trunks.

So what will this fall look like? 👀🍁

Drought tends to make fall color earlier, shorter and potentially less intense. But this year's weather is still writing the story.

👇 What are YOU predicting for Bucks County's fall color?

👇 More info in the photo captions & links in the comments.

✍️ Jim Walter, PhD, Penn State Master Gardener & Master Watershed Steward, Bucks County

09/02/2026

A ‘Noah’s Ark for trees’! Are you onboard? 🌳🐪🐘🐛. Read about hope for endangered ash 👇

09/01/2026

Fall is a great time to refresh your landscape. 🍁What‘s on your list of invasive plants to remove and replace with natives better suited to our region?

Invasive plants spread quickly, and can cause harm to the economy, the environment, and/or humans. They often compete with and push native plants out through rapid growth and reproduction. 🌱

Check out these tips for how you can help stop the spread of invasive plants.

Learn more: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/conservation/wild-plants/invasive-plants

08/31/2026

🌿The Weekly Garden Report — August 26, 2026 🌿

🌱Growing Degree Days (GDD): 2611 GDD - ~50 ahead of last year
🌡️Soil temps (5-day avg): 74°F - 2° lower than LY
⏰Soil temps (24-hr avg): 72°F - 6° lower than LY

30 days left of summer; moderate temps ☺️

We are only 50 GDD above our 15-year average. Soil temps are at our 10-year average and should slowly increase this week.

🌈ABNORMALLY DRY

With recent rain, Bucks County has emerged from drought and is now just “abnormally dry.”

💛SIGNS OF ASTER YELLOWS

With the end of summer, asters start to bloom and the impact of aster yellows disease appears, commonly as distorted flowers.

SEE DISTORTED FLOWERS = REMOVE THE PLANT

💔We know. We’ve been there.
Dig up the plant. Put it in a bag in the trash.

Aster yellows is a chronic, systemic plant disease caused by several bacteria called phytoplasma.

The aster leafhopper, Macrosteles quadrilineatus, is the vector, a sap-feeding insect that acquires the phytoplasma by feeding on an infected plant. After an incubation period, it transmits the pathogen to healthy plants for the rest of its life.

Because there is no cure, management focuses entirely on prevention and sanitation. Infected plants should be removed immediately to limit the spread of the phytoplasma.

Symptoms can be mistaken for herbicide damage, eriophyid mites, or a virus. Look for chlorotic leaves, stunting, deformation, virescence (greening of flowers), phyllody (development of leaf-like flower petals), red foliage, reduced root system, and sterility. Aster yellows does not typically kill plants—but infected plants will harbor the disease, which spreads to other plants.

REMOVE THE PLANT, ROOTS & ALL.

Many plant species are affected, including: native plants, annual flowering plants, ornamentals, weeds, and vegetable crops. The largest family impacted is Asteraceae, which includes asters, marigolds, coreopsis, sunflowers, and coneflowers. Even vegetable crops can suffer: carrot, lettuce, celery, and onion.

👇 More info in photo captions & links in comments.

✍️: Jim Walter, PhD, Penn State Master Gardener & Master Watershed Steward, Bucks County

08/31/2026

DREAMING OF AN ENDLESS SUMMER? 😎

If you’re not ready to let the growing season go just yet, we’ve got you covered. So to speak. 😜

SEASON EXTENDERS BUY YOU MORE TIME ⏰

If you missed the window to re-seed some of your favorite fall vegetables, don’t give up just yet.

Season extenders can help gardeners grow beyond typical frost dates by creating a sheltered environment that protects plants from cold temperatures.

Options range from simple to more substantial:

• CLOCHES — low-tech protection for individual plants
• LOW TUNNELS — hoops covered with row cover or plastic
• COLD FRAMES & HOT BEDS — semi-permanent structures
• GREENHOUSES — for gardeners ready to take season extension to another level

Different designs, same goal: create a sheltered, warmer environment to protect plants (below and above ground) and keep the harvest going longer.

You can also do as one of our master gardeners suggests: “just throw some seeds in there” (any given garden bed) and see them germinate in the spring! Kale and heirloom lettuce work great!

✍️: Cindy Starbuck, Penn State Master Gardeners, Bucks County

🌿 Your turn: What's still producing—or just getting started—in your garden this week? Show us in the comments below.

08/29/2026

Fall is for planting 🌳🍂🪏. But which should be planted now? And which can be planted later? How much later can you go? 🤔. Thank you Izel Native Plants for this timely post 👇

How late can I plant?
We’re less than a month away from the autumnal equinox, and many customers are asking about fall planting. Most gardeners know that fall is generally a good time to plant, but at some point it stops being good. What’s that stopping point, and how do you know when it’s too late to plant?

To answer those questions, you’ll need to consider whether the plants are cool-season or warm-season. You’ll also want to consider your average date of first frost. It’s usually okay to plant well into fall. However, a few simple precautions will go a long way toward not only ensuring that your new plants survive the winter, but that they thrive the following year. [see link in comments]

08/28/2026

29,900 Birds crossed Bucks County last night*
🛑HELP THEM. AVOID LIGHT POLLUTION.

Birds heading south migrate after dark — no predators and cooler temperatures make night time hospitable.

BUT excessive lighting can disorient birds causing them to fly in circles and deplete their energy.

💡LIGHTS OUT BUCKS COUNTY

* Thu, Aug 27 at 7:40 pm to Fri, Aug 28 at 6:20 AM. Find out where the birds are on BirdCast from Cornell Lab of Ornithology https://dashboard.birdcast.org/region/US-PA-017

It's hard to believe, but fall Migration is already in full swing! Check out birdcast.org for live maps, migration alerts, and forecasts, and sign up for Email Migration Alerts - https://birdcast.org/migration-tools/local-migration-alerts/. Dim lights at night, Treat your window by day to help migrating birds avoid glass collisions, and make it to their destination safely.

08/27/2026

The joy of gardening and the love of science all wrapped up in the late summer. ♥️

Sometimes it’s the little details — and willingness to try new things — that remind us of the simple joys of gardening, as Master Gardener Cindy Starbuck can attest.

WILL THIS EXPERIMENT WORK? 🤔

Here's the challenge: Avoid squash pests by intentionally planting seeds late. The squash seeds pictured here were planted on July 19 — more than two months past the typical recommended sowing time (2-3 weeks after last frost).

😳 Will the plants have enough time to mature?
🪲 Will late planting truly help them avoid some of the usual squash pests?
🥶 Will there be a harvest before frost?

The data aren’t in yet. Stay tuned. 📊

IN THE MEANTIME ⌛
This year’s harvest from raised beds using drip irrigation — set it and forget it — brought in lots of warm weather produce:

🍆 Fairy Tale, Patio Baby & Calliope eggplants
🍅 Heirloom & cherry tomatoes
🥒 Cucumbers
🫑 Herbs and peppers

Plus a do-it-yourself support system for dahlias. 🌸🌺🌼

Don’t overlook the benefit of homemade compost teeming with worms to help enrich the soil with nutrients, beneficial microbes, and aeration that encourages healthy root growth — which can all encourage a vibrant, healthy tomato harvest!

✍️+ 📸: Cindy Starbuck, Penn State Master Gardener, Bucks County

💦 With recent rains, has the veggie garden been performing beautifully for you? Share your successes & failures, too!

🌽🌽🌽 We’re all ears!

08/26/2026

WAKE UP AND SMELL…the marigolds? 🌼

High in protein! Glorious nutritional value⁉️

Are you ready for a good morning marigold smoothie? Tell us! 👇

A new entrant in the plant-protein race: The marigold
With as much protein as quinoa, marigolds are a surprising untapped nutritional resource, research finds. What’s more their emulsifying and foaming properties make them a boon for the food industry.
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/?p=242154