Field Notes - Eastern Horticultural Services

FROM THE EHS TEAM

Seasonal observations and project stories from the team at Eastern Horticultural Services.

Terracotta containers of purple ornamental kale, red ornamental peppers and yellow mums on a brick patio beside a pond in fall

Ann – 19 October 2026 – 12:57 pm

October Begins the Close of the Season. Here’s Where to Start.

Ann Waters on cutting back peonies, planting a container that lasts through winter, bringing house plants inside before the cold and why the paperbark maple[…]

Ferns, hostas and an accent boulder in a freshly mulched bed behind a capped Belgard retaining wall on a city street

Darin – 2 October 2026 – 2:45 pm

Small Footprint, Full Attention

This Belgard retaining wall, with rebuilt bluestone steps and fresh plantings, went in on a corner lot in Wilmington’s Cool Spring neighborhood. City projects like[…]

Three EHS team members holding potted jalapeño plants beside John Winterbottom in front of an EHS truck in Avondale

Darin – 26 September 2026 – 2:20 pm

The 5th Annual Pepper Plant Prize: 24 Growers, One Winner and One Who Tasted Them All

Every September, the EHS yard in Avondale, just west of Kennett Square, hosts the most competitive growing contest in Chester County. Nobody outside the company[…]

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia) in full bloom in front of a fieldstone wall and wrought iron gate, with blue globe thistle beside them

Ann – 10 September 2026 – 2:44 pm

September Opens the Real Planting Season. Here’s How to Use It.

Spring gets the credit, but September is the month experienced gardeners plan around. The soil is still warm from summer, the air has finally cooled[…]

Nepeta (catmint) in bloom along a stone retaining wall in a Chester County garden, with pink Dianthus in the foreground

Ann – 16 August 2026 – 1:04 pm

August Doesn’t Let Up. Here’s Where to Put the Effort.

Ann Waters on deadheading roses, shearing back catmint, watching for early grub damage in turf and keeping containers watered through Chester County’s August heat.

Purple coneflowers (Echinacea) blooming in a summer garden bed

Ann – 6 July 2026 – 2:04 pm

Watering Well: A July Survival Guide

What a week for a garden. Several days in the high 90s with barely a drop of rain, and now the forecast turns around and[…]

Gerardo Rivas wearing Eastern Horticultural Services gear and a finisher medal after the Rockford Park Firecracker 5K, July 4, 2026.

Darin – 4 July 2026 – 5:42 pm

A July Fourth Kind of Tough

Some people sleep in on the Fourth of July. Gerardo Rivas ran a 5K. This morning, on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,[…]

Oakleaf hydrangea blooms opening in June, with white flower clusters and lobed leaves

Ann – 11 June 2026 – 11:13 am

What June Asks of a Garden

June is when the garden stops asking for patience and starts asking for attention. The spring show is behind us. The lilacs and viburnums have[…]

Gerardo Rivas wearing Eastern Horticultural Services gear after finishing the 10th Annual R.E.D. 5K in Wilmington, Delaware, June 2026

Darin – 6 June 2026 – 3:33 pm

Running for More Than a Finish Line

This morning, Gerardo Rivas laced up in Wilmington and ran the 10th Annual R.E.D. 5K. He finished 2nd overall out of 109 runners. First in[…]

Pink lactiflora peonies in full bloom along a bluestone border, with Chester County estate grounds and Brandywine Valley hills in the background

Ann – 27 May 2026 – 11:37 pm

May Has Its Own Urgency. Here’s Where to Focus.

May in the Brandywine valley is the month the garden shows you everything it’s capable of. The peonies are coming in, the alliums are standing[…]

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