Pam Baxter

1 week ago | dailylocal.com | Pam Baxter

From the Ground Up: Two random flower picks are keepers Angelonia and Lemon Gem marigolds are too lovely to resist.

1 week ago | thereporteronline.com | Pam Baxter

I’m a pretty fierce advocate for choosing native plants over non-native species that are beautiful but don’t support our native pollinators. In the process of clearing land for houses, corporate buildings, roads, and larger and larger farms we continue to destroy wildlife habitat, including the trees, shrubs, and flowers that bees, butterflies, beetles, and other pollinators rely on for food and sites to lay their eggs.

2 weeks ago | thereporteronline.com | Pam Baxter

You’ve probably noticed that there are a lot of national and even world “days” on the calendar. For instance, along with traditional dates like Mothers Day and Fathers Day there’s hardly a date on the calendar that doesn’t have at least one observance attached to it. These run the gamut, from something as lighthearted as National Sunglasses Day to something as serious as World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. Some events are important enough to have an entire week or more devoted to them.

3 weeks ago | thereporteronline.com | Pam Baxter

Although mountain laurel is Pennsylvania’s state flower, I rarely see it growing in our area. In fact, locally I know of just one small shrub growing out of a rock formation above French Creek near our house. By contrast, on a recent trip to Connecticut — which also claims mountain laurel as its state flower — I saw mountain laurel everywhere. It was blooming in the Connecticut Arboretum, in a friend’s yard, and at a service station I stopped at along the Merritt Parkway.

1 month ago | thereporteronline.com | Pam Baxter

It’s chilly, rainy Wednesday, but just yesterday afternoon I was sitting by the Schuylkill River Canal at Lock 60 in Phoenixville, enjoying a blue sky with puffy clouds, temperature in the mid 60s, low humidity, no mosquitoes, and the sounds of nature all about me. With the fresh, green leaves on the trees, the sparkling blue of the river, and the sun casting a warm glow over everything, I felt like I’d stepped into a landscape painting. Yet I almost missed it.