Growing a Greener World Episode 906: Mt. Cuba Center

Published 2018-11-07
Just 40 miles southwest of the metropolis of downtown Philadelphia, Mt. Cuba Center offers a world where native plants reign supreme. There are thousands of varietals here, and the richness of their display dazzles the senses.

The Center has become renowned for its native plant research. Here, cultivar varietals undergo extensive trials to observe and compare performance, color, growth habits, and any other point of interest for horticulture or backyard gardening. Mt. Cuba Center publishes and shares details on top trial performers on their website, and the findings they provide are sought out and utilized by educational institutions, industry professionals and gardeners all over the world.

All Comments (21)
  • @Lou_Mansfield
    This looks like a magical place. I wish there was a native center like this for each of the different ecoregions in America!
  • @We4winds
    Wonderful show again Joe. Thank you
  • I get 100% serenity every time I visit ❀😊🏴󠁧󠁒󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
  • Great episode, stunning footage. I wish I lived closer to Mt. Cuba. Spring is a magical time for those of us who love near the Eastern forests with spring plants bursting with life in the woodlands!
  • @ksanClain
    Great episode. I live about a half hour drive from Mt. Cuba. It is a beautiful place where I have learned a lot and always leave feeling renewed and inspired to learn more about native plants and habitats. All the people who work & volunteer there are friendly and enthusiastic to engage with visitors, sharing their knowledge and love for the gardens and the history of Mt. Cuba.
  • @jeff6899
    Beautiful !!!!! I agree ! I have been instituting natives here in the Southwest for over 20 yrs. I had a magazine editor remark once: "You sure have a lot of color." What she didn't realize is I was able to mix in the right natives--many uncommon or "foreign" only to regular nurseries--and create terrific color; while still providing a better habitat for larvae and pollinators. It can be done !! You see so quite a few great gardens start this way...I am seeing some parallels to Ruth Bancroft's Garden in CA, from a well-to-do family who adjusted her interests to succulents that do well in dry climates, though not necessarily all natives. Nice to see wealth put to great use...
  • @tanarehbein7768
    Thank you for the thoughtful way every episode is filmed showing absolutely the most beautiful composition in every frame. I appreciate the pace of each story as well as the slow but never boring pans through the extrodinary scenes. Each episode is very relaxing and informative and always beautiful.
  • @jeanque04
    Its so beautiful. Thank you for sharing. Greetings from Belgium
  • @Nhoj31neirbo47
    An extremely special resource that is doing valuable work addressing the ecological challenges of the 21st century.
  • @mariannewolf57
    What a gorgeous garden- and important information about native plants too! Thank you, Joe!
  • I WAS REALY ENJOYED TO WACHED YOUR SHOWS πŸ’–πŸ’–πŸ’–πŸ’–πŸ’–
  • @atefbasha1809
    All my a great to you my Sir. It's very important that decision to All my a great to see you so much teacher all information about FOR over the world (USA)Thank God
  • Right now, I'm fighting to drive back hordes of invasive non-native plants. That's the really important thing about increasing the understanding of our native ecosystem and how it works. Some decades ago, someone planted privet and bamboo because they thought it looked pretty. Now, it's completely overrun the land like a cancer. And it brings down the property value because everyone knows it's a huge chore to either contain or eliminate entirely. Same can be said for Kudzu here in the South. What amazes me is that we never seem to learn. People always think "it's my yard and I can do whatever I want", and then we end up with the Chestnut Blight. Folks forget that the word 'ecosystem' has that pesky 'system' part to it. It's like taking a single brick out of a big wall. You can, and it might still be strong. Take out another brick, and another, and eventually the wall collapses. We're seeing that now as the landscape not only becomes more fragmented, but more and more of those fragments are filled with non-native plants that the food web can't use. When 80% of a home landscape is non-native, what are the songbirds supposed to eat? Where do the Monarchs stop for a snack?
  • @bestcrossroad
    Thank you Joe! You always bring excellent and inspiring content. We’ll visit Mt. Cuba hopefully before the snowfall. It looks like a very relaxing place to connect with Mother Earth. Thank you.πŸ’•β€οΈπŸπŸ‚β€οΈπŸ’•
  • @ThreeRunHomer
    The video starts by discussing the mission to spread information about native plants … and then it shows a large garden of nonnative tulips. πŸ˜†