Brandywine Conservancy announces new interactive website for getting started with native plants

Brandywine Conservancy announces new interactive website for getting started with native plants

Chadds Ford, PA, April 14, 2025 — In celebration of National Gardening Month, the Brandywine Conservancy is thrilled to announce the launch of the Brandywine Native Garden Hub, a new online resource designed to inspire gardeners of all levels and skillsets. The Brandywine Native Garden Hub is a free, user-friendly website that serves as both an educational guide and an interactive database for anyone interested in incorporating native plants into their landscapes. Naturally occurring in a specific region without human intervention, native plants have adapted to the climate and soil over time, making them easier to grow and maintain, plus they directly benefit pollinators, wildlife, and the local ecology. With the Brandywine Native Garden Hub, users can search for and learn more about native plants specific to Pennsylvania and northern Delaware, save their favorites to personalized “Garden Boards,” and browse through a suite of educational resources to help enhance their gardening success.

"We are so excited to share the Brandywine Native Garden Hub with our broader community," said Stephanie Armpriester, Director of Conservation and Stewardship at the Brandywine Conservancy. "Our main goal with this new website is to break down barriers for those interested in getting started with native plants and to provide them with all the tools they need to begin their garden journeys. With this accessible online resource, we hope to inspire beginners to join us in our important mission-related work in their own backyards and landscapes. It's also a perfect companion tool to the slate of educational programs the Brandywine Conservancy offers around native plants throughout the year, as well as our annual Native Plant Sales, both here on our campus in Chadds Ford, PA and in Western Pennsylvania at our Penguin Court Preserve."

Now available at www.NativeGardenHub.org, the Brandywine Native Garden Hub contains information on more than 250 native plant species found in our region. Each plant profile contains everything you need to know about the plant—from growing conditions to key attributes and wildlife benefits—along with photos that show different growth stages. Users can also personalize their searches by filtering for plants according to their garden’s specific growing conditions, including sunlight exposure, soil type, and soil moisture. Plants can even be sorted by the user’s preferred attributes and benefits, including plant type, height/width, peak bloom time, bloom color, deer resistance, fragrance, and more.

To help visualize and plan their dream gardens, users can create a free account to build personalized “Garden Boards” that are customized to their unique growing spaces. Boards can be curated for the spaces users currently have, the type of gardens they are looking to start—such as a container garden for smaller spaces or one designed to attract specific pollinators—or even boards for future garden inspiration. Once users set up their boards, they can “pin” their favorite plants while browsing to save them for building out their garden plans. Users can also add, edit, and create as many Garden Boards as they’d like, which can be referenced at any time on both desktop and mobile devices.

To equip users with even more tools for success during their gardening journeys, the Brandywine Native Garden Hub also features a wealth of educational resources. Users can dive into our beginner’s guide for getting started with native plants or browse through other articles, including topics on how to prep a container garden, tackling invasive species, and seasonal gardening tips. Additional articles will be published throughout the year for continued learning.

For more than five decades, the Brandywine Conservancy has been a trusted leader in growing and promoting the use, preservation, and appreciation of native plants. The Brandywine Native Garden Hub is the latest extension of this work, providing a digital platform to help gardeners bring the benefits of native plants to their own landscapes. To start your journey with native plants, visit www.NativeGardenHub.org.

The launch of this new online resource also comes at the perfect time, right before the return of the Brandywine Conservancy’s annual Wildflower, Native Plant & Seed Sale on May 10-11, 2025 (with early member access available on May 9). Held outside in the Brandywine Museum of Art’s courtyard in Chadds Ford, PA, the sale includes a wide variety of native wildflowers, grasses, ferns, vines, shrubs and trees. The Brandywine Native Garden Hub is a great resource to reference in advance of the sale and can be used to create a “shopping list” with a custom Garden Board to bring to the event. More information on the Native Plant Sale can be found at www.brandywine.org/native-plant-sale.

Created by the Brandywine Conservancy, the Brandywine Native Garden Hub was designed and developed by Infantree—a creative agency based in Lancaster, PA—and made possible through a generous grant from the Allegheny Foundation.

About the Brandywine Conservancy:

The Brandywine Conservancy protects water, conserves land, and engages communities. The Conservancy uses a multi-faceted approach to conservation. Staff work with private landowners who wish to see their lands protected forever and provide innovative community planning services to municipalities and other governmental agencies. The Conservancy currently holds more than 510 conservation and agricultural easements and has facilitated the permanent preservation of over 70,200 acres of land. The Conservancy is a program of the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.

About the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art:

The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art preserves and promotes the natural and cultural connections between the area’s beautiful landscape, historic sites, and important artists. The Conservancy protects the lands and waters throughout the Brandywine Valley and other priority conservation areas, developing sustainable approaches to emerging needs and assuring preservation of majestic open spaces and protection of natural resources for generations to come. The Museum of Art presents and collects historic and contemporary works of American art, engaging and exciting visitors of all ages through an array of exhibitions and programs. The Brandywine unites the inspiring experiences of art and nature, enhancing the quality of life in its community and among its diverse audiences.

 

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