About Us
The Story of Silphium Gardens
Silphium Gardens is located around the McMullen House Bed & Breakfast in the Allegheny High Plateau of Pennsylvania. Here there are many examples of native plant gardens for butterflies, other pollinators, and different habitats including open areas and woodlands.
Below are some of the gardens and plants you can see here.
Fence Garden
The Fence Garden lines a side fence along Brown Street. This garden is the home of a number of ferns that thrive in the shade provided by serviceberry trees (Amelanchier arborea). Ferns include royal fern (Osmunda regalis), Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), lady fern (Athyrium felix-femina), and glade fern (Homolosorus pyncnocarpus).
The south corner has section of black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia laciniata). The north corner has a number of wildflowers such as New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae), Purple Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum), blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium), and yellow-cup (Silphium perfoliatum).
In the middle of June this garden is visited by hundreds of cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedorum) who eat the serviceberries.
Woodland Garden
The Woodland Garden is located underneath the shade of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) trees on the western side of McMullen House. A number of shade loving wildflowers are located here including large-flowered trillium (Trillium grandiflorum), star-flower (Trientalis borealis), jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), common blue violet (Viola sororia), wild ginger (Asarum sp.), wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis), ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), and Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum var. commutatum).
Terrace Garden
The Terrace Garden is located adjacent to the Woodland Garden on the western side of McMullen House and gets a little more sun than the Woodland Garden. The plants here like a habitat that part-sun and part-shade. One small area of the garden gets a little more shade from a quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). Plants located in this garden include yellow-cup (Silphium perfoliatum), Queen-of-the-Prairie (Filipendula rubra), intermediate shield fern (Dryopteris intermedia), striped cream violet (Viola striata), downy yellow violet (V. pubescens), Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum var. commutatum), foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), and sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis).
Butterfly Garden
The Butterfly Garden is located to the north of the Terrace Garden and receives full sun in the summer. The plants here are hosts and nectar plants for butterflies, especially for Monarchs. Other insects such as bees and flies also use the garden. Plants here include common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), spotted joe-pye-weed (Eutrochium maculatum), purple joe-pye-weed (Eupatorium purpureum), New York Ironweed (Vernonia novaboracensis), and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides).