Scott Arboretum

In winter, the mind often turns to thoughts of columbine and primrose and the world in bloom again. The volunteers at the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College surely understand these spring-starved yearnings, for January is the month they mail the catalogs for their biennial September plant sale. Nearly 14,000 catalogs were labeled and bundled and sent to the post office yesterday, holding the promise of a cymbaline rose, a daylily or a Southern magnolia to recipients around the country.

As any veteran of the garden would know, its delights do not end with summer. Autumn not only brings a respite for sun-baked plants, but it is also the perfect time to overhaul beds for the next spring. That means planting a new stock of perennials and shrubs. With that in mind, the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College holds its biennial fall plant sale, one of its biggest and most-anticipated events. The sale will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow on DuPont Field.

For photographer Diane Mattis, the hands say it all - the 83-year-old hands of Philadelphia's first lady of gardening, Joanna Reed. After her first visit to Reed's home, Longview Farm near Malvern, Mattis said, "I kept having these recurring thoughts about all the things her hands had done. " For six decades, the down-to-earth Reed has left her mark on Longview through her hands, first as a painter, later as a needleworker, and as a talented cook who catered many a fund-raising lunch and dinner.

Its title is "300 Years of Delaware County Gardening. " So why does the Delaware County Historical Society's 1998-99 Houston Lecture Series open with a talk on Historic Bartram's Garden in Southwest Philadelphia? The answer is easy. John Bartram, considered by many to be the father of American horticulture, was inspired while plowing a field in his native Darby Township. It is said that he had stopped his plow to pick a daisy. Martha Leigh Wolf, executive director of the 44-acre Bartram's Garden at 54th Street and Lindbergh Boulevard, will present the first of six lectures Oct. 26. Each will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Lang Performing Arts Center at Swarthmore College.

A lush landscape of green leaves dressed with an assortment of white flowers welcomes visitors to Felicity Farms in Wawa. From the flagstone-terraced White Garden, as it is called, guests can view the purple, yellow and pink colors of the perennial flower beds, which are complemented by antique garden sculptures and lawn furniture. It is one of 10 gardens that make up the Scott Associates' Garden Day, a Scott Arboretum tour scheduled for Sept. 12 that features a mix of cultivated acres of elaborate formal gardens, rural settings, and even small-scale container collections, said Jody Downer, special program coordinator for the arboretum.

At 92, Terry Shane has reached a point in life where she might be expected to rest on her laurels. But rest she does not. On a recent morning, she was tending her garden at Dunwoody Village, pulling weeds and pruning plants as she worked on her hands and knees at 9 a.m. She stayed on the job till 11 a.m., when it was time to go inside for lunch. "I'm a dirt farmer, not a botanist. I love seeing the flowers grow and the harmony of the garden," Shane said. "The story of my life is the gardens I've left behind me. " Perhaps the best example is the Terry Shane Teaching Garden near the headquarters of the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College.

The Providence Garden Club will have its annual plant sale this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Tyler Arboretum in Lima. The sale, which will take place in the arboretum's maintenance building at Painter and Forge Roads, will include annuals, hanging baskets, perennials and other items. Club member Elisabeth Hammons said many of the plants were grown by members of the club. "The sale is our main fund-raiser," Hammons said. "The main purpose of the sale is to turn the money over to horticultural-type charities.

For gardeners and other plant-lovers, here's a sampling of regional events: A Walk With the Curator Provides an in-depth look at the collections, gardens and plant selections at the Arboretum. Swarthmore College - Scott Arboretum, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore; 610-328-8025. 5/9. 2:30-3:30 pm. Annual Herb Sale Herbs, scented geraniums, salvias, native plants, & garden gifts. Historic Yellow Springs, 1685 Art School Rd., Chester Springs; 610-827-7414. 5/10. 10 am-1:30 pm. Annual Plant Sale One of the largest public garden plant sales in the area.

William Jay Peters, 69, of Kennett Square, a horticulturist and retired marketing manager, died of an intracerebellar hemorrhage Aug. 25. Mr. Peters died at West Chester United Methodist Church, where he had become ill while attending a Stephen's Ministry class to train lay people to counsel church members having difficulties. He served on several church committees, was a Sunday school teacher and youth ministry leader, and planted and maintained the church garden. Mr. Peters also worked with young people as chairman of a Lions Club district exchange program, organizing exchange trips with the Nishio Lions Club in Japan.

Ken Chapman's little Germantown garden is one of the neatest I've ever seen - every leaf in order, every stake in place. When he bought the house 14 years ago, just after he retired as a supervisor at the Main Post Office, 30th and Market Streets, the back yard was a mess, with a tangle of weeds and vines and a nice stone bench upended in the back. Bit by bit, Chapman cleared the back yard and put up a wooden fence at the bottom of the property to screen out the neighbors. Now there's a lawn with colorful flower beds on the sides leading to the fence.

For gardeners and other plant-lovers, here's a sampling of regional events.   A Nurseryman's Miscellany: What You Aren't Getting From the Typical Garden Center Presentation by Rhode Island nursery owner Ed Bowen. Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore; 610-628-8025. 1/20. 2 pm. African Violet Club of Burlington County Meeting Leaf swap & plant clinic. Mount Laurel Library, 100 Walt Whitman Ave., Mount Laurel; 856-488-6190. avcbc.pbworks.com. 1/18. 6:30 pm. All About Honey Bees Learn about the role bees play in the environment, play a bee-themed game & sample some honey.

When devoted gardeners run out space in their backyards, they often tear up the old plantings to make room for the new. But Andrew Bunting, a horticulturist with a magazine-worthy ornamental garden behind his ivy-covered stone cottage in Swarthmore, had a different idea. In January, he asked neighbors Clair and Rob Oaks, with whom he had a cordial but not close relationship, if he could use a section of their backyard for a vegetable garden that they would share. He would design, install, and cultivate the plot, and even pay them $100 a month in rent.

For gardeners and other plant-lovers, here's a sampling of regional events: A Walk With the Curator Provides an in-depth look at the collections, gardens and plant selections at the Arboretum. Swarthmore College - Scott Arboretum, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore; 610-328-8025. 5/9. 2:30-3:30 pm. Annual Herb Sale Herbs, scented geraniums, salvias, native plants, & garden gifts. Historic Yellow Springs, 1685 Art School Rd., Chester Springs; 610-827-7414. 5/10. 10 am-1:30 pm. Annual Plant Sale One of the largest public garden plant sales in the area.

For gardeners and other plant-lovers, here's a sampling of regional events: 5K Run for Clean Air Cash prizes, contests, food. Martin Luther King Dr.; 5krunforcleanair.org. 4/21. 9 am-12 pm. Bird Walks Sat. Call 215-345-7860 for more information. Peace Valley Nature Center, 170 Chapman Rd., Doylestown. Donation suggested: $2. 4/21. Birding With Ruth Bird walk led by experienced area birdwatcher Ruth Pfeffer. Norristown Farm Park, 2500 Upper Farm Rd., Norristown; 610-270-0215.

For gardeners and other plant-lovers, here's a sampling of regional events: Bird Walks Sat. Call 215-345-7860 for more info. Peace Valley Nature Center, 170 Chapman Rd., Doylestown. Donation suggested: $2. 4/7. "Delaware Valley Branch American Begonia Society Meeting This month's speaker will be John Boggan, staff member of the Department of Botany at the Smithsonian National Museum, who will give a presentation on begonias and gesneriads grown during winter months. Huntingdon Valley Library, 625 Red Lion Rd., Huntingdon Valley.

After it closed on July 3, the Barnes Foundation in Merion locked down tighter than Guantanamo. Until the new building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway opens next summer, the fabled art collection is inaccessible. This doesn't mean, however, that the entire Barnes organism will hibernate during the hiatus. The education program, the foundation's raison d'etre, will continue through the 2011-12 academic year, albeit in a modified form. In fact, fall classes begin in just nine days, on Sept.

William Jay Peters, 69, of Kennett Square, a horticulturist and retired marketing manager, died of an intracerebellar hemorrhage Aug. 25. Mr. Peters died at West Chester United Methodist Church, where he had become ill while attending a Stephen's Ministry class to train lay people to counsel church members having difficulties. He served on several church committees, was a Sunday school teacher and youth ministry leader, and planted and maintained the church garden. Mr. Peters also worked with young people as chairman of a Lions Club district exchange program, organizing exchange trips with the Nishio Lions Club in Japan.

Tomorrow Best Methods of Growing Begonias , program and plant clinic at a meeting of the American Begonia Society's Delaware Valley Branch; 10 a.m. Free. Huntingdon Valley Library, Community Room (second floor), 625 Red Lion Rd., Huntingdon Valley; 610-446-2160; wiener1@verizon.net . Japanese Garden Elements Tour , part of the Cherry Blossom Celebration, highlights Japanese influence in various areas of Morris Arboretum; 2 p.m. Free with admission: $10; $8 ages 65 and over; $5 ages 3 to 18. Morris Arboretum, 100 Northwestern Ave.; 215-247-5777; www.morrisarboreum.

Home gardener or professional horticulturist, doesn't matter: When you ask why they love digging in the dirt, they all get that look in their eyes. They smile a certain way, like they can't believe you'd ask such a dumb question. Then comes the grin, and major teeth. And they blurt out what Claire Sawyers does: "Because . . . because . . . it feels like you're playing!" Not even Sawyers, director of Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College, is playing right now. Over the winter, we can only plan, mentally, for our grandest garden yet: the next one. And for 2008, Sawyers offers much to think about in a new book called The Authentic Garden: Five Principles For Cultivating a Sense of Place (Timber Press, $34.95)

Martha Stewart puts hydrangeas on the cover of her magazine, and bingo, people are lusting after the old blue mop heads like never before. What about viburnums? Does anyone even know what they are? They're shrubs, they're trees, they're so many things, but mostly they're handsome and productive year-round and feeling no need to shout about it. Hydrangeas are beautiful in summer, all right, parading their big fat puffballs all over the place. And, true, those blossoms of blue and violet, pink and white are fetching even as they fade into fall.