Betsy Musser’s favorite plants grow outside her front door. The mix of milkweed and fennel make the spot an official monarch waystation. She points out an Eastern black swallowtail chrysalis as proof that other pollinators enjoy the plants.
For her husband, Bill, he’s partial to the planters he designs. Even in a punishing heat wave, the plants provide pops of color on their patio. The planters are so lush, you need to turn your camera horizontal to capture their full glory.
The Mussers have a few favorites yet they expect a much smaller part of their garden will get the attention at the Porches & Posies Garden Tour. Time and again, visitors love the small cutting garden filled with zinnias and cosmos almost as much as the pollinators attracted to the blooms.
The Mussers’ garden is one of a dozen on the tour throughout the southern end of the county, Friday, July 19, and Saturday, July 20. The tour includes a flower farm, rock gardens and water features in big properties and small properties.
READ: Meet the greenhouse cats of Lancaster County
The event is a fundraiser for Chestnut Level Presbyterian Church. In its third year, the tour is a way for people to explore the region and bring the community together, says Anna Mary Barcus, one of the members of the garden tour committee.
The Mussers’ property is on the northern side of the tour. The couple built their home on a cornfield between Willow Street and the Buck more than 40 years ago. Since then, they’ve transformed their 4 acres in Providence Township by adding trees, lawn and lots of plants. Every year, they aim to change something.
Betsy Musser, a semiretired nursing educator at HACC, focuses on the pollinator-friendly plants.
Bill Musser, a semiretired senior superintendent at Warfel Construction, handles the lawn, landscaping and flowers: the more color, the better.
Betsy Musser grows fennel and other plants to support pollinators. This eastern swallowtail chrysalis is just what she wants to see.
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer
Pollinator garden
Most guests at the Mussers’ home avoid the front door. Aside from a delivery driver, pollinators are the most frequent visitors to the garden next to the entrance.
Here, Betsy Musser plants fennel and parsley for Eastern swallowtail butterflies and milkweed for monarchs, earning the space a monarch waystation designation from Monarch Watch. Nasturtiums and heat-loving portulaca are not top plants for monarch butterflies but they add long-lasting blooms.
“Bill said, ‘You need to put some color in,’ so I added a few flowers,” she says.
Betsy Musser’s more interested in the caterpillars and chrysalises found here later in the summer. Eventually, the butterflies emerge and test their wings before they’re off for a long journey.
“It’s stunning,” she says.
READ: Find a plant swap, make a gnome terrarium: 63 things for garden growers to try in July
Bill Musser had an extra planter so he moved this one from the back patio to the front of his home so it’s not overlooked.
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer
Summer planters
For planters placed around the hardscaped back patio, Bill Musser turns to Henrys’ Farm and Greenhouses in Holtwood. One of the Mussers’ daughters, Elise Lefever, works there as well as Barcus, one of the garden tour organizers. The wholesale business has occasional pop-up sales and will be on the garden tour.
Many of the planters Bill Musser created this year have hardy double bloom portulaca as a trailing plant. The flowers love the heat and open on hot, sunny days. Silver falls with its soft silvery leaves is another favorite hardy cascading plant.
If You Go
What: Porches & Posies Garden Tour.
When: 5-8 p.m. Friday, July 19; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 20, rain or shine.
What: Tour 12 gardens in Lancaster County’s southern end, including Chestnut Level Presbyterian Church.
Cost: Advance tickets ($20) can be bought by calling Chestnut Level Presbyterian Church at 717-548-2763. The day of the tour, tickets can be purchased at the church, 1068 Chestnut Level Road, Quarryville; the Musser home, 20 Kreider Road, Willow Street, and the Phipps home, 291 Cedar Hill Road, Peach Bottom. Proceeds benefit the church’s recent renovations.
Details: lanc.news/Porchestour24 or 717-548-2763
Superbena verbena, vinca, lantana and petunias fill out the planters, flowering all summer long and growing so vigorously some get lost. Tall angelonia takes a few of the planters to new heights.
These are hardy plants, but Bill Musser does not let them fend for themselves. He waters the planters daily. On especially hot days, he waters twice: morning and afternoon. On Sundays, the plants get fertilizer.
While he prefers bright colors, there’s room for a neutral container. Elise created a white-dominated design in a white faux birch planter. This design has angelonia, gaura, fan flower, diamond frost, all with white flowers, plus green and white tradescantia.
READ: Here’s how to use green mulch as a ground cover in your garden, plus top plants for sun and shade
Zinnias and cosmos grow in the cutting garden at the home of Betsy and Bill Musser.
BLAINE SHAHAN | Staff Photographer
Cutting garden
Betsy Musser loves placing flowers throughout their home so much that creating a cutting garden was one of the first things the Mussers planted years ago. The backyard cutting garden may be just a few feet wide but it produces enough flowers to share.
Bill Musser plants zinnias and cosmos by seed in late April in a hot bed, a frame topped with windows. He transplants the seedlings in mid-May.
Once the plants start blooming, Betsy Musser cuts flowers every week for bouquets. To avoid sharing with the rabbits, they’ve learned to surround the small garden with a ring of chicken wire.
Throughout the property are many more plants, including fruit trees, hydrangea varieties plus roses and red hot pokers that now are in their prime. The goal is for something to shine from May through October.
To keep this up, every day, something requires a little attention, whether it’s watering, weeding or trimming. The work is worth it, especially for a summer-loving person like Bill Musser.
“I just like watching the stuff grow,” he says.
For the tour, there’s plenty for people to see.
“If someone who comes through can get one idea to take home, then it’s a success,” Betsy Musser says.
Close
Bill Musser picks angelonia as the tall plant in some of his colorful container gardens.
Bill Musser picks superbena verbena as a hardy and colorful filler plant in some of his container gardens.
Hardy double bloom portulaca is one of Bill Musser’s trailing plants in his container gardens. The flowers love the heat and open on hot, sunny days.
Betsy Musser plants fennel (pictured) and parsley for Eastern swallowtail butterflies and milkweed for monarchs, earning the space a Monarch Waystation designation from Monarch Watch.
Betsy’s choice of plants earned the space a Monarch Waystation designation from Monarch Watch.
Throughout the property are many more plants, including perennials including hydrangea varieties plus roses. The goal is for something to shine from May through October.
Bill, left, and Betsy Musser look through the milkweed planted at their front door.
Petunias plus superbena verbena shine despite the heat.
Water cascades at the patio of Bill and Betsy Musser.
This plant-filled patio is a favorite spot for Bill and Betsy Musser.
Red hot poker grows at the home of Bill and Betsy Musser.
Hardy vinca grows along the driveway.
Superbena verbena grows along the driveway at the home of Betsy and Bill Musser.
Bill Musser had an extra planter so he moved this one from the back patio to the front of his home so it’s not overlooked.
Betsy Musser grows fennel and other plants to support pollinators. This eastern swallowtail chrysalis is just what she wants to see.
Zinnias and cosmos grow in the cutting garden at the home of Betsy and Bill Musser.
While Bill Musser prefers bright colors, there’s room for a neutral container. Daughter Elise Lefever created a white-dominated design including angelonia.
Lantana is a favorite of butterflies in the garden of Bill and Betsy Musser.
Bill Musser picks angelonia as the tall plant in some of his colorful container gardens.
Bill Musser picks superbena verbena as a hardy and colorful filler plant in some of his container gardens.
Hardy double bloom portulaca is one of Bill Musser’s trailing plants in his container gardens. The flowers love the heat and open on hot, sunny days.
Betsy Musser plants fennel (pictured) and parsley for Eastern swallowtail butterflies and milkweed for monarchs, earning the space a Monarch Waystation designation from Monarch Watch.
Betsy’s choice of plants earned the space a Monarch Waystation designation from Monarch Watch.
Throughout the property are many more plants, including perennials including hydrangea varieties plus roses. The goal is for something to shine from May through October.
Bill, left, and Betsy Musser look through the milkweed planted at their front door.
Petunias plus superbena verbena shine despite the heat.
Water cascades at the patio of Bill and Betsy Musser.
This plant-filled patio is a favorite spot for Bill and Betsy Musser.
Red hot poker grows at the home of Bill and Betsy Musser.
Hardy vinca grows along the driveway.
Superbena verbena grows along the driveway at the home of Betsy and Bill Musser.
Bill Musser had an extra planter so he moved this one from the back patio to the front of his home so it’s not overlooked.
Betsy Musser grows fennel and other plants to support pollinators. This eastern swallowtail chrysalis is just what she wants to see.
Zinnias and cosmos grow in the cutting garden at the home of Betsy and Bill Musser.
While Bill Musser prefers bright colors, there’s room for a neutral container. Daughter Elise Lefever created a white-dominated design including angelonia.
Lantana is a favorite of butterflies in the garden of Bill and Betsy Musser.
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