This week on the FarmHouse, a podcast by Lancaster Farming, we're talking to Krystal Snyder, a Penn State Extension educator who specializes in horticulture and floriculture.
Snyder works at the Penn State trial gardens in Manheim, Pennsylvania, where she and her team trial thousands of plant varieties every year to see how they'll perform in the Mid-Atlantic region.
This year's trial plants are due to start arriving soon, and Snyder discusses some of the varieties she's excited about, including larger-than-average Colocasia, or elephant ears, and a sized-down version of Joe Pye weed that's more manageable for smaller gardens.
Snyder also digs into some changing plant trends, like the practice of moving houseplants outside for the warmer months or the fact that certain staples of home gardens or potted plants tend to fall in and out of fashion.
"Our parents and our grandparents had always bought geraniums for their front porch," she said, citing one example. "When I walk around our neighborhood, I see people with pots on their porches or plants in their gardens, but I don't see geraniums that much anymore. And I've seen that trend of breeders not pushing out as many geraniums now."
Snyder also speaks about hydroponic farming and gardening. While she has her doubts about large-scale vertical farming and its ability to disrupt the current market, she's still excited about what it could mean for smaller operations and home growers.
"Lettuce, hydroponically, you can grow in six weeks and if you have a continuous cycle going, you can support a lot of restaurants and a lot of businesses very, very fast," she said.
Snyder's enthusiasm for floriculture and horticulture is something she hopes to pass on to future generations of women.
"I just hope that I can be a better mentor to these young females coming in than my guy mentors were to me. Not that they weren't fabulous, but they don't always get what it's like to be a woman," she said, recalling her early career.
"So, (I'm) showing this younger generation that it is possible and it's OK to be the only girl at the table. And it's OK to be a little loud about it, too."
