The demonstration garden areas at the Donohoe Center are known as the Richard E. Thorn Memorial Demonstration Gardens. They are open to the public year-round and show home gardeners how a variety of ornamental and edible plants perform in western Pennsylvania.
A view of some of the garden areas. Penn State
The gardens at the Donohoe Center known as the Richard E. Thorn Memorial Gardens, feature annual and perennial plants, herbs, spring ephemerals, and more. The "cottage garden" is planted with tried-and-true flowers, and a vegetable plot shows backyard growers how to raise fresh produce. The site also includes deer-resistant plants, a pollinator-friendly garden, and a composting area.
The demonstration gardens host tours, programs, and an annual open house. Master Gardeners have put together plant lists and/or maps for many of the garden areas. You can access them here.
Garden Areas:
Annual
Each year, the two annual garden beds change with designs and popular plants of the season.
Conifer
The dwarf conifer garden has been in place since 2002. It contains a variety of decorative evergreens in all shapes and sizes, found in Western PA landscapes. Stay tuned for new educational materials on the care of conifers, available to our visitors.
Cottage
Highlights popular, tried-and-true, old-fashioned plants enjoyed by our grandparents.
Daylily
The daylily garden has over 90 Hemerocallis cultivars, hybrids of the old-fashioned orange and yellow daylilies. Daylily cultivars are adaptable perennials that come in various colors and sizes and can flourish in a garden for many years. July is the peak bloom time.
Deer Resistant
The deer-resistant garden at Donohoe Center was established in 2017 to feature plants rated as unpopular among our cervid (a.k.a. deer) neighbors. Annual growth and any deer damage are monitored to evaluate the nursery rating of these plants. The public can view the ongoing growth as these are unfenced and not sprayed with deer repellent.
Four Seasons
The garden demonstrates something of interest across each of our four seasons. Interests may include blooms, attractive foliage, and unusual structure. This is achieved through a combination of trees, shrubs, and various perennials.
Grossheim Memorial
The garden area was planted in memory of Butch Grossheim, a Master Gardener of Westmoreland County. Originally planted with a Japanese garden theme, the garden now emphasizes native plants and the removal of invasive non-native plants. The spaces are slowly filling with native woodland perennials and shrubs, including spring ephemerals, all so important to our local ecosystem. A natural flagstone path demonstrating various ground covers leads to a restful glider under the arbor.
Harrold Memorial
Borders the parking lot and features large shrubs.
Herb and Spice
Established in 1995, the herb garden delights the senses. Each garden segment showcases herbs for different uses: culinary, fragrance, tea, folklore, international cuisine, and ornamental. Visit during the growing season, and you will be sure to discover an herb you want to add to your garden.
Insectary Border
The insectary border surrounds two sides of the vegetable garden. It is planted in native pollinator plants to encourage the successful pollination of the vegetable plants.
Perennial
The emphasis of this garden is to highlight the perennial plants that bloom in different seasons. In 2025, more native species were installed, along with groundcover plants to serve as living mulch. These plants showcase a way for home gardeners to reduce the need for bark mulch and increase biodiversity in their landscapes.
Pollinator Lane Children's Garden
A children's pollinator garden started in 2022, featuring plants from A to Z for a fun, educational experience for budding gardeners.
Rock
Contains plants that grow in rocky, dry areas.
Shade
The shade garden was established in the autumn of 2019 and further developed in 2021. It features a variety of shade-tolerant plants, including spring and summer-blooming native woodland perennials. This is an underplanted bed beneath mature trees that provide the shade canopy.
Vegetable
The vegetable garden began in 2001, showcasing a variety of new, heirloom, and tried-and-true vegetables for our plant hardiness zone. Produce is harvested throughout the growing season and donated to the community through the food bank and soup kitchens.
Welcome
The Welcome Garden is the first one encountered when entering the gardens from the front parking lot. Native and drought-tolerant shrubs and perennials lay the foundation for the garden. Intermixing new and exciting annual flowers creates an ever-changing garden design from year to year. In 2026, the Welcome Garden will display a red, white, and blue theme to celebrate America's 250th birthday.
Located at 214 Donohoe Road, Greensburg, PA 15601
