Our Gardens
Annville Inn Gardens was created by your Innkeeper’s husband, Craig, who has been a lifelong gardener; was Executive Director of the world-famous Hershey Gardens where he ushered in a period of renewal and expansion during his tenure; and was also deeply involved as a Senior Manager at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC and Manhattan, NYC. While there, he worked on the garden design still prominent at the museum’s entrance including the waterway, native plantings and “Grandfather Rocks.” He also has been a consulting rosarian for other public rose gardens in Pennsylvania, was a featured speaker for the American Rose Society, and was a presenter at a national meeting of America in Bloom.
Rosalie's Inspirations
Rosalie also has had a hand in the overall garden design at Annville Inn B&B. She helped Craig lay out the large Butterfly Garden, the design and orientation of the Hanging Gardens' Pergola, and sat with him over graph paper many long evenings plotting out the layout of the Maze, as well as other garden layouts on the property.
Today, she harvests blooms from all the gardens to create fresh flower arrangements, placed throughout the inn on a continual basis. It is very common to see Rosalie out in the gardens, a big smile on her face as she finds just the right blooms for her arrangements. She creates 12 to 14 fresh flower arrangements for Annville Inn Bed & Breakfast daily!
Garden Highlights
Garden highlights change from season to season and from garden to garden. We will keep you advised of what is happening in our Gardens on a regular basis through our Annville Inn Bed & Breakfast Blog and social media. Each year is different in our Gardens as we are always introducing new plants, planting arrangements, and changing or redeveloping some of our themed Gardens.
Maintaining over 600 roses and 3,000 flowering bulbs “and everything else in between” is a constant chore. It is not uncommon to find Craig or other gardeners, out in the Gardens working fast at dusk as he “chases the sun,” then later on in moonlight, still plugging away using a headlamp!
Birds & Butterflies
Our gardens are filled with bluebird boxes, and our Purple Mountain apartment complex is open for tenants. Our gardens attract a variety of songbirds, hummingbirds, insects and more. We are an official Monarch Waystation, we band Monarchs each fall to study the migration, and plant milkweed (the only food for monarch caterpillars) wherever possible. For this reason, we intersperse native plants in order to offer maximum nourishment to our wildlife friends.
Annville Gardens by the Numbers:
9 Fountains
4 Waterfall Features
600+ Roses
3,000+ Flowering Bulbs
12 Special Benches for Resting
16 Trails Connect Most Gardens
Three Ponds and a Bridge
3 Pergolas
Thousands of Specialty Plants in Outdoor Gardens & Indoor Gardens (Including Over 60 Orchids and 70 Amaryllis)
Herb Kitchen Garden
33 Themed Flower Gardens
3 Tons of Compost (reduced down to 500 pounds): The amount of compost we generate yearly to fill our planters. All eggshells, fruit rinds & pits, coffee grounds, chip cardboard, office paper and more are composted and returned to the soil to nourish our flowers. If it is organic and comes from our kitchens, coffee bars and plants we grow, it gets composted in our inn’s green recycle program.
Gardens Map
View all but the southernmost gardens and pathways
Parting Thoughts ...
Gardens are a place of peace and calm. Of tranquility, meditation, prayer, joy, celebration. Restfulness. Life. A place to become “centered.”
“Gardens take a long time to grow and develop. What you see today at Annville Inn Gardens is a result of master landscape planning we launched way back in 2005. At the time the Gardens looked sparse and wide open. Now they have grown to fulfill our original vision. What you see today does not happen in just a few years. Everything you see we planned and created NOT for ourselves, but instead for our Guests.” – Craig George, Annville Inn Horticulturist
Annville Inn’s Botanical Garden is unique. Almost all B&B’s have beautiful gardens and lawns. What sets Annville Inn apart is this is an extensive botanical garden, tended for over 21 years with great care by nine part-time gardeners and all done solely for the pleasure of our Guests. Frankly, as serious gardeners with professional hort backgrounds, the gardens at Annville Inn are a joy for us to be in every day as well. - Tammy H., a long-time Head Gardener at Annville Inn Gardens.