PLANT PRODUCTION
What makes Ashcombe different?
The biggest difference between us and other garden centers? We grow the plants here! Our Plant Production department is a team dedicated to growing the highest quality annuals, vegetables, houseplants, herbs, and some perennials.
The Ashcombe Production department works in over 80,000 square feet of covered greenhouses with 35,000 square feet of outdoor growing area.
Can you guess how many individual plants the production team plants, cares for, and grows in one calendar year? It's over 500,000 plants!
Of those roughly 500,000 plants, you can find...
...over 36,000 pansy plants, containers, and pots in a wide range of colors for spring and fall
...almost 38,000 pots of herbs in over 100 varieties
...over 9,000 mums of all shapes, sizes, and colors for summer and fall
...almost 65,000 vegetable plants including more than 20 varieties of peppers, more than 35 varieties of tomatoes, and so much more!
Even with so many plants, there are no cutting corners. The Ashcombe Production team is what sets us apart from other garden centers. Comprised of five full-time and more than ten seasonal hard-working, skilled individuals, our team gets their hands in the dirt every day of the year to make sure our plants are high-quality and healthy for you to take home.
Your Houseplant Haven
Ashcombe's retail greenhouse is the perfect place for houseplant people year-round! From cacti, succulents, and terrarium plants to ficus, ferns, and herbs, there's always something wonderful in the Plant Shop.
Located just inside our retail greenhouse, you'll also find our Potting Shed. Here we'll pot your plant for free when you purchase a pot and a plant at the same time.
Our Production Team is always working on propagating and growing more plants. You're sure to find fun and unique houseplants, pots, and plant accessories in our greenhouse no matter the time of year.
Tasteful Terrariums
Events
Homegrown Annuals
The retail greenhouse is the place to be for homegrown annuals. This is where you'll find the bulk of annual plants in the springtime. Each year, explore a vast mix of anything from Alyssum to Zinnias! Later in the season, our annuals spill out into the courtyard between our greenhouses and gourmet foods department.
The Ashcombe greenhouse has the best quality and selection you'll find in Central PA. How do we know? We grow many of the plants here at Ashcombe! Our Production department grows over 150,000 annuals each year.
Whether you're looking to fill spaces in your garden bed or pot a hanging basket, make us your go-to source for quality annuals.
Explore our wide variety for the 2026 season below.
Herbs
Homegrown herbs are abundant at Ashcombe. We grow herbs year-round for the retail floor. When you enter our "Herb Alley," you'll find a vast amount of herbs alphabetized by type for easy navigation. We grow our own herbs in the greenhouse across the street to ensure quality. In one year, our Production team grows over 38,000 pots of herbs!
Herbs are a great addition to any garden. The uses for herbs are limitless! You can create your own essential oils from plants like lavender, which is also great dried. Add pizzazz to your cooking with herbs like oregano, sage, thyme, and rosemary. Grow these herbs fresh in your garden or in your kitchen to always have fresh flavor on hand.
Be sure to watch our events calendar for any upcoming herb-related workshops. One of our favorites is an indoor herb garden, where you get to pick out herbs, plant them, and learn how to care for them in the comfort of your own home.
Explore the wide variety of herbs we grow here at Ashcombe with our 2026 Plant List.
Vegetables
Growing your own veggies is a great way to bring fresh, healthy nutrients to your daily diet. Also, it's just plain fun - we would know! Our Production department grows every vegetable plant we have for sale. Each year, our team grows over 65,000 vegetable plants - from 3.25" pots and gallons to 4-packs and table top varieties.
Starting a vegetable garden isn't as scary at it can seem. Start with a sunny spot in your garden. It's helpful to take a soil test, which you can get from your local extension office - for Cumberland County, we use The Penn State Extension. Our Garden Supply department also has soil testing kits you can use on your own. Add good organic matter to your soil such as Bumper Crop, humus, or your own compost. With healthy soil, you'll be less likely to have garden pests.
Many veggies can also be grown in containers! Find a large, sturdy container, preferably with good drainage, and fill it with soil. You can find large bags of various soil types in our Garden Supply department.
Pick and choose what vegetables you grow based on what you and your family eat the most. Vegetable gardening can become an activity for the whole family with the spice-lover growing some high Scoville peppers, while more mellow family members grow cucumbers or squash. You'll have so much fun watching your garden come to life!
Early in the year (January through March), keep an eye out for beginner-oriented veggie gardening classes! Chat with our experts and find answers to all your gardening questions.
Explore the list below to see the variety of veggies we'll have available for 2026.
Homegrown at Ashcombe
In 2023, we started a campaign titled "From Seed to Sale" to help customers find Ashcombe-grown plants in our store. Our founder, Glenn Gross, started Ashcombe in 1962 with a farm and vegetable stand, growing produce and wholesale plants "from seed to sale," the building block for what Ashcombe is today.
In 2025, we revamped this campaign as "Homegrown at Ashcombe" to capture the wide range of growing we do and the various stages we work with plants in - from seeds or sprouts, to plugs to propagations.
You deserve to know where your plants come from. When you're shopping at Ashcombe, look for "Homegrown at Ashcombe" or "Ashcombe Homegrown" signage and labels in your plants. You'll know that your plant was grown and cared for just steps away by talented growers who love plants.
Interested in touring our greenhouses? Contact us!
The Plant Blog
Find information and care guides for the plants you're growing at our Plant Blog below!
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