Enjoy beautiful illustrations of the native plants and their fellow pollinators of southwestern Pennsylvania! 

Opening Fri., June 20 at Phipps' Garden Center, plant lovers of all ages can enjoy stunning illustrations of native plants and their pollinators symbiotic relationships. 

Pennsylvania’s native plants provide the greatest number of benefits to our ecosystem and food web while contributeing to the region’s biodiversity. They support birds and pollinators through many stages of their lifecycle. Native plants provide food in the form of seeds, nectar, berries and nuts and they play a critical role in maintaining insect species that are crucial to the survival of nestlings and migrating birds. They provide the proper habitat for insects consumed by bird populations in the region and they typically do not compete for space, growing out-of-control and becoming invasive. Compared to non-native plants, native plants contribute to healthier more resilient human communities by adding shade, storing carbon and absorbing stormwater to help reduce flooding and polluted run-off after storms.

This year’s exhibit features portraits in graphite, colored pencil, watercolor, gouache and pen and ink. The in person exhibit opens Fri., June 20 at the Phipps Garden Center and will run through September. Next, it will be exhibited in Phipps Conservatory's Welcome Center Gallery from October through the first week of January 2026.

For more information regarding the Phipps Botanical Illustration Program or other adult classes, please call 412-441-4442 ext. 3925 or visit phipps.conservatory.org. 

 White oak (Quercus alba), colored pencil on drafting film, illustration by Barbara Collins

White turtlehead (Chelone glabra), graphite, colored pencil and gel pen, illlustration by Betty Yee Yates

Green-headed coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), colored pencil on drafting film, illustration by Brenda Nemeth 

Smooth soloman's seal (Polygonatum biflorum), colored pencil on drafting film, illustration by Betsy Doherty

Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides), colored pencil, illustration by Carol Watkins

Winterberry (llex verticillate), colored pencil, illustration by Elsa Arce

Allegheny monkeyflower (Mimulus ringens), colored pencil, illustration by Eryn Hughes

Blue-eyed mary (Collinsia verna), colored pencil, illustration by Gloria Robulin Blake

River birch (Betula nigra), colored pencil, watercolor pencils, micron pen and acrylic paint, illustration by Janet Wilson

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), colored pencil, illustration by Jim Hansotte

Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), colored pencil, illustration by Julie Coffin

Tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipfera), watercolor, illustration by Linda Hykes 

Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), colored pencil, illustration by Linda Kass

American holly (llex opaca), colored pencil, illustration by Linda Tobin

Virgina creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), watercolor, illustration by Mary Reefer

Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), colored pencil on drafting film, illustration by Melissa Fabian

Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), graphite, watercolor and colored pencil, illustration by Michele Farell

Virgin's bower (Clematis virginiana), watercolor and gouache, illustration by Pam DeSimone Romeo

Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), watercolor and colored pencil, illustration by Robin Menard

Bottle gentian (Gentiana clausa), watercolor, illustration by Rosemaria Mazza

New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-agliae), graphite, watercolor and gouache, illustration by Stephanie S. Lind

For more information regarding Phipps' Botanical Art and Illustration Program or other adult classes, please visit phipps.conservatory.org/Learn or call 412-441-4442 ext. 3925.