This postcard arrives as the Kousa dogwoods on Cape Cod are amazing in 2025. It explains why we're seeing such an incredible display this year, and why it might not be so prolific in 2026...
A Postcard From Amazing Blooming Trees
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C. L. Fornari's Blog
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I Love Rudbeckia hirta
Name: Rudbeckia hirta aka black eyed Susans Type of Plant: Biennial that is sometimes grown as an annual. Grows 2 to 3 feet tall, often...
How To Grow Anthuriums Indoors
Name: Anthurium species and varieties, aka flamingo flower (or so I read…everyone I know just calls them “Anthuriums.”) Type of Plant: Herbaceous...
A New Year’s Television Detour
If you're only here for the plants and gardening, skip this post. But on this New Year's Day I'm looking at the offerings on selected television...
I Love The Long-Blooming Patrinia scabiosifolia
Name: Patrinia scabiosifolia aka patrinia Type of Plant: Long blooming perennial with upright flower stems that grow to about four feet tall. The...
Expectations and Mail Order Plants
(This piece was originally posted ten years ago on my first blog, Whole Life Gardening.) My first experience with mail order was in the mid-1950’s....
I Love Billbergia nutans aka The Queen’s Tears
Name: Queen’s tears bromeliad, aka Bilbergia nutans, or friendship plant. Type of Plant: An epiphytic bromeliad native to South America. The shallow...
Vegan Nachos
Anyone who has ever dined with me knows that I'm an omnivore who eats more vegetables than anything else. But on my doctor's advice I've recently...
I Love Norfolk Island Pine, aka Araucaria heterophylla
Name: Norfolk Island Pine aka, Araucaria heterophylla Type of Plant: Evergreen conifer that has a straight trunk and symmetrical branches…Native to...
I Hate Oriental bittersweet aka Celastrus orbiculatus
Name: Oriental bittersweet – aka Celastrus orbiculatus aka Chinese bittersweet or round-leaf bittersweet Type of Plant: A vine that has round or...
I Love Paperwhite Narcissus aka Narcissus papyraceus
Name: Paperwhite Narcissus aka Narcissus papyraceus Type of Plant: A fragrant variety of narcissus, bulbs that are easily forced and grown indoors...
I Love The American Cranberry – Vaccinium macrocarpon
Name: The American Cranberry – Vaccinium macrocarpon Type of Plant: Not a plant that many people grow in their yards and gardens, but one that most...
I Love Pineapple Mint ~ Mentha suaveolens ‘Variegata’
Name: Pineapple mint aka Mentha suaveolens ‘Variegata’ Type of Plant: A pretty herb with white and green leaves. This mint grows quickly, so it’s...
I Love Smokebush, Cotinus x ‘Grace’
Name: Cotinus x ‘Grace’ aka Grace smoke bush Type of Plant: A large shrub that has colorful foliage and delicate “smoke-like” flowers. Why I...
I Love King Richard Leeks
Name: King Richard Leeks aka Allium porrum ‘King Richard’ Type of Plant: Leeks are a hardy biennial that we grow as an annual vegetable in the...
I Love Callicarpa Purple Pearls
Name: Callicarpa Purple Pearls® aka Callicarpa x 'NCCX1' USPP 26,000 aka purple pearls beautyberry. Type of Plant: This is a beautyberry that is a...
I Love Variegated Boxwood
Name: Buxus sempervirens 'Variegata' aka variegated boxwood. Type of Plant: A slow growing evergreen shrub that does well in full sun to part...
Harvesting and Preserving Garden Leeks
That row of leeks we planted in June is now chock full of large plants that are ready to harvest. And I'm happy to cut many of them in mid-October,...