When bringing houseplants back inside: Start watering with Spinosad concentrate in the watering can. Do this for the first month after your plants come back inside to kill fungus gnat larvae. (These larvae feed on...
C. L. Fornari's Blog
What Every Gnome Knows
No words are necessary here...
How Can You NOT Love Papaver rhoeas – The Red Common Poppy?
Name: Papaver rhoeas aka corn poppy, Flanders poppy or common poppy. Type of Plant: This is an annual poppy. The seeds germinate in the spring, the...
I Love Basil ‘Pesto Perpetuo’
Name: Ocimum × citriodorum (aka Ocimum x africanum or Ocimum citriodorum) 'Pesto Perpetuo' aka variegated basil Type of Plant: No matter what you...
I Love Euphorbia milii
Name: Euphorbia milii aka crown of thorns Type of Plant: A thorny, woody plant that is commonly sold as a houseplant in all parts of North America....
A Plant That Brightens Your Life – Inside and Out
Name: Dracaena fragrans ‘Lemon Lime’ aka variegated corn plant. Type of Plant: A houseplant in northern climates but a broadleaf evergreen in...
One Of The Best Summer Squash Varieties To Grow
Imagine: On Thanksgiving day I just might have started a new tradition. In between putting the turkey in the oven and prepping the potatoes and...
Problem Solving Holiday Gift List
Insider Information – On the next Episode of Plantrama, out on Thanksgiving day, Ellen and I present our holiday gift list for New Homeowners,...
Calamondin Citrus – An Indoor Edible Plant
Name: Calamondin citrus often called a calamondin orange. Type of Plant: These are a cross between a mandarin orange (Citrus reticulate) and a...
Growing ‘Winter Gold’
Imagine: A plant that is ordinary most of the year, but becomes startlingly beautiful as fall goes into winter. Name: Ilex verticillata ‘Winter...
A November Thank You Note
Dear Autumn Plants, Our growing season celebration is winding down rapidly. Some of you quietly slipped out a couple of months ago without even so...
Garden Dinner: Using What You Have
Tonight I went into the garden and picked a leek, some mustard greens and kale, broccoli, red peppers and salad. I felt blessed to have such a...
Rosemary Cocktail
Rosemary Comes Indoors If you've grown rosemary in a pot outdoors in the summer, you'll want to bring it indoors for the winter. Once inside, don't...
I Love the Mad Hatter F1 Peppers
Name: Capsicum baccatum Mad Hatter F1 hybrid pepper. Type of Plant: A very productive pepper plant with a unique shaped fruit. This pepper was...
Winter or Thanksgiving Garden Dishes
These are the dishes that I mention on the November 23rd Plantrama podcast. They are what a vegetable gardener might have on their Thanksgiving...
A Most Charming (and Edible!) Annual
Name: Tropaeolum majus – aka nasturtium Type of Plant: A warm weather annual that is the definition of cheerful. There are trailing varieties that...
Not All Ideas “Come True”
We gardeners have a saying about seeds: when you get a plant growing from seed that is the same as the parent plants, we say that the plant "comes...
Recycle Wilted Mylar Balloons
On my husband's birthday a friend surprised him by tying a large bunch of mylar helium balloons to his car. He brought the bouquet home, and they...
Best Hardy Fall Mum…Dendranthema
Name: Dendranthema – aka Chrysanthemum or even perennial daisy mums. Whatever you call them, they are bone-hardy, dependable plants. Varieties...


















