Garden Articles by C.L. Fornari Myths, Lies and All The Latest Dirt Digging deep into garden myths was such fun and I hope you'll find the debunking...
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Myths, Lies, and All The Latest Dirt
That has been the title of a talk about garden myths that I’ve been presenting since 2004. When St. Lynn’s Press expressed a desire to have me do a...
A Foodie’s Garden
A Foodie's Garden If you’re a foodie and you’re not growing vegetables I have just five words: what are you waiting for? OK, maybe I have more than...
May Garden Days
May Garden Days Commemorate the Gifts from the Garden Every Day in May MAY 1st is Garden Bouquet Day The garden offers an ongoing source of bouquets...
Fornari’s Favorites – 2004
When I'm asked to name my favorite plant, my standard response is "whatever I looked at ten minutes ago." I am and out-of-control plant person,...
Fornari’s Favorites – 2005
Blue flowering Baptisia makes a good companion for peonies, poppies, and other early summer bloomers. The Fusion Exotic Impations share the back...
How to Choose a Healthy Plant
Recently, I was helping a customer who wanted to purchase a shrub. "Choose a good one for me," she requested. "Well," I said as I pulled some plants...
pH Explained
In my early years of gardening I didn't know the difference between pH and PMS; I had no idea if my soil was alkaline or acidic. Fortunately most...
Superior Oil
Last week a distressed gardener entered the nursery carrying a clear plastic bag, held at arm's length. In the bag were some stems. "WHAT is on my...
First Year Sleep
As I help my customers in the perennial section of the garden center, people often have questions about size and rate of growth. "I planted this...
Creating New Beds
Initially, my neighbors thought I was crazy. They would drive slowly by, watching me work. I was laying a thick layer of newspapers on top of the...
Waiting For Winter
I am putting my garden to bed. Although I know many gardeners who wait until spring to clear out spent annuals and perennials, I prefer to do this...
Preventing Houseplant Problems
I know you've heard the saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Well, when it comes to your houseplants, preventing problems is so...
Growing Paperwhite Narcissus Indoors
One of the easiest ways to fill the winter season with fragrance is to grow Paperwhite Narcissus. This bulb, Narcissus tazetta, is a tender plant,...
Planting Shrubs for Screening
"I need some evergreens!" an almost panicked woman recently said to me. "They're building on the lot next door, and they've cut down all the trees!"...
Keeping Poinsettias
Every year when I buy a holiday poinsettia I make the same vow: this year, I'm letting it die. This may seem like an odd pledge for a gardener to...
Seedlings Under Lights
Last spring a neighbor approached me saying, "You might want to know that your basement lights are being left on at night." He was trying to be...
The Prevention Potion
When my son was small, a sure-fire way to keep him busy was to put him in the herb garden with a bucket of water. He would pick the pungent herbs...