Short Bio For General Use:

Click here to download a word document containing C.L. Fornari’s bio information that can be copied and pasted as needed.

C.L. Fornari is a creative gardening expert (aka plant geek) who transitioned from artist to garden communicator in 1995. She is the author eight books including her latest, Sand and Soil ~ Creating Beautiful Gardens on Cape Cod and the Islands, published by David R. Godine Inc.

C.L. is the host GardenLine, heard on WXTK, and co-host of Plantrama, a podcast produced by Zachos and Fornari. She speaks to audiences at horticultural trade shows, garden clubs, botanical gardens, master gardener symposiums, alumni/women’s groups and neighborhood associations. In addition to speaking, radio, and writing, C.L. blogs and does educational events for Hyannis Country Garden, an independent garden center on Cape Cod.

In 2019 the Plantrama podcast won the Gold Media Award from GardenComm, and  2017 her book The Cocktail Hour Garden won awards from ASJA and GardenComm (formerly GWA). She also won a GardenComm  award in 2017 for writing on her website. In 2012 C.L. was awarded the Garden Communicator Of The Year from the Perennial Plant Association and in 2013 won three awards from the Garden Writers Association. In 2015 C.L. launched the first annual Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival, a ten-day regional celebration of open gardens. In 2022 the festival raised over $100,000.00 for local nonprofits.

C.L. loves children, cooking, and dogs. She says that you can never go wrong with the color purple, and her not-so-secret mission is to put horticulture back into popular culture. In the meantime, she grows multitudes of plants on Poison Ivy Acres on Cape Cod.

See her speak with Mo Rocca about Hydrangeas in this Sunday Morning Episode.

Need additional information? Here is a more detailed bio.

Speaker

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C.L. Fornari has given lectures and classes at the New York Horticultural Society, NYC, and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Boston, MA, and at spring flower shows nationwide.

CL presents talks for gardening professionals  and has spoken at New England Grows, The Rhode Island Nursery and Landscaping Association, Landscape Ontario, iLandscape, NCNLA, MNLA  and several Master Gardener Symposiums.

Writer

Author of: Sand and Soil, published by David Godine Publishers; The Cocktail Hour Garden, and Coffee for Roses, published by St. Lynn’s Press; A Garden Lover’s Martha’s Vineyard and A Garden Lover’s Cape Cod, published by Commonwealth Editions; The Cape Cod Garden and Your Garden Shouldn’t Make You Crazy , published by Parnassus Imprints; Gardening in Sandy Soils, published by Storey Publications; and A Garden Wedding published by Paraphyses Press.

C.L. writes the Retail Revival column for Garden Center Magazine and her articles have appeared a variety of publications including: Fine Gardening, Country Gardens Magazine, Coastal Home, The Traditional Gardener, Cape Cod Life, Cape Cod Home, The Barnstable Patriot, and American Nurseryman Magazine.

For many years C.L. was a monthly columnist for Prime Time Magazine, published by The Cape Cod Times and for Angie’s List Magazine.

Photographer

Photos published in American Nurseryman Magazine, Coastal Home, Prime Time Magazine, Cape Cod Life, Cape Cod Home. Book photography: The Cocktail Hour Garden, and Coffee for Roses, published by St. Lynn’s Press;  A Garden Lover’s Cape Cod, published by Commonwealth Editions 2007 and A Garden Lover’s Martha’s Vineyard published by Commonwealth Editions 2008; Sand and Soil, Creating Beautiful Gardens on Cape Cod and the Islands, published by David Godine Publishers, 2019

Television & Radio

Fornari is currently the host of GardenLine – a call-in talk-radio program on WXTK 95.1FM every Saturday morning starting at 8 AM, and co-host of Plantrama, a podcast with Ellen Zachos, which is found at www.Plantrama.com.

She has been heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, hosted by Linda Wertheimer, and was a contributor to The Cultivated Gardener, an hour-long gardening program broadcast on NPR stations nation-wide, from Oct. 1999 – Sept. 2000. C.L. is a frequent guest on other podcasts and live radio programs.

Gardener

Life-long grower of flowers, vegetables, shrubs and trees (i.e. Garden Geek).

Affiliations

ASJA, Perennial Plant Association, OFA, MNLA, GardenComm, and a Professional member of The National Speakers Association.

Contact

CL Fornari, PO Box 355, Osterville, MA 02655 USA
Email: clfornari “at” gmail.com

Yes, everyone calls me C.L. ~ I have my radio audience convinced it stands for “Compost Lover.” 

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