Join C.L. Fornari on Zoom on June 10 at 5 pm for a celebration of Hydrangeas and a sneak preview of the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival. Hear about some new varieties of Hydrangeas and tips for growing the best plants. Learn about some of the gardens that will be on tour in July. This webinar will give you an insider look at the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival. Registration required. Click HERE.
Grab the beverage of your choice and join C.L. Fornari and Hyannis Country Garden for a December 2 Happy Hour from 5 to 6 pm.
See how you can fill pots, boxes, and other containers with plants or greens for the holidays and beyond. Discover flowers that will bloom outdoors through January, and how to find decorative materials in your own backyard. Find out how to repurpose fun containers for winter cheer. Plus have all your specific questions about your plants and gardens answered. Register here for this FREE event, or tune in on Facebook Live.
Native Plant Trust, the nation’s first plant conservation organization and the only one solely focused on New England’s native plants, announces an open call for storytellers for its annual signature event, The Botany Story Slam, which will take place on Saturday, February 26, 2022, from 6 to 8 p.m. The event is currently planned as an in-person event at Garden in the Woods in Framingham, MA; however, storytellers from around the world are welcome to submit their tales for the chance to share their stories using video technology.
A story slam is a competition in which each storyteller has minutes to share an experience on a chosen theme, with the audience interacting and voting on their favorite tale. Winning stories may be aired on the radio. We are seeking exciting, well-presented stories 5-10 minutes in length about plant adventures. Storytellers may include botanists, horticulturists, farmers, land managers, plant researchers, environmental educators, rangers, or similar plant-related professionals. For submission instructions, please email education@NativePlantTrust.org by December 1, 2021, with the subject line “Story Slam Submission.” Storytellers will be selected and notified on a rolling basis and must be available to present at the event on February 26, 2022, either in person or virtually. In past years, storytellers have included:
Wambui Ippolito, horticulturist, landscape designer, international speaker, and founder of the BIPOC Hort Group, a multicultural professional horticulture community.
Ted Elliman, botanist and author of Wildflowers of New England and co-author of Grasses, Sedges, Rushes: An Identification Guide.
Kelly D. Norris, award-winning plantsman, author of New Naturalism: Designing and Planting a Resilient, Ecologically Vibrant Home Garden, and former Director of Horticulture and Education at Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden.
C.L. Fornari, host of GardenLine on WXTK FM radio, co-host of the award-winning podcast Plantrama and author of eight books, including Sand & Soil: Creating Beautiful Gardens on Cape Cod and the Islands.
Dwayne Estes, Executive Director of Southern Grasslands Initiative, Professor of Biology and Director of the Herbarium at Austin Peay State University, Principal Investigator for the Center of Excellence for Field Biology, and author of Guide to the Vascular Plants of Tennessee.
You’re loving how your annuals are looking in the late summer, so you’re wondering if there’s a way to save these plants over the winter. This August 25 Tower Hill Botanic Garden class explains how to save commonly planted annuals and tropical plants. Learn which plants are worth devoting indoor space to, which ones can be dormant in a cool location, and what plantings you shouldn’t try to save. Discover how to take cuttings, save tubers, and enjoy some flowering plants all winter. Come with questions about the plants you have and hear how to keep them for next summer. $30 for THBG members, $44 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.
C.L. Fornari is the author of seven books and numerous articles. She’s currently the host of GardenLine, on WXTK and co-hosts the Plantrama podcast. C.L. speaks to horticultural trade shows, gardening groups and public gatherings. She writes and runs a consultation service for Hyannis Country Garden, an IGC. Her not-so-secret mission is to start a gardening revival and promote all aspects of the horticultural industry… in the meantime she cultivates plants at Poison Ivy Acres on Cape Cod and blogs at www.GardenLady.com.
The Northeast Region Perennial Plant Association Symposium is presented by Massachusetts Horticultural Society & the Perennial Plant Association. This year’s symposium includes four presentations led by some of the perennial industry’s best: CL Fornari, Nancy Lawson, Bobbie Schwartz, and Deb Trickett. Pre-registration required. Early Bird: $99; After August 12: $125. The event will take place Tuesday, August 21 from 9 – 3 at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. Register by calling 617-933-4973, or visit www.masshort.org.
C.L. Fornari is a creative gardening expert (aka plant geek) who transitioned from artist to garden communicator in 1995. She is the author seven books including her latest, The Cocktail Hour Garden, published by St. Lynn’s Press. 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 runs a consultation service for Hyannis Country Garden, an independent garden center on Cape Cod. In 2017 her book The Cocktail Hour Garden won awards from ASJA and GWA. She also won a GWA 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 its third year, 2017, the Hydrangea Festival raised over $43,000.00 for local non-profits.
Nancy Lawson is the author of The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife. In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces.
Bobbie Schwartz is the author of Garden Renovation: Transform Your Yard into the Garden of Your Dreams. Gardens, just like houses, sometimes need makeovers. The changes can be as minor as replacing a shrub or as major as pulling everything up and starting from scratch. No matter the size of your space or the scope of the project, the sage advice in Garden Renovation will help you turn a problem-filled yard into a paradise. Bobbie Schwartz draws on her years of experience as a garden designer to teach gardeners how to evaluate the plants and features present in their yards, determine what to keep and what to remove, choose the right plants and design plans for successful remodels, and how to know when to hire help. A gallery of before-and-after photos provides ideas and inspiration for turning a tired garden into an enlivening retreat.
Deborah Trickett, owner of The Captured Garden, is an award-winning container garden designer whose work has been featured in The Boston Globe, Garden Gate magazine, New England Home magazine and on the TV show New England Dream Home. She is a Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist and a frequent lecturer on container gardening at the Boston Flower and Garden Show, as well as the Philadelphia International Flower Show. She also teaches classes and workshops at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston.
The Eastham Garden Tour drew huge crowds at last year’s Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival. This year five unique Eastham gardens will be open on Tuesday, July 10th, from 10am to 4pm. For more information, go to http://EasthamGardenTour.org or contact the Eastham Library, (508) 240-5950.
$5 single entry tickets sold at gardens on tour days. $25 ticket for 6 gardens (includes a special mystery garden) and garden information available June 29 – July 10, 9am – 5pm at the Eastham Visitor Information Booth, 1700 State Highway, Eastham, MA 02642
Join us at the Eastham Public Library, 190 Samoset Road, for the Kick-Off Party June 28, 4 pm – 6 pm with Cape Cod’s fabulous garden guru, C. L. Fornari, the inspiration behind the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival. She will be speaking and signing her books.
Wet Paint Sale after the tour July 10, 4:30 pm – 6 pm featuring work created at our gardens by the Eastham Painters Guild and Friends. Proceeds support the Eastham Library Building Fund, Inc, a not for profit organization.
The Master Gardeners of Monroe County and the Rochester Museum and Science Center in Rochester, NY will present a Gathering of Gardeners 2010: A Garden of Glamour on Saturday, September 11, from 8 – 4. The programs feature nurseryman Bill Hendricks and garden consultant (and past Garden Club of the Back Bay speaker) CL Fornari. All presentations take place in the Eisenhart Auditorium of the Rochester Museum & Science Center.
Bill Hendricks will speak about Shrubs for the Mixed Border – Great Complement to Perennials, and Dwarf Conifers, an Investment in Garden Treasures. CL Fornari’s topics are The Top 25 and Myths, Lies, and the Latest Dirt. There will also be a raffle, book signings and sales, and a parking lot sale.
Bill Hendricks has been president of Klyn Nurseries in Perry, Ohio since 1987. He is a member of the American Nursery & Landscape Association and International Plant Propagator’s Society. Bill taught a plant material course at Cleveland State for 20 years, and provided review for publications including Handbook of Landscape Tree Cultivars and Landscape Plants for Ohio. He demonstrated his horticultural interest as early as age 9, starting a cactus & succulent collection ultimately including over 3,000 species as an ongoing hobby.
Bill has received several professional awards for his extensive contributions to the green industry, and is the source of numerous photos featured in professional horticultural publications. Klyn Nurseries has more than 430 acres of fieldstock and container plants, listing more than 1,600 varieties in its catalog.
CL Fornari is a Massachusetts free-lance garden consultant providing help with garden design, plant selection, and insect/disease concerns while concentrating on low-maintenance landscaping and least-toxic solutions to problems. A life-long grower of flowers, vegetables, shrubs and trees, she is a popular speaker at events like the New England Flower Show and Philadelphia Flower Show and has taught at the New York Horticultural Society.
She is the author of works including Your Garden Shouldn’t Make You Crazy, A Garden Lover’s Martha’s Vineyard, A Garden Lover’s Cape Cod, and Gardening in Sandy Soils, many illustrated with her photos. CL has served as a volunteer Master Gardener with the Barnstable Cooperative Extension Service and as a seasonal employee at Hyannis Country Garden working with annuals and propagation of perennials. She believes that the lessons learned in the garden are relevant to work, relationships, spirituality and personal growth. CL shares her plant and garden experiences at her website, gardenlady.com, authors the Whole Life Gardening blog, and hosts the “GardenLine” – call-in program on WXTK radio.
Tickets are $48, with a $5 discount if registration is postmarked by August 1. You may download a registration form by logging on to www.gatheringofgardeners.com. An optional box lunch is available for $11 (specify veggie wrap, tuna or turkey.) All proceeds from this event will be used by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County to support future horticultural education programs.
