C.L. Fornari
Host, The Garden LadyC.L. Fornari is the author of eight books, including Coffee for Roses and The Cocktail Hour Garden. She’s a professional speaker, the former host of GardenLine on WXTK, and co-host of the Plantrama podcast. She is a frequent speaker to groups nationwide, and has worked for a family-owned independent garden center for 25 years. C.L. grows vegetables, flowers, shrubs, trees and numerous other plants at Poison Ivy Acres on Cape Cod. In 2015 C.L. launched the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival, a ten-day regional celebration of gardens that typically raises over $100,000.00 for local non-profits every year and draws public attention to Hydrangeas and gardening.
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On The Garden Lady today, C.L. starts off with a postcard about holes in leaves. Then she welcomes Dabney Day, Writer, Producer and Director of the film “The Gardener.” This movie, screening in selected theaters, invites the audience to slow down, listen and feel. Then the program moves from the metaphorical to the practical with plant questions from listeners about herbs, potatoes, blueberries and other June gardening matters. -
The Garden Lady spoke to the Insect Lady today as Margie Patlak, author of Insect Safari, was C.L. Fornari's guest. C.L. took calls from listeners who were asking about squirrels, woodchucks, peonies and more. -
This episode began with a postcard from American Holly, a plant that is naturally shedding the old leaves as it grows new foliage. C.L. welcomes Jim Long, author of Wildcrafter Garden Structure: Making Bentwood Trellises, Arbors, Gates and Fences. Listeners called in with questions about lilacs, azalea pruning, tomatoes and more. -
In this episode of The Garden Lady C.L. starts off program with a postcard from azalea gall. She discusses favorite herbs and where to plant them, and takes calls from listeners about rejuvenating lilacs, boxwood problems, and why dahlias dried up in storage. -
This program starts off with a postcard from Robin's plantain, aka fleabane. C.L. explains the advantages and disadvantages to tilling or not tilling vegetable gardens, and callers asked questions about peony buds filled with ants, invasive perennials and a Japanese maple tree that has some dieback. -
The Garden Lady opens the program with a postcard from plants for the cutting garden. C.L. then focused on pruning of hydrangeas, explaining that different species get pruned in separate ways. Calls from listeners covered many topics, from great varieties of tomatoes to black spot on roses, and possible suggestions for replacement shrubs where a burning bush once grew. -
The guest on The Garden Lady was Jon Laurie, Director of Municipal Outreach for the Black Earth Compost Company. Among other spring topics, callers to the program asked about squirrels eating the new growth on trees, groundcover for hot, dry areas, and getting rid of pea-gravel mulch. -
C.L. talks to Rhonda Fleming Hayes, author of Garden For Life and answers your questions. -
It's a spring planting extravaganza as The Garden Lady talks with Katie Rotella, of Ball Horticultural, about four top performing plants for 2026. -
C.L. talks with Stephen Orr, author of The Gardener's Mindset: Connecting With Nature Through Plants and answers your calls.
