Report From PIA – September 24 – on assignment in Raleigh, NC
My name is C.L. Fornari and I am an out-of-control plant person. I’m here at the Garden Writers annual meeting, where they are feeding my addiction.
Yes, I am also getting informed about new products that my readers and listeners will be interested in. I’ll be speaking about a new method of “hose control” and a stylish way to give your plants supplemental lighting in future GardenLine programs, and when I do I’ll post that information here as well. These and other products make coming to this meeting worthwhile as a gardener and garden communicator…but it’s the plants that make my pulse race.
Check out that variegated Abelia ‘Kaleidoscope’ in the lower left-hand corner of the photo, and the purple foliage of the Flirt Nandina just above it. Be still my beating heart.
I have to be on my guard not to get greedy.
It doesn’t bother me that these plants are small. Yes, I’m as hooked on instant gratification as everyone else is, but there’s something satisfying about taking a small plant, growing it on in a larger pot for a season, and then watching it mature in the garden.
I think it’s marvelous to be passionate about plants. When people garden without doing further harm, it’s one of the most life affirming things we can do.
At the garden writer's meeting, the hotel room is used more for plant storage than it is for sleeping. Housekeeping is instructed to please leave the drapes open, and the daily newspapers are used for wrapping for the trip home.
