Written by Barbara Gee
Your newest Fritillaria tulips have been planted as have your favorite Thalia daffodils. The garden is cut back and put to bed, the leaves are raked, shredded and on your compost pile – so what do you do now? You dream, read and plan for next year. Perhaps the event to get you jump-started on your dreaming and planning is The Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden Show (www.flowershow.com) which, in 2008, will be held February 21-24 at the Convention Center in Providence. It’s an inspiring, educational and very fun event – not to be missed.
My upcoming book, The Rhode Island Gardeners Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Ocean State*, which is chock full of information for Rhode Island gardeners, has a very detailed chapter on gardening resources for RI gardeners. There is a wealth of information in Little Rhody – fabulous garden centers, plant societies, public gardens… and I detail them all, but here are a few to get you started (you’ll find the contact information at the end of the article).
I have found some of my best advice comes from my local garden centers. Knowledgeable staff really do enjoy helping with gardening questions so don’t be timid about asking. A favorite story involves the Island Garden Shop on Bristol Ferry Road in Portsmouth. The owner, Martin Van Hof is a very busy man and yet when I walked in one day with a sickly plant he took time out of his day to find an answer for me. It was a challenge for him and he rallied, with pleasure. Which is why I’m a loyal customer.
Local garden clubs and horticultural societies are also wonderful resources as is our own University of Rhode Island in Kingston. URI has a terrific environmental sciences, plant sciences and horticulture program, one of the best in New England, not to mention a fabulous botanical garden which is open to the public. There are multiple resources at URI – the Cooperative Extension (CE) and the Education Center (CEEC), the GreenShare program, Home*A*Syst water program, sustainable landscaping…
The URI Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program is known to be one of the best in the country. The mission of this program is education and master gardeners are trained volunteers who help the public with their gardening problems. URI has also partnered with the new Roger Williams Park Botanical Center in Providence so many of the education programs there are created by URI Extension Master Gardeners. URI and RWP have also partnered with various Rhode Island plant societies such as the New England Carnivorous Plant Society, the RI Rose Society, the RI Orchid Society, and more…
URI’s lovely Dr. Marion Gold, an entomologist and Director of the Cooperative Extension Education Center, is also The Plant Pro on NBC/Channel 10. This is a very popular gardening segment that is broadcast from the URI greenhouses and airs frequently.
Garden books and magazines are, of course, a fabulous way of learning more about gardening. My all-time favorite book about gardening is A Gentle Plea for Chaos by Mirabel Osler. She has captured my attitude to gardening perfectly. But the first book I ever read on gardening, and one that I constantly return to, is The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch. She and her husband Eliot Coleman are both organic gardeners, farmers and writers. Coleman has published a number of books one of which is The Four Season Harvest. I should add here that anything I read is about organic or biodynamic gardening. I have moved completely away from anything synthetic in my garden.
I list over 40 good garden books in the resources chapter of my book but I’ll include a few here that have a northeast if not Rhode Island focus:
The Adventurous Gardener – Where to Buy the Best Plants in New England by Ruah Donnelly
Coastal Plants: from Cape Cod to Cape Canaveral by Irene H. Stuckey & Lisa Lofland Gould
A Guide to Rhode Island’s Natural Places by Elizabeth Gibbs, Tony Corey, Malia Schwartz, Deborah Grossman-Garber, Carole Jaworski, Margaret Bucheit
Native Trees, Shrubs and Vines by William Cullina
The New England Gardener’s Book of Lists by Karan Davis Cutler
The New York Times 1000 Gardening Questions & Answers
A Northeast Gardener’s Year by Lee Reich
The Practical Gardener by Roger Swain
Seascape Gardening: from New England to the Carolinas by Anne Halpin and Roger Foley
Trees of Newport: on the estates of the Preservation Society of Newport County by Richard L. Champlin
Weeds of the Northeast by Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal, and Joseph M. DiTomaso
A few other resources for you:
Apeiron Institute for Environmental Living, www.apeiron.org, a Rhode Island organization that promotes sustainable living and agriculture.
Toxics Information Project, www.toxicsinfo.org. I can’t resist this one – a Rhode Island based organization, TIP publishes the Less Toxic Landscaping Resource Directory.
Save the Bay, www.savebay.org. They have published a great brochure Yard Care Guide for the Homeowner.
Farm Fresh Rhode Island, www.farmfreshri.org, links Rhode Islanders with local and organic foods, farm stands, community supported agriculture and much more…
Gardening for Good, www.gardening4good.org, founded by Rhode Islander Mary Beth Miller, educates the public in ways for older and incapacitated folks continue to garden.
New England Carnivorous Plant Society, www.necps.org, was founded by Rhode Islander John Phillip, Jr.
Rhode Island Federation of Garden Clubs, www.gardencentral.org/rigardenclubs. There are 32 clubs in Rhode Island.
Rhode Island Orchid Society, www.riorchidsociety.org.
Rhode Island Rose Society, www.rirs.org.
Rhode Island Tree Council, www.ritree.org.
Rhode Island Wild Plant Society, www.riwps.org.
Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, www.providenceri/botanical-center.com.
University of Rhode Island, www.uri.edu
URI Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners Association, www.urimga.org
The Providential Gardener is a website created by Rhode Islander Susan Korté to “link the Growing Community” – fabulous resource: www.providentialgardener.typepad.com.
Garden Guys radio show, www.garden-guys.com. Sam Jeffries and Fred Jackson – airs on Sundays from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. on WHJJ 920 AM.
People, Places & Plants, www.ppplants.com, a magazine for northeast gardeners, with a calendar of events and listing of other resources and public gardens.
Happy dreaming and planning for 2008.
*The Rhode Island Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Ocean State, published by Globe Pequot Press, will be available in January. The Massachusetts Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening from the Berkshires to the Islands, was published in 2007.
Your newest Fritillaria tulips have been planted as have your favorite Thalia daffodils. The garden is cut back and put to bed, the leaves are raked, shredded and on your compost pile – so what do you do now? You dream, read and plan for next year. Perhaps the event to get you jump-started on your dreaming and planning is The Rhode Island Spring Flower & Garden Show (www.flowershow.com) which, in 2008, will be held February 21-24 at the Convention Center in Providence. It’s an inspiring, educational and very fun event – not to be missed.
My upcoming book, The Rhode Island Gardeners Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Ocean State*, which is chock full of information for Rhode Island gardeners, has a very detailed chapter on gardening resources for RI gardeners. There is a wealth of information in Little Rhody – fabulous garden centers, plant societies, public gardens… and I detail them all, but here are a few to get you started (you’ll find the contact information at the end of the article).
I have found some of my best advice comes from my local garden centers. Knowledgeable staff really do enjoy helping with gardening questions so don’t be timid about asking. A favorite story involves the Island Garden Shop on Bristol Ferry Road in Portsmouth. The owner, Martin Van Hof is a very busy man and yet when I walked in one day with a sickly plant he took time out of his day to find an answer for me. It was a challenge for him and he rallied, with pleasure. Which is why I’m a loyal customer.
Local garden clubs and horticultural societies are also wonderful resources as is our own University of Rhode Island in Kingston. URI has a terrific environmental sciences, plant sciences and horticulture program, one of the best in New England, not to mention a fabulous botanical garden which is open to the public. There are multiple resources at URI – the Cooperative Extension (CE) and the Education Center (CEEC), the GreenShare program, Home*A*Syst water program, sustainable landscaping…
The URI Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program is known to be one of the best in the country. The mission of this program is education and master gardeners are trained volunteers who help the public with their gardening problems. URI has also partnered with the new Roger Williams Park Botanical Center in Providence so many of the education programs there are created by URI Extension Master Gardeners. URI and RWP have also partnered with various Rhode Island plant societies such as the New England Carnivorous Plant Society, the RI Rose Society, the RI Orchid Society, and more…
URI’s lovely Dr. Marion Gold, an entomologist and Director of the Cooperative Extension Education Center, is also The Plant Pro on NBC/Channel 10. This is a very popular gardening segment that is broadcast from the URI greenhouses and airs frequently.
Garden books and magazines are, of course, a fabulous way of learning more about gardening. My all-time favorite book about gardening is A Gentle Plea for Chaos by Mirabel Osler. She has captured my attitude to gardening perfectly. But the first book I ever read on gardening, and one that I constantly return to, is The Garden Primer by Barbara Damrosch. She and her husband Eliot Coleman are both organic gardeners, farmers and writers. Coleman has published a number of books one of which is The Four Season Harvest. I should add here that anything I read is about organic or biodynamic gardening. I have moved completely away from anything synthetic in my garden.
I list over 40 good garden books in the resources chapter of my book but I’ll include a few here that have a northeast if not Rhode Island focus:
The Adventurous Gardener – Where to Buy the Best Plants in New England by Ruah Donnelly
Coastal Plants: from Cape Cod to Cape Canaveral by Irene H. Stuckey & Lisa Lofland Gould
A Guide to Rhode Island’s Natural Places by Elizabeth Gibbs, Tony Corey, Malia Schwartz, Deborah Grossman-Garber, Carole Jaworski, Margaret Bucheit
Native Trees, Shrubs and Vines by William Cullina
The New England Gardener’s Book of Lists by Karan Davis Cutler
The New York Times 1000 Gardening Questions & Answers
A Northeast Gardener’s Year by Lee Reich
The Practical Gardener by Roger Swain
Seascape Gardening: from New England to the Carolinas by Anne Halpin and Roger Foley
Trees of Newport: on the estates of the Preservation Society of Newport County by Richard L. Champlin
Weeds of the Northeast by Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal, and Joseph M. DiTomaso
A few other resources for you:
Apeiron Institute for Environmental Living, www.apeiron.org, a Rhode Island organization that promotes sustainable living and agriculture.
Toxics Information Project, www.toxicsinfo.org. I can’t resist this one – a Rhode Island based organization, TIP publishes the Less Toxic Landscaping Resource Directory.
Save the Bay, www.savebay.org. They have published a great brochure Yard Care Guide for the Homeowner.
Farm Fresh Rhode Island, www.farmfreshri.org, links Rhode Islanders with local and organic foods, farm stands, community supported agriculture and much more…
Gardening for Good, www.gardening4good.org, founded by Rhode Islander Mary Beth Miller, educates the public in ways for older and incapacitated folks continue to garden.
New England Carnivorous Plant Society, www.necps.org, was founded by Rhode Islander John Phillip, Jr.
Rhode Island Federation of Garden Clubs, www.gardencentral.org/rigardenclubs. There are 32 clubs in Rhode Island.
Rhode Island Orchid Society, www.riorchidsociety.org.
Rhode Island Rose Society, www.rirs.org.
Rhode Island Tree Council, www.ritree.org.
Rhode Island Wild Plant Society, www.riwps.org.
Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, www.providenceri/botanical-center.com.
University of Rhode Island, www.uri.edu
URI Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners Association, www.urimga.org
The Providential Gardener is a website created by Rhode Islander Susan Korté to “link the Growing Community” – fabulous resource: www.providentialgardener.typepad.com.
Garden Guys radio show, www.garden-guys.com. Sam Jeffries and Fred Jackson – airs on Sundays from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. on WHJJ 920 AM.
People, Places & Plants, www.ppplants.com, a magazine for northeast gardeners, with a calendar of events and listing of other resources and public gardens.
Happy dreaming and planning for 2008.
*The Rhode Island Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening in the Ocean State, published by Globe Pequot Press, will be available in January. The Massachusetts Gardener’s Companion: An Insider’s Guide to Gardening from the Berkshires to the Islands, was published in 2007.