GardenRant

GardenRant has been active on the internet since June 2006 and has gained a strong audience among garden bloggers, writers, editors, and professionals in the landscape nursery industry. The blog was started by Susan Harris, Michele Owens, and Amy Stewart, with Elizabeth Licata becoming a part of the team in 2007. While Owens and Stewart are not regular writers anymore, new partners Allen Bush and Thomas Christopher have recently joined the group.

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When the need for tree cover is questioned

1 month ago | gardenrant.com | Elizabeth Licata

Trees and forests are always subject to political winds of change, whether they’re blowing from the left or from the right. This time, efforts to improve urban tree cover are the ecological pawns in a backlash against any policy that admits to America’s history of racism. Susan recently posted on our Facebook page about a Black organization in the city of New Orleans losing funding it had been promised to restore tree canopy decimated by Katrina.
Green businesses will feel the pain of tariffs

2 months ago | gardenrant.com | Elizabeth Licata

Last time I wrote about local florists and the Slow Flowers movement, I got a comment from a reader, Sheena, who said, “I did smile when you described Canada as ‘local.’” She was right to smile. Canada goes well beyond what I think of “local” when it comes to its garden and floral-related exports to the United States. We are by far the largest destination for Canada’s floriculture and nursery-related exports.
Fun florists give me a reason to pay more

2 months ago | gardenrant.com | Elizabeth Licata

The Slow Flowers movement has finally arrived in Buffalo. I never thought it would happen. We love our gardens and our flowers here, but have always had a fairly traditional line-up of florists, who make nice but not particularly envelope-pushing arrangements and don’t seem to prioritize local sourcing and organic culture.
Let the Shrubs Sleep - GardenRant

Jan 31, 2025 | gardenrant.com | Elizabeth Licata

Guest Rant by Kamryn EverettTwo years ago in February, I walked into a local branch of a big box retailer and was taken by surprise when I saw a large display of blooming hydrangeas for sale. The gorgeous blue, pink, and purple plumes of flowers sat glowing in the middle of the sales floor like rays of warm summer light piercing the icy shield of winter’s gloom, beckoning to all impulse buyers alike.
What the Hell is Horticulture and Why Does it Matter?

Jan 16, 2025 | gardenrant.com | Scott Beuerlein

I am a horticulturist who works at a zoo. And this is often terribly humbling. Although the zoo where I work is also a botanical garden, and a damned good one (great plant collection, a beautiful tree canopy, colorful gardens, research, community work, conservation and an Arbnet level IV accreditation), whenever I’m out and about in public wearing my zoo shirt I know full well what is going to happen.
Garden writing shouldn't be free

Jan 10, 2025 | gardenrant.com | Elizabeth Licata

Trustworthy information is worth paying for, but that’s not the only reason to respect the need for publications and websites’ to put up paywalls. Writers, editors and designers – just like all of us – need to pay their mortgages and put food on the table. It seems obvious, but indignant reactions – when a site that didn’t charge before starts to or a link to a newspaper requires a subscriptions – persist. There is still a tendency for people to think everything on the internet should be free.
Impossible dreams on a cold New Year's Day

Jan 1, 2025 | gardenrant.com | Elizabeth Licata

This year, instead of gardening resolutions, which I never have and wouldn’t keep if I did, I have a list of gardening wishes. They are also unlikely – if not utterly impossible – to become reality, but there’s less guilt, this way. It’s definitely an aspirational time. Though I never plant seeds, I am getting those catalogs, as well as catalogs for summer bulbs and annuals. Old-fashioned annuals are a big weakness of mine.
Gardening and Christmas Should Be Happy

Dec 18, 2024 | gardenrant.com | Scott Beuerlein

Behind the posts, articles, conferences and social media, there’s a backstory. Have you kept up with the digital correspondence between Ranters Scott Beuerlein and Marianne Willburn? You can start here, or go back and find the entire correspondence at Dear Gardener. Cincinnati, Ohio December 18, 2024Dear Marianne,This letter actually started as a comment to your Christmas Tree post, but I found myself getting so wordy that it became this letter. Hey, let’s call it a Christmas letter.
Reflections on a Hard Year, A Reminder of Why We Garden

Dec 6, 2024 | gardenrant.com | Scott Beuerlein

For us here in Ohio, in the middle of the continent, the weather does what it does and all of us gardeners are just along for the ride. Powerless to stop it. So, it was notable that 2024 came in like a lamb. A beautiful lamb. Not like the kind you usually see with matted wool and bits of filth clinging to it. Nope, it came in like the kind of lamb you see at 4H contests, perfectly shampooed, groomed and smelling better than you would expect.
There’s reality - and then there are orchids

Nov 12, 2024 | gardenrant.com | Elizabeth Licata

I actually enjoy my garden at this time. I look around and feel a sense of accomplishment. There is nothing more for me to do here. The bulbs are in the ground, in garage pots or in root cellar pots. Everything that needs to be covered is covered – now it’s just a Japanese maple in a tree stump and another in a big pot. I used to heap bags of leaves around my old-fashioned macrophylla hydrangeas, but now I find I’m just breaking branches more than anything else. Winters just aren’t what they were.