For some of us, happiness is a hydrangea in full, glorious bloom.
And if you’re not yet well acquainted with these flowering shrubs, who better to learn from than The Garden Lady herself? C.L. Fornari is the author of the upcoming 2026 book Hydrangea Happiness: Planting, Pruning and Blooming, among many others. She’s also a well-known gardening radio host and podcaster, appearing over the years as a contributor on NPR’s The Cultivated Gardener, as host of GardenLine on WXTK, as co-host of the podcast Plantrama, and today as the eponymous host of The Garden Lady on several NPR stations. We get the scoop on her broadcasting career, on her founding of the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival, and on how she planned a modern-day guide to hydrangeas that’s “more Instagram and less coffee table book.”
Dive into this interview to learn about choosing the right hydrangea for a northern garden, about the truth of acidifying your soil for those beautiful blue mophead blooms, and about finding joy in your garden and your life.
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00:14 Introduction
00:56 C.L. Fornari’s Garden Radio Host Career
05:52 Founding the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival
08:33 Why (and How!) C.L. Wrote About Hydrangeas
11:21 Postcards from Plants
14:43 How Many Hydrangeas? Breeding and Selection
16:43 A Paniculata Hydrangea for Erin’s Cold, Clay Conditions
18:47 Finding the Right Spot for Your Shrub
21:16 Are Hydrangeas Invasive?
23:00 Hydrangea paniculata, a.k.a. Panicled Hydrangea
23:25 Hydrangea arborescens, aka Smooth Hydrangea
24:15 Hydrangea macrophylla, a.k.a. Bigleaf Hydrangea, a.k.a. Mophead Hydrangea
25:09 Hydrangea serrata, a.k.a. Mountain Hydrangea
27:10 C.L.’s Hydrangea Poetry
28:25 Hydrangea quercifolia, a.k.a. Oakleaf Hydrangea
28:35 Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris., a.k.a. Climbing Hydrangea
28:55 Acidifying Soil for Blue Hydrangeas
31:05 The Stubborn Myth that Pine Needles Acidify Soil
33:20 Moss Lawn Plant Rant
34:27 Macrophylla Hydrangeas with Inconsistent Colours
37:56 Poison Ivy Acres and Embracing All of Gardening
39:40 Find C.L. Fornari Online
40:45 Outro and Contact Us
