Who Says Native Plants have Longer Roots?
"Secret Life of Roots" exhibit at the U.S. Botanic Garden Still Ranting about Generalizations Over my 14+ years of garden-ranting here, my number one target has been sweeping [...]
Susan Harris
Susan’s a garden writer, teacher and activist in the Washington, D.C. area. Co-founder of GardenRant, she also wrote for national gardening magazines and independent garden centers before retiring in 2014. Now she has time for these projects:
- Founding the pro-science educational nonprofit Good Gardening Videos that finds and promotes the best videos on YouTube for teaching people to garden.
- Creating DC Gardens, the nonprofit campaign to promote the public gardens of the Washington, D.C. area, and gardening by locals.
- Creating and editing the nonprofit website Greenbelt Online to serve her adopted hometown of Greenbelt, Maryland (a “New Deal Utopia” founded in 1937).
Susan rants about anything that misinforms or discourages gardeners – from old-school quacks to mistaken do-gooders to local laws that mandate conformity.
Contact Susan via email or by leaving a comment on one of her articles.
PBS Documentary on Norman Borlaug’s “Green Revolution”
Norman Borlaug had long been on my radar for starting a "Green Revolution" in farming that no one today would call green. But in his day the term referred to [...]
“Most Beautiful College Campuses” Lists are a Mixed Bag
I couldn't resist clicking on "Conde Nest Traveler's 50 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America" listicle when it came across my Facebook feed and scrolling through the famously beautiful campuses like [...]
I Painted my Pots, and You May Not Like the Result
These pots in my back garden used to contain bold-colored annuals that grew surprisingly large - particularly the red Iresine here with sweet potato vine. Then the deer found them [...]
Bird Bath Becomes a Planter, and Fall Color in My Garden
Time to update my bird bath post, which declared the bath to be awaiting use by actual birds. I had temporarily moved it away from the house and close to [...]
First Lady Jill Biden and the White House Gardens
Now that almost everyone concedes that the Bidens will be moving into the White House soon (hopefully, soon enough!), local garden writers like me are pondering what admittedly is the [...]
Brookside Gardens is More Appreciated than Ever
I come to praise a public garden in the Maryland suburbs of D.C. for helping thousands of locals get outdoors in nature, move their bodies and feel a little saner [...]
River Farm, AHS’s Headquarters, to be Sold
River Farm, headquarters of the American Horticultural Society First we all read the big news - that the American Horticultural Society, in order to survive financially, has decided [...]
Browntail Moths and the Will to Garden
Browntail moth – note the tail! My post about Lyme Disease – especially my forgetting to freak out about it, thanks to worrying about Covid – prompted this [...]
My Front-Yard Make-Over, the Video
In lieu of organizing an in-person garden tour this year, I've gone virtual, making or helping make 8 video "tours" so far, with just one more to go. At first [...]
Now it’s Cultivar Shaming?
Admittedly, mentioning a trivial controversy in the gardening world today - with everything that's happening!! - seems ridiculous, but that's exactly what I thought when I saw this graphic posted [...]
Visiting DC Gardens and Memorials in Covid Times
Almost no traffic on Pennsylvania Avenue. I hadn't been downtown DC since last year, so with glorious September weather upon us, I was determined to go. But I'm [...]