Websites
Garden Rant
Gardening While Intoxicated
Buffalo Spree
Quotes
A year ago, Licata became the fourth member of a group of garden bloggers with an attitude. Garden Rant ...is one of my favorites: A blend of gossip, news, crusade and, yes, raw rant, it blows the cobwebs out of gardening's mustier corners.
–Adrian Higgins,
Washington Post
... co-curators Elizabeth Licata and Amy Cappellazzo have magnificently transcended the limitations of what is, at bottom, a show of books. ...Preciousness—the bane of such exhibitions—is nowhere in evidence.
–Richard Huntington,
Buffalo News
"Garden Walk Buffalo: A Celebration of Urban Gardens," is a tour guide into dozens of gardens during the annual event held the last full weekend in July. It's knowingly written by Buffalo Spree editor Elizabeth Licata, and packed with gorgeous photographs...
–Mark Sommer,
Buffalo News
Published Writings (selected)
June 2011; Horticulture Magazine
How did a former industrial center with a reputation for snow and chicken wings become the home of America’s largest free garden tour?
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April/May 2009; Horticulture Magazine
When I tell a friend the title of the group blog I write with colleagues Susan Harris, Michelle Owens and Amy Stewart, I'm usually greeted with an indulgent chuckle and a question: "Garden Rant? What would there be to rant about?"Read more...
April 2008; Buffalo Spree Magazine
America’s love affair with the lawn is going to cost us a lot more than the tons of weed ’n’ feed used to nurse our obsession. How much? Well, consider a few facts.
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Dec 2006; Buffalo Spree Magazine
It’s a devastating sight. For the past month, as I’ve driven to work, I’ve seen the branches piled in red, gold, brown, and green heaps along the side of the road.
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©2006 Buffalo, New York
When Marvin Lunenfeld and Gail McCarthy planted a bright
perennial garden around their corner property at Norwood
and West Utica, they stood out on their block. Passers-by
stopped to admire the flowers, some even planning their daily
routes to pass the garden.
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Online Writings (selected)
July 2009; www.gardenrant.com
Again and again, I read: homeowners stopped from growing gardens in their easeways/parkways/medians. Or community garden space shut down for possible development. Or, here’s another common one: A woman is in hiding as she fights for Torontonians’ right to keep chickens in their backyard.
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Jan 2009; www.gardenrant.com
So what’s with the rows of narrow-leaved evergreen shrubs shrouded in burlap and bound with ropes that I see on my daily travels? Or worse, the oh-so-inviting, brown-on-one-side shrubs in pots standing proudly at the entrances of restaurants and storefronts?
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Oct 2008; www.gardeningwhileintoxicated.com
Or not. Here are a few of the common questions I get on bulbs, and a whole bunch of questions I made up so I can spread my own bulb propaganda.
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Feb 2008; www.gardenrant.com
In his straightforward introduction, Jeff Gillman outlines a personal history with pesticide use that he probably shares with most of us: chemicals were an accepted element of his family's horticultural practice.
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Jan 2008; www.gardenrant.com
While researching general trends in gardening for 2008, I found that outdoor fire pits were (forgive me) hotter than ever. Paradoxically, though, the same search engine results that yielded this hype also produced sober warnings about how wood-burning fire pits and outdoor fireplaces were an increasing source of air pollution—as well as fire hazards (which they’d always been).
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Oct 2007; www.gardenrant.com
No, you’ll find no dreadful scenes like this lurking about my property. There is no need for manufactured horror here. If I want to be filled with fright and despair, all I have to do is take a short walk around the yard.
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Sept 2009; www.gardenrant.com
Imagine having to hire a lawyer to defend your shrubs. Yet, I suppose more people than I care to think about have had to do just that.
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