The Ungardener: by the books

Michele Paladino’s nursery, “Lindera” in Falls Village.
Dee Salomon
Michele Paladino’s nursery, “Lindera” in Falls Village.
It was a bit unfair, in my last column, to write a critique of a well-regarded plant reference book (“When the guide gets it wrong”) without recommending a satisfactory replacement or two.
As a novice gardener, I found plant selection — native or not — to be overwhelming and relied on website databases that let me enter soil, moisture, light and critter criteria, then return options I could research. Unsurprisingly, this yielded little garden satisfaction in situ. It may well be that it takes a little poetry to create a garden.
That’s where books come in.A well-written reference book can provide the kind of commentary that goes beyond a plant’s likelihood of survival in one’s garden.
Page Dickey’s (a well-known garden writer and landscape designer who lives in Falls Village) go-to on native plants is the three-volume set by Michael Cullina who led The Wildflower Society (now called The Native Plant Trust). Each book delves into different categories of plants: one on native trees, shrubs and vines (“one of my bibles” is the inscription on the opening page), another on native ferns, mosses and grasses and a third on wildflowers.
Dickey’s copies evidence of heavy use; in addition to hand-written commentary, there are check marks for the plants that she has either grown or identified. After a perusal, I looked more closely to get Cullina’s take on some of my favorite plants. While disappointed to find only one of the three types of aralias I admire — Aralia spinoza, the Devil’s Walking Stick — I was amazed to read about some fantastic species I didn’t know.
With their ease of use and combination of fact and considered opinion, the books function a bit like Dirr’s “Hardy Trees and Shrubs,” the subject of my last column. Unlike Dirr’s book — which ignores the role of native plants in maintaining habitats and glosses over the invasive tendencies of many plants that Dirr extolls — Cullina’s books help the reader understand the importance of specific plants and the roles they play in keeping our environments healthy for all animals, including us.
Doug Tallamy, the renowned entomologist and co-founder of Homegrown National Park, once provided data that was incorporated into the Native Plant Finder database for the National Wildlife Foundation. He stands by the practicality of digital databases for supplying information that can be updated as the environment continues to change.
Dee Salomon
Still, Tallamy is partial to a number of reference books and cited two he has relied on for years: “Native Plants of the Northeast” by Donald J. Leopold, and “Native Trees for North American Landscapes” by Guy Sternberg.
“They were among the early books I encountered when I started thinking about native plants,” said Tallamy. “They are rich in good photos, and they describe the conditions under which various species do well. I like Guy’s books in part because he does his best to talk about how they meet the needs of various animal species. No other book talks much about the insects that plants support because when they were written, we knew little about host plant associations.”
Much of what I’ve planted successfully in the past two years came at the recommendation of Michele Paladino, a plantswoman, landscape designer and proprietor of Lindera, a nursery specializing in native plants. She recently relocated the nursery to the former Falls Village Flower Farm.
Like Dickey and Tallamy, Paladino also turns to a few essential sources. “When I’m working on a project, I really want to ponder trees and their character. I always go back to books for inspiration.”
She, too, recommends Sternberg’s book as a go-to reference on trees, and highlights the two books by Carol Gracie on both Spring and Summer wildflowers. These two books delve more deeply into fewer plants — most, but not all, native — pointing out the insects and birds that they attract and including hand-drawn illustrations.
I was surprised to see two pages dedicated to broadleaf helleborine, a non-native orchid I’ve had my eye on in the woods for a while. Gracie argues both for and against this plant; her verdict is: pull them out.
Although she would not want to be characterized this way, Paladino is the best kind of human reference guide to native plants, sharing both essential plant information and her editorial perspective.
With Fall planting season at our doorstep, I recommend a visit to her nursery, located where the Falls Village Flower Farm used to be. Come with questions, as Paladino likes to consult and collaborate with clients.
There is always lasting affection for books that sparked our curiosity for a lifelong passion. The books Dickey, Tallamy and Palladino recommend were last published a couple of decades ago. They recognize that they are trading some up-to-date accuracy of information for prose that inspires and provokes — sentiment is preferred.
Might publishers reissue these books in digital form? That would allow for contemporary updates on plant diseases, soil chemistry changes and invasive species associated with climate change — as well as the resulting species decline we, and entire ecosystems, are rapidly experiencing.
Done well, it could thread the needle between accuracy and allure.
Dee Salomon ‘ungardens’ in Litchfield County.
One of the entries in this year’s Community Day Scarecrow Contest, Ichabod Hiccup, at left, seems to be particularly enjoying the solo performance of Wil Greenstreet, whose strolling pop-up saxophone performances delighted visitors to the village on Saturday, Sept. 20. For more photos, turn to Page A8.
A popular feature of the Millbrook Library lawn area was a carpet of children’s books being given away for free. Appealing to little Julien Gulbrandsen, 3, of Pleasant Valley was the story of a pancake, being read by her mother Lauren Gulbrandsen. It is likely that the little book went home with them.Photo by Leila Hawken
Family fun and community were the order of the long-planned Community Day, on Saturday, Sept. 20, as village turned out to welcome visitors from throughout the region for a day of activities, contests, parades, displays, sales and the joy of being together.Photo by Leila Hawken
Top row, left to right, Caroline Kinsolving, Christopher McLinden, Dana Domenick, Reid Sinclair and Director Hunter Foster. Bottom row, left to right, Will Nash Broyles, Dick Terhune, Sandy York and Ricky Oliver in Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap.”
Opening on Sept. 26, Agatha Christie’s legendary whodunit “The Mousetrap” brings suspense and intrigue to the Sharon Playhouse stage, as the theater wraps up its 2025 Mainstage Season with a bold new take on the world’s longest-running play.
Running from Sept. 26 to Oct. 5, “The Mousetrap” marks another milestone for the award-winning regional theater, bringing together an ensemble of exceptional local talent under the direction of Broadway’s Hunter Foster, who also directed last season’s production of “Rock of Ages." With a career that spans stage and screen, Foster brings a fresh and suspense-filled staging to Christie’s classic.
The Playhouse’s casting includes Dana Domenick of Falls Village who leads the cast as Mollie Ralston, the newlywed innkeeper with a secret. Reid Sinclair of Norfolk plays Giles, her husband and partner in hospitality — and maybe in something more sinister. Will Nash Broyles from Lakeville plays the eccentric and enigmatic Christopher Wren, and Sandy York of Sharon will play the role of the imperious Mrs. Boyle. Dick Terhune (Litchfield), Caroline Kinsolving (Salisbury), Ricky Oliver (Pawling), and Christopher McLinden (also Lakeville) round out the cast as the play’s increasingly suspicious guests — and one very determined detective.
As always, Sharon Playhouse has gathered a top-tier creative team to match its cast. The Swader brothers (Christopher and Justin) return with their signature scenic designs, while Kathleen DeAngelis’s costumes and Bobbie Zlotnik’s wigs promise to anchor us firmly in postwar England, even as the plot spirals into timeless psychological suspense. Lighting by Wheeler Moon and sound design by Graham Stone will help turn the cozy theater into a stage crackling with tension.
If you’ve never seen “The Mousetrap,” here’s what you need to know: it’s the murder mystery that truly defined the genre. Premiering in London’s West End in 1952 and still running strong over 30,000 performances later, Christie’s ingenious puzzle unfolds in a snowbound manor house where everyone has something to hide, and no one is safe from suspicion. Its final twist is famously kept secret by audiences — a tradition of theatrical discretion that only deepens the sense of shared experience.
“The enduring success of ‘The Mousetrap’ lies in its suspense, yes, but also in its structure,” said the Playhouse’s Artistic Director Carl Andress. “It’s a masterclass in storytelling. And with Hunter Foster leading this incredible cast of local artists, we know our audiences are in for an evening of mystery, laughter, and yes, plenty of gasps.”
Tickets are available now at SharonPlayhouse.org.