Virginia Smith

Ginny Smith, a Philadelphia native, worked as a reporter at newspapers in New York, Connecticut and Ohio – with six short months at the end of the Bulletin tossed in – before coming back to Philadelphia in 1985 to work at the Inquirer. She was in the paper’s Montgomery County bureau briefly before moving to the City Desk, where she wrote about Center City and urban issues like homelessness. Ginny spent eight years after that as an editor, most recently as the paper’s City Editor and Pennsylvania Editor, before returning to reporting in 2004.

She’s been gardening forever – and happily writing about it since 2006. In that short time, she’s won two silver medals of achievement from the national Garden Writers Association, most recently for a 2008 story on invasive plants.

Read Ginny's blog Blog Kiss the Earth
Latest post: Four-legged mowers - 11/20/2009
Email Ginny at vsmith@phillynews.com

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Hail to the chief White House decorator

Garden Q&A
Garden Calendar
Kiss the Earth: Ginny Smith blogs on gardening

For truly tasty garlic, it's a do-it-yourself delight - 11/06/2009: By Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer

Last year, Tim Jones created the perfect recipe for garlic butter, but as he searched for just the right ingredients, he discovered something many Americans still don't realize: Most of the garlic sold in supermarkets comes from China.
Good old orchids - 10/30/2009: Turns out the dinosaurs may have sniffed these beauties, and they continue to intoxicate the whole world.

By Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer

Six years ago, Julie MacKenzie wandered into a greenhouse looking for a Christmas gift. She emerged lovestruck - for orchids.
Seeds, a favorite collectible - 10/23/2009: Saving, swapping, and propagating seeds spreads the wealth, connecting gardeners to all four seasons.

By Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer

This summer, there must have been a dozen patches around the tiny borough of Narberth sporting huge sunflowers. It was no accident. The supersize sun-lovers were grown from seeds swapped among neighbors earlier in the year at Bob and Dawn Weisbord's house, as part of the Narberth Greens Flower and Vegetable Exchange.
Still a household favorite - 10/16/2009: But African violet collectors lament the "noid" varieties.

By Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer

Drew Brining of Hammonton is only 12, but already he's signed up with the Southern New Jersey African Violet Club. He's even breeding his own plants.
The right mix of water, light, etc. - 10/16/2009: African violets have a finicky rap, but fans say it ain't so. They do concede this: It may take some experimenting to get the right mix of light, water, soil, fertilizer, temperature and humidity, pot size, and proper grooming.
He got stung by beekeeping bug - 10/09/2009: By Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer

It's a cloudy day, which means Jim Bobb's Italian honeybees - mellow by nature - are hanging out at home, a condo-like colony of 24 hives set up in a field at Morris Arboretum in Chestnut Hill.
Autumn sonata - 09/25/2009: Some plants are at their most radiant just before they die. As gardener Liz Ball says, "It's like their farewell concert."

By Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer

September's garden is bittersweet. Its mounded annuals are brighter, fuller than ever, a spirit-lifter every day. They stand on strong, green legs next to brown stalks of spent perennials, an odd couple in the garden light, which is astonishingly beautiful this time of year.
Potting with papercrete - 09/18/2009: By Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer

For as long as humans have been upright, we've been planting in decorative containers, ranging from terra-cotta pots and cast-iron urns to humble buckets, bowls, boxes, and troughs.
Beginners' luck, and pluck - 09/04/2009: For those who dug in for the first time in quirky '09, some victory in gardening.

By Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer

This year, like millions of other Americans, Morgan Perlman planted his first vegetable garden. Though only 12, he successfully grew enough fresh produce to keep his family well-fed for much of the summer.
A rare look at a garden as hummingbirds gather - 08/28/2009: John DiOrio's troubles melt at his eight-acre retreat in South Jersey. Join him this weekend to say bon voyage to the hummingbirds.

By Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer

HEISLERVILLE, N.J. - John DiOrio, a corrections officer in a minimum-security prison, no doubt enjoys his eight-acre retreat in this tiny town - grandly named the Maurice River Botanical Gardens and Reserve - as much as any du Pont ever did his topiaries and parterres.