The Great Gardening Detective Agency (Now Accepting New Cases!)

If there’s one thing we’ve learned at GreenPrints, it’s that humor sprouts abundantly whenever seasoned gardeners interact with non-gardeners—or, even better, non-gardeners who suddenly decide they’d like to become gardeners.

Enter Sherry and our storyteller, two well-versed green thumbs with a Master Gardener badge (unofficial, but proudly worn in spirit). They’ve tackled every gardening challenge zone 6 has thrown their way—until a cryptic call leads them down a path of botanical confusion, unexpected discoveries, and a lesson in just how tricky nature (and an overenthusiastic beginner) can be.

What starts as a simple request to identify a mysterious flowering shrub quickly unravels into a case worthy of Sherlock Holmes—if Sherlock had a trowel and an eye for invasive weeds.

Join us as we follow their escapades in plant identification, sisterly advice, and the comedic perils of underestimating the power of enthusiasm over expertise. Will Anne take their wise gardening counsel to heart? Or will she boldly chart her own course into the world of horticulture, armed with nothing but sheer determination and a fondness for the wrong kind of vines?

Find out in this laugh-out-loud tale from our May 2024 issue—where gardening wisdom meets good intentions, and bindweed meets its greatest admirer.

I’d love to know what this story stirred up in you, leave a comment below.