Q&A with Melisa Saraceni: On Ft. Tryon Park wonders and eating grapes off the vine in her Italian grandpa's garden
Tell us about yourself.
My name is Melisa Saraceni. I currently live in NYC and work as a Senior Fashion Design Manager. Previously I ran my own floral design event business before I realized I prefer structure and stability.
What do you listen to while you’re taking care of your plants?
I’m old and boring. I tend to listen to my same 5 playlists on YouTube that heavily feature George Michael, other 80’s pop artists, the Kills, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I’ve also been putting on relaxing music for Sophie (my chaotic gremlin dog) so there’s a lot of piano lullabies.
I’m old and boring. I tend to listen to my same 5 playlists on YouTube that heavily feature George Michael, other 80’s pop artists, the Kills, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I’ve also been putting on relaxing music for Sophie (my chaotic gremlin dog) so there’s a lot of piano lullabies.
How did you become a plant person?
My grandparents were Italian immigrants and my Puppi (grandfather) was a hardcore gardener. He grew lots of roses, gladiolus and hyacinths. But he was far more passionate about his produce. They had a large fenced in vegetable plot where they grew lettuces, peppers, tomatoes (of course) which would get canned later, pickle cucumbers and a whole bed of parsley. There was a large arbor of thomcord grapes, multiple peach trees, a sour cherry the birds always beat us to, artichokes and more.
They lived around the corner so I was always there. I grew up climbing the poles to the grapevine and picking cucumbers and eating them straight off the vine. Learned not to eat the grapes before they were ripe the hard way. I was so impatient! They had an enclosed outdoor kitchen too with a pizza oven and grill. He eventually got a fig tree he kept potted (back then Massachusetts was too cold a zone for them) he’d wrap in burlap and put inside that kitchen for the winter. He was so proud of those figs. The most excited I’d ever seen him was when he gave me my first fresh fig. And I got it.
You just booked a 30-city tour. What plant are you taking on the road and why? What are you leaving to the mercy of the plantsitter?
Tough call! I've had to make the choice to give away plants for big moves before, like when I drove from LA to MA back in 2018.
Tough call! I've had to make the choice to give away plants for big moves before, like when I drove from LA to MA back in 2018.
I’m very attached to this Rex begonia:
My rope Hoya:
My lady slipper orchid I bought last year at the New York Botanical Garden’s annual orchid show. It hasn’t rebloomed yet but it’s made a whole bunch of offshoot baby plants. There’s also a vanilla bean orchid I got at the show a few years ago. She’s currently too sprawling to get a good photo of. She needs repotting and some kind of cool structure to grow on. It’s a project I’ve been meaning to get to.
This Opuntia santa-rita cutting an Angeleno friend gave me. She also needs some love. Or less. She loses her purple when I water too much, which I clearly have been doing. She’s such a slow grower. The main paddle was all I had for years.
And finally this mammillaria I got during a trip with my ex and our dogs to Morro Bay. I love her orange and yellow colors plus it was such a fun trip. Morro Bay is known for its seal population. The confusion the water puppies caused the dogs was great.
What's your favorite spot in the natural world?
I currently live in Inwood Manhattan so I’d have to say my parks up here. Fort Tryon has amazing geological formations, the Cloisters museum, a stunning view of the George Washington Bridge and an absolutely stunning free botanical garden.
At Fort Tryon Park in Inwood, Manhattan, a dogwood tree in bloom and...
Daffs!!
The breathtaking rock formations.
And a weeping cherry blossom tree with a view of the Hudson.
Inwood Hill Park is the only natural forest left in NYC. It’s home to caves Indigenous folks used, an underground spring, stunning rock formations, Whale Back Rock, and Shorakkopock Rock and lots of trails. It’s on the bird migration route so we gets lots of fun visitors, not to mention year-round wild residents like squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, short-tailed shrews, owls, hawks, skunks, raccoons and sometimes coyotes.
Sophie and her very smart sweater head out into Inwood Hill Park.
Lots of cool fungi too! I don’t enjoy the taste but it feels like a win spotting chicken of woods and lion’s mane out there.
What plant has scarred you, literally or figuratively?
Not sure of the specific variety but I got viciously stabbed in the boob by some type of blue agave. Bled thru my shirt. Still love them though.
What plant/nature experience has surprised you in a good way?
I hope this doesn’t come across as insensitive because the fires currently ravaging Los Angeles are horrifying. We had them here in NYC a month ago too due to drought. But some plants evolved to benefit from wildfire. It helps them release seeds.
Best plant advice you’ve gotten in a while?
Stop overwatering! I care too much.
Stop overwatering! I care too much.
Anything else you wanna share?
If you have enough plants you won’t feel too bad if you kill a few.
If you have enough plants you won’t feel too bad if you kill a few.
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