The Garden Mixer (Leslie Harris and Marianne Willburn)

The plant of the week is the boxwood! Today we are talking with Michael Abbott of Bartlett Tree Experts. When I look at my garden this time of year I'm reminded of a line of a song, Chasing Cars. 

0:00 intro & corrections / 3:05 plant of the week / 6:15 interview / 25:26 playlist

What's the most important gardening tool? Your body, silly, which, if you are like me, isn't quite the same as it used to be. Is there a resource where you can learn about how to improve and maintain this tool? Yes, and it's the PBS show called Garden Fit. Can you have sneak peaks at other people's fabulous gardens at the same time? Oh yes, you can. Listen to Madeline Hooper tell us about this fabulous combination of physical maintenance and envy inducing garden surveillance.

My little sister Sue Ann Kane joins me to talk about starting a garden from scratch. Our plant of the week is the fringe tree: what song could be more fitting than "Surrey with the Fringe (tree) on Top"?

Timestamps: 

Intro 0:00 / Plant of the Week 2:26 / Guest 4:54 / Playlist 20:08

When the spring erupts in tones of yellow, lemon, gold, and that weird orangey-mustard that you’re not sure you love, it’s time to bring on the blue.

Leslie Harris and Marianne Willburn have suggestions for how to achieve that in your garden, and dip briefly into the controversy surrounding the [almost] universally loved daffodil.

From blue bells in the woods to blue spells when you're pulling out Vinca minor by the fistful, they'll touch on some of gardeners' favorites, and get sucked down a rabbit hole or two on their way.

For full show notes, links and laughs, subscribe at The Garden Mixer's Substack.

Comments, questions or suggestions? We'd love to hear them. Drop us a line at comments@thegardenmixer.com

What do you think of when you hear the term moon garden? White flowers can set a good scene, and summer nights filled with scents are enticing, but there are so many more good ideas to consider. Listen to my interview with Jarema Osofsky, who wrote a book on the topic!

The plant of the week is the Pacific NW native, Camassia! I’m joined by Rod and Maggie Walker from Blue Ridge PRISM. Need something to listen to while playing in your garden? I recommend “Poison Ivy” by The Coasters.

0:00 intro / 2:43 plant of the week / 5:32 interview / 22:00 playlist

If you did your homework assignment, this is good follow up information on the gardens of Great Dixter and the symposium that Marianne Willburn and I will be attending next week! Not only do we talk about the gardening opportunity, but we also touch on the idea of saying yes to something it would have been far easier to say no to. The plant of the week is the Fringe Tree, and I also talk about No Mow May, getting rid of invasive Nandina, and the Joe Gardener podcast episode with Dave Goulson about his book 'Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse'. 

The Spoonmores created a gardening app called From Seed to Spoon, but more recently they have married AI and gardening with the latest app, called Grow Bot. Listen to the fascinating story of how they started out gardening for themselves, but have become app creators who are helping all gardeners with their wonderful ideas.

Claus Dalby of Denmark comes Into the Garden with Leslie about his latest book, which is his first book in English. "Containers in the Garden" gives the total lowdown on Dalby's famous aesthetic. Leslie chose one of his favorites flowers, the tulip, as her Plant of the Week and besides talking about all the things that she did not get done in the garden this week, she explains the consulting part of her business, LH Gardens.

This week on The Garden Mixer, Leslie Harris, Marianne Willburn, and their guest, Scott Beuerlein from The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, continue to wrestle over the big topic of bulbs for the benefit of listeners who still have bags of obligation awaiting them in the garage. 

Big ones, little ones, early ones and late ones are discussed on their merits and – as Marianne is involved – their possible vulgarity.  Sales are discussed. Vendors are endorsed. Scott once again endears himself to listeners by commiserating over post-bloom daffodil foliage, while Leslie issues judgement over braiding it, and offers alternatives.  Meanwhile, Marianne talks about one of the problems of foliage that has nothing to do with looks but everything to do with successfully pairing bulbs with the rest of your garden. As usual, it’s a fun and informative mix up of plants and points of view, with the promise of more sophisticated drinking choices in future episodes.

In this first episode, Leslie introduces herself and how she got into gardening. She also introduces the Plant of the Week, the Hellebore. Matt Berry of Dos Amigos Landscaping talks about how to hire the right landscaping contractor, and The Playlist includes information about tree care, and azalea pruning. Her listening recommendation: Winter Garden by Eraldo Bernocchi, Harold Budd and Robin Guthrie.

After a month away, I would like to re-introduce myself as the not serious and American garden Podcaster, Leslie Harris. I'll catch you up on how my garden fared with not much attention for over 30 days; what worked well in terms of planning for leaving it, and what didn't work as well.

Besides learning that the Amaryllis is actually, in most cases a Hippeastrum, you will hear my rationalization for enjoying those bulbs without trying to get them to re-bloom the next year. I chat with Ellen Zachos about foraging for food (and cocktail enhancements!) in your own backyard: why you would even want to do this, and how to do it safely. Tips about planting spring bulbs in pots and thoughts on cleaning up your perennial bed. Do you have to. No, you do not. 

This week, Jenny Hopkins of Big Arms Farm clues me in on the cut-flower farm operation, with tips for the flower-loving home gardener as well!

Time Stamps

Intro 0:00 / Plant of the Week 4:32 / Guest 7:04 / Playlist 23:55

...even though it appears that this is the 101st and counting is not my strong suit. Listen to Jen describe her booming business in Houston Texas (but willing to expand!) that sets up clients with ready to go raised beds for veg, herbs and pollinators.

On this episode we talk about the premeditated murder of some large Abyssinian bananas, how Leslie is meh on winter berries, peonies (Leslie protests the look of singles, Marianne protests Leslie's color choices), a good thing to do with excess cherry tomatoes (an alternative from leaving them in unlocked cars). We do several "Book Moments". Who are we kidding... only Marianne has book moments while Leslie continues to rely on the brain that lives in her back pocket. Deer deterrents, when plants fail, is it our fault and should we consider Mahjnong if we have a a black thumb? Also, Black Thumb; is that code for "I don't like to fuss with plants"? Winter annuals, and then finally (it's another long one, good people), shouldn't we have a guest for the next episode?

Looking for last minute Christmas decoration ideas for your containers and front door? Susan Nock of Thistle Containers gives us those goods plus ideas for inside, and maybe grander ideas for future decoration ideas if this year is a busy one for you. The Plant of the Week is an incongruous choice, but you will understand why I chose it once I explain. What to do in your garden right now is a compact list-- less is more at this time of year. 

Author and Speaker Joseph Tychonievich gives us a glimpse into the many presentations that he gives nationally, including topics such as Plant Breeding, Plant Pollinators and Why They Matter, and Dealing with Your Hosta Addiction. Author of four books including his latest, a comic book guide on how to grow tomatoes, Joseph makes his elevated understanding of horticulture and plant biology accessible to all. Other topics include the sugar maple and why that orange makes me happy this time of year, the alien invasive vine oriental bittersweet, and how to plant bulbs.

In this episode of the newly logo'd and newly music'd The Garden Mixer, Marianne tries her hand at interviewing Leslie -- posing transparently self-serving questions about Leslie's transition to a tiny garden in order to make herself feel better about the future.

In her  (self-described) "penetrating and 60 Minutes-esque style", Marianne is after information that all gardeners secretly wonder about in their more overwhelmed moments:

Do I want to garden here forever? Can I garden here forever? What does it feel like to downsize when you love your big garden? What does it mean to have a balanced life like normal people?

Other discussion topics include bulbs (yes, apparently the two of them are still planting); exciting group trips to the UK and Portugal that Marianne is planning with her travel buddy Andrea Gaspar;  and how to gather interesting greens and garden bits without being caught by your neighbors. 

Questions, comments, or kudos? They'd love to hear them at:

comments@thegardenmixer

The Plant of the week is another native, and a classic stalwart in the summer border, the Phlox paniculata. I chat with sister Sue Ann  at 5:34 about how to get your garden ready to party, and give you a few garden chores in The Play List at 26:18, and I recommend 99% Invisible, which is a captivating podcast based on design, architecture, culture and history. 

I highly recommend you get your fall fiesta from the native Acer saccharum instead of that other colorful thing that is taking over our native forests: Burning Bush or Eonymus alatus. Erin Schanen the Impatient Gardener and I talk about most anything and everything, including her new naturalistic garden. And I take you through some basics of perennials division, planting a tree, and what to do with compost (not much, right now!)

This week I visit Dean Norton, Director of Horticulture at George Washington's Mount Vernon (@ 5:47) and recommend Andrea Wulf's 'Founding Gardeners' in The Play List. The Plant of the Week really has nothing at all to do with the General, I cannot tell a lie, but it is a versatile and useful plant that I am propagating the heck out of these days, in order to improve my garden once the dog days wane. 

Both the New England Aster and the Chinese Tartarian Aster are making merry in my garden right now, so those are our Plants of the Week. I chat with Steph Green of Contained Creations who has begun an exciting new website that can have us all re-creating and enjoying her magical container combinations. Other topics include expert input on the question of Asclepius curavassica from Doug Tallamy and some science about mulching from an article written recently by Charlie Nardozzi. 

We’re clinking glasses this week with Erin Schanen, YouTube’s Impatient Gardener, and we’re not asking her about her tomatoes.

That’s right, who needs to eat when June is a feast for the eyes? We’ll be interrogating Erin on the flower seeds she practically starts in her sleep, the ones that need a little more attention, and the favorites she would never be without.

First, there are a couple topics the girls want to hash out over Marianne's timeless gin & tonic and Leslie's 1990s glass of buttery chardonnay.

From what Leslie thinks of her Lomi, to how Marianne could possibly make a gardening podcast X-rated, there's a lot of fun in store. Join us.

Find the full time-stamped show notes, links & laughs at The Garden Mixer Podcast Substack

Because we haven't featured a native Plant of the Week for a while, and because I could not ignore the Honorine Jobert in my yard, we double dip with both the Japanese anemone and the Anemone virginiana, which, although it isn't blooming now like our Asian friend, blooms in spring and is pretty too!

Christy Wilhelmi and I flit around the garden topics, touching down on compost, no dig gardening, managing fruit trees in a small space, and mini meadows. Basically, I asked her about some of the wonderful tips she gets on HER podcast, Gardenerd Tip of the Week.

And lastly on The Play List I talk more about compost, answer some listeners' questions, and talk about what to do in the garden this week.  

Topics include: What should we name this new enterprise of doing this podcast together? Don't worry, we quickly get into garden things such as...

What's blooming in the fall garden right now? What plants are worthy of our winter indoor space and how do we get them ready to join us?

Can we improve the sound on this podcast so it doesn't sound like Leslie's sitting in the bottom of the barrel?

Come with Leslie Harris and Marianne Willburn as they talk about gardening in a new podcast yet to be named, but formerly known as Prince. Kidding-- former known as Into the Garden with Leslie.

Brie Arthur is a horticulturist, author, speaker and now an Air BNB hostess! She has created the Carolina Garden House in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, outside of Raleigh. I talk to her about her new, almost completely native garden, which is next-door to her longtime personal garden. The Plant of the Week is the Aronia melanocarpa or chokeberry, and I give tips on daffodils.

Two interviews about new gardens! Here are edited versions of Episodes 62 and 14, which were very helpful for me to re-visit with my impending move!

I follow through on last week's threat of choosing the plant species named after a venereal disease as the Plant of the Week (Lobelia siphilitica) and Bunny Williams and I chat about gardens, garden design, HER garden, which is spectacular, and her garden book, On Garden Style at 5:55. The Play List includes info on spider mites, flagging annuals, and the possibility of an organic lawn. 

I chat with Kevin Graham and Dragan Kurbalija about their farm in King George's County, Virginia. More news on my move-- we have found a place and it is tiny! How do you curate a ton of plants and containers?

John Robinson is the neighbor and listener who answered my plea for help with the podcast, and in this episode I talk to him about his small but amazingly diverse garden. He is a champion of sustainable gardening and is very knowledgeable about natives. Plus, he handy enough to have designed and built his own chicken coop. Our Plant of the Week is the Aquilegia vulgaris, or columbine, and I talk about Peony Bud Blast. Doug Tallamy contributed to an answer to a question from a listener about Oak tree hybrids. 

Maria Failla, the voice of Bloom and Grow Radio, has written a book called Growing Joy. She and I discuss the positive aspects about growing and that when you help a plant to live, you are really helping yourself with time in reflection and nature, all the while not being near a screen. Our Plant of the Week is the Kalmia latifolia, or Mountain Laurel, and I deal with questions on native bog plants, amending soil, and pruning Japanese maples. 

Well, we go over my Instagram saga, but you can FF through that if you want! By the way, I am back on now, @LeslieHarrisLulu and hope you follow me. Marianne and I discuss "de-browning" the garden, plant pronunciation, the chop and drop method of composting, arthritic hands, and other gardening nuggets for you.

Mountain Mint is a total winner-- edible native deer resistant pollinator that performs as well in sun as in shade. And edible ornamentals are the expertise of Brie the Plant Lady, who tells us all about foodscaping at 5:48. The Play List (25:12) talks about tomato pruning, the difference between purslane and spurge, and the Temptations, and I,  Wish it Would Rain.

This week we get all pumpkin spicy autumnal with the mum as our POW, some dried hydrangea and dahlias cutting tips, and a long chat with sister Sue Ann about what is happening in her garden, mine, and others of which we are jealous. Timely information about bringing indoor plants back in NOW is a great preview for next week's visit with Marianne Wilburn. 

Our plant of the week is pinxterbloom, an azalea native to Eastern North America. This week, the tables have turned: my friend Susan Terwilliger interviews me about my garden! Tune in for some garden-friendly audible recs. 

Timestamps:

Intro 0:00 / Plant of the Week 4:47 / Interview 6:40 / Playlist 21:50

Much like days when you intend to start tomato seeds and end up digging the outline for the new pond, our bi-weekly conversations mix up topics, plants , and guests, and keep us on our toes.

We love that mix, but this week, we're experimenting with One More Sip -- a short form episode for in-between weeks that deals with one topic only.

At least that's what Marianne promised.

This week we're talking poisonous plants. Do you feel like there is a lot more made of plant toxicity in academia, social media and news than there needs to be? We do. And we want to talk about it.

What's reasonable. What's not. How can you adapt your garden? Do you need to? When does it make sense to pay attention, and what is unnecessary fear mongering?

From Digitalis to daffodils... the list is long and it contains plants that most gardeners would never do without. Feeling societal pressure to do without them anyway? You need some moral support -- or at the very least a couple experienced gardeners in your corner. Join us.

This week the girls mix inappropriate metaphors with vague certainties, and come up with yet another episode to amuse and inform their eight listeners.

Without an ounce of humility, Leslie jumps out of the gate with nonsense about a distillery (possibly illegal) where she condenses her vast garden experience into enviable, crystal-clear drops of purity…and assumes Marianne does likewise.

Marianne reminds her that they are both just old — however not too old to enjoy a long, luscious, beautiful, lingering, sensuous, gratifying, fully-satisfying-smoke-a-cigarette spring.

Let’s hope they both get one soon.

Other topics this episode include Nancy Goodwin's garden at Montrose, Blight resistant boxwood, the wonders of The Mid-Atlantic Nursery and Trade Show, and what a bird table or feeder can do for your state of mind. (As in, smoke-a-cigarette-afterwards-joy.)

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Full show notes, links, and laughs at: thegardenmixerpodcast.substack.com

This week, I sit down with Doug Tallamy—entomologist, author, and the oak tree's biggest advocate!

Time Stamps:

Intro 0:00 / Plant of the Week 3:35 / Guest 5:25 / Playlist 23:59

We all get aches and pains occasionally, but Madeline Hooper has found out a bit of magic-- we don't have to. She enlisted Personal Trainer Jeff Hughes to help her out, and the results have been pain free gardening for her, and an entire PBS television series for all of us. Garden Fit takes us to lots of different gardens and gardeners, showing us plants, design, beautiful spaces, and 'fixes' for what ails the gardener. The Plant of the Week makes the perfect filler in a container: Carex 'Everillo', and I talk about good fall plants, and what to do in your garden at this time of year. 

After a scintillating fox update (if you follow me on Instagram, you know that's a thing) I choose the Silver and Gold, or Ajania pacifica as the Plant of the Week. Sister Sue and I delve deep into how to plant bulbs, and maybe what bulbs to plant, and I deal with questions on Vinca minor, moving peonies and what to do in the garden this week. Shout out to the Home Grown National Park-- $20 for 20 million acres. It's not a great real estate deal, but it's a great cause. 

What's better than quick and good (and maybe sometimes a bit soil infused) garden tips from someone who just seems like they would be a good garden pal? Nothing, and I found out for sure that she would be.

Tiffany of @QuickandDirtyGardens is knowledgeable, fun, and a great teacher about garden basics and foraging for mushrooms. Get in on this fun conversation!

I asked some of my favorite gardeners to share sustainable practices that they employ in their gardens. We get contributions from Linda Vater, Erin Schanen, Julie Hart (Nanny Noo), Amanda the Everhopeful Gardener, Emma Biggs, Marianne Willburn, Bunny Williams and Tasha Greer about what they do (or don't do) in their gardens to make our earth a bit happier. 

When in Maine... you go see the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and chat with Andy Brand (5:17) about how wonderful they are! The Plant of the Week is a the state flower of Maine, but here's the catch: it's not a flower. The Play List includes some timely veg transplant and seed starting information, none of which I will take advantage of, but you can! And Rusty Gear, who provides my into music, has another album out. Must hear!

A year of Into the Garden with Leslie! That went fast... 

This week I celebrate the early tiny Snow Drop (Galanthus) that is blooming in my garden.  Emma Biggs, who wrote Gardening with Emma: Grow and Have Fun joins me and we discuss her garden, gardening in a small space in Toronto, and her book written at age 15 to get kids into gardening. I finish my Hyrdrangea pruning series with tips on Hydrangea arborescens, and although I have not yet how to avoid the flops with my favorite Annabelle, there is some good pruning information there. 

In this week’s episode of The Garden Mixer, Leslie Harris & Marianne Willburn stir up a spirited two-part discussion about all things bulb with their inaugural guest, Scott Beuerlein of The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Horticulture Magazine, and GardenRant.

Whether you’re going for naturalistic layers or the hypnotizing effect of thousands en masse, there’s more than one way to make the most of what you’ve still got left to plant, and they’ve all three got an opinion over which is best.  Scott and Leslie inevitably gang up on Marianne’s design ideas and drink choices (even as Scott quaffs boxed red wine and admits some of his best displays are by accident); Marianne sexually harasses Leslie and snidely rejects her Bulb Spiral; and Leslie reveals her worst bulb planting mistake made while under the influence of inexperience (which they all agree is fairly common when you’re just starting out).  And what does a poached egg have to do with bulb planting anyway?  Marianne thinks it makes for a profound analogy, even if Scott is irritatingly better at expressing it.

What if all mulch were free? What if the trees and branches that are chewed up every time an arborist works in your neighborhood could be distributed on your garden beds (you have to do that part) or added to your compost pile, or simply kept on your property to break down to become a seed and potting medium? That is what wood chips can do for you-- they aren't just for lining your paths or the bottom of your swing set. I chat with Ben Raskin author of The Woodchip Handbook, to get to the bottom of how gardeners can use chips, and wood chip myths are dispelled, so listen up! The Plant of the Week is the Illicium parviflorum 'Florida Sunshine' and as always, I talk about what you could be doing in your garden right now. 

This week's Plant of the Week is a house plant for most, in honor of our guest, Author of "House Plant Warrior" Raffaele Di Lallo. Lots of questions from listeners this week (REAL listeners) spring clean up in the garden and more-- tips on Boxwood pruning too. 

Besides an interesting conversation with Consi Palmer and Carol Carter, who explain what it's like to start up a botanic garden, and besides talking about six great fall plants because I simply was not able to choose a Plant of the Week, I am all over the map on this episode. Here's a little list of what I talked about... changing out beds, working with your landscapers to improve issues like excessive noise and unnecessary fertilizers, plants that will make up my new tropical bed, how I didn't know Annabelle Hydrangeas can develop nasty tap roots, putting away your hoses for winter, what 20 orange azaleas can do for you, and more. 

Hydrangea pruning, bulbs (tulips... are they worth it? of course), transplanting polygonatum, tchotchkes in the garden (MA thinks no, Les likes a bit of whimsy), and quite a long side path of Magnolia discussion. Oh, and the MOST important spring "chore"? Pretty easy: Look. Every. Day.

This week Roxana Snediker of Soil and Margaritas Instagram and YouTube fame joins us for a general discussion of her gardening in general, but we accidentally did a deep dive into tomatoes so I made that the plant of the week. At the beginning of this episode I am traveling home after 3 weeks and wondering what my garden will look like upon my arrival. I follow up at the end of the show by telling you what I found after I got home. 

Poisonous plants, sharp tools, noxious chemicals (hopefully not in YOUR shed) and a place to compost the body-- gardens are perfect places for murder. Marta McDowell has compiled the tools, motive, detectives and authors in her latest book Gardening Can Be Murder, and you could be surprised how many laughs we have over this deadly topic.

Did you feel the dog days of summer WAY earlier than you usually do? Marianne Willburn and I talk about climate change in the garden and some good strategies to learn from what your plants are experiencing, without succumbing to the doom and gloom that generally accompanies the topic.

I get to talk to a guy who's been gardening at America's largest home, the Biltmore, for decades and he is now the Head Horticulturist there. Bill Quade gives us the ins and outs of what it's like to garden at a Frederick Law Olmsted home creation and keep it true to its original intent. The Plant of the Week is the Hedychium coronarium, and we talk about Monarch butterflies, bulb planting and more. 

A baker's dozen of my best guests, including a special one from Launceston, Tassie, who my listeners haven't even been acquainted with, tell us what they are up to in 2022. Kelly D. Norris, Jenny Sioux Hopkins, Christy Wilhelmi, Brie Arthur, Andy Brand, Bunny Williams, Scott Beuerlein, Dean Norton, Marianne Willburn, Lizzie Fox, Erin Schanen, Steph Green and Julie Hart, aka Nanny Noo, will fill you with inspiration for the next gardening season!

Besides the soul sucking noise of mowers and blowers in your neighborhood, are you aware that the internal combustion engines that make these machines run contribute more than their fair share of pollutants to our air? Matt Berry of Dos Amigos Landscaping is doing something about it. Every time a piece of equipment needs to be replaced, Dos Amigos is adding another electric battery powered tool to their arsenal. They have two electric vehicles and plan to get more. What if YOUR landscape crew could do this? What if EVERY landscape crew could? I hope you listen to this episode, but more than that I hope you share it. 

The Plant of the Week is the Daffodil, and in the Play List you will hear a little primer on rose pruning. 

I interview Nick McCullough, horticulturist, nurseryman, designer, speaker and author, about his new book, written with his wife Allison and Teresa Woodard. Titled American Roots, the book explores some of the best of our gardens, and gardeners, right here in America. After last week's announcement of us moving away from this garden, I begin to talk about HOW I will choose plants to take or leave and the process of ending one garden and starting another.

This is a long one, but worth it in terms of information gleaned about some of the best perennials you can choose. Richard Hawke runs the famous evaluations at the Chicago Botanic Garden and in this episode he talks about the evaluations and what they mean and how they can help any gardener to know WHICH darned plant to choose. We talk about the process and then I insist that we go over the ones that I was basically forced to buy after hearing him talk at Speaking of Gardening at Asheville last summer. Forced is strong-- how about 'Unable to Resist'? 

Apropos of nothing other than a little vacation I took in Florida recently, the Plant of the Week is the Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis), and in The Play List I talk about seed starting and winter pruning.  

Tanya Anderson of Lovely Greens has written a book about crafting with plants. She features her soap making and 7 other woman gardeners and the way they use their plants to do more. I talk a little about a plant I don't know, the Hepatica, and a bit more about one I do know, Helleborus foetidus. The Play List includes the basics of boxwood pruning. 

I visited Peggy Cornett, and lots of cicadas, hence the ambient noise, at The Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Tufton Farm, about two miles from Monticello. We chat about plants that Jefferson grew or otherwise historic plants, including the interesting annual Euphorbia marginata, or Snow on the Mountain. Since that sounds like a country song, it is, but from Australia, where it doesn't snow all that much!

Susan and I talk about GardenRant.com because of course that's a great blog of which she is a founding member, but we also touch on her hometown of Greenbelt, Maryland, her website of Good Garden Videos, and, of course, hula hooping, which is part of every good garden conversation.

In this very short episode (laryngitis!) I have a special announcement about my garden.

Tim Schipper, owner and founder of ColorBlends gives us the low down on bulbs-- what the 'blends' are, ideas on how to keep them coming back or not to worry if they don't and planting times. ColorBlends is my favorite bulb source and I just love how you get a brown scaly golf ball in fall and it becomes a magical flower a few short months later. The Plant of the Week is the Big Leafed Magnolia, whose offspring are blowing around in my yard right now like sails, and in The Play List we talk about bulb placement tips and leaving the leaves-- not just for habitat, but for soil enrichment, as I heard on Tom Christopher's  conversation with Eric Fleisher of F2 Environmental Design December 1 podcast. 

Podcasters often host interesting experts in the field on which they love to talk. This episode is no different, but because the expert, Scott Beuerlein, Director of Horticultural Outreach at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, does a monthly column interviewing all kinds of interesting people in horticulture, you are going to get a bigger bang for your buck. Scott and I talk about a lot of the different people in the industry that he and I find interesting and here's a bonus: Scott is very interesting all by himself!.

This week I choose a huge plant that is right outside of our Florida rental as the Plant of the Week (2:18) and it is the Live Oak. Kelly Lehman and I chat about her flower farm, social media success and hydrangea pruning tips (6:30) and in The Play List I start what will be a series of winter pruning tips that I love to employ in cold weather. 

This week’s Plant of the Week is the Ilex verticillata, or Winterberry. Carol Carter talks to us about Native Plants and their importance in nature and in our gardening. The Playlist includes information about bulb fertilization, soil compaction and a quick list of Hydrangea pruning basics. This week's listening recommendation is the Gardeners’ Question Time Podcast produced by the BBC.

Heather and I met at a speaking gig in North Carolina last fall. Her mantra is Garden Thoughtfully. What a coincidence because my presentation at that Master Gardeners symposium was called Thoughtful Gardening. We are on the same page in terms of gardening with both beauty and habitat in mind.

Chickens in broth and chickens in gardens are under the penetrating Garden Mixer gaze this week as Leslie Harris & Marianne Willburn move past their respective Christmas viruses and valiantly into the new year.

Suffering her way through a strong cup of homemade broth while Leslie goes back to the red wine, Marianne makes a case for why chickens have made sense for her soil, plants, and kitchen for the last 22 years. But why is she so militant about keeping them cooped?

Mahonia, Galanthus, and Garden Tours feature in this episode; as well as Marianne's channeling of Debbie Downer for her latest anti-tech rant on GardenRant. Proving once again that if you’re going to any event, you’ll have way more fun with Leslie.

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Full show notes, links and chicken soup recipes at ⁠The Garden Mixer Podcast⁠

Comments? Questions? Suggestions for better drink choices? Send them all to ⁠comments@thegardenmixer.com⁠ or check out their Instagram @thegardenmixer

This week is all about a plant I hadn't known much about until I heard from Jenks Farmer (Augustus Jenkins Farmer III) and heard about his book, titled Crinum: Unearthing the History and Cultivation of the World's Biggest Bulb. The Crinum is also the Plant of the Week, and on the Play List I talk about getting the heavy snow off of your evergreens (sometime you don't have time to be gentle) and I go on a bit of a rant about Oasis, that floral foam that breaks down into nano plastics and ends up places we don't want it to end up. 

Marianne and I touch on my (too) quick visit to her garden, gardening with spouses, how to make instant and free improvements to the garden, but mostly we go down a bit of a rabbit hole in terms of native plant zealotry. Is there too much judgement on this subject? Will you judge us for even wondering if there is? :) Come enter the fray and see what you think.

Plant of the Week is the Winterberry or Ilex verticillata, and I chat with Carolyn Mullet of CarexTours, which gets interested American gardeners to the most amazing European gardens! My head cold brings several sections of this episode down a half octave or so, but I still enjoyed making it! 

Binx and Andrew announced their engagement in March of 2022, and the great day is June 10, 2023. If you had over a year to make your garden look amazing for a wedding, how would you do it? Listen to my conversation with Robin Stafford-- tips, tricks and timing!

"Nature's Best Hope" was the first Doug Tallamy book I read, and although it points out some dire facts such as mass extinction, it does give hope to the situation of each property owner all over the world being able to help remedy the current insect and bird loss. Now it has been re-written for children, who have more time to truly be nature's best hope --although Dr. Tallamy points out that we can't wait for them to grow up; these individual and simple changes to the way humans interact with nature need to start now. The Plant of the Week is the Zizia aurea, and I talk about how to deal with bulb foliage and the end of peony season.

Marianne and Leslie are ready to start stirring things up in their inaugural podcast episode of The Garden Mixer. Jumping into the fray of native plant zealotry, they cool down a little with normal topics such as perennials with great fall color, only to argue about botanical name pronunciation while offering botanical Latin sources for those who need to see the words they're attempting to say. It promises to be fun mix up of garden, drinks, plants, and laughs. Welcome!

The Plant of the Week is the Paper Bush, an early spring bloomer, and Karl Gercens talks with us about Longwood Gardens, where he is the Manager of the West Conservatory, which is the only conservatory at the moment. Gardening tips about spring clean up in the garden, and forcing daffodils, and a couple of my garden fails. 

For those who begin to garden in May with the aid of a smoking credit card, an SUV, and a minion or two, very little goes wrong as the spring garden joyfully romps towards summer.

But for those who started partying hard as early as February, the super-sized hangover is real.

Where did the color go? Where did the time go? Why do I have a headache? The strength of spring is equaled only in its spectacular demise.

There are spring ‘gaps’ in every garden, but they’re not the same for everyone. This week the girls aim to clean up from the rager that just happened, reclaim that spring energy with succession planting strategies, and figure out how to push the daffodil foliage under the sofa.

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I couldn't resist paying homage to an outdoor plant that made me so happy while I was hanging out all smug in Horticultural zone 10 for a few weeks, but I will be happy to get back to my zone 7B indoor orchids. Serome Hamlin tells us all about his miniature Enchanted (but not Fairy!) Gardens (8:45) and after chatting about the evils of Nandina and the virtues of the native (to Virginia and other SE states) Camassia scilloides, I discuss how you could, but you really don't have to, prune an Oak Leaf Hydrangea. 

Bunny Williams and I chat about her garden, new favorite plants and her birdhouse meadow, and also her new line of garden furniture, called Treillage after her former store. The Plant of the Week is the Hosta, which is polite enough to have the same common and botanical name. Various other topics include wood chips, leaving pulled weeds (hidden) in your beds, and Sir David Attenborough's 'A Life on our Planet'. 

Linda Vater of Potager Blog and I discuss her new Garden Journal, hellebores are the plant of the week, rose pruning tips.

Besides talking about various goings on in my early August garden, I chat with Erin Schanen, the Impatient Gardener, about her hopes and dreams for her summer, but this was recorded back before the peonies bloomed! The Plant of the Week is the perennial Allium, particularly 'Millenium'. 

The Dahlia is the showy strumpet of the late season border, and she is a high maintenance diva that is so attractive she is worth all of the effort. We learn the ins and outs of growing the Dahlia from spring planting to lifting and dividing. Did you know that there are 17 different flower forms? Other topics include English Ivy and how I loathe it, late season pruning on low and crazy branches, and a podcast named "Tiny Vampires". 

No guest this week, just little me answering some questions and sharing some experiential wisdom on deer control. I bought a new toy: a pond vacuum, so we dig a little into that scum. Follow up on No Mow May and the use of Round Up too. The Plant of the Week is the Hydrangea paniculate 'Little Lime' and I have a big announcement for you in this episode!

Probably everybody's favorite butterfly is the Monarch, and Kate Daly has formed a group of Instagrammers who are teaching us what we all can do to help this wonder of nature. She and I discuss how to help out and also talk about the flower farm she is starting down in Alabama. The Plant of the Week is the Myosotis sylvestris and you will hear Scott Beuelein and Marianne Willburn talk about their writing relationship on Garden Rant and their trip to California to see the latest plants breeders have dreamed up.

Just trying to make it clear that because Marianne toured my garden I didn't take very long. The plant of the week is a weeping Salix and I throw you a few early spring seasonal tips just in case you thought I was totally selfish.

Geum was first runner up for Plant of the Week, but since that's more of a spring plant, I went with the Madagascar Vinca. Brad Johnson and I discuss Geum, his DIY green house, using Round Up responsibly and his favorite tool, a step edger. I follow up on Jumping Worms and coming back from 3 weeks away from the garden. 

In this episode, I give a fox update, answer questions about trugs and indoor plants (don't laugh! I knew the answer!), and interview Landscape Architect Anthony Bellomo of Millbrook, NY about his pivot to open the lovely Orangerie garden store and his garden at Clove Brook Farm. I also give you some ideas garnered from Christie Wilhelmi's YouTube about Fertilizer vs Compost.

This week, writer and gardener Marianne Willburn joined me on the pod. She is a monthly columnist for the American Gardener Magazine, as well as a writer for Garden Rant. You can also find her personal blogs here. We talk about all things plant marketing, plant sharing, even the native vs. nonnative debate and the oh-so-controversial Lawn. You can also read MY blog here! I publish a post to go along with each episode of the podcast.

Page Dickey, author of Uprooted and many other garden books, talks to me about her new garden and the elements of design and nature that molded a very different space from her long time Duck Hill garden. Azaleas are hogging all the bandwidth in my garden right now so they are the plant of the week. I talk about deadheading bulb flowers, late season mulching and recalcitrant Hydrangea macrophylla in The Play List.

Author of "The Ultimate Flower Gardener's Guide" and "Glorious Shade", Jenny Rose Carey is a fount of information on how to grow. In her 4.5 acre garden north of Philadelphia, called North View, Jenny has shade, sun, dry gardens--

even a stumpery! Come into Jenny's garden and learn some good tips and information.

This week, I chat with Chris Jones, assistant grounds superintendent at Pinehurst Resort, about landscaping and the longleaf pine!

Timestamps

Intro 0:00 / Plant of the Week 2:10 / Guest 4:29 / Playlist 19:56

Notes:

Cicadas: https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/interactive/2021/cicadas-lifecycle-brood-x/

My article: https://www.finegardening.com/article/how-to-prune-garden-perennials-in-summer 

This week, I talk tender annuals and my lovely sister Sue Ann joins me to discuss container planting. 

Time Stamps:

Intro 0:00 / Plant of the Week 2:40 / Guest 6:30 / Playlist 24:20 

Marianne and I are home from our travels and in this episode we talk about the very successful first garden tour put together by Marianne and Andrea Gasper. So many fabulous English Gardens-- Rousham, Kiftsgate, Wisley, Blenheim, Waterperry, and that's just the half of it.

In One More Sip of the Garden Mixer, episode 13 1/2, Marianne and Leslie give you the lowdown on this burning garden question.

If you like gardening, you can't not enjoy traveling to see gardens. The inspiration that you can get from any scene, pattern, color scheme or even a simple plant pairing is so great to take home. Karl Gercens of Longwood Gardens has been to see THOUSANDS of gardens over many years and he tells us his secrets of when to go, how to prepare (hint: that may not be a thing) and how to enjoy a good garden trip.

Winter gardening... How could you? Why should you? Because you love it, basically, and there is no reason to not love it in winter if you have the right gear, attitude and projects. Marianne tells us her tips and tricks-- there is no reason not to get into it!

A DOZEN plants of the week here, as Katie Dubow of the Garden Media Group and I discuss their favorite new plants. And listeners, I DID write a blog post with links, but now my website is down. :(

Still a great podcast episode and you can link to the new plants right here!

Garden Writers, Ranters, Speakers and friends, Marianne and Scott join me to talk about garden travel (past AND future) and the correspondence that they treat us with on the blog Garden Rant.

I named this episode as #99 because somewhere along the line I must have lost count-- seems like it may instead be the big 1-0-0!

Jennifer Rauschmayer of Edible Landscape Design of Plano, Texas and I talk about the ins and outs of running a business doing what you love: gardening. From getting your first paperwork done, finding clients, cultivating client and crew relationships, subcontracting, how and what to bill-- we cover it all in this long conversation. Back to regularly scheduled NOT business for the next episode, but we hope someone out there can benefit from this information that helped us as we got started doing what we love for a living!

Summer is coming and so are vacations. How do we prepare our gardens to get along without us? Marianne Willburn and I discuss tips and tricks on this topic and we also preview the fabulous garden tour in England that she and Andrea Gaspar have organized and I am attending!

The Plant of the Week is the coneflower-- a great American native that blooms for months in summer. We chat with Steph Green of Contained Creations (7:13) about having gorgeous containers, and turn to pests in the garden (32:45) and whatever can we do about bunnies and Japanese beetles?