Plantrama - Plants, Landscapes, & Bringing Nature Indoors

In this 200th episode of Plantrama, Ellen and C.L. celebrate with cake! Hear about Ellen’s berry pudding cake and C.L.’s beet cake. Next we talk about where to plant if you’re running out of room (remember topsy-turvy tomatoes?) and whether it’s okay to pack vegetables into a raised bed.   2:45 What’s For Dinner:  Unusual cakes 8:13 Eat/Drink/Grow:  What to do when you’re running out of room…. 16:38 Love Letters and Questions: Dense planting in raised beds. Here’s the link to my berry pudding cake recipe: https://backyardforager.com/black-raspberry-pudding-cake-recipe/

In this episode Ellen and C.L. talk about the blueberry harvest, soil acidity or alkalinity, Hydrangea paniculata plants, spraying foliage with water in hot weather and a magical way to control weeds. (And no, there is not magic wand for weeds…let’s just get that cleared up before falsehoods start to be spread. :40  What’s for Dinner: Blueberries 7:00  The Plant Noob: All about soil pH 15:04  Eat/Drink/Grow:  Panicle hydrangeas 25:03   Insider Information: Should you water your plant’s leaves in hot weather 28:42   Love Letters & Questions: Is there a magic wand for weeds?

The Plantrama team talk about your outdoor office; making places on decks, patios, porches or even in the woods where you can work and create. We take a deep dive into Daylilies, and answer a listener’s question about mosquitoes.   This episode is being brought to you by our friends at www.rainwand.com 1:30      Insider Information: Your Outdoor Office 5:57      Eat/Drink/Grow: A  Deep Dive into Daylilies 18:09   Love Letters and Questions: Mosquitoes Control

C.L. and Ellen celebrate the summer season by talking about grilling, fertilizing, and carnivorous plants. We also discuss dealing with deer and growing edible plants in windy, urban situations such as rooftops and terraces. :38  What’s for Dinner ; Grilling: farmed and forager 6:00  Plant noob: Fertilizing 13:05   Eat/Drink/Grow: carnivorous plants 19:50   Insider Info: Battling Bambi 25:57   Love Letters & Questions: Chelsea asks about growing edibles on a windy NYC terrace.  

We begin with summer cocktails in this best of Plantrama episode, then go on to talk about summer pruning, hail and dealing with storm damage. Ellen and C.L. are also united in their dislike of landscape fabric. 1:51  What’s for dinner:      Summer Cocktails 6:46   Insider Information:  Hail 9:36   Eat/Drink/Grow:  Summer Pruning 14:54   The Plant Noob:  Landscape Cloth 21:57   Love Letters & Questions:  Summer Storm Damage

In this “best of Plantrama” episode Ellen and C.L. encourage you to roast your veggies and foraged foods, whether you’re serving them immediately or freezing them for the future. We badmouth the use of mothballs in the garden, talk about the role of bacteria and answer a question about gardening in clay soils. :42  What’s for dinner: Roasted vegetables and foraged edibles 5:28 True or False: Use mothballs to repel animals in the garden? 7:56: Eat/Drink/Grow: Bacteria…the good, the bad, and the ugly 15:10  Love Letters & Questions: Chelsea asks about gardening in clay.

In this “best of Plantrama” episode Ellen and C.L. encourage you to roast your veggies and foraged foods, whether you’re serving them immediately or freezing them for the future. We badmouth the use of mothballs in the garden, talk about the role of bacteria and answer a question about gardening in clay soils. :42  What’s for dinner: Roasted vegetables and foraged edibles 5:28 True or False: Use mothballs to repel animals in the garden? 7:56: Eat/Drink/Grow: Bacteria…the good, the bad, and the ugly 15:10  Love Letters & Questions: Chelsea asks about gardening in clay.

The Plantrama team presents farmed and foraged edibles for the end of June, and discusses how to tell if your plant-ID app has given you a correct identification. We celebrate The Year of the Monarda, and why beebalm has a place in most gardens. Plus Ellen and C.L. and talk about Japanese beetle control.   :37  What’s for dinner:  End of June foraged food and the first crop of broccoli. 6:35  Insider Information: Ways to check accuracy of plant-identification apps. 11:03 Eat/Drink/Grow: It’s the year of the Monarda! 20:50  Love Letters and Questions: Kim wrote about a problem with Japanese beetles.   Check out the Mt Cuba Monarda Trials: https://mtcubacenter.org/trials/monarda/ See the National Garden Bureau’s Year of the Monarda information: https://ngb.org/year-of-the-monarda/  

C.L. and Ellen discuss how weed seeds have an amazing ability to rest dormant in the soil for years. We peel back the layers of Artichokes, review a book about growing a mini fruit garden, and discuss keeping citrus trees happy indoors.  :36        Plant Noob:   Weed seeds remain viable for decades…so 6:43      Eat/Drink/Grow:  Artichokes 17:49    Book Review: Grow Your Own Mini Fruit Garden: Planting and Tending Small Fruit Trees and Berries in Gardens and Containers 19:52    Love Letters and Questions: Rachel asked about growing citrus trees indoors. We reference this article from the New York Times.

Ellen and C.L. discuss whether human urine helps with critter control in the garden and they talk about a favorite shrub, Sambucus, aka elderberry. The episode finishes with a discussion of changing the pH for a potted hydrangea so that the flower turns from pink to blue. :40   True or False:  Urinating around the garden can keep deer or rabbits away. 5:20 Eat/Drink/Grow: Everything Elderberry, or the Sensational Sambucus      17:18   Love Letters and Questions:  Charlotte writes from Germany about her potted hydrangea.

In this episode of Plantrama Ellen and C.L. answer a listener’s question about growing male Cannabis plants. They explain why it’s good to pinch many newly planted annuals, what nitrogen-fixing plants are, and celebrate an early summer cocktail hour. :27 What’s For Dinner:  It’s the cocktail hour in June!  3:58 Eat/Drink/Grow:   Nitrogen-fixing plants. 16:39 Insider Information:   Pinching annuals. 21:15 Love Letters and Questions:  Is there value in a male Cannabis plant?   Photo below is Ellen's Butterfly Kiss cocktail.

In this episode Ellen and C.L. discuss plants to grow or forage for with the barbeque in mind. They explain that not all microorganisms are good for all plants, give suggestions for great annuals, and talk about cutworm protection.  :40 What’s for dinner: Gearing up for the BBQ season. 7:30 Insider Information:  Mycorrhizae and beneficial bacteria 12:04 Eat/Drink/Grow:  Great annuals to grow this summer. 23.43 Love Letters and Questions: Paper cups around veggie stems?

Do you need shade for your outdoor office? Want a low-maintenance, colorful landscape? Do you hand-water your vegetable plants or want to make your hydrangea flowers blue? This episode addresses all of these issues! :29  Your Outdoor Office:   Ways to make shade 7:10 Eat/Drink/Grow: Dwarf Conifers 20:19 Insider Information:  Hand-watering your vegetable 25:03 Love Letters and Questions: Coffee ground for blue hydrangeas

C.L. and Ellen discuss the internet-based rumor that you should dig a square hole when planting trees, and give suggestions for plants to grow on small trellises and arbors. We finish with a discussion about how to know if a perennial plant will reliably return, or if it’s a “temperennial.” :40  True or False: Plant trees in square holes 7:41 Eat/Drink/Grow:  Plants for small arbors and trellises 20:51  Love Letters and Questions:   Rick writes to ask how you can tell if a perennial plant will live for many years or not.  

The Plantrama team discusses growing and foraging for asparagus, reviews a lovely book about public gardens you ought to see, and answers a listener’s question about the weed called nightshade. They also disagree about topiary…C.L. loves them, Ellen? Not so much.  :32 What’s For Dinner:  Asparagus ~ wild and garden grown 9:48 Eat/Drink/Grow:    Topiary 22:01 Book Review:     George Weigel’s 50 American Public Gardens You Really Ought to See  24:28 Love Letters and Questions:   Is nightshade a bad neighbor?

C.L. and Ellen tackle the myth that earthworms can grow once cut in half. They extol a favorite vine, the Passiflora, celebrate World Carnivorous Plant Day with margaritas, and discuss water-filled plant protectors.   :27 True or False?    Earthworms regrow.      3:53  Eat/Drink/Grow:  Passion flower vines 14:05   Insider Information:  World Carnivorous Plant Day is May 5th 17:35    Love Letters and Questions:  Reginia asks if we can comment on water-filled tomato protection.

Spring plants are first and foremost in this episode as we talk about cress, foraged and farmed, the Year of the Hyacinth, and two spring flowers, Ranunculus and Bellis perennis. Ellen and C.L. tell Paul why old carpet might not make the best mulch.  :40       What’s for dinner:  Cress wild and tame.   10:13    Insider Information:   The National Gardening Bureau says it’s the year of the Hyacinth.   14:02    Eat/Drink/Grow:   About 2 Spring Plants 23:07    Love Letters and Questions:   Paul asks, “Does old carpet make good mulch in a vegetable garden?”

In this episode we talk about the white perlite in potting mixes, spend the main segment talking about edible flowers, and answer a question about why a listener’s zucchini plants aren’t producing well.  :30 Plant Noob: What are the white specks in my pots? 3:41 Eat/Drink/Grow: Growing Edible Flowers 17:43 Love Letters and Questions What’s with the lack of zucchini?

Ellen and C.L. talk about whether fertilizing is always a good thing, and they take a deep dive into the genus Rhododendron, which includes what we commonly call azaleas. Then they answer Candace’s question about whether her spouse’s pruning of the blue hydrangeas is grounds for divorce.  :33 True or False: Fertilizing never hurts…right? 7:57 Eat/Drink/Grow: Rhododendrons and Azaleas 24:21 Love Letters and Questions: Pruning blue hydrangeas, and can this marriage be saved?

Today we discuss garden-grown and foraged food with earthy flavors, and do a deep dive into the importance of soil temperatures for planting, soil activity, seed germination and growth rates. We end with a discussion about what you can expect from houseplants in the winter, and how to decide which plants are appropriate for an area that’s sunny in the winter and shaded in the summer.   :30 What’s For Dinner:  Earthy flavors. 6:59 Eat/Drink/Grow: The Importance of Soil Temperatures. 18:18  Insider Information:   Should your houseplants be growing in the winter? 20:39 Love Letters and Questions: Planting for appropriate outdoor light