Plantrama - Plants, Landscapes, & Bringing Nature Indoors

Learn about eating juniper berries, bodacious begonias, pots for orchids and keeping cats away from plants.   :30 What’s For Dinner:  Juniper berries 6:49 Eat/Drink/Grow: Growing Begonias 17:50 Insider Information:  Do you need special orchid pots for your orchids? 20:40 Love Letters and Questions:    Mark: My cat continues to want to climb my large monstera and dracanea plants! Link to American Begonia Society:  https://www.begonias.org/

In this episode Ellen and C.L. discuss the herb that gets no respect, parsley. We also talk about planning garden trips for the spring, what evergreens will grow in containers on a balcony, and providing supports for indoor plants.   :28  What’s For Dinner:  Parsley. 6:42   Eat/Drink/Grow: Plan a garden trip for next spring or summer. 13:55   Insider Information:  Plant supports for indoor plants 22:36   Love Letters and Questions:  Yolanda wrote to ask what evergreen she might plant in a large pot on an apartment balcony.

C.L. and Ellen explain that succulents are easy to propagate, and talk about why we should care about the life cycle of insects. The episode ends with a discussion about collecting rainwater for houseplants. :30   Plant Noob:   How to propagate succulents   9:41       Eat/Drink/Grow:   Life cycle of most insects… 18:42   Love Letters and Questions:   Paul writes: “A friend told me that I should be collecting rainwater for my houseplants.  True?”

For better or worse, in this episode Ellen and C.L. are delving into Pumpkin Spice. We start talking about allspice, and then do a deep dive into the plants that produce the flavors in the most popular seasonal latte offered at local coffee shops.   :30   True or False:    Allspice is a mix of several spices. 3:44  Eat/Drink/Grow: Where do real pumpkin spices come from? 22:32   Love Letters and Questions    Megan writes to ask if dried herbs and spices can go bad. Painted pumpkin faces in our illustration were done by our friend, artist and illustrator John Sullivan.

We’re celebrating fall with autumnal beverages, talking about applying fertilizer in the fall, and discussing cleaning up houseplants when you bring them back indoors.   :31   True or False: Winter is a good time to fertilize gardens. 4:38  Eat/Drink/Grow: Fall Cocktails and other garden or plant-based beverages.    17:58  The Plant Noob: Cleaning up houseplants when you bring them back inside. Repotting now? Cut back? Fertilize? Insects? 26:24   Love Letters and Questions:   Liz asks about the shownotes. Kale-tini For Two Cocktails 2 cups tightly packed kale 1 cup water juice two limes 4 oz vodka or gin 1 Tbls agave syrup   The Process:  Cut enough kale into pieces to fill a 2-cup measure. Cover these pieces with water and place in a food processor or blender. Puree for a minute. Strain the solids out of the pureed kale with a fine sieve, pressing with a spatula to get as much juice from the leaves as possible.   Squeeze the limes and add the lime juice, vodka, and agave syrup. Mix well or shake in a mason

It’s time to take stock of the vegetable garden and consider what thrived and which crops were a bust. Ellen and C.L. discuss why Ellen loves to forage for chestnuts, and how she cooks them, plus we answer a question about dandelion foliage in the lawn.   :35 What’s For Dinner:  Chestnuts! 8:02 Eat/Drink/Grow:  Veggie Garden Wrap Up 22:35 Love Letters and Questions:   Neil emails about the dandelions in his lawn.  Link to Ellen’s recipe for chestnut soup. Link to Ellen’s recipe for chestnut mousse.

Hear what plant people mean when they talk about “the canopy,” learn about a must-have book if you grow perennials, and find out what you can do in perennial gardens in the fall. Plus a look at what’s growing in C.L.’s “bunny bin.” :40   Plant Noob:   What is “the canopy?”    2:26  Insider Information: the “bunny bin” 5:54  Book Review: Herbaceous Perennial Plants – Fourth Edition by Allan Armitage 10:19 Eat/Drink/Grow:  The perennial garden in autumn. 22:13  Love Letters and Questions:   A shout out to Andree.

In this episode we talk about foraged silverberries, cherry tomatoes, saving seeds, and whether fall is the best time for planting. Ellen and C.L. end with a question from Jenna about possible uses for carrot tops. :27 What’s for dinner: Silverberry and Cherry Tomatoes 7:27 Eat/Drink/Grow:  Saving Seeds. When to do so, how to save, pros and cons. 16:32 True or False:   Fall is the best time for planting. 22:14 Love Letters and Questions  From Jenna: using carrot tops.

Ellen and C.L. give you ideas for using all of that mint that has exploded in your gardens over the summer. We explain how to keep container plants through the winter without pot or plant death, and answer a listener’s question about transplanting in the fall. :42 What’s For Dinner: What Can You Do With Mint? 7:43 Eat/Drink/Grow: Keeping Plants in Pots Through the Winter 19:47 Love Letters and Questions:   Sandra emailed to ask if September is a good time to move shrubs.

Learn the truth about calcium and the black blossom end rot on your tomatoes, hear about preserving the herbs you’ve grown, discover a better way to prone large shrubs, and find out why a Cannabis plant isn’t budding. Our sponsor today is Territorial Seeds. :40  True or False:  Lack of calcium in the soil causes blossom end rot in tomatoes 8:05  Eat/Drink/Grow: Preserving Herbs 16:42   Insider Information:  Limbing Large Shrubs UP 20:43  Love Letters and Questions:   Cannabis not budding

C.L. and Ellen and talk about ways to prepare eggplant, protecting your fall crops from frost, taking cuttings of shrubs and tender plants, and drying white hydrangea flowers. :47  What’s for dinner:  Eggplant   11:08  Insider Information:  Protecting fall crops if an early freeze is predicted. 16:56  Eat/Drink/Grow:  Taking cuttings of woody plants and tender perennials.   26:26 Love Letters and Questions:  Kya writes to ask if she can dry her Hydrangea paniculata flowers

In this episode Ellen and C.L. give you a way to identify grasses, sedges and rushes, we discuss the mildew that you might be seeing on various plants, and answer a listener’s question about where to find unusual plants. :39  Plant Noob:  Sedges, grasses and rushes.   9:19 Eat/Drink/Grow:   A deep dive into MILDEW. 23:44  Love Letters and Questions:  Ellen asks where to find the plants we speak about.

Wondering if your zucchini can cross with the neighbor’s pumpkins? Want to know about planting where a tree used to grow? Ellen and C.L. talk about those topics plus finding inexpensive plants for shade and curling tomato leaves.   :37  True or False:   Zucchini can cross with pumpkins so that you get weird fruit.   3:11  Eat/Drink/Grow:  Why a plant might not grow when put near where a tree used to be. 13:27  Plant Noob – Inexpensive plants for shade? An email from Madeline. 16:44 Love Letters and Questions:    Ted asks why on some days the foliage on his tomato plant is curled.

Hear about two cocktails that use edible flowers, learn about the ways vines support themselves or climb structures, and discover how to tell which flowers are male or female on your summer squash. Plus we answer a listener’s question about fall vegetable plantings.   :45 What’s For Dinner: Flower Power Summer Cocktails 6:08 Eat/Drink/Grow:  Vines – how they grow, when to go annual or perennial. 16:07 Insider Information:  How to tell male from female flowers on summer squash 20:42 Love Letters and Questions:  Keri writes saying that she has open areas in her vegetable garden where the plants have finished.

Ellen and C.L. give ideas for making your outdoor office (or Zoom Room) greener. We talk about the maintenance of daylilies, and answer a listener’s question about controlling mosquitos. :32   Your Outdoor Office: Still working from home? You need greenery. 4:47  Eat/Drink/Grow: A Deep Dive into Daylilies.  16:58  Love Letters and Questions: Paul asks if there is a natural way to help control mosquitos and if some plants really repel them.

Hear how to use all the summer squash from your garden, learn about the new foraging calendar from Amber Lotus Publishing, and listen to Ellen give her top plants for foraging in the Midwest and Northeast. In our main segment we’ll talk about why a plant might change growth habits, or develop different foliage and flower colors.   1:30  What’s for dinner:   It’s zucchini mania! 8:45   Insider Information:  Ellen’s Backyard Foraging Calendar is out! 11:32 Eat/Drink/Grow:   Why some plants “revert” changing growth patterns or color 20:31   Love Letters and Questions: Sara asks if Ellen will name her top 5 plants to forage for in the Northeast or Midwest Order Ellen's calendar here:  https://www.amberlotus.com/backyard-foraging-2021-wall-calendar

Wondering why your salad, broccoli or radishes are flowering? Thinking that the houseplants you put out for the summer aren’t looking fantastic? Learn about attractively arranging houseplants outside, summer orchid care, what “bolting” means in the veggie garden, and a good time to transplant a tree.  :30  Plant Noob:  Why some vegetables “bolt” 8:53 Eat/Drink/Grow:  Summer orchid care, houseplants at summer camp, and using indoor plants for outdoor décor 22:55   Love Letters and Questions    Fred writes that he wants to move a small maple tree that was planted in the wrong place.

Ellen and C.L. discuss whether the use of mulch robs the soil of nitrogen, and we take a dive into the Polygonaceae family…smart weeds and knotweeds. We give you the scoop on two informative webinars for anyone interested in growing hydrangeas, and answer a question about the odd, jelly-like forms that a listener has found on some junipers. 1:42  True or False: Mulch robs the soil of nitrogen.      6:21  Eat/Drink/Grow: Is your weed smart or knot?  12:31   Insider Information: Hydrangea webinars given by C.L.     16:33  Love Letters and Questions: Aliens in the juniper!    With thanks to our Dramm, our sponsor. Find their great products at RainWand.com  The Virtual Hydrangea classes that C.L. recorded are: Mopheads and Lacecap Hydrangeas, and  https://bit.ly/panicle_smooth Hydrangeas.  

This episode will inspire you to make an omelet using vegetables you’ve grown or foraged for. Ellen and C.L. take a deep dive into peonies and all the questions people have about them not flowering, when to move them, how to control mildew and more. Finally, we clue you in about the fascinating (and mostly harmless) round growths on oak leaves, and advise a listener about the use of soap in the garden.  :33 What’s For Dinner   Omelet Ideas, Farmed and Foraged  6:36  Eat/Drink/Grow: Peonies They’re finished flowering but you’ve got questions! 21:35 Insider Information: Oak Galls 25:19 Love Letters and Questions: My wife likes putting Irish Spring soap in our vegetable garden…

If you’re wondering about growing blackberries or raspberries, want to know how to use a hoe for weed control or how to pinch your cannabis plants for bushy growth, this episode will help. Plus foraging for pineapple weed and growing pineapple sage. :35    What’s for dinner:    Pineapple weed, pineapple sage 6:32  Insider Information:  When to use a hoe to control weeds in vegetable/annual/perennial gardens.    9:33  Eat/Drink/Grow:   Brambles!    Black raspberries, blackberries, raspberries 22:53 Love Letters and Questions:  Tim writes to ask about pinching cannabis plants grown outside.