Plantrama - Plants, Landscapes, & Bringing Nature Indoors

1:06 What’s for dinner: Dahlias! 4:44 True or False:   You need a different fertilizer for each type of plant. 9:40 Eat/Drink/Grow: Hot & Cold…Fire pit plantings and over-wintering plants in outdoor containers. 19:42 Love Letters and Questions:   Making sense of the markings on rain gauges. Ellen and C.L. celebrate their 100th episode with talk about keeping potted plants alive through the winter, plantings that make your fire pit experience more fragrant or beautiful, and fertilizers for every type of plant. We begin by revisiting how dahlia tubers and petals are edible and end with a question about rain gauges.

Ellen and C.L. discuss what to do with green tomatoes, saving tropical plants over the winter, and how plants get their names. We end by answering Kirk’s question about raccoons eating the sweet corn he grew this year.   :31 What’s For Dinner: Green Tomatoes. 4:48 Eat/Drink/Grow: Saving Caladiums, Mandevilla and Cannas for next year. 16:55 Insider Information: How plants get their names 23:47 Love Letters and Questions: Kirk says the raccoons ate all his corn!

In this episode the Plantrama team talks about creating colorful flower garlands for a celebration, fall fix-ups for containers, gardens and curb appeal, and quince bushes or trees. We end with a question from Torry about what “soil amendments” are and what they can do. :29 Just For Fun: Flower garlands 5:48 Eat/Drink/Grow: Fall fix ups 15:31 Insider Information: Quince plants and their fruits 22:24 Love Letters and Questions: What on earth is soil amendment?  

Join Ellen and C.L. as they talk about silverberries (Elaeagnus umbellata), an easily grown herb with edible flowers (Borage), and what to do when the population of critters explodes. All that and some discussion about leaf shapes and cooperative extention services.   :28 What’s for dinner: Foraging for silverberries 4:02 Plant noob: Let’s talk about the borage plant. 8:19 Eat/Drink/Grow: Leaf shape vocabulary 15:47 Insider Information:  Critter population explosion! 21:43 Love Letters and Questions: Maria reminds us about the importance of Cooperative Extension Services.

In this episode Ellen and C.L. squash a lot of information into about 25 minutes. We talk about how to prepare summer squash flowers, ways to judge if a winter squash is ripe, and coping with squash vine borers and powdery mildew on squash plants. Once we’ve been fully squashed, we move onto the berries on Staghorn Sumac. :35  What’s for dinner: Eating squash flowers 5:26 Insider Information: How to tell if winter squash is ripe 10:08   Eat/Drink/Grow: Pests of Summer Squash 22:03   Love Letters and Questions: Are Sumac berries poisonous or edible?

Can you move plants now, in the summer? Is it smart to buy end of summer sale plants? Would you like the Earthkind Mosquito repellant? Could cinnamon be used for fungus control by putting it into the soil? These are the questions that C.L. and Ellen consider and answer in today’s episode.   :30  Plant Noob: Should you wait to plant or transplant in the fall? 8:30  Eat/Drink/Grow: Should you buy end of the summer sale plants? 18:30   Announcement: Live Plantrama Events on Cape Cod 19:10   Product Review:  Earthkind Mosquito repellant 22:20   Love Letters and Questions: A question about cinnamon fungicide from Kristy

Stuffing vegetables gets this episode off to a tasty start. Ellen and C.L. also consider the watering of lawns, how to grow plants in cracks of pavers, and what might cause a peony not to flower well. :45  What’s for dinner: Stuff it!  Stuffed vegetables and flowers. 6:03  True or False: Lawns need to be watered every other day. 13:23 Eat/Drink/Grow: Planting in the cracks. 20:57 Love Letters and Questions: Peony blooming question from Elizabeth

Ellen and C.L. start this episode out by discussing painted rocks. Are you painting them this summer? Are your kids painting on rocks? Do you love finding a rock with a message on it when you go to the beach or woods, or do you hate this practice? Next we talk about powdery mildew: what it is and when to treat or ignore. We end by answering a question about bringing cannabis into bud. :30  Just For Fun: Painted rocks…love them or hate them?     4:11  Eat/Drink/Grow: Powdery Mildew 18:52   Love Letters and Questions: Cannabis flowering.

After C.L. and Ellen discuss hailstorms, summer pruning and landscape fabric you’ll be ready to just relax with a summer cocktail and consider foraging. Ellen gives a recipe for a “Bear Bait” cocktail that contains milkweed, and C.L. encourages listeners to use other herbs instead of mint in a traditional drink. :33 What’s for dinner: Summer Cocktails – foraged and garden. 5:28 Insider Information: Hail! What to do when pellets of ice have damaged your garden.  8:18 Eat/Drink/Grow: Summer pruning. Is it smart to cut in July?  13:25 Did You Know: Landscape fabric smack-down!  20:38 Love Letters and Questions: What do people commonly ask about foraging?

Ellen and C.L. talk about the insect pest known as whitefly, and discuss several ways of controlling summer weeds. We end by answering Robie’s question about how to know when an underground crop is ready for harvesting. :30  Plant Noob: Whitefly. What this insect is, what it does, and which plants it often attacks.         7:46  Eat/Drink/Grow:  Weeds: No Easy Way Out!   Various methods of weed control. 18:20  Love Letters and Questions Robie asks how you know when to harvest potatoes. 

We start this episode with information about roasting vegetables, and C.L. claims that roasted garden green beans taste as good as French fries. We then go on to trash the idea that mothballs can be used to repel animals in the garden, and talk about bacteria…the good, the bad, and the ugly. The episode ends with Chelsea’s question about growing plants in clay. :35   What’s for dinner  Roasted vegetables and foraged edibles 5:21  True or False: Use mothballs to repel animals from your garden? 7:48    Eat/Drink/Grow Bacteria…the good, the bad and the ugly 15:01  Love Letters and Questions: Chelsea asks about gardening in clay.

Ellen and C.L. ignite the plant equivalent of fireworks in today’s episode. We revisit how pesto doesn’t have to be made only from basil, talk about harvesting garlic, and answer Vincent’s question about wildflower gardens. :32 Just For Fun: Fireworks in the garden 6:32 Eat/Drink/Grow: Pesto revisited 12:42 Insider Information: Harvesting garlic 17:32 Love Letters and Questions: Wildflower garden

Ellen and C.L. discuss garden or foraged ingredients that can swing both ways (sweet or savory), we discuss how to respond to a plant crisis, and examine the practice of putting coffee grounds in the garden. :31 sweet or savory 4:17 coffee in the garden 8:35 don’t panic! 18:16 garden tours Link to the blancmange recipe that Ellen speaks about. Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival ~ ten days of garden tours Cape-wide. GardenWalk Buffalo ~ a weekend of hundreds of open gardens.

In this episode Ellen and C.L. talk about keeping your containers flowering and looking great all summer. You’ll learn about diagnosing plant problems, favorite product picks and sand in the compost.  :31 annual container maintenance 7:02 diagnosing plant problems 19:31 favorite product picks 26:08 sand in the compost Product Picks: Presto Bucket Excalibut Dehydrator Push/Pull Hoe MaxSea Fertlizer

C.L. and Ellen debate whether duct tape can be used to fix broken branches, discuss radishes, help a listener deal with a garden thug that’s disguised as a popular herb, and talk about the importance of mycorrhizae. :30 radishes and milkweed 4:38 duct tape 8:37 mycorrhizae 19:49 lawn full of mint

Ellen and C.L talk about how to make ornaments for your garden from rocks or sticks you can find locally. We discuss what plants you can include in your perennial garden that are also edible and give tips for avoiding ticks and tick borne diseases. The episode ends with a question from Kelly about transplanting in June. :32 Just For Fun: Foraged garden ornaments…accent your landscape for free! 6:12  Eat/Drink/Grow: The edible perennial garden. 16:44 Insider Information: ticks and tick borne illnesses 23:36 Love Letters and Questions: Kelly asks if it’s too late to transplant?

Listening to this podcast will help you choose some great plants for mixed containers. You’ll find out why peat moss doesn’t make good mulch and why you’ll want to give every young person you know that book Gardening With Emma. And you’ll discover that just because a plant or product isn’t labeled “organic” doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily problematic. 30 Did You Know: Does peat moss make good mulch? 5:41 Eat Drink Grow: Planting beautiful containers. 19:48 Review: Gardening with Emma, a book about plants for young people. 24:33 Love Letters and Questions: Kip asks if non-organic plants, seeds and products contain poisons.

In this episode you’ll hear what you can forage for in May, learn about what plants do in the nighttime, and discover the joy of planting annual sunflowers. Ellen and C.L. also explain how some plants deliver beauty inside during the winter and outdoors in the summer. Plus we answer Sara’s email asking if it’s too late to plant in her yard and gardens.   :32 What’s For Dinner: May foraging 4:27 Insider Information: What plants do at nighttime. 10:49 Eat/Drink/Grow: Why you should grow annual sunflowers. 17:00 Did You Know: Double duty plants. Why some plants can be used for outside décor and indoor plants. 22.39 Love Letters and Questions: Sara asks if it’s too late to plant.

In this episode Ellen and C.L. toast the month of May with spring cocktails, explain how to figure what amount of mulch you need, and talk about creating beautiful salads that are foraged or farmed. Plus we end with Pete’s question about liming lawns.  :35 What’s For Dinner? A toast to May! Spring cocktails. 4:48 Did You Know? How to calculate how much mulch or loam you need. 9:48 Eat/Drink/Grow: Gorgeous salads, gardened or foraged. 17:11 Love Letters and Questions:   Pete asks about liming lawns Formula for calculating cubic feet of mulch or soil: L (in inches) x W(in inches) x D (in inches) ÷ 1728 = cubic feet

Learn how you can eat dandelion flowers, the best method for planting shrubs and trees and why perennials may need to be split and divided periodically. Plus the Plantrama team talks about planting tomatoes with Tums… a good idea, or not?   :30       True or False:  Plant your tomatoes with tums to prevent blossom end rot. 5:27     Plant Noob: What’s this I hear about dividing perennial plants? 13:45   Eat/Drink/Grow:   planting trees & shrubs 21:21 Love Letters and Questions: How to eat dandelion flowers?