The Plantrama team gets their fingers sticky with strawberry juices today as we talk about foraging for wild berries, and how to grow strawberries in your garden. Hear about the types of plants, protecting berries from critters, using this plant as groundcover, and more. We end with some thoughts about soil temperatures. Here is a great chart from the Cooperative Extension-Sacramento County, showing how long seeds take to germinate in different soil temperatures.  :38 What’s For Dinner:...

Spring Greens, Plants for Arbors, and Forced Bulbs In the last episode for March Ellen and C.L. answer the last batch of questions collected at the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival in Seattle. Many of these focus on plants for arbors and pergolas. :28    What’s for dinner: Spring Greens 3:37    Insider Information:   Can a night blooming Cereus grow indoors in AK?  5:27   Eat/Drink/Grow:   Plants for arbors, pergolas and trellises  18:16  Love Letters and Questions: From Rachel about...

Ellen and C.L. address more questions from the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival in Seattle. We discuss the herb that gets no respect, Parsley, plus keeping outdoor furniture dry, escaping the insect invasion in your outdoor living areas, and how we started a podcast...and how you might start a garden business too! :40   What’s for dinner: Parsley 4:19  Insider Information:  Garden furniture in rainy climates 10:57  Eat/Drink/Grow:  Keeping mosquitoes out of the garden 16:05  Plant...

Hear about how to garden if you move frequently, creating consistent gardens in sun and shade, colors that work together, and growing strawberries in a greenhouse. That and keeping the neighbor’s dogs from killing plants when they urinate on them. With thanks to our sponsors: Storey Publishing, Gardener's Supply Company and Botanical Interest Seeds!  1:06    Plant Noob: The neighbor’s dogs kill my plants on the sidewalk! 4:42    Eat/Drink/Grow: Designing Gardens – questions from the...

Questions from the 2022 Seattle flower show continue, with blue, mophead hydrangea blooming and pruning in our main segment. Ellen and C.L. also talk about pH for vegetable gardens and peonies that stop blooming.  This episode brought to you by our friends at Dramm - makers of rainwands and other garden gear. :45  The Plant Noob:   How important is soil pH for vegetables 6:56 Eat/Drink/Grow:  Hydrangea Happiness 18:17 Love Letters and Questions:   30 year old peony stopped blooming.

C.L. and Ellen answer questions that were submitted at the Northwest Flower and Garden Festival in Seattle. They discuss pruning raspberries, great plants with white flowers, and how to get rid of fungus gnats.   1:31   What’s For Dinner: Raspberries!       10:14    Eat/Drink/Grow:   Gardens with White Flowers.  21:56    Insider Information:  Fungus Gnats With thanks to our sponsors at the NWFGS:  Storey Publishing. Gardener's Supply Company, and Botanical Interest Seeds.

If you’re bored with your usual breakfast, this episode is for you. We also explain photoperiodism, talk about starting pepper seeds and growing them in the garden, and answer a listener’s question about Lantana. :30 What’s for dinner: Breakfast Alternatives 8:11 Insider Information:  Photoperiodism   10:56 Eat/Drink/Grow:  Peppers 25:55 Love Letters and Questions: Sam writes to ask about Lantana Link to Ellen's Clafouti recipe. Link to C.L.'s Oatmeal Cups recipe.  

Do you grow citrus indoors for at least part of the year? Learn to be the bee! We also suggest plants for the “COVID cranky” (and who isn’t?) plus becoming a local or niche garden expert.   :34     Plant Noob:  Pollinating Citrus You’re Growing Indoors    4:24    Eat/Drink/Grow: Plants for the Covid Cranky 18:36   Plant Empowerment:   Becoming a local or niche garden guru.

Have you ever wondered if plants talk to each other? Do you want to have a big number of perennial plants cheaply? Would you like to know what it takes to grow Cannibis from seed? Ellen and C.L. cover these topics in this episode.  :30   True or False: Plants talk to each other. 7:22   Eat/Drink/Grow:  Growing Perennials From Seed 21:06   Love Letters and Questions:    R.B. wrote:  “Last year I tried growing Cannabis from seed and it was a failure.

In this episode Ellen and C.L. talk about cilantro and coriander...one in the same plant. We have agreeing opinions about Stevia, and explain the reason that it takes awhile for some new introductions to reach the marketplace. The podcast ends with Anne’s question about hauling weeds to the compost...necessary?   :30        What’s For Dinner:  Coriander/Cilantro   10:38    Eat/Drink/Grow:   Plants that are natural sweeteners...beyond sugar. 19:41    Insider Information:  How the...

This episode starts with ideas for cooking with dried mushrooms. We explain how to tell the difference between pine, fir and spruce trees, do a dive into Ericaceous plants, and end with a question about taking cuttings and transplanting houseplants in the winter. :30 What’s for dinner:  How to cook with dried mushrooms  9:16 Insider Information:  Pines, firs and spruce. 14:11 Eat/Drink/Grow:    Ericaceous plants 22:11 Love Letters and Questions:  Shannon wrote about repotting houseplants...

The Plantrama team discuss a botanic term for plants that put leaves straight up out of the ground (no stems!), and answer a listener’s question about a Bromeliad that hasn’t made more blooms. Ellen and C.L. present a new segment: Plant Empowerment, which explains how to make a passion for plants into a profession. We start with custom container plantings. :33    Plant Noob:   Acaulescent plants  2:38    Eat/Drink/Grow:  Plant Empowerment!  25:33    Love Letters and Questions    Jennifer...

The Plantrama team discusses the common belief that eggshells provide quick calcium for plants. Next we look at the myths, misunderstandings and misuse of moss, and end with a question about making a terrarium.   :30  True or False:  Eggshells are good calcium for gardens 4:45  Eat/Drink/Grow:  Moss. 21:37  Love Letters and Questions:  Ricci asks about terrariums

  Ellen and C.L. talk about eating chestnuts, the perennial plant that’s commonly called hellebores, and what it means when you are talking about pesticides. We end with a listener’s question about growing foxglove plants from seed.  :34  What’s For Dinner:   Chestnuts  6:31  Eat/Drink/Grow:   Helleborus 17:50  Insider Information:  Define “Pesticide” 21:38  Love Letters and Questions:  Lynn asked about propagating foxgloves

We start out discussing what can be substituted for rice when you cook. Our main segment is about grafted plants, and we end with a discussion about vegetable seeds that you might want to start in the winter, and whether it’s worth it to save a poinsettia from year to year. :30  What’s For Dinner  Alternatives to rice 9:58   Eat/Drink/Grow:  Grafting and Grafted Plants 18:46   Insider Information:  Vegetable seeds that get started early. 22:29   Love Letters and Questions:  Kenny wrote:...

In this just-after-the-solstice episode, Ellen and C.L. discuss how to use juniper berries, supporting heavy amaryllis flowers, taking cuttings and Cyclamen.  Ellen's Smreka recipe here. :30 What’s for dinner: What can you use juniper berries for? 5:00 Insider Information: Supporting heavy Amaryllis flowers 9:57 Eat/Drink/Grow: Taking Cuttings – which plants should you take cuttings from, how and when. 22:22 Love Letters and Questions: How to keep Cyclamen alive.

In this episode C.L. and Ellen explain what “bare root plants” are and why you might want them. Next, they talk about the genus Dracaena, which includes some of the most popular houseplants. They end by disagreeing about general rules for pruning (sorry Morgan).

If you’re wondering if you need to protect your perennial plants with a winter mulch, this episode is for you. Ellen and C.L. go on to talk about the moth orchids, the most commonly sold orchid and an easy one to grow. The show ends with a discussion about the pros and cons of leaving the leaves in your landscape and gardens.

en and C.L. give ideas for the best low-tech kitchen tools, gift suggestions for all on your list, and tips for why ordering your seeds now is a good idea. We end with some audible plant-based listening suggestions for a listener.

From roots to leaves to flowers! C.L. and Ellen talk about the difference between yams and sweet potatoes, explain what a root nodule is, and discuss leaf-spot fungus, especially on house plants. The episode ends with a listener question about flowers for a Florida garden.

It’s all houseplants all the time in this episode of Plantrama. Ellen and C.L. give advice about cleaning the leaves of indoor plants, talk about the many Calatheas that grow well with less light, and answer a question abot the tropical known as “money plant.”

The Plantrama team discusses the advice to hang herbs upside down for drying, and whether you should prune evergreens now. We end with a letter from a listener about doing battle with the birds.

Ellen and C.L. talk about cranberry recipes that go beyond the traditional “cranberry sauce.” They discuss potting “soils” and their composition, and give a listener advice about a Dracaena fragrans (aka corn plant) that has gotten too tall.

C.L. and Ellen give you some different ideas for using apples this season, discuss planting bulbs with an auger on a drill, explain the term “old wood” and answer a listener’s question about tomatillo plants.

The Plantrama team discusses the importance of soil temperature when planting bulbs for spring bloom. In the main segment we talk about handling the amaryllis bulbs you have kept from last winter, and how to bring them into flower in December. We end with a question about how frequently houseplants should be fertilized.