Fostering Blooms

Welcome to Fostering Blooms! In this episode, we're sharing our latest round of "No Thank You" plants — the ones we've grown, inherited, or almost bought… but now politely decline. 🙅‍♀️🌿

These aren't plants we hate — okay, maybe one or two — but ones we've learned aren't the right fit for our gardens due to invasiveness, poor pollinator value, maintenance headaches, or just plain overuse.

And of course, we're not here to judge — we're here to help you make better planting choices with smarter, more beautiful alternatives. ✨

Grab your tea (or gloves), and get ready to laugh, learn, and maybe rethink that plant sitting in your cart.

Let's go grow, baby!

SHOW NOTES:

Korean Dogwood: Cornus kousa

Discover Life in America

Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry

This week on the podcast, we're covering everything you should be doing in the garden this month — from what to plant, what to pull, and what to support, to how we're handling pests, mulch math, and our melon experiments (yes… there are melon bralettes involved 😅).

Here's a taste of what's inside: ✔️ What to sow right now (okra, beans, melons & more) ✔️ Why mulching early = your future self's BFF ✔️ Natural pest control strategies we're actually testing ✔️ Support systems for dahlias, tomatoes & chilies ✔️ Our fertilizing routines (real talk, no guilt) ✔️ What's blooming, what's bolting, and what's next

Whether you're just catching your breath after spring or wondering if you missed your window — this one's for you.

Show Notes

Cantaloupe Variety - Golden Jenny

🌿 Direct Sow Now:

• Okra

• Corn

• Pole beans

• Bush beans

• Summer squash

• Cucumbers

• Melons

• Sunflowers

• Zinnias

• Cosmos

• Marigolds

• Basil

• Dill

🪴 Start Indoors (if needed for extra protection or head start):

• Specialty zinnias or cosmos with precious seed stock

• Melons (if you're planning to transplant to raised beds or trellis)

• Additional basil for staggered planting

This month is peak warm-season planting — so if you've got open space in the garden, now's the time to fill it!

🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch it on YouTube!

👇🏼 Tag a garden buddy & tell us what's on your June to-do list!

Welcome to Fostering Blooms, the podcast where we dig deep into gardening and all the ways it can enrich your home and life. Today, we're diving into the garden's underground world of veggie families and why planting them side-by-side can cause more drama than a mafia reunion.

In this episode, we cover:

• The four major plant families and their turf wars: Solanaceae (Nightshades), Brassicaceae (The Crucifer Crew), Fabaceae (Legume Syndicate), and Cucurbitaceae (The Gourd Family)

• The real reason you shouldn't plant tomatoes after potatoes (aka Blight City!)

• Why rotating crops helps avoid pests, disease, and nutrient burnout

• Whether soil health really can replace crop rotation

• Our favorite garden planning tricks to keep the peace between feuding families

Perfect for new and experienced gardeners alike, this episode brings the drama, the strategy, and the laughs. Grab your notebook (or your garden map) and learn how to keep your beds productive and your plants happy.

✨ Follow Fostering Blooms and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Let's go grow, baby!

Show Notes:

• Jean-Martin Fortier: The Market Gardener: A Successful Grower's Handbook for Small Scale Organic Farming

In this episode, we're busting some of the most common garden myths—like whether you really need to water every day, if gravel helps drainage, and whether native plants actually take care of themselves. Spoiler: we've made some of these mistakes too!

We'll share our honest opinions on fertilizing, talk about what works (and what totally doesn't), and laugh through a few garden confessions along the way. Plus, Shannon shares a sweet update about a special garden she's planting in memory of her dog Xena. 🌼💛

So grab your compost and your curiosity—we're myth-busting the garden, one shovel at a time.

Pollinator gardening isn't just a trend—it's essential. In this episode of Fostering Blooms, Shannon and Caitlyn break down how to build a garden that supports bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, parasitic wasps, and even hoverflies—season by season. From herbs and annuals to perennials and native plants, you'll discover how to keep pollinators well-fed all year long (yes, even in winter!). Plus, they share personal stories, propagation tips, and why it's time to rethink your lawn.

Whether you have a large garden or just a few containers, this episode is packed with practical, pollinator-loving ideas.

🌿 Plants we cover include: Spring: sage, thyme, chives, lavender, snowdrops, catmint, salvia Summer: zinnias, cosmos, oregano, basil, mint, bee balm, sunflowers, celosia Fall: asters, Japanese anemone, sedum (e.g., Autumn Joy), Joe Pye weed, dahlias Winter: snowdrops, witch hazel, hellebores, camellias, ivy (with a caveat)

👩‍🌾 Follow and subscribe to Fostering Blooms for weekly inspiration, seasonal tips, and real talk about gardening with purpose. Let's go grow, baby!

We already gave you our May To-Do list… but this episode? It's a deep dive into the three garden activities we're obsessed with this month: dividing, propagating, and planting.

We're sharing how to multiply your garden without multiplying your budget, with real talk about what's working (and what's not) in our own spaces. Expect soil-saving propagation tips, free plant goldmines, and a plant list packed with everything that thrives in May.

Inside the episode:

• 💸 Our favorite plants to divide this month

• 🌱 What we're propagating in soil and water (spoiler: yogurt jars involved)

• 🌼 What we're planting now (flowers, herbs, veggies, and more!)

• 🧪 Lessons learned from past garden experiments

If your love language is free plants, you're gonna love this one.

If you want a lush, thriving garden without blowing your budget, this episode is your May garden pep talk. It's practical, a little chaotic, and full of joyful experimenting.

🎧 Let's go propagate some stuff, baby!

Welcome to Fostering Blooms — the podcast where two gardening-obsessed friends, Shannon Foster-Boline and Caitlyn Blum, dig into the joys (and challenges!) of growing a beautiful life from the ground up.

In this episode, we're talking about all the real-life tasks we're doing in May to get our gardens set up for a season of lush blooms and abundant harvests. That means trench-planting tomatoes, laying down limestone screenings, dealing with the first big pest wave (hello, flea beetles 😱), and making time for drip irrigation before the summer heat rolls in.

We also share what we've learned about no-dig bed prep (hint: painter's paper > butcher paper), what we're doing differently with squash, beans, and cucumbers, and why it's time to net, stake, and trellis everything now—so future you isn't wrestling floppy dahlias in 90° heat.

Whether you're scaling up like Shannon or squeezing plants into every inch like Caitlyn, this episode will give you a dose of motivation, some laughs, and a practical checklist for getting it done this May.

🌱 Topics we cover:

• Trench-planting tomatoes in raised beds

• Why we love cattle panel trellises for climbing crops

• Flea beetle panic mode + organic pest control options

• Landscape fabric vs. screenings vs. mulch: what actually worked

• Beans, squash, cucumbers, eggplant, and dahlia planting timelines

• Irrigation systems: drip line tips, timers, and rain barrel prep

• What to stake and net now (and why it's better than doing it later)

• Planting annuals, potted roses, hydrangeas, and perennials in late spring

If you're gardening in Zone 7B (or anywhere that's heating up fast), this episode will help you stay one step ahead—and remind you that you're never really "behind."

Let's go get dirty. Let's go grow, baby! 🌼

🎧 Love what you hear? Follow Fostering Blooms on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Leave a rating or review to help other garden lovers find us. And share this episode with a friend who's out there planting tomato trees and fighting beetles, too.

🌸 Follow us on Instagram [@fosteringblooms] for garden inspo, behind-the-scenes chaos, and planty joy.

Want to grow your own pressed flower collection on a budget—without needing expert skills or a giant garden?

In this solo episode, Shannon answers a question from Instagram follower, Dee at the Fairy Door Project, and breaks down exactly how to create a simple, budget-friendly garden for growing flowers ideal for pressing. From building a no-dig raised bed to choosing the right blooms for sun and shade, Shannon shares beginner-friendly, low-cost ways to get started right now.

You'll learn:

• The easiest no-dig method to build a 4x4 raised bed (without wood!)

• When and how to plant seeds for pressing success

• Which sun-loving and shade-loving flowers press beautifully

• Why some popular flowers like Queen Anne's Lace aren't the best choice—and what to grow instead

This episode is jam-packed with planting tips, beginner wins, and beautiful flower ideas that are both affordable and easy to grow—even if you're new to gardening.

Whether you're dreaming of a lush cutting garden or just want a few blooms to press in books, this guide has you covered. Let's grow, baby! 🌸

🌼 Plants Mentioned: For Sun:

• Poppies: Mother of Pearl, Pandora, Flemish, California poppies

• Daisies

• Echinacea

• Cosmos (Apricotta)

• Ammi Majus (False Queen Anne's Lace)

• Ammi Visnaga (Bishop's Flower)

• Pansies

• Hardy Geranium (Geranium Rozanne)

• Phlox drummondii (Creme Brulee)

• Wallflower (Erysimum, variety 'Vulcan')

For Shade:

• Columbine (Aquilegia)

• Hellebores (Wedding Series)

• Ferns (Autumn Fern, Cinnamon Fern)

• Hydrangea (BloomStruck, Endless Summer series)

• Solomon's Seal (Variegated Polygonatum)

🎧 Listen in and get inspired to start your own beautiful, blooming flower bed for pressing—without breaking the bank.

It's finally here — the spring bloom bonanza! 🌷 In this episode, we're sharing five flowers and five vegetables we're most excited about in our early spring gardens. From stunning David Austin roses and clematis to sweet peas, tulips, kale, and the best crunchy radishes you'll ever taste, we walk through what's blooming (and what's almost there) in our Zones 7B gardens.

These are the plants we believe in, whether they're tried-and-true or brand-new-to-us varieties. If you're planning your next succession planting or wondering which flowers will make your garden shine, this episode is packed with inspiration and laughs.

🌸 Featured flowers: Bathsheba rose, Clematis Duchess of Edinburgh, peonies Sarah Bernhardt, Karl Rosenfield and Bartzella, Snapdragon Potomac Royal, Artist Viridiflora tulip, Mollie Rillstone, Matcucana, Cupani, Windsor, High Scent, and Nimbus sweet peas, Narcissus Gay Tabor, Lambada Fringed Tulip, perennial phlox, and Vulcan wallflower.

🥬 Veggies we love: Red Russian kale, Dark Side spinach, Marvel of Four Seasons lettuce, French breakfast radish, Watermelon Radish, Nairobi snap peas, asparagus, spring onions, and Arugula (Shannon's still can't find the variety but it is Botanical Interests seed).

Subscribe so you never miss a new episode every Wednesday — and let us know what's blooming in your garden right now!

🎧 Listen now and let's go grow, baby.

Got a porch, patio, or balcony and want to grow your own food? You're in luck! In this listener Q&A episode, Shannon and Caitlyn answer a question from Shannon's sister, Gracie, who lives in an apartment in Wilmington, NC, and wants to start growing some vegetables this year.

Whether you're working with limited space or dreaming of your first patio garden, this episode has everything you need to get started!

They cover:

• The best pot sizes and materials for veggies and herbs

• What to plant (including tomatoes, herbs, and even tea blends!)

• Companion planting tips for flavor and pollinators

• Watering tips and timing for southern zones

• Bonus: a tropical container garden for fragrance and mosquito defense!

This episode proves that you don't need a yard to grow something beautiful. 🌿

👉 Don't forget to follow and rate the podcast! It helps more gardeners and plant lovers find us.

📩 Send your questions to: [email protected]

Let's go grow, baby!