Home of Houseplants

Jo is joined once again by her husband John, co owner of Home of Houseplants to update listeners on their absence over the last 6 months. The impact of COVID-19 on indoor plant sales in Australia and a shock cancer diagnosis are just some of the reasons discussed for their absence from making podcasts. Join Jo for this quick update to find out what is in store for 2021.

Jo speaks with Andy Baker, a Brisbane based collector of aroids that is relatively new to the hobby. Andy recently travelled to South America with Intrepid Travel and was on the hunt for aroids, in and amongst seeing the cultural sights.

Andy shares all the tips and inside details re his trip, if you are wanting to see the aroids for yourself in their native homelands.

Follow Andy on instagram @plantyandy

Jim Edwards, of Tamborine Tropicals based in the Hinterland Region of the Gold Coast, a well known identity in the aroid community in Australia, is the special guest for Episode 17. Jim is also a committee member of the Aroid Society of Australia.

Apologies in advance for the sound quality of this recording, we had to engage an audio engineer to save this episode after Jim's mic failed to record. You will however enjoy the wonderful nature sounds in the background!

Jim sells plants via his Facebook page Tamborine Tropicals and ships Australia wide. Be sure to follow Jim's page https://www.facebook.com/tamborinetropicals/to be sure not to miss out on plants he posts for sale.

Thank you Jim for allowing me to come visit you at your property in the beautiful Tamborine region of Queensland, Australia.

Robyn Ganley is one of Australia's most prolific private sellers  of the most in demand, rare and hard to find indoor plants.

Based just outside of the metro area of Cairns, in Far North Queensland, Australia, Robyn along with her husband Snow, have built a number of very large greenhouses on their acreage, toaccomodate their precious plants, that have been accumulated over a number of years.

Join Jo and she wanders around Robyn's property and listen to the description of all the treasures that form part of Robyn's stock for sale and personal collection. Jo travelled to Cairns to record this interview with Robyn in late November 2019.

Apologies in advance about the audio for this one as we were outdoors, with limited recording capabilities.

Happy New Year! January 2020 marks the start of Season 2 of Home of Houseplants. 

In 2020, Home of Houseplants  is travelling across Australia to meet and interview Australia's most popular and high profile growers and sellers of rare and hard to find indoor plants.

First cab off the rank is Jules, from The Plant Factor. Jules is based just outside Cairns, in tropical Far North Queensland, Australia.  As many of you know, in partnership with Peter Sargeant,  Jules harvests and sells cuttings from the precious aroids that live inside the Whyanbeel Arboretum, in the Whyanbeel Valley. If you don't know who Peter Sargeant is, check out episode 2 of Season 1 of this Podcast.

Apologies in advance for the audio quality during this interview. It was recorded in a hotel lobby, next to a waterfall using one microphone.

Follow Jules on instagram via @the_plant_factor or on FB via The Whyanbeel Collection @theplantfactor

It has been a longer than usual break between this episode and the last. Jo is joined in this episode by John, Mr Home of Houseplants to explain why.

Topics in this episode that are discussed are:

- ugly packaging, why HoH repurposes and recycles boxes for shipping plants;

-the difficulties with retro fitting vintage glasshouses with spare parts and accessories;

-iron bark totem poles, why have they been so hard to source in Australia over the last year;

-changes to plant concierge fees and charges for WA;

-plans for the podcast in 2020.

The FB group that sales rare and hard to find plants in Australia that John and Jo were referring to in this episode is Rare, Tropical, and Indoor Plant BSS Australia, a private group.

In this episode, Jo chats with Clayton, co-owner of Melbourne based Sproutwell Greenhouses. 

Sproutwell Greenhouses was established in 2011 and has grown from strength to strength. Sproutwell greenhouses are a firm  favourite amongst plant collectors and hobbyists alike and they have witnessed a resurgence in their popularity. Sproutwell Greenhouses is a family business that has enjoyed helping gardening enthusiasts and commercial growers achieve their vision. 

So many interesting aspects of glasshouses and greenhouses were discussed in this interview and if you don't have the space of property to have one of these, this is still worth a listen. Clayton and his wife built the company from scratch in 2011, so it is also wonderful story to listen to about how they did it!

In episode 12, Jo sits down with Jane Perrone, a UK broadcaster, freelance journalist and host of the On The Ledge Podcast. Jo and Jane talk about the behind-the-scenes aspect of podcasting, getting started in the houseplant space and the exciting times ahead in the digital houseplant space.

In this episode, Jo sits down with Greg Ruckert, owner of www.elitebulbs.com.au, former aroid collector/hunter and currently the President of the Lilium and Bulb Society of South Australia, a national committee member of the Garden Clubs of Australia and Vice President of the Horticultural Media Association, to talk about Greg's experiences on expeditions through China and Burma to catalogue and discover new plant species, the process of international  quarantine (importing plants/bulbs into Australia)  and where he thinks houseplants are moving in the future.

Hannah and Branko, a young couple from Adelaide, South Australia share a mutual passion for vintage decor, design and indoor plants. Storytellers Workshop was born through their love of collecting unique, one-off treasures for their own home. Hannah and Branko  believe that a home is a sanctuary and that we are able to enhance our mood by surrounding ourselves with objects that are meaningful to us. Being thoughtful about what we place in our homes means that over the years you will have a space that is rich in character and a reflection of your own personality – and that kind of home will never go out of style!

Join Jo as she chats with Hannah and Branko about the role indoor plants play in styling, vintage trends and even how to clean and care for vintage cane and brass planters.

You can follow Storytellers Workshop on instagram via @storytellersworkshop or better still, check out their website, www.storytellersworkshop.com.au.