Plantrama - plants, landscapes, & bringing nature indoors

Ellen and C.L. discuss plants that male or female, how some plants are used to remove harmful substances from the soil, and why it might be good to test old seed instead of automatically tossing it out.

:27 Plant Noob: Dioecious plants

8:33 Eat/Drink/Grow: Phytoremediation

16:48 Love Letters and Questions: Karen wrote to ask about the seeds she has left from past years.

The Plantrama team discusses the clearly fake rainbow tomatoes, growing the wonderfully real jade plants indoors, and Ellen's new craft cocktail class.

:30 True or False: Rainbow Tomato Seeds

3:17 Eat/Drink/Grow: Jade plants: Crassula

13:29 Insider Information: Ellen's online craft cocktail course

17:30 Love Letters and Questions: Anthony writes asking why lichen seems to shrink and grow.

Hear ideas for making quiche or frittatas, learn about earthworm castings and why it's good for plants, and discover a cactus that grows in most of North America.

:36 What's For Dinner: Quiche or Frittata

5:55 Eat/Drink/Grow: Earthworm Castings.

15:52 Insider Information: Opuntia humifusa, prickly pear cactus

21:56 Love Letters and Questions: Anne writes about blue flowers.

In this New Year's Eve podcast, Ellen and C.L. raise a glass to toast a better year ahead. Hear about small in-home greenhouse/terrariums, learn about "pencil cactus," and listen to our answer for Quinn, who wants to fertilize his Ohio lawn in the winter.

:30 What's For Dinner: Celebratory Cocktails 6:04 Eat/Drink/Grow: Tiny Home Greenhouses 12:57 Plant Noob: Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks on Fire' 21:00 Love Letters and Questions: Quinn wrote to ask about whether it's too late to fertilize his lawn in Ohio.

Hear about an easy and elegant houseplant as Ellen and C.L. talk about Hoyas. Learn about determining your garden style, and discover how plants without leaves might still be photosynthizing.

:30 Insider Information: All about hoyas 8:34 Eat/Drink/Grow: Knowing or learning what your garden style is. 20:24 Love letter and Questions: Did you know that green stems are capable of photosynthesis?

Looking for an amazing houseplant that flowers all year? Worried that the seeds you buy might be GMO's? Could you use a good book to read this winter? All of these topics and using shredding paper in the garden, in this episode.

29 Plant Noob: Are some seeds available to home gardeners GMO? 4:21 Eat/Drink/Grow: Amazing Anthuriums 14:15 Product Review: Good winter reads – fiction that features plants. 22:16 Love Letters and Questions Karl wrote asking if the stuff from his paper shredder would make good mulch.

Ellen and C.L. explain that yes, it is possible to have too much compost in the soil. We discuss the lovely Helleborus niger, aka the Christmas rose, and answer a question about spider plants.

:28 True or False: Healthy soil has a high percentage of organic matter in it.

4:55 Eat/Drink/Grow: The Christmas Rose – Helleborus niger

13:49 Love Letters and Questions: Ken wrote asking about spider plants, aka ribbon plant, aka airplane plant.

Hear about some savory/sweet cookies, learn about ferns that make attractive houseplants, discover the meeting of the term "entire margins," and find out if you should clear out your vegetable garden…all in this week's episode of Plantrama.

:32 What's For Dinner: Cookies!

5:31 Eat/Drink/Grow: Ferns as houseplants.

17:40 Insider Information: What does "entire leaf margins" mean?

18:46 Love Letters and Questions: Deb asks if she has to clear the dead vegetables out of her vegetable garden now.

Discover spice rubs, a hot "Curio" houseplant, and hear what to do with the bulbs and other plants you haven't yet placed into the ground.

:30 What's for dinner: Spice Rubs for Meat and Tofu

5:18 Insider Information: A suddenly "hot houseplant" - Curio rowleyanus, syn. Senecio rowleyanus

9:34 Eat/Drink/Grow: When you forgot to put bulbs or other plants into the ground.

17:24 Love Letters and Questions: Did you start a "Covid Garden?" How was your experience? We want to hear your stories. How did planting make you feel? What was the most problematic thing, and what was the most joyful aspect of the process? Email us!

The Link for Ellen's Wild Spice Cabinet online course: https://backyard-forager.thinkific.com/courses/The-Wild-Spice-Cabinet

In this episode we consider how drought and snow effect plants, creating a plant-filled Zoom Room, and spring bulbs that come up before spring.

:30 Plant Noob: Is snow hard on plants?

7:05 Eat/Drink/Grow: Drought! The long-term consequences of dry periods.

14:23 A Plant-Filled Zoom Room: How to create a lush environment for your virtual work.

20:30 Love Letters and Questions Cara writes: "Some of my bulbs are coming up! I think they believe it's spring…