Plantrama - plants, landscapes, & bringing nature indoors

In Episode 64 C.L. and Ellen discuss the "rainbow rose scam," how to handle the plants in a dish garden, growing and eating Jerusalem artichokes, and smaller sunflowers for the garden.

:28 True or False? You Can Grow Rainbow Roses From Seed

4:49 Plant Noob: What to do with a dish garden long term

8:19 Eat/Drink/Grow: Jerusalem artichokes - Helianthus tuberosus, aka sunchokes.

17:10 Love Letters and Questions: Sandy asks about growing dwarf sunflowers

This episode of Plantrama is brought to you by American Meadows.

Use the code PODCAST19 for $5 off of an order of $40 or more.

On this winter episode Ellen and C.L. consider a North American native plant that has been a favorite flavoring for gum, tea and toothpaste. We discuss why perennials bloom at a particular time of year, chat about why we love bromeliad plants, and explain how to care for them. At the end of the podcast we answer Paul's question about GMO seeds.

:31 What's For Dinner? Wintergreen – leaves and berries.

6:44 Insider Information: Why do perennials bloom at a particular time?

10:33 Eat/Drink/Grow: Bromeliads – what they are, and how to care for them.

19:57 Love Letters and Questions: Paul wonders if he should worry that the seeds he's buying are genetically modified.

In this December episode Ellen and C.L. talk about nematodes (harmful and beneficial), and the amazing sex life of the avocado flower. C.L. gives her opinion about putting small berms in a landscape, and tells a story that her berm rant sparked from someone in her audience. We answer Ellen's question about gardening when high…in an upper altitude, that is.

:27 Did You Know? What the heck are nematodes, and should gardeners care?

6:00 Eat/Drink/Grow: All about avocados. A pretty cool sex change for the flowers, and a fun houseplant to grow from a pit.

15:20 Story time: C.L. tells a story about garden design and berms, plus how this sparked a tale from an audience member that made us laugh.

18:40 Love Letters and Questions: Ellen wrote about growing plants when you're in a Rocky Mountain high.

This small berm at the end of a driveway really looks like a grave!

In this episode Ellen and C.L. talk about the misinformation about edible juniper berries that you find online. We talk about growing banana plants, and why you might want to start perennials from seed. Lauren asks about germinating milkweed seed.

:30 What's for Dinner? Juniper berries…really?

See Ellen's post about Juniper berries on her blog.

7:16 Eat/Drink/Grow: Banana plants. Growing hardy varieties in cold climates or tropical types in containers.

17:53 Insider Information: Growing perennials from seed.

22:38 Love Letters and Questions: Milkweed seeds - we refer Lauren to this page on the American Meadows Website.

Ellen and C.L. talk about lucky bamboo; what type of plant it is and how to care them. We explain what bracts are and why some plants have very showy ones, talk about making more plants by air layering, and answer Sal's question about pruning evergreens now so the greens can be used for holiday decorating.

:32 True or False? Lucky bamboo. Is it really bamboo? Is it lucky?

7:25 Plant Noob: Bracts. What are they?

12:20 Eat/Drink/Grow: Propagating plants by "air layering."

17:51 Love Letters and Questions: Sal asks about pruning evergreens in December.

Hear Ellen and C.L. talk about the practice of putting human hair in the garden will keep critters away. Next we explain how to get a peace lily to flower again, and the difference been a plant that's an epiphyte and one that's a parasite. C.L. tells how she came to be a garden communicator (she never intended to write and talk about plants and gardens!) and we answer Sam's question about when biennials flower.

:32 True or False? Will human hair keep critters out of the garden?

3:12 Plant noob: How to get a peace lily to flower again.

8:08 Eat/Drink/Grow: Plants that are epiphytes verses plants that are parasites. What is the difference?

15:12 Story: how CL became a garden communicator

20:19 Love Letters and Questions Sam asks about when biennials flower. Every other year? Odd years? Even years?

Acorn baklava and creamed chard start off this episode. Hear how holiday boxwood trees are made, and learn about providing your indoor plants with supplemental lighting. A listener asks about "seed FOMO" – should seeds be ordered now and will they still be good next spring?

:40 What's for dinner: Ellen and C.L. talk about what dishes are on their Thanksgiving table. As usual, Ellen's forager's table is way more exotic than C.L.'s gardener's table.

6:11 Insider Information: How are the boxwood trees you see for sale at this time of year made? Learn about these holiday decorations, and see how to make them below.

11:41 Eat/Drink/Grow: Do your plants need artificial light? What type of lights you can use, and how to place them most effectively.

21:05 Love Letters and Questions: A listener asks about "seed FOMO" – should seeds be ordered now so that you don't miss out?

In this episode of Plantrama Ellen and C.L. talk about a very common (and edible) weed known as shepherd's purse. They discuss how to successfully grow the large-foliaged houseplant, fiddle leaf fig, and explain the benefits of worm castings. Their question this week comes from Carson who wants to know how to prevent mouse damage in her house and shed.

:28 Did You Know: We talk about a common weed, Capsella bursa-pastoris, aka shepherd's purse.

5:50 Eat/Drink/Grow: Learn about the current hot houseplant, the fiddle leaf fig. No, it's not the fig that produces fruit for Fig Newtons… but it's large houseplant for bringing greenery into your home.

14:26 Inside Information: Worm castings – why you might want to pick some up at your local garden center.

21:18 Love Letters and Questions: Carson wants to prevent the mice from damaging things in her shed over the winter.

On Plantrama today Ellen talks about cooking dandelion greens and then she and C.L. differ about bringing someone a plant as a gift. They agree about growing and how to over-winter tropical hibiscus, and explain how to store dahlia tubers.

:31 What's For Dinner: How to cook dandelion greens.

Find Ellen's recipes and links on our website.

4:10 Plant Noob: Should you bring someone a plant as a gift? Ellen and C.L. disagree.

9:09 Eat Drink Grow: Tropical hibiscus – how to keep this lovely plant happy through the winter.

14:29 Love Letters and Questions: Bailey asks how to store dahlia tubers for the winter.

In this episode we talk about the common belief that the shells of sunflower seeds "poison plants." We also discuss why some people can grow blue mop head hydrangeas but others have a hard time getting them to flower. You'll learn about the importance of cattails in nature and to a forager, and hear about preserving a #LeafStackChallenge.

:28 True or false? Birdseed shells poison plants. Are they really allelopathic? (Allelopathy is a biological occurrence when an organism/plant produces one or more biochemicals that influence the germination, growth, or survival, of other organisms/plants.)

4:43 Plant Noob: Can you grow blue hydrangeas where you live?

14:47 Eat/Drink/Grow: Cattails (Typha latifolia)

21:17 Love Letters & Questions: Can I preserve my leaf stack challenge?