Plantrama - plants, landscapes, & bringing nature indoors

:40 What's for dinner: Blueberries

6:54 Insider Information: Soil pH. In other words, how acid or alkaline your ground is, and why you should care.

14:58 Eat/Drink/Grow: Panicle Hydrangeas. Large or small, there is a dependable and beautiful plant for your landscape.

24:58 Did You Know: Is it helpful to water the leaves of a plant in hot weather?

28:35 Love Letters and Questions: Wouldn't we all like a magic wand for getting rid of weeds!

:30 What's for dinner: Throw it on the Barbie! Grilling, farmed and foraged.

5:52 Plant noob: How often do I have to fertilize annuals, perennials and containers?

12:58 Eat/Drink/Grow: "Feed Me!" Carnivorous plants… grow your own bug traps…just don't try and feed them hamburger.

Carnivorous plants can be ordered online from Predatory Plants, Grow Carnivorous Plants, and Logees.

19:43 Insider Information: Battling Bambi – a few quick tips about deer control.

25:49 Love Letters and Questions Email from Chelsea who asks about growing edibles on a windy NYC terrace.

1:20 What's For Dinner: Best Edibles

Ellen and I award a Golden Gnome to edible plants with surprising flavors. 3:56 Insider Information: Best desk bouquet Flowers

What a treat it is to gather flowers and foliage for small bouquets. And the Gnome goes to… 6:59 Eat, Drink, Grow: Science, Art and Dinner! And the Gnome goes to…

Best Gathering of The Plant Tribe, Wild Category: Wild Harvest Festival

Best Gathering of The Plant Tribe, Cultivated Category: Perennial Plant Association

Best Art Made With Plants, Wild Category: Mullbury Woods Frames

Best Art Made With Plants, Cultivated Category: Botanical collage by Peggy Turner Zablotny

Best Non-Plant Podcast That Featured Plants: Stuff You Should Know, January 2, 2018

Most Surprising Plant Book: An Arkansas Florilegium by Edwin Smith and Kent Bonar, published by the University of Arkansas Press 20.40 Did You Know: Best Fire Pit Plants:

Sedum acre and Thymus serpyllum… low, tough and…edible! 23.35 Love Letters and Questions: A love letter from Ellen and CL to other people. Best plant hashtag: #monsteramonday

In late June it's time to talk about repeat sowings of salad greens, foraging for lamb's quarters, sending houseplants to summer camp, and all about Rosa rugosa. Ellen and C.L. end the episode with advice about how to keep a hanging basket looking good all summer.

0:35 What's For Dinner? Planting and foraging for a continual harvest.

6:25 For the Plant Noob Sending houseplants to "summer camp."

13:00 Eat/Drink/Grow We talk about Rosa rugosa, aka the beach rose or wild rose. Why Ellen loves it, why C.L. is a bit less enthusiastic, and how to care for this rose.

21.51 Story Plant theft!

27:24 Questions or Love Letters Quinn wants to know how to keep a hanging basket looking good all summer.

:35 What's For Dinner? How you can preserve the plants you forage for or grow by dehydrating.

6:07 Insider Information: Herbs: The Delightful Dozen – Ellen and C.L. talk about their must-grow herbs. Chives, Fennel, Thyme, Mint, Dill, French Tarragon, Lemon Verbena, Lavender, Sage, Rosemary, Basil, Cilantro.

18:42 Eat/Drink/Grow: Early summer perennial maintenance.

25:03 Did You Know: "Understudy Plants" Raising a few things as backup, because the show must go on!

30:40 Love Letters and Questions: Skylar wrote to ask if you can assume that if one flower is edible, does that mean all varieties of the same type are also edible.

:33 What's For Dinner? Asparagus! What types to buy and how to grow this spring treat.

7:42 True or False? Marigolds We've all heard about it: "Plant marigolds to keep insects away from your vegetables." But does it work?

11:32 Eat/Drink/Grow

28:07 Questions or Love Letters Lane asks, "Is it too late to plant?"

:40 What's for dinner: Questions about wild-crafted cocktails and raised bed vegetables.

4:40 Plant noob: Can you have too much compost?

7:31 Eat/Drink/Grow: We answer questions about deer, smart pots, dahlias, Rhododendron mulch, and under-planting Japanese maples.

23:11 Insider Information: Emptying a Gardener's Supply cart, our favorite gardening books and plants, yellow jackets in pots, and why Linda hasn't heard of us before.

We end with a follow-up email from Ryan, who attended the show and now is a Plantrama regular. Thanks, Ryan!

:32 What's For Dinner? Edible Flowers Whether you plant them or pick them in the wild, there are many spring flowers that will make your dinner table tastier and more attractive.

6:58 Insider Information: Skunk Cabbage If you've gone for a walk in a boggy area this spring, you might have caught sight of this strange and fascinating plant.

11:47 Eat/Drink/Grow: April Showers From rain chains to rain barrels, rain gauges and rain gardens...we're all about drizzle and downpour.

23:29 Did You Know: Elevating Pots Raising outdoor boxes and containers can create a more dramatic display and give decks and patios some breathing room.

27:32 Love Letters and Questions: Micah wants to know about the best time for feeding Bulbs

Including the typical segments you'll hear in every episode of the Plantrama podcast

:15 Introduction by Janet Endsley, NWFGS Program Director

2:14 Ellen and C.L. introduce each other. (One of us is a cat person, and another a dog person…)

4:04 What's For Dinner?

The Merry Woodsman Cocktail

In a cocktail shaker full of ice, combine two ounces of spruce tip infused vodka with 3/4 ounces of elderflower liqueur, and 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger syrup. Shake for 30 seconds, then strain and pour into a martini glass. Add 1 1/2 ounces of seltzer and garnish with a spruce tip.

Nasturtium Leaf Hors d'oeuvres

Pick some of the largest leaves and add the filling of your choice. Suggestions include cream cheese mixed with herbs, goat cheese with olives, hummus, or finely chopped egg salad. Add a nasturtium flower and either fold or roll the leaves, place on a plate garnished with more nasturtium flowers and serve.

7:02 Eat/Drink Grow: Ellen and C.L.'s Essential Plant Picks for 2018

Saffron Sentinel Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas) large shrub/small tree (Zone 4) For sun to part-shade; yellow flowers; tart, red fruit; red fall foliage; to 20' tall

Bobo Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Ilvobo') dwarf hydrangea shrub (Zones 3-8) For full sun to part shade; long lasting white flowers that age to pink. Bone hardy and good in containers too.

Monarda 'Bee-Happy' perennial (Zone 4) Sun - part-shade; mildew resistant; red flowers; to 18" tall; edible.

Variegated Spreading Salmon Sunpatiens annual grows to 18-24" tall and wide. Sun/Pt Shade.

Davis Showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa 'Davis') perennial (Zone 4) For sun to part-shade; wildlife resistant; drought tolerant; multiple edible parts

Pepper Mad Hatter F1 – unique, early & delicious. Not spicy. Stake to support pepper-laden branches. Sun

Malabar spinach, Basella alba annual vine/vegetable. This is a pretty plant for garden or container. Full sun; attractive, fast-growing vine; heat tolerant edible green

King Tut Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) annual except in zones 10 and 11. Dramatic! Tall! Graceful! And totally deserving of three exclamation points! Sun, gardens or containers, average moisture.

19:08 Insider Information: Tools For Success

Ellen and C.L. use all of these tools

Smart Pot Grow bags in many sizes and shapes. Portable, long lasting! www.SmartPots.com C.L. grows potatoes and so much more in these, plus lines large containers such as metal troughs. There are even Smart Pots that create instant raised beds, round or rectangular. Unfold, fill & plant!

Cobra Head Weeder Versatile weeder and planting tool. www.CobraHead.com

Wireless Deer Fence Different and effective way to control Bambi. www.WirelessDeerFence.com

Gardener's Supply Cart Easier than a wheelbarrow, endlessly useful. www.Gardeners.com

26:40 For The Plant Noob (aka beginner, newbie, Plant Geek 101) Ellen and C.L. have walked through the Northwest Flower and Garden Show looking for the "news you can use." Here are some of the garden design tips that they found in the displays this year.

Larger groups of plants look better than singles, unless the single plant is large. Sometimes more is more. Groupings and swaths make a better visual display. Want Wow? Plant more.

Odd numbers are visually appealing. The human brain likes to see odd numbers, so planting in groups of one, three, five, seven or more usually looks better. If you have two plants, put them very far apart or use them to frame something such as a path, set of stairs, or birdbath.

Contrast is important. A well-designed garden contains plants with contrasting foliage colors and/or textures and different sizes and shapes. Contrast the textures of foliage with solid structures or stone. Consider using contrasting colors or shapes/sizes of flowers.

We love landscapes that visually say "leisure" or "tribe gathering." The reason furniture, firepits and fireplaces are appealing in a garden is that they remind us of relaxation. But don't just add these to your landscape…use them! Sit with a cup of tea or a cocktail and watch the natural world. Invite friends over, put aside digital devices, and reconnect with nature and each other.

33:10 Audience Questions

:40 What's for dinner: Rhubarb & Knotweed Fresh stems and shoots are on the menu today – from cultivated rhubarb to the wild Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica). Early spring crops are what's for dinner.

5:16 Insider Information: Curb Appeal What, specifically, is curb appeal? How can we all get more, and does it mean a total landscape makeover?

11:30 Eat/Drink/Grow: The Invasion of The Garden Gnomes (aka Garden Ornaments) The gnomes are taking some good-natured heat today as we talk about ornaments in the garden.

19:39 Did You Know: Chickweed It's a petite, kind of sweet and good to eat weed. The bane of a all-grass-lawn-lover, and a something to pull from flowerbeds. But Ellen tells you how to turn your reaction from "oh no" to 'oh boy!"

25:15 Love Letters and Questions: Harper asks if the soil in window boxes needs to be changed every year.