As a changeable April wears on, spring-hungry northern gardeners are anxious to get seeds planted. But should they start those seeds indoors with grow lights or on a widow sill? Or can the...

Plants always win…and to manage it, they need insects, arachnids, and other creepy-crawlies on their side. Of course, those creatures need plants too. In this episode, Sean and Erin are jo...

We’re cultivating a safe space to ask gardening questions!We have been plotting for some thyme t...

Carol Michel is a garden author and co-host of The Gardenangelists podcast. She boasts of having the world’s largest hoe collection…which is overshadowed only by her library-worthy collection of gardening books. Among the hundreds of volumes on her shelves are hard-to-find copies of books by a number of American women who were horticultural experts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but who have been all but forgotten by history. To honour them, Carol started a Substack called the Lost Ladies of Garden Writing. On this week’s episode of Plants Always Win, she invites us into some of their stories. Publishing styles and garden trends change over time, but some things stay the same. People want to know how to make their poinsettia re-bloom, how to get rid of pests, how to find the hottest new cultivar. Carol uses genealogical records, newspaper archives, and Google Books to piece together the lives of the women who were answering those questions in decades past, then shares them with her subscribers. It’s a project of passion and dedication, and it has given her some extraordinary stories to tell!Lost Ladies featured in this episode include:* Cynthia Westcott, who saved the Azaleas of the southern United States * Grace (G.A.) Woolson who was, as America’s foremost fern expert, often assumed to be a man* Viola Brainerd Baird, whose 1940s Wild Violets of North America is still unmatched* Kate Brewster, whose book The Little Garden for Little Money was somewhat hampered by her own wealth* Alma C. Guillet moved from Toronto to New York City and catalogued all the trees and shrubs in Central Park* Mrs. L.L. Huffman, who wrote under her husband’s initials and was actually called Minnie EnolaSome better-known ladies of garden writing are also mentioned:* Cassandra Danz, A.K.A. Mrs. Greenthumbs* Elizabeth Lawrence, whose Charlotte, North Carolina garden was so beloved it’s now part of a bird sanctuary* Jean Hersey, whose book The Shape of the Year is still read and enjoyedTo enjoy more garden gab with Carol, find her in the following places:* The Lost Ladies of Garden Writing Substack, which is updated weekly with new lost ladies* Her helpful weekly gardening newsletter, In the Garden with Carol J Michel* The Gardenangelists Podcast, which she co-hosts with Dee Nash* Her website, caroljmichel.com (http://caroljmichel.com),

Soil is the foundation of a healthy garden…or homestead…or farm. For sustainable gardening that gives us nutritious food without depleting the land, we need to know how to feed and maintain living soil. After all, it’s the community of living things in the soil that feeds the plants we eat ourselves. That’s where Michelle Bruhn comes in. Michelle is a suburban homesteading author, speaker, and educator who manages the online information hub Forks in the Dirt. This week, she joins Erin (who’s always excited about home-scale regenerative agriculture) to talk about how she has turned a sandy suburban lot into a tiny paradise that produced almost seven hundred pounds of food in 2024.Through the course of this conversation, Michelle gives us the dirt on a range of organic practices that build soil, feed it, and maximize its effectiveness, even in a short growing season. We’re talking composting in place with sheet mulching, lasagna gardening, and hügelkultur; supporting healthy soil food webs with companion planting, mulch, and cover crops; and extending the growing season with cold frames, hoop houses, and even plastic bins. If you think you’re already a master of all these things, so did Erin—and this interview got her out gardening in the early-March snow to try something she’s never done before.If you want to keep learning from Michelle Bruhn, check out…* Her online hub, Forks in the Dirt (https://forksinthedirt.com/): (Here you’ll find courses, resources, and recipes for homesteading and gardening).* Her book, Small-Scale Homesteading, co-authored by Stephanie Thurow* Stephanie’s fermentation books (https://minnesotafromscratch.com/) which Michelle shouted out during the episode: * Michelle’s Substack newsletter (https://forksinthedirt.substack.com/)You can also find her on social media:* Instagram: @forksinthedirt (https://www.instagram.com/forksinthedirt/)* Facebook: @forksinthedirtmn (https://www.facebook.com/forksinthedirtmn/)Citations:Jeff Lowenfels’ book Teeming with Microbes, which discusses how adding Nitrogen fertilizer to soil decreases the Nitrogen produced by bacteria:Lowenfels, J., & Lewis, W. (2010). Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web.

It’s a concern being voiced by conscientious gardeners everywhere: is it okay to plant a non-native flower that feeds pollinators but also self-sows freely? One suspect that is being discussed in many online gardening groups in borage. It shows up in pollinator-garden seed mixes that the purchasers expected to be 100% native. It features at seed swaps and in seed libraries because its seeds are easy to collect, and established gardeners know it always brings the bees in. But it also sows itself aggressively, and it didn’t evolve alongside North American pollinators. The people want to know: is it problematic to grow it? Is an aggressive plant necessarily invasive? That’s the question that sets the stage for this week’s versus episode. Sean takes on the borage question while Erin examines her own potentially-problematic fave, cosmos. They look into each plant’s origins, its spread around the world, and how manageable it is once it’s in your garden. They examine studies about wildlife use and raise questions about nectar and pollen quality. Along the way, they uncover a treasure trove of interesting science…and a wealth of questions still to be answered. Who brought the most fascinating facts about their plant this week? Vote for borage or cosmos by tagging us on social media and using the hashtag #PAWFaceOff. Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment? Email us (mailto:[email protected]), reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon (http://patreon.com/PlantsAlwaysWinPodcast). Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com (https://bsky.app/profile/plantsalwayswin.com) TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.tiktok.com/@plantsalwayswinpodcast) YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@PlantsAlwaysWinPodcast)Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com (http://www.plantsalwayswin.com) CreditsWebsite Design and Illustration by Sophia AlladinIntro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!

This week we cover a lot of ground on the subject of groundcovers with Kathy Jentz. Kathy is the editor and publisher of Washington Gardener, the host of the Garden DC podcast, and the author of Groundcover Revolution, a book written to give inspiration and examples for turf grass substitutes that gardeners everywhere can use to find the best plants for their region. They can also use its attractive and accessible photographs to get their spouses and their HOA on board.We start our conversation by establishing some ground rules: what is a groundcover? Kathy says it’s any plant that covers the ground thickly enough to suppress weeds, which kicks off a conversation about turf substitutes, plant height, maintenance, and moss lawns. We reflect on the history of lawns, the aggressive nature of many groundcovers, and how to manage them through plant choice or through physical intervention. What about avoiding invasive species of groundcovers altogether? Kathy shares some favourites and some species she would never recommend in her region, Washington DC. Erin and Sean offer their own top and bottom choices for Central Ontario and discover, in spite of distance and very different growing seasons, some common ground.For more of Kathy, you can find her in the following places:Upcoming speaking engagements* The 2025 Northwest Flower Garden Festival in Seattle * The 2025 Philadelphia Flower ShowKathy’s Online Platforms• Washington Gardener Plant Store: https://shop.kathyjentz.com/ (https://shop.kathyjentz.com/)• Washington Gardener Blog:www.washingtongardener.blogspot.com (http://www.washingtongardener.blogspot.com/)• Washington Gardener Archives:http://issuu.com/washingtongardener (http://issuu.com/washingtongardener)• Washington Gardener Discussion Group: https://groups.google.com/g/washingtongardener/ (https://groups.google.com/g/washingtongardener/)To join, send an email to - [email protected]• Washington Gardener Twitter Feed:www.twitter.

This is the second instalment of our two-part Roses vs. Carnations Valentine’s Day special. After Sean eloquently shared his love for roses earlier this week, Erin barges in with the claim that roses are elitist and carnations are the flower of the people. Her focus is Dianthus caryophyllus, a cut-flower relative of some familiar garden flowers like pinks. She takes us back to the Carnation Revolution and other people’s uprisings in which carnations became important symbols, tells us what the name “pink” has to do with dianthus’ ruffled petals, and explores carnations’ aromatic uses. When Erin puts Sean on the spot to describe the science behind why putting food colouring in a carnation’s water source will dye it, he pulls it off admirably and gives us some bonus facts about mineral buildup on tap water-fed houseplants. The episode gathers steam with school carnation sales at Valentine’s Day (awkward), Mother’s Day symbology (touching), and the Vicorian language of flowers (not Erin’s favourite thing). Then it winds down with carnation care both in the garden and as cut flowers. Are you ready to join Carnation Nation? Or have roses won your heart? Cast your vote by tagging us on social media and using the hashtag #PAWFaceOff. Fact CheckWe promised to find out which was named first: pinking shears (which cut saw-toothed edges in fabric) or garden pinks (which have petals with saw-toothed edges). The answer is not clear-cut, but we highly recommend the Online Etymology Dictionary’s interesting entry about it: https://www.etymonline.com/word/pink (https://www.etymonline.com/word/pink) Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment? Email us (mailto:[email protected]), reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon (http://patreon.com/PlantsAlwaysWinPodcast). Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com (https://bsky.app/profile/plantsalwayswin.com) TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.tiktok.com/@plantsalwayswinpodcast) YouTube:

This is a special two-part Plant Face-Off! We had so much to say about roses and carnations that we had to split the recording into two episodes. In this instalment, we start with some housekeeping, answering the listener question “What is Patreon?”, explaining why we’re phasing off the Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram, and reminding YOU to reach out if you’d like to join the conversation at our Plants Always Win Discord server.After that Sean takes us through history and around the world with the ever-sweet subject of roses. Learn about the surprising members of the rose family fruit tree, explore their history and symbolism, and learn how to take care of them in your garden—especially here in Ontario. Sean also answers some questions from the internet, such as “Can I regrow my rose bouquet?” “Are rose petals edible?”, and “How can I make my cut roses last?” But the face-off doesn’t end here. Come back later this week for Part II when Erin takes the floor with roses’ Valentine’s Day competitor, carnations. Then cast your vote by email on social media with the hashtag #PAWfaceoff. Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment? Email us (mailto:[email protected]), reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon (http://patreon.com/PlantsAlwaysWinPodcast). Bluesky: @plantsalwayswin.com (https://bsky.app/profile/plantsalwayswin.com) TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.tiktok.com/@plantsalwayswinpodcast) YouTube: @plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@PlantsAlwaysWinPodcast)Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com (http://www.plantsalwayswin.com) CreditsWebsite Design and Illustration by Sophia AlladinIntro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays (https://click.pstmrk.it/3s/uppbeat.io%2Ft%2Fsoundroll%2Fwhen-my-ukulele-plays/vZub/6Aa1AQ/AQ/f58651af-7a63-4069-8f2f-b4d30f71c8a4/4/MDMaaK2LMO)

Have you learned to read your garden? This week we sit down with Lauren MacLean, a teacher, author, and podcaster from Richmond, British Columbia. She’s a big advocate for how outdoor classrooms help kids learn better, but a few years ago she had a learning experience of her own when her school built a new garden classroom. In this interview she shares with us her background as an outdoor educator and explains the magic of “sit spots” for creating a relationship with our environment—something we should all do in our own gardens. Lauren explains how even though she was new to gardening when her school dug into its new project, she was helped by the nature literacy she and her students already possessed. “Reading” the plants and the species who live in relationship to them is key.Throughout today’s conversation we celebrate the value of garden failures and what they can teach us and the children who follow our example. We extend grace to ourselves and all gardeners (and houseplant parents!) who struggle to help their plants thrive. Lauren also offers advice for teachers to keep their garden classrooms afloat when the first bloom of ambition fades, and celebrates the community connections they can forge. Finally, we wrap up by trouble-shooting problems like summer watering, wildlife interactions, and weed identification. If you want to learn more from Lauren about outdoor learning, check out…Lauren’s Courses: Nature’s Path: a Year of Monthly Sparks—monthly outdoor-learning professional development for educators and homeschooling familiesThrive Outside: Grow Your Teaching Space—a five-week program for teachers and homeschooling parents to grow their teaching into the outdoorsLauren’s Books: Me and My Sit Spot—a picture book about choosing and using a sit spotFinding Common Ground—a story set in an outdoor classroomSitting with Nature: An Educator’s Guide to Sit Spots—the book that brought Lauren and Erin together as author and editor, a resource that introduces why and how to use sit spots in the classroom (with lesson plans included!) Lauren’s Online: