The Garden Mixer

Stephanie Rose is a prolific gardening author, and in this episode we discuss her 11th book, "The Regenerative Garden". The Plant of the Week is the Eranthis hyemalis, or Winter Aconite, and although I threw 'pruning climbing roses' into the title, there are lots of additional hands on seasonal gardening tips in this episode, such as cutting back liriope, dethatching your lawn, how to plant and prune lavender (okay, that's not seasonal, but someone wanted to know). 

This week's Plant of the Week is a house plant for most, in honor of our guest, Author of "House Plant Warrior" Raffaele Di Lallo. Lots of questions from listeners this week (REAL listeners) spring clean up in the garden and more-- tips on Boxwood pruning too. 

The Plant of the Week is the Paper Bush, an early spring bloomer, and Karl Gercens talks with us about Longwood Gardens, where he is the Manager of the West Conservatory, which is the only conservatory at the moment. Gardening tips about spring clean up in the garden, and forcing daffodils, and a couple of my garden fails. 

This is the video version of the interview of Episode 53. Tanya Anderson of Lovely Greens discusses her new book, A Woman's Garden. 

Tanya Anderson of Lovely Greens has written a book about crafting with plants. She features her soap making and 7 other woman gardeners and the way they use their plants to do more. I talk a little about a plant I don't know, the Hepatica, and a bit more about one I do know, Helleborus foetidus. The Play List includes the basics of boxwood pruning. 

A year of Into the Garden with Leslie! That went fast... 

This week I celebrate the early tiny Snow Drop (Galanthus) that is blooming in my garden.  Emma Biggs, who wrote Gardening with Emma: Grow and Have Fun joins me and we discuss her garden, gardening in a small space in Toronto, and her book written at age 15 to get kids into gardening. I finish my Hyrdrangea pruning series with tips on Hydrangea arborescens, and although I have not yet how to avoid the flops with my favorite Annabelle, there is some good pruning information there. 

I couldn't resist paying homage to an outdoor plant that made me so happy while I was hanging out all smug in Horticultural zone 10 for a few weeks, but I will be happy to get back to my zone 7B indoor orchids. Serome Hamlin tells us all about his miniature Enchanted (but not Fairy!) Gardens (8:45) and after chatting about the evils of Nandina and the virtues of the native (to Virginia and other SE states) Camassia scilloides, I discuss how you could, but you really don't have to, prune an Oak Leaf Hydrangea. 

Because this is the FIFTIETH episode of Into the Garden with Leslie we celebrate by choosing the Golden Alexander as the Plant of the Week. Amanda the Ever Hopeful Gardener talks to us about compost (6:40) and we go on to the NEXT type of Hydrangea, the paniculata type, (45:16) with pruning tips. Remember-- you never have to prune! 

I had no idea that the Ficus incorporates so many different type of plant (including epiphytes) and is even the name for a type of sea snail found near Singapore. But in the episode I concentrate on plants-- house plants mostly. I have a chat with the delightful Nanny Noo (Julie Hart) of Launceston, Tasmania and before going into the normal gardening topic of pruning Hydrangea macrophylla (which you don't even have to do) I take a medium dive into the topic of doggie doo. There's more to it than you would think. Doomsday thinking from the EPA and more hopeful information from the USDA. Yes, it can be composted, but you REALLY need to know what you are doing. 

This week I choose a huge plant that is right outside of our Florida rental as the Plant of the Week (2:18) and it is the Live Oak. Kelly Lehman and I chat about her flower farm, social media success and hydrangea pruning tips (6:30) and in The Play List I start what will be a series of winter pruning tips that I love to employ in cold weather.