The Garden Mixer

This week is all about a plant I hadn't known much about until I heard from Jenks Farmer (Augustus Jenkins Farmer III) and heard about his book, titled Crinum: Unearthing the History and Cultivation of the World's Biggest Bulb. The Crinum is also the Plant of the Week, and on the Play List I talk about getting the heavy snow off of your evergreens (sometime you don't have time to be gentle) and I go on a bit of a rant about Oasis, that floral foam that breaks down into nano plastics and ends up places we don't want it to end up. 

A baker's dozen of my best guests, including a special one from Launceston, Tassie, who my listeners haven't even been acquainted with, tell us what they are up to in 2022. Kelly D. Norris, Jenny Sioux Hopkins, Christy Wilhelmi, Brie Arthur, Andy Brand, Bunny Williams, Scott Beuerlein, Dean Norton, Marianne Willburn, Lizzie Fox, Erin Schanen, Steph Green and Julie Hart, aka Nanny Noo, will fill you with inspiration for the next gardening season!

Merry Christmas to all! This week I explore 4 plants that are commonly in people's homes this time of year, including my favorite type of tree, the Frasier fir. My sister Kim of Canine Connection in Alexandria teaches about how to enjoy our new Covid pups, and all dogs, in the garden. And in terms of listening, it's to your family this holiday season, and all that they may have to offer you. 

Besides learning that the Amaryllis is actually, in most cases a Hippeastrum, you will hear my rationalization for enjoying those bulbs without trying to get them to re-bloom the next year. I chat with Ellen Zachos about foraging for food (and cocktail enhancements!) in your own backyard: why you would even want to do this, and how to do it safely. Tips about planting spring bulbs in pots and thoughts on cleaning up your perennial bed. Do you have to. No, you do not. 

Tim Schipper, owner and founder of ColorBlends gives us the low down on bulbs-- what the 'blends' are, ideas on how to keep them coming back or not to worry if they don't and planting times. ColorBlends is my favorite bulb source and I just love how you get a brown scaly golf ball in fall and it becomes a magical flower a few short months later. The Plant of the Week is the Big Leafed Magnolia, whose offspring are blowing around in my yard right now like sails, and in The Play List we talk about bulb placement tips and leaving the leaves-- not just for habitat, but for soil enrichment, as I heard on Tom Christopher's  conversation with Eric Fleisher of F2 Environmental Design December 1 podcast. 

Plant of the Week is the Winterberry or Ilex verticillata, and I chat with Carolyn Mullet of CarexTours, which gets interested American gardeners to the most amazing European gardens! My head cold brings several sections of this episode down a half octave or so, but I still enjoyed making it! 

Steph Green of Contained Creations of Richmond helps us to figure out how to wow with Holiday Containers. Lots of great tips, whether you tend toward glitz or nature. The Cornus sericea, or Red Twig Dogwood, is the Plant of the Week and I talk about choices on fall clean up in your garden, rejuvenation pruning vs winter snips, and The Play List feature Johnny Mathis, with me accompanying (don't fret, it's very short) on 'It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas' 

In this episode, I give a fox update, answer questions about trugs and indoor plants (don't laugh! I knew the answer!), and interview Landscape Architect Anthony Bellomo of Millbrook, NY about his pivot to open the lovely Orangerie garden store and his garden at Clove Brook Farm. I also give you some ideas garnered from Christie Wilhelmi's YouTube about Fertilizer vs Compost.

I highly recommend you get your fall fiesta from the native Acer saccharum instead of that other colorful thing that is taking over our native forests: Burning Bush or Eonymus alatus. Erin Schanen the Impatient Gardener and I talk about most anything and everything, including her new naturalistic garden. And I take you through some basics of perennials division, planting a tree, and what to do with compost (not much, right now!)

After a scintillating fox update (if you follow me on Instagram, you know that's a thing) I choose the Silver and Gold, or Ajania pacifica as the Plant of the Week. Sister Sue and I delve deep into how to plant bulbs, and maybe what bulbs to plant, and I deal with questions on Vinca minor, moving peonies and what to do in the garden this week. Shout out to the Home Grown National Park-- $20 for 20 million acres. It's not a great real estate deal, but it's a great cause.