The Garden Question

Color excites us more than any design element in the garden because it speaks emotionally to us.

In this episode we will dissect and learn how color speaks to us in our garden.

Dr. Laura Deeter received her PhD in horticulture from The Ohio State University where she is currently a Full Professor of Horticulture at Ohio State ATI in Wooster, OH.

She teaches a multitude of horticulture classes including: Woody and Herbaceous Plant Identification, Landscape Design, Sustainable Landscaping, Plant Health Management, Landscape Construction, and Ecology, to name a few.

Twice awarded the OSU Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching,

the Perennial Plant Association Teaching Award

the American Horticulture Society Teaching Award,

Perennial Plant Association Service Award,

a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ohio Landscape Association

and Professor of the Year from Instructure.

She travels extensively around the country speaking on a variety of topics ranging from taxonomy and nomenclature to shade gardens, design, color, and specialty gardens and plants.

At home she gardens on her tenth of an acre with her hubby, four dogs, 100 pink plastic flamingos and counts her 300+ species of perennials as dear friends.

Naturalistic planting design begins with understanding what roles certain plants play in nature.

One of the most useful concepts in a plants’ survival strategy is learning how to classify it on the Grimes Triangle.

This is a new concept for me. I don’t remember every hearing about this classification system or how it works.  

We talk about this and more in this episode 071 – Success with Naturalistic Plantings with our guest Jared Barnes, Ph.D. 

Dr. Jared started gardening when he was five years old. Since then, he has enthusiastically pursued how to best cultivate plants and cultivate minds. 

He currently fulfills those passions as an award-winning associate professor of horticulture at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX.  

He obtained his Ph.D. in horticultural science from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. He interned at The Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College.

By traveling around the US and to eleven countries he has gained national and global horticulture perspectives.  

Jared educates the public with his weekly newsletter Plant-Ed and his monthly podcast Plantastic all found on his website Meristeam. 

His passion has been recognized by peers in interviews in Organic Gardening, Greenhouse Grower, AmericanHort Connect, Ken Druse’s Real Dirt, and Nursery Management.

His articles have appeared in The American Gardener, Fine Gardening and Carolina Gardener.

Whether rain drops are regularly falling in your garden this season or you’ve almost forgot what rain looks like, having a water drainage plan is more Important than a Planting Plan for a happy successful garden.

In this episode Host Craig McManus talks about water drainage systems in the garden. What he has seen that works and what is seen that failed. Some principles and truths that every gardener should know. 

It’s hummingbird season. Are they swarming in your garden?

In this episode Gail Woody reveals her tricks of the garden that attract hundreds of these wonderful creatures.

She talks about her feeding strategies and nectar producing plants that make her garden a popular stop for hummingbirds on their migration journey to and from Central America.   

Knowing the successful water attracting tactics. Providing preferred reproduction habitat. And, attracting the preferred insects are all important to Hummingbird health.

Gail has been gardening for over 30 years.

She creates the perfect eco system that includes butterflies, hummingbirds, native plants, water features and more. She has a contagious passion for gardening!

This episode will inspire you.

Gail Woody is an ISA Certified Arborist and a seasoned advanced Master Gardener. She speaks and writes on Butterflies, Hummingbirds, and native plants among other garden subjects.

The hummingbirds swarming around my garden inspired me to remix, edited and reintroduce episode 005 for episode 069 - How to Attract Hummingbirds to Your Garden - Gail Woody

In this episode Gail Woody will tell us how to attract more butterflies and then keep them coming to your garden.

She has been studying these flying jewels for many years and regularly attracts up to 38 different species to her garden.

Monarch butterflies make regular visits to her garden twice a year on their migration treks from Mexico to Canada. She raises and tags new monarchs each year helping increase and study the growing population.  

Gail has been gardening for over 30 years. Creating the perfect eco system for butterflies, hummingbirds, and native plants.

Her passion for gardening is contagious! After listening to this episode there will be no excuses. Building and growing your own butterfly paradise will become a priority!

Gail Woody is an ISA Certified Arborist and a seasoned advanced Master Gardener. She speaks and writes on Butterflies, Hummingbirds, and native plants among other garden subjects.  

This is Episode 068 - Attracting More Butterflies to Your Garden – Gail Woody

and is an update and remix from episode 002.

Backyard Butterflies – Georgia Department of Natural Resources https://georgiawildlife.com/backyard-butterflies

Monarchs Across Georgia https://www.eealliance.org/monarchs-across-ga.html

Monarch Butterflies & Georgia Gardeners Brochure

https://botgarden.uga.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/milkweedinformation.pdf

Georgia Pollinator Partnership https://gapp.org/

It’s no accident insects are a critical part of putting good food on your table.

Becky Griffin knows pollinators count. Now she is counting the pollinators in the 2022 The Great Georgia Pollinator Census.

Your state could be next.

Being a self-confessed “Geeky Kid” with a great love for insects Becky wore out the bee book in her local library. 

Now Becky is the coordinator of The Great Georgia Pollinator Census taking place this year on August 19th and 20th, 2022.

In this episode we will find out how insects and their supporting habitat make a difference.

Becky tells us the simple pollinator counting method for collecting important data to be used by the University of Georgia researchers. This valuable data reveals pollinator trends and is needed to conduct economic valuation studies of pollination.

This is episode 067 - The Great Pollinator Census - Becky Griffin and is an updated and remix of episode 019.

Becky is a Georgia Certified Beekeeper and works with community and school gardeners to increase beneficial insect habitat.

She is also part of UGA's Native Plants and Beneficial Insect Working Group .

You will want to hear episode 18 “Gardening with Children” when you finish this episode 19 of The Garden Question Podcast.

Connect with Becky: Becky Griffin is the Community and School Garden Coordinator for University of Georgia Extension.

Website: The Great Georgia Pollinator Census  

In this episode Victoria Mininger shares with us how she helps her clients set up simple thriving gardens. Gardens that require less work when you find the right spot.

For years Victoria and her husband Brian have owned Bear Creek Outdoor Living a residential construction company focusing on building patios, decks, pergolas and hardscapes.

Incorporating edible and perennial gardens has become an expanding part of their offerings. These beautiful and sustainable garden solutions are just what their clients are looking for in their home landscape.

Victoria is Permaculture Design Certified and holds a degree in Psychology.

Bear Creek Outdoor Living Website

Bear Creek Facebook 

Bear Creek Instagram 

Victoria’s personal website: 

www.victoriamininger.com 

Have you got a shady location where nothing else will grow? Are you tired of mowing grass? Do you have problem  with soil erosion? How about a desire to avoid chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides?

In this episode Annie Martin, moss landscape designer and Timber Press author of The Magical World of Moss Gardening, talks about how Native mosses can be an excellent horticultural alternative.

Annie (aka Mossin’ Annie) is the owner of Mountain Moss in Pisgah Forest, NC,

She provides valuable insights on how to transform your outdoor living space into a serene retreat and eco-friendly landscape with verdant mosses.

Her how-to tips will help you get started on your own appealing year-round green moss gardening projects.

Youtube: Mossin’ Annie

Facebook group: Growing Green with Moss

Dean Norton fell in love with the Mount Vernon Estate Gardens 53 years ago and never left.

After receiving a degree in horticulture from Clemson University he began his horticultural career as the estate’s boxwood gardener. 

The historical gardens of the first president of The United States George Washington became his responsibility in 1980.  His promotion to horticulturist allowed him to applying the latest plant science and horticulture management techniques for historical gardens.  

Dean has devoted considerable time researching 18th century gardens and gardening practices. 

He has received awards for conservation from the DAR and the Garden Club of America as well as the Garden Club of America’s Elizabeth Craig Weaver Proctor National Medal. 

He is an honorary member of the Garden Club of Virginia and the Garden Club of Providence.

He has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Washington College, serves on several historic property boards and, lectures nationally and internationally. 

It’s been over 200 years since he was born.

People still absorb his parks and public gardens in more than 5,000 communities across the North American continent.  

The goal is to “give the common man in this New World the same opportunity to experience creation as any king in his private preserve from the Old World.”

Frederick Law Olmsted is prevalently pronounced the father of American landscape architecture.

In this Episode 063 – A Word with Fredrick Law Olmsted – (interpreted by) Kirk R. Brown

Kirk R. Brown is a member of the International Garden Communicator’s Hall of Fame. He is a Green Achiever being recognized with many industry awards.

He represented Joanne Kostecky Garden Design as a leader in the design/build industry.

At America’s Oldest Garden in Charleston SC, he worked as National Outreach Coordinator. 

He is a past president of www.GardenComm.com.

In the US and Canada, he has delivered hundreds of keynote addresses, guest lectures, teaching symposia, and certified instruction over the past quarter century.

He is also known to interpret historic horticulturists and international dignitaries: John Bartram, and Frederick Law Olmsted.

With it all, he still finds time to cultivate his own private display garden.

Join him now as he unveils his views on Olmsted’s in this Bicentennial year.