It’s easy to get excited about the first tulip or even the first dandelion in the yard (OK—that might be a stretch). But what about those plants that don’t get all the love and attention, yet still brighten up those first few months of the gardening season? Today we’re honoring those unsung heroes of the spring garden—plants that need a better PR agent because they’re marvelous, but not very well-known. We’ve got a few native dark horses and even a shrub that Steve thought he’d never like. To get you really laughing we revisit some childhood memories of using spring plants in mischievous ways. Finally, we debut a new segment where we give a brief look into what’s going on (good, bad, and ugly) in our gardens right now.   Expert testimony: Bill Cullina is the executive director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Morris Arboretum.

Episode 84: Underappreciated Plants for Spring

The podcast for people who love plants—but not always the same ones.

Brought to you by the editors of Fine Gardening, this fun, informative podcast tackles all things topical in gardening. You’ll listen to the insights (and arguments) of Editor-in-Chief Steve Aitken and Senior Editor Danielle Sherry as they discuss various horticultural subjects on a deeper level. You will also hear from today’s leading horticultural minds who will offer their wisdom and opinions about what you might want to grow in your garden. We guarantee you’ll be entertained and feel like a better gardener.

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 Due to their size and expense, gardeners tend to put a lot more thought into the trees they ultimately buy for their landscape. While a perennial might only live for 6 or 7 years, a tree might grace your garden for 50 years or  more—outliving the person who so carefully selected it, in fact. Here at Fine Gardening, we feel strongly that trees should look good in more than one season (for all of the reasons above AND because they take up a lot of real estate). Therefore, on today’s episode, we may be highlighting our favorite flowering trees for every season, but these choices have more going for them than just some fleeting blooms. Listen to hear about which trees we’re willing to sacrifice a chunk of our paycheck on and why.      Amanda Bennett is vice president of horticulture and collections at Atlanta Botanical Gardens in Georgia.  

Episode 157: Flowering trees for every season

Jay Sifford is an award-winning landscape designer based in North Carolina. Several of his garden designs have been featured in Fine Gardening, including a one-of-a-kind modern meadow garden and a series of beautiful, functional dry creek beds. Jay’s immersive, naturalistic landscape designs are based around four cornerstones: art, magic, story, and horticulture. In this episode, Jay offers insights into the ways that these elements can be incorporated into a truly personal garden space. Jay sees this modern meadow garden as a stylized version of nature where fantasy and reality collide.  Grasses and perennials planted in large masses and punctuated with unique conifers give the meadow garden its unique appeal.  In winter, evergreens and grasses add structure and interest to the snowy landcape. Another view of the meadow garden at the peak of summer.  A dry streambed designed to manage stormwater doubles as a dynamic visual element.  Gravel pathways were the perfect solution for this pet-friendly landscape.  Every garden design that Jay creates includes a little bit of magic. 

Episode 156: Finding Design Inspiration with Jay Sifford

One of the worst sights you can ever see in the garden is a plant that has been browsed by deer. (Sidenote: we don't love the gentle word “browsed” in this instance. A more appropriate term might be “obliterated.”) If the munching is particularly bad, that perennial, tree, or shrub becomes unrecognizable. And in many cases, this can mean instant death to your prized specimen. With deer pressure increasing from coast-to-coast, we decided it’s time to highlight some of our favorite deer-resistant plants. Yes, we’re from deer-ridden New England, but rest assured that we’ve included plants in this episode that will thrive from Texas to Michigan, and everywhere in between. Guest: Karen Chapman is a landscape designer in Duvall, Washington, and the author of Deer-Resistant Design: Fence Free Gardens that Thrive Despite the Deer.   Danielle's Plants 'Childhood Sweetheart' hellebore (Helleborus 'Childhood Sweetheart', Zones 4-9) Winter daphne (Daphne odora, Zones 7-9) 'Bonfire' euphorbia (Euphorbia polychroma 'Bonfire', Zones 5-9) Sunshine Blue® blue mist shrub (Caryopteris incana 'Jason', 5-9)   Carol's Plants Hiba arborvitae (Thujopsis dolobrata 'Variegata’, Zones 5-8) ‘Victoria Blue’ mealycup sage (Salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue', Zones 8-10) Eastern sweetshrub, syn. Carolina allspice (Calycanthus floridus, Zones 4-9) ‘Gerald Darby’ iris (Iris × robusta 'Gerald Darby', Zones 4-9)   Expert’s Plants Magical® Fantasy weigela (Weigela florida 'Kolsunn', Zones 4-8) Threadleaf bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii, Zones 5-8) 'Whirling Butterflies' gaura (Gaura lindheimeri 'Whirling Butterflies', Zones 5-9) 'Goldsturm' black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm', Zones 3-9)

Episode 155: Deer Resistant Favorites

Richard Hawke is the Director of Ornamental Plant Research at Chicago Botanic Garden, where he oversees comparative evaluations of ornamental plants. The CBG Plant Evaluation Program has included 117 distinct trials over the past four decades, with 26 comparative trials currently underway in three evaluation areas. In 2011, Richard began reporting trial results in Fine Gardening magazine, and has since written dozens of feature articles that can be found by visiting his author page. In this entertaining episode, Richard Hawke discusses his earliest memories of plants and gardening, the education and internships that laid the foundation for his career, and the joys and challenges of developing a world-class plant trial program. He also digs into the day-to-day details of plant evaluation and talks about some trials that yielded surprising results and some that were particular favorites, including evaluations of clematis, baptisias, butterfly bushes, and tender salvias.   Richard joined the staff of the Chicago Botanic Garden in the mid-1980s. CBG’s trial of tender salvias identified many vigorous cultivars that do well when grown as annuals. The Chicago Botanic Garden has trialed 198 heucheras since 1995. Find out which cultivars performed better than the classics here. The Chicago Botanic garden was built on a series of islands, and soil conditions are not ideal. The original trial beds were atop a substrate of clay soil compacted by heavy equipment; the water table is very high, and drainage can be problematic. Richard talks about these soil woes, and the solutions that have improved soil structure and drainage in the newest plant evaluation area. The Chicago Botanic Garden was built on a series of islands with heavy clay soil. Field evaluation is a core component of plant trials at Chicago Botanic Garden. The Green Roof Gardens built atop the Plant Conservation Science Center are used to evaluate the suitability of plants for use in green roof assemblies. With 26 trials currently underway, the evaluation areas at the Chicago Botanic Garden are a hub of research activity. Richard now spends much of his time behind a desk, which makes him relish his time in the field even more. The Plant Evaluation Program at Chicago Botanic Garden is one of the largest and most diverse in the nation.

Episode 154: Putting Plants to the Test with Richard Hawke

 Every gardener wishes they had 25 acres to garden on, right? Well maybe not, but most of us do dream of a healthy amount of ground to build beds and borders to our hearts’ desire. The reality of homeowners today, however, is that land is expensive and typical suburban lots have decreased in size steadily since the 1970s. And smaller lots mean smaller gardens. That isn’t an issue though, if you select plants that are polite and “stay in their lane” as the kids say. On this episode Danielle and Carol talk about compact plants that are prefect for tighter spaces. We’ve got several perennials, one annual, and even a few well-behaved shrubs that made the list. Filling your tiny plot with these beauties will enable you to have a wide variety of colors and textures without sacrificing an enormous amount of precious square footage.       Julie Lane Gay lives and gardens in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she previously owned a nursery specializing in climbers and perennials.          Danielle's Plants    Creeping variegated gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides 'Radicans Variegata', Zones 8-11)    'Prairie Moon' rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium 'Prairie Moon', Zones 3-8)    Spicy Devil ® ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius  'ZLENATALIE', Zones 3-7)    'Jack of Diamonds' brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack of Diamonds', Zones 3-8)         Carol's Plants     Ivory Halo® dogwood (Cornus alba 'Bailhalo’, Zones 3-7)    ‘Rainbow Bouquet’ dwarf strawflower (Helichrysum bracteatus ‘Rainbow Bouquet’, annual)    Let's Dance Sky View® hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla × serrata 'SMNHSME', Zones 4-9)    ‘Summer Beauty' allium  (Allium tanguticum 'Summer Beauty', Zones 4-9)         Expert’s Plants     'Brunette' baneberry (Actaea simplex 'Brunette', Zones 3-8)    'Firepower' heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica 'Firepower', Zones 6-9)    ‘Adirondack’ crabapple (Malus 'Adirondack', Zones 4-8)    Solitary clematis (Clematis integrifolia, Zones 4-7)    

Episode 84: Underappreciated Plants for Spring

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