Upside Down Tulips - A Garden Podcast

It's a gourd-geous time of year! The first frost has arrived, Edith brought everything inside, Christy covered everything outside, and we're both up to our eyeballs in harvesting.  So much produce. So little thyme! So, we will also squeeze in some basil tips, beautiful fall flowers and the wonderful smells of autumn.

Then it's time for GARDEN CSI! Grab your magnifying glass as we investigate the mysterious deaths of cauliflower, rutabaga, arugula, corn, lettuce and some very unfortunate tomatoes. Was it heat, fungus, viruses or gardener error? And why did our zucchini produce so little?  (Maybe it needed a little mood music and wine to get pollinated!)

But there were survivors! No hail this year! Christy's Roma tomatoes, Edith's and Armenian cucumbers were spectacular. Even the eggplant thrived — despite our not liking it. And Christy shares an amazing rose resurrection story.

Plus, a Halloween Pod Play Triple Feature! The Killing Frost, The Silence of the Lamb's Ear and Ichabod Grain. Spooky fun handcrafted just for gardeners!

Mail Bag (Ring! Ring!) brings a letter from Anne in Pennsylvania about a hard-to-find plant that's growing like a weed in her yard. And we wrap up with a little inspiration from an unexpectantly wise philosopher who just turned 100!

So grab your pumpkin-spiced beverage and join us for some garden murder, mystery, mayhem and plenty of laughs.

The truth is out there. Probably buried in the compost pile.

Happy Autumn, dear gardeners!

Pull up a chair and grab a plate—it's our Summer Garden Potluck!

Instead of digging into one big gardening topic, we're sharing a little bit of everything that's happening in our Colorado gardens. From bumper crops to garden flops, funny mistakes to mysterious plant behavior, this episode is packed with midsummer stories, practical tips, and plenty of laughs.

This season we ask:

Along the way we chat about:

Plus:

So grab a cold drink, head outside, and join us for a relaxed summer conversation about everything that's blooming, growing, surviving—and occasionally confusing us—in our gardens.

Because every gardener has a story to bring to the table. :)

Support UDT by joining our Garden Party and get fun rewards!

Get a UDT Coffee Mug or other cool Merch!

Visit our website for pix, good info and Upside Down Dictionary

Learn How to Winter Sow!

Don't Know Your Zone? Find it HERE

Find Your Last and First Frost Date

⚠️ Gentle Warning: This episode contains mild adult humor, gardening innuendo, repeated use of the word “moist,” and an emotionally intense relationship with mulch. Listener discretion advised.

Hi Friends! It’s hot. It snowed yesterday. The tomatoes are confused. So are we. It’s Spring 2026 and gardening has officially become a survival skill.

This spring on Upside Down Tulips, we dive headfirst into drought gardening during one of the weirdest weather years yet. Denver Water restrictions are here, mulch has become a personality trait, and apparently California uses giant floating shade balls to reduce evaporation? Neither did we. Gardening remains weird.

Edith somehow achieved basil immortality. Christy finally turned her compost pile and found inner peace. We discuss emergency tomato-cage frost blankets, boiling water tricks for surprise freezes, and ask the important question: Why can’t we grow spinach and peas anymore?!

Then we dig into practical and surprisingly hopeful ways to garden during drought — from smarter watering and drip irrigation to xeriscaping, hydrozoning, compost, mulch and shade cloth. We share how to water less but smarter, why mulch is basically therapy for soil, which veggies can actually handle the heat, and how to keep your containers from turning into tiny terracotta ovens. Plus: why your tomatoes may need shade, and why your soil desperately needs a weighted blanket.

PLUS:

So grab your soaker hose, aggressively spread some mulch and join us for a funny, heartfelt and practical summer episode full of dirt, drought and determination.

And remember:

Oh — and yes…

Get a UDT Coffee Mug or other cool Merch!

Visit our website for pix, good info and Upside Down Dictionary

Learn How to Winter Sow!

Don't Know Your Zone? Find it HERE

Find Your Last and First Frost Date

The garden world can feel a little upside down these days — so this week we bring you a whole episode of Stranger Garden News!

First, we catch up on the strange happenings in our own gardens. What happened to winter? What are we growing inside? And why are some things still happily growing outside like the calendar means nothing?

Then we dig into some of the most hopeful — and occasionally bizarre — garden stories from around the world. Turns out there’s a lot of strange and wonderful news sprouting out there.

In this episode we share stories about:

• The hot new seed-starting trend: snail roll gardening

Of course we also have pod plays! This week we bring back the fan favorite Stranger Garden Things — plus a brand-new installment.

And we’ll visit the Mail Bag (Ring! Ring!) and share a little garden inspiration to remind us why we keep planting — even though it is technically still winter.

So grab a seed catalog, pull up next to your favorite houseplant, and join us for an episode full of laughs, dirt, and a little good news from the garden.

So grab a seed catalog, pull up to your favorite houseplant and join us for a hopeful episode full of laughs, dirt, and a little good news from the garden.

Get a UDT Coffee Mug or other cool Merch!

Visit our website for pix, good info and Upside Down Dictionary

Learn How to Winter Sow!

Don't Know Your Zone? Find it HERE

Find Your Last and First Frost Date

You asked for it and its back!  Two brand new Who Killed Rosemary pod plays.  Find out where Misty Contour is at with the mysterious death of Edith's Rosemary.  

In the garden, we are slowly sliding from fall to winter and now is the time for reflection on:

The Good

The Bad

And…

The Ugly!  Including a very ugly letter for the mailbag 

ENJOY!

Get a UDT Coffee Mug or other cool Merch!

Visit our website for pix, good info and Upside Down Dictionary

Learn How to Winter Sow!

Don't Know Your Zone? Find it HERE

Find Your Last and First Frost Date

It's summer and the garden surprises & experiments keep coming—and we love (most of) them! Edith finds a black grasshopper and a mysterious scarlet beetle. Christy's cauliflower turns purple and she finds her reading glasses... in the compost pile.

We share what’s blooming in our gardens, how our zucchinis are doing, and updates on tomatoes, cabbage (Christy's pride and joy!), basil, arugula, tarragon, and more. Edith’s rosemary lives. Christy’s… not so much.

We’re also replanting for fall harvest—peas, beets, and maybe revenge. Plus:

Don’t miss a hilarious Mail Bag letter from Mexico about car zucchinis, a new gardener's stand-up set in You Might Be a Gardener, and a beetle with a PR problem in The Benefits of Japanese Beetles.

We wrap with an inspiration to make peace with rainy days—and yes, there's a little Easter egg if you listen past the credits! 

Get a UDT Coffee Mug or other cool Merch!

Visit our website for pix, good info and Upside Down Dictionary

Learn How to Winter Sow!

Don't Know Your Zone? Find it HERE

Find Your Last and First Frost Date

Spring has officially sprung, and the garden is bursting with life! Flowers are blooming, veggies are growing, and—surprise!—some plants are totally taking over. Edith’s garden is overrun with greens, Christy’s garden is a dandelion jungle, and yes… some plants didn’t make it.

This week, we dig into:

🌿 What’s New in the Garden?

Lessons learned:

Don’t plant orach (you’ll see why!)

Tomatoes remain a mystery

Ground cherries = delightful

Reminder: Seeds don’t last forever!

New varieties: cosmos, poppies, foxglove, lupines, romaine, and (of course) more tomatoes

Hot garden trends:

Shaggy lawns

Turf wars (aka turf lawns)

Moon gardening

Plant parenthood

Fire-resistant gardening

A delightful letter from the mailbag with thoughts on tomatoes, hydrangeas, and raspberries

Plus: new tips, new tools, and new ways to listen to your garden

🔥 Burning Questions We Explore:

What seed has the longest shelf life?

What’s the 2025 garden color of the year?

How many times does Edith say “moist”?

What moon phase is best for cutting your hair?

🌱 Bonus fun: Our sincere apologies for the pea puns.

Get a UDT Coffee Mug or other cool Merch!

Visit our website for pix, good info and Upside Down Dictionary

Learn How to Winter Sow!

Don't Know Your Zone? Find it HERE

Find Your Last and First Frost Date

Get a UDT Coffee Mug or other cool Merch!

Visit our website for pix, good info and Upside Down Dictionary

Learn How to Winter Sow!

Don't Know Your Zone? Find it HERE

Find Your Last and First Frost Date

Fallelujah!  A pretty darn good year in the garden. No hail, no frost, no covering – yet.

Edith grew ground cherries.  Christy grew zinnias.  We both grew a lot of tomatoes.  Edith might have killed her peach tree.  Christy mysteriously killed her cabbage.  We both killed our rosemary.  Aphids chewed, Japanese beetle chewed, mildew took up residence. 

So, it all resulted in a lot of learning, we hope you can learn, too! 

And some humor with all this education!  We’ve got two NEW pod plays to keep you and all the lilac bushes in good humor.  And some inspiration to last the upcoming Persphone Period.  So, pick up a rake, do a little harvesting or put your weary feet up with a cup of cider and enjoy this season’s fun and informative episode!

Oh – and stick around past the end credits for a little easter egg.

Get a UDT Coffee Mug or other cool Merch!

Visit our website for pix, good info and Upside Down Dictionary

Learn How to Winter Sow!

Don't Know Your Zone? Find it HERE

Find Your Last and First Frost Date

Our gardens are  doing great!  So far.  If you don’t count the heat, the Japanese beetles… and the murders!

Life is growing fast and furious in our gardens and we are applying water like we are applying for a job. Edith loves her loveage. Christy is at peace with her peace rose. Edith is plum crazy about her plum tree.  Christy is thinks Edith’s peach tree harvest is going to be… peachy keen.  :)

Our summer gardens are a potpourri of marvels, questions and fun tips.

If you want some fun Brand New pod plays, we got ‘em.  If you want some inspiration, we got it.  If you want some moist soil – it’s there.  We sure had fun recording this episode – and hope you can join in the laughter, while learning a thing or two.  So put on your headphones, head out into your garden and enjoy!

Get a UDT Coffee Mug or other cool Merch!

Visit our website for pix, good info and Upside Down Dictionary

Learn How to Winter Sow!

Don't Know Your Zone? Find it HERE

Find Your Last and First Frost Date