Wild Flower (Half) Hour

Wild Flower (Half) Hour episodes:

• 05.30.2021

  4. Why don't we love dandelions?

  In the latest episode of the #wildflowerhour podcast, Isabel Hardman talks to botanist Joshua Styles about his love of dandelions and the many different species you can find growing wild in Britain and Ireland. She also hears from author Jon...

  
• 05.16.2021

  3: Under Milkwort

  For more information on #wildflowerhour, visit our website.

  
• 03.12.2021

  2: Get to know wild orchids

  The #wildflowerhour podcast finds out how you can identify orchids even when they're not in flower, hears more about your favourite plants, learns about a proper wild flower lawn, and goes on another one of those walks with Leif Bersweden....

  
• 02.27.2021

  1: The flowers on our streets

  Isabel Hardman presents the first in a new series of the Wild Flower (Half) Hour podcast. She meets Sophie Leguil, who runs the More Than Weeds campaign, and hears from BBC presenters Chris Packham and Martha Kearney about their favourite...

  
• 06.24.2018

  20: Men who stare at orchids

  The latest episode of the #wildflowerhour podcast includes an interview with a man who has created a wild orchid haven in his back garden, a look at Orchid Hunter Leif Bersweden's adventures studying orchids for his PhD, and another one...

  
• 05.27.2018

  19: Hutton Roof

  Isabel Hardman visits Hutton Roof, a massive limestone pavement in Cumbria, with Bryan Yorke, who studies the rare orchids that grow there.

  
• 05.14.2018

  18: Plants ARE cool

  In the latest #wildflowerhour podcast, Isabel Hardman challenges Dr Jonathan Mitchley of the University of Reading to explain why plants are important and even cool. We also hear a reading from Zoe Devlin's lovely book, Blooming Marvellous, and find out...

  
• 05.01.2018

  17: A violet obsession

  In the latest episode of the #wildflowerhour podcast, we find out about Moira O’Donnell’s love of violets, discover one of your favourite nature reserves, and learn about the fight to save Oxfordshire’s endangered plants.

  
• 04.22.2018

  16: Fake news and frauds

  On the latest episode of the #wildflowerhour podcast, Isabel Hardman interviews Professor Mick Crawley about the English Bluebell and the threat from its Spanish relative and hears about the great botanical fraud of the 20th century from the journalist who...

  
• 04.15.2018

  15: The best nature reserves

  #wildflowerhour members share their favourite nature reserves for wild flower hunting.

  
• 04.09.2018

  14: The wild flower that inspired LSD

  In the latest episode of the Wild Flower (Half) Hour, Isabel Hardman explores some of your favourite nature reserves, learns about a very popular roadside verges plant, and discovers the plant that inspired the creation of LSD.

  
• 04.01.2018

  13: Wild flowers in the city

  In the latest episode of the #wildflowerhour podcast, Isabel Hardman learns about botany in a city, and how wild flowers have adapted to London life, finds out about the flowers in our latest challenge, and hears a reading from Zoe...

  
• 03.25.2018

  12: How to make your own wild flower meadow

  In the latest episode of the #wildflowerhour podcast, Isabel Hardman discovers the joy of small, overlooked plants in an interview with Peter Creed, speaks to Cumbria Wildlife Trust's Neil Harnott about how to create a hay meadow in your back...

  
• 03.18.2018

  11: Floodplain meadows

  In the latest episode of the #wildflowerhour podcast, Isabel Hardman learns about the Starved Wood Sedge and why it needs some help from the Species Recovery Trust's Dom Price, and interviews Emma Rothero from the Floodplain Meadows Partnership. There's also...

  
• 03.12.2018

  10: Roadside wild flowers

  In the latest episode of the #wildflowerhour podcast, Isabel Hardman finds out about our most important network of nature reserves: roadside verges. Mark Schofield works for the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and waxes lyrical about the importance of these scraps of...

  
• 03.04.2018

  9: Blooms for bugs and the joy of monads

  Isabel Hardman finds out how urban wild flowers are saving our bugs and bees with Nick Packham from Buglife's Urban Buzz project, introduces the latest challenge, which is to find wild flowers growing on the pavement, and hears about the...

  
• 02.25.2018

  8: A wild flower Glastonbury?

  In the latest episode of the #wildflowerhour podcast, Isabel Hardman interviews Joshua Sparkes, a gardener at Sissinghurst, about how we can make wild flowers culturally important in Britain and Ireland. We also hear a reading from Zoe Devlin from her...

  
• 02.11.2018

  7: The truth about snowdrops

  Isabel Hardman interviews Professor Mick Crawley about where snowdrops really come from and why they can cause an affliction called Galanthomania in some people. Also in this episode: the secret hunt to find a Tongue Orchid, and how on earth...

  
• 01.28.2018

  6: The trouble with meadows

  On this latest episode of the #wildflowerhour podcast, Isabel Hardman interviews Trevor Dines from Plantlife about why those well-known brightly-coloured 'wild flower' mixes are so misleading and potentially bad for our countryside. We also hear from Venetia, a #wildflowerhour member...

  
• 01.14.2018

  5: Winter trees and wasp orchids

  Isabel Hardman interviews Kevin Widdowson on how to identify trees in winter, asks David Steere (also known as @Barbus59) how he became quite so good at botany so quickly, hears Lydia Massiah's tale of her wasp orchid hunt, and discovers...

  
• 12.31.2017

  4: Children's wild flowers

  Isabel Hardman launches the junior section of #wildflowerhour, with young botanists explaining why they love wild flowers.

  
• 12.16.2017

  3: Ghost Orchids and favourite wild flower finds

  Isabel Hardman interviews Sean Cole about why he has spent 17 years looking for an orchid he has never seen growing in Britain, hears from a number of #wildflowerhour members about the stories behind their favourite wild flower finds in...

  
• 12.02.2017

  2: A year of wild flower hunting and finding fruits

  Isabel Hardman interviews Zoe Devlin on her new book, Blooming Marvellous: A Wild Flower Hunter's Year; learns about identifying flowers by their fruit with Kevin Widdowson; and speaks to 22 year old botanist Joshua Styles about his mission to save...

  
• 11.19.2017

  1: An orchid gap year and winter wild flowers

  Isabel Hardman interviews Leif Bersweden about his new book, The Orchid Hunter, chats to Trevor Dines from Plantlife about the Back from the Brink project, and explores winter wild flowers.