Plantrama - plants, landscapes, & bringing nature indoors – Details, episodes & analysis

Ellen and C.L. talk about three interesting edibles from the True Leaf Market catalog, explain what they’re working on and catch up with some listener emails. They end by talking about seven seed starting tips offered by our friends at Gardeners Supply Company, and invite listeners to join them at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle.

:30 What’s For Dinner: Our top picks from the True Leaf Market catalog

7:23 Eat/Drink/Grow:   What's new with the Plantrama team.

19:46 Insider Information: 7 tips for seed starting

We’re talking about garlic and crabapples, plants that are new to our hearts, and some interesting research on bulbs done at Cornell University. Plus some words of appreciation for all of our listeners…Plantrama people are the best!

 See the bulb research information here.

:27 What’s For Dinner: What C.L.and Ellen love for tasty meals.

5:14 Eat/Drink/Grow:   New Plants…new to us, that is.

15:21 Insider Information:   Bulb research from Cornell University

23:03 Love Letters and Questions:  We’re entering a dormant period, but here’s our shout out to all of our listeners.

Have you seen the photo of plastic forks, tines up, in the garden? Wondering about spraying fertilizer on the leaves of plants to give them added nutrients? And how about that auto-flowering type of Cannabis…should you be harvesting in July?

:36    True or False:  Plastic forks in the garden?
7:21   Eat/Drink/Grow:  Foliar feeding.
18:20  Love Letters and Questions:    Manny asks about Cannabis

Learn about eating juniper berries, bodacious begonias, pots for orchids and keeping cats away from plants.

:30 What’s For Dinner:  Juniper berries

6:49 Eat/Drink/Grow: Growing Begonias

17:50 Insider Information:  Do you need special orchid pots for your orchids?

20:40 Love Letters and Questions:    Mark: My cat continues to want to climb my large monstera and dracanea plants!

Link to American Begonia Society:  https://www.begonias.org/

In this episode Ellen and C.L. discuss the herb that gets no respect, parsley. We also talk about planning garden trips for the spring, what evergreens will grow in containers on a balcony, and providing supports for indoor plants.

:28  What’s For Dinner:  Parsley.

6:42   Eat/Drink/Grow: Plan a garden trip for next spring or summer.

13:55   Insider Information:  Plant supports for indoor plants

22:36   Love Letters and Questions:  Yolanda wrote to ask what evergreen she might plant in a large pot on an apartment balcony.

C.L. and Ellen explain that succulents are easy to propagate, and talk about why we should care about the life cycle of insects. The episode ends with a discussion about collecting rainwater for houseplants.

:30   Plant Noob:   How to propagate succulents  
9:41       Eat/Drink/Grow:   Life cycle of most insects…
18:42   Love Letters and Questions:   Paul writes: “A friend told me that I should be collecting rainwater for my houseplants.  True?”

For better or worse, in this episode Ellen and C.L. are delving into Pumpkin Spice. We start talking about allspice, and then do a deep dive into the plants that produce the flavors in the most popular seasonal latte offered at local coffee shops.  

:30   True or False:    Allspice is a mix of several spices.
3:44  Eat/Drink/Grow: Where do real pumpkin spices come from?
22:32   Love Letters and Questions    Megan writes to ask if dried herbs and spices can go bad.

Painted pumpkin faces in our illustration were done by our friend, artist and illustrator John Sullivan.

We’re celebrating fall with autumnal beverages, talking about applying fertilizer in the fall, and discussing cleaning up houseplants when you bring them back indoors.

:31   True or False: Winter is a good time to fertilize gardens.

4:38  Eat/Drink/Grow: Fall Cocktails and other garden or plant-based beverages.   

17:58  The Plant Noob: Cleaning up houseplants when you bring them back inside. Repotting now? Cut back? Fertilize? Insects?

26:24   Love Letters and Questions:   Liz asks about the shownotes.

Kale-tini

For Two Cocktails

2 cups tightly packed kale

1 cup water

juice two limes

4 oz vodka or gin

1 Tbls agave syrup

The Process:  Cut enough kale into pieces to fill a 2-cup measure. Cover these pieces with water and place in a food processor or blender. Puree for a minute.

Strain the solids out of the pureed kale with a fine sieve, pressing with a spatula to get as much juice from the leaves as possible.

Squeeze the limes and add the lime juice, vodka, and agave syrup. Mix well or shake in a mason jar to combine. Pour into glasses over ice. Garnish with a small kale leaf.

It’s time to take stock of the vegetable garden and consider what thrived and which crops were a bust. Ellen and C.L. discuss why Ellen loves to forage for chestnuts, and how she cooks them, plus we answer a question about dandelion foliage in the lawn.  

:35 What’s For Dinner:  Chestnuts!

8:02 Eat/Drink/Grow:  Veggie Garden Wrap Up

22:35 Love Letters and Questions:   Neil emails about the dandelions in his lawn. 

Link to Ellen’s recipe for chestnut soup.

Link to Ellen’s recipe for chestnut mousse.

Hear what plant people mean when they talk about “the canopy,” learn about a must-have book if you grow perennials, and find out what you can do in perennial gardens in the fall. Plus a look at what’s growing in C.L.’s “bunny bin.”

:40   Plant Noob:   What is “the canopy?”   
2:26  Insider Information: the “bunny bin”
5:54  Book Review: Herbaceous Perennial Plants – Fourth Edition by Allan Armitage
10:19 Eat/Drink/Grow:  The perennial garden in autumn.
22:13  Love Letters and Questions:   A shout out to Andree.