A podcast where two Ontario gardeners dive down plant-fact rabbit-holes, answer audience questions, interview intriguing guests, and compete to bring you the most interesting stories and information. We care about ecologically sound gardening, strong human communities, and up-to-date science.
Site
RSS
Apple
Data updated on 29/09/2026
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
These two free plant ID tools can help you level up your observation and identification skills, spot invasive species, and even engage in citizen science to track what is spreading in your area. If you garden, hike, or just want to know whether that weird thing in your yard is a native, a weed, or a problem waiting to happen, this episode is for you.
Sean sends Erin to do a trial run of the apps he actually trusts, including the built-in photo matching tools on smart devices, iNaturalist, and EDD Maps. They explain why a confident-looking app result is not the same as a correct identification, how to improve your odds with better photos, and how to improve your own skills by learning to think about location, season, leaf shape, branching pattern, and flower stage.
You’ll discover:
Why free tools often beat paid plant ID apps
How iNaturalist turns your plant photos into citizen science
What EDD Maps tracks beyond plants, including insects, diseases, fungi, and wildlife
00:12 Introduction 01:11 What’s Growing On? Erin’s Harvest + Japanese Beetles 03:26 What’s Growing On? Sean’s dividing perennials and purging hostas 06:53 The World’s Tallest Sunflower 09:52 What Is Your Favourite Plant Identification App? 10:27 Built-In Smart Device Photo Matching 12:06 Knowing the Basics of Plant Identification 13:30 iNaturalist for Native Plant Tracking 20:22 Himalayan Balsam in Thunder Bay, Ontario 23:48 Correctly Managing Invasive Species 27:43 EDDMapS for Invasive Plant Tracking 34:50 Final Thoughts and Best Practices for Plant ID Apps 38:00 Growing More Fruit Trees and Shrubs in Central-Northern Ontario 42:35 Outro and Contact Us
Ep. 50 Midsummer Cleanup: Rescue Your Neglected Garden
Episode 50
Tuesday, August 18, 2026 • Duration 53:31
Reclaim your neglected garden! Sean and Erin share eleven steps to overcome the overwhelm and start your own midsummer garden cleanup, even when you’re short on time and energy.
Ep. 49 Community Urban Permaculture with Patrick Tohill
Episode 49
Friday, July 10, 2026 • Duration 36:05
When a city dweller with no gardening experience gets pulled into leadership for a communal permaculture project, he starts using all his spare time to grow food and grow community in Toronto’s east end. This is Patrick Tohill co-founder of Garden@Kimbourne Community Permaculture Project.
Plants Are for Everyone with Jesse Thorn
Episode 48
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 • Duration 58:33
Sean talks with Jesse Thorn about how gardening in LA compares to gardening in Ontario; about produce exchange and community food distribution organizations; and about access to green space, including majestic sequoia trees. The two of them even step into the roles of internet judge and expert witness to settle an age-old question: is a palm tree really a tree?
Ep. 47 Are You Starting Your Spring Garden Right?
Thursday, April 30, 2026 • Duration
Spring is tiptoeing in and we want to set you up for the smoothest garden year ever. This week we’re recording live on location in Erin’s garden and examining what tasks she has already done, what’s next on the list, and what pressures to let go of. (Remember: don’t let perfect be the enemy of good!)
The first order of business as winter ends is to prune woody fruit-producing perennials. We chat about currants, apples, and grapes—yes, grapes in zone 4b. Naturally that leads into propagation: cuttings, mound layering, and even air layering. Next we talk seed starting indoors and out and the season extension that helps us save space on our windowsills. Then it’s on to spring bulbs to plant, fall bulbs that are blooming, water management (if you’re listening from a region with flooding, our hearts go out to you!) and the ever-vital skill of observation. Finally, we wrap up with a lightning round of fifteen other early-spring tasks that get you set up for success.
Ready to get your hands dirty? Listen now!
Take a Peek at Erin’s Garden
Last year’s cuttings
Swenson Red
The Swenson Red grape, pruned
The IKEA trellis
The peas are sprouting!
Erin’s vegetable garden
The air layering device
Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?
Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon.
Are you breaking the law every time you plant a shrub?
This week we welcome Ian Simpson, VP of Communications and Corporate Affairs at Ontario One Call. That’s the public safety administrative authority that makes sure your gardening project doesn’t end in a damaged gas line or ruptured water main. You’ll find Call Before You Dig services across Canada and the United States (search “One Call” for your province or “811” for your state), but Ontario is the one place where that call—or that click—is required by law. If you’re breaking ground, even by an inch or two, even out in the country, it’s your responsibility to submit a locate request to make sure you won’t be nicking any underground infrastructure.
Fortunately, Ontario One Call makes the process easy, free, and surprisingly quick. Ian explains how it works behind the scenes, what your responsibilities are as a homeowner, renter, or landscaping contractor, and why it matters so much. He also shares some startling statistics about the number of accidents that do happen, especially to people who think they know where their underground utilities are. Don’t be one of those statistics! Listen now and get the dirt on digging safety.
Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?
Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon.
Timestamps
Ep. 45 Hydrangea Happiness with C.L. Fornari
Episode 45
Friday, March 27, 2026 • Duration 42:05
For some of us, happiness is a hydrangea in full, glorious bloom.
And if you’re not yet well acquainted with these flowering shrubs, who better to learn from than The Garden Lady herself? C.L. Fornari is the author of the upcoming 2026 book Hydrangea Happiness: Planting, Pruning and Blooming, among many others. She’s also a well-known gardening radio host and podcaster, appearing over the years as a contributor on NPR’s The Cultivated Gardener, as host of GardenLine on WXTK, as co-host of the podcast Plantrama, and today as the eponymous host of The Garden Lady on several NPR stations. We get the scoop on her broadcasting career, on her founding of the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival, and on how she planned a modern-day guide to hydrangeas that’s “more Instagram and less coffee table book.”
Dive into this interview to learn about choosing the right hydrangea for a northern garden, about the truth of acidifying your soil for those beautiful blue mophead blooms, and about finding joy in your garden and your life.
Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?
by Sophia Alladin
Ep. 44 Internet Plant Science with Dr. Vikram Baliga
Episode 44
Monday, March 16, 2026 • Duration 47:22
The internet is a minefield of questionable plant hacks, rage bait, and—sigh—banana water. Good thing The Plant Prof is here to shed some science on the matter.
Vikram Baliga, a.k.a. The Plant Prof, is a professor of horticulture and the host of the podcasts Planthropology and Deep Roots. He is that rare being in the world of science: an academic who has also honed the skill of communicating with non-academic audiences. As he says, public taxes pay for science research. The public deserves good, true scientific information.
Today’s conversation ranges across education and misinformation in the digital age, the evolution of science, and the importance of experimentation. Then we get practical with tips on compost tea, a nuanced discussion on using synthetic or organic fertilization methods, and garden hacks that actually work. Of course, we also have to take a few minutes to get excited about Vikram’s information–packed children’s book, Plants to the Rescue: The Plants, Trees, and Fungi that are Solving Some of the World’s Biggest Problems. Have a listen; class is in session!
In this versus episode, we bring you two of the nicest-smelling and slowest-growing plants in the garden. Sean gets us started with rosemary, which is known to science as Salvia rosemarinus (though some botanists may be surprised to hear that!). We learn how to grow this Mediterranean plant and how to help it handle a northern winter, even if that means bringing it indoors. One option, of course, is to take softwood or hardwood cuttings and root them for next year, and Sean gives us a crash course in doing that before moving on to the fascinating research being done on rosemary and cognition.
In the second half, Erin narrows down the many species and cultivars of lavender to just two: Lavandula angustifolia, often called English Lavender or “true lavender,” and Lavandula X Intermedia, a hybrid you may see marketed as “lavandin.” One is good to eat, and the other is great for toiletries. How do you know which is which? Erin has the intel. Just don’t ask her to talk about French lavender. You might be in for a plant rant.
You’re also in for some fun facts about growing lavender at home, becoming a commercial lavender grower in Ontario, and what historical humans and modern scientists think it’s good for. We wrap up with a busted myth: what does lavender have to do with King Tut? It’s not what you think!
Who won the plant face-off? You decide! Email us, tag us on social media, or pipe up in our friendly Discord server to let us know who you thought made their plant the most interesting.
Will YOU be growing lavender or rosemary this year?
Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?
Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on .
Citations
Timestamps
Ep. 42 Landscape Design Fails
Tuesday, January 20, 2026 • Duration 01:00:21
As the 2026 growing season waves tantalizingly on the far horizon, we’d like to help you prepare for a disaster-free garden. To do that, we’re sharing a few key landscape design principles…along with a whole heap of stories about landscape design fails.
No garden is truly no-maintenance, but while ordinary weeding and pruning is one thing, fighting endlessly against the effects of a bad design decision is something else entirely. We’re talking about hardscaping installed in the wrong spot, poorly selected plants, ever-spreading invasive species…The list goes on. Sean shares some zingers from his history of managing client landscapes, and Erin gets vulnerable with some stories of her own past mistakes. Tune in to find out what not to do…and to journey with our hosts through the steps you should take when designing a garden or landscape of your own.
Discover shows related to Plants Always Win, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
00:41 Introduction 02:11 The Myth That Your Garden Is Already Behind 04:18 Late April in Zone 4b 04:58 What Erin Has Done So Far 05:56 Season Extension 06:36 Growing Swenson Red Grapes in Zone 4b 10:52 Pruning Currant Bushes 12:45 Mound Layering: Intentional or Unintentional Propagation 14:00 Apple Trees and Winter Damage 15:46 Propagating Fruit Tree Cuttings 17:28 Air Layering to Propagate Fruit Trees 20:28 Sean’s Paean to Crabapples 24:54 Starting Seeds Indoors and Hardening Off 27:13 Starting Seeds When You Have No Indoor Space 32:50 Use Up This Year’s Seed Inventory 33:53 Bulbs to Plant in Spring 35:00 Fall Bulbs and the Siberian Squill Controversy 39:35 Native Lawn Alternatives 42:32 Water Harvesting and Rain Gardens 45:37 Observing Your Garden 47:41 Lightning Round: Things To Do at This Time of Year 53:53 Outro and Contact Us
00:15 Introduction 00:45 Meet Ian Simpson and Ontario One Call 01:48 Underground Infrastructure in Rural Locations 02:40 How to Request a Locate 03:43 What if I’m Only Digging an Inch or Two? 05:25 Sometimes the Infrastructure is a Mess 06:20 Ian’s Role at Ontario One Call 07:30 Close Calls and Consequences 08:40 Statistics on Digging and Damage in Ontario 12:03 Who’s At Fault When Damage Occurs? 12:33 How it Works: Getting Locates from Infrastructure Owners 14:05 Expiry Dates on Locates? 15:30 How to Read the Colours of Spray-Painted Markings 08:45 Unexpected Jobs that Might Require Locates 19:36 Landscapers, Handymen and Liability 24:12 Sharing Locates with Multiple Contractors 26:19 Busting Myths 28:00 Timing for Locates 33:55 If You Do Hit Something… 35:04 Courses and Resources Available from Ontario One Call 37:00 When to Call 911 38:31 What If You’re Not in Ontario? 39:50 Final Words of Wisdom 40:45 Outro and Contact Us
Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon.
00:14 Introduction 00:56 C.L. Fornari’s Garden Radio Host Career 05:52 Founding the Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival 08:33 Why (and How!) C.L. Wrote About Hydrangeas 11:21 Postcards from Plants 14:43 How Many Hydrangeas? Breeding and Selection 16:43 A Paniculata Hydrangea for Erin’s Cold, Clay Conditions 18:47 Finding the Right Spot for Your Shrub 21:16 Are Hydrangeas Invasive? 23:00 Hydrangea paniculata, a.k.a. Panicled Hydrangea 23:25 Hydrangea arborescens, aka Smooth Hydrangea 24:15 Hydrangea macrophylla, a.k.a. Bigleaf Hydrangea, a.k.a. Mophead Hydrangea 25:09 Hydrangea serrata, a.k.a. Mountain Hydrangea 27:10 C.L.’s Hydrangea Poetry 28:25 Hydrangea quercifolia, a.k.a. Oakleaf Hydrangea 28:35 Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris., a.k.a. Climbing Hydrangea 28:55 Acidifying Soil for Blue Hydrangeas 31:05 The Stubborn Myth that Pine Needles Acidify Soil 33:20 Moss Lawn Plant Rant 34:27 Macrophylla Hydrangeas with Inconsistent Colours 37:56 Poison Ivy Acres and Embracing All of Gardening 39:40 Find C.L. Fornari Online 40:45 Outro and Contact Us
00:14 Intro 00:30 Meet Vikram Baliga, The Plant Prof 02:33 Vikram’s Podcasts: The Planthropology Podcast and Deep Roots 03:37 The Challenge of Public Science Communication 10:42 Plants don’t read our textbooks. 12:20 Plants Always Win Stole its Name from Planthropology Merch 13:04 The Evolution of Science and the Freedom to Experiment 15:56 Vikram’s Home Fertilizer Hack Experiments: Rice Water, Banana Water, Oatmeal, Cinnamon, etc. 18:36 How to Make Compost Tea 21:22 Synthetic Commercial Fertilizers vs. Organic Fertilizers for Containers, Planters, and Gardens 30:48 Vikram’s New Kids’ Book: Plants to the Rescue 36:50 Gardening Hacks that Actually Work 40:04 Things That Make Your Gardening Life Easier 40:41 That Time Sean Hacked his Leg Open 42:32 The Best Way to Grow a Garden is In Community 44:52 Find Vikram Online 45:43 Outro and Contact Us
Rosemary and cognition Kamdar, D. (2025). Rosemary has been linked to better memory, lower anxiety and even protection from Alzheimer’s. The Conversation. https://doi.org/10.64628/ab.fu4jyy3mx
Banerjee, P., Wang, Y., Carnevale, L. N., Patel, P., Raspur, C. K., Tran, N., Zhang, X., Natarajan, R., Roberts, A. J., Baran, P. S., & Lipton, S. A. (2025). DIACCA, a Pro-Drug for carnosic acid that activates the NRF2 transcriptional pathway, shows efficacy in the 5xFAD transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Antioxidants, 14(3), 293. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox14030293
What people historically thought lavender was good for, and what scientists think today Civilyte, A., Karanikola, K., & Kramer, A. (2025). From antiquity to modern hygiene: the archaeological and medicinal legacy of lavender as a promising antimicrobial agent. PubMed, 20, Doc21. https://doi.org/10.3205/dgkh000550
00:17 Introduction 01:00 What’s Growing On? Erin at the Landscape Ontario Conference 02:09 What’s Growing On? Sean on the Modern Landscaping Industry 05:09 Sean’s Ask a Master Gardener events in Huntsville, Ontario 06:23 Water Break: Seedy Saturdays 07:17 The Plant Face-off: Rosemary 07:20 Keeping Rosemary in a Zone 4 Winter 09:28 Rosemary’s Changing Taxonomy 12:14 Surprise! The Name Rosemary is about the Sea 13:46 How Rosemary Grows 15:16 Caring for Rosemary 16:24 Sean’s Big Mistake Prepping Rosemary for Winter 17:40 Starting Rosemary from Seed…EARLY 19:05 Sean’s Daughter’s Lavender Plants 20:24 Propagating Rosemary by Softwood and Hardwood Cuttings 21:14 Rosemary as Specimen or Bonsai 22:49 What does “Specimen” Mean in Horticulture? 25:10 Pests and Diseases Don’t Bother Rosemary Much 26:00 Plant Rant: Deer Resistance 27:43 Culinary Uses for Rosemary 28:00 Cultural History of Rosemary 28:27 Rosemary for Memory and Concentration, According to Science 34:18 Water Break: Libraries and Seed Libraries 35:33 The Plant Face-Off: Lavender 36:18 “English Lavender” vs. “French Lavender” is Not Helpful! 37:30 Lavandula Angustifolia, aka English Lavender 39:20 Lavandula X Intermedia, aka Lavandin 41:50 Etymology of Lavender: It’s All About Washing 42:44 What Lavender Looks Like 44:11 Range and Growing Conditions for Lavender 45:36 The Ontario Lavender Association: Growing Lavender Commercially in Ontario 47:17 Soil Conditions for Growing Lavender 49:28 Growing Lavender from Seed 50:20 Propagating Lavender by Cutting and Layering 52:53 Pruning Lavender for Rounded Mounds 57:13 Harvesting Lavender: Timing Matters 58:14 Food and Medicinal Uses of Lavender 1:00:21 Cautions about Lavender: No Lavender Oil for Prepubescent Boys 1:02:55 Cultural History of Lavender 1:06:17 Myth Busting: King Tut’s Tomb Did NOT Smell of Lavender 1:09:13 Outro and Contact Us
