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Walnuts, Banana Peels and Storing Seeds You Didn't Plant Oct 25, 2018

Show notes

Ellen and C.L. begin by talking about walnuts, foraged and cultivated. Discover if banana peels are good for your roses and if you need to spray your evergreens with an anti-desiccant. Learn how to store seeds that you didn't use last summer, and if common houseplants are edible.

:32 What's For Dinner? English walnuts and foraged black walnuts.

4:22 Insider Information: Are banana peels really good for roses?

8:50 Eat/Drink/Grow: Anti-desiccants. What they are, what they do, and should you use them in the fall?

19:04 Did You Know? How to store seeds that you didn't plant this season.

20:20 Love Letters & Questions: Are common houseplants edible?

Plant Sex, Seeds for Birds and a Leaf-Stack Review Oct 18, 2018

Show notes

Ellen and C.L. discuss why you might not want to do a "fall cleanup" of your perennials. Next, we discuss S-E-X among the photosynthesizing crowd. Male and female plants, what that means for your landscape, and what happens if you don't have both sexes. We review Asclepias speciosa 'Davis' and bring you up to date about #LeafStackChallenge posts on Twitter and Instagram.

:33 Did You Know: Leaving perennials so the birds can eat the seeds.

5:35 Eat/Drink/Grow: Plant Sex! Male and female plants.

14:58 Product/Plant Review: Asclepias speciosa 'Davis'

19:25 Love Letters and Questions: A #LeafStackChallenge update

Carrots, Repotting Houseplants, and Halloween Pumpkin Seeds Oct 11, 2018

Show notes

Today we're talking about carrots, wild and domestic. We explain that before a plant has fruit it comes into flower, and discuss the how, why, how often and when of repotting houseplants. This episode finishes with Sandy's question,"Can I plant, or eat, the seeds we take out of the pumpkins that are being carved for Halloween?"

:30 What's For Dinner: Carrots

4:52 Plant Noob: Flowers Before Fruit

8:28 Eat/Drink/Grow: Repotting Houseplants

20:50 Love Letters and Questions: Eating and Planting Pumpkin Seeds

Staking Trees, Pinching Plants and Harvest Parties Oct 04, 2018

Show notes

In this episode Ellen and C.L. discuss staking trees and pinching plants. They give ideas for holding a harvest party, tell about the first plant they fell in love with, and answer Kip's question about preserving garden and foraged foods.

:35 True or False? Staking Trees. Do you need to stake a tree when you plant it?

4:18 For The Plant Noob. What does it mean to "pinch plants" and why would you want to do so?

8:47 Eat/Drink/Grow. Harvest Party! Ideas for gathering with family and friends and celebrating the fall season.

18:08 Story Time. Ellen and C.L. remember "their first."

20:06 Love Letters and Questions. Kip asks about the best method for food preservation.

Leeks, Fall Mums, and Why Plants in Pots Stay Smaller Sep 27, 2018

Show notes

In Episode 50 Ellen and C.L. talk about growing leeks, the fall classic Chrysanthemum, and how Robbie found lumpy tubers in the windowbox. Plus we discuss why plants that are in pots won't grow as large as the same plant put into the ground.

:33 What's for dinner: Leeks

5:30 Eat/Drink/Grow: Mums! Whether you call them Mums Chrysanthemum, or Dendranthema, do you love them or hate them? Or do you eat them?

13:25 Did You Know: Plants in a pot will stay smaller than those planted in the ground. What goes on below is reflected up above.

15:28 sweet potato vine tubers! Robbie cleared out window boxes and found some tubers in the soil. "I planted sweet potato vine," Robbie writes, "are these edible sweet potatoes?"

Weird Plant Growth, Growing Garlic, and Orchid Rebloom Sep 20, 2018

Show notes

In episode 49 Ellen and C.L. discuss how to get an orchid to rebloom, how to plant garlic this fall, and why you occasionally see a stem go crazy and grow in a flat, contorted manner. All this and a review of the Dramm One Touch Rain Wand.

:30 Plant Noob: What's that weird stem on my plant? It could be the ever fascinating fasciation.

4:46 Eat/Drink/Grow: It's garlic planting time, so we talk

11:31 Product Review: Dramm One Touch Rain Wand. What it is and why we love using it.

16:10 Love Letters and Questions: Kerry wrote an email that said "I've had a moth orchid plant for two years. I got it from a neighbor who was going to throw it out because it hadn't re-bloomed for her. Is there any hope? Or should I toss it?"

Apples, Amaryllis, and The Truth About Acorns Sep 13, 2018

Show notes

In this episode we're talking about apple recipes and getting your amaryllis to bloom again this year. We discuss whether a large crop of acorns really means it will be a long, cold winter, and answer a listener's question about bringing plants inside.

:30 What's for dinner: Apples, wild and domestic.

4:58 True or False? A big crop of acorns means that there will be a hard winter.

8:03 Eat/Drink/Grow: Amaryllis, Part II. Bringing them indoors, chilling/resting, repotting (if needed) and waking them up again.

13.08 Love Letters and Questions: Kip wrote asking if she should take off the spotted or brown-tipped leaves when she's bringing her plants in for the winter. "Just how careful do I need to be about cleaning them up?"

Planting Bulbs, Ten-Minute Improvements, and The Leaf-Stack Challenge Sep 06, 2018

Show notes

:55 Just For Fun: It's the leaf stack challenge! Or we should say, #leafstackchallenge

4:00 Eat/Drink/Grow: Quick fixes to your landscape. Whether you're having company or just want to spruce up the garden for your own pleasure, Ellen and C.L. offer 10-minute fixes anyone can do.

11:16 Insider Information: Myths about planting bulbs. Thanks to Bill Miller, Professor of Horticulture at Cornell for giving us the real dirt on planting bulbs. See the bulb planting machine here.

15:20 Love Letters and Questions: Monty wonders when someone should pull out or cut down flowering annuals in the fall.

End of Summer Flavors, Taking Cuttings, and Fall Transplantation Aug 30, 2018

Show notes

In this episode Ellen explains what to make with under-ripe wild grapes and C.L. persuades listeners to combine some creamy brie cheese with those homegrown tomatoes. Next we explain that the end of the summer is the ideal time to propagate everything from woody ornamentals to annuals and perennials. Now that cooler weather is on the horizon, we discuss what can be transplanted in the fall, and answer a listener's concern about importing bugs into the house when she brings potted houseplants back in for the winter.

Savory Tarts, Lawn Substitutes and Hedges Aug 16, 2018

Show notes

:30 What's For Dinner: Savory Tarts Pick your favorite vegetables or herbs, add some eggs and cheese, and make savory tarts for appetizers, lunch or dinner.

5:04 Plant noob: Lawn Substitutes. Tired of mowing? Is there really such a thing as a no-maintenance lawn substitute?

12:42 Eat/Drink/Grow: Hedges. What to plant, how and when to prune, keeping them full top to bottom, and when is a hedge better than a fence?

Morton Arboretum Hedge Collection

28:53 Insider Information: When to Say Goodbye. When do you cut bait on a plant? When is it time to say, "It's been great, but now we have to say goodbye…"

32:36 Love Letters and Questions: Email from Tim: "People talk about the best containers for growing plants, but I remember my grandfather in San Diego was raising things in tin cans, wooden boxes and even old tires. He grew all kinds of stuff successfully, so what's the deal with that?"

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