The Garden Mixer

Latest Episodes:

#13 1/2 One More Sip: Should You Label Your Plants? Apr 17, 2025

Show notes

In One More Sip of the Garden Mixer, episode 13 1/2, Marianne and Leslie give you the lowdown on this burning garden question.

#13 The Yellow & Blue Episode Apr 10, 2025

Show notes

When the spring erupts in tones of yellow, lemon, gold, and that weird orangey-mustard that you’re not sure you love, it’s time to bring on the blue.

Leslie Harris and Marianne Willburn have suggestions for how to achieve that in your garden, and dip briefly into the controversy surrounding the [almost] universally loved daffodil.

From blue bells in the woods to blue spells when you're pulling out Vinca minor by the fistful, they'll touch on some of gardeners' favorites, and get sucked down a rabbit hole or two on their way.

For full show notes, links and laughs, subscribe at The Garden Mixer's Substack.

Comments, questions or suggestions? We'd love to hear them. Drop us a line at comments@thegardenmixer.com

#12 1/2 One More Sip: Gardening Clickbait Apr 03, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to One More Sip (of The Garden Mixer)

…a short form 15-minute episode for in-between weeks where Leslie & Marianne try — so far, successfully — to discuss one random topic that deserves some attention. But not necessarily agreement.

This week we're talking gardening click-bait. The good, the bad, and the what-the-actual-hell?

There have always been hucksters, shysters, snake oil salesmen, and dodgy characters selling magic beans.

And now we have the internet.

What’s the best way to approach the clickbait that tempts us all? Leslie’s approach is to watch two seconds and send it to Marianne to annoy her. Marianne’s approach is to dutifully wade through it and get annoyed. Smart people can do better than both of them. But what’s truly bad? What’s just clever marketing? What do you believe? Where should you go for good information? Links in the full show notes at The Garden Mixer’s Substack.

Join us for One More Sip of The Garden Mixer, and send us your comments, questions and suggestions at comments@thegardenmixer.com

#12 The Brie Arthur Episode Mar 27, 2025

Show notes

It's a wild mix of topics this week on The Garden Mixer. Along with their guest, author and speaker Brie Arthur, Leslie and Marianne talk plant propagation, foodscaping, blooming shrubs, maintenance-hungry perennials, and lifechanging illness.

Turns out Brie is not just an expert on making baby plants, but can also share a thing or two about physically & mentally dealing with tick borne disease when your life is lived 100% in horticulture.

It's not going to stop her -- or either of them for that matter. (spoiler alert: Grey Goose vodka is your friend.) Join Leslie and Marianne for another episode of laughs, irreverence, and a viburnum or two on The Garden Mixer.

Read full show notes, links and laughs at The Garden Mixer Podcast on Substack.

We LOVE to hear from you. Comments & questions? Get in touch at comments@thegardenmixer.com

#11 1/2 One More Sip: Poisonous Plants Freak Out Mar 20, 2025

Show notes

Much like days when you intend to start tomato seeds and end up digging the outline for the new pond, our bi-weekly conversations mix up topics, plants , and guests, and keep us on our toes.

We love that mix, but this week, we're experimenting with One More Sip -- a short form episode for in-between weeks that deals with one topic only.

At least that's what Marianne promised.

This week we're talking poisonous plants. Do you feel like there is a lot more made of plant toxicity in academia, social media and news than there needs to be? We do. And we want to talk about it.

What's reasonable. What's not. How can you adapt your garden? Do you need to? When does it make sense to pay attention, and what is unnecessary fear mongering?

From Digitalis to daffodils... the list is long and it contains plants that most gardeners would never do without. Feeling societal pressure to do without them anyway? You need some moral support -- or at the very least a couple experienced gardeners in your corner. Join us.

#11 The Dixter Pruning Download Episode Mar 13, 2025

Show notes

How much can you learn about pruning when your loppers are older than most Influencers? It turns out, quite a lot when you’re taught by the right people. This week, Leslie grills Marianne on her recent trip to the UK and the Great Dixter Symposium where pruning was on the menu (along with some incredible food thanks to Claire Rooney @thelayeredcook

Now's the time to get into the garden and prune, and the girls advocate a bold approach (with a little insurance on the side). From Rosa rugosa to Wisteria ahem sinensis (and frutescens), cautious pruners may just find that the pruning jobs they dreaded are now the best part of gardening.

But what, exactly, do knife fights and crotches have to do with pruning? You'll have to listen. Or watch! The Garden Mixer Video Edition is now on YouTube.

Please send your comments, questions and snark to make us laugh at comments@thegardenmixer.com

Full show notes at The Garden Mixer's Substack.

The Garden Mixer is also on Instagram @TheGardenMixer TikTok @the.garden.mixer & X @gardenmixerpod

#10 The Impatient Seeds Episode with Erin Schanen Feb 27, 2025

Show notes

We’re clinking glasses this week with Erin Schanen, YouTube’s Impatient Gardener, and we’re not asking her about her tomatoes.

That’s right, who needs to eat when June is a feast for the eyes? We’ll be interrogating Erin on the flower seeds she practically starts in her sleep, the ones that need a little more attention, and the favorites she would never be without.

First, there are a couple topics the girls want to hash out over Marianne's timeless gin & tonic and Leslie's 1990s glass of buttery chardonnay.

From what Leslie thinks of her Lomi, to how Marianne could possibly make a gardening podcast X-rated, there's a lot of fun in store. Join us.

Find the full time-stamped show notes, links & laughs at The Garden Mixer Podcast Substack

#9 The Cheeky Seeds Episode Feb 13, 2025

Show notes

After an ill-advised foray into AI generated humor, the girls toast another conversation with a large glass of Cheeky Red and an expensively-bittered Old Fashioned, and turn their attentions to getting organized in the face of seed starting chaos, adding some healthy crunch to your winter sandwiches, and painlessly and trendily composting when you don’t have chickens, time, or balcony space for a questionable pile of yesterday’s dinner scraps.

Marianne goes over her trusty Grab & Go method (which she intends to patent just as soon as her workload diminishes), and Leslie feigns not only interest, but intent – excited to do something about the shocking mess on her dining room table that threatens to hang around for several months if harsh steps are not taken. Some seed starting that doesn’t require mess, packets or constant chaos is counter-raised alfalfa sprouts – and Marianne tries to make a new convert in Leslie.

What Leslie is far more interested in, however, is compost. And she loves her Lomi. But she’s got her work cut out for her trying to sell a Porche to a girl that drives a VW Bug.

#8 The Boxwood and Cigarettes Episode Jan 30, 2025

Show notes

This week the girls mix inappropriate metaphors with vague certainties, and come up with yet another episode to amuse and inform their eight listeners.

Without an ounce of humility, Leslie jumps out of the gate with nonsense about a distillery (possibly illegal) where she condenses her vast garden experience into enviable, crystal-clear drops of purity…and assumes Marianne does likewise.

Marianne reminds her that they are both just old — however not too old to enjoy a long, luscious, beautiful, lingering, sensuous, gratifying, fully-satisfying-smoke-a-cigarette spring.

Let’s hope they both get one soon.

Other topics this episode include Nancy Goodwin's garden at Montrose, Blight resistant boxwood, the wonders of The Mid-Atlantic Nursery and Trade Show, and what a bird table or feeder can do for your state of mind. (As in, smoke-a-cigarette-afterwards-joy.)

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Full show notes, links, and laughs at: thegardenmixerpodcast.substack.com

#7 The Chicken Soup Episode Jan 16, 2025

Show notes

Chickens in broth and chickens in gardens are under the penetrating Garden Mixer gaze this week as Leslie Harris & Marianne Willburn move past their respective Christmas viruses and valiantly into the new year.

Suffering her way through a strong cup of homemade broth while Leslie goes back to the red wine, Marianne makes a case for why chickens have made sense for her soil, plants, and kitchen for the last 22 years. But why is she so militant about keeping them cooped?

Mahonia, Galanthus, and Garden Tours feature in this episode; as well as Marianne's channeling of Debbie Downer for her latest anti-tech rant on GardenRant. Proving once again that if you’re going to any event, you’ll have way more fun with Leslie.

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Full show notes, links and chicken soup recipes at ⁠The Garden Mixer Podcast⁠

Comments? Questions? Suggestions for better drink choices? Send them all to ⁠comments@thegardenmixer.com⁠ or check out their Instagram @thegardenmixer

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