The Plantastic Podcast

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Ann Amato, Seedstress of the Pacific Northwest (#17) May 05, 2023

Show notes

ANN AMATO BIO

Ann Amato lives in Portland, Oregon and is a horticulturist and seed propagator at Cistus Nursery and a propagator at Secret Garden Growers in Canby, Oregon. At 18, she published the book Ancient Forests and Western Man: A Pictorial History of the West Coast. Later, she earned a bachelors of arts from Portland State University with a double major in English literature and art history. She has been a garden blogger (amateurbotannist.com) for over a decade and is the recipient of an Oregon Nurseries Foundation Scholarship. Currently, she is the President of the Mount Hood Gesneriad Society, an affiliated chapter of The Gesneriad Society. She been featured in horticulture media like Garden Time TV, The Planthunter in Australia, and the podcast Horticulture Rising. When not working, she tends to her indoor houseplant collection at home where she has over 500 different plants in her indoor collection, many of which are either gesneriads or begonias. She also tends to her small urban garden named Campiello Maurizio: the Garden of One-of-each-ee. You can learn more about Ann by visiting her website www.amateurbotannist.com.

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The Plantastic Podcast is a monthly podcast created by Dr. Jared Barnes. He's been gardening since he was five years old and now is an award-winning professor of horticulture at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX. To say hi and find the show notes, visit theplantasticpodcast.com.

You can learn more about how Dr. Jared cultivates plants, minds, and life at meristemhorticulture.com. He also shares thoughts and cutting-edge plant research each week in his newsletter plant•ed, and you can sign up at meristemhorticulture.com/subscribe. Until next time, #keepgrowing!

Greg Paige on Being a Public Garden Rockstar (#16) Apr 07, 2023

Show notes

GREG PAIGE BIO

Greg Paige discovered his career goal early—creating and working in beautiful public gardens and sharing and teaching this passion with others. Greg currently serves as the Director of Horticulture at the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, North Carolina. Greg has had a storied life in public horticulture. His 30-year career involved work at some of the finest gardens in the country including Bartlett Tree Research Laboratory as Director of Horticulture and Arboretum Curator, Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, North Carolina, the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, the Holden Arboretum outside Cleveland, Ohio, and the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden in Cincinnati, Ohio.

You can learn more about Greg by visiting him at the JC Raulston Arboretum, watching videos from his work at the arboretum, and following him on Instagram.

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Mary Phillips on Gardening for Wildlife (#15) Mar 03, 2023

Show notes

MARY PHILLIPS BIO

For eight years, Mary has led Garden for Wildlife™ and Certified Wildlife Habitat® as an ambassador for native plants with the National Wildlife Federation. Her work ensures all habitat programs and resources are rooted in sustainable practices and the latest science.

Under her leadership, in coordination with the White House Office of Science and Policy, NWF coordinated the National Pollinator Garden Network in 2015 to launch the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge which created over a million pollinator gardens in three years. This partnership involved over fifty national organizations with a third from the commercial garden trade, such as growers and independent garden centers.

Mary helped create the Garden for Wildlife Native Plants Collection™. The goal of this social enterprise is to increase the native plant supply, reduce carbon impacts, and secure survival of iconic species, such as the monarch butterfly, native bees and songbirds. Mary works to ensure Garden for Wildlife, Inc. maintains its sustainability commitments: to engage everyday people in solutions for critical wildlife loss and climate impact and, connect local native plant growers to consumers through ecommerce.

Prior to joining NWF, Mary was principal at The Abundant Backyard, a sustainable native plant landscaping service and one of the first Certified Green Businesses in Montgomery County, MD. As a Maryland Master Naturalist, Mary maintains her Certified Wildlife Habitat® with her family and enjoys hiking and exploring the Chesapeake Bay natural history and heritage.

You can find more about Mary Phillips on LinkedIn.

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James Golden on the View from Federal Twist (#14) Feb 03, 2023

Show notes

JAMES GOLDEN BIO

James Golden’s garden design has been featured in national and international magazines, in The New York Times, and in several books on garden design. He has collected many of his inspiring thoughts in the recently published book The View from Federal Twist. It is a wonderful, well-written glimpse into the inception, creation, and management of a naturalistic garden. James has been the recipient of national awards and is widely known in the gardening world through his garden blog View from Federal Twist. Federal Twist regularly appears on tours of the Garden Conservancy, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the Hardy Plant Society, and on numerous private tours. Recently retired, he has started a garden design practice. You can learn more about James on his website and blog, by following him on Instagram @imfederaltwist, and by reading James’s book The View from Federal Twist.

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Carol Reese on a Life in Horticulture Extension (#13) Jan 06, 2023

Show notes

CAROL REESE BIO

Carol grew up as a farm girl in Mississippi where she learned much about the land from her family. In her 30’s she pursued her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Mississippi State University in horticulture. Carol worked as a regional horticulture extension specialist for the University of Tennessee’s West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center in Jackson, Tennessee for 27 years where she inspired countless gardeners within the state with her humor and scientific approach to learning. She is beloved in the horticulture community for giving sensational presentations across the country where she pushes the envelope of people’s understanding of the natural world. Additionally, she wrote Q&A articles for Horticulture magazine and contributed a weekly column to the Jackson Sun newspaper in Jackson, Tennessee for many years. Carol recently retired from her position and has even more time to roam the 117 acres of her mostly wild property with her dogs.

You can connect with Carol Reese by finding her on Facebook.

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Jared Hughes on Groovy Plants Ranch (#12) Dec 02, 2022

Show notes

JARED HUGHES BIO

Jared Hughes and his wife Liz run Groovy Plants Ranch in Marengo, Ohio, a family friendly, whimsical oasis of escape for customers from all over the country. Groovy Plants Ranch has been featured in a number of magazines like Better Homes and Gardens, and Midwest Living named them the best garden shop of 2022.

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Abra Lee on Conquer the Soil (#11) Nov 04, 2022

Show notes

ABRA LEE BIO

Abra Lee is a storyteller, horticulturist, and author of the forthcoming book Conquer The Soil: Black America and the Untold Stories of Our Country’s Gardeners, Farmers, and Growers. She has spent a whole lotta time in the dirt as a municipal arborist and airport landscape manager. Her work has been featured in publications including The New York Times, Fine Gardening, and Veranda Magazine. Lee is a graduate of Auburn University College of Agriculture and an alumna of the Longwood Gardens Society of Fellows, a global network of public horticulture professionals. You can learn more about Abra at her website Conquer the Soil, on Instagram @conquerthesoil, and on Twitter @conquerthesoil.

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Andrew Bunting on a Life in Public Horticulture (#10) Oct 07, 2022

Show notes

ANDREW BUNTING BIO

Andrew Bunting is Vice President of Horticulture at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and leads the utilization of planting and design to promote environmentally sound gardening practices at PHS. Andrew has elevated each of the departments he oversees and has increased the brand and visibility of PHS through their respective work.
Andrew received his B.S. in Plant and Soil Science from Southern Illinois University. Prior to arriving at PHS, Andrew worked at Chicago Botanic Garden, Chanticleer Garden, and the Scott Arboretum for a tenure of 27 years. He has received the American Public Gardens Association’s Professional Citation, Chanticleer Scholarship in Professional Development, and the Certificate of Merit from PHS. He also serves on the Board of Magnolia Society International. Andrew published his first book in 2015 The Plant Lover’s Guide to Magnolias. Andrew enjoys bird watching, travel and, of course, gardening. You can learn more about Andrew by visiting PHS’s website and his Instagram page @abunting64.

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Peggy Anne Montgomery on Stories and Stinzen Gardens (#9) Sep 05, 2022

Show notes

PEGGY ANNE MONTGOMERY BIO

Peggy Anne Montgomery is a people-oriented horticultural professional with more than 35 years of U.S. and international experience in trade- and consumer-focused garden marketing and communications, public relations and outreach, landscape design, and public horticulture. She studied horticulture and apprenticed in the Netherlands where she raised a family and owned a landscape design firm for 15 years. Her business specialized in sustainable, eco-friendly landscapes continuing her life-long interest in nature and the importance of balanced ecosystems. She has an extensive background in public relations and was part of the creative team that launched the Endless Summer® Hydrangea brand. Peggy Anne went on to study native plants at Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware and Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. She is currently an account executive for the Garden Media Group, the premier horticulture marketing firm where she represents Royal Anthos, a consortium of Dutch bulbs growers and exporters. She is a long-standing member and Fellow of GardenComm and has written for numerous trade and popular publications. Her home garden has been featured in magazines, books, and television. Today she lives and gardens with her husband and fellow horticulturist Dan Benarcik in northern Delaware.

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Ethan Kauffman on Cultivating Magic at Stoneleigh (#8) Aug 01, 2022

Show notes

ETHAN KAUFFMAN BIO

Ethan Kauffman developed his love of the natural world exploring the hills in southeastern Pennsylvania. He cultivated his horticultural perspective over two decades of gardening in the deep south, including working at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden and then as director of Moore Farms Botanical Garden, where he led the transition from a private pleasure garden to a public botanical garden. Drawing on influences from both regions, he currently serves as the first director of Stoneleigh: a natural garden, a 42-acre former estate located in Villanova, PA, which opened to the public in 2018. At Stoneleigh, he enjoys creating a garden experience that inspires others to garden for beauty, biodiversity, and the health of our planet.

To learn more about Ethan, visit the show notes on The Plantastic Podcast.

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You can learn more about how Dr. Jared cultivates plants, minds, and life at meristemhorticulture.com. He also shares thoughts and cutting-edge plant research each week in his newsletter PlantEd, and you can sign up at meristemhorticulture.com/subscribe. Until next time, #keepgrowing!

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