))
The podcast for people who love plants—but not always the same ones. Brought to you by the editors of Fine Gardening, this fun, informative podcast tackles all things topical in gardening. You’ll listen to the insights (and arguments) of Editor-in-Chief Steve Aitken and Senior Editor Danielle Sherry as they discuss various horticultural subjects on a deeper level. You will also hear from today’s leading horticultural minds who will offer their wisdom and opinions about what you might want to ...
…
continue reading
1
Episode 161: A Field Trip to the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill
48:17
48:17
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
48:17
There’s nothing nicer than being outside on a beautiful late spring day, especially if it means you get a whole day away from your desk. Danielle, Carol, and digital editor Christine Alexander recently played hooky from their editorial duties and went on a horticultural adventure at one of New England’s great public gardens. Located in Boylston, Ma…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 160: The RHS Chelsea Flower Show with Annie Guilfoyle
1:11:16
1:11:16
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:11:16
Did you ever wonder what it would be like to get exclusive access to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show? Well, your dreams have come true because in this exclusive interview we got an all-access pass to THE horticultural event of the year thanks to Annie Guilfoyle, a 2024 judge. Annie is co-founder of Garden Masterclass in the UK and an award wining garde…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 159: Plants that Take Sun and Shade
55:40
55:40
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
55:40
Chances are, you’ve got mixed conditions in your garden. One area might be in full sun, while another spot a bit farther away is in full shade. Even beds that have the same exposure on paper may have larger plants that shade out the ground below. This presents a challenge for developing a cohesive look within a landscape. As gardeners, we’ve been t…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 158: Plants That Earn Their Keep with Irvin Etienne
1:01:33
1:01:33
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:01:33
Irvin Etienne is the curator of herbaceous plants and seasonal garden design at Newfields, a 152-acre campus with art galleries, performance spaces, world-class public gardens, and a nature park in Indianapolis. Irvin has been a frequent contributor to Fine Gardening, sharing his horticultural expertise through informative articles like A Bright Id…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 157: Flowering trees for every season
1:05:47
1:05:47
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:05:47
Due to their size and expense, gardeners tend to put a lot more thought into the trees they ultimately buy for their landscape. While a perennial might only live for 6 or 7 years, a tree might grace your garden for 50 years or more—outliving the person who so carefully selected it, in fact. Here at Fine Gardening, we feel strongly that trees should…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 156: Finding Design Inspiration with Jay Sifford
46:44
46:44
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
46:44
Jay Sifford is an award-winning landscape designer based in North Carolina. Several of his garden designs have been featured in Fine Gardening, including a one-of-a-kind modern meadow garden and a series of beautiful, functional dry creek beds. Jay’s immersive, naturalistic landscape designs are based around four cornerstones: art, magic, story, an…
…
continue reading
One of the worst sights you can ever see in the garden is a plant that has been browsed by deer. (Sidenote: we don't love the gentle word “browsed” in this instance. A more appropriate term might be “obliterated.”) If the munching is particularly bad, that perennial, tree, or shrub becomes unrecognizable. And in many cases, this can mean instant de…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 154: Putting Plants to the Test with Richard Hawke
1:00:14
1:00:14
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:00:14
Richard Hawke is the Director of Ornamental Plant Research at Chicago Botanic Garden, where he oversees comparative evaluations of ornamental plants. The CBG Plant Evaluation Program has included 117 distinct trials over the past four decades, with 26 comparative trials currently underway in three evaluation areas. In 2011, Richard began reporting …
…
continue reading
1
Episode 153: Compact Plants for Tight Spaces
56:27
56:27
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
56:27
Every gardener wishes they had 25 acres to garden on, right? Well maybe not, but most of us do dream of a healthy amount of ground to build beds and borders to our hearts’ desire. The reality of homeowners today, however, is that land is expensive and typical suburban lots have decreased in size steadily since the 1970s. And smaller lots mean small…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 152: Best of LAAP: Best of Our Listener Q & As
1:10:42
1:10:42
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:10:42
One of our favorite things to do here on the pod is dig through emails and social media shout outs from our listeners. It is always nice to hear about what problems you may be having in your gardens and to be able to offer advice from our decades of horticultural experience. And we’re lucky to have scores of experts at our fingers tips if we don’t …
…
continue reading
1
Episode 151: Underappreciated Plants for Winter Interest
1:01:53
1:01:53
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:01:53
During the winter months many plants reveal subtle patterns, fine details, and a new range of colors that help us to see familiar beds and borders with fresh eyes. This is an excellent time to get outside, evaluate your garden’s bones, and make some plans for spring planting. In this episode Danielle, Carol, and their guest will explore some of the…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 150: Design Rules of Thumb with Stacie Crooks
56:35
56:35
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
56:35
Stacie Crooks is a Seattle-based garden designer who has created beautiful, ecologically friendly, low-maintenance gardens throughout the Pacific Northwest. She is also a contributing editor for Fine Gardening magazine and has shared her insights with our readers through 10 feature articles and several departments over the past 17 years. In this ep…
…
continue reading
Plants with a silvery sheen stand out beautifully against the sea of green that fills most garden beds. In this episode, Danielle, Carol, and their guest will highlight some shimmering shrubs, drought-tolerant perennials, a tiny dwarf conifer, and even an unusual silvery vine with a bit of a back story. Perhaps one of these lovely, luminous plants …
…
continue reading
Oh, dear listeners...it’s the most glorious time of the year! No, not because it’s time to hang the stockings or trim the tree—because it’s time to make the 2024 gardening wish lists. This year Carol and Danielle have selected the 8 plants they are pining over most. You will hear about a brand-new perennial that few, if any, have seen before. And t…
…
continue reading
If you like the beauty and impact that ornamental grasses bring to a garden design, you will love the many shapes, forms and colors that North American native species offer. Whether you need a practical groundcover, a dramatic focal point, or an airy filler to knit a matrix planting together, Danielle, Carol, and guest Paula Gross have some options…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 146: Best of LAAP: Our Top 4 Plants
46:30
46:30
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
46:30
While searching through our archive of episodes we discovered something: There are a few specific plants we just can’t stop talking about. As the years have progressed here at Let’s Argue About Plants, we find ourselves experimenting with more and more varieties, so we have something new to report back to you on. But frankly, there are a core of pl…
…
continue reading
Isn’t every plant great in a group? Well, the answer is no. Some plants are too vigorous in their growth habits to share the stage, while others are better if put on a pedestal all their own (i.e. the focal point plants of the landscape). Today’s episode we talk about plants that are great in masses—that is to say—in groups of three or more. We hav…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 144: Plant This with That-Fall Edition
37:34
37:34
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
37:34
Danielle combo #1 'Limelight' panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight', Zones 3-9) 'Sun King' aralia (Aralia cordata 'Sun King', Zones 3-9) Danielle combo #2 'Worcester Gold' blue mist shrub (Caryopteris × clandonensis 'Worcester Gold', Zones 5-9) 'Goldsturm' black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Goldsturm', Zones 3-9) Ca…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 143: Best Of LAAP: Our Favorite Guests
41:44
41:44
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
41:44
We’re nearing our 150th episode mark and for us, that has meant a lot of plants discussed. But it’s also meant a lot of great guest appearances. As you know, each episode we ask an expert from the field of horticulture to lend us their brains and weigh-in on some great plant choices for the topic at hand. We’ve had guests who made us laugh, think t…
…
continue reading
It’s time to grab that sweatshirt and dig out those heavier socks—fall has arrived! Although it’s sad to see summer go, we’re getting super excited for the new season around here. The native plants in New England (where our podcast is based) are starting to look especially lovely so we’ve dedicated this show to them. We’ve got an array of native wo…
…
continue reading
Around here we’re not fans of the f-word. No, not that f-word. We’re talking about FALL. In our minds that cooler weather is still a long way off, so we’ve decided to celebrate the dog days of summer by talking about plants that really put on a show in August. When much of the garden is looking tired and bedraggled, these plants add a colorful punc…
…
continue reading
It’s that time of year again! The much-anticipated listener question and answer episode. Carol and Danielle look forward to this special episode (sometimes TWO episodes) because it allows them to offer real-life advice for the plant and garden design issues that are troubling all of you out there in the podcast universe. This time, we got a slew of…
…
continue reading
Quirky, collectible, and water-wise, succulents will add eye-catching texture to any garden bed or container display. There are some succulents that are cold hardy, while others will need to be brought indoors for the winter in colder regions. Join Danielle, Carol and guest Amanda Thomsen as they share some of their favorite succulents, including a…
…
continue reading
Drought has become synonymous with gardening in the past several years. It seems like regardless of where you live, you will experience some sort of dry conditions in summer. This has led many of us to reevaluate our plant choices. Perennials we once relied on to fill our beds and borders may flag in July and August—or shrivel up and die altogether…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 137: Field Trip to The Farmer’s Daughter Nursery
28:03
28:03
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
28:03
Visiting a great nursery is inspirational. Colors and textures draw you in, and wish-list plants beckon to you from the benches and displays. You may even encounter a plant that you can’t live without, even though you’ve never seen it or heard about it before. Join Danielle and Carol as they stroll the aisles of a favorite Rhode Island nursery and …
…
continue reading
