Flower Power Garden Hour

All things Begonia this week. Paul Tsamtsis (lifetime Begonia gardener & expert) & Mike Tentis (lifetime gardener with a more recent Begonia fetish) join Marlene to discuss one of her favorite undervalued flowers - Begonias. Both are active members of the Sacramento Begonia Society , a chapter of the American Begonia Society . The gamete of topics are discussed: Different forms (Rex, tuberous, rhi...

Listener questions answered, ranging from protecting vegetable gardens from the summer heat, water strategy with regards to landscaping, causation & prevention of yellowing leaves, protection of plants from birds & insects, and how to best keep fuchsia flowers alive. Fertilizing and organic soil amendment technique and product choice is a common theme. Use these Q&A shows to help build your diagno...

This episode covers many of the common vegetable garden problems Marlene gets asked about. She covers tomatoes, peppers, squash and more – spanning problems ranging from overwatering, over-fertilization, deficiencies, pollination issues resulting in lack of fruit set. To ask questions for future shows, submit them at Flower Power Garden Hour Facebook page, The Plant Lady Facebook page, or Instagra...

Jason Carter is a PhD candidate at UC Davis studying Pine Pitch Canker, which is a fungus responsible for mass death of Monterey Pines in California. As part of this, he is investigating specific fungus ability to tolerate grass defense compounds, and if there is a correlation to the capability this particular fungus has for resisting pine defenses. To ask questions for future shows, submit them a...

We all know of common gardening hints and tips. Sometimes these are passed on through family generations, and sometimes they seem to pop up in the social media world. Some are based in solid principles, and some are based in logic that belongs deep in the sewer. This episode covers some of the more popular "garden myths" and whether they have any merit or are the fake news of the horticulture worl...

Loads of listener questions this week, with topics ranging from fruit trees, vegetables, soil amendments and prep, to flower and shrub health in harsh summer conditions.   To ask questions for future shows, submit them at Flower Power Garden Hour Facebook page, The Plant Lady Facebook page, or Instagram . You can also email Marlene questions, future show topic requests and feedback at msimon@marle...

Gloria has been growing the same lineage of peppers since her family brought them over from southern Spain in 1920. Following her grandfather & father, Gloria has kept this strain alive and vibrant. Whereas most Spanish immigrant families stopped growing or lost track of the seed, Gloria has been able to keep the tradition alive. Each year she starts 1,000 of these sweet peppers in her small green...

Taylor Lewis, UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery Manager, discusses water-wise, drought tolerant, California native gardening. Removing a lawn can be back-breaking…..Taylor shares his detailed methodology for transforming a lawn into a water-wise garden, with minimal intense physical labor. Taylor's method makes lawn removal a much less daunting task. Additionally discussed is maintenance of soil...

A round of listener questions fills this week's episode, with a mixed focus on vegetables, pest control & flowers. Specifically, Marlene answers questions regarding artichokes – how to keep healthy, pest free (or pest "controlled") & how/when to harvest. On the floral front, Marlene tackles rose & lavender questions around care & specific variety blooming attributes. She dives into the unique Jeri...

Orchidelerium anybody? It was during the Victorian era that Orchidelerium took hold. Rich socialites & aristocrats hired their own plant hunters to gather and bring back as many different orchids as they could find. While poaching of rare orchids such as the Ghost Orchid still happens, the frenzy has died down. The ability to clone orchids from meristematic tissue has made these once hard to come...

Listener questions are the focus of this episode, predominantly looking at flowers and succulents (with of course a dabble of tomato and vegetable gardening advice). Also, a discussion takes Marlene down the path of nurseries that sell PAINTED plants. Store deceit or wishful thinking of the budding gardener…..you decide. This week's questions include cactus, poinsettias, hydrangea health and how t...

This episode is a deep dive into tomato planting – how to set your spring/summer vegetable garden up for success.   The first half of the episode focuses on the tactical aspects…when to plant, what & where to plant (containers versus native soil), soil amendments (fertilizer & compost), pruning & training, and tomato varieties (ie heirloom, roma, cherry).   The second half of the show turns attent...

You say potato…Horticulturalists say Solanum tuberosum. This week Marlene delves into vegetable gardening discussing potato planting…the do's and don'ts. In addition she will be answering your listener submitted garden questions. This week's questions include suckers, mites, hummingbird plants, rose leaf spot, planting garlic, bareroot trees, what is "organic"…. and she introduces Beetlegoat! To a...

Vegetable gardening 101 with Matt Amicucci. Matt is an Ag/Environmental chemistry PhD candidate, currently working in conjunction with the Foods For Health Institute. Their focus today is prepping vegetable gardens for spring planting. Marlene & Matt highlight their experiences with DIY raised beds, crops such as tomato and pepper varieties, organic gardening, fertilizing how-to, soil amending, se...

Marlene "The Plant Lady" talks to Joel Ledford, PhD arachnologist at UC Davis…that makes him a spider researcher to us lay people. Marlene & Joel discuss his varied pathway to becoming a leading expert in the field, including stops in the Marine Corp, time as an elementary school teacher and a post-doc fellowship at the California Academy of Sciences. Their conversation ranges from evolutionary me...

Marlene "The Plant Lady" sits down with Bob Starnes, owner of Shale Peak Horticulture. Bob is a leading expert in chemical-free pest management (aka bio-control), utilizing a multitude of predatory insects to control (ie hunt & kill) crop damaging pest populations. His IPM (integrated pest management) and consulting services are specifically targeted towards the burgeoning cannabis (marijuana) cul...

Q&A with listener submitted questions. Topics include: Challenges of growing ficus Help with starting tulips Tips for increasing citrus crop yield Hydrangeas! Yucca! When to plant in the western US due to unseasonally early warmth The top blockbuster horticulture movie of 2017. And Bitcoin. To ask questions for future shows, submit them at Flower Power Garden Hour Facebook page, The Plant Lady Fac...

Barry Rice is an astrobiologist, c arnivorous plant and succulent researcher, 4th degree Kempo karate black belt and self-proclaimed agnostic Trekkie/Trekker.  He is an astronomy professor at Sierra College, and is world renown for his work with Carnivorous plants.  Barry can be found at sarracenia.com and his YouTube pages.

Intro to podcast and Marlene the Plant Lady answers questions submitted by listeners. To ask questions for future shows, submit them at Flower Power Garden Hour Facebook page, The Plant Lady Facebook page, or Instagram