Gardening Simplified

In mid-November, the USDA put out a new hardiness zone map, the first since 2012. Learn what's new in it, and why, and what it might mean for what you can grow. Plus, hydrangea growing questions and a waterless waterpark. Featured plant: Blue Diddley vitex.

December is here, and along with it, holiday decorating. Grace your containers, windowboxes, and maybe even a few spots indoors with cut branches and greens! Hear our suggestions and get advice from designer Deborah Silver.

Cape Cod is synonymous with hydrangeas, but as Rick discovered at this year's Hydrangea festival, polar conditions threatened the display. We talk hydrangeas that stand up to the cold and other solutions. Plus, hydrangeas blooming in fall and javalinas. Featured plant: Tuff Stuff hydrangea.

When cooking and eating vegetables, it can be easy to forget they started as plants. We discuss the joys of growing veg and sharing them on your holiday table - and maybe even getting kids to eat them. Author and ethnobotanist Lisa Rose joins us to talk about her new book, Urban Foraging. Featured plant: Arctic Fire Yellow dogwood.

Gardening with native plants gets a lot of talk these days, but what does it really mean? We explore the possibilities, benefits, and myths of gardening with natives in what may be our most controversial episode yet. Featured plant: Low Scape Snowfire aronia.

They're colorful, they're abundant, they're...useful? Yes! Fallen leaves are perfect for improving soil. Find out what to do with yours, plus, mystery fungus, a fence-climbing Chihuahua, and new vocabulary words about leaves. Featured plant: Tiny Wine ninebark.

Whatever your reason for moving a shrub or perennial - the site has become too shady, the plant outgrew the spot, or you just don't like where it is - now is the perfect time to move it. Learn how in this episode. Plus, overwintering plants in containers and fall foliage that can be seen from space. Featured plant: Oso Easy Italian Ice rose.

A garden path gets you from point A to point B, but it's the path materials, the shape of the path, and of course, the plants, that make the journey worthwhile. Hear our favorite path materials, along with bumblebee pollination, crabgrass prevention, and why Rick made an Amazon delivery driver cry. Featured plant: Midnight Sun weigela.

No one likes to make a mistake, but the mistakes you make in gardening tend to be the lessons that stick with you most. Hear the mistakes Rick and Stacey have made and what they've learned from them. We end the show with an extended in-studio interview with the one and only Birdman Bill Stovall. Featured plant: Let's Dance Can Do hydrangea.

In this week’s episode, Stacey and Rick discuss what perennials you should be pruning in fall, and which you shouldn’t. Stacey reminds gardeners when in doubt, don’t prune! If you’ve noticed more acorns this year, it isn’t just you - Rick talks about Oak Mast and explains what’s happening. Plus, learn why a rose of Sharon may not bloom and more in Questions Answered.

It's time to plant fall bulbs! Learn how you can be successful selecting, planting, and growing bulbs. Stacey shares a shrub perfect for planting next to your bulbs for a stellar spring display. Stacey and Rick talk about gardening next to Black Walnut trees and how to handle the presence of juglone in soil.

As gardeners, we tend to enjoy working in our gardens. But we should also take the time to enjoy being in them, looking at them, and appreciating our hard work. Plus, gravel in flower beds and removing annuals in fall. Featured plant: Gatsby Gal hydrangea.

Thank you to all of our listeners who send us in their gardening questions! In this bonus episode, Stacey and Rick answer questions from the mailbag that haven’t had a chance to be answered on the show yet.

"Once it's established" is oft repeated about plants but seldom explained. In today's episode, we change that and cover what it actually means. Plus, Japanese beetle resistance and garden trends. Featured plant: Kodiak Orange diervilla.

As we head into our second year, we look back at all that we’ve discussed on and look forward towards what’s to come. Our Plant on Trial is one the Fonz would approve of – Perfecto Mundo ® Double Pink reblooming azalea. Learn about hydrophobic soil and whether or not you should protect your panicle hydrangea in winter.

So many plants have an inviting, touchable texture - we share our favorites, as well as those you should definitely avoid touching. Plus, a beautiful, bouncy hydrangea, pruning boxwood, and printing photos on foliage. Featured plant: Little Lime Punch hydrangea.

Edging your garden beds is a crucial part of maintaining a landscape, but a good edge? That's easier said than done. Find out why, plus we talk favorite vines, deterring dogs, and Stinky the Owl.

Do you know your neighbors? If not, plants can change that! Plant something that sparks conversation and make connections within your community. Plus, dealing with powdery mildew, cleaning pruners, and another bear story. Featured plant: Sweet Summer Love clematis.

We love self-sowers! Far from weeds, these plants pop up where they will thrive best, making you look like a design superstar. Plus, saving tomato seed and an interview with PHS vice president for horticulture, Andrew Bunting. Featured plant: Sunny Boulevard St. John's-wort.

It’s not just people that get sunburned, plants can too! Learn about damage that sun can do to plants, how you can avoid it, and about plants’ natural sunscreen. Rick and Stacey interview with a special guest, Brie Arthur aka Brie The Plant Lady. Brie talks about an outstanding tomato and the benefits of incorporating edibles into the garden.

Dive into the world of blue plants and learn how bigleaf and mountain hydrangeas can turn blue. In Plants on Trial, Stacey introduces a new, easy to grow blue hydrangea. Rick discusses news regarding rising temperatures and a 97 year old who finally got the tractor she deserves.

Yes, summer gardening is actually harder. Today we explore problems gardeners are facing in the dog days of summer and tips to work through them. In Plants on Trial, Stacey and Rick talk about a plant that makes gardening easy. Learn about plant reversion and what to do if you notice it.

It's the height of summer, which means the vegetable garden is in full swing. Learn how to keep it looking, and producing, its best. Plus, growing showy castor bean plants, and the elements of curb appeal. Featured plant: Gin Fizz juniper.

Learn various ways you can give your plants a spa day and why you shouldn’t add Epsom salts in your garden. At Last, a groundbreaking rose is put on trial and Dr. Judson LeCompte joins us to talk about plant genetics and the differences between gardening in the South vs North.

Do plants really repel mosquitoes? We look at the evidence. Plus, learn why your hydrangea might not be blooming, and how police used a YouTube video to save ducklings. Featured plant: Incrediball Blush hydrangea.