Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care

Plant Side Chats are a series on the Bloom and Grow Radio podcast where Maria (host) muses on life lessons learned in the garden or from plant parenting.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I’m joined again by my new plant friend and horticulturalist and lighting expert, Leslie Halleck, for part two of my quest to understand what “bright indirect light” really is. If you haven’t yet, listen to last weeks episode where Leslie and I dive into the basics of understanding natural light, and hacks and tricks for measuring your personal lighting environment without any type of app or meter...

I’m excited to bring you another two part episode on a topic that has plagued me in my first year as a plant parent: understanding natural light, and what the heck “bright indirect light” actually means. When figuring out how to do this episode, I knew I needed a lighting and plant expert who would give me the space to ask the simple questions to understand this complex topic. Enter Leslie Halleck...

Welcome back to part 2 of the Aroids 101 series. I hope you enjoyed last weeks Part 1 on the general information and care for the amazing Araceae family. If you haven’t listened to Part 1 yet, I would suggest hitting pause here and listening to that episode first, as it lays the groundwork for the information we dive into today. We are joined again today by Enid, the founder of NSE Tropicals. NSE...

Today’s episode is the first of a two part series on Aroid 101. Aroids are all over Instagram, with their great variety of sexy, prehistoric looking leaves, and many Aroids make great houseplants because of their low light tolerance and their large and beautiful foliage. I’m excited to welcome Enid, the founder of NSE Tropicals, the online mecca for Aroids and unusual plants, to enlighten us about...

Are you getting a Christmas Tree this year? Listen to the episodes mentioned here to 1) Learn best practices for cut christmas trees and how to have a locally sourced tree that you compost after the season #responsibleplantparent 2) have a LIVING, potted indoor christmas tree that you can replant after the holiday season!    Episode 05: Cut Christmas Trees with Mary Jeanne Packer from the Christma...

Today’s episode is about exactly what the title says… our brains… on plants. And what happens in our brains, when we become Plant People. When I was starting to move from plant killer to crazy plant lady, I noticed, there were a few months in the beginning of my plant collection where I feel like the love for plants kind of took over my life. I’ve always thought about that particular phase in my l...

I’m so excited to share this tutorial with you, because the idea for this episode came from me being inspired to make my own moss poles after watching a video Tylor made on Instagram. The process was so easy (especially because Tylor’s video was so helpful) and I knew this was something I wanted to share with you guys, because these poles not only look cool, but help replicate our plants natural e...

Maria walks you through a “few of her favorite things” aka planty products that she has enjoyed this year. This episode is for anyone who might be curious about plant related products out there for their urban jungles or for possible gifts for planty friends or relatives.   All discount codes, links and product reviews and photos can be found at www.bloomandgrowradio.com/favoritethings   Time stam...

The Plant Side Chat Series is Maria's love letters to the life lessons she learns in the garden. Today, Maria shares a story about the importance of pruning in your garden and life through the tale of her balcony strawberry plant.   Join the Bloom and Grow Garden Club for free at www.bloomandgrowradio.com/garden-club   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information a...

Donna Letier of Gardenity joins me today as the second guest of my Planty Business Series to jam on the topic of growing a business like we tend a garden. Gardenuity creates custom gardens of herbs and vegetables delivered to your door, tailored specifically to your zip code. From the minute I started working with Donna several months ago, I knew this woman was a powerhouse with a story to tell wi...

For those of you lucky enough to have outdoor space that you put your houseplants in for the warm summer months, this episode is for you! There comes the time with that first snap of fall weather, when we realize the lovely Summer is over and it’s time to bring our plants back indoors, to protect them from the upcoming cold months. But there is an art to this transition. It isn’t as simple as just...

I have been so moved by many of you who have reached out to me sharing how caring for your plants has helped you walk through or live with a variety of tough things, whether its loss of a loved one, post partum depression, PTSD or other issues. As someone who has dealt with depression, I just want to say that I’m here with you and your messages resonate so much with me. It’s made me think a lot ab...

Thrilled to be joined by Alessia of @apartmentbotanist to discuss growing a large plant collection in a small space and using humidity indoors to help your plants thrive! So if you have been listening to the podcast, you’ll know that I met Alessia  online when I was fawning over her pilea peperomiodies and the rest is history. What was initially an online friendship through DMs (mostly of her help...

Let's get to know each other! Please take 5 minutes to fill out this Listener Survey, so I can best survey you in the upcoming episodes! Thanks plant friends!  http://bit.ly/2NyJrsw Very excited to be joined by Ryan from Dig It Gardens in Phoenix, AZ for a great discussion on Desert Plants: what they are, how they thrive outdoors, and how we can set them up for success in our Urban Jungles. Ryan h...

I’m thrilled to be welcoming Hilton Carter, or what I like to call him, the “King of Jungle by the Falls” to the show! Hilton is a huge part of the online plant community,  with over 120,000 followers who love his photos of his insanely beautiful and curated collection of plants in his home, and his event space, Jungle by the Falls. In addition to his successful personal Instagram account and acti...

I’m so excited to welcome my first Australian guest to the show, Scott Cain of the popular Instagram account @Tropicaloco (and another account that gets revealed at the end of the episode). Scott is a graphic designer in Australia (www.monkeyfern.com) with an incredible indoor jungle of about 200 houseplants. He shares gorgeous photos of his collection and dreamy balcony on his account @tropicaloc...

I’m thrilled to be joined by the “Airplant Man” himself, Josh Rosen to discuss all things airplants. Airplants, or Tillandsia, are another popular houseplant you see in many magazines and on social media, but the care instructions online can be very varied and sometimes confusing. Having a small collection of airplants myself (and having killed a couple!) I knew this was a topic I needed the airpl...

Today I welcome Molly Mansfield to the show to talk about something I have no experience with- raising babies around a plant collection! Molly is the perfect person to talk about this with, as she grew up with parents who owned a Garden Center and plants played a huge part in her childhood. Now she gets to have plants in her two young boys life! Molly is also the very talented artist behind @molly...

We are joined by Chris today for another installment of our Plant Science Series featuring The Sill . Orchid 101 is near and dear to my heart because I STRUGGLE with Orchids and Chris has been my go to resource for personal orchid care. So I knew he would be the perfect guest to have come on the show and answer your orchid questions! If you don’t know already, The Sill is a plant brand with two br...

 Today we are joined by Luke Marion of MI Gardener to talk all things indoor citrus! You might know Luke from his MI Gardener youtube channel (which I’m a huge fan of!) which has become one of the fastest growing gardening channels with over 250,000 subscribers on YouTube alone. Founded in 2011 MIgardener aims to help gardeners all around the world. Luke & Sindy Marion are the brains behind MIgard...

Today’s short and sweet Plant Side Chat is honoring my first balcony herb garden and the lessons I learned, since I just planted up my new garden for this upcoming season. One of my favorite stories to tell is the story behind our first Tomato Plant, why it was kind of an epic #plantfail, but how it was the most important plant in the garden to learn from that summer. Tune in to learn why and how...

Joe “Mr. D” Dombrowski is a 3rd (5th next year) grade teacher from Chicago, IL. His passion for education and lighthearted approach to engaging with students has captured the hearts of millions with his viral videos and instagram accounts @mrDtimes3. He has been featured on The Ellen Show, The Kellie Pickler and Ben Aaron Show and many more. He is a young, passionate teacher that is changing the g...

I’m so happy to have Summer Rayne Oakes of @homesteadbrooklyn back on the show for a second time. You might have heard her back in the day in episode 04 of Bloom and Grow Radio, when we talked about Advanced Plant Parenthood and the joy of Plant Swaps. Speaking of Plant Swaps- Summer Rayne is hosting another plant swap in NYC on Sunday July 15th. The link to get your ticket will be in the show not...

The Fiddle Leaf Fig, also known as Ficus Lyrata, has been steadily taking over our instagram, pinterest and drool worthy magazine spreads for some time now. It seems to be many interior designers favorite planty accent to a room. Although it may be a plant that’s a go to for design, it isn’t a recommended “beginner” plant, as it’s been known to be somewhat finicky or high maintenance. Today, Erin...