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

I can't believe we're already in 2025, but I am SO excited to spill all the tea about my wild plant experiment from last year.  In 2024, I totally went for it and added over 40 new plant species to my collection—and it was quite the adventure! Some of these plants thrived, some flopped, and yes, some didn’t make it. So in this episode, I’m sharing it all—from my favorites to my fails—and what I le...

What role do you think nature plays in your life?  For me, it has always been a deeper way to improve my mental, physical, and emotional health. In fact, it’s not just me who thinks this way. The minute I hopped into the digital recording studio, I knew that my guest was someone very similar to me! I’ve been following Marcus Bridgewater, better known as Garden Marcus , for years, and I’m so happy...

Plant friends, did you know your houseplants can double as pest control?  Carnivorous plants don’t just survive—they  hunt.  Venus flytraps can snap down on unsuspecting flies, while pitcher plants lure bugs into their slippery traps. These carnivorous plants themselves are nature’s own pest management system. So I’ve brought on a guest who knows everything there is to know about them: Kenny Cooga...

As the winter solstice–or the longest night of the year–approaches, how does it reflect and represent you?  This is the season of dormancy, a time when plants, the earth, and even we are drawn to rest, recharge, and prepare for growth. In this final installment of our 2024 seasonal sessions, on the pod once again is my dear friend and our resident  green witch ,  Rachael of Our Infinite Nature . S...

According to a  Human Spaces  report, “workers in office environments with natural elements, such as greenery and sunlight, are 6% more productive at work and 15% more creative.”  Personally, they’ve been my number one most useful tool for increasing joy throughout my workday, and they help me reduce eye strain from staring at my computer all day. So in this episode of Growing Joy with leafjoy® mi...

How do you have a  life  and a  garden ?  Between busy schedules, family time, and pretty lengthy to-do lists, how can we fit gardening moments into our lives without sacrificing precious time? As we close out our 2024 gardening season, it’s a great time to reflect on what worked, what flopped, and how we can make our gardens even better for 2025. This is exactly where CaliKim shines the most, and...

What if there’s a way to enjoy your favorite outdoor plants year-round, save money, and keep them inside as houseplants during the winter?  The answer lies in overwintering outdoor plants indoors, which is a brilliant technique I talked about with my friend and gardening expert,  Janey Santos from Dig, Plant, Water, Repeat . Janey is a master gardener, YouTuber, and just an all-around plant genius...

How do you vacation-proof your plants before going away?  The holiday season is fast approaching, which means many of us have already booked out-of-town trips that would require us to be away from home for a longer period of time. So how would you keep the plants back home alive while on vacation? It's not like we could water our plants while away, right? So in this episode, I want to make sure th...

Why are plants the perfect holiday gift?  Plants symbolize so many things such as growth, life, and connection, so it only makes sense that we want our giftee to feel this. And unlike typical presents, if you pick just the  right  plant for whoever you’re gifting it to, trust that this will continue to grow and evolve long after the holiday season is gone—making them think of you every time they l...

Christmas and the holiday season are coming! Which “festive” plants should you grow and how can you help them stay alive?  For many people, nothing makes the holidays lovelier than getting a beautiful poinsettia or holiday cactus during this time. But there’s absolutely nothing worse than seeing the holiday plant that you fell in love with just wither before your very eyes because they need a diff...

What plants are great in low-light homes?  That’s one of the most common plant questions that I get asked a lot. It’s popular because a lot of us don’t have those floor-to-ceiling windows that we often see on Pinterest and Instagram. The majority of us just have normal, low-light homes. Even my new house in Florida is actually extremely low-light! But of course, we all want our indoor garden to gr...

Are you struggling to keep your houseplants alive?  You might be one of many aspiring plant parents who find themselves in this annoying cycle, and you wonder why you can't seem to keep even the "easiest" plants alive. The problem is not finding the “right beginner plant” but understanding your own plant parent personality. So in this episode, I’ll tell you the five distinct plant parent personali...

What makes your local garden center feel so special? Don’t you notice that there’s something magical about them?  It’s kinda shocking how little we understand as consumers about all the effort that goes into getting plants to us and onto our windowsills. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes at the Garden Center that we don't know about. That's why I'm committed to having more people on...

Plant friends, if you are anything like me, you LOVE a good deal, especially when it comes to your garden.  After all, it can be costly to buy every gardening tool out there that just seems to drain your bank account. Luckily for us, I picked the brain of my new plant friend—Robbie from  Visit Our Garden . Robbie’s garden is a marvel in itself, but even more exciting is how he has mastered the art...

Have you ever felt lost while experiencing change?  In fact, I've been thinking a lot about the concept of transplant shock lately, as it has been a beautiful metaphor for what I am personally going through right now after  moving 1,500 miles from New York to Florida . It's a plant-life parallel that gave me so much comfort and guidance during this season of discomfort and change, and I have a fee...

No matter what season it is, now being summer into fall, the shifting of the seasons provides an opportunity and an  external trigger  for us to reflect internally . I had my dear friend Rachael from  Our Infinite Nature  back on the show to help us navigate the upcoming season. If you've been following me, you know how magical she is—she’s my go-to for everything seasonal and spiritual. We’ve bee...

I don’t know how I survived moving all 80 of my houseplants across 1500 miles from New York to South Florida with my husband and our parakeet in our rented minivan.  It was quite an adventure, and I learned so much along the way. Despite all the chaos, I only lost two and a half plants, which is an achievement! My husband got an amazing job opportunity. I am fully digital with my business. We want...

There are so many different reasons to love hoyas, plant friends.  They are gorgeous, drought-tolerant, and relatively easy to care for once you nail down a few key tips! Hoyas had a moment on social media in 2021 and 2022 due to their incredible diversity—Hoyas can look so different from each other, and if you’re a curious plant collector (see which one are you with my  plant personality test ),...

Big news, plant friends. I've moved!  After four wonderful years living in the Catskills my husband and I have packed up our lives–and my plants–and headed south to Florida. That’s from Zone 6B to Zone 10B! As a lifelong New Yorker, I've only ever known four distinct seasons. But now, I’m literally going to experience a whole new gardening action in a climate that feels almost tropical. And I'm fe...

You've probably seen that funny meme going around that says "pets are the new children, and plants are the new pets."  I couldn't agree more! We're all out here treating our plants like our babies and our pets like our kids. But what happens when these two loves collide—and your toxic plant harms your pet? In this episode, I share the different plants that are safe for our furry babies, how to kee...

Anthuriums  have everything a plant parent could want.  This genus has the most widely distributed, easily grown plants as well as some rare and expensive collectibles. Both its leaves and flowers are also indispensable. I especially love it because of its heart-shaped leaves and its gorgeous long, skinny stems. And I’ll tell you all about it and how to care for it in this episode of Proven Winner...

How do you level up from being a casual plant lover to a true pro in the horticulture industry?  What does it take to become one? There are plenty of things we don't get as hobbyists about the horticulture industry—so much more happening behind the scenes than we can imagine. Fortunately, Leslie Halleck, a favorite guest on the podcast and one of my best plant friends, is here to tell us about how...

How many times have you heard someone say "My garden is my therapy" or "Plant care is self-care”?  These phrases have become so popular lately, and they're absolutely true! As someone who's written a whole book on this topic, I can tell you that being connected to nature gives us so many gifts: perspective, gratitude, love, and as we'll explore today, reverence and reciprocity. I have a deep-roote...

Are you running out of ideas on how to use the tomato and cucumber harvest from your garden?  As summer goes on, many gardeners end up with a ton of produce they don't know what to do with. Those eight tomato plants that seemed like a good idea in spring are now producing more than you can eat! But my guest this episode has got you covered with some of her delicious and creative ways to use up you...

Here’s a special late-night edition of  Growing Joy with Plants: After Dark  where I spill the planty tea and share a cocktail with my two incredible plant friends, Agatha Isabel and Kamili Bell Hill.  You might know Kamili as  @plantblerd  on Instagram and Agatha as  @agathatisabel  on Instagram. They've been my real-life plant friends for years, and we recently had a blast at the New York Botani...