I Dig Your Story

Landscape designer, plantsman, author, and ecological steward Kelly D. Norris believes gardens aren't static works of art but are living communities. In this episode of I Dig Your Story, Kelly shares the remarkable path that led him from running a mail-order iris nursery as a teenager on his family's Iowa farm to becoming one of the country's leading voices in ecological landscape design. Kelly ex...

Fifth Tuesdays #2:   In this quarterly bonus I Dig Your Story sub-pod we call Fifth Tuesdays, host Ellen Wells is answering your questions!   In this episode, Ellen answers: What’s your earliest plant memory? But Ellen, are you a good gardener? How do I keep our Wisteria from taking over our small urban yard? Do coffee grounds really help plants? Do you have a hack for bugs and other pests? Ellen...

What happens when an eight-year-old sticks a broken branch in the ground and discovers it can grow roots? Mind blown! For Joe Lamp'l, that moment sparked a lifelong fascination with plants that eventually led him from a corporate career in finance to becoming one of the most recognizable voices in gardening media. Known to millions as joe gardener, Joe joins Ellen Wells on I Dig Your Story to shar...

In Part 2 of my conversation with horticulture industry veteran Marvin Miller, we go beyond the fascinating intersections of horticulture, data, and business and discuss some of Marvin’s personal passions of travel and photography. We start with an explanation of how Marvin’s graduate research helped analyze the U.S. cut flower industry and shaped the way all of us understand market trends, indust...

What happens when a kid becomes fascinated by a tiny tomato growing in the garden—and then never stops being fascinated by nature? In Part 1 of this special two-part conversation, Ellen Wells sits down with horticulture industry veteran Marvin Miller of Ball Horticultural Company to explore the roots of a career that would eventually influence everything from supermarket flower departments to cons...

Jennifer Brennan has spent her career helping gardeners succeed—and proving that horticulture can be both educational and fun. In this episode of I Dig Your Story, host Ellen Wells talks with horticultural consultant Jennifer Brennan about her journey from a college greenhouse job and a dorm room overflowing with plants to becoming one of the most trusted gardening educators in the Chicago area. A...

How do we inspire the next generation to choose horticulture careers if they don’t even know the industry exists?   We are celebrating Women in Horticulture Week with Seed Your Future Executive Director Jazmin Albarran. In this episode of I Dig Your Story, Ellen Wells talks with Jazmin about women in horticulture, workforce development, and the challenge of helping students, parents, and educators...

What do sea turtles, corpse flowers, aphids, and philodendrons have in common? For Michelle Opela, they’re all part of a career journey that somehow led to horticulture. In this episode of I Dig Your Story, Michelle shares how she went from marine biology adventures in Alaska and Australia to becoming deeply involved in Integrated Pest Management (IPM), biological controls, and plant health in the...

For three decades, Delilah Onofrey has helped tell the stories of the horticulture industry, first as editor of Greenhouse Grower and now as Marketing Director for Suntory Flowers. In this episode of I Dig Your Story, Delilah joins Ellen to talk about growing up among heirloom flowers in a historic Cleveland-area home, discovering journalism at Kent State University, and unexpectedly building and...

What happens when a landscape architect realizes the plants—not the plans—are the real passion? In this episode of I Dig Your Story, Ellen Wells talks with David Bache of Garden Industries in Loxahatchee, Florida, about finding your path in horticulture, growing what others won’t, and creating a nursery experience that inspires. David shares how trying different roles—from landscape design to flor...

Melinda Knuth didn’t set out to become an academic—but a series of questions, opportunities and one pivotal experience at Disney World led her there. In this episode of I Dig Your Story, Melinda shares how her early goal of building a wholesale floral business evolved into a career focused on understanding how—and why—people connect with plants. From her upbringing in agriculture to her graduate w...

Gail Cash, owner of Flori-Design in Eustis, Florida, has built a horticulture career shaped by resilience, focus and creativity. In this episode of I Dig Your Story, Gail shares her journey from FFA and Virginia Tech to launching her own business, including how she found a niche in carnivorous plants and built memorable products like “Little Pot of Horrors.” She also talks about expanding into dis...

What does it mean to truly grow through every season of life? In this deeply moving conversation, Gladys Opiyo shares a story that spans continents, hardship, discovery and purpose. From her early years as a refugee to her journey through agriculture in Uganda, Costa Rica and the United States, Gladys reveals how her path was shaped by resilience, faith and her discovery of and appreciation for fl...

What if the thing you loved as a kid could grow into a career that reaches millions? In this episode of I Dig Your Story, Justin Hancock shares how a simple fascination with plants turned into a role helping gardeners everywhere feel more confident, capable, and inspired. From early curiosity to industry influencer, Justin’s story is about following what pulls you in—and figuring it out along the...

We are introducing a new show spinoff: Fifth Tuesdays. Wanting to keep to just four Tuesday interviews each month, host Ellen Wells decided to use this “fifth Tuesday” as a quarterly bonus. For each month that has a Fifth Tuesday, she will answer your questions and update you on any I Dig Your Story happenings.   In this episode, Ellen answers: Why horticulture? What makes a good interview? How do...

Host Ellen Wells chats with former Walt Disney World Director of Horticulture Katy Moss Warner and former Florida Nursery, Growers, and Landscape Association (FNGLA) COO Linda Adams to share the story of the Bloom & Grow Garden Society in Winter Garden, Florida. The conversation is proof that a passionate garden club can literally reshape a community.    Together Linda and Katy reveal how Bloo...

On this episode of I Dig Your Story, Ellen talks with Kathy Jentz — journalist, podcaster and founding editor and publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine. Kathy shares how a lifelong love of reading and telling stories led her to study journalism in college, but it wasn’t until she bought a small house with a big garden that gardening truly became a passion. Eventually, noticing the lack of reli...

In this episode of I Dig Your Story, Ellen sits down with Maria Rodale—author, organic advocate, and co-chair of the Rodale Institute board—to explore a lifetime spent growing alongside plants and the organic movement.    Maria shares what it was like growing up on the pioneering Rodale family farm, where Organic Gardening and Prevention magazines were born and where her father’s research helped p...

On this episode of I Dig Your Story, host Ellen Wells chats with Frank and Pamela Arnosky, founders and owners of Arnosky Family Farm and Market — known as Texas’ premier cut flower farm and garden. Ellen first interviewed Frank and Pam for a 2025 FloraCulture International article and immediately knew their story deserved a deeper dig. The couple reveal that what started as a shared childhood lov...

In this episode, host Ellen Wells zooms with Chuck Pavlich, Director of New Product Development at Terra Nova Nurseries in Oregon. Find out how a farm-raised boy’s obsession with dinosaurs and rocks evolved into a passion for all things plants. After working in retail horticulture in various positions for 30 years, Chuck is now exploring the world in search of new plants to breed, develop and brin...

In this episode of I Dig Your Story, host Ellen Wells sits down with Charlotte, NC-based garden designer Jay Sifford to explore how he turns ordinary spaces into immersive, story-rich landscapes. Jay shares his winding path from ministry and sales to aquariums and, finally, to garden design, and explains why he treats plants like an artist treats paint, using color, form, and mood to compose garde...

On this episode of I Dig Your Story, host Ellen Wells is joined by Helen Lawson, Retail Marketing Partnership Coach for Monrovia, a California-based nursery with nationwide operations. Helen is one of those people I’ve had minimal but excellent interactions with, and that was more than enough to know she had a story worth digging into. Helen shares how a childhood love of the outdoors led her to w...

On this episode of I Dig Your Story, I’m joined by Kate Ferguson and Lila Sullivan, the co-founders of Flourish Plant—and proof that a shared love of plants and nature can turn into something much bigger. Long before they were business partners, Kate and Lila were science fair competitors, both already deeply curious about how plants work and what they need to thrive. In our conversation, we trace...

Joining me on the I Dig Your Story podcast today is landscape designer Jan Johnsen. Grab your popcorn my friends because this lady has some stories! Like what? We talk about growing “monster seeds," winning the NY Citywide science fair with a plant experiment, living in 1970s Japan how she became a sort-after landscape designer in Westchester County, New York.  We also lament the fact that the wor...

Host Ellen Wells chats with Katie Jensen of Katie Casey Designs—a plant shop, garden center, and landscape design studio all rolled into one—in Clear Lake, Iowa. Even while recovering from a flu-like bug, Ellen wasn’t about to miss the chance to catch up with Katie, who truly “does it all.” Ellen has known Katie long before she opened her own shop—back when Katie was writing for Better Homes and G...