The Garden Mixer

On this episode we talk about the premeditated murder of some large Abyssinian bananas, how Leslie is meh on winter berries, peonies (Leslie protests the look of singles, Marianne protests Leslie's color choices), a good thing to do with excess cherry tomatoes (an alternative from leaving them in unlocked cars). We do several "Book Moments". Who are we kidding... only Marianne has book moments whi...

Marianne and Leslie are ready to start stirring things up in their inaugural podcast episode of The Garden Mixer. Jumping into the fray of native plant zealotry, they cool down a little with normal topics such as perennials with great fall color, only to argue about botanical name pronunciation while offering botanical Latin sources for those who need to see the words they're attempting to say. It...

Topics include: What should we name this new enterprise of doing this podcast together? Don't worry, we quickly get into garden things such as... What's blooming in the fall garden right now? What plants are worthy of our winter indoor space and how do we get them ready to join us? Can we improve the sound on this podcast so it doesn't sound like Leslie's sitting in the bottom of the barrel? Come...

If you like gardening, you can't not enjoy traveling to see gardens. The inspiration that you can get from any scene, pattern, color scheme or even a simple plant pairing is so great to take home. Karl Gercens of Longwood Gardens has been to see THOUSANDS of gardens over many years and he tells us his secrets of when to go, how to prepare (hint: that may not be a thing) and how to enjoy a good...

Well, we go over my Instagram saga, but you can FF through that if you want! By the way, I am back on now, @LeslieHarrisLulu and hope you follow me. Marianne and I discuss "de-browning" the garden, plant pronunciation, the chop and drop method of composting, arthritic hands, and other gardening nuggets for you.

Marianne and I touch on my (too) quick visit to her garden, gardening with spouses, how to make instant and free improvements to the garden, but mostly we go down a bit of a rabbit hole in terms of native plant zealotry. Is there too much judgement on this subject? Will you judge us for even wondering if there is? :) Come enter the fray and see what you think.

Heather and I met at a speaking gig in North Carolina last fall. Her mantra is Garden Thoughtfully. What a coincidence because my presentation at that Master Gardeners symposium was called Thoughtful Gardening. We are on the same page in terms of gardening with both beauty and habitat in mind.

Did you feel the dog days of summer WAY earlier than you usually do? Marianne Willburn and I talk about climate change in the garden and some good strategies to learn from what your plants are experiencing, without succumbing to the doom and gloom that generally accompanies the topic.

Podcasters often host interesting experts in the field on which they love to talk. This episode is no different, but because the expert, Scott Beuerlein, Director of Horticultural Outreach at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, does a monthly column interviewing all kinds of interesting people in horticulture, you are going to get a bigger bang for your buck. Scott and I talk about a lot of t...

Marianne and I are home from our travels and in this episode we talk about the very successful first garden tour put together by Marianne and Andrea Gasper. So many fabulous English Gardens-- Rousham, Kiftsgate, Wisley, Blenheim, Waterperry, and that's just the half of it.

After a month away, I would like to re-introduce myself as the not serious and American garden Podcaster, Leslie Harris. I'll catch you up on how my garden fared with not much attention for over 30 days; what worked well in terms of planning for leaving it, and what didn't work as well.

Summer is coming and so are vacations. How do we prepare our gardens to get along without us? Marianne Willburn and I discuss tips and tricks on this topic and we also preview the fabulous garden tour in England that she and Andrea Gaspar have organized and I am attending!

What's the most important gardening tool? Your body, silly, which, if you are like me, isn't quite the same as it used to be. Is there a resource where you can learn about how to improve and maintain this tool? Yes, and it's the PBS show called Garden Fit. Can you have sneak peaks at other people's fabulous gardens at the same time? Oh yes, you can. Listen to Madeline Hooper tell u...

Hydrangea pruning, bulbs (tulips... are they worth it? of course), transplanting polygonatum, tchotchkes in the garden (MA thinks no, Les likes a bit of whimsy), and quite a long side path of Magnolia discussion. Oh, and the MOST important spring "chore"? Pretty easy: Look. Every. Day.

A DOZEN plants of the week here, as Katie Dubow of the Garden Media Group and I discuss their favorite new plants. And listeners, I DID write a blog post with links, but now my website is down. :( Still a great podcast episode and you can link to the new plants right here!

Just trying to make it clear that because Marianne toured my garden I didn't take very long. The plant of the week is a weeping Salix and I throw you a few early spring seasonal tips just in case you thought I was totally selfish.

Each year, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society comes out with a list of trends that we should be on the lookout for in the gardening world. Erin the impatient Gardner and I break down this list and go through all 10 points, offering opinions, critiques, and support for some wonderful gardening ideas. You may be interested to know that halfway through our interview, there's a knock at the zo...

Linda Vater of Potager Blog and I discuss her new Garden Journal, hellebores are the plant of the week, rose pruning tips.

Susan and I talk about GardenRant.com because of course that's a great blog of which she is a founding member, but we also touch on her hometown of Greenbelt, Maryland, her website of Good Garden Videos , and, of course, hula hooping, which is part of every good garden conversation.

Jennifer Rauschmayer of Edible Landscape Design of Plano, Texas and I talk about the ins and outs of running a business doing what you love: gardening. From getting your first paperwork done, finding clients, cultivating client and crew relationships, subcontracting, how and what to bill-- we cover it all in this long conversation. Back to regularly scheduled NOT business for the next episode, but...

The Spoonmores created a gardening app called From Seed to Spoon, but more recently they have married AI and gardening with the latest app, called Grow Bot. Listen to the fascinating story of how they started out gardening for themselves, but have become app creators who are helping all gardeners with their wonderful ideas.

Winter gardening... How could you? Why should you? Because you love it, basically, and there is no reason to not love it in winter if you have the right gear, attitude and projects. Marianne tells us her tips and tricks-- there is no reason not to get into it!

Poisonous plants, sharp tools, noxious chemicals (hopefully not in YOUR shed) and a place to compost the body-- gardens are perfect places for murder. Marta McDowell has compiled the tools, motive, detectives and authors in her latest book Gardening Can Be Murder , and you could be surprised how many laughs we have over this deadly topic.

What do you think of when you hear the term moon garden? White flowers can set a good scene, and summer nights filled with scents are enticing, but there are so many more good ideas to consider. Listen to my interview with Jarema Osofsky, who wrote a book on the topic!

What's better than quick and good (and maybe sometimes a bit soil infused) garden tips from someone who just seems like they would be a good garden pal? Nothing, and I found out for sure that she would be. Tiffany of @QuickandDirtyGardens is knowledgeable, fun, and a great teacher about garden basics and foraging for mushrooms. Get in on this fun conversation!