Grow Olives Where You Think You Can't with Steven Biggs
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week, Joanne speaks with horticulturist and author Steven Biggs about his latest book, Grow Olives Where You Think You Can’t: How to Grow an Olive Tree in a Pot. About Steven Biggs Steven was recognized by Garden Making magazine as one of the “green gang” making a difference in Canadian horticulture. His home-garden experiments span driveway straw-bale gardens, a rooftop kitchen garden, fruit plantings, and an edible-themed front yard. He's a horticulturist, award-winning broadcaster and author, and former horticulture instructor with George Brown and Durham Colleges in...
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What's Wrong With My Boxwood?
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne discusses strategies to prevent a box tree moth infestation and explores the moth’s continued impact on boxwoods in Durham Region. Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode: The impact of the box tree moth on boxwoods Its discovery in Ontario in 2018 and its recent appearance in Durham Region Box Tree Moth Life Cycle: The adult moth has a short lifespan of 14 days but is a strong flyer, making it challenging to control The challenges in controlling the pest are due to its rapid reproduction and ability to survive cold winters Presents a...
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Groundcover Revolution with Kathy Jentz
Down The Garden Path Podcast
The traditional lawn has received a lot of heat over the last few years with many recommending alternatives such as micro-clovers and specialized lawn blends. In this encore episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing speak with Kathy Jentz, author of , about the groundcover plants you can use to create a beautiful lawn alternative of your own. About Kathy Jentz Kathy Jentz is the editor and publisher of the award-winning magazine, based in Washington, DC. She hosts the popular and is co-author of and author of . Here are some of the questions and topics covered...
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Pondless Water Features & More with Ernest Williams from Aquascape
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week on the podcast, Joanne Shaw speaks with Ernest Williams from Aquascape about the popularity of water features in landscaping, including pondless designs, fountainscapes, and natural swimming ponds. Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode: Pondless Water Features in Landscaping Increasingly popular in landscaping for their low maintenance and safety Enhances curb appeal and attracts wildlife Provides the sound of water without the upkeep of traditional ponds Preferred by homeowners seeking aesthetics and simplicity Pondless Water Features Design and Functionality ...
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Frontier Mushrooms with Deb McKee Kelly
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week, Joanne Shaw speaks with Deb McKee Kelly from Frontier Mushrooms, a leading producer of high-quality, sustainably grown mushrooms. About Deb McKee Kelly Deb is a longtime grower and passionate advocate for reconnecting with the natural world. Based in Grey County, Ontario, she has spent years cultivating gardens, food crops, and for the past 10 years, gourmet mushrooms. Today, her work with mushrooms and mycelium focuses on sustainable growing practices, education, and innovative uses for fungi in food systems and beyond. With a deep respect for nature’s intelligence — and a...
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Plants Always Win Podcast with Sean Patchett and Erin Alladin
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne speaks with Erin Alladin and Sean Patchett about their podcast, Plants Always Win. Plants Always Win Podcast is a podcast where two Ontario gardeners dive down plant-fact rabbit holes, answer audience questions, interview intriguing guests, and compete to bring you the most interesting stories and information. Erin Alladin, a.k.a. Earth Undaunted, is a professional communicator with a love for gardens, especially garden ecosystems. She’s known online for her writing and videos about gardening with chronic illness and disability, as well as her...
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Growing Lettuce, Spinach and Potatoes with Julia Dimakos
Down The Garden Path Podcast
In this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw discusses growing fresh staples like lettuce, spinach and potatoes with “The Gardening Girl” Julia Dimakos. About Julia Dimakos Julia Dimakos’ 7000 square foot kitchen garden is in Mono, Ontario, on 25 acres on the Niagara Escarpment. Julia has been growing vegetables and writing about gardening for over 14 years. She was twice published in Canadian Organic Grower magazine and became a published author in July 2022 with her first book, . In this episode, Joanne asked Julia about a few things we can grow ourselves instead of buying...
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Perennial Plant Association with Ed Lyon
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week on Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw speaks with Ed Lyon, president-elect of the Perennial Plant Association. About Ed Lyon Throughout his public garden administration roles and green industry experience, Ed has been as passionate about education as he is about horticulture. He has had roles in public garden education departments and served as director of three public gardens for twenty years. He retired from public garden service in 2024 and currently sits on the Perennial Plant Association (PPA) board as president-elect. Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode: The...
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Growing a Career in Horticulture with Art Vanden Enden
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week, Joanne Shaw welcomes Art Vanden Enden to the podcast to discuss exploring a career in horticulture. About Art Vanden Enden Art Vanden Enden is self-employed as a Horticultural Advisor and Horticultural Technical Instructor at Landscape Ontario and Loyalist College. He also serves on the board at , and . He has a long history in the garden centre industry, starting with Weall & Cullen and then Sheridan Nurseries until his retirement in 2022. Here are some of the topics discussed in this episode: The Pandemic's Positive Impact on the Younger Generation The positive impact...
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Adapt & Thrive: Gardening in a Changing Climate with Bri Petersen
Down The Garden Path Podcast
This week on Down the Garden Path podcast, Joanne Shaw speaks with Bri Petersen of Urban Gardening Canada about her new course, Adapt & Thrive: Gardening in a Changing Climate. About Urban Gardening Canada The vision of Urban Gardening Canada (UGC) is to provide accessible gardening advice to all Canadians, regardless of location, housing type or budget. Food security and sustainability are two of the main pillars of UGC. Bri believes that gardening should be accessible to all. Here are some of the topics covered in this episode: Bri left her job in finance to chase her dreams as a...
info_outlineIn this episode of Down the Garden Path, Joanne Shaw discusses how to extend the blooming season in your garden by adding asters.
Topics covered in this week's episode:
- Gardens don't have to stop blooming in September. We can extend the season to October and November.
- It’s very important to have because the pollinators still need something blooming.
- There are over 30 different species of asters.
- They have a huge variety of growing conditions, so there is an aster for whatever challenging growing condition you have.
Here are the five asters discussed:
- New England Aster, Symphyotrichum nova-angliae
- The showiest, and likely the one you’re most familiar with
- Native to most U.S. states and provinces
- It is large and very showy, with a bright cozy blue flower with a yellow centre
- The leaves on the stem are densely arranged on the stem
- Prefer soil moist and they can grow in part shade
- One of the larger varieties: up to six feet tall
- Whitewood Aster Eurybia divaricata
- Delicate looking flowers
- Grows in dry shade which means it makes a wonderful addition to the shade garden
- Not super showy like most shade plants
- Found in Ontario in dry, deciduous forests
- So that's exactly what we want in our garden. If you have maple trees, pine trees, or something like that where the soil underneath is very dry and it's very shady, then this is something worth giving a try to
- Only gets two to three feet tall
- Smooth Aster Symphyotrichum laeve
- Similar to the New England Aster, although hence its name, it has leaves that are very smooth lavender and blue
- Has a daisy-type flower with a yellow centre
- Blooms from August to October
- A huge pollinator for butterflies and a larvae host for the pearl crescent butterfly
- Heart leaf Aster Symphyotrichum cordifolium
- Lavender to light blue
- It is one of the latest ones to bloom and actually goes into November
- An excellent pollinator for butterflies and bees at late in the season
- Spreads slowly by rhizomes and it lightly self-seeds
- Two to three feet tall, sandy to loam soil, and part shade to full shade
- Panicled Aster Symphyotrichum lanceolatum
- This one blooms with sprays of white flowers, open spreading form, so also known as floppy
- Best grown with other plants to kind of support it
- If you already have a native garden, or if you're planting a native garden with other large tall plants, then this could be an addition if you want that
- Prefers moist soil, but it likes full sun
- You can purchase seeds from Wildflower Farm and you can again, sprinkle them or plant them in your garden this fall
- You can also start them like you normally would do if you wanted them to grow in February/March under lights and go through that type of thing indoors and then put them out next year
Resources Mentioned in the Show:
Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden
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Email your questions and comments to [email protected], or connect with me on my website: down2earth.ca
Find Down the Garden Path on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube: @downthegardenpathpodcast.
Down the Garden Path Podcast
On Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designer Joanne Shaw discusses down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes. As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade. She does her best to bring you interesting, relevant and useful topics to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.
In Down the Garden Path: A Step-By-Step Guide to Your Ontario Garden, Joanne and fellow landscape designer Matthew Dressing distill their horticultural and design expertise and their combined experiences in helping others create and maintain thriving gardens into one easy-to-read monthly reference guide.
Get your copy today on Amazon. Don't forget to check out Down the Garden Path on your favourite podcast app and subscribe! You can now catch the podcast on YouTube.