Horticulturati: The Phosphorus Paradox (Part 1)
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On this episode, we’re tackling Phosphorus – an element, crucial to life on earth, which exists in both abundance and scarcity. We cover how humans got hooked on P fertilizers, the political and environmental impacts of mining and pollution, and what might be done about it. Mentioned in this episode: ;; ; ; Atlas Obscura podcast: “The Belt and Berm” and ; ; Support us by Email
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Horticulturati: The Multilayered Magic of Sheet Mulch
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On this episode, we’re gettin’ down and dirty with sheet mulch. Sheet mulching is a no-till, no-dig gardening practice of removing unwanted vegetation and building fertile soil by layering organic matter and letting it compost in place. While the layers suppress weeds by blocking sunlight, subterranean soil biology goes to work to break down the layers into new soil. The beauty of this simple practice is that you can do it at any time of year with materials you have on hand (like cardboard, shredded paper, and leaves) or can source for free from local sources (arborist wood chips, coffee...
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Horticulturati: Fruit Tree Care with Susan Poizner
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"Fruit trees need hands-on care." That's the motto of our guest, Susan Poizner of . Susan is an urban orchardist, teacher, journalist, and filmmaker. She is the author of (2014), cofounder of the n Toronto and the host of the podcast. She also teaches fruit tree classes on . Colleen was eager to interview Susan after taking her online courses. Susan gives us the basics on why fruit trees need human intervention to thrive; we also discuss urban orchards, heirloom species, food forests, and Susan's transition from journalism to horticulture. Then Colleen and Leah discuss the impact of Austin's...
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Horticulturati: The Art of Graphics with Lisa Nunamaker and Amy Fedele
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In this roundtable, we talk about drafting and drawing with Lisa Nunamaker, of , and Amy Fedele, of , two fabulous garden educators who offer online courses in landscape graphics. Leah took courses from both instructors this year -- Lisa's and Amy's . We discuss why the fundamentals of hand-drafting remain so valuable to the design process; the role of digital design programs like AutoCAD; and how tablet apps provide a new, hybrid avenue of digital hand-drafting. Then we turn to to the subject of emotional baggage: Why is drawing so scary for so many adults?...
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Horticulturati: Thorny Common Names
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A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but some of the common names we use for plants downright stink! In this episode, we're diving into problematic colloquial names. Some common names are geographically misleading (“”); others are xenophobic, racist, or antisemitic (""); while still others are an unfortunate combination of both (“”). While it's probably too much to expect everyone to start using Latin names for plants, we can adapt new common names that are more culturally sensitive and accurate. Like the plants themselves, common names are organic, living things that...
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Seed Swap!
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Attention plant lovers! Central Texas Seed Savers is hosting a Seed Swap at the Austin Central Library (710 W. Cesar Chavez St) on Saturday, October 29 from 11-1pm. This event is free and open to the public. Bring seeds to share! Or just come get some seeds! For more info, visit and https://library.austintexas.libguides.com/seedsandsustainability
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Horticulturati: Humble History of the Flowerpot
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In this episode, Colleen unearths as much as she can about the history of plant pots. When did humans start growing plants in containers? How did innovations in materials and technology lead to the domestication of plants, plant collecting, and the growth of the nursery industry? Why are plant pots so overlooked as a facet of industrial design? (We can rattle off several iconic chair designs, but flowerpots? Not so much.) Why don’t the standardized names of nursery pot sizes correspond to their actual volume in the US? We have more questions than answers, folks. First...
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Horticulturati: The Full Monty Don
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We're back with a salute to , beloved British gardening expert, author, and , whose infectious passion for plants is boosting our spirits through this bummer summer. Though little known in the US, jaunty Monty is a big celebrity across the pond, as the host of the BBC's , , and . With his soothing temperament and sharp insights, he's a bit like a cross between Anthony Bourdain and Mr Rogers. We discuss differing approaches to horticulture and land stewardship in the US and the UK and how Big Dreams, Small Spaces has informed our thinking about the role of the landscape designer as...
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Horticulturati: Conservation Design
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On this episode, we dive into ecologist Douglas Tallamy's books (2019) and (2014, with Rick Darke). Tallamy's work takes native plant gardening and wildlife gardening to another level by focusing not just on species diversity, but on diversity of species interaction to promote ecological conservation. According to Tallamy, "native" plants are those which have "evolved in a given place over a period of time sufficient to develop complex and essential relationships with a diversity of animals." Native plants, then, are organisms that have interacted with insects, birds, and mammals for...
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Horticulturati: Pocket Prairies with John Hart Asher
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We sat down at the picnic table with John Hart Asher, host of and Cofounder/Senior Environmental Designer at to talk about pocket prairies. What’s a pocket prairie? It’s a very small prairie. What’s a prairie? It’s a community of native grasses and forbs wildflowers that have evolved along with microbes, plants, and animals over millennia. This "disturbance-driven ecology" historically relied on periodic fire and low-frequency, high-intensity grazing to function. John Hart sees the "millions-year-old technology" of the American prairie as a replicable system that we can borrow in our...
info_outlineA rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but some of the common names we use for plants downright stink! In this episode, we're diving into problematic colloquial names. Some common names are geographically misleading (“Jerusalem artichoke”); others are xenophobic, racist, or antisemitic ("wandering Jew"); while still others are an unfortunate combination of both (“Turk’s cap”).
While it's probably too much to expect everyone to start using Latin names for plants, we can adapt new common names that are more culturally sensitive and accurate. Like the plants themselves, common names are organic, living things that need to evolve over time.
First up, some armadillo drama and an update on Colleen's super-low-maintenance front yard renovation inspired by the writing of Roy Diblik (here's our original episode about that.)
Mentioned:
Great at Procreate, an online digital drawing course from instructor Amy Fedele; "Problematic Common Names" (House Plant Hobbyist, 2021); How Plants Get Their Names by L.H. Bailey (Macmillian, 1933); Native Flora of Texas by the Texas Highway Department (undated, ca. 1960); The Better Common Names Project of the Entomological Society of America; and Potentially Problematic Common Names, a study by the American Public Gardens Association (2021).
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