The Plantrama team discusses the importance of soil temperature when planting bulbs for spring bloom. In the main segment we talk about handling the amaryllis bulbs you have kept from last winter, and how to bring them into flower in December. We end with a question about how frequently houseplants should be fertilized. :29    Insider Information:  Bulbs have their own “anti-freeze!” 7:16   Eat/Drink/Grow: Amaryllis in the fall 16:22  Love Letters and Questions: Peter asks about fertilizing houseplants.        

Plantrama - plants, landscapes, & bringing nature indoors

Spring Flowering Bulbs, Amaryllis and Fertilizing Houseplants

Ellen and C.L. discuss what root stimulator products are and if they are necessary when you plant. They also address why houseplants might drop leaves when you bring them back inside for the winter, and how to fit even more plants in your house. :32 True or False:  You should use a “root stimulator” that is high in phosphorous 9:14 Eat/Drink/Grow:  Why houseplants and tropicals drop leaves when you bring them in for the winter. 19:43 Love Letters and Questions:  Kim asks how to fit more plants in her apartment. 

Root Stimulator, and Houseplants, Houseplants, Houseplants

In this episode we are making purées for use later in the winter, and considering when you might need to water in the fall. Ellen and C.L. discuss managing those pesky fungus gnats (tiny black flies) that can emerge from your houseplants, and we answer a question about using red pepper to deter rabbits, deer and other critters. :29   What’s For Dinner:  Fall purées 6:53  Eat/Drink/Grow: Fall watering. 14:48 Insider Information:  Fungus gnats – again.  21:18 Love Letters and Questions:   Anne asks about using hot pepper flakes for animal repellants. 

Fall Purees, Watering and Pesky Black Gnats

Hear about nuts for dinner, houseplants that will make you smile, and late-to-migrate hummingbirds. We also answer Kim’s question about perennial garden cleanup in the fall. :30     What’s For Dinner  Nuts! 11:17    Eat/Drink/Grow:  House Plants that will make you happy all winter 20:30   Insider Information: Supporting late-to-migrate hummingbirds. 23:18   Kim writes: Do I need to clear out a perennial garden? Does a garden really need to be “put to bed?” 

Nuts, House Plants and Late Migrating Hummingbirds

Nuts, House Plants and Late-to-Migrate Hummingbirds

Ellen and C.L. talk about root crops – potatoes, and sunchokes – and what “open pollinated” means. We discuss the pros and cons of protecting plants for the winter, and answer a listener’s question about plants that draw flies. :36 What’s for dinner:   Root Crops: Potatoes and Sunchokes 5:55  Insider Information:  What does “open pollinated” mean? 10:34   Eat/Drink/Grow:  Should Your Plants be protected for the winter?     23:00  Love Letters and Questions: Chris emails: “First time writer, long time listener. I have a fly question.” 

Root Crops, Plant Protection and Flies

In this episode Ellen and C.L. talk about how to decide which tender or tropical plants to save indoors through the winter, how to preserve your garden or foraging harvest, and whether weeds choose to grow where they blend in.   :32  Plant Noob:    Deciding which tropicals/annuals to try and save through the winter. 9:05   Eat/Drink/Grow:  Preserving The Harvest 19:45   Love Letters and Questions    Morgan smart, chameleon weeds? 

Saving Plants Through the Winter and Preserving the Harvest

Is compost – homemade or purchased – a good substitute for fertilizer? What is that thick growth in a tree? Ellen and C.L. answer these questions and respond to a listener about uses for pressed flowers.   :26 True or False:   Compost is fertilizer.   3:50  Eat/Drink/Grow:  Witches’ Brooms 19:58 Love Letters and Questions: Kelly asks for ideas about what to do with pressed flowers. Check out the pressed flower art by Peggy Turner Zablotny 

Compost, Witches Brooms and Pressed Flowers

The Plantrama Partners-in-Plants start by discussing how to eat the parts of plants we often toss out or put into the compost. Next, we talk about growing new plants from the seeds that you might see right now in your perennial garden. We end by answering a listener’s question about what might make a shrub or tree turn bright colors very early in autumn.   :36  What’s For Dinner:  Parts of plants we often ignore: Carrot stems, beet stems and queen Anne’s lace flowers. 11:12  Eat/Drink/Grow:  Growing perennials from the seeds you find in your garden 19:28  Love Letters and Questions:    Shelley writes:  What would cause a tree to turn colors and drop its leaves early in the fall? 

Growing Perennials From Collected Seed and Early Fall Color

In this end-of-August episode, C.L. and Ellen discuss how to tell why the leaves on your plant are turning yellow. They explain that noticing which leaves are yellowing, and where they are, can help explain why this is happening. Next the Plantrama team explains some botanic terms, and discusses what to forage for or plant in your vegetable garden right now. The episode ends with advice to Sandy about when to bring her houseplants back inside after they have spent the summer out of doors.     :38 Plant Noob: Yellow Leaves – how to know what causes this? 9:42 Insider Information: Angiosperm and Gymnosperm – what do these terms mean?   11:26 Eat/Drink/Grow: Fall Planting and Foraging      22:23 Love Letters and Questions: Sandy wonders “when does houseplant summer camp end?” The link to Ellen's rose hip soup recipe: https://backyardforager.com/rose-hip-soup-recipe-nyponsoppa/ 

Yellow Leaves, Fall Vegetables or Foraging, and Bringing Houseplants Inside

The Plantrama team talks about ideas for pasta salad and reipes using pineapple weed. We get you thinking about transplanting in the fall, discuss how to manage plants that self-seed just a bit too enthusiastically, and answer a listener’s question about scale. :30 What’s for dinner:    Pasta Salad and Pineapple Weed 5:14 Eat/Drink/Grow:  Preparing for Fall Transplanting 15:10 Insider Information:   Preventing plants from self-seeding too much. 21:09 Love Letters and Questions    Shannon asks about scale. 

Pasta Salad, Pineapple Weed, Transplanting, and Systemic Insecticide

The Plantrama duo discuss caffeine as an insecticide, and talk about corn, which is a grass and a great deal more. The episode ends with a discussion of picking green apples. :36    True or False:      Caffeine is a natural insecticide. 7:42    Eat/Drink/Grow:  Corn: it’s a vegetable! It’s a biofuel! It’s livestock food! It’s an autumn decoration! 18:49   Love Letters and Questions:  Mary wrote to ask about picking green apples. 

Green Apples, Caffeine, and Corn

In this 200th episode of Plantrama, Ellen and C.L. celebrate with cake! Hear about Ellen’s berry pudding cake and C.L.’s beet cake. Next we talk about where to plant if you’re running out of room (remember topsy-turvy tomatoes?) and whether it’s okay to pack vegetables into a raised bed.   2:45 What’s For Dinner:  Unusual cakes 8:13 Eat/Drink/Grow:  What to do when you’re running out of room…. 16:38 Love Letters and Questions: Dense planting in raised beds. Here’s the link to my berry pudding cake recipe: https://backyardforager.com/black-raspberry-pudding-cake-recipe/ 

Cakes, Limited Room and Dense Raised Bed Plantings

In this episode Ellen and C.L. talk about the blueberry harvest, soil acidity or alkalinity, Hydrangea paniculata plants, spraying foliage with water in hot weather and a magical way to control weeds. (And no, there is not magic wand for weeds…let’s just get that cleared up before falsehoods start to be spread. :40  What’s for Dinner: Blueberries 7:00  The Plant Noob: All about soil pH 15:04  Eat/Drink/Grow:  Panicle hydrangeas 25:03   Insider Information: Should you water your plant’s leaves in hot weather 28:42   Love Letters & Questions: Is there a magic wand for weeds? 

Blueberries, Panicle Hydrangeas, and a Weed Wand

The Plantrama team talk about your outdoor office; making places on decks, patios, porches or even in the woods where you can work and create. We take a deep dive into Daylilies, and answer a listener’s question about mosquitoes.   This episode is being brought to you by our friends at www.rainwand.com 1:30      Insider Information: Your Outdoor Office 5:57      Eat/Drink/Grow: A  Deep Dive into Daylilies 18:09   Love Letters and Questions: Mosquitoes Control 

Your Outdoor Office, Daylilies, and Mosquito Control

Science, Art & Dinner, it’s all in your own backyard. All about plants, gardens, foraging, and more.

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Plantrama - plants, landscapes, & bringing nature indoors

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