Latest Perennials Podcast Episodes
Episode 131: Green Plants
Let's Argue About Plants - March 17, 2023 13:14 - 47 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsGreen plants? Well of course! What else would our topic be for a St. Patrick’s Day episode? Today we’re talking about plants that are stunners despite being “just green.” Turns out that these selections of perennials, annuals, trees, and shrubs are some of the most textural and eye-catching plan...
Episode 130: Favorite Spring Greens
Let's Argue About Plants - March 03, 2023 14:20 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsGrowing spring greens is an easy, satisfying project that takes very little time and very little garden space—you can even grow greens in containers! Homegrown spring greens will be fresher than any you can find at the grocery store or farmer’s market, and you can try varieties that aren’t commo...
Episode 129: Early Risers
Let's Argue About Plants - February 17, 2023 14:11 - 54 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsRaise your hand if seasonal affective disorder has set in for you. Yep, us too. Because the skies are grey and the landscape is mostly brown in many areas of the country, we decided that today’s episode would be geared towards offering a glimmer of hope. We’re talking about plants that put on a ...
Episode 128: Our Loved Ones’ Favorite Plants
Let's Argue About Plants - February 03, 2023 15:23 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsFor many gardeners, sharing a love of plants with family and friends adds another layer of enjoyment to a very fulfilling pastime. In this episode, Danielle, Carol, and expert guest Catharine Cooke explore plants that have special meaning or associations with their loved ones. Whether it is a do...
Episode 127: Plants for Winter’s Worst
Let's Argue About Plants - January 20, 2023 13:59 - 46 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsMuch like the United States Postal Service, these plants will not let rain, nor sleet, nor driving snow stop them from pulling through the worst winter weather imaginable. It can be hard to find plants that will look two months of drying winds in the eyes and laugh—or sit in a frozen puddle for...
Episode 126: Winter Stunners
Let's Argue About Plants - January 06, 2023 14:33 - 50 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsThe winter blues have certainly set in around here. But thankfully we have a few plants outside that seemed to have saved their best for last. Today Carol and Danielle are talking about Winter Stunners—trees, shrubs, and even a subshrub that look so gorgeous in January and February, you’ll forge...
Episode 125: Sensational Seed Heads
Let's Argue About Plants - December 19, 2022 13:38 - 43 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsFlowers and foliage get most of the fanfare, but a plant with eye-catching seed heads will add interest for weeks or even months after its bloom time is over. The textures and shapes of these seed-bearing structures are delightfully diverse, ranging from alliums’ showy starbursts to plump peony ...
Episode 124: Wish List Plants
Let's Argue About Plants - December 02, 2022 15:07 - 44 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsIt doesn’t matter whether we’ve been naughty (Danielle) or nice (Carol) this year—we’re still going ahead and adding plenty of plants to our wish lists. We’re talking about trees that we’ve had our eyes on for months and a perennial that shines in spring, summer, and light up electric yellow in ...
Episode 123: Listener Q & A
Let's Argue About Plants - November 18, 2022 13:38 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsIt’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not because it’s the holidays, because it’s the annual Q & A episode here on Let’s Argue About Plants. When we put a call out each year asking you, our faithful listeners, to send us your most pressing questions about plants and gardening, we never k...
Episode 122: The Most Colorful Fall Plants
Let's Argue About Plants - November 04, 2022 14:18 - 47 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsDepending on where you live in North America, fall in the garden can bring anything from a flood of vibrant color to just the slightest hint of a new hue. Here in New England, we’re pretty lucky to get an explosion of autumnal colors most years. But today we decided to talk about those plants (t...
Episode 121: Wicked Plants
Let's Argue About Plants - October 21, 2022 14:00 - 46 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsThey're creepy and they're kooky. Mysterious and spooky. They're all together ooky. Nope, it’s not the Adam’s Family, it’s the array of wicked plants on today’s episode. It’s Halloween season so we’ll be talking about an assortment of plants that are spiky, darkly pigmented, stinky, or perhaps e...
Episode 120: An Interview with Doug Tallamy
Let's Argue About Plants - October 05, 2022 13:43 - 59 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsWe very pleased to bring you a special episode of Let’s Argue About Plants today, featuring an interview with Douglas Tallamy, PhD. Several months ago, Christine Alexander, digital content manager for FineGardening.com, sat down with the famed professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the ...
Episode 119: Favorite Sedums
Let's Argue About Plants - September 16, 2022 14:08 - 44 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsWhat’s not to love about sedums? They’re drought-tolerant, they attract pollinators, and they flower later in the season when not much else is going on in the garden. But they also have their drawbacks—namely a proclivity to splay open (we’re looking at you Autumn Joy) and look rather awful in s...
Episode 118: Unusual Autumn Perennials
Let's Argue About Plants - September 02, 2022 13:12 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsWhat gardener doesn’t like something a bit out-of-the ordinary, right? Especially when it’s a plant that puts on a serious show as the final curtain call is happening. Today we highlight some of our favorite unusual fall perennials, options that are interesting cultivars of a genus you may know,...
Episode 117: Tender Plants Worth Saving
Let's Argue About Plants - August 19, 2022 13:58 - 58 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsNearly everyone can grow tropical plants outdoors during the summer months, but when the first frosts are forecasted gardeners in colder climates know there will be some tough decisions ahead. Which plants will be moved to those coveted spots by a south-facing window for winter? Is it worth the ...
Episode 116: Plants We Should Like, but Don’t
Let's Argue About Plants - August 05, 2022 13:19 - 52 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsThey’re tough, they’re hardy, they thrive in almost any location. So, why don’t we love them? Give this episode a listen to hear about plants that have a ton of good attributes, but just can’t bring ourselves to draw a heart around them. It’s easy to ask gardeners what plants they hate—we all ha...
Episode 115: Underrated Herbs
Let's Argue About Plants - July 15, 2022 14:08 - 51 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsWe all know and love parsley, sage rosemary, and thyme. And then there’s sweet basil which is perhaps the queen of all the herbs. But what about those herbs that are just as tasty—or attractive—but don’t get the same accolades? For those unsung heroes of the herb garden, we put together this epi...
Episode 114: Drought Tolerant Woodies
Let's Argue About Plants - July 01, 2022 13:35 - 45 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsAccording to NASA Earth Observatory, one-third of the United States experienced some level of drought in 2020 and 2021 was much the same. This pattern of extended dry weather is sadly becoming more and more of the norm. We recently did a feature in Fine Gardening magazine highlighting a series o...
Episode: 113 Big and Bold Plants
Let's Argue About Plants - June 17, 2022 13:58 - 49 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsThe original title of this episode was, Big and Bold Plants for the Back of the Border. But between the length and the tongue-twister alliteration, we shorted it a bit for promotional purposes. However, on today’s program you’ll hear all about plants that really stand out in the last row of the ...
Episode 112: Best Cutting Garden Flowers
Let's Argue About Plants - June 03, 2022 12:39 - 53 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsWhen late May and June hits, we can’t help wandering out into the garden with a pair of shears in hand. Bringing fresh flowers into the house seems like a seasonal rite of passage for most gardeners (at least those that don’t have allergies). But it can be a hard to cut those precious blooms and ...
Episode 111: Weed Suppressing Ground Covers
Let's Argue About Plants - May 20, 2022 14:27 - 44 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsIs there anything ground covers can’t do? They are useful in problem areas like steep slopes, under trees and shrubs, and in spaces that need erosion control. They also reduce maintenance by enveloping areas that would ordinarily need a boatload of mulch to keep weeds at bay. Now, not all ground...
Episode 110: Best Gift Plants
Let's Argue About Plants - May 06, 2022 13:55 - 46 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsAlways give a gift that you yourself would like to receive. That’s excellent advice when it comes to life-- and as gardeners, we can extend that sentiment to giving plants as gifts. Ask yourself: what plants would I like to get as a gift? We had a lot of fun on today’s episode, imagining the sce...
Episode 109: Shopping List Plants
Let's Argue About Plants - April 22, 2022 14:06 - 47 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsLittle kids have Christmas. Gardeners have spring. To us, this is the most wonderful time of the year. And with the start of the season, comes those inevitable trips to the nursery. In an effort to not max out their credit cards, this spring Carol and Danielle are making shopping lists of plants...
Episode 108: Problem Solving Perennials
Let's Argue About Plants - April 08, 2022 13:18 - 49 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsYes, that’s right: plants can solve problems. Maybe not problems like those noisy neighbors next door or your husband failing to replace the toilet paper roll, time and time again. But plants can solve problems like a barren patch of garden under a shallow-rooted tree, or a lack of pollinators i...
Episode 107: Skinny Plants
Let's Argue About Plants - March 25, 2022 13:35 - 47 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsThey’re often called the “exclamation points” of the landscape, drawing attention in a not-so-subtle way. Of course, we’re talking about columnar (AKA fastigiate) plants and today we’re highlighting some of the best options. Skinny plants are invaluable for several reasons other than their abili...
Episode 106: Spring Natives
Let's Argue About Plants - March 11, 2022 14:44 - 50 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsEven though there’s still snow on the ground for many of us, warmer weather is most definitely on our brains. So today we’re going to be talking about native plants that put on a spectacular show in spring. And, although we’re a podcast based out of New England, the plants we decided to talk abou...
Episode 105: Underappreciated Veggies
Let's Argue About Plants - February 25, 2022 14:36 - 57 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsThere’s no reason to tell everyone how great ‘Brandywine’ tomatoes are because everyone already knows! And the same goes for ‘Blue Lake’ green beans or ‘Hot Wax’ peppers. We all know these names because they are great varieties that vegetable gardeners have relied on for decades. Yet, there are ...
Episode 104: Plants for Winter Interest
Let's Argue About Plants - February 11, 2022 14:25 - 45 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsIf you live in the Northeast, Mountain West, or Midwest your idea of winter interest is certainly different than say, a gardener living in the South. Those of us who live in cooler locales are often satisfied with calling any plant that sticks its head above a snowbank “a winter stunner.” But in...
Episode 103: Seeds We’re Starting
Let's Argue About Plants - January 28, 2022 15:14 - 59 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsIs there a better time of year than seed-ordering season? You may shop for seeds online, or perhaps you prefer the analog version (like us) of paper catalogs. Regardless, ordering and starting seeds is an act of defiance against the winter conditions outside. Starting seeds says, “Hey snow and i...
Episode 102: Favorite Self-Sowers
Let's Argue About Plants - January 14, 2022 14:38 - 50 minutes ★★★★★ - 374 ratingsWhat if you could have a garden that basically planted itself? The idea isn’t as far-fetched as you might think. Self-sowing plants are delightfully serendipitous plants that will happily disperse seed without any intervention from you. Yes, there are lots of plants out there that spread indiscr...