Get Your Prairie On: Native Plant Garden Design with Benjamin Vogt

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Monarch Gardens, Benjamin Vogt (@monarchgardensbenjaminvogt) Way back in 2018 I had today’s guest on to talk about his book, A New Garden Ethic. Today Benjamin Vogt is back on the podcast to talk about his latest book, Prairie Up: An Introduction to Natural Garden Design. A […]

Herbariums, Botanizing New Jersey, and Ecosystems as Backdrops | Bonnie Semmling

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bonnie (@bonntany) Happy 2023 everyone! Spring is trying to spring here but like every year in Texas we brace ourselves for a surprise freeze in February, so I’m not getting too antsy about the growing season yet. But almost! Today’s episode is a fun one and […]

Just Give Us Some Native Milkweed! Native Plants vs the Horticulture Industry

This episode is more or less a recording of a blog post I wrote a few weeks ago regarding the stark divide in native plant media versus what is available for sale in the nursery industry. A summary of the issues… The Issues at Hand A diverse and locally native plant landscape for the home […]

Botanical Biodiversity in Florida’s Big Bend | Lilly Anderson-Messec

View this post on Instagram One of my favorite milkweed species is having a real banner year. Large-Flowered Milkweed / Asclepias connivens is not easy to miss, despite its muted coloration. The large, 1inch wide blooms are fairly easy to spot, even in the grassy, wet prairies where they are found. The pale green, comically […]

Ep. 5-3: The Botanical Hikers

This is a special episode in which I’m broadcasting a cross over episode from my second podcast, Orange Blaze: A Florida Trail Podcast. My guests for the episode are Heather Housekeeper and Scott Weis, 2019 Florida Trail thru-hikers. Heather is a certified herbalist and Scott is a musician, and together they have hiked several trails […]

Summer Encore: The Common Milkweed Nursery | Jennifer Kleinrichert & Steve Ross

One of my favorite episodes has been with the owners of The Common Milkweed Nursery, “a 3.5 acre nature preserve, wildlife haven, native plant farm, and land lab in North Central Ohio.” Jennifer and Steve are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to native plants of their region and getting a glimpse of that […]

Ep. 4-16: Hiking and Botanizing at Huntsville State Park

Viburnum rufidulum Music: Going Home by Lee Rosevere Show Notes +Big Thicket National Preserve +loblolly pine +yaupon +Sabal minor +wax myrtle +Cornus florida +Eastern redbud +swamp lily +Caddo Lake +Japanese hawkweed +American holly +Carolina jessamine +Carpinus carolinana +sensitive fern +river birch +black vulture +elderberry +Viola sagittata +Painted lady butterfly +Lone Star Trail +Mayapples +Red admiral […]

Ep. 4-3: Wildflowers of Texas | Michael Eason

Zinnia grandiflora Asclepias asperula Stretpanthus culteri Stenandrium and Physaria All photos above courtesy of Michael Eason. Photo cover from Timber Press. In the spring I previewed and then bought the newly published Wildflowers of Texas field guide which has turned out to be the book I’ve always wanted but had been missing from my field […]

Ep. 3-17: All The Seeds: Native Plant Edition

A couple of weeks ago the Native Plant Podcast had Ian Caton of Wood Thrush Native Plant Nursery on their show and I found the episode fascinating. I clicked over to Ian’s website and found myself falling down the rabbit hole of the interesting native plants he had for sale and was happy to see […]