Gardening and Puzzling
Season 5, Episode 30, June 7, 2023
On this week’s episode , Dee and I discussed roses, vegetable gardeners who inspire us on Instagram, and a new segment about our favorite things.
(I hope you’ll listen to see hear how I added a bit a bit of music before and after to set off our favorite things segment! )
My favorite thing this week is my strawberries, which have been growing in the same bed for several years. I thought after the cold spell we had last December that they might be in trouble this spring, but honestly, they are as big as ever. Amazingly, the tag for them is still out there. The variety is Seascape.
Dee’s favorite thing is her nasturtiums, a variety called ‘Bloody Mary.’ They are gorgeous. My nasturtiums are still barely coming up from seeds I sowed about 10 days ago but should be fabulous later this summer and fall. Nasturtiums really help show the differences in our climate, or maybe they just show how we choose to grow some cool weather flowers, like nasturtiums, differently. Dee says spring. I say fall!
For our flower topic, we decided to talk about roses because June is National Rose Month and well, Dee. She loves roses.
You can read about how the rose became our national floral emblem on A Garden Diary by Teresa Byington. Then check out Grace Roses. Those are beautiful roses.
Oh, and here are the two Instagram reels with Dee showing how to prune roses: this one, and this one.
For our vegetable garden topic, Dee dredged up an old podcast episode we did about starting a simple vegetable garden. Apparently the reason she can find it so quickly is because she refers her garden coaching clients to it if they are new to growing vegetables and need some advice.
Then we talked about some of the vegetable (and flower) gardeners we like to follow on Instagram for inspiration. Here’s our list…
Monty Don (England)
Frances Tophill (England)
Susan Mulvilhill (Washington State)
Omas Gardens (Oklahoma)
Niki Jabbour (Nova Scotia)
Matt Mattus (New England)
Christy Wilhelmi (Southern California)
Anna Monika Lautenbach (Polish, but living in England)Â
Ann-Marie Powell (England)
And so many more!
Is there someone you’re following on Instagram who inspires you? Let us know in the comments!
On the bookshelf, we talked about three books actually:
100 Plants to Feed the Birds: Turn Your Home Garden into a Healthy Bird Habitat, by Laura Erickson (Amazon Link), 100 Plants to Feed the Bees (Amazon link), and 100 Plants to Feed the Monarch (Amazon link)Â
Then in our dirt segment, Dee talked about a new jigsaw puzzle she received to try called Around the World in 50 Plants. There is a similar one called Around the World in 50 Trees.
I decided if Dee’s doing a puzzle this summer, then so shall I. So I hauled out a puzzle I gave up on last summer to set up and work on this summer.
Want to join us with your own jigsaw puzzle this summer? Comment and let us know if you plan to put together a jigsaw puzzle. We’ll be posting updates on our puzzles throughout the summer.
I sure hope this newsletter isn’t a TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) for you. Just a bit more to share!
Down in the rabbit holes, Dee re-read (listened to) Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindburgh (Amazon link) and I’m doing more writing.
Whew. You made it to the end of this newsletter. Congrats!
And now the business-y stuff.
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For more info on Carol, visit her website or blog, May Dreams Gardens.
For more info on Dee, visit her website or her blog, Red Dirt Ramblings.
On Instagram: Carol: Indygardener, Dee: RedDirtRamblings, Our podcast: TheGardenangelists.
On Facebook: The Gardenangelists' Garden Club.
On YouTube. We should post a new video sometime, but keeping up with everything is hard.
Hi Dee and Carol
Your comments about roses and how advice has changed over time due to improvements in roses made me think of a set of old, old garden reference books that I got from my mom. (I think she got it from the grocery store back in the day when they would sell dishware and other items week by week to get you to come back until you got the whole set! Those were the days! -- end of reminiscing.)
It is the New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Gardening from 1967, edited by T. H. Everett of the NY Botanical Garden. Other than sentimental value is it worth consulting or have methods changed so much and new varieties have been introduced that the information is badly outdated and might steer me wrong.
Thanks for thinking this over. As always, great listening to you two and learning.
B.
I have also planted Provider bean seeds and had issues this year! I forgot about Carol's issues last year. I have planted them twice this year and only a couple came up each time and then didn't grow any taller than two inches, but the other two types of beans I planted right next to them are growing great.