Podcastus officianalis: Another Gardening Podcast Episode!

Season 7, Episode 7, January 15, 2025

We have quite a lovely episode for you this week. Check out this link if you’d like to listen to it a day early, or anytime!

The bunny is hiding with a snow mask. I do like how quiet a garden be in the snow.

Last Sunday, we met and chatted about calendula, borage, one of Dee’s new cookbooks, tracking rain and also snuck in some talk about shipwrecks, sieges, and celestial wonders. Intrigued?

We hope you are intrigued enough to listen to the whole episode plus curious enough to follow the links we’ve provided.

First up, we’d both like to thank the National Garden Bureau for sending us seeds for some of the newer All-America selections. We’ll be talking more about them in a future episode.

Before we even got started on our actual topics, really before we even finished our intro, Dee got distracted by how pretty the leaves look on the ice on her lake. They look like stars!

Dee’s lake with leaves like stars.

Even before that, we discussed one of the books from 1929 that is now in the public domain because of how copyright laws work. It’s The Gardener's Bed-Book: Short and Long Pieces to Be Read in Bed by Those Who Love Green Growing Things by Richardson Wright (Amazon link). Those links take you to a 2003 edition, which means the intro in that edition is still copyrighted. I did check and without too much trouble, you can find first editions from 1929, but they are in rough shape. Since Dee and I both agree this is a good “nightstand book,” I suggest getting the 2003 edition. Not to go on too long about this minor topic we merely mentioned in passing, but we discussed this book way back in June 2024. Seems like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?

Anyway, I also mentioned I saw a blog post with a new method for displaying amaryllis blooms. It’s in Dutch, but the author included excellent photos so even without the words, you can figure it out. Is anyone going to try it?

Dee’s second set of amaryllises planted in blue and white chinoiserie.

Then we answered a few questions from listeners, including one about “plant probiotics.” We think that’s another way of presenting soil microbes, so here’s an Ohio State article on “Understanding Soil Microbes,” if you are interested.

And do you remember Dee’s greenhouse and her concerns about the temperature getting too low? She wrote a blog post about it… listen to find out how things turned out.

Plus, here’s a picture “over my shoulder” of that poinsettia I talked about.

My poinsettia is coloring up nicely, don’t you think?

Now on to our our actual topics.

For our flower, we discussed calendula, aka pot marigold, because National Garden Bureau has proclaimed 2025 as the Year of the Calendula.

For our veggie topic, we are still exploring herbs and this week, we our herb was borage. It’s quite easy to grow, and quite easy to find information on the internet about it. We found some good info on The Spruce website.

On the bookshelf, Dee shared a cookbook she got for Christmas: La Vie Rustic: Cooking and Living in the French Style, by Georgeanne Brennan (Amazon link). It’s from 2015, but she likes it and learned quite a bit about the author, including that she has a website with her complete bio, plus kale. Listen to find out more.

Dee’s new cookbook, La Vie Rustic

For our dirt segment, I talked about the Raindrop App I discovered to keep track of my rainfall and Dee brought up the Mesonet that provides information just for Oklahoma. She enjoys their funny posts on Facebook. We both have Weather Kitty on our phones because who doesn’t like to look at a picture of a kitten when checking the weather forecast?

For our rabbit holes, Dee gave an update on what’s going on in her life and her husband’s. All the details are in this Instagram reel.

I shared my latest Lost Lady of Garden Writing, Alice Morse Earle, which led to a shipwreck rabbit hole. I also finished reading The Forbidden Garden: The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice by Simon Parkin, which reminded Dee of another book about the same siege, but from the perspective of The Hermitage, a world-famous museum. It’s The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel, by Debra Dean.

Finally, did you hear about the celestial event taking place on January 21st?

I think that’s everything. If I missed a link, or you would like more information on a topic, leave a comment.

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Please email us anytime at TheGardenangelists@gmail.com.
For more info on Carol visit her website. Visit her blog, May Dreams Gardens and check out her new weekly newsletter, In the Garden With Carol.
For more info on Dee, visit her blog, Red Dirt Ramblings.

On Instagram: Carol: Indygardener, Dee: RedDirtRamblings.

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