We’re clinking glasses this week with Erin Schanen, YouTube’s Impatient Gardener, and we’re not asking her about her tomatoes.
That’s right, who needs to eat when June is a feast for the eyes? We’ll be interrogating Erin on the flower seeds she practically starts in her sleep, the ones that need a little more attention, and the favorites she would never be without.
First, there are a couple topics the girls want to hash out over a hasty gin & tonic. We hope you’ll listen to the whole episode while you’re taking care of all those pruning jobs, but if you’ve got limited time and want to hear what Leslie thinks of her Lomi, and how Marianne could possibly make a gardening podcast X-rated, we’ve provided the time stamp on the topics covered this episode.
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Clear Up Corner
Alfalfa Seed Sprouting
1:34 | Marianne spoke about growing Alfalfa Seeds on the counter all winter long on Episode 9, and has preferred a simple Mason Jar and Econo-Sprouter lids for more years than she’d like to admit.
However, going back to get show note links made her once again aware that technology moves on and there are now nifty stands made by innovative souls that hold those sprout jars at an angle and keep your sprouts free of standing in a millimeter or two of standing water. She’s going to tell her mother even though she knows she’ll hear “it’s fine the way we’ve always done it”).
Garlic Mustard Goes By Many Names
2:56 | Clearing it up once and for all, Wild garlic, wild mustard, Jack-By-The-Hedge, That Stupid Weed That’s Taken Over My Woods, etc… We’re talking Alliaria petiolata and it’s an invasive, but shallow rooted weed that can give you no end of joy yanking out. Do so when it flowers and you can stop the seed bank deposit – you can also clearly see the white flowers in the woods.
The wild garlic that the UK’s Broughton Grange’s head gardener was talking about was Allium ursinum.
Marianne Gets a New Mic and We All Wish She Hadn’t
6:18 | If you enjoy shocking your maiden aunts (no matter how you pronounce the word ‘aunt’), here are some PG-13 botanical names that Marianne used to test her new mic. (And a link to those plants for the curious.)
Amorphophallus – Genus whose species go by many names, including the Titan Arum or Voodoo Lily.
Pinus rigida – the pitch pine, evidently quite erect
Mammillaria – a cool genus of cacti whose tubercles made botanists think of teats. Or were they thinking of teats when they looked at the specimens? Inquiring minds want to know.
Clitoria – check out the photo and see what you think.
Lobelia siphilitica – that’s what you get for all this nonsense. But a great fall blooming, self seeding flower in both Leslie’s and Marianne’s gardens.
Unpaid Brand Lovefest aka #NotAnAd
9:46 | Though we currently don’t have Garden Mixer underwriters, we can’t help sharing our favorite (and not so favorite) products. We can either look at this as ‘total independence’ or ‘financial/sales ineptitude.’ Either way, it benefits our listeners.
This week’s lovefest is all about Leslie’s Lomi, the new, tidy, sophisticated, and efficient counter composter. Leslie is ALL in, and husband Jeff has given it the all clear in the odor department with “earthy.”. Bob Villa of “This Old House” fame, gives his thoughts here, which pretty much sum up Leslie’s love and Marianne’s skepticism.
Sign Up for Future Trips
11:37 | Marianne and Leslie are going to Cornwall in September with 18 others, and if you’d like to be on the pre-release list for future trips to Portugal/Madeira in early spring and the third UK Garden Adventure to terrific gardens like Great Dixter and Sissinghurst in late spring, you can sign up here.
Ornamental Flowers from Seed
Erin Schanen, The Impatient Gardener
12:55 | If you’re a follower of Erin on Instagram or Youtube, or on her own website, you know she loves flowers of pretty much every shape and size (particularly chartreuse – which may be the new black).
Erin grows in chilly 5b/6a in Wisconsin, on the shores of Lake Michigan, and grows most of her annuals and some of her perennial ornamentals from seed, and has been doing so for years in a not-so-high tech, but very do-able way in her basement. She freely admits that growing from seed is not for everyone, but it is for her because she can grow what she wants, when she wants to, that way.
She’s forgotten more than either of us ever knew about growing snapdragons and sweet peas, and we’re taking advantage of this time with her to mine her for information. Like, what is the exceptional color on her office walls? (Benjamin Moore’s Summer Nights).
Enjoy the interview, and, as promised, here's some helpful links to some of the topics discussed:
17:55 | Erin is featured in Nick & Allison McCullough and Teresa Woodard’s excellent book American Roots
26:09 | What’s a dead hedge?
26:51 | Marianne’s habitat nests that add ornamental and wildlife value to the garden – and help clean up all those little bits of wood lying around.
28:38 | The latest deer repellent product that Erin is using is Deer Scram granules. Marianne uses Deer Out! And both report that everything works for at least 10 days. Then you’ve got to change it up and keep them guessing.
31:00 | Marianne and Erin met on the National Garden Bureau’s Plant Nerd trip to the California Spring Trials – a week long event up and down the coast of California where breeders and growers display the latest and greatest herbs, vegetables, flowers and shrubs to the market.
46:19 | Erin’s favorite seed starting equipment
1:06:22 | Marianne’s book that Erin blames for her tropical and banana addiction is Tropical Plants and How To Love Them
Some of her favorite varieties to grow from seed & some of the varieties the girls talked about growing this year (In Marianne’s case, that she pledged faithfully to grow.):
Delphinium Aurora® series from American Takii
Sweet Pea ‘Prince of Orange’ (Lathyrus odoratus)
Sweet pea ‘Our Harry’ (Lathyrus odoratus)
Snapdragon ‘Doubleshot® Orange Bicolor’ (Antirrhinum majus)
Snapdragon ‘Doubleshot® Yellow Red Heart’ (Antirrhinum majus)
A Book Moment with Erin:
Annuals and Tender Plants for North American Gardens, by Wayne Winterrowd
Mastering the Art of Flower Gardening, by Matt Mattus
Some seed companies you might want to check out that the girls use regularly:
Next time….
Episode #11 The Dixter Debrief– Marianne heads to the UK’s Great Dixter for a week-long pruning symposium with Fergus Garrett and the incredible staff of Great Dixter.
Join us as we jump into the often terrifying act of pruning your plants – what you should be thinking about right now, and what techniques she wish she’d known about 20 years ago.
Until next time, thanks for listening to The Garden Mixer. Subscribe to get these show notes direct to your inbox.
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