Horticulture and Agriculture

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All the Plant Shows, part two

Plant podcasts are big these days, or at least that’s what it seems, which is why this has turned into a multi-part post (see part one). While in the process of compiling a list of plant podcasts that I’ve become aware of, I keep stumbling onto more. Which is great! It’s a trend that I hope continues. As it continues, I will go on compiling them here until we have ourselves a list of All the Plant Shows!

Planthropology – Plants plus anthropology equals Planthropology. This podcast covers all the many ways that plant lives and human lives intersect and features conversations with plant people about their love of plants and the work they do that involves plants. Vikram (the host) is a chatty and genial guy and a great twitter follow.

The Plant Prof – Another Vikram joint. This spin-off of Planthropology features Vikram sans guests talking about an assortment of plant-related topics. Each episode is only a few minutes long. Quick, casual, and easy to digest.

Plant Daddy Podcast – Houseplants are quite popular these days, likely due to the growing number of people living in dense urban areas. Apartment living generally means that if you want to garden, you have to do it indoors and/or on a balcony. With increased interest in indoor growing comes a slew of podcasts about it. Plant Daddy Podcast is one of the best. Matthew and Stephen really know their plants and have years of combined experience caring for a vast number of species. Other plant experts occasionally join the show to talk about the specifics of cultivating and caring for plants in small spaces.

Plantrama – Mainly a gardening podcast, but very plant-focused. C.L. and Ellen are experienced gardeners and quite knowledgeable about plants. Episodes come out regularly, and each one is under 30 minutes. In that time, the hosts cover at least three topics. Juniper berries, begonias, and orchid pots, for example. Or cherry tomatoes, silverberry, and saving seed. It’s two good friends having a chat about plants, and you get to listen in.

The Plant Kiki – A kiki is a casual conversation among friends. When plants are a major theme of the discussion, it’s a plant kiki! For each episode, Colah, of Black in the Garden podcast (another must listen), brings together a group of friends to talk about plants and whatever else comes up. The conversations are lively, humorous, insightful, and fun. If you enjoy exploring questions like “If Beyoncé were a plant, what plant would she be?” this podcast is for you.  

Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t – Joe is a self-described misanthrope. He doesn’t care much for people, but he loves plants (and geology). This podcast is similar to Joe’s You Tube channel of the same name, in that it’s mostly him describing his time botanizing in various locations across North America and beyond. Expletive-filled rants help fill the time. Occasionally Joe brings on a guest to talk about plants (or trains). With hours and hours of content available, this is easily one of the best and most entertaining plant shows around.

The Taproot – A podcast produced by Plantae, a plant science hub created and managed by the American Society of Plant Biologists. Each episode is an interview with an individual who is working in or studying plant science. There are discussions about the work that went into a particular plant science journal article, as well as conversations about navigating academia and professional life. It’s a great source of information for students and professionals, with excellent tips on how to succeed in educational pursuits and beyond.   

PlantNetwork Podcast – PlantNetwork is an organization that supports public gardens and professional gardeners in Britain and Ireland. Their podcast is a series of short interviews with people who work at public gardens or in some other capacity in the horticulture industry.

Speaking of public gardens, educating the public about plants is a mission of botanic gardens and arboreta. Some botanic gardens do this through podcasts. Below are a few that I have come across. If you happen to be aware of others, please let me know.

Branch Out – A plant science podcast produced by The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney with a catalog consisting of six seasons covering a wide array of plant-based topics. Vanessa geeks out about plants and nature with a bevy of incredible guests. No surprise, much of the content concerns Australian plants, gardens, agriculture, and ecology. But who isn’t fascinated by Australia’s flora and fauna? The production on each episode is excellent, and the stories are captivating. 

Plant Power – A short series of podcasts produced by North Carolina Botanical Garden highlighting just how essential plants are to life on earth. Brief conversations about climate change, protecting pollinators, growing and conserving native plants, etc. 

Botanical Mystery Tour – A delightful podcast from Chicago Botanic Garden that takes the stories of plants in popular culture and explores the science behind them. In each episode, a staff member at CBG joins the hosts, Jasmine and Erica, to discuss the topic and talk about their work at the Garden. Whenever botany shows up in popular culture, it’s an event worth celebrating. It’s good to know there’s a podcast devoted to this cause.

Unearthed: Mysteries from an Unseen World – A podcast series from Royal Botanic Gardens Kew hosted by James Wong. Each episode is a mini audio documentary investigating a particular mystery, story, or current event involving plants (or, in the case of one episode, fungi). This podcast has great production and excellent, fact-based storytelling – exactly the sort of thing you’d expect from a place like Kew.

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These certainly aren’t all the plant shows. Part three is in the making. In the meantime, is there a particular plant-themed podcast (or podcast episode) that you enjoy and would like to recommend? If so, share it with us in the comment section below.

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Summer of Weeds: Willowherbs and Fireweed

Last week we discussed a plant that was introduced as an ornamental and has become a widespread weed. This week we discuss some native plants that have become weedy in places dominated by humans. Similar to pineapple weed, species in the genus Epilobium have moved from natural areas into agricultural fields, garden beds, and other sites that experience regular human disturbance. Some species in this genus have been deliberately introduced for their ornamental value, but others have come in on their own. In all cases the story is similar, humans make room and opportunistic plants take advantage of the space.

Epilobium species number in the dozens and are distributed across the globe. North America is rich with them. They are commonly known as willowherbs and are members of the evening primrose family (Onagraceae). They are herbaceous flowering plants with either annual or perennial life cycles and are commonly found in recently disturbed sites, making them early successional or pioneer species. Many are adapted to wet soils and are common in wetlands and along streambanks; others are adapted to dry, open sites. Hybridization occurs frequently among species in the Epilobium genus, and individual species can be highly variable, which may make identifying them difficult.

northern willowherb (Epilobium ciliatum)

At least two North American species are commonly weedy: E. ciliatum (northern willowherb) and E. brachycarpum (panicled willowherb). Regarding these two species, the IPM website of University of California states: “Willowherbs are native broadleaf plants but usually require a disturbance to establish. Although considered desirable members of natural habitats, they can be weedy in managed urban and agricultural sites.” The field guide, Weeds of the West, refers to E. brachycarpum as a “highly variable species found mostly on non-cultivated sites, and especially on dry soils and open areas.” E. ciliatum is notorious for being a troublesome weed in greenhouses and nurseries, as discussed on this Oregon State University page.

E. ciliatum is a perennial that reproduces via both rhizomes and seeds. It reaches up to five feet tall and has oppositely arranged, lance-shaped leaves with toothed margins that are often directly attached to the stems. Its flowers are tiny – around a quarter of an inch wide – and white, pink, or purple with four petals that are notched at the tip. They sit atop a skinny stalk that is a few centimeters long, which later becomes the fruit. When dry, the fruit (or capsule) splits open at the top to reveal several tiny seeds with tufts of fine hairs.

northern willowherb (Epilobium ciliatum)

E. brachycarpum is an annual that reaches up to three feet tall and is highly branched. Its leaves are short and narrow and mostly alternately arranged. Its flowers and seed pods are similar to E. ciliatum. At first glance it can appear as one of many weeds in the mustard family; however, the tuft of hairs on its seeds distinguishes it as a willowherb.

Seeds and seed pods of panicled willowherb (Epilobium brachycarpum)

Weeds of North America by Richard Dickinson and France Royer describes one weedy species of willowherb that was introduced to North America from Europe – E. hirsutum. It is commonly referred to as great hairy willowherb, but some of its colloquial names are worth mentioning: fiddle grass, codlins and cream, apple-pie, cherry-pie, blood vine, and purple rocket. Introduced as an ornamental in the mid 1800’s, it is a semiaquatic perennial that can reach as tall as eight feet. It has small, rose-purple flowers and is frequently found growing in wetlands along with purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria).

Chamerion angustifolium – which is synonymously known as Epilobium angustifolium and commonly called fireweed – is distributed throughout temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is a rhizomatously spreading perennial that grows to nine feet tall; has lance-shaped, stalkless leaves; and spikes of eye-catching, rose to purple flowers. It is a true pioneer species, found in disturbed sites like clear-cuts, abandoned agricultural fields, avalanche scars, and along roadsides. It gets its common name for its reputation of being one of the first plants to appear after a fire, as John Eastman describes in The Book of Field and Roadside: “A spring fire may result in a profusion of growth as soon as 3 months afterward, testifying to fireweed’s ample seed bank in many wilderness areas.” Eastman goes on to write, “fireweed’s flush of abundance following fire may rapidly diminish after only a year or two of postburn plant growth.” This “flush of abundance” is what gives it its weedy reputation in gardens. With that in mind, it is otherwise a welcome guest thanks to its beauty and its benefit to pollinators.

fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)

Additional Resources:

Quote of the Week:

From the book Food Not Lawns by H.C Flores

Sometimes [weeding] feels like playing God – deciding who lives and who dies is no small matter – and sometimes it feels like war. … Take a moment to ponder the relationship of these plants to other living things around, now and in the future. Your weeds provide forage and habitat for insects, birds, and animals, as well as shelter for the seedlings of other plants. They cover the bare soil and bring moisture and soil life closer to the surface, where they can do their good work. Weeds should be respected for their tenacity, persistence, and versatility and looked upon more as volunteers than as invaders.