Cultivating Place

This week, Guest host Abra Lee is in conversation with legendary topiary artist and star of the HGTV hit show Clipped, Mike ‘Gibby-Siz’ Gibson. Mike is based out of sunny Columbia, South Carolina, where he owns and operates his own business, “Gibson Works.” Abra and Mike talk about all things Topiary arts in their lively conversation! Diving into Mike’s time on HGTV’s hit show Clipped, how he built his company, and where his love of the plant arts germinated. Listen in! Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place. We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations. The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.

This week – in the wind, rain, snow, and fires of early 2025 so far – it is good to be able to focus on SEEDs this week – seeds remind us so tangibly of our ability to get small, to slow down into a fortified dormancy of resilience, rest, and regrowth – and the possibilities inherent in all of those states. And this week, Cultivating Place does just that in conversation with Dan Brisebois, host of The Seed Farmer Podcast and author of the newly released The Seed Farmer: A Complete Guide to Growing, Using, and Selling Your Own Seed. Dan’s goal is to get everyone to grow, save, and know seeds. Based on Tourne-Sol Cooperative Farm outside of Montreal, Canada. Dan is an avid writer, thinker, and educator on seed growing, farming, and better farm management as a pathway to happier and more prosperous farms and farmers. In his experience, seed is integral to all of that. In our conversation Dan discusses his germination story in becoming a farmer, co-founding a cooperative farm, and becoming a seed farmer educator. He also shares the importance of what he calls the First Seed Mindset. Listen in! Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place. We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations. The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.

Nicole Burke, founder of Gardenary and author of "The 5-Minute Gardener," shares her passion for making gardening accessible to everyone, even the busiest individuals. She discusses how dedicating just five minutes a day can lead to significant personal growth and community well-being. Nicole highlights gardening's power to transform our relationship with food and encourages listeners to embrace their gardening journey. Her insights emphasize the importance of cultivating habits that nourish both body and soul, all while fostering a stronger connection to nature.

To ring in the New Year, this week on Cultivating Place, guest host Ben Futa is in conversation with Bo Dennis, lead farmer and designer of Dandy Ram farm, located in rural Maine. Dandy Ram is an LGBTQ+ flower farm and floral design studio that sustainably grows and designs florals for weddings and ships evergreen and floral products nationally. Dandy Ram is committed to bringing joy to the world, without ever losing sight of what a just and sustainable relationship with the land and its people looks and feels like, as well as prioritizes. With the concept of new year and fresh starts in mind, the conversation explores prioritizing rest, balance, and joy, especially given a career that is so deeply tied to the seasons. Ben and Bo talk favorite plants, community building, and living authentically. Listen in - and From all of us at Cultivating Place: Happy 2025! May it be beautiful, biodiverse, and BRAVE! From my seat, the act of being still and the art of noticing are perfect intentions for any season. Enjoy! Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place. We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations. The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com. All images courtesy of Bo Dennis, Dandy Ram Farm. All rights reserved.

Happy Winter Solstice season! In celebration of the planetary moment of the longest night and the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, which took place on December 21st, this week we revisit a conversation about getting STILL. We hold a moment of stillness to notice and honor our places, our selves, and our many companions in time and space. We revisit our conversation with Artist/Photographer Mary Jo Hoffman all about her more than a decade-long daily photographic practice and her new book: Still: The Art of Noticing. From my seat, the act of being still and the art of noticing are perfect intentions for any season. Enjoy! Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place. We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations. The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.

This week, CP Guest Host Abra Lee celebrates the season in conversation with the King of Camellias, Sidney Frazier. Sidney is based out of sunny Charleston, South Carolina, where he sits as Vice President of Horticulture at Middleton Place - a historic home and garden there is believed to be the oldest landscaped garden in America. Camellias were first planted in America near the end of the 18th century in the four corners of Henry Middleton's parterre, overlooking the Ashley River. Sidney shares with us the historic legacy of Camellias at Middleton Place and gives us some fun tips and tricks on how to care for these magnificent plants. Enjoy, and Happy Winter Solstice on the 21st.  Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place. We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations. The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.

Many gardeners are also collectors. Collectors of things like pots, books, seeds, and - of course - plants. Some plant collecting gardeners collect flowers, shrubs, herbs or seeds. Others collect trees – and when writer, artist and curious human Amy Stewart, award winning author of Flower Confidential, Wicked Plants, and The Drunken Botanist, ran into more and more humans who collected trees in various ways – she started to collect stories about them. In her newest book, The Tree Collectors, Tales of Arboreal Obsession (out now from Random House), which she researched, wrote and illustrated, Amy shares much of more about these tree-collecting people, including what they can teach us about trees, and about humanity - from fascinating motivations to moving outcomes. Amy Stewart’s with us this week on Cultivating Place - join us! Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place. We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations. The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.

This week, Cultivating Place’s guest host, Ben Futa, is in conversation with Katie Elzer-Peters, owner and founder of The Garden of Words, a digital marketing agency for the green industry. Katie is a lifelong plant lover, storyteller, communicator, and artist. An early love for museums and public gardens led Katie to discover what has today become her mission: empowering more plant-based businesses to thrive so that more people can discover the joy of gardening. As they write, the team at The Garden of Words used to grow only plants. Now, they still grow plants, but they also grow businesses. The conversation centers around reclaiming joy, finding balance, and changing direction. On the cusp of this winter season of rest, rejuvenation, and unpacking, this feels like a timely moment to consider what we want to bring forward, and what we want to leave behind, as we head in to a new season of abundance and growth and learning in the next few months. Enjoy! Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place. We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations. The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.

This week, when many in the US have time off with family and friends, we note our gratitude for Public Gardens and green spaces around our country and in our lives. Guest-Host Abra Lee is in conversation with one of North America’s public garden leaders, Paul Redman. As President and Chief Executive Officer of Longwood Gardens for the last 16 years, Paul has implemented institutional and strategic reforms that have positioned the Gardens as a premier horticultural, cultural, and educational institution of the 21st Century while respecting the values of its founder, Pierre S. du Pont. The result has been nothing short of astounding with overall attendance doubling to almost 1.54 million visitors per year; an incredible climb in membership support from 17,000 to 78,000 households; and earned income has almost tripled – all in the last decade. Longwood Gardens is now North America's most visited paid public garden and the most visited paid cultural attraction in Philadelphia. In their conversation, Abra and Paul explore ideas of leadership, envisioning public gardens for the future, and fearlessness. Enjoy! Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place. We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations. The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.

In honor of the season of gratitude, festivities, long nights, rest, and reflection upon us, this week we revisit a BEST OF conversation with Robin Wall Kimmerer, Indigenous scholar, professor, land and culture tender, MacArthur Genius Grant award winner, mother, and all around wonderful human. She is also a gardener. Her book, Braiding Sweetgrass (Milkweed Editions) is something of a philosophical north star for many of us, and this week Dr. Kimmerer's newest book The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World is out from Scribner press. As always with Robin's work, The Serviceberry is perhaps exactly what we collectively need at this exact moment. Its dedication reminds us that ALL FLOURISHING IS MUTUAL. Enjoy! Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place. We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations. The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.