The Beet: A Podcast For Plant Lovers

Marion Whitehead joins us to share how to grow her favorite plant, sweet peas. Connect With Marion Whitehead: Marion Whitehead is the Supervisor of Ornamental Gardens at the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden in Mount Tomah, Australia. She has an extensive background in cool climate plant species, with a specific interest in ephemeral and heathland plants.  Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Shop the Store As an exclusive for listeners, use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your entire first order on our store, featuring our flagship Birdies Raised Beds. These are the original metal raised beds, lasting up to 5-10x longer than wooden beds, are ethically made in Australia, and have a customizable modular design.   Shop now and get 5% off your first order. Get Our Books Looking for a beginner's guide to growing food in small spaces? Kevin’s book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, explains the core, essential information that you'll need to grow plants, no matter where you live! He also wrote Grow Bag Gardening to provide you with specialized knowledge that can bring you success when growing in fabric pots. Order signed copies of Kevin’s books, plus more of his favorite titles in our store. More Resources Looking for more information? Follow us: Our Blog YouTube (Including our Epic Homesteading and Jacques in the Garden channels) Instagram (Including Epic Homesteading, Jacques, and Chris) TikTok Facebook Facebook Group Discord Server   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Native gardens are lower maintenance because you don’t have to do a ton of enhancement to your soil as most natives thrive and adapt really well. Native plantings will spread and provide their own mulch and green cover as they age. Native plants are often tall and different than a more structured ornamental garden, so artwork or structure in the space helps people understand it is a purposefully designed area. Connect with Mary Phillips: Mary Phillips is the head of Garden for Wildlife™ at National Wildlife Federation. Mary will share about why it’s vital to grow native species, reveal the perfect plants for every region, and provide tips on how to cultivate the optimal home for local pollinators. Garden For Wildlife National Wildlife Federation Code GARDEN22 - 20% off wildlife sign and certification Code EPIC22 - 20% off plants and pollinator packages Shop the Store As an exclusive for listeners, use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your entire first order on our store, featuring our flagship Birdies Raised Beds. These are the original metal raised beds, lasting up to 5-10x longer than wooden beds, are ethically made in Australia, and have a customizable modular design.   Shop now and get 5% off your first order. Get Our Books Looking for a beginner's guide to growing food in small spaces? Kevin’s book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, explains the core, essential information that you'll need to grow plants, no matter where you live! He also wrote Grow Bag Gardening to provide you with specialized knowledge that can bring you success when growing in fabric pots. Order signed copies of Kevin’s books, plus more of his favorite titles in our store. More Resources Looking for more information? Follow us: Our Blog YouTube (Including our Epic Homesteading and Jacques in the Garden channels) Instagram (Including Epic Homesteading, Jacques, and Chris) TikTok Facebook Facebook Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Right now as we move into our 50th year of garden for wildlife, we have a goal to move into a million new gardens that we can track through our DIY combinations of plants that perform really well with really high numbers for wildlife. We have tracked pollinator garden hotspots that create stepping stones of habitat across urban and suburban areas. Two of the areas that we saw where bee species numbers reached a real pinnacle were in the desert southwest and east within the smokey mountain region. Connect with Mary Phillips: Mary Phillips is the head of Garden for Wildlife™ at National Wildlife Federation. Mary will share about why it’s vital to grow native species, reveal the perfect plants for every region, and provide tips on how to cultivate the optimal home for local pollinators. Garden For Wildlife National Wildlife Federation Code GARDEN22 - 20% off wildlife sign and certification Code EPIC22 - 20% off plants and pollinator packages Shop the Store As an exclusive for listeners, use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your entire first order on our store, featuring our flagship Birdies Raised Beds. These are the original metal raised beds, lasting up to 5-10x longer than wooden beds, are ethically made in Australia, and have a customizable modular design.   Shop now and get 5% off your first order. Get Our Books Looking for a beginner's guide to growing food in small spaces? Kevin’s book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, explains the core, essential information that you'll need to grow plants, no matter where you live! He also wrote Grow Bag Gardening to provide you with specialized knowledge that can bring you success when growing in fabric pots. Order signed copies of Kevin’s books, plus more of his favorite titles in our store. More Resources Looking for more information? Follow us: Our Blog YouTube (Including our Epic Homesteading and Jacques in the Garden channels) Instagram (Including Epic Homesteading, Jacques, and Chris) TikTok Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We have two ways of looking at the most popular plants. The native plant finder is at nwf.org/nativeplantfinder is visited by hundreds of thousands of people a year. Then at gardenforwildlife.com we provide native plants for people to start DIY gardens with. Right now our top four flowers are sunflowers, milkweed, asters, and wild geranium. Connect with Mary Phillips: Mary Phillips is the head of Garden for Wildlife™ at National Wildlife Federation. Mary will share about why it’s vital to grow native species, reveal the perfect plants for every region, and provide tips on how to cultivate the optimal home for local pollinators. Garden For Wildlife National Wildlife Federation Code GARDEN22 - 20% off wildlife sign and certification Code EPIC22 - 20% off plants and pollinator packages Shop the Store As an exclusive for listeners, use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your entire first order on our store, featuring our flagship Birdies Raised Beds. These are the original metal raised beds, lasting up to 5-10x longer than wooden beds, are ethically made in Australia, and have a customizable modular design.   Shop now and get 5% off your first order. Get Our Books Looking for a beginner's guide to growing food in small spaces? Kevin’s book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, explains the core, essential information that you'll need to grow plants, no matter where you live! He also wrote Grow Bag Gardening to provide you with specialized knowledge that can bring you success when growing in fabric pots. Order signed copies of Kevin’s books, plus more of his favorite titles in our store. More Resources Looking for more information? Follow us: Our Blog YouTube (Including our Epic Homesteading and Jacques in the Garden channels) Instagram (Including Epic Homesteading, Jacques, and Chris) TikTok Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One out of three people purchasing plants last year actually purchased native plants. We can be empowered and make a difference by what we choose to plant by impacting the climate and ecosystem. Native plants can generate oxygen, sequester carbon, filter pollutants from water, and improve the soil. The California Native Plant Society is a great resource for California plant lists which you can find at https://www.cnps.org/helpful-tools Connect with Mary Phillips: Mary Phillips is the head of Garden for Wildlife™ at National Wildlife Federation. Mary will share about why it’s vital to grow native species, reveal the perfect plants for every region, and provide tips on how to cultivate the optimal home for local pollinators. Garden For Wildlife National Wildlife Federation Code GARDEN22 - 20% off wildlife sign and certification Code EPIC22 - 20% off plants and pollinator packages Shop the Store As an exclusive for listeners, use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your entire first order on our store, featuring our flagship Birdies Raised Beds. These are the original metal raised beds, lasting up to 5-10x longer than wooden beds, are ethically made in Australia, and have a customizable modular design.   Shop now and get 5% off your first order. Get Our Books Looking for a beginner's guide to growing food in small spaces? Kevin’s book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, explains the core, essential information that you'll need to grow plants, no matter where you live! He also wrote Grow Bag Gardening to provide you with specialized knowledge that can bring you success when growing in fabric pots. Order signed copies of Kevin’s books, plus more of his favorite titles in our store. More Resources Looking for more information? Follow us: Our Blog YouTube (Including our Epic Homesteading and Jacques in the Garden channels) Instagram (Including Epic Homesteading, Jacques, and Chris) TikTok Facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can actually increase the number and diversity of wildlife in your garden by planting specific plants that provide food and shelter. Connect with Mary Phillips: Mary Phillips is the head of Garden for Wildlife™ at National Wildlife Federation. Mary will share about why it’s vital to grow native species, reveal the perfect plants for every region, and provide tips on how to cultivate the optimal home for local pollinators. Garden For Wildlife National Wildlife Federation Code GARDEN22 - 20% off wildlife sign and certification Code EPIC22 - 20% off plants and pollinator packages Shop the Store As an exclusive for listeners, use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your entire first order on our store, featuring our flagship Birdies Raised Beds. These are the original metal raised beds, lasting up to 5-10x longer than wooden beds, are ethically made in Australia, and have a customizable modular design.   Shop now and get 5% off your first order. Get Our Books Looking for a beginner's guide to growing food in small spaces? Kevin’s book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, explains the core, essential information that you'll need to grow plants, no matter where you live! He also wrote Grow Bag Gardening to provide you with specialized knowledge that can bring you success when growing in fabric pots. Order signed copies of Kevin’s books, plus more of his favorite titles in our store. More Resources Looking for more information? Follow us: Our Blog YouTube (Including our Epic Homesteading and Jacques in the Garden channels) Instagram (Including Epic Homesteading, Jacques, and Chris) TikTok Facebook Facebook Group Discord Server   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

June 20th - 26th is Pollinator Week. So many groups have come together to make this a federally legislated week! One way you can celebrate is growing a native/pollinator garden and becoming a Certified Wildlife Habitat at nwf.org/certify. It comes with a very fancy plaque. Connect with Mary Phillips: Mary Phillips is the head of Garden for Wildlife™ at National Wildlife Federation. Mary will share about why it’s vital to grow native species, reveal the perfect plants for every region, and provide tips on how to cultivate the optimal home for local pollinators. Garden For Wildlife National Wildlife Federation Code GARDEN22 - 20% off wildlife sign and certification Code EPIC22 - 20% off plants and pollinator packages Shop the Store As an exclusive for listeners, use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your entire first order on our store, featuring our flagship Birdies Raised Beds. These are the original metal raised beds, lasting up to 5-10x longer than wooden beds, are ethically made in Australia, and have a customizable modular design.   Shop now and get 5% off your first order. Get Our Books Looking for a beginner's guide to growing food in small spaces? Kevin’s book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, explains the core, essential information that you'll need to grow plants, no matter where you live! He also wrote Grow Bag Gardening to provide you with specialized knowledge that can bring you success when growing in fabric pots. Order signed copies of Kevin’s books, plus more of his favorite titles in our store. More Resources Looking for more information? Follow us: Our Blog YouTube (Including our Epic Homesteading and Jacques in the Garden channels) Instagram (Including Epic Homesteading, Jacques, and Chris) TikTok Facebook Facebook Group Discord Server   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are lots of native plants and they all have attributes that have coevolved with wildlife. Powerful native plants are the 14% that actually support 90% of butterflies and moths in a given area. Specific powerful plants that we recommend are anything in the aster family, sunflowers, and goldenrod. What is wonderful is that they bloom at different times providing nectar and foraging opportunities across three seasons. To find out what plants are native in your area, go to https://www.nwf.org/nativeplantfinder/plants Connect with Mary Phillips: Mary Phillips is the head of Garden for Wildlife™ at National Wildlife Federation. Mary will share about why it’s vital to grow native species, reveal the perfect plants for every region, and provide tips on how to cultivate the optimal home for local pollinators. Garden For Wildlife National Wildlife Federation Code GARDEN22 - 20% off wildlife sign and certification Code EPIC22 - 20% off plants and pollinator packages Shop the Store As an exclusive for listeners, use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your entire first order on our store, featuring our flagship Birdies Raised Beds. These are the original metal raised beds, lasting up to 5-10x longer than wooden beds, are ethically made in Australia, and have a customizable modular design.   Shop now and get 5% off your first order. Get Our Books Looking for a beginner's guide to growing food in small spaces? Kevin’s book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, explains the core, essential information that you'll need to grow plants, no matter where you live! He also wrote Grow Bag Gardening to provide you with specialized knowledge that can bring you success when growing in fabric pots. Order signed copies of Kevin’s books, plus more of his favorite titles in our store. More Resources Looking for more information? Follow us: Our Blog YouTube (Including our Epic Homesteading and Jacques in the Garden channels) Instagram (Including Epic Homesteading, Jacques, and Chris) TikTok Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Science and flowers are two of my favorite things. Hydrangeas make fun experiments because the color of the flower depends on aluminum uptake which is greatly influenced by the PH of the soil. Blue flowers are formed with high aluminum uptake, where an absence produces pink flowers. My favorite color is periwinkle, so I try to find the middle ground. Connect With Natalie Renee: Natalie is the Epic Executive Assistant here at Epic Gardening. She is a life-long gardener and urban homesteader. We toured Natalie’s yard back in May, take a peep at where she grows about 30% the food she eats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcclrd_EczI Instagram Linkedin Shop the Store As an exclusive for listeners, use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your entire first order on our store, featuring our flagship Birdies Raised Beds. These are the original metal raised beds, lasting up to 5-10x longer than wooden beds, are ethically made in Australia, and have a customizable modular design.   Shop now and get 5% off your first order. Get Our Books Looking for a beginner's guide to growing food in small spaces? Kevin’s book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, explains the core, essential information that you'll need to grow plants, no matter where you live! He also wrote Grow Bag Gardening to provide you with specialized knowledge that can bring you success when growing in fabric pots. Order signed copies of Kevin’s books, plus more of his favorite titles in our store. More Resources Looking for more information? Follow us: Our Blog YouTube (Including our Epic Homesteading and Jacques in the Garden channels) Instagram (Including Epic Homesteading, Jacques, and Chris) TikTok Facebook Facebook Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bell peppers, banana peppers, shishito peppers, pepperoncini and poblano peppers are my favorites. All have unique flavor without the burn! Connect With Natalie Renee: Natalie is the Epic Executive Assistant here at Epic Gardening. She is a life-long gardener and urban homesteader. We toured Natalie’s yard back in May, take a peep at where she grows about 30% the food she eats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcclrd_EczI Instagram Linkedin Shop the Store As an exclusive for listeners, use code EPICPODCAST for 5% off your entire first order on our store, featuring our flagship Birdies Raised Beds. These are the original metal raised beds, lasting up to 5-10x longer than wooden beds, are ethically made in Australia, and have a customizable modular design.   Shop now and get 5% off your first order. Get Our Books Looking for a beginner's guide to growing food in small spaces? Kevin’s book, Field Guide to Urban Gardening, explains the core, essential information that you'll need to grow plants, no matter where you live! He also wrote Grow Bag Gardening to provide you with specialized knowledge that can bring you success when growing in fabric pots. Order signed copies of Kevin’s books, plus more of his favorite titles in our store. More Resources Looking for more information? Follow us: Our Blog YouTube (Including our Epic Homesteading and Jacques in the Garden channels) Instagram (Including Epic Homesteading, Jacques, and Chris) TikTok Facebook Facebook Group Discord Server   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices