Avsnitt
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"Every child needs someone to introduce them to nature" - Rachel Carson author of Silent Spring
In this episode we hear how one woman came up with the idea for a GCSE in Natural History - a way for children to be introduced to nature. So where did the idea come from, what would an exam look like, and how far has she got? She had the idea in 2011.
In this episode we learn what it takes to introduce a new exam and the reasons that despite many setbacks, Mary Colwell is not giving up, indeed she is determined to see this through.
Our Plant Stories is presented and produced by Sally Flatman
The music is Fade to Black by Howard Levy
Can I dig into more plant stories?
YES! You can check out the website where there are lots of photographs of plants and how to grow instructions. Our Plant Stories website
You can also follow the weekly blog where you will get the behind the scenes lowdown on making the podcast and you could also contribute - readers have suggested gardens to visit, plants to feature, experts to contact. Our Plant Stories blog
And you can follow more plants over on my Instagram account Instagram
Can you grow this podcast?!
Well we can grow it together by doing a few things. Number one is by rating and reviewing it on your podcast app...be that Apple or Spotify whichever one you use because then other people will discover it. Think of your review as some fertiliser or a good mulch!
We don't yet have a sponsor but we do have a Coffee Crew and if you become part of it, you'll get a shout-out on the next episode and you'll know you have supported this independent podcast. Everyone shares their stories for free and I make it because I love it but there are costs like the hosting platform and the editing programmes etc. Buy Me A Coffee
Can I share my plant story with you?
YES PLEASE! I called this OUR Plant Stories for a reason and that is that I love to hear from listeners wherever you are in the world!
You can email me [email protected] and tell me your plant story. That's all you need to do - I'll do the rest. I'll work out who we can talk to. Can we find someone who shares your passion for the plant, they maybe in the same country as you or the other side of the world.
Mentioned in this episode:
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Why is a tiny plant from Janet Hickenbottom's childhood so important? And what was the special thing that her mum Margaret shared with Janet and her brother that has stayed with her for all her life?
Lee Connelly is also a bit obsessed by this thing and he's on a mission to make sure we don't miss out on it....and even if we weren't given it as children, like Janet was, he promises we can still get it.
And learn to grow a plant that you can literally fit anywhere - it only requires the tiniest of spaces and it's guaranteed to spread.
Our Plant Stories is Presented and Produced by Sally Flatman.
Remember if you listen on Google Podcasts you need to switch to a new podcast app which you can find here:
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/listen
Mentioned in this episode:
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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When we think of 'allotment history' we perhaps have images from the two world wars with the population being urged to cultivate every spare bit of land from parks to bomb craters. But to really understand our relationship with these spaces we need to go back much further in time.
Lally Snow has written a book called My Family and Other Seedlings and in this episode she tells us how she has woven this history into her own experiences of growing food on an allotment with the aid of 3 under 5 year olds.
Subscribe to the podcast for FREE: Listen to Our Plant Stories
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Produced and Presented by Sally Flatman
Music: Fade to Black Howard Levy
Mentioned in this episode:
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Buy me a Coffee is a way to support me to make this podcast and every virtual coffee you buy goes towards Our Plant Stories. Thank You!
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Kathy Slack brings us the first plant story to feature a vegetable, it is a root vegetable; a radish. They may be tiny but as you will hear in this plant story the impact of growing radish seeds was rather enormous. Kathy has a passion for vegetables so we not only discuss her journey growing them but other questions too - if you were to come back as a vegetable what would it be? Spoiler alert she seems to favour being a broad bean not a radish!
Hear her in conversation with Lally Snow, who we first met in Mint. Lally has just published a book about the history of allotments in the UK woven with her own story of taking on a plot and growing vegetables with the help of 3 under 5 year olds. They discuss their shared attitude of just 'having a go'.
And of course we also learn how to grow the plant. 5 weeks from now you too could be eating a radish slammer, made with your own radishes, just add butter and salt!
All the details are on the episode page.
Presented and Produced by Sally Flatman Buy me a Coffee
Music Howard Levy
Mentioned in this episode:
Buy me a Coffee
Buy me a Coffee is a way to support me to make this podcast and every virtual coffee you buy goes towards Our Plant Stories. Thank You!
Buy Me A Coffee
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Philippa Steward of Justdahlias admits that her passion for dahlias has become somewhat of an obsession! So who better than Philippa to share with us that enthusiasm and love of this beautiful flower in its many shapes and colours. Philippa has a plant story for later in this series but I couldn't resist talking to her about dahlias now so we could all share her excitement and plant some for this summer.
In this bonus episode we learn about planting tubers, she shares how to select your varieties and there is promise of gathering dahlia seeds in the future.
Do follow Philippa on Instagram at Justdahlias.
Produced and presented by Sally Flatman.
Music Fade to Black Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
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Judith Kleinman had a Silver Birch tree outside her bedroom window when she was growing up. She now has three beautiful Silver Birch trees outside her back door in her small courtyard garden. But to understand why these trees are her plant story you need to go back to her first student summer and a terrible traffic accident that left her in a spinal injuries unit. She tells her story and returns to the hospital to see a garden that has been built by the charity Horatio's Garden and meet the Head Gardener Ashley Edwards. Will she find Silver Birch trees?
You can see photographs of the trees on ourplantstories.com and of course we learn how to grow the plant.
Judith has written a book - Finding Quiet Strength which I think draws inspiration from these strong and flexible trees.
Presented and Produced by Sally Flatman
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Music: Fade to Black by Howard Levy
Mentioned in this episode:
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A short bonus episode in which David Gedye pieces together the story of how the Monkey Puzzle tree made its way to the UK and how it became so popular with gardeners in the country.
David has been researching this tree and its links to his family for the past 68 years. He wrote a book about it, sadly sold out but luckily for us he shares his knowledge here.
Presented and Produced: Sally Flatman
Fade to Black by Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
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David Gedye's mum told him a plant story when he was just 10 years old. It involved a very famous Monkey Puzzle tree and his great great grandfather, a head gardener. That story has led him on a lifetime trail, 68 years so far, to learn more about head gardener Philip Frost and to find out about that tree. Could the story be true - did his great great grandfather carry Monkey Puzzle seed in a tin in his waistcoat pocket and plant the famous Dropmore Monkey Puzzle tree?
He shares his story here. Do take a look at the episode page on the website to see the wonderful photograph of David's great great grandfather beside the tree.
Presented and Produced by Sally Flatman
Fade to Black by Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
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When Andrea bought a new house there was a Monkey Puzzle tree in the front garden. She wasn't keen, it was marked down to go but 12 years later it is still there. Find out why in this Monkey Puzzle Plant Story.
These trees first came to the UK in 1795 but they didn't really start to become popular till the 1850s. Queen Victoria saw the tree and wanted one for Prince Albert.
We have a Chilean botanist in the podcast to help us understand the tree, learn how to grow it and unravel that story about the original Monkey Puzzle nuts being stolen off a dinner table in Santiago.
As ever there are lots of photos and all the information on the episode page on the website.
Produced and presented by Sally Flatman
Music by Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
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Who were the celebrity gardeners of the 1850's and why were they important to a fledgling charity?
The charity still exists today, Mona Abboud (Ep 3 Mona's Corokia) has decided to leave her garden to it - it's called Perennial. It's dedicated to looking after people working in horticulture and their families, at any stage of life.
The charity's roots go back almost 200 years and garden historian, Francesca Murray has, for her Phd, spent many hours in its archive. She shares a fascinating story for this Offshoot episode. You can see photographs of original documents on the website: Our Plant Stories.com
Our Plant Stories is presented and produced by Sally Flatman
Fade to Black by Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
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Never say to Mona Abboud - "this plant is only for trade". This is a wonderful story of one woman's hunt for a plant, there's detective work, there's blackmail! The result is a beautiful New Zealand garden in North London created by a woman who has never set foot in New Zealand.
Mona is on a one woman mission to get us all to love corokia - see if she can persuade you too, aided by Fiona Eadie, the author of 100 best native plants for New Zealand gardens. As always this is the podcast where knowledgeable, passionate people will be teaching you how to grow the plant they love.
All the information, photographs and growing advice is on the website.
Presented and Produced by Sally Flatman
Music: Fade to Black by Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
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"What is a Purdom" by Vicky Aspin's own admission this was her first reaction to being sent to the Purdom bed in Holehird gardens. Then her curiosity was aroused by a name plaque on a bench: For Three Native Lakeland Gardeners, William Purdom and sons William and Harry and from that her hunt began...who was William Purdom?
Her searches before the era of the internet, led her eventually to China and the Purdom Memorial Forest Park and you can hear the story of her search and Purdom's life in this Offshoot episode recorded on a sunny Autumn day, sitting on the Purdom bench in Holehird Gardens in Cumbria. As always there are photographs on the website.
Presented and produced by Sally Flatman
Music: Fade to Black by Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
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Season 2 of Our Plant Stories is here! And we begin with a very beautiful story from Penn Allen, a listener to the podcast who contacted me with a plant story that takes us to the Lake District.
Diaries from Penn's Great Grandmother Alice Hough and her husband Harry reveal a garden built with love in the midst of loss and a friendship with Will Purdom that spanned years and continents leading to plants from China being planted on a rock overlooking Windermere.
To understand more about mindset of Will Purdom, we talk to Tom Hart Dyke who has built the World Garden at Lullingstone Castle. We also learn how to grow the Viburnum thanks to wonderfully knowledgeable gardeners at Holehird gardens in Cumbria.
All the information about the podcast is on the website.
Presented and Produced by Sally Flatman
Music: Fade to Black by Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
Buy Me A Coffee
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Our Plant Stories is back for a second season and once again the plant stories are going to take us all over the world. To follow and dig into the stories we'll be meeting gardeners, botanists and historians and along the way of course we will learn how to grow the plants.
Season 2 starts 12th January 2024.
If you have a story that you would like me to follow up in this new series you can email me - [email protected]
To find out about the plants featured in all the episodes just go to the website where you can also subscribe to a weekly blog which will mean you'll be first to hear about upcoming episodes.
The series is presented and produced by Sally Flatman.
Instagram: ourplantstories_podcast
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Welcome to a bumper crop of plant stories! I'm looking back over some moments from this years episodes but I also invited 3 other plant podcasters to do the same with their podcasts - hence the 'friends'. We've all picked some clips from the past year that we hope you will enjoy. So thanks to Jane Perrone from On the Ledge, Sarah Wilson from Roots and All and M.T. O'Donnell of Scotland Grows.
There are conversations about spiders and sacrificial lambs (well hostas actually), difficult decisions about felling trees and the value of researching local hedgerows. Jane, Sarah and M.T also talk about making their podcasts. I love the way Sarah describes herself as 'a kid chasing a butterfly'. All are connecting people with a passion for plants and it's been a real joy to talk to these fellow podcasters.
I will put all the details of their podcasts on the website www.ourplantstories.com
If you have a plant story you want me to investigate, you can email me:
Music: Fade to Black by Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
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I'd like to transport you to Levens Hall and a garden that was created in 1694 when topiary was the height of fashion and taste. Over the intervening 329 years this Lake District garden has had only 10 Head Gardeners and each has cared for and clipped that topiary.
We first met the current head gardener, Chris Crowder, in Episode 8 in conversation with Diana Boston about the slow nature of gardening with topiary. You can of course listen to that Plant Story and its Offshoot.
Hearing Chris talk about his annual job of clipping some 100 pieces of topiary was fascinating, so I went to find out more. I hope you enjoy this visit to the garden and you can see photographs on the website.
Produced and Presented by Sally Flatman
Music: Fade to Black by Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
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A short bonus episode to help us celebrate the UK's National Apple Day! Listen for just 15 minutes and you will have some fascinating facts both historical and horticultural to share with others this weekend or just anytime! And I hope you will look at the trees, the apples and the pips in a slightly different light.
See pictures of the Reverend Wilkes on the website along with links to all the organisations and charities mentioned in this episode.
Here's the original Plant Story and Offshoot about apples.
Presented and Produced by Sally Flatman
Music: Fade to Black by Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
Buy Me A Coffee
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In October, 140 years ago, Mr R. Gilbert of 'the Gardens Burghley House in Stamford' exhibited the Peasgood's nonsuch apple at the National Apple conference held by the RHS in Chiswick. In Episode 5, we learned of the Peasgood's nonsuch; apples the size of small training footballs.
Mr R. Gilbert was a prize winning Victorian gardener in charge of the walled and pleasure gardens at Burghley House. His staff: 120 gardeners! The walled gardens have hardly been touched since the late sixties.
The current Head Gardener has a passion for walled gardens and a vision to bring this one back to life and there will be Peasgood's nonsuch apples in there. Join Joe Whitehead for a tour.
You can see pictures of the fruit galleries, mushroom house and walled garden on the website.
Music: Fade to Black by Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
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We return to two lovely florists with a passion for flowers in this Offshoot episode. We first met Hannah and Maya in Episode 9, when Hannah told us the story of her plant tattoos, which honour and remind her of her mum. Maya introduced us to floriography - the language of flowers.
Hannah offered to take me to New Covent Garden Market where she goes to buy flowers which is a place I have always wanted to go. So this Offshoot takes us to the market and hears more from Hannah and Maya about working as florists.
You can see pictures of New Covent Garden Market on the website.
Music: Fade to Black by Howard Levy
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
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We first visited the Manor in Hemingford Grey in Episode 8, admiring the topiary: crowns and orbs that were shaped for the Queen's coronation. But this is a garden that holds many stories, including airmen from the second world war, picnicking on the lawn and the adventures of the children from the Green Knowe story books.
You can see photographs of this special garden on the episode page.
Check out Episode 8 for everything you need to know about topiary including how to start your own.
Presented and Produced by Sally Flatman
Music: Fade to Black by Howard Levy + Abide with Me - Ernest Lough
https://ourplantstories.captivate.fm/buy-me-a-coffee
Mentioned in this episode:
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- Visa fler
