My guest today is Ngoc Minh Ngo, a photographer and author based in New York City.  Her work is an immersive exploration of the beauty of plants and nature, enveloping and other worldly.  I always feel I am being drawn into a more three-dimensional space. It is an almost tactile experience as the garden wraps around you and where you can disappear into the page.  No matter what she captures, it often seems as though I am looking at my own memory of a space or plant, whether or not I have seen it before.  Her creative expression stretches not only through different gardens and subjects – this year alone she photographed gorgeous books by Gabriela Salazar and Umberto Pasti, and authored one on the green spaces of New York to be released next month – she also experiments with other media.  I can see how these practices, along with her own garden, give her a deeper understanding of her subjects and allow her to reveal their beauty and essential nature.  I am so grateful to have her work to transport and inspire me, and to share this conversation with you. Thank you for listening!

Garden People Podcast from @violetear_studio

L I S T E N

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S H O W N O T E S

Ngoc’s IG

Ngoc’s website

Ngoc’s books:

New York Green - coming May 23, 2023

Eden Revisited

In Bloom

Bringing Nature Home

Artistry of Flowers: Floral Design by La Musa de Las Flores by Gabriela Salazar

The House of a Lifetime: A Collector’s Journey in Tangier by Umberto Pasti

Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan

Naval Cemetery Landscape

Nature Sacred

Can you name a garden dweller who is ecologically obsessed, a little punk rock, and creates spaces for plants, pollinators and people in equal measure? Why that would be the next guest on the Garden People podcast, Rebecca McMackin! Link to listen in the bio or find us wherever you catch your podcasts.

Rebecca @oroeoboeococoao is an ecological gardener, a Loeb Fellow with the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and former Director of Horticulture for Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP) in New York. She writes, lectures, and teaches on ecological landscape management and pollination ecology. In these spheres, she brings an infectious enthusiasm alongside an abiding commitment to ecological vitality and urban biodiversity.

As part of NYC Parks Rebecca was the head gardener at historic Washington Square Park, where she deftly maintained displays and occasionally was called on to coax a reveler down from an English Elm. At BBP, Rebecca managed 85 acres of diverse parkland organically, creating a habitat that was welcoming to New Yorkers, birds, butterflies, and soil microorganisms. She migrated to Cambridge after being awarded the Loeb Fellowship, where she currently studies ecological design and science communication.

Rebecca understands plants and their pollinators, but she also understands people and how we can best invite them into the garden. This is helped by her exceptional ability to synthesis and share important information about our world. Her newsletter is an indispensable part of my learning, a go-to for a roundup of important articles and ideas, all framed by her optimism, humor, and seriousness of purpose. This interview was recorded in the last weeks of her Directorship at BBP, and it was a pleasure to speak with her at this time of transition.

Thank you for listening!

S H O W N O T E S

Rebecca’s IG @oroeoboeococoao

Rebecca’s website

Rebecca’s newsletter

Douglas Tallamy

Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc

Margaret Roach lawn article

National Audubon Society

Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center - Wildflower.org

US EPA Ecoregions

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Brooklyn Bridge Park Horticulture database

My guest is Lucy Hunter, a multi-hyphenate if there ever was one: creative director, garden designer, floral artist, stylist, photographer, teacher, author, botanical dyer…the list goes on. Based in North Wales in the UK, Lucy is, at root, a restless creative who is always adding to her list of projects and modes of expression.  She shows us how useless labels can be in a creative life, and how generous our output becomes when we do away with them.  Her book, The Flower Hunter: Seasonal Flowers Inspired by Nature and Gathered from the Garden, was published in November of 2021.   

I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop with Lucy, Gabriela Salazar, and Max Gill this past March, and saw first-hand her creative force at play. From design notes to photography demonstrations, her energy and engagement with attendees and their work was simply amazing. I’m so happy to welcome her here today.

Lucy will have another whirlwind tour of workshops in the coming months, including one in October with TJ McGrath in New Jersey. Next year, she will return to New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and New Orleans in March, and Provence in April. You can receive up-to-date information on dates and registration on her website and IG. Links in the show notes, below.

Garden People Podcast from @violetear_studio

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S H O W N O T E S

Lucy Hunter

Lucy’s website

Lucy’s book: The Flower Hunter: Seasonal flowers inspired by nature and gathered from the garden

Carol’s Garden (Featured in Lucy’s book)

Great Dixter

Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

Kiftsgate Court Gardens

Jackdaws eating buxus caterpillars

Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Interiors: My Rooms, Treasures, and Trinkets

Gabriela Salazar La MUSA de las FLORES

Max Gill Max Gill Design

Wilding: Returning nature to our farm by Isabella Tree

My guest today is Jennifer Jewell, gardener, author, and the host of Cultivating Place, a co-production & podcast of North State Public Radio, which is syndicated across the United States and available as a podcast worldwide.  For listeners of a garden podcast in North America, much less one produced in Northern California on indigenous land, Jennifer probably needs no introduction.  In many ways she has shaped a corner of garden culture and literacy, introducing listeners to gardeners across the globe and the remarkable beings in their own backyard. 

Her interviews and writing are focused on the importance of the person and place in the garden -- considering the land, its history, and culture, and always moving toward a more sustainable, inclusive whole. I am always inspired by her unwavering faith in gardeners, and the belief that we can meet the incredible challenges of our current time with community, care, and an embrace of the interconnectedness of our natural world.   

Garden People Podcast from @violetear_studio

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S H O W N O T E S

Seed Savers Exchange

Heronswood

John Whittlesey

Earth in Her Hands

Under Western Skies

Caitlin Atkinson

Arrabella Lennox Boyd (and her wonderful new book)

Anna Pavord, The Tulip (and her most recent: The Seasonal Gardener: Creative Planting Combinations)

Rowan White, Sierra Seeds

Vandana Shiva (two favorites: Who Really Feeds the World? and Stolen Harvest)

Leah Penniman,...

Today I welcome Amanda Luu and Mia Westphal of Studio Mondine, a floral design studio based in San Francisco, California, to the Garden People podcast.  Mondine’s work is multifaceted and always a reflection of the group’s deep appreciation of the natural world.  Whether it’s finding inspiration for a bridal bouquet in the weeds growing around the wedding venue or puzzling through ways to make travel to that venue the most environmentally sustainable, the team works with admirable care and infectious joy.  They lead by example and educate through beauty, and they might just invite you to eat the centerpiece. Listen in to hear them discuss sustainable floristry and seeking inspiration from nature.

Garden People Podcast from @violetear_studio

S H O W N O T E S

@studiomondine

Studio Mondine

Ikebana

Ikebana Unbound (by Amanda and co-founder Ivanka Matsuba)

if i made course

Garden People episode with Hanna Brannan of Gather Flora

Azuma Makoto

Lauri Kranz, her book A Garden Can Be Anywhere: A Guide to Growing Bountiful, Beautiful, Edible Gardens

P L A N T L I S T

Jasmine

Tulips

Peonies

Mushrooms

My guest is Jane Scotter, a biodynamic farmer and author and the force behind Fern Verrow in Herefordshire in the West Midlands of England.  Jane has been a huge inspiration for me and countless growers and gardeners.  Her passion, drive, and love for her land are evident in each crate of castelfranco.  In addition to her cookbook, Jane’s relationship with Skye Gyngell and Spring restaurant shows the wonderful partnership between plot and plate, and the artistry involved in the growing and making of meals.  The gorgeous products of her work also make one of the most compelling arguments for how care for our earth and where our food comes from can be life affirming in addition to being life-saving.  

From favorite tulips to the best days for cultivation, you'll hear about Jane's dynamic relationship with the growing season, which is always imbued with beauty and a celebration of taste.    

Garden People Podcast from @violetear_studio

S H O W N O T E S

Jane Scotter

Fern Verrow

Fern Verrow cookbook

Biodynamic gardening

Neal’s Yard Dairy

Skye Gyngell

Spring Restaurant London

Sarah Johnson

Randolph Hodgson

Maria Thun calendar / Thun app

Heckfield Place

Alan Chadwick

Alice Waters

Bob Cannard

Chez Panisse

P L A N T L I S T

Tulip Bown sugar

Tulip Red impression

Castelfranco

My guest is Marryn Mathis, a flower farmer and educator running a small family flower farm in Stanwood Washington.  A few years ago Marryn left her corporate job for a life of flowers and has never looked back.  To hear Marryn’s approach, it seems like she can always do more, whether that’s planting 13,000 sweet peas to 10,000 sunflowers.  This past spring she also fielded 46,000 online visitors to her dahlia tuber sale.  It speaks to her boundless energy and enthusiasm for what she does, and the joy she takes in sharing flowers with her community.  What I am struck by, though, is how thoughtful she is about what she spends her time on – she is constantly reconsidering and reshaping her work, which then allows her to put her whole heart into the farm and its many wonderful projects.  Whether it’s a wall of sweet peas or a rainbow row of dahlias, you’re sure to be inspired. 

Garden People Podcast from @violetear_studio

L I S T E N

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S H O W N O T E S

Marryn Mathis

Farmhouse Flower Farm

Floret

P L A N T L I S T

Chocolate lace flower

Sunflowers

Cress

Sweet peas:

Vicks

Blue shift

Emma

Windsor

Apricot queen

Old Times

Clementine kiss

Susan Burgess

Kings ransom

Betty White

Deborah Devonshire