Pumpkin spice may have snuck itself onto the shelves (and into Leslie’s cheesy introduction), but that doesn’t mean that the pollinating insects in your garden have stopped searching for pollen to store and nectar to sip. On today’s episode, Leslie and Marianne discuss some late blooming species you can grow to keep those pollinators healthy and gearing up for winter — and which will also make you smile as the garden moves from summer-sizzle to autumn-fizzle.

Soil is warm, bugs are low, temps are cool, rains are coming, and nurseries are selling. Time to give that hard-working garden a few new picks to extend the bloom season until (and sometimes after) frost. Between them, the girls will give you nine terrific choices. But wait there’s more! A set of Ginsu knives, AND two further great plants for this time of year in Damn I Wish I’d Planted That.

All this and competing tropical cocktails, Choppin’ Broccoli, and some serious cultural confusion over Matthew Perry resolved, on this week’s episode of The Garden Mixer.

_______________________________

Be sure to hit the subscribe button so we can keep you smiling while you hit the mess [your garden] out there.

Full Show Notes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Garden Mixer Podcast’s Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

________________________________

Socials – Pick Your Platform:

Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegardenmixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Indulge us on TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@the.garden.mixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Spar with us on X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@gardenmixerpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

“French Bistro” theme by Adieu Adieu. License D0LZBINY30GGTBBW

As a gardener, you are not just creative, you are a creative. Your job is to go out there and create your tail off. But the other job you must strive to do well is that of an editor, tightening the voice of your garden with strategic cuts that help it shine and become the garden you envisioned (even when those cuts seem counterintuitive).

This means that cruel things are going to happen. Cruel, and perhaps unusual.

In this episode, Leslie and Marianne talk about everything from volunteer seedling strategies to de-browning the borders. Get ready to yank flowers, cut limbs, discard seeds, and mop your brow. It’s going to be bloody, but it’s going to be good.

_______________________________

Be sure to hit the subscribe button so we can keep you smiling while you hit the mess [your garden] out there.

Full Show Notes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Garden Mixer Podcast’s Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

________________________________

Socials – Pick Your Platform:

Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegardenmixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Indulge us on TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@the.garden.mixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Spar with us on X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@gardenmixerpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

“French Bistro” theme by Adieu Adieu. License D0LZBINY30GGTBBW

You’re tired. You’re hot. You’re yearning for autumn to set you free. But how your garden looks right now has everything to do with the choices you made in past planting seasons and a lot to do with foliage.

Have you capitalized on the resilient summer foliage options that keep working when the lobelia has melted and the poppies are so over?

This week on The Garden Mixer, Leslie and Marianne explore six of their favorite foliage plants for summer — each choosing a perennial, a shrub, and a tender perennial (aka ‘temperennial’) — and then choose their favorite option from the suggestions sent in by listeners on The Garden Mixer Chat on Substack.

Overall, the girls are in remarkable agreement this week…except for one, notable exception.

What are we looking for in summer foliage? Are flowers a necessity or a bonus? And, how many times, precisely, should a gardener kill a plant before giving up?

All this and Leslie learning the meaning of FFS, on this week’s The Garden Mixer.

_______________________________

Be sure to hit the subscribe button so we can keep you smiling while you hit the mess [your garden] out there.

Full Show Notes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Garden Mixer Podcast’s Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

________________________________

Socials – Pick Your Platform:

Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegardenmixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Indulge us on TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@the.garden.mixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Spar with us on X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@gardenmixerpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

“French Bistro” theme by Adieu Adieu. License D0LZBINY30GGTBBW

They’re deer resistant, drought resistant, and boredom-resistant — and they’re not without controversy. Ornamental grasses might be the magic texture your garden has been missing all these years.

Whether you want to ‘blur and merge’ as per Grasses for Gardens and Landscapes author Neil Lucas, or ‘punch and soften’ as per the more violent of your two co-hosts, Marianne Willburn — using ornamental grasses strategically can help your garden relax and sway into summer, filling gaps, feathering edges, and giving you three-season architecture without the bagworms.

Join Leslie and Marianne as they share with listeners their top ten ornamental grasses and discuss why they are willing to risk censure and scorn for more than one of them.

Plus, Marianne confesses to a criminal act. And it’s not displaying her bare over-50 arms either.

Leslie’s criminal act this week is using the term “Tips and Tricks” before Marianne takes a sip of something that can help her cope with hearing it.

_______________________________

Be sure to hit the subscribe button so we can keep you smiling while you hit the mess [your garden] out there.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Garden Mixer |Podcast on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Full Show Notes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Garden Mixer Podcast’s Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

________________________________

Socials – Pick Your Platform:

Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegardenmixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Indulge us on TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@the.garden.mixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Spar with us on X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@gardenmixerpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

“French Bistro” theme by Adieu Adieu. License D0LZBINY30GGTBBW

You’d like to go on vacation. Your family wants you to go on vacation. But you don’t know how to leave your garden. So you don’t go on vacation.

Wrong answer.

You NEED a vacation. You just need to prep your garden and make it Vacay-Ready.

This week Leslie and Marianne dive into what it really takes to leave your garden without the guilt. From prepping your plants to prepping your mindset, they want to help you take a break without sacrificing your blooms.

Whether you’re heading to the beach or taking a long weekend right in the middle of the growing season, you can come home to a thriving garden. With the right prep, your beans will be just fine.

All this plus the puzzling but indisputable link between testicles, armpit hair, and tomatoes.

It's another wildly inappropriate episode of The Garden Mixer, so carpe your diems and get that garden Vacay-Ready!

_______________________________

Be sure to hit the subscribe button so we can keep you smiling while you hit the mess [your garden] out there.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Garden Mixer |Podcast on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Full Show Notes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Garden Mixer Podcast’s Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

________________________________

Socials – Pick Your Platform:

Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegardenmixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Indulge us on TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@the.garden.mixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Spar with us on X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@gardenmixerpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

“French Bistro” theme by Adieu Adieu. License D0LZBINY30GGTBBW

Welcome back! The girls are rested, refreshed, reenergized, and ready to tackle the overgrown gardens that await them with the tools they love this week.

From can't-be-without pruners to surprising new finds, Leslie and Marianne dish the dirt on the implements that help them dig it.

Are brand names important? What’s a seckie? How do you pronounce Okasune? And what on earth is Marianne’s problem with the hori-hori and will the woman ever let it rest?

Apparently not.

Also up for discussion — herons, rabbits, the elusive golden shovel, and why these hard-working gardeners aren’t eating breakfast these days. Yep, it’s a random mix of wonderful and we’re so glad you’ve joined us.

__________________________________________________________

Be sure to hit the subscribe button so we can keep you smiling while you hit the mess [your garden] out there.

⁠⁠⁠⁠The Garden Mixer |Podcast on Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠

Full Show Notes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠The Garden Mixer Podcast’s Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠

________________________________

Socials – Pick Your Platform:

Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegardenmixer⁠⁠⁠⁠

Indulge us on TikTok ⁠⁠⁠⁠@the.garden.mixer⁠⁠⁠⁠

Spar with us on X ⁠⁠⁠⁠@gardenmixerpod⁠⁠⁠⁠

“French Bistro” theme by Adieu Adieu. License D0LZBINY30GGTBBW

Waaaayy back when this podcast was just Leslie doing Into the Garden with Leslie, Marianne was a frequent flyer even though she was just a guest at that time. In this episode, Marianne and Leslie team up with Scott Beuerlein to talk about their "Dear Gardener" correspondence on Garden Rant.

Next week Leslie and Marianne, are back, tanned rested and ready for the summer garden and they will be talking about tools!

This week we reach into the archives to bring you the first ever time Leslie interviewed Marianne on her podcast Into the Garden with Leslie. You can tell by the stilted convo and awkward silences that we didn't really hit it off, and we've been faking it ever since.

Actually, we hit it off so well that as an apt preview of what was to come, we go completely off of whatever topic Leslie had planned and roam all over the garden.

Marianne and Leslie are taking a scheduled summer break, so there are no notes on Substack that correspond to this episode, and no video version either.

We do this because we know that absence makes the heart grow fonder. Back soon!