Few flowers make a garden stop traffic quite like a dahlia. From tiny pom-poms to dinner plate-sized blooms, dahlias come in an almost unbelievable range of colors, shapes, and sizes. But behind those spectacular flowers is a gardener who knows the secrets of planting, feeding, staking, pinching, digging, and maybe even winning a ribbon or two at the county fair.

Today we're talking to Kelly Reardon, an expert dahlia grower, to find out how this obsession begins and what it takes to grow those incredible show quality blooms, and whether there is actually such a thing as enough dahlias.

Eating foraged plants should only be done by experts, eating foraged plants may result in being poisoned. While the edibility of plants is discussed in this podcast, you should not consume foraged plants or mushrooms without the in-person advice from an expert.

The Petal & Plot Pod features seasonal plant origin stories and seasonal garden tips. Hosted by Aneesa Adams and Eric Ketchum, owners of Petal & Plot Garden Design in Minnesota.

Email garden questions to: petalnplot@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram: @petalnplot

Book a consultation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠petalnplot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Theme music by Mia Calhan Burgstede and CB Compton.

Picture an early August afternoon in the Midwest. The sun is blazing, the air feels thick enough to wear. You step outside and within minutes your shirt is damp, your hair is sticking to your face, and the weather app tells you it's ninety two degrees, but it feels like a hundred and eight. Today we're talking about corn sweat.

By August, the garden starts sending alarming group text. The hydrangea has yellow leaves, the peony looks dusted with powdered sugar, and something has punched holes in the iris. Five minutes later, you're standing in the pesticide aisle diagnosing root rot, mites, and emotional abandonment from the one blurry photo you gave. Today we're talking late summer plant forensics. How to tell ordinary seasonal decline from disease, insect damage.

Eating foraged plants should only be done by experts, eating foraged plants may result in being poisoned. While the edibility of plants is discussed in this podcast, you should not consume foraged plants or mushrooms without the in-person advice from an expert.

The Petal & Plot Pod features seasonal plant origin stories and seasonal garden tips. Hosted by Aneesa Adams and Eric Ketchum, owners of Petal & Plot Garden Design in Minnesota.

Email garden questions to: petalnplot@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram: @petalnplot

Book a consultation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠petalnplot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Theme music by Mia Calhan Burgstede and CB Compton.

The sun hangs low and red, and the air smells faintly of burning wood. A summer afternoon looks more like an apocalyptic sunset and an air alert pop oops and an alert pops up on your phone. Air quality is unhealthy. Today we're heading north into the vast boreal forest to look into why all these wildfires are happening.

By August, the hostas have lost a bar fight with the slugs. The daylilies are wearing yesterday's makeup, and half the garden has stopped returning emails. Meanwhile, perennial grasses arrive backlit, windswept, feeding birds, sheltering insects, and acting like they were booked for a fall-fashion campaign. Today, we're talking about the beauties, the floppers, and the native grasses doing ecological work while looking fabulous.

Eating foraged plants should only be done by experts, eating foraged plants may result in being poisoned. While the edibility of plants is discussed in this podcast, you should not consume foraged plants or mushrooms without the in-person advice from an expert.

The Petal & Plot Pod features seasonal plant origin stories and seasonal garden tips. Hosted by Aneesa Adams and Eric Ketchum, owners of Petal & Plot Garden Design in Minnesota.

Email garden questions to: petalnplot@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram: @petalnplot

Book a consultation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠petalnplot.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Theme music by Mia Calhan Burgstede and CB Compton.