Garden Futurist Pacific Horticulture

Spring 2024 
Read the companion article here.
Learning to garden with fruit trees can connect you to unimaginable flavor experiences, a romance with non-commercial cultivars, and a willingness to try grafting. 
We spoke with Dr. Rachel Spaeth, Interim Curator of the Prunus Collection for the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Davis, CA about ways to support biodiversity conservation for real and the fascinating people and organizations who make it all possible.
This podcast was sponsored by: Flora Grubb Gardens

Spring 2024 
Read the companion article here.
For those who love a good mystery, the work to rediscover rare and thought-to-be-extinct heirloom varieties of apples is an incredible story.
17,000 named apple varieties were at one point cultivated in North America. Today, only a fraction remains.
David Benscoter, Founder of the Lost Apple Project, shares how committed sleuthing has led to the miraculous recovery of apples that have not been cultivated in 100 years.
This episode was sponsored by: Sunset Plant Collection

Read the article here.We know that the tree canopy plays a huge part in climate resilience. Urban centers are often the sites of first introductions of invasive pests and pathogens. Knowing what to look for can help us avoid unhealthy plants in our own gardens, but a bit of knowledge might just prevent real disaster. Protecting our urban forests takes all of us working together, professionals and community members.
Tyler Hale is the Program Manager of the Plant Protection Program and Sentinel Plant Network at the American Public Gardens Association. These programs share scouting resources, diagnostic support and educational materials to help public gardens stop serious pests and diseases by working on the front lines of early detection.  

Read the companion article here.
Invertebrates do so many important things. But beyond the benefits they provide to ecosystems, they’re fascinating creatures. When you look at them closely, bees are all sorts of metallic colors. There is a beautiful diversity of butterflies. Parasitoid wasps have amazing antenna that are branching in different directions. A lot of us just aren’t aware of them when we’re out in a garden or going for a walk, because so many of them are so small. The more people appreciate how cool they are and how important they are, hopefully the more interested they’ll be in conserving them and protecting them.
Aaron Anderson, Pesticide Program Specialist, Towns and Cities Lead, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
This episode is sponsored by: Sunset Plant Collection

Winter 2024 Read the companion article here. Invertebrates do so many important things. But beyond the benefits they provide to ecosystems, they’re fascinating creatures. When you look at them closely, bees are all sorts of metallic colors. There is a beautiful diversity of butterflies. Parasitoid wasps have amazing antenna that are branching in different directions. A lot of us just aren’t aware of them when we’re out in a garden or going for a walk, because so many of them are so small. The more people appreciate how cool they are and how important they are, hopefully the more interested…

Winter 2023
Read the companion article here.
This is a really special time of year and at Pacific Horticulture we are attempting to connect with nature in a way that may feel a bit off-kilter to many of us gardeners- we are embracing the darkness!  
Helping to introduce this topic, we have Katherine Renz, author of the recent article “The Night Garden: Design for Pollinators and People that Thrive Under Dark Skies.” 
We spoke with Dr. Shannon M. Murphy Professor at Department of Biological Sciences, University of Denver about her research on the impacts of artificial light at night on moths, herbivorous insects, and invasive plants and how gardeners can help support ecosystems at night.
This episode is sponsored by: Devil Mountain Nursery