Plants Always Win

Sean Patchett and Erin Alladin
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Plants Always Win

Plants Always Win is a podcast where two Ontario gardeners dive down plant-fact rabbit-holes, answer audience questions, interview intriguing guests, and compete to bring you the most interesting stories and information. We care about ecologically sound gardening, strong human communities, and up-to-date science.

Episodes

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    Ep.5 Pokemon Ecology with Alex Meinders

    We’re always pretty nerdy on Plants Always Win, but in this interview episode Alex Meinders helps us take it to a whole new level. He’s a wildlife biologist and videogame enthusiast whose passion project is the YouTube and TikTok channel Geek Ecology. He uses his real-world science know-how to analyze the biology and ecology of Pokémon—yes, those quirky monsters from the cartoon, card game, and video games. This week Alex speculates with us about the plant-inspired class of grass-type Pokémon. We consider their place in the food web (are they animals or vegetables?), their evolutionary history (what environmental pressure caused them to look like plants?) and their methods of reproduction (do they create clones by seed and genetic diversity by egg?). If you’re worried about missing out on real-world plant talk, never fear! We dig into some fascinating plants along the way, including the parasitic corpse flower, the piratical ghost pipe, and mandrakes, which really do look like that.  Find Alex on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@geekecology), TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@geekecology), and Twitter (https://x.com/geek_ecology) at @GeekEcology.Fact Check:We promised some fact-checking during the episode! Here are the results: Alex brought up the subject of a tissue-culture mammoth meatball that made news headlines. This was created in 2023 by Australian company Vow as a way to bring attention to their cultivated meat products. It turns out the meatball was not eaten since no one knows how our immune systems will react to protein from 10,000-year-old DNA. If someone wanted to eat it, the company would need to re-do the process with closer attention paid to the needs of regulators. But it’s a great story (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/28/meatball-mammoth-created-cultivated-meat-firm?CMP=share_btn_url)!The Pokémon Grimer was part of Generation 1 (https://pokemon.fandom.com/wiki/Generation_I), which came out in Japan in 1996. Points to Sean for remembering that accurately.It was actually four different fish who beat Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, since, for health reasons, their owner swapped in a different one every twelve hours. But, yes,

    44 min

  2. 12/31/2024

    Ep4. Bay Leaves VS Mustard Seed

    In this Versus episode, it’s the battle of herbs and spices. Get your fill of these fascinating aromatic plants that have flavoured our food and changed our history since paleolithic times...

    47 min

  3. 12/24/2024

    Ep.3 Garden Education with Paul Zammit

    In this interview episode, Sean chats with Paul Zammit about the life of a garden communicator. Paul has had a long career in horticulture and is presently a professor of Horticulture and Environmental Studies at Niagara College as well as CBC’s Ontario Today gardening expert—although “expert” is a term he would like to contest. After all, we never stop learning, and that’s especially true in the garden. Paul and Sean talk about selfish gardening (taking space from nature for ourselves) compared to building a biodiverse space that wildlife can enjoy alongside us—even if that means broadening our definition of beauty. They lament the spread of incomplete and untrue gardening tips online, although they’re still excited about the information-sharing power of social media. And although they’d happily talk forever, they force themselves to wrap up the conversation by answering some listener questions about insect-afflicted ash trees and re-blooming orchids. Find Paul on Instagram at @paulsplantpix (https://www.instagram.com/paulsplantpix/)  Paul Zammit is a professor at  Niagara College’s School of Environment and Horticulture (https://www.niagaracollege.ca/environment/). He can be found giving garden advice on CBC’s Ontario Today program (https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.6511177) He occasionally co-leads international tours (https://www.facebook.com/p/Great-Garden-Tours-with-Marjorie-Mason-Jeff-Mason-and-Paul-Zammit-100057629281767/) of public and private gardens. Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment? Email us (mailto:plantsalwaysinpodcast@gmail.com), reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon (http://patreon.com/PlantsAlwaysWinPodcast). Instagram: @plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.instagram.com/plantsalwayswinpodcast/) Facebook: plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.facebook.com/plantsalwayswinpodcast)

    58 min

  4. 12/18/2024

    Ep2: Poinsettia VS Amaryllis

    In this “versus” episode, Erin and Sean face off with two big holiday plants: Poinsettias and Amaryllis. Erin comes in swinging with the fraught history of settler (Poinsettia) and Indigenous (cuetlaxochitl) names for her plant, but Sean pushes back with the romantic (or is it?) mythology behind amaryllis. Both contenders shatter misconceptions (Poinsettias are not toxic! Some amaryllis are imposters!) and share care tips for keeping these festive flora in good shape during the holidays and year round. A few tangents slip in about specialist insects that thrive on toxic plants and the way plants interpret light and darkness. And of course we get a plant rant about florists and nurseries using spray paint and glitter. The episode wraps up with a listener question about how late she can plant an evergreen tree. Who won the Plant Face-Off? Was it Erin with poinsettias or Sean with amaryllis? You decide! Send your vote by email or on Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook with the hashtag #PAWFaceOff. Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment? Email us (mailto:plantsalwaysinpodcast@gmail.com), reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon (http://patreon.com/PlantsAlwaysWinPodcast). Instagram: @plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.instagram.com/plantsalwayswinpodcast/) Facebook: plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.facebook.com/plantsalwayswinpodcast) TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.tiktok.com/@plantsalwayswinpodcast) Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com (http://www.plantsalwayswin.com) CreditsWebsite Design and Illustration

    48 min

  5. 12/15/2024

    Ep1: Erin VS Sean

    In this pilot episode of Plants Always Win, Erin and Sean give the Plant Face-Off a trial run…with a twist. Instead of competing for viewers’ votes with the most interesting information about a plant or gardening concept, they go head to head with competing interviews of each other. Find out what theft has to do with Erin’s early forays into gardening, why she makes content about gardening with chronic illness and disability, and how talking about plants every week complements her literary life. Then learn how Sean’s mom got him into a horticulture career, explore the pros and cons of the profession, and get excited about Sean’s dreams for a botanical garden in Muskoka, Ontario. We wrap up with some impromptu (and impassioned) tangents on invasive plants in garden centres, cities that plant only male trees, cultivars vs. nativars, and permaculture. Find Sean online at @GardenGuyMuskoka on TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@gardenguymuskoka) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/gardenguymuskoka/).Find Erin online at @EarthUndaunted on TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@earthundaunted), @ErinAlladin on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/erinalladin/), and at https://earthundaunted.com/ (http://earthundaunted.com). Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment? Email us (mailto:plantsalwaysinpodcast@gmail.com), reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon (http://patreon.com/PlantsAlwaysWinPodcast). Instagram: @plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.instagram.com/plantsalwayswinpodcast/)Facebook: plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.facebook.com/plantsalwayswinpodcast)TikTok: @plantsalwayswinpodcast (https://www.tiktok.com/@plantsalwayswinpodcast)Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com (http://www.plantsalwayswin.com) CreditsWebsite Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays (https://click.pstmrk.it/3s/uppbeat.io%2Ft%2Fsoundroll%2Fwhen-my-ukulele-plays/vZub/6Aa1AQ/AQ/f58651af-7a63-4069-8f2f-b4d30f71c8a4/4/MDMaaK2LMO)License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH 00:52 What's Growing On?1:00: Erin vs. Quack Grass2:17 Sean's Zone 4 Fruit Trees3:27 Raccoons 1 | Chickens 04:50 First Frosts6:24 Plant Face-Off7:00 Sean's topic: Erin7:52 Stealing Gardens from Parents8:50 Gardening with Chronic Illness12:40 Why Erin Agreed to Do This Podcast13:52 Our Wives Think We’re Big Nerds15:37 Erin's Least Favourite Thing About Gardening19:15 Erin's Topic: Sean19:20 Blame it on Sean's Mom21:16 The Garden Labour Trap22:57 The Master Gardeners of Ontario24:00 Running a Landscaping Business26:09 The Muskoka Botanical Garden Dream27:26: Why Sean Started This Podcast28:53: Sean's Rant: Stop Selling Invasive Plants33:51 Erin's Rant: Male-Only City Trees33:22 Nativars and Cultivars38:17 Selfish Gardening vs. Permaculture41:26 Contact Us & Outro

    43 min
  • 5 Episodes

About

Plants Always Win is a podcast where two Ontario gardeners dive down plant-fact rabbit-holes, answer audience questions, interview intriguing guests, and compete to bring you the most interesting stories and information. We care about ecologically sound gardening, strong human communities, and up-to-date science.

Information

  • Creator
    Sean Patchett and Erin Alladin
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Plants Always Win
  • Show Website
    Plants Always Win

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