Garden People Violetear Studio

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
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
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
a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/people-behind-collection/mary-delany"...

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
a href="https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/18-003_02_Monarch-Nectar-Plant-Lists-FS_web%20-%20Jessa%20Kay%20Cruz.pdf" rel="noopener...

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
L I S T E N
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
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
a href="https://amzn.to/3bwGFW1"...

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
L I S T E N
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
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

Today I welcome floral artist and flower friend and mentor, Sarah Statham of Simply by Arrangement. Whether writing from her corner of Yorkshire, England, or gardens farther afield, she is forever seeking light and the perfect pebble, and always celebrating color, form, and seasonality.
Her role as an educator extends beyond the vase, providing invaluable business advice through one to one conversations with numerous flower fettlers, both seasoned and new.
As much as I rely on her rock steady advice, it is her humor, love of learning, and keen sense of observation that I admire most. Perhaps it is due to the many roles she has held in her own life, but her ability to see and share stories is one of her greatest gifts. And since most of you will know her way with a bowl and a tulip or two, you’ll agree there are few in the same league.
Garden People Podcast from @violetear_studio
L I S T E N
iTunes
Spotify
Stitcher
S H O W N O T E S
Sarah Statham
Simply by Arrangement
Rachel, Yorkshire Flower Patch
Jill Shaddock
Miss Pickering, Stamford
Flowers from the Farm
Dove Cottage Nursery
Max Gill
Constance Spry
Beth Chatto
Christopher Lloyd
Sue Stuart Smith, The Well Gardened Mind: Restorative Power of Nature
Anna Pavord, The Tulip
Ian McEwan
The Business of Selling Flowers (Claire Brown, Paula Baxter, Carol Siddorn) - a href="https://www.thebusinessofsellingflowers.com/scholarship" rel="noopener noreferrer"...