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PODCAST

Focus on Flowers

Indiana Public Media

Focus on Flowers is a weekly podcast and public radio program about flower gardening hosted by master gardener Moya Andews.

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All Episodes

02:00

The Winter Solstice

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/12/21

The first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere is marked by the winter solstice, which for example, in the year 2023 occurs on December 21. For the northern part of the Earth, the winter solstice always occurs annually on either December 21 or 22. This solstice marks the day with the fewest hours of sunshine in the year, which means that it is described as the shortest day. After the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer until in the following June, we reach the summer

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02:00

Winter Words of Wisdom

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/12/20

This winter I have been reading some garden writer’s words of wisdom, which now I will share with you. In 1899, Gertrude Jekyll wrote: “For I hold it that the best purpose of a garden is to give delight and to give refreshment of mind, to soothe, to refine and to lift up the heart.”And Sara Stein in 1988 wrote:“January is the best time for gardeners. From the window of the attic where I write, the gardens are bare to their bones, neat and clean, nicely edged, weed free. They are an empty

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02:00

Jewel Orchids as House Plants

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/12/18

Many tropical plants, and also some temperate zone plants that resemble tropicals, make excellent house plants in cold climates. One fairly easy to grow but underused example is the South East Asian native with the common name of jewel orchid. Its botanical name is Ludisia discolor. This is a terrestrial plant that grows in soil in a pot, and it has narrow leaves. The color of the leaves varies from dark red to maroon and there is striking veining. The leaves grow on succulent stems that

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02:00

Hoya

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/12/11

Epiphytes are plants that get nourishment from the air. They are non-parasitic, but they frequently, for example orchids, grow on another plant such as a tree. When they are grown in a pot, epiphytes prefer a growing medium made up of two parts soil-less mixture and one-part fine bark mix. A favorite house plant of many people is the hoya, an epiphyte vine that is commonly called wax plant. There are many varieties of this plant, and the shape, color and texture of the leaves depends on the

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02:00

Annuals for Pots

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/12/04

Torenia is a pretty annual that hails from tropical African and Asian woodlands. This branching annual is not frost hardy but grows rapidly to a height of about 12 inches with a spread of 8 inches. It flowers in summer and fall, producing racemes of trumpet-shaped, two-lipped flowers that look a bit like snapdragon blooms. There are two lobes on the upper lips and three lobes on the lower lips. Torenias make attractive plants for containers in sheltered positions. Pinch out the growing

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01:59

Neglectable Houseplants

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/11/27

In her book Making Things Grow---a Practical Guide for the Indoor Gardener, Thalassa Cruso calls succulents “neglectable plants.” That is because all fleshy-leaved succulents are slow to lose the water stored in their leaves. They also can go into dormancy to conserve water during drought. Cruso says that is why succulents make such good houseplants, thriving in the hot dry conditions in our homes and allowing us to, on occasion, neglect them. Of course, the degree of succulence in the

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02:00

Hyacinth Bulbs for Fall Planting

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/11/20

Hyacinths were first found growing in Asia, but because of the efforts of Dutch growers, there are now many varieties in the genus Hyacinthus. Most bloom in the spring from bulbs planted in the fall. The showiest are the bedding size ones with masses of florets completely surrounding 10” stems. They are dramatic planted in the sun in groups. Probably because of their strong fragrance, deer avoid them. Deer also avoid the smaller, very hardy and versatile grape hyacinth, Muscari armeniacum,

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02:00

Sage

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/11/13

Even after a heavy frost, the stalwart perennial sage plant stands erect in the garden. It shows its elegant silvery grey color even in winter reminding us that next spring it will give us fragrant lavender flowers. Common garden sage, Salvia officinalis, is a staple in the herb garden and a plant for all seasons. The genus Salvia contains both aromatic and non-aromatic varieties, and the name is from the Latin word meaning safe or healthy. There are over 700 species, both annuals and

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01:59

Keats' Autumn

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/11/06

In the autumn our gardens are mellow and yet the end of the growing season is bittersweet. As we work in our gardens and put them to bed we are reminded of some of our favorite poetry. This poem is an excerpt from the well-known "Ode to Autumn" by John Keats who lived from 1795-1821. Ode to Autumn Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness! Close bosom- friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

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01:59

Allium

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/10/30

Alliums are members of the onion family, and the bulbs are planted in the fall and extend the bloom spring-bulb season.The most spectacular is Allium giganteum with tall, stiff stems tapped with globes, averaging 5 inches in diameter. These flowering onions look exotic floating above the other plants. Colors range from white through lavender to dark purple. Plant a ribbon of these bulbs in the center of a perennial bed or put them around hostas, ferns, or daylilies to provide exclamation

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01:59

Virginia Sweetspire

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/10/23

If you garden in zones 5 through 9 and are looking for a small to medium shrub that has fall color, Itea virginica, commonly called Virginia Sweetspire, may be a good candidate for you. It has an upright growth habit and flowers in early summer. The flowers are white and like bottle brushes with nectar that is sought after by butterflies and other insects. Itea is a shrub that does well in sun or shade, which is a handy asset when surrounding plantings either grow up or die down, thereby

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01:59

Winterberry

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/10/16

From late fall through winter, Ilex verticillata produces a grand display of bright red berries that persist and light up its branches long after all the leaves have fallen. Commonly called winterberry, but also known as Michigan holly or swamp holly, this is a deciduous type of holly for cold climates. However, only the female plants produce the colorful berries. Gardeners must plant one male near 3 to 5 females to ensure good pollination and fruiting. They perform best in full sun in acid

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01:59

Amsonia: Blue Stars

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/10/10

There are some perennials that provide an added bonus of foliage that changes color in the fall. For example, some species of Amsonia feature brilliant yellow foliage. The common name is blue stars, as the plants have pretty little blue flowers in the spring. Another, less poetic common name is dogbane. The narrow leaves are lancelike, similar to the foliage of a willow, and the stems have a milky sap. All Amsonias are native to North America and like full sun or partial shade and moist

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01:59

Autumn Textures

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/10/06

In Autumn, not only do the colors in the garden seem richer and more mellow, but textures also assume a more dominant role in plantings.The tall sedums become focal points in the perennial beds with their intricate flower heads and fleshy leaves. The flat shape of the flower heads makes perfect platforms for bees and butterflies.Trees, such as Japanese maples, and shrubs, such as Smokebush and Ninebark, add the darker notes to the symphony of leaf colors, and vines such as Sweet Autumn

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02:00

Thinking Ahead

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/09/25

Most of our flowering plants are past their prime in fall, exhausted after their exuberant earlier displays. As we walk around our gardens, we notice all those brown stalks we need to remove from the daylilies, and lots of spent plants with shabby foliage that needs cutting back.Aggressive perennials, such as monarda and black-eyed Susans may have increased to the point where we will have to get rid of some. If the soil isn’t too dry, excess monarda can be pulled quite easily.Perennials

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02:00

Fall Deadheading and Winter Potpourri

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/09/18

The autumnal equinox occurs during the third week of September. It is the time when the sun crosses the equator making day and night of equal length on all points of the earth. After the equinox in Autumn, the days grow shorter. In September we stop fertilizing plants, but we continue deadheading our fall bloomers, as we want flowers to continue coming until frost. The purpose of cutting off the spent flowers is so the plant won’t produce seeds. Once seeds are set, a plant shuts down

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01:59

Chrysanthemums

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/09/11

Chrysanthemums have been grown and hybridized for many centuries it is difficult to determine their parentage. It seems though, that they originated in China. Confucius wrote of them in 500 BC. The ancient Chinese valued plants for their symbolic and moral associations, and the chrysanthemums which blooms in autumn, when other plants are dying off, was esteemed as a life-prolonging herb. Chrysanthemums went to Japan in the fourth century and became its national flower. They were introduced

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02:00

The Fairy Rose

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/09/05

Greek frescoes from the second millennium B.C. show what is believed to be the earliest known representation of a rose. The name, according to legend, is because a woman of exquisite beauty, Rhodanthe, was turned into a beautiful rose.Roses grew abundantly in medieval gardens where the rose petals were compressed to make rosaries.Roses have been loved since antiquity, and today there are countless species, hybrids and cultivars represented in the genus "rosa." Those with the showiest

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01:57

Gladiolus

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/08/28

The name "gladiolus," is from a Latin word meaning "little sword" because of the shape of the plant's leaves. They grow from corms, which are planted flat side down, two inches apart and at least 4 inches deep. They look best if planted in clumps rather than rows, and they must have full sun.The vertical flower spikes that open from the bottom up are used by florists to provide height in large formal arrangements. They have been hybridized extensively to produce all colors except blue.A

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02:00

Dedicated Beds

Focus on Flowers ·

2025/08/21

I am lucky to have a large garden space and so I have the luxury of being able to dedicate some of my beds to a single perennial species.Dianthus, alone in a small bed, can be pretty as the foliage is neat and forms a weed- suppressing mat above which the pretty, little flowers are held aloft.I have a bed of only pure white German iris that I love for its purity and conformity. And one year my pink Japanese anemones took over a whole bed on the side of my yard, outside my fence, so I just

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