Focus on Flowers
Focus on Flowers is a weekly podcast and public radio program about flower gardening hosted by master gardener Moya Andews.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 18 minutes
- Episodes
- 1784
- Years Active
- 2009 - 2025
Native Sidalcea
The genus Sidalcea is made up of species from western North America, and the best of the species is Sidalcea malviflora, so named because the flowers resemble mallows. The scientific name is actually…
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Thu 17 Apr 2025
Our Native Sidalcea
The scientific name Sidalcea is actually a combination of two related plant forms, “sida” and “alcea,” because it resembled both the mallow and the hollyhock. Common names are miniature hollyhock and…
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Thu 17 Apr 2025
Globe Amaranth
Globe amaranth has the botanical name Gomphrena globosa and adult butterflies love this pretty annual. The little round flower heads bloom for a long time in the sunny summer garden and into early fa…
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Thu 10 Apr 2025
Cimicifuga racemosa
Cimicifuga racemosa, commonly called bugbane, black snakeroot, or black cohosh, growing wild and planted it in his Pennsylvania garden. He then sent seeds to his friend Peter Collinson in England.
…
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Thu 03 Apr 2025
Soapwort
The plant variety that produces double flowers is Saponaria ‘Flora Pleno’, which is pale pink and white with a delicate scent.
Common names are soapwort and “bouncing bet.” The plant spreads a lot,…
00:02:00 |
Thu 27 Mar 2025
Flowers Across Time
Sara Coleridge wrote this poem in the 1800s.
"January brings snow, and makes our feet and fingers glow.
February brings the rain and thaws the frozen lake again.
March brings breezes loud and shrill…
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Thu 20 Mar 2025
Flower Anchors
If you have a garden, you probably enjoy displaying your flowers in your home. I have many small vases and bottles with narrow necks, so that I can pop just one or two flowers into them. When I come …
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Thu 13 Mar 2025
Microwave Drying
You may like to try drying your end of summer flowers in your microwave.
00:02:00 |
Thu 06 Mar 2025
Drying Flowers
The best way to air-dry most flowers is to hang them upside down in bunches in a dry dark place for 1-3 weeks. Take the leaves off the stems and bind 6-10 stems together tightly with rubber bands.
00:02:00 |
Thu 27 Feb 2025
Beatrix's Higgledy-Piggledy Hill Top
n 1906, Beatrix Potter acquired a farmhouse in the Lake District of England.
Her new house and garden became incorporated into her stories about the famous characters in her books, such as Peter Ra…
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Thu 20 Feb 2025
Pretty But Useful
Even as early as the 15th century in England, a time when gardens focused mainly on plants used in medicines and for cooking, there were a few plants grown because they produced beautiful flowers.
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Thu 13 Feb 2025
Poisonous Plants
Daphne, a shrub with tiny clusters of fragrant flowers, is poisonous as well as having sap that is a skin irritant. Just a few of Daphne's brightly colored berries could kill a child.
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Thu 30 Jan 2025
Amusing Quotations
I have avoided dealing with some pressing but boring tasks today by reading some amusing quotations about gardens and gardening. Here are some you may enjoy: Barbara Spindel wrote recently, "Gardens …
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Thu 23 Jan 2025
Nicholas Culpeper
Nicholas Culpeper was the son of an English clergyman, and he studied medicine at Cambridge University in the 17th century. When he began to practice, he gave plant medicines at minimal cost to his i…
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Thu 16 Jan 2025
Beth Chatto
In the 1960s, Beth Chatto started her garden on an unwanted wasteland in Essex, England. She was an ecologist and knew how to select plants that are adaptable to any conditions.
00:02:00 |
Thu 09 Jan 2025
Evergreen Holly
During the holidays, it is satisfying to be able to pick a vase of holly with bright red berries to decorate our homes. It is also a welcome gift to present to neighbors and friends.
00:02:00 |
Thu 02 Jan 2025
The Winter Garden
Stripped of its lush spring and summer growth, the winter garden nonetheless has a charm of its own. It is all about contours and shapes and the way the ice and snow transform items and add sparkle.
00:02:00 |
Thu 26 Dec 2024
Perfumed Gifts
If you are wondering what to buy as a holiday gift for a gardening friend, you can order a shrub now to be delivered next spring. There is a wonderful, scented viburnum that I have in my garden...
00:02:00 |
Thu 19 Dec 2024
Gifts for Gardeners
If you are looking for a holiday gift for a gardener, now is the time to order online. You will, of course, have a delivery date of next spring when it is safe to plant, but a notification of the spr…
00:02:00 |
Thu 12 Dec 2024
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