Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care

 Have you ever dreamed of turning a simple fish tank into a lush underwater jungle? Or maybe you're like me, and you have a partner who isn't really into houseplants but is fascinated by those YouTube videos about turning aquariums into these swaying underwater jungles?

You or your partner are gonna love this Best of Growing Joy Replay Episode when, a few years ago, I sat down with Karen Randall. She's the author of Sunken Gardens and an aquatic gardening expert, and we break down everything you need to know to start your first planted aquarium. You'll ga...

Happy Leave the Leaves Month, plant friends! Did you guys know that was a thing that plant parents celebrate in October? It's actually one of the simplest, most low-maintenance, and laziest things that you could do to increase the diversity in your yard and save the planet!

And the perfect person to talk to about that is none other than my plant friend, David Mizejewski, a naturalist from the National Wildlife Federation, and a total plant nerd. He made a compelling argument for why we should all leave our leaves with intention. Let's dive in!

 What is it that makes hoyas so irresistible that buying your first hoya often leads to having 40 in the few months to follow? In this listener favorite of the Best of Growing Joy series, I am bringing back a conversation with Doug Chamberlain of Vermont Hoya. Doug is one of the most beloved Hoya experts online, and we dive into their dazzling diversity, surprising care quirks, and intoxicating flowers.

Doug makes a very strong argument that every person in the world should care for Hoyas and know all the specifics that you need to know in order to...

Have you ever wondered why your hoyas or pothos sometimes send out those long and wild tendrils that seem to have a mind of their own? I certainly have a windowsill full of hoyas doing this right now. There really isn’t a super “secret” technique. Most of our houseplants are just natural climbers that grow up trees in search of light and use those tendrils for support. So I invited over my new plant friend, Ara from Propagation Diaries, to share her best tips about everything you need to know about indoor houseplant trellises, whether it be choosing the ri...

Did you know that brightness has nothing to do with how much energy your plants actually receive from light? In this episode, I’m joined by horticulturist and author Leslie Halleck, who literally wrote the book Gardening Under Lights. Together, we’ll break down the science of indoor grow lights in a simple, approachable way—so you can confidently choose the right setup to keep your plants thriving all winter long (and beyond).

In this episode, we learn:

Where do you even start if your dream is to turn that blank slate into a gorgeous garden? You’ve just moved into a new house. The keys are in your hands, you’re staring at your front door and also at a lot of lawn and maybe some unappealing landscaping. Good thing, plant friends, that I got to dive into this question with ecologist, writer, and new author Becky Searle (@sow_much_more), who just wrote Grow a New Garden! The book is all about how garden design can work with instead of against nature, so you can crea...

 What if caring for a tiny tree could teach you patience, presence, and even a new way of looking at life? That, my friends, is the magic of the art of Bonsai. It is a very specific practice that requires very specific care that I often get questions about. And so today I've decided to re-release an old episode where I interviewed Bonsai master, Bjorn from Eisei-en Bonsai.

You might know him from his incredible YouTube videos all about Bonsai basics: what makes Bonsai different, their growing media, how you care for them, the fascinating history, and t...

Interested in joining Maria on a retreat like this? Join the waitlist! http://growingjoywithmaria.com/retreat

Three days with no phone, no laptop, no social media notifications buzzing in my ear. It’s just me, the forest, and goats that became some of my best friends! And I achieved all of this when I visited Hemlock Neversink in Castskills last month to commit a full digital detox. I swapped screen time for barefoot hikes, yoga, forest bathing, goat cuddles, painting under the trees, and even a little moss-gazing. And my nervous system hit reset in a way I...

Are you running out of space for your plants? Growing your plant collection can be quite the challenge when all your countertops, tablespace and even floorspace have been populated with your plant babies. Don’t fret any longer, plant friends, as we got the most beautiful and mess-free DIY projects for you to make the most out of your vertical space at home! In this episode, learn alongside me as Erin Harding of @houseplantclub and @cleverbloom gives us step-by-step tutorials on three amazing yet easy DIYs for your vertical garden.

In this episode, we learn:

Plant friends, if you’ve hung around the plant community for any amount of time, you know some sub-groups go deep, and one of the most passionate is the Alocasia lovers/enthusiasts. These people are ferocious about their alocasias, and one of their most controversial topics is corm propagation.

If you’ve never heard of it, I hadn’t either until Instagram kept showing me those little plant “nuggets.” So I called in backup: my friend Lindsay Sisti, aka the Alocasia Queen behind All The Plant Babies and the author of the book The Ultimate Guide to Houseplant...

The monstera might just be the most iconic houseplant of all time. Those bold, split leaves show up everywhere in logos, restaurant décor, and home goods, making it instantly recognizable. But bringing a monstera home and helping it thrive so it grows big, beautiful, and full of those signature splits takes a little know-how. Today, we’re revisiting one of my very first 20 episodes of Growing Joy in our Best of series with my plant friend Scott Cain, an Australian plant enthusiast with over 200 plants, including an incredible monstera collection. He’s the creator behind Boys With Plants on In...

What if I told you that the most dominant plant in your garden isn't the rose that you love or the towering sunflower, but the little clover, the little guys creeping along the ground? They're called groundcovers, and they fight weeds, save water, prevent erosion, and can even replace your lawn. I had an amazing conversation with Kathy Jentz, author of “Groundcover Revolution,” and we talked about how these humble plants can change your space and make it much more eco-friendly and beautiful.

In this episode, we learn:

I'm thrilled to be sharing this planty conversation with my #plantfriendIRL, Kevin Espiritu from Epic Gardening! Kevin and I recently met IRL in San Diego and clicked immediately. He is a wonderfully curious Botanical Bro who has the most incredible Urban Gardening setup in his home in San Diego. Our journeys to plant parenthood are very similar but revolve around different passions: indoor (mine) and outdoor (his). Today we talk about our different interests, the similarities and differences between indoor and outdoor gardening, and container gardening for those of us who might want to try gardening outdoors! I hope...

You've probably heard the phrase, “Go touch grass.” It's usually thrown around online when someone needs to log off and reconnect with reality. But the act of touching grass, literally putting your bare feet or hands on the earth, is scientifically proven to reset your mood. It's known as earthing (or grounding), and it's been proven to reduce inflammation, boost your energy, improve sleep, and even help your body heal. So I specifically sent Dr. Gaétan Chevalier an email to have him on the show to explain everything we need to know about earthing. With 15 years of experience, he’s...

Today I welcome Lisa Eldred Steinkopf, otherwise known as the “Houseplant Guru,” to the show for an enlightening conversation about how to care for plants in low-light environments and what the best beginner, advanced, and interesting low-light-tolerant plant choices we can make. We discuss how to truly understand if we have low light and several hacks to capitalize on the light we have, and she suggests some really interesting plants besides your normal pothos, dracaena, and snake plants we know so well. Lisa is the author of Grow in the Dark: How to Choose and Care for Low Light Housepl...

Plant friends, I have to tell you about someone who has completely blown my mind this gardening season! Her name is Lily, and she happens to be my brother's girlfriend, which means I've had a front-row seat to watch her absolutely blossom as a first-time gardener. She nailed it on her first try, and I mean that she has had the most incredible success I think I have ever seen from a beginner. In this episode, you're going to hear about how she and my brother were pretty much harvesting and eating from her garden every single day for...

Garlic is a staple in so many savory dishes, but if you've only ever cooked with the sad grocery store bulbs, it's time to see garlic's true potential by growing your own. The depth of flavor and variety that homegrown garlic offers blows store-bought out of the water. Lucky for us, plant friends, growing our own garlic at home is so easy! In this episode, homesteader extraordinaire Jill Winger walks us through how to grow garlic step-by-step, select varieties, grow, harvest, and store your own garlic for a steady supply of flavorful garlic all year long.

Garlic is a staple in so many savory dishes, but if you've only ever cooked with the sad grocery store bulbs, it's time to see garlic's true potential by growing your own. The depth of flavor and variety that homegrown garlic offers blows store-bought out of the water. Lucky for us, plant friends, growing our own garlic at home is so easy! In this episode, homesteader extraordinaire Jill Winger walks us through how to grow garlic step-by-step, select varieties, grow, harvest, and store your own garlic for a steady supply of flavorful garlic all year long.

If you love your dog as much as you love your monstera or other houseplants, you’ve probably run into this dilemma: how do you keep your plants alive without putting your pup at risk? This has been a problem for plant parents who are also pet parents. Some plants are toxic, some dogs are curious nibblers, and sometimes it feels like your plants and your pets are destined to clash. To figure this out, I talked with Dudley, the plant lover behind Pablo’s Plants on Instagram and TikTok. His brand centers on his golden retriever, Pablo, and he’s h...

If you’re an edible gardener, chances are you’ve found yourself staring at a heaping bowl of tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, or carrots, wondering how on earth you’re going to eat them all before they go bad.

In this Best of Growing Joy replay, I’m revisiting my conversation with Stephanie Thurow, a certified master food preserver and bestselling author of several books on canning and fermenting. Stephanie shares everything you need to know to get started with home canning while making the whole process feel safe, approachable, and fun.

In this episo...

What do a theater kid, a Venus flytrap, and a million TikTok followers have in common? Abundance… and my new plant friend Brian from Redleaf Ranch! Brian is the viral TikTok gardener you've probably come across if you spend any time in plant social media. He's the guy who makes you say "abundance!" out loud, and he’s here to talk about his approach to abundance and gratitude, plus how he used gardening as a tool for personal growth and community building.

In this episode, we learn:

What if your next plant project wasn’t just a container of soil and greenery—but a living, breathing world? In this Best of Growing Joy episode, we revisit a wonderful conversation I had a couple years back with terrarium expert Patricia from Doodle Bird Terrariums to explore the captivating art of creating terrariums, paludariums, and vivariums—miniature ecosystems that blend plants, animals, water, and even mist into magical displays. Because let's be real, in times like these, we need a little more whimsy in our lives. So get ready to get inspired to build your own thriving little univer...

If you’ve ever watched your fiddle leaf fig drop all its leaves, battled fungus gnats that fly into your ear, or poured water on your plant only to watch it run straight through the pot without soaking in, this is your wake-up call. I called in the big guns for this one with my plant friend Mandi from Happy Happy Houseplant. Between our two communities, these are the plant problems we get asked about the most, and she’s got science-backed fixes for each of them. We’re going to be talking about failing fiddle leaf figs, fungus gnats tha...

When I polled our listener community about your top requests for outdoor garden-related episodes, the number one request surprised me: it wasn’t managing fertilizer, succession planting, or garden design. It was how to manage pesky animals getting into your gardens! Today, I have the answer to your prayers: Brie from briegrows.com walks us through such a comprehensive list of practices and solutions for managing pests and other critters in the garden. This conversation really helps us rethink the way we approach animals in the garden, and I’m excited for you to learn from Brie as I did...

I thought I had a pretty deep connection with plants. I mean, this podcast is literally about talking to them (and about them). But after 300+ episodes, this is the only conversation that impacted my daily interaction with plants. My guest, LoriAnn Bird, an Indigenous Métis herbalist and author of Revered Roots, introduced a concept of “plants as our relatives.” Elders. Teachers. Sovereign beings. And once you start viewing them that way, you can’t unsee it. You will realize that we all need to take care of what takes care of us. Listen in and join the conversation!

We are joined by Chris today for another installment of our Plant Science Series featuring The Sill! Orchid 101 is near and dear to my heart because I STRUGGLE with orchids, and Chris has been my go-to resource for personal orchid care. So I knew he would be the perfect guest to have come on the show and answer your orchid questions!

If you don’t know already, The Sill is a plant brand with two brick-and-mortar shops in NYC and an online shop that delivers nationwide. Their quality of plants and the way they ship plants is un...

Are you looking at your basket filled with zucchini (and cucumbers) that you’ve harvested this summer? You might also be wondering what you can do with them because there’s only so much roasted zucchini and pickled cucumber one person can take. You’re in the perfect place, because in this episode, I invited one of my favorite plant people, Kaleb Wyse of Wyse Guide. Kaleb’s a modern homesteader, gardener, storyteller, and now a New York Times bestselling cookbook author!

He joined us to chat about all the ways to actually enjoy your zucchini harvests aside from...

Today’s episode is about exactly what the title says: our brains… on plants, and what happens in our brains when we become plant people. When I was starting to move from plant killer to crazy plant lady, I noticed there were a few months at the beginning of my plant collection where I felt like the love for plants kind of took over my life. I was constantly buying new plants, going to plant shops, and researching plants on the internet. I was having so much fun with this new hobby, but for a moment, it felt like I co...

Your plant parent story might have started with some humble pothos. It’s forgiving, fast-growing, and honestly, it’s probably the most underrated plant in most of our collections. But there is so much more to the pothos that you might be missing out on. So in this episode, we’re going to talk about pothos way beyond the basics with the help of my plant friend Justin Hancock of Costa Farms.

Justin started in horticultural publishing before joining Costa Farms to assist with their marketing. His role at Costa Farms now involves testing how new plant varieti...

Houseplants are celebrated for their amazing foliage, but I think we overlook another amazing ability, a specific subcategory our favorite indoor plants have — the ability to bloom! Some people say we are intrinsically connected to flowers because, way back when, they signified fruit.

Personally, I just think they are joyful as hell with their bright colors, and let's be frank, we all need a little more joy and color in our lives. To give us a better grasp of this beautiful subcategory, I've invited back Lisa of The Houseplant Guru to talk about the must-knows of houseplants th...

This year, I had the joy of hosting a live Growing Joy popup at the Southeast Plant Show. I’ve been fortunate to attend a few plant events lately, but this one felt special in a way that’s hard to describe. The energy was electric! The people were overflowing with joy, and the plants were everything.

If you love to connect with plant people, discover trending varieties, and just soak up good vibes, the Southeast Plant Show is a must. It’s a plant parent’s dream, with over 120 vendors representing everything from tropical houseplants to handmade pot...

I feel like there comes a time in every plant parent's life when we start to get really curious and excited about having a dedicated space for all of our plants. If you are an outdoor gardener, the promise of a greenhouse for seed starts and overwintering plants is even more promising! I’ve had several different moments in life where I’ve Googled greenhouse kits but never crossed the finish line due to the overwhelming and somewhat intimidating aspect of installing them properly (and the price tag). Hopefully, this episode will set you up for success if you feel...

Have you ever felt drawn to a specific tree—and wondered why? You might already be receiving messages without realizing it.

In this episode of Growing Joy, I sat down with intuitive nature expert and green witch Rachael Cohen of Our Infinite Nature to explore one of the most fascinating and overlooked topics in the natural world: tree communication. From the underground mycelial networks to intuitive connections and bioelectrical signals, this conversation will change the way you see the trees around you.

In this episode, we learn:

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a homesteader? A growing number of people are turning to self-sufficiency and sustainability in their way of living. However, homesteading can seem intimidating, especially when social media portrays it as an exclusive lifestyle requiring acres of land and living off the grid. The good news is that it doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing lifestyle! In this episode, learn how Stephanie Thurow and Michelle Bruhn, co-authors of the book Small Scale Homesteading and absolute BFFs, are making homesteading accessible to everyone—no matter how much land you have. They share the...

Did you know that some common outdoor plants have superpowers? Some can survive atomic bombing, clean up radiation, and even outsmart insects. This is Part 2 of my conversation with David Domoney, author of Plants with Superpowers, about the superpowers of outdoor plants. These plants can completely change how you walk down the street and look at nature.

Listen to Part 1 of our conversation about indoor plant superpowers here.

In this episode, we learn:

Did you know that lavender comes in dozens of varieties, each with a different smell, and many with different growing habits? I did learn that from Rebecca at Lavender Connection, who owns a family-run lavender farm in Sequim, Washington, which also happens to be the lavender capital of the United States! After meeting her at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, where her beautiful lavender scents were wafting over to my booth all day, I knew I had to have her on the podcast to share her incredible expertise.

In this episode, we learn:

Have you ever killed a succulent and then felt like you were completely doomed as a plant parent? That was totally me about eight years ago. I brought succulents home because everyone said they were the easiest, most foolproof plant. Yet I still managed to kill them. Naturally, I spent a lot of time thinking I was just a plant killer. However, I eventually learned that succulents aren’t fool proof. And if you’ve had your heart broken by one (or five), it might not have totally been your fault. Maybe it just wasn’t the right plant for you...

A few weeks ago, I found 22 baby ducklings on my roof. Not one. Not ten. But 22 fluffy, peeping, impossibly cute ducklings on the eaves of my Florida home. The videos I made became viral on Instagram and Tiktok, and so many people DM-ed me asking for updates! To be honest, it was one of the happiest and most bizarre times of my life because it made me realize how much my relationship with nature and plants had evolved to another level. Becoming nature-curious opened my eyes to the beauty of not just plant care, but also how much it l...

How do you view soil in your garden? A lot of us look at soil as just the brown stuff under our feet. We usually don’t think about all of the different components that make up soil, all of the different organisms living in soil, or how it is this whole environment that our plants depend on. It is a living, breathing ecosystem that could be the answer to improving your entire garden. As gardeners, you know that soil is important so you should be feeding it, not just feeding your plants. And there's no better person to tal...

Did you know that your houseplants have superpowers? Some can actually seek out darkness to find the light, some can count, and some can actually bring wealth. To help me reveal all these amazing aspects of our houseplants is my new friend, David Domoney. He’s a celebrated British horticulturist, television presenter, and author with over 30 Royal Horticultural Society medals. And his book, Plants with Superpowers, is what actually inspired me to do this episode. This is the first of a two-part series on plants and their superpowers, and I have him on twice because he is such an enth...