Accessibility links
Gardening NPR stories about gardening, plants, and food crops. Read interviews and commentary and subscribe to the Gardening RSS feed.

Gardening

National

Best Blossoms at the Pacific Orchid Exposition

San Francisco's Pacific Orchid Exposition is said to be one of the biggest such shows in the nation, where both amateur and professional horticulturalists show off their best blossoms.

Best Blossoms at the Pacific Orchid Exposition

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5221193/5221200" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

National

Owner Threatens to Raze Garden in Industrial L.A.

In one of the most industrial areas of Los Angeles stands a 14-acre garden with banana trees, sugar cane and every vegetable you can imagine... For more than a decade, hundreds of mostly immigrant families have farmed the plot of land. Gloria Hillard reports that the property owner's plan to raze the garden has sparked community protest.

Owner Threatens to Raze Garden in Industrial L.A.

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5160542/5160543" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

National

Private Trees, Public Property: Picking 'Fallen Fruit'

Three Los Angeles artists are trying to create a community around gathering what they call "fallen fruit" -- fruit that falls onto public property from trees planted on private property. Day to Day producer Skye Rohde reports on the effort, and community reaction to picking this fruit.

Private Trees, Public Property: Picking 'Fallen Fruit'

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4967131/4967132" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A 'Poison' Garden in Northern England

Tourists to Northern England can now visit a "poison" garden planted with strychnine, cannabis, coca and psychedelic mushrooms, a new attraction at the renowned Alnwick Garden. Nessa Tierney reports on this offbeat attempt to educate the public about the dangers of drugs.

A 'Poison' Garden in Northern England

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4961896/4961897" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

National

Iris Gardens Ravaged in Garden State

Montclair, New Jersey's nationally known Presby Memorial Iris Gardens were badly vandalized this week, with some 150 plants uprooted and scattered. The garden contained many specimens not found anywhere else. Melissa Block talks with JoAnn Mukherjee, superintendent of Presby Memorial Iris Gardens.

Iris Gardens Ravaged in Garden State

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4787726/4787727" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

National

Larger-Than-Life Town Name Fades from View

In the 1930s, Murrysville, Pennsylvania, used 850 trees to spell out the town's name on the side of a hill. Now the trees have grown too big and the hill has been scarred by development. Robert Siegel talks with Glenn Skena of Murrysville about the fading glory of the giant Murrysville tree sign.

Larger-Than-Life Town Name Fades from View

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4682763/4682764" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Environment

Saving Chestnut Trees

Chestnut trees are valued for their beauty, and many people want them. But few seedlings are available because of a devastating fungus. Steve Inskeep talks to Marshall Case, president of the American Chestnut Foundation, who's trying to save the trees.

Saving Chestnut Trees

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4667319/4667320" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Science

An Explanation for Auxin, the Plant-Growth Hormone

New research appears to answer an old question about how the remarkable hormone Auxin works. Auxin is a sort of super-hormone that is the key to making plants grow.

An Explanation for Auxin, the Plant-Growth Hormone

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4666858/4666859" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Environment

Efforts to Restore Florida's Orchids into the Wild

For more than a century, collectors and developers in Florida have stripped the state of its native orchids. Now, a team of scientists is working to reintroduce the plants to the swamps where they once flourished.

Efforts to Restore Florida's Orchids into the Wild

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4663232/4663297" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript