Do Gardeners Still Have a Voice? The Native Plant Debate episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 20, 2026 · 1H 3M

Do Gardeners Still Have a Voice? The Native Plant Debate

from The Garden Mixer · host Leslie Harris and Marianne Willburn

Absolute certainties make Marianne’s Spidey senses start to tingle; Leslie simply ignores absolutes and does her own thing. Which means Leslie would have been much more fun in high school. But where do they come down on the native/non-native debate? Bouncing off a recent article in GardenRant, where Marianne laid out the development of a powerful movement in US horticulture, the girls dig into the tension -- and once or twice, into each other.In an industry where plants are happily termed ‘good’ and ‘bad’, invasive plants have now been joined in purgatory by the new baddie term of ‘emerging invasives’, and not a little zealotry informs policy decisions that affect what we can buy, grow, work with, and write about, can we afford to ignore the issue? Have some thoughts? We would love to hear them AND read them on air in a future episode. Send them to [email protected] or drop them in The Garden Mixer Chat on Substack with other Mixers from around the country.___________________Hit the subscribe button so we can keep you smiling while you hit the mess [your garden] out there.Full Show Notes at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Garden Mixer Podcast’s Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠____________________Socials – Pick Your Platform:Follow us on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegardenmixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Indulge us on TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@the.garden.mixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spar with us on X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@gardenmixerpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠“French Bistro” theme by Adieu Adieu. License D0LZBINY30GGTBBW

Absolute certainties make Marianne’s Spidey senses start to tingle; Leslie simply ignores absolutes and does her own thing. Which means Leslie would have been much more fun in high school. But where do they come down on the native/non-native debate? Bouncing off a recent article in GardenRant, where Marianne laid out the development of a powerful movement in US horticulture, the girls dig into the tension -- and once or twice, into each other.In an industry where plants are happily termed ‘good’ and ‘bad’, invasive plants have now been joined in purgatory by the new baddie term of ‘emerging invasives’, and not a little zealotry informs policy decisions that affect what we can buy, grow, work with, and write about, can we afford to ignore the issue? Have some thoughts? We would love to hear them AND read them on air in a future episode. Send them to [email protected] or drop them in The Garden Mixer Chat on Substack with other Mixers from around the country.___________________Hit the subscribe button so we can keep you smiling while you hit the mess [your garden] out there.Full Show Notes at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Garden Mixer Podcast’s Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠____________________Socials – Pick Your Platform:Follow us on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thegardenmixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Indulge us on TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@the.garden.mixer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spar with us on X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@gardenmixerpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠“French Bistro” theme by Adieu Adieu. License D0LZBINY30GGTBBW

NOW PLAYING

Do Gardeners Still Have a Voice? The Native Plant Debate

0:00 1:03:14

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of The Garden Mixer?

This episode is 1 hour and 3 minutes long.

When was this The Garden Mixer episode published?

This episode was published on March 20, 2026.

What is this episode about?

Absolute certainties make Marianne’s Spidey senses start to tingle; Leslie simply ignores absolutes and does her own thing. Which means Leslie would have been much more fun in high school. But where do they come down on the native/non-native debate?...

Can I download this The Garden Mixer episode?

Yes, you can download this episode by clicking the download button on the episode player, or subscribe to the podcast in your preferred podcast app for automatic downloads.
URL copied to clipboard!