Shows / Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Gardens are more than collections of plants. Gardens and Gardeners are intersectional spaces and agents for positive change in our world. Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden is a weekly public radio program & podcast exploring what we mean when we garden. Through thoughtful conversations with growers, gardeners, naturalists, scientists, artists and thinkers, Cultivating Place illustrates the many ways in which gardens are integral to our natural…
Episodes
Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to GardenThe Collective: Seed Saver's Exchange, with Mike Bollinger
Seeds are essential not just to our gardens but to life on this planet across time and space. Seeds and humans have partnered since humans have walked on two…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Do Unto Others Downstream: Regenerative thinking with Mark Lewis, Trailhead Capital
Many of the systems that run our world, let alone garden our world, are built-sometimes intentionally and sometimes inadvertently-to discourage and…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Gardenside with journalist Kai Wright, co-host of The Guardian's Stateside with Kai + Carterz
Kai Wright is a gardener, but chances are good you know him as a Peabody Award-winning host, editor, and longtime journalist whose work explores the…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
The Essence of Thriving with Dr. Garrett Liles, Center for Regenerative Agriculture & Resilient Systems, CSU Chico
For the next conversation in our intermittent series on what regenerative cultivation looks like in our world-at many levels, Cultivating Place is speaking…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Sweet Peas & Sweet Homes: Where Flowers Become Memories
To welcome October, this week on Cultivating Place, host Ben Futa welcomes Colleen Raney of Washington State’s Songbird Seed Company and Diadem Flower Company…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
The Gospel of Asa Sims, a Garden History Love Story
Happy Autumn! Cultivating Place is proud to launch an occasional series from Host Abra Lee, delving into our Garden past to better understand and illuminate…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
To Leave the Land Better Than We Found It, Bryce & Brita Lundberg–Lundberg Family Farms
To “leave the land better than we found it” should be the ethic of all Gardeners. It is the North Star ethic of regenerative and organic farming leaders…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Pre-Autumnal Equinox Celebration with Erin Benzakein of Floret & Floret Originals
Erin Benzakein of Floret Flower Farm needs little introduction to most garden-minded listeners. She has been so instrumental in cultivating a flower-farming…
Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to GardenA place for healing, safety, comfort, joy, and belonging, with David Jacques
As the season begins to show signs of turning its next page, Cultivating Place host Ben Futa heads to Vermont! This week he's in conversation with David…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
The Art of Black Southern Agrarian Magic, Whitney Jaye
Whitney Jaye is a florist, flower farmer, and the creative force behind Sunbird Flowers, based in Decatur, Georgia, and providing sustainably grown…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
The Gardens of Alcatraz, with Shelagh Fritz
Alcatraz is a name rich with story, myth, and drama. It is also a dramatic sight where history, gardens, and how gardens grow us better all come together. This…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
A New Garden Society, with Erika Rumbley and Renee Portonova
Erika Rumbley and Renee Portanova are Co-Founders and Directors of The New Garden Society. Now, you may hear that phrase and think of a garden club or a plant…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
We're all history in the making, life lessons from garden history
All history reminds us that we are all history in the making! Garden history reminds us that we as gardeners, our gardens, our gardening, and how our culture…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
High Elevation Balancing Act, Jennifer Bousselot, Colorado State University
At the height of summer, we head to the mile-high city to think more about cultivating place at elevation: human-made and natural elevations, in the service of…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Rooted in Relationships, Plantsman Allen Bush
Allen Bush is an esteemed plantsman and lifelong advocate for the joy of gardening. He joins Cultivating Place Host Abra Lee in conversation this week to share…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
A Path For All, Reeves-Reed Arboretum, Summit, NJ
What does accessibility mean in the garden? In a public garden? Reeves-Reed Arboretum in Summit NJ, an historic estate and garden, has been considering these…
Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to GardenSlow Design, Thoughtful Places, Andrew Fisher Tomlin
Planting design is an essential skill in garden design writ large, for the health and beauty of a site– functionally, environmentally, and psychologically…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Sunchoke Farms, Next in the Cultivating South Bend Series
Cultivating Place well so often comes down to sharing the abundance of growing from a place of love and a strong sense of community and home. Susan Greutman is…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Following What Flourishes, with Amanda Hannah
Amanda Hannah is the Director of Botanical Garden Horticulture at Holden Forests & Gardens in Cleveland, Ohio. Amanda’s path into horticulture has taken her…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Summer Solstice Special–SummerHome Garden's Lisa Negri, Denver, CO
We are finally at peak daylight and the Summer Solstice–which officially takes place June 21st this year. Summer speaks of garden parties and holidays at the…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Preparing for International Pollinator Week with Krystle Hickman, Author, Artist, Native Bee Adventurer
The conservation of biodiversity writ large is directly tied to the conservation of native bees, crucial pollinators in our cultivated and wildland ecosystems…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Turning Space into PLACE: ReGen South Bend
What makes a place a place, versus just any space? Tyler Kanchazeski is a sustainability advocate and the founder and owner of ReGen South Bend, an incremental…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Sustainability and Stewardship – A Conversation with Brent “Fig” Figlestahler
This week on Cultivating Place, public gardens as living classrooms, the quiet power of trees in city life, and how tending landscapes can cultivate…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
A Radical Plan: Village Homes in Davis, CA turns 50!
This week, we continue plumbing the potential of gardens and gardeners for growing a future we want to cultivate- for the benefit of all. In order to look…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Tiny Gardens Everywhere, with MIT's Kate Brown
Kate Brown is an MIT Distinguished Professor in the History of Science. Across her career, her research has sometimes inadvertently documented the impact of…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Flora Culture with Christin Geall of Cultivated by Christin
This week on Cultivating Place, we continue with our flower theme as we celebrate May, looking toward the most floral of celebrations, Mother’s Day in the US…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
REALLY ROSES, with Robin Jennings of Oregon-based Heirloom (Roses)
Roses are one of those topics in the garden world: they can be polarizing or energizing. And yet, given that there are roses native to most environments of…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Between Soil and Self - A conversation with John Sonnier
This week, Cultivating Place host Abra Lee explores diplomacy and gardens. She’s in conversation with John Sonnier, Head Gardener at the British Ambassador's…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank (MARSB) with Ed Toth and John Price
This week, when we think about Cultivating Place well, we get to the seed of the matter in conversation with the team at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Gardens as Social Infrastructure, Gardeners as Public Servants, with Chris Felhaber
Chris Felhaber is a gardener, a husband, and a father. Now based in the Chicago area, Chris has worked in public horticulture in a variety of capacities and…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Pansies! It's What's for Spring! with Brenna Estrada
Brenna Estrada is the owner and founder of Three Brothers Blooms, a flower farm located on 2.5 acres of Camano Island in the Pacific Northwest. Brenna is also…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Spring's Wild Dreams, with Jen Williams
Spring is, of course, perfect for some wild dreams about what we can and will sow in the seasons to come. With plants, and with ourselves. Jen Williams’ vision…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Vernal Equinox Special: The Glorians, with Terry Tempest Williams
In honor of the Vernal Equinox, and the balance we long for, we are joined this week by humanist, conservationist, Professor, and writer in residence at the…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Vital Energy: Omar Al Shafie on Innovative Re-Thinking and Growing
Spring is stirring, buds are swelling, and soil is warming. This week, we celebrate the joys of healthy living soil in conversation with Omar Al Shafie…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Public Service: John Little's UK-based Grass Roof Co
This week on Cultivating Place, host Ben Futa is in conversation with John Little, an ecological designer and public horticulture advocate living and working…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Blooming Beyond Barriers, the flourishing legacy of South Carolina Floriculturist
This week on Cultivating Place, Abra Lee is in conversation with Laverne Brockington and Vance Davis, great nieces of Annie Mae Vann Reid, an historic florist…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
For the Love of Orchard Mason Bees, with Thyra McKelvie
As the earliest signs of spring unfurl in the mild climates, think snowdrops, manzanita, the earliest narcissus, wild iris, and Daphne odora – hmmm, the…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Gardening for Comfort & Tea: Golden Feather Tea, Mike Fritts
In these dark, cold days of February, when too much rain or snow, and WAY TO MUCH ICE, or not enough rain or snow, might be getting you down, we take this…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
The Healing Power of Communal Acts of Gardening, Tanja Hollander
Coming up this week on Cultivating Place, host Ben Futa is in conversation with artist & activist Gardener, Tanja Hollander. Tanja works with gardens, social…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
After the Fires: Cultivating Place in LA with Studio Petrichor
It’s been a full year since the devastating fires in Los Angeles, CA. Many lives were lost, and many acres and homes were burned. Many gardens, cultivated…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Mid-Winter Pick-Me-Up w/ The Orchid Rescuer, Terry Richardson
This week, Cultivating Place welcomes Terry Richardson in conversation with Abra Lee. Terry is known to many as The Black Thumb: Orchid Care Made Simple, an…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Seed Dreaming Season: revisiting a conversation with Ken Greene & Hudson Valley Seeds
January is prime seed-dreaming and seed-catalogue season. With that in mind, we’re revisiting a favorite conversation all about generosity, mutual care, good…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
New Year, New Systems Thinking: Suburbitat, with Jim Tolstrup
As we continue our new year, we’re once again gaining elevation and new, growing thinking. We’re in conversation with Jim Tolstrup, Executive Director of the…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Making the Rounds: A New Year's Conversation with the CP Host Team, Jennifer, Abra & Ben
In honor of the new year, fresh-faced and open-hearted in front of us, Abra Lee, Ben Futa, and Jennifer Jewell are together this week for a first-ever CP Host…
Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to GardenLooking Forward by Looking Back: New Zealand to London, Philip Norman's Life Shaped by Gardens
For our final Cultivating Place episode of 2025, Abra Lee is looking forward by looking back. She’s in conversation with Philip Norman, longtime curator at the…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Solstice Season: Abundance & Connection, Dr. Don Hankins
In honor of the Winter Solstice happening this coming weekend on December 21st at 10:03 AM Pacific, we celebrate land and place-based cultivation from a…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Bird Haven Farm, with Janet Mave
This week on Cultivating Place we celebrate one woman’s long-standing and loving cultivation of place in rural New Jersey. Janet Mavec is the steward and…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
The Klamath Mountains, A Natural History, Michael Kauffman & Justin Garwood
The Klamath Mountains are a rich site of diversity in Northern California and Southern Oregon, celebrated in Michael Kauffmann and Justin Garwood’s book The…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Seasons of our Joy, with Rabbi Arthur Waskow
This week on Cultivating Place, we look towards the heart of the thankful season in memory of the enormous, fierce, and grateful soul of Rabbi Arthur Waskow…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
YES/AND: Practicing the Art of Becoming A Cultivator of Place, John Hart Asher
“Ecological restoration is no longer a nicety, it’s a necessity,” proclaims the Blackland Collaborative, a group working to help alter cities so that they are…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Visions of Resilience and Neighborliness, Dr. Jared Barnes
Dr Jared Barnes is a big G gardener – and has been since his earliest expressions of self as a toddler. Now a professor of horticulture at Stephen F. Austin…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Grow Like Wild, with Rebecca McMackin
This week on Cultivating Place, Host Ben Futa is in conversation with Rebecca McMackin, a dedicated public servant working in the context of ecological…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
FINAL ARTOBER Conversation -The Ecology of Gullah Sweetgrass Baskets, Mary Jackson
This week we finish up Artober on CP, in conversation with artist, Mary Jackson, a renowned sweetgrass basket weaver known for combining traditional methods…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Artober: Tracy Qui, artfully exploring how plants, stories, and cultures intersect
This week on CP, host Abra Lee is joined in conversation by Tracy Qiu, a horticulturist, researcher, and advocate who explores how plants, stories, and culture…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Artober & CP Live, "Invisible Neighbors" with LA-Based Studio Tutto
Welcome to our next airing of a CP LIVE* conversation, this time in celebration of Artober in conversation with Sofia Laçin and Hennessy Christophel, of…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
ARTOBER: An Artful Life with Flowers, Frances Palmer
In a world that needs a great deal from us right now, we can almost never go wrong by igniting our creativity. This week on CP we dive deeper into ArtTober in…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Kicking off ARTOBER ON CP, Wild By Design, the Art of Planting with Ben O'Brien
This week on CP, we kick off ARTOBER. Host Ben Futa is talking all things Wild By Design, the Art of Planting. He’s in conversation with Ben O’Brien of Wild By…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
The Hidden Histories of Garden Legacies, with Rose Vincent Resource Librarian NYBG
This week on Cultivating Place, in honor of this first week of Autumn, and the idea of passing time, looking back, and the importance of memory and history…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
The Adventurous Art of Cultivating Place, with Peg & Awl
This week on Cultivating Place, we lean into the Art of CP, exploring how the act of Cultivating Place is artful, and how Art can be one our most beautiful…
- Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden
Great Green Heights: Cincinnati's Green Roofs and Rooftop Garden with Rose Henry Seeger
In 2008, Cincinnati, Ohio, developed the program that has earned it the nickname: Green City. The Green Cincinnati Plan (GCP) is a now-17-year-running…