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 &amp; 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 and cultural literacy. These conversations celebrate how these interconnections support the places we cultivate, how they nourish our bodies, and feed our spirits. They change the world, for the better.  Take a listen.

THIS WEEK on CP - OUR NEXT CP LIVE podcast! And we head to Indiana with our very own Ben Futa. Botany & Co. in South Bend, Indiana is dedicated to “empowering more people to plant more plants in more places!” 

In a town that has seen more than its share of social, economic, and environmental challenges in the past few decades, Botany & Co., Ben’s dream come true, is stimulating community, biodiversity, economic growth, and joy.

 It was bitterly cold in South Bend last March, but Botany Shop was warm with sharing, with growing, and with community – all of which you can hear in this conversation.

The full cohort of the ten 2024/2025 transformative CP LIVE experiences is right now being crafted by the CP LIVE team into a powerful documentary film experience, sharing the many–often surprising and unseen–ways that (big G) Gardeners cultivating their places with care grow us ALL better. And when we see the full power of Gardeners, we value them more appropriately. When we value and support them, they can grow our world better, even more beautifully, more intentionally, and more effectively.

This July 4th week here in the U.S., as we think about the privileges, opportunities and responsibilities of being citizens of our places, we’re so pleased to share forward this conversation with Ben, a remarkable plantsperson, ecosystem and community steward, and regular host here on Cultivating Place. 

For much more about the CP LIVE documentary film in-process:  ➡️ cultivatingplace.org/film to see, share, and support for yourself 💚. 
Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years, and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place.

We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow and engage in even more conversations like these.

The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.

All photos are courtesy of Ben Futa, Botany & Co., Myriam Nicodemus, and Jennifer Jewell. All rights are reserved.

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Cultivating Place

CP 07-03-2025_WEB

This week on Cultivating Place, guest host Abra Lee is joined in conversation by someone whose path into horticulture is both inspiring and honest—Richard M. Smith, director of the School of Professional Horticulture at the New York Botanical Garden.

Richard grew up in Belle Glade, Florida—folks there call it Muck City, thanks to their deep, rich soil. And while Richard didn’t start off in horticulture, that love for plants was always in him. Now his career is focused on helping people from all walks of life find their way into this field—building careers, finding purpose, and growing something meaningful.

As someone who is growing more than just plants, Richard is all about access, mentorship, and ensuring the door stays open behind him. Enjoy!

Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years, and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place.

We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow and engage in even more conversations like these.

The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.

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Rooted in Education, Richard M. Smith, Director, NYBG School of Professional Horticulture

Have you ever heard of a Moth-er? Yes, it is the moth equivalent of a birder – someone who loves and follows and studies the incredible diversity of moths. 

Creatures whose lives benefit ours and yet take place primarily under the cover of the dark of night.

In this week of the Summer Solstice, in our seasonal period of longest days and shortest nights in the Northern Hemisphere, we pause to consider and revel in the importance—the life-nurturing, life-giving, and restorative magic of the dark. 

Leigh Ann Henion is the author of Night Magic, Adventures among Glowworms, Moon Gardens and other Marvels of the Dark – a beautiful road map for all of us in better knowing and appreciating the greater fullness of the lives of our places – especially those lives that bloom, grow, and come out at night. Listen in and enjoy!

Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place.

We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations.

The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.<img src="https://feedpress.me/link/14945/17059842.gif" height="1" width="1"/>

Midsummer's Night Magic, with Leigh Ann Henion

Every year since 2007, when the US Senate passed sanctions declaring it, the third week of June is celebrated as National Pollinator Week. 

It is no accident that this is the same week as the Summer Solstice, when many pollinators reach their peak. Since 2017, however, the state of Colorado has celebrated June as National Pollinator Month, and this week we hear more, celebrate wins, and focus on the work remaining with two members of PPAN – Colorado’s own People & Pollinators Action Network.

Promotes pollinator-friendly land management and landscaping practices through community education, engagement, and advocacy to preserve biodiversity and safeguard public health. They beautifully envision a world with healthy, sustainable ecosystems where people and pollinators can thrive now and for generations to come. 

They conduct their world-improving work at the grassroots, municipal, and state levels, advocating for policies and practices that reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides and create and connect swaths of pollinator-safe habitat with the intent of reversing the drastic decline of pollinator populations.

Joyce Kennedy, PPAN's executive director, and Emily KenCairn, director of communications and development, will join us this week to share more about how they are doing all that they are doing and how we can, too. Both of them are Gardeners with a capital G. Enjoy!

Cultivating Place now has a donate button! We thank you so much for listening over the years and we hope you'll support Cultivating Place.

We can't thank you enough for making it possible for this young program to grow even more of these types of conversations.

The show is available as a podcast on SoundCloud and iTunes. To read more and for many more photos, please visit www.cultivatingplace.com.<img src="https://feedpress.me/link/14945/17050317.gif" height="1" width="1"/>

Jennifer Jewell / Cultivating Place

Cultivating Place by Jennifer Jewell / Cultivating Place

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