Be honest: would your heart slightly skip a beat if you saw an Instagram reel on sheet mulching? I certainly don’t blame you if it didn’t, but I knew I had to get to know this sheet mulcher. Janice Groves is the Jay of Jay’s Garden Journal and she absolutely makes creating new garden beds easier, and certainly more groovy.

When I put out a call for help a few weeks ago, John Robinson, who is a listener, neighbor and now a friend, answered. I had to get John on the show for you all to get to know him as I am getting to, and I was wonderfully surprised to understand the extent of his gardening enthusiasm: the projects, spaces, and invasive control he has imposed on his property are inspiring!

We really don’t mean to make you jealous, but you may be, a little, when you hear Marianne Willburn and me talk about our soon-to-be adventure at the May Symposium at Great Dixter.

Renée Clermont runs a garden business on Martha’s Vineyard. With her dual certificate in Landscape Design at the acclaimed Landscape Institute of Harvard University (formally Radcliffe) and The Boston Architectural College, Renée includes design, containers and consultation on her list of services.

In a happy situation that could be compared to going to an ice cream store and finding out that they sell wonderful baked goods, I was unaware that my interview with Landscape Architect Cathy Corlett would take me from the topic that I was after, rain gardens, into more great stuff.

Because I am nearly as old as soil itself, I learned how to garden from library books. But I asked for gardening books every Christmas, and one of my favorite ones was Page Dickey’s Duck Hill Journal. That book became my friend and I felt that Page did too. Years later, I was thrilled to be able to chat with her about her gardening journey, and her latest book, Uprooted.