Avant Gardeners

We are the founding members of the Jac Semmler Fan Club. This is the second time we've been lucky enough to interview Jac, celebrating the launch of what will become an absolute gardening book staple, Flower Power. In this episode we answer a bunch of your questions, including -How and should I pivot to horticulture -How do I get my poppies to germinate -What are some surprising performers in the garden We talk about changing climate, bogan pronounciation of plant names, the amazing work Jac's doing at Super Bloom, and so much more. Before we get to that: Maddie and Em are drinking a dirty cacao (cacao powder, maple syrup, cinnamon, sea salt, shot of coffee), we're talking agastache, liquorice plant, planting in pots (inspired by Connie Cao), Flannel Flower, Succulents, Mother in Law's Tongue. Thanks for being here.

Emily & Maddie are back with so much chat this week. We go a little off topic, but that's pretty standard...right? We cover: Philodendron Shrub (not of the plant variety!) Spent flowers are self seeding Ferment for Good - Sharon Flynn Justin O'Brien's self-seeding success Compost bins Proteas not opening Olive grove maintenance Drowning in Plums Different types of clematis - who knew! Emily is on the hunt for the perfect garden basket from op shops near and far. Next week we're so excited to be releasing our chat with the amazing Jac Semmler of Super Bloom!

Emily and Maddie were lucky enough to meet Steven in Victoria late last year, having followed his journey for a long time. Steven began his career as a nurse, before studying horticulture, with no intention of fusing the two. But he delved deeper into therapeutic gardens, gaining a Churchill Fellowship to help support research, and he started the Therapeutic Garden at the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre nearly 20 years ago, providing immeasurable benefit to patients, their families, friends and staff. Steven recently downsized from a much-celebrated garden in the Melbourne suburbs, Steven now has a lush veranda in the clouds, overlooking Melbourne's CBD. This downsizing has given him time and space to focus on other passions and projects in his life. Steven lives, works and gardens in Naarm / Melbourne, on the traditional lands of the Kulin Nation. Before we get to Steven's chat, Maddie and Emily are dreaming of fields of sunflowers - Emily is reminiscing about her time in Europe with sunflowers and cosmos all around. Maddie is reminiscing of her time on a farm stay in Portugal while staying in a yurt. We ask Steven for his favourite Evergreen plants, which are: Agave Attenuata / Foxtail Agave Variegated aspidistra Bromeliads And his tips for Textural Plants in a Sensory garden include Lambs Ear or Kalanchoe 'Oak Leaf'.

It's a Maddie & Emily chat this week. Maddie is loving (despite calling the colour urine-esque) the White Gate Co White Blend and if you're in Tassie go book and wine shopping at Five Leaves Left. Emily was creating new neural pathways and happened upon a great side-street garden stall. Win! We're lamenting the end of cherry season, but enjoying choc-covered cherries from a local stall. We're rolling (metaphorically, not literally) in peastraw and alpaca poo. Lettuce is ON! Emily has has success with a poppy (yes, just the one), and it's reminding her of her grandfather. Maddie's hollyhocks have popped and it's reminding her of her grandmother. Emily is recommending Death and the Gardener, and Maddie is recommending Recipe Tin Eats' scone recipe but a shout out to Lady Flo's Pumpkin Scones too.

Jo Thompson is one of the UK's most celebrated garden designers, known for creating deeply romantic, naturalistic gardens that feel timeless, layered and full of atmosphere. Her projects span the UK and abroad - from wildflower meadows in the English countryside to rooftop terraces in New York and coastal gardens in Italy and Brazil. She's a multiple award-winner at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, with several Gold medals to her name, and her designs - ranging from private landscapes to meaningful public projects - are widely admired. Beyond her design practice, she's a respected teacher, author and voice in the gardening world, sharing her knowledge through books, lectures and her much-loved newsletter, The Gardening Mind. Jo's work reminds us that gardens can be both art and refuge – spaces that connect us to beauty, memory and the natural world. Before we get to Jo's chat, Maddie and Emily are talking about: Agapanthas (sorry!) Snakes Wildflower Meadows Emma Bowen of Rising Farm Sea salt and olive oil on vanilla icecream Then we get into glorious Jo's chat and we cover a lot. Highlights include: Glasshouse Project Women in horitculture / at the Chelsea Flower Show Designing a garden Trypophobia Damsen Cocktail Jo lists a bunch of her favourite roses: Wild Rover Meg - climber The Lark Ascending Felicite-Perpetue Adélaide d'Orléans Ghislaine de feligonde Blush Noisette Bengal Crimsen Mutablis Gertrude JekyllMILsures Olivia Rose Austin Ispahan

We're baaaaaack! And with a slightly new format. We're trying out one week where we release our chat (longer version), and the following week we'll release our guest interview. It means we can get episodes out weekly. We'll trial it and see. We've missed the podcast so it's awesome to be back. Emily has knocked it out of the park with a delicious mulberry bramble (gin, mulberry cordial from our friends' tree, blackberries, lime). Having taken more than two months off, we have so much to chat about. Including, but not limited to: Seed saving - calendula and platypus spinach, Drying hydrangeas thanks to Anya The Garden Fairy We're talking about Moths - they need a rebrand. The Almanac, Cool Climate Sowing Guide Alnwick Garden and Millie Fleur's Poison Garden (by Christy Mandin). Aaaand lilacs, daphne, feverfew, calendula, compost bays. Catch up next week when we interview (omg!) Jo Thompson!

Jodi Wilson is a bestselling author of four books, a health journalist and postpartum doula. Several years ago, she and her family packed their lives into a caravan, and set off in search of adventure, and a more simple life. After two years on the road they put down roots in Tasmania. It is here where she's embraced gardening, and written her most recent book, A Brain That Breathes, out today. Jodi lives, writes and gardens with her partner and their four children on the land of the punnilerpanner people in north western Tasmania Before we get to this thought-provoking chat, Emily and Madeleine are drinking Archie Rose Straight Dry gin with some home made purple elderflower cordial. Emily is regretting purchasing a Ginko tree, and the agapanthus keep rearing their ugly head. She is loving her Cerastium tomentosum - snow in summer - and Maddie's cutting is also doing quite well. Maddie is obsessed with Sage, and wants to propagate more. She's also tried her hand at sage sticks. She's got a picnic blanket in the post and is excited for more outdoor eating-and-drinking sessions. Calendula is back, and in some beautiful colours, and she is recommending Why Women Grow, by Alice Vincent. Jodi has a HUGE list of books she recommends for summer, and or anytime. We've already read a couple of them and they are excellent. Can highly recommend her recommendations! -The Mushroom Tapes by Chloe Hooper, Helen Garner, and Sarah Krasnostein -Heart the Lover by Lily King -Sandwich and Wreck by Catherine Newman -The Octopus and I and A Catalogue of Love by Erin Hortle -The Hiding Place by Kate Mildenhall -The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers -Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley We're also banging on and singing the praises of libraries, AGAIN!

~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by Blundstone's new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. Find your local stockist here. ~ Emma Horswill was a madkeen gardener with a fine arts degree and a 9-acre block. With plans for a veggie garden and orchard, Emma turned her hand to flower farming in 2019, and since then has gone from strength to strength. This family run farm, called Earthenry, now grows well over 100 different varieties of seasonal and field-grown blooms, and has cultivated a dedicated community of volunteers and devotees who flock to the farm for events including garden and gossip, twilight flower picking, pick your own mornings, workshops, and seedling sales. Emma also breeds her own dahlias, makes made-to-order bouquets and sells organically-grown seeds. Emma, her husband Greg and their two teenage children live, work and garden in the beautiful township of Snug, on the lands of the Nuenonne people in Tasmania. Before we get to that, Maddie & Emily and drinking a Fin Wines' Dandelions and Bumblebees Emily is talking about pea straw, her broody chickens and some tips she's learned from Nicky Husted, aka Purely Chickens. We both went to the Cygnet Garden Market and bought a literal boot load of plants including Mint! Hurray. Chocolate mint, peppermint and basil mint. Emily is loving The Garden Curator's column in Graziher magazine about observing where the early and late light moves in the garden, and that's where to plant those frothy, tall grasses to catch the light. Maddie is loving the cows, Hetty McKinnon's dukkah from the Community cookbook, and having garden chats with Emily. This is our last episode of 2026. Thank you for being here. It means the world.

~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by Blundstone's new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. Find your local stockist here. ~ Rachel Ward's career began on screen, with standout roles in classics like The Thorn Birds before she turned her skills to directing acclaimed works including Beautiful Kate. In her sixties, Rachel's energy and focus shifted to regenerative agriculture, swapping film sets for fence lines and embarking on an ambitious overhaul of the beef farm her and her husband Bryan Brown had owned for thirty-odd years. Her brilliant documentary Rachel's Farm captures this shift as Rachel moves into her soil-health evangelist era, charting her mission to restore land and the food system. Today, she continues that momentum through Farmthru, her paddock-to-plate project designed to disrupt how regenerative farm produce is made available to consumers. Rachel lives, works and tends to her cattle on the land of the Gumbaynggirr people in the Nambucca Valley, New South Wales. Before we get to Rachel's chat, Maddie and Emily are drinking Greek Frappe (metrio me gala) even though it's 9 degrees outside. Recipe from Philoxenia: A Seat At My Table by Kon Karapanagiotidis. Emily is dreaming of abundance in the garden. Maddie is going to try to make her own tomato powder by Lauren at Oaklea Veggie Patch. They both visited good mate Pip Steele Wareham at The Garden at Moorfield and it was just like old times in that Pip was followed around by Maddie and Emily asking lots of annoying questions. We visited CERES Brunswick and want to start our own version in Cygnet. We're growing strawberries in pots and trying to get lots more creeping thyme in the garden (thank you, Connie Cao) Maddie is thinning her fruit trees (thank you, Katie Finlay) Rachel recommends: We Are The Ark by Mary Reynolds, The Creative Act by Rick Reuben, The Call of the Reed Warbler by Charles Massy, Deep Listening to Nature by Andrew Skeock Healthy Land, Happily Families and Profitable Businesses by David W Pratt The Soil Will Save Us by Kristen Ohlson, Holistic Management by Allan Savory Check our Rachel's new online-ordering, kerb pick up regenerative farm produce available at Farmthru.

~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by Blundstone's new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. Find your local stockist here. ~ Mark Udovitch and his partner Lisa wisely used Covid lockdowns to establish an urban microfarm just south of the Sydney CBD, in the leafy suburb of Bardwell Valley. This steep and productive block is flourishing with veggies, fruit trees and indigenous plants. Mark and Lisa also share the property with European honeybees, a chicken coop, and their two young children. Mark is also a prolific preserver, fermenter and sourdough maker, is a member of the Sydney Edible Garden Trail Team, hosts a regular Permaculture at the Pub event, and is a Radiation Therapist in his spare time. He's passionate about getting more dirt under the fingernails of more people, and shares what he knows online. Mark lives, works and tends to his garden on Gadigal country, in NSW Maddie has - in a very roundabout way - made a Porto Tonico with Magnolia syrup. It's like gin and tonic, but port and tonic, (with or without magnolia syrup). Garnish it with an orange slice, cinnamon quill and rosemary. We're debriefing all things Citrus. Emily is on a full agpanthus rant, and turns out Maddie thought the singular of Agapanthus was...Agapantha. Lol. She didn't realise this wasn't the case until after we'd finished recording. Emily is on the green manure train, Maddie is hoping to grow Cucamelons. One of Emily's sisters bought her the book Horti-Curious by Ann Treneman and she's LOVING it. Maddie is obsessed with her Oak & Rose Razor Hoe. We learned heaps from attending one of the Grow Great Fruit pruning webinar. Things Mark mentions: Limestone Permaculture, Root Lab Mushrooms, Permaculture in the Pub Thanks for being here!

~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by Blundstone's new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. Find your local stockist here. ~ Merlin Sheldrake is a mycologist, biologist, writer, and speaker with a background in plant sciences, microbiology, ecology, and the history and philosophy of science. He received a Ph.D. in tropical ecology from Cambridge University for his work on underground fungal networks in tropical forests in Panama. His book, Entangled Life, dives deep into the magical, mysterious and stranger-than-fiction world of fungi, explaining how they can show us lessons in resilience, cooperation and transformation. Entangled Life has sold more than a million copies worldwide, and what followed is a documentary called Fungi: Web of Life, narrated by Bjork. If you're lucky enough, you can catch Merlin across Australia and New Zealand as part of The Secret Life of Fungi. Tickets for this evening of storytelling and science are on sale now. Before we get to Merlin's chat, we're drinking our mate's Sticky Chai with a dash of Frangelico. Yum yum! Emily is giving her indoor plants some annual love. She's ticked off three trees on her random list (snowball viburnum, smoke bush and tai haku cherry!). Emily is continually searching for tube stock, and is loving Phil Dudman's tips on controlling stink bugs with a vaccuum cleaner. Her daughter Phoebe is the reigning queen of carrots. Emily is recommending Urban Nanna (aka Anna Matilda's) book Everyday Permaculture, illustrated by Brenna Quinlan. Maddie is up in arms about nurseries selling non-native Pig Face (hear why this is such a disasterous thing in this episode with Mindy Woods), she's creating a spanikopita garden, and has some bull chat - having just agisted a new animal in Quarter Pounder - a big, beefy Belted Galloway who has been tasked with one job. And she's gushing about Entangled Life (hardcopy or narrated audio version. Both are spectacular.) Thanks for being here!

~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by Blundstone's new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. Find your local stockist here. ~ Tim Pilgrim has become synonymous with his own naturalistic style of garden design, one that's plant-driven and subscribes to the maximalist aesthetic. With gardening in his blood, and after working at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, he returned home to work on one of the Digger's Club's most famous gardens, St Erth. Tim and his wife Hadley started TP Gardens back in 2013, and since then he's worked on some of the most jaw-dropping gardens in the country including Du Fermier in Trentham, Paul Bangay's Stonefields and at Bress, a biodynamic winery in the Central Victorian goldfields. Tim's debut book Wild By Design has recently been released, shooting straight to the best sellers list. And deservedly so. Tim draws his inspiration from the beauty of wild landscapes and other creative gardening minds. Tim lives, gardens and designs on Dja Dja Wurrung Country, sharing his home with his wife, and three young sons. Before we get to Tim's chat, we're drinking Walnut Liqueur made from green walnuts macerated with alcohol - a Slovenian specialty. Emily is going great guns with her seeds - rudbeckia, violas, edamame. Her orchard understory is blooming with cornflowers, walking onions, rosemary, thyme, wormwood, queen anne's lace, cosmos, calendula, and strawberries! The sorrel is still a pest. Emily's loving Banskia (it's giving May Gibbs vibes). Maddie recommends growing Correa Alba from cuttings. Maddie + Emily did a beautiful bushwalk - the Freycinet Circuit, and picked up reading tips from our very great mate Franzi. Emily's recommending Platypus Spinach from Dimity May at Tiny Farm Tas. Maddie wants baby lamb energy, vs tired mutton energy. Maddie's trying to grow shelling peas, and has made a huge (although not catastrophic) mistake with her flannel flowers. And we're trying to manifest Juvenile Grandma phase. Thanks!

~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by Blundstone's new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. Find your local stockist here. ~ Mindy Woods is a chef, restaurateur and author, and the first female Indigenous chef to become hatted by the Australian Good Food Guide. A proud Bundjalung woman, Mindy was pursuing physiotherapy when she barged onto our screens in on Masterchef in 2012. Since then she's created an impactful career around food and education with Native ingredients being at the centre of everything she does. Mindy was named a Champion of Change at the 2025 World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards, and she's recently reimagined her award-winning restaurant, offering a full experience on country in the Byron hinterland. At Karkalla on Country, guests can take cooking classes or immersive dining experiences. In 2025, Mindy released her first book, Karkalla at Home. Mindy forages, gardens and cooks on the lands of the Bundjalung people in northern New South Wales. Before we get into this beautiful chat, Maddie and Emily are enjoying a Native Pepper Whisky Sour (Native Pepper syrup made with leaves + water + sugar). Emily is obsessing about Euphorbia, lamenting her plant tag organisation system, and is curious about how Dahlias just multiply. Maddie bought her very first rose (an earth angel floribunda), and is obsessed with the old world shape. We're also talking processing tomatoes, Emily's tomato relish, the best honey ever. And then it's into our chat with Mindy. This is a cracker. Hope you love it!

~ This season of Avant Gardeners is proudly supported by Blundstone's new series WorkLife. Launching in November and perfect for gardening. Find your local stockist here. ~ Brenna Quinlan is an illustrator and educator with a keen focus on permaculture and sustainability. Her special skill is putting her energy, creativity and passion into making the world a better place. She's not afraid to take hard, uncomfortable or challenging subjects, but she always has humour at the core. Through her art she has collaborated with the likes of Costa, Milkwood Permaculture, David Holmgren and the CSIRO. Brenna lives, creates art and permacultures in a strawbale house that she built from reclaimed materials on Bibbulmun Menang boodja, in an intentional community in Denmark, Western Australia. Before we get into this highly delightful, educational and entertaining chat with Brenna, Emily and Maddie are drinking a Joshua Cooper 2024 Pinot Noir, Maddie is talking about chickens and accidentally discovered the most delicious eggs she's ever tasted. She's making lots of homemade marshmallows with those bad boys. We go deep into potatoes: Pink Eyes and King Edwards, and Maddie's planted out a bunch of cuttings from Emily's succulent garden - including Blue Chalk Sticks and something else whose name we don't know. Maddie is recommending Wintering by Katherine May, and is embarrassed by her lack of chlorophyll knowledge. We also explore the abscission zone (of leaf and brain variety). Emily's spending wholesome days with the kids at Birches Bay Art Farm, where she recently purchased some Native Pepper Berry. She's also experimenting with thornless blackberry. Brenna is a wealth of information and recommends the following: Rewilding the Urban Soul by Claire Dunn Everyday Permaculture by Anna Matilda, aka Urban Nanna Koren Helbig's 'The Power of Quarterly Rest' Retrosuburbia, by David Holmgren Follow Brenna here, and consider supporting her on Patreon here.

Katie Finlay is a third-generation orchardist who grew up on the family farm she now calls home. She received a Bachelor of Science from Monash Uni majoring in botany and genetics - which came in very handy when she returned to the farm 15 years later Katie and her partner Hugh are on a mission to help backyard growers and orchardists alike to create the abundant fruit trees of your dreams. Katie and Hugh run Grow Great Fruit, an education hub that combines their decades of fruit growing experience into practical lessons through webinars, online courses, annual subscriptions and in-person sessions. They also have a nursery with more than 200 varietes of fruit including apples, stone fruit, heritage varieties and multi-grafted trees. Katie lives and farms on Djaara country at the foot of Mount Alexander in central Victoria To kick the episode off we're drinking a cup of chamomile tea and honey, with a dash of Poor Tom's Gin. Maddie's tree dahlia didn't quite go off like she'd have hoped, but her ranunculus from seed are going great. She's still planting things too close together. Emily is in her espalier era, with 7 trees about to go into the ground. We ask - What can't you espalier? We acknowledge we've been pronouncing bougainvillea like Aussie bogans - boganvillia. Whoops. Emily has secured herself a Charles Jolly Lilac. Maddie is recommending The Plant Hunter's Atlas In our chat with the amazing Katie, we cover all this and more: bud swell pruning pests and pest control grafting storing fruit preserving fruit cooperative farming models succession planning Grow Great Fruit Thanks for listening. We'd love it if you could rate, review and share Avant Gardeners with your friends. Follow us on Instagram or check out our website.

Scott Whitaker is a visual artist and former art gallery owner who now runs Hinterland Bees with his wife Allyson Reynolds. They got their first hive back in 1996, and now manage more than 250 of them across orchards and rainforests in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Scott produces pure, natural raw honey and has become synonymous with swarm removal. His social videos are mesmerising to watch, opting for no protective gear when handling thousands of them. Scott lives, gardens and bee keeps on Jinibara and Kabi Kabi country in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Queensland. If you love or loathe bees, or eat anything pollinated by bees, this is a great listen! Before we get there, we're drinking a Hartzview Honey Mead. Emily is talking about all the positive impacts on her gardening journey including Terry Memory, Milkwood Permaculture, Emma Bowen @ Rising Farm and Hannah Maloney. She's also about to plant all her peonies. Maddie is trying to grow Hollyhock, she's reneged on her idea of building her own chicken coop, and she's on the snail warpath. She's also recommending Danielle Alvarez's Cheesy Cauliflower Soup. Yum! Scott recommends the book Honey Bee Democracy by Thomas D. Seeley. NOTE: We interviewed Scott about 8 weeks ago, and since then varroa has been detected in several of his hives. Thanks for listening. We'd love it if you could rate, review and share Avant Gardeners with your friends. Follow us on Instagram or check out our website.