Welcome back Garden Gabbers!! Fall has finally arrived in the South, and we're celebrating all the golden, glowing goodness that comes with it! This week at Garden Gab Club, we're talking about the magic of ornamental grasses, why they deserve a place in your garden, and how to use them to their fullest potential (hint: one lonely grass just won't do!).

We're also taking you across the pond to Rousham, an English garden that changed the way Molly sees and designs gardens, and catching up on all the happenings Down Home. Tessa has been dreaming up a garden project in Ethiopia, Molly is hatching plans for a brand-new Garden School, and we're both learning a thing or two about trusting the process.

Plus, we've got a garden bust involving some very neglected vegetable beds, a garden brag that makes watering a little more joyful, and some rather unexpected Door Prizes.

So here's to golden grasses, grand garden plans, and trusting the process (even when we're not entirely sure the process knows we're trusting it). May your fall gardens be glorious and your ornamental grasses have plenty of friends!

Be sure to follow the show on Substack HERE and comment your answer to the season questions to enter in the Garden Gab giveaway! And comment with your Garden Dilemma and the girls will be rapid fire answering questions on the next episode!

Thanks for joining the Gab!

LINKS:

• • Three things we are really big fans of: Dan Pearson + House and Garden + Rousham. We want you to love them too so… start with THIS article!
  • By now you have probably heard Molly and Tessa mention how much they love Philippa and THIS is her amazing podcast. Cannot recommend enough if you are a female entrepreneur!
  • Tessa’s life has been changed by this here hose and she is already plotting other sides of her house that need one…
  • Prairie Moon seed mixes! The girls couldn't just choose one!!

Fall is officially in the air, and the Garden Gab girls are gathering all sorts of good things! 🍂

This week, we're continuing our Harvest season with a conversation about gathering from the garden—and we're taking that idea well beyond the flower basket.

First up, we've got BIG news! Our very first Garden Gab trip to England is officially open for booking, and we're giving you a little taste of two extraordinary gardens on the itinerary: Gravetye Manor and Knepp Estate. From William Robinson's Wild Garden to the modern rewilding movement, we're dreaming of all the things we can learn across the pond.

Then we're heading Down Home to Birmingham, where Tessa came to celebrate her birthday at Antiques at the Gardens. There were fabulous lectures, plenty of creative inspiration, and one rather unfortunate near-miss involving Molly's car and design royalty Bunny Williams. (Everyone survived. Praise be.)

For Motions from the Floor, we're asking: What can we gather from our gardens, and what can we gather from one another? We're talking cut flowers, foraged foliage, pass-along plants, and the art of planning ahead for the things we want to enjoy in seasons to come. But we're also talking about gathering ideas, cultivating creativity, learning from other gardeners, and the beauty of starting small. Because you don't need Martha Stewart's bulb budget to be a real gardener!

Plus, we're tackling a listener's Garden Dilemma about those awkward holes in a young garden, sharing a gorgeous new book that has us both swooning, and reminding you that a little patience (and perhaps a little resourcefulness) goes a long way.

So pour yourself something cozy, grab your garden notebook, and come gab with us. There's always something worth gathering. 🌿

P.S. Don't forget to leave us a comment on Substack to enter our fall giveaway, and send us your Garden Dilemmas. We love hearing from our fellow garden club members!

Show Notes:

1. COME TO THE MOTHERLAND WITH US! Garden Gab's 2027 England Garden Tour is filling and we want Garden Gabbers there! Visit our show Substack to download the trip PDF with all the deets!
2. Past Forward by Barbara Adkins – both Tessa and Molly had this bought for them from someone else and we are in love with this book!
3. Garden Gab's Substack — leave us a comment to enter yourself in the giveaway! And be sure to send us your gardener dilemma!!
4. Books we can’t stop talking about this episode!
   • The Wild Garden by William Robinson
   • Wilding by Isabella Tree — Written by the owners of Knepp Castle, another stop on our Garden Gab Tour!
   • Decoration by Bunny Williams and Elizabeth Lawrence
   • Life in the Garden by Bunny Williams

Well hello there Garden Gabbers! Welcome to the very first episode of Garden Gab’s fall season, where we’re spending six episodes digging into one big theme: HARVEST.

But before we get philosophical, Molly is fresh off the plane from Bergamo, Italy, with plenty to report which included but was not limited to canoes, a very moving tribute to Nigel Dunnett, an appropriate amount of tiramisu, and a newfound obsession with… gravel. Yes, gravel. Stay with us.

Then we’re asking: what does it actually mean to harvest a garden? Because here in the South, harvest isn’t necessarily one grand, pumpkin-filled finale. It’s more of a loop. The zucchini comes, the peonies bloom, the tomatoes ripen, the asters finally save the crispy September meadow… and all the while, we’re observing, experimenting, editing, failing, trying again, and already plotting what we’ll do differently next year.

We’re talking about designing for those little moments of payoff throughout the year, learning to notice the gaps in our gardens, and becoming more confident creative decision-makers instead of waiting for someone to hand us the perfect gardening formula.

Plus: Tessa is sowing seeds (perhaps recklessly), Molly’s meadow is a little crispy (but we press on!). They've both bought themselves new gardening books, a listener introduces them to the concept of cozy botany, and they tackle their first Garden Dilemma: What if your entire garden feels like a dilemma and you have absolutely no idea where to start?

Grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and come gab with us. The Harvest season has officially begun. 🌾

If you are loving Garden Gab we would love for you to leave us a review and share the pod with another green loving friend! And be sure to subscribe to the show Substack to stay in the know on all things Garden Gab (like our first club field trip to ENGLAND!!!)

Show Notes:

• We kicked off the show with Molly recapping her third year in Bergamo at the International Garden Festival! If you would like to hear about Molly’s time last year at the conference, check out her interview on the Plantastic Podcast with Jared Barnes HERE!
• In Bergamo Molly learned lots about gravel and you can buy the Gravel Garden book she bought herself HERE.
• If you are intrigued by the work of James Hitchmough and Nigel Dunnett as much as the girls are, might we recommend their new edition of The Dynamic Landscape!
• Tessa bought herself a book as well… and Molly has now followed her lead and ordered so we thought you might like to as well! Check out The Creative Gardener by Stephanie Mahon HERE!
• While we are on a book kick, one of our listeners (THANKS ANNA!!) recommended A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari. Can we make cozy botany a thing?! Tessa will have it cued to listen on her drive to Bham to see Molly and shall report back!

Thanks for joining the Gab!