My guest today is Ngoc Minh Ngo, a photographer and author based in New York City.  Her work is an immersive exploration of the beauty of plants and nature, enveloping and other worldly.  I always feel I am being drawn into a more three-dimensional space. It is an almost tactile experience as the garden wraps around you and where you can disappear into the page.  No matter what she captures, it often seems as though I am looking at my own memory of a space or plant, whether or not I have seen it before.  Her creative expression stretches not only through different gardens and subjects – this year alone she photographed gorgeous books by Gabriela Salazar and Umberto Pasti, and authored one on the green spaces of New York to be released next month – she also experiments with other media.  I can see how these practices, along with her own garden, give her a deeper understanding of her subjects and allow her to reveal their beauty and essential nature.  I am so grateful to have her work to transport and inspire me, and to share this conversation with you. Thank you for listening!

Garden People Podcast from @violetear_studio

L I S T E N

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S H O W N O T E S

Ngoc’s IG

Ngoc’s website

Ngoc’s books:

New York Green - coming May 23, 2023

Eden Revisited

In Bloom

Bringing Nature Home

Artistry of Flowers: Floral Design by La Musa de Las Flores by Gabriela Salazar

The House of a Lifetime: A Collector’s Journey in Tangier by Umberto Pasti

Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan

Naval Cemetery Landscape

Nature Sacred

Can you name a garden dweller who is ecologically obsessed, a little punk rock, and creates spaces for plants, pollinators and people in equal measure? Why that would be the next guest on the Garden People podcast, Rebecca McMackin! Link to listen in the bio or find us wherever you catch your podcasts.

Rebecca @oroeoboeococoao is an ecological gardener, a Loeb Fellow with the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and former Director of Horticulture for Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP) in New York. She writes, lectures, and teaches on ecological landscape management and pollination ecology. In these spheres, she brings an infectious enthusiasm alongside an abiding commitment to ecological vitality and urban biodiversity.

As part of NYC Parks Rebecca was the head gardener at historic Washington Square Park, where she deftly maintained displays and occasionally was called on to coax a reveler down from an English Elm. At BBP, Rebecca managed 85 acres of diverse parkland organically, creating a habitat that was welcoming to New Yorkers, birds, butterflies, and soil microorganisms. She migrated to Cambridge after being awarded the Loeb Fellowship, where she currently studies ecological design and science communication.

Rebecca understands plants and their pollinators, but she also understands people and how we can best invite them into the garden. This is helped by her exceptional ability to synthesis and share important information about our world. Her newsletter is an indispensable part of my learning, a go-to for a roundup of important articles and ideas, all framed by her optimism, humor, and seriousness of purpose. This interview was recorded in the last weeks of her Directorship at BBP, and it was a pleasure to speak with her at this time of transition.

Thank you for listening!

S H O W N O T E S

Rebecca’s IG @oroeoboeococoao

Rebecca’s website

Rebecca’s newsletter

Douglas Tallamy

Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc

Margaret Roach lawn article

National Audubon Society

Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center - Wildflower.org

US EPA Ecoregions

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Brooklyn Bridge Park Horticulture database

My guest is Lucy Hunter, a multi-hyphenate if there ever was one: creative director, garden designer, floral artist, stylist, photographer, teacher, author, botanical dyer…the list goes on. Based in North Wales in the UK, Lucy is, at root, a restless creative who is always adding to her list of projects and modes of expression.  She shows us how useless labels can be in a creative life, and how generous our output becomes when we do away with them.  Her book, The Flower Hunter: Seasonal Flowers Inspired by Nature and Gathered from the Garden, was published in November of 2021.   

I was fortunate enough to attend a workshop with Lucy, Gabriela Salazar, and Max Gill this past March, and saw first-hand her creative force at play. From design notes to photography demonstrations, her energy and engagement with attendees and their work was simply amazing. I’m so happy to welcome her here today.

Lucy will have another whirlwind tour of workshops in the coming months, including one in October with TJ McGrath in New Jersey. Next year, she will return to New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and New Orleans in March, and Provence in April. You can receive up-to-date information on dates and registration on her website and IG. Links in the show notes, below.

Garden People Podcast from @violetear_studio

L I S T E N

iTunes

Spotify

Stitcher

S H O W N O T E S

Lucy Hunter

Lucy’s website

Lucy’s book: The Flower Hunter: Seasonal flowers inspired by nature and gathered from the garden

Carol’s Garden (Featured in Lucy’s book)

Great Dixter

Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

Kiftsgate Court Gardens

Jackdaws eating buxus caterpillars

Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Interiors: My Rooms, Treasures, and Trinkets

Gabriela Salazar La MUSA de las FLORES

Max Gill Max Gill Design

Wilding: Returning nature to our farm by Isabella Tree