Midweek bonus 3: let's hear it for the birds

Wolfie says, be sure to make time for a rest… Photograph: Jane Perrone.

Transcript

MIDWEEK BONUS 3

LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BIRDS

[Music]

[Birdsong]

Hello, and welcome to Midweek Bonus No 3. I thought I'd have a little backdrop of birdsong for this because so many of you have been in touch to say how much you enjoyed the birdsong in the last midweek bonus. So here is some more for your delectation. I'm glad that it's calming you down, relaxing you and taking your mind off whatever worries and stresses are running through your head right now.

This is going to be a little update on what's going on with the pod and also we're going to meet listener, Pam.

What's exciting me right now is the fact that I'm just two Patreons away from reaching my goal of 200 Patreons. How incredible is that!? Thank you to my new Ledge Ends this week, Calvin, Nick, Melissa and Solange. Once I reach that 200 goal, I'll be doing a Facebook Live which will be great fun, so just two more people need to donate just $1 a month and we will reach that target. So if you've been thinking about becoming a Patreon, now is the time to do it.

It's been a bit quiet on the reviews front lately, which is understandable, but if you can't support the show financially, this is a brilliant quick and easy way of giving us the thumbs up by leaving a review on your pod app of choice. It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside and it helps other people find the show.

Some of you have been getting in touch with your habits, and I particularly loved Lauren's idea, which is -- she's obviously working at home as so many of us are at her kitchen table - she's bringing a different houseplant over to that table to feature in her workspace every day. She writes, "I would check it over, remove any dead leaves and it gives me time to appreciate it on its own, and gives me something to look forward to." If you check out her Instagram where she's posting these plants on her stories, she's at @theleaflet_ I'll put a link to that in the show notes.

In other news, Hilton Carter, guest of Episode 92 of On the Ledge, has set up his own podcast. It's called Journeys in Greenery. So if you're a fan of Hilton, that's definitely worth a listen. Again, the link will be in the show notes.

Keep sending your questions for the Q&A special which is coming out April 10^th^, Episode 135. Lots of great questions already, but I can take a few more, and perhaps you might be able to help me out with questions from a listener from Sudan. He wants to grow palms, but he can't get hold of perlite or vermiculite, so perhaps you have a substitute that you've tried and tested and would like to suggest, that might be available in Sudan, because I'm not sure what to suggest for this chap. Sand maybe? I'm not sure. Anyway, if you've got any ideas about perlite or vermiculite substitutes that he can get hold of easily, do let me know.

Some of you have been asking about how the Monstera emoji campaign is coming along. Well, funny you should ask because Friday's show, Episode 134, will be a chat with Cassidy Moody of Missouri Botanic Garden. He has been spearheading an attempt to get an orchid emoji accepted by Unicode. So I'm going to be getting lots of top tips from him and I'll also talk about how you can get involved in putting our proposal together.

Oh, and don't forget to join in with House Plant Hour. If you're on Twitter, it's every Tuesday at 9pm GMT, which I'm assured is 5pm EDT. If you're outside those two time zones, you'll have to work it out for yourself, but do join us for an hour of houseplant chat. It's a reason to join Twitter if nothing else, and you get to show off your plants, ask questions, compare notes and moan when things go wrong, which is something we all love doing. So please join me for House Plant Hour. Just follow me @janeperrone on Twitter and you can also follow @houseplanthour, the dedicated Twitter account. Just use the hashtag #houseplanthour in all your posts.

Well, now it's time to meet a listener. I'm glad that lots of people are stepping forward to do this. Today's victim -- I shouldn't say victim, today's guest! - is the wonderful Pam.

[Music]

Pam: Hello Jane and On the Ledge listeners. My name is Pam. I am a photographer and video content creator from Massachusetts here in the United States. We are finally approaching Spring and I'm so excited. I've been listening to On the Ledge for about a year and a half and I am very, very happy to be here.

Question 1 -- There's a fire and all your plants are about to burn. Which one do you grab as you escape?

Pam: if my home were to catch on fire -- which is one of my greatest fears, so I have given this some thought -- I think the plant I would attempt to rescue on the way out the door would be my six foot something-tall Pachira aquatica. I've had it for about seven years and when my Mum gave it to me, it was in a four inch pot. It is now absolutely enormous. It has a foot over me and I love it so much.

Question 2 -- What is your favourite episode of On the Ledge?

Pam: My favourite episode of On the Ledge is probably the Coleus episode and this is because I feel like Coleus is vastly underappreciated in the houseplant community. So when I saw an entire episode dedicated to one of my favourite plants, I was really excited, and the information in that episode was incredible helpful to me, especially when it came to trying to help some other people embrace this plant which is just not loved enough in my opinion.

Question 3 -- Which Latin name do you say to impress people?

Pam: The Latin name that I say the most, I guess in my head -- I don't know if other people have Latin names of plants just roll through their head almost like a song that's been stuck in there -- but mine is definitely Ceropegia woodii I really like anything with that double I at the end.

Question 4 -- Crassulacean acid metabolism or Guttation

Pam: Between the two, I'm going to have to pick guttation. I love it because a) it is beautiful but b) it sounds terrifying, like a death metal band.

Question 5 -- Would you rather spend £200 on a variegated Monstera or £200 on 20 interesting cacti?

Pam: Well, I had to think about this question a little bit. I think I'm going to have to take the variegated Monstera. It's been on my wish list for so long and frankly with 175 houseplants, or whatever it is because I refuse to count again, I don't know where I would put 20 interesting cacti as much as that would be really fun to go through and open and check out.

[Music]

[Birdsong]

Thank you to Pam and if you have sent me an email to <ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com data-preserve-html-node="true"> telling me that you want to be involved in meet the listener, do not worry, my assistant, Kelly, will get back to you with instructions on how to do it forthwith.

Well, I'll leave you with the birdsong now as I go on my way getting Friday's episode ready. Whatever the week is throwing at you, I do hope your plants are bringing you some comfort. Hang in there and I will speak to you on Friday. Bye!

[Birdsong]

The music you heard in this episode was Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops and Chiefs by Jihzarr, both licenced under Creative Commons.

See janeperrone.com for details.

Subscribe to On The Ledge via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Player FM, Stitcher, Overcast, RadioPublic and YouTube.

In this bonus episode, I update you on all things On The Ledge, and we meet listener Pam! Check out the notes below as you listen…

• Check out listener Lauren’s Instagram at @theleaflet_

• Hilton Carter’s new podcast is Journeys In Greenery

• HouseplantHour over on Twitter is usually once every two weeks, but I am making it weekly from now on - every Tuesday at 9pm GMT. Join me to talk about your plants, ask questions and generally escape from any gloom or stress you are experiencing. Follow https://twitter.com/janeperrone and https://twitter.com/houseplanthour to get involved, and include #HouseplantHour in all your posts.

• If you want to take part in Meet the Listener, drop an email to ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com. That’s also where you can send questions on sowalong issues, and general houseplant issues for the upcoming Q&A special, episode 135.

HOW TO SUPPORT ON THE LEDGE

Contributions from On The Ledge listeners help to pay for all the things that have made the show possible over the last few years: equipment, travel expenses, editing, admin support and transcription.

Want to make a one-off donation? You can do that through my ko-fi.com page, or via Paypal.

Want to make a regular donation? Join the On The Ledge community on Patreon! Whether you can only spare a dollar or a pound, or want to make a bigger commitment, there’s something for you: see all the tiers and sign up for Patreon here.

• The Crazy Plant Person tier just gives you a warm fuzzy feeling of supporting the show you love.

• The Ledge End tier gives you access to two extra episodes a month, known as An Extra Leaf, as well as ad-free versions of the main podcast on weeks where there’s a paid advertising spot, and access to occasional patron-only Zoom sessions.

• My Superfan tier earns you a personal greeting from me in the mail including a limited edition postcard, as well as ad-free episodes.

If you like the idea of supporting On The Ledge on a regular basis but don't know what Patreon's all about, check out the FAQ here: if you still have questions, leave a comment or email me - ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com. If you're already supporting others via Patreon, just click here to set up your rewards!

If you prefer to support the show in other ways, please do go and rate and review On The Ledge on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen. It's lovely to read your kind comments, and it really helps new listeners to find the show. You can also tweet or post about the show on social media - use #OnTheLedgePodcast so I’ll pick up on it!

CREDITS

This week's show featured the tracks Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops and Chiefs by Jahzzar.

Logo design by Jacqueline Colley.