With a floral designer and a wildlife biologist as parents, is it any wonder that Jennifer Jewell would grow up to be an avid gardener? She’s the creator, executive producer, and primary host of Cultivating Place, an award-winning public radio program and podcast that features weekly conversations with growers, horticulturalists, and other plant obsessives to explore how and why we garden. Jennifer, who lives in Chico, CA, is also a writer and author of three books: most recently What We Sow, described in our review as “a conversational compendium of all things seed-related”; Under Western Skies, which spotlights 36 stunning gardens, all in the American West; and The Earth in Her Hands, a compilation of profiles of women in gardening (including our very own Michelle Slatalla, the founder of Gardenista).
Jennifer is a thought leader in the gardening space, and we’re excited to share her wisdom here on Quick Takes today—as well as a few peeks of her own garden.
Photography by Jennifer Jewell, unless otherwise noted.
Your first garden memory:
As a young toddler (2?) playing in the potting soil under a potting bench at Berthoud Greenhouses in winter in Colorado. My mother and the women she worked with were potting seedlings for the spring sales. The scent of the hand-mixed soil, the warm humidity of the greenhouses in a cold, dry, winter, plus the lulling sound of the women’s voices chatting rhythmically as they worked remains vivid for me. I can’t walk into a greenhouse without being transported to that sense of safe, growing happiness.
Garden-related book you return to time and again:
Mirabel Osler’s In the Eye of the Garden.
Instagram account that inspires you:
Describe in three words your garden aesthetic.
Above: Her garden in April.
Cottage, comfortable, fragrant.
Plant that makes you swoon:
Because you are asking me in January, Daphne ‘Odora’. Were it late spring: Rosa ‘Gertrude Jekyll’, or any of our California native bulbs especially Triteleia laxa ‘Ithurial’s Spear’. I swoon differently with each microseason…
Plant that makes you want to run the other way:
Not a huge fan of large-leaved variegated shrubs—they look like they need more love to me…
Favorite go-to plant:
Above: Layers of blooms in Jennifer’s garden.
Rose, rose, rose—native, non-native, shrub, climber, cutter, but never not-fragrant. Because, well, why?
Hardest gardening lesson you’ve learned:
You cannot do it all or have them all—enjoy the ones you have now, and do what you can now.
Unpopular gardening opinion:
Not sure if it’s really unpopular, but I stand by the age old adage: The best time to do it is when you have time to do it, and if you don’t have time to do it, it’s okay to leave it undone. The plants know what they’re doing, even if you don’t.
Gardening or design trend that needs to go:
It’s had to go for a while, so I can’t believe we are still fighting this: anything (plant, planting, or design composition) that “requires” a chemical treatment should not be in your garden.
Favorite gardening hack:
[As the saying goes] the shadow of the gardener is the best fertilizer. If paying attention, your presence in the garden conserves water, it does not over- or under-weed, it sees and enjoys what is germinating, what is growing, what is blooming, what is seeding. In short, it reminds you why you’re out there, clears your head and heart, and is what will keep you rooted out there as your best self.
Favorite way to bring the outdoors in.
Above: An altar to seeds.
Snip a bit of anything anytime and put in water to be by kitchen sink, by bathroom sink, and on bedside table. Every day you can.
Every garden needs a…
At least one human to learn and grow with it and all its other lives.
Favorite hardscaping material:
Local stone, recycled broken-up concrete that’s starting to take on life of its own.
Tool you can’t live without:
Above: The Hula-ho is $30.90 at Lee Valley.
Hand-held hula hoe, or my Felcos.
Go-to gardening outfit:
Whatever I have on….starting with my nightclothes, and progressing through the day back into my nightclothes.
Favorite nursery, plant shop, or seed company:
Plant Barn Nursery in Chico, CA.
On your wishlist:
A white flowering quince, a thriving native styrax, and native fragrant rhododendron….all behind my wishlist deer-proof enclosed garden wall/fence….2025!
Not-to-be-missed public garden/park/botanical garden:
The REAL reason you garden:
Makes me so much nicer of a human.
Above: Up next for Jennifer: “Cultivating Place is currently working on a multi-part documentary series to be rolled out in 2026. We filmed the first six parts in 2024 and have six more to go in 2025. [The series] highlights the many ways we often overlook that good gardeners grow our world better: socially, environmentally, economically, and spiritually.” Photograph by Myriam Nicodemus.Thanks so much, Jennifer! (You can follow her on Instagram @cultivating_place.)
For our full archive of Quick Takes, head here.
If you’re into the old-school stuff, classicslots777 is worth checking out. Reminds me of the good ol’ days! Might not blow your mind, but it’s a decent place to kill some time.
Sun52bet? Yeah, I’ve messed around on there a bit. It’s got a decent vibe, and their bonuses seem pretty legit. I mean, I haven’t hit the jackpot *yet*, but I’m still trying! Give it a shot, might get lucky. sun52bet
Gee88bet, I gave it a run for its money. They’ve got some ok promotions happening. I lost a fiver, but I am okay with that. If you are feeling lucky, then this is probably a decent shout. Anyway, here’s the link: gee88bet
jilibee is pretty cool. The graphics are awesome, and the gameplay is really engaging. Plus, they seem to have promotions running all the time. Check ’em out! Buzz on over to jilibee
Neu888 – Three eights again! Let’s see if you can live up to its name. The games need to be fair and the payouts must be great. Explore it now: neu888
BetKing, eh? Sounds like they’re serious about their bets. Gotta check out their odds, see if they’re worth a punt. Who knows, might get lucky! betking
Just downloaded the 188bet app via cachvao188bet.net and it’s a game changer! So much easier to place bets on the go. Get yours: tải app 188bet
Been using Zalopay to top up my Fun88 account thanks to the advice from fun88forum.com. Super convenient! Try it yourself at: nạp tiền fun88 zalopay
bong88comlogin.net is the place to go when you need to log into Bong88. Simple and reliable. Check it out here: bong88comlogin
kkkjl https://www.rekkkjl.net