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Plant People

New York Botanical Garden

New episodes coming March 10, 2025!

Plant People explores the ways our relationships with plants are tied to current environmental issues, and how art and culture reflect our connection to the ecosystems we rely on to thrive. 

Through lively stories and conversations with scientists, gardeners, artists, and experts, join the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) for deep dives into everything from food systems and horticulture to botanical breakthroughs in the lab and the field, and the many ways our daily lives are sustained by plants. Then stay for discussions on how we can return the favor, protecting what we have—and cultivating what we need—to ensure plants and people continue to support each other for future generations. 

Host Jennifer Bernstein, NYBG’s President & CEO, guides you through the role of humans in caring for our shared planet, whether you’re in your backyard garden, tending a window sill full of houseplants, or finding your love of nature in a concrete jungle. Let NYBG—rooted in NYC’s cultural fabric for over 130 years and a beloved respite in the heart of the Bronx, the city’s greenest borough—be your anchor for understanding how plants make a difference in your life, and our world, every single day—in ways both big and small.

© 2024 The New York Botanical Garden

New episodes coming March 10, 2025!

Plant People explores the ways our relationships with plants are tied to current environmental issues, and how art and culture reflect our connection to the ecosystems we rely on to thrive. 

Through lively stories and conversations with scientists, gardeners, artists, and experts, join the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) for deep dives into everything from food systems and horticulture to botanical breakthroughs in the lab and the field, and the many ways our daily lives are sustained by plants. Then stay for discussions on how we can return the favor, protecting what we have—and cultivating what we need—to ensure plants and people continue to support each other for future generations. 

Host Jennifer Bernstein, NYBG’s President & CEO, guides you through the role of humans in caring for our shared planet, whether you’re in your backyard garden, tending a window sill full of houseplants, or finding your love of nature in a concrete jungle. Let NYBG—rooted in NYC’s cultural fabric for over 130 years and a beloved respite in the heart of the Bronx, the city’s greenest borough—be your anchor for understanding how plants make a difference in your life, and our world, every single day—in ways both big and small.

© 2024 The New York Botanical Garden
9hr
Thumbnail for "Moving Past Peat".
Thumbnail for "Extreme Botany".
Thumbnail for "A River Runs Through The Bronx".
Thumbnail for "Sowing Change".
Thumbnail for "The Periodic Table of Food".
Thumbnail for "Paradise Bronx".
Thumbnail for "Plant People Season 2 Trailer".
Thumbnail for "Decay is an Ally".
Thumbnail for "The African American Garden".
Thumbnail for "Eating To Extinction".
Thumbnail for "Native Plants".
Thumbnail for "What Do Plants Have To Do With Flooding?".
Thumbnail for "Houseplants".
NYBG’s Marc Hachadourian joins us for a chat on the ways conservatory and botanical garden horticulture have influenced our day-to-day lives with plants.
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Dr. Evelyn Beaury joins us for a look at the state of invasive plant species in the United States, and ways that the everyday person can make a difference in protecting their local ecosystems.
Thumbnail for "Fighting Fire With Fire".
Michael Dockry, Assistant Professor of Forestry Studies at the University of Minnesota and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, explores the state of our forests—and the increased threat of wildfires in today’s climate.
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We're joined by landscape designer Edwina von Gal, founder of Perfect Earth Project, for a chat exploring America's love of grass—and the ways that changing our relationship to our lawns can help suburban landscapes work for the good of our planet.
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In Plant People's inaugural episode, get to know Rhonda Evans, Director of NYBG's LuEsther T. Mertz Library, and Dr. Emily Sessa, Director of the Steere Herbarium, as they take us inside the archives of botanical books and plant specimens that represent so much of humanity’s plant knowledge.
Thumbnail for "Plant People Season One Trailer".
Welcome to Plant People!

Moving Past Peat

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May 5, 202529min 56sec

 In this week’s episode, we discuss the future of horticulture—and the simple, sustainable changes that can help the planet heal. Come join Chad Massura, founder of Rosy Soil, and Kurt Morrell, VP of Horticulture Operations at NYBG, for a chat about the importance of peat-free soil for a carbon-neutral world. Massura shares the story behind potting products like his that move beyond the extractive model of the peat industry, while Morrell elaborates on eco-friendly practices in horticulture. You’ll leave the conversation with a new tactic in hand to make your own garden greener! 

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Moving Past Peat
00:00
29:56