Since we’ve been at this podcasting game for more than two years now, we figured it was time we asked you guys—our loyal listeners—what pressing plant questions you have. We got questions about design and Zone 4 recommendations, and one brave listener even wrote in to ask about our favorite PINK plants (yikes!). There were a handful of questions that left us clueless, so we called in a few bona fide experts to help out. After all, if there’s one thing we have figured out through the course of this show, it’s that we don’t know it all—even you, Steve.

Expert testimony #1: Richie Steffen, curator of the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden in Seattle

Expert testimony #2: Ed Gregan, nurseryman from Bailey Nurseries in St. Paul, Minnesota

DANIELLE’S PLANTS

‘Lemon Splash’ and ‘Little Angel’ burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis ‘Lemon Splash’ and ‘Little Angel’, Zones 4–8)

‘Crested Surf’ Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum ‘Crested Surf’, Zones 4–8)

‘Ice Dance’ sedge (Carex morrowii ‘Ice Dance’, Zones 5–9)

Bobo^® panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘ILVOBO’, Zones 3–8)

Meadow rue (Thalictrum rochebruneanum, Zones 4–7)

‘Sun King’ Japanese spikenard (Aralia cordata ‘Sun King’, Zones 4–8)

‘Sarah Bernhardt’ and ‘Beauty Bowl’ peony  (Paeonia lactiflora ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ and ‘Beauty Bowl’, Zones 3–8)

Low Scape Mound^® aronia (Aronia melanocarpa ‘UCONNAM165’, Zones 3–8)

‘Eric Smith’ bergenia (Bergenia ‘Eric Smith’, Zones 5–9)

Oriental swamp pink (Heloniopsis orientalis, Zones 5–8)

STEVE’S PLANTS

‘Shina no tsuki’ fairy bells (Disporum longistylum ‘Shina no tsuki’, Zones 6–9)

‘Beatlemania’ sedge (Carex caryophyllea ‘Beatlemania’, Zones 4–7)

‘Butter and Sugar’ Siberian iris (Iris sibirica ‘Butter and Sugar’, Zones 3–9)

‘St Joseph’s Broom’ Colorado spruce (Picea pungens ‘St Joseph’s Broom’, Zones 4–8)

Keiko (Adored) Itoh Peony (Paeonia ‘Pink Double Dandy’, Zones 4–8)

Shale barrens buckwheat (Eriogonum allenii ‘Little Rascal’, Zones 5–9)