This week in Season 4, Episode 3 of The DnA of Home Interiors Podcast, Deirdre I are joined virtually by Jane Perrone, freelance journalist, presenter and producer of indoor gardening podcast On The Ledge.
Jane regularly gives talks to gardening groups and societies, appears on podcasts including her own and gives interviews on the radio about everything from slugs to succulents. She shares with us her top tips for choosing the perfect houseplants for your home.
Deirdre and I have many questions for Jane (we are both very much plant novices!). We ask her about the all the plants we are seeing in people’s bathrooms on Instagram - what if you have no natural light in your bathroom? Jane gives us some practical tips and words of wisdom on this one!
The next question is about ferns - Deirdre was looking after one for a friend over Christmas and well it didn’t quite go as planned… Jane has diagnosed central heating and the tricky balance of how much water to give ferns. In fact she has a whole podcast episode herself on this one plant type, which, rather aptly is called ‘Indoor Ferns (or, how not to kill your darlings)’.
We learn about light meters, water meters and how to make our own self watering pot, as well as where to buy a fancy one. I had never heard of the idea before, so I couldn’t wait to replay our recorded conversation in front of google! Here is the website Jane mentions: lechuza.co.uk
The purple shamrock that Deirdre and I both liked the sound of is called oxalis triangularis
Oxalis triangularis comes in a purple and a green form. Photo: Maja Dumat on Flickr (via janeperrone.com)
We talk biophilia, the subject of air purification, toxic plants, edible plants and much more.
The plant I have miraculously kept alive for over 15 years, Jane later confirms is in fact a Yucca plant and not as bamboo as I had been assuming it to be all this time!
Here is the photo I sent to Jane for identification purposes after our conversation:
Audrey’s Yucca plant
So, if you are plant novices like Deirdre and I, there is plenty of insight in this episode to get you started! Since recording the episode with Jane, my plant collection has grown from 1 to 7 and I am pleased to report they are all still alive!
Jane is currently crowdfunding a book on houseplants called Legends of the Leaf. To find out more or to pledge to support the book visit here: https://unbound.com/books/legends-of-the-leaf/
Where to find the The DnA of Home Interiors Podcast
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About The DnA of Home Interiors Podcast
The DnA of Home Interiors Podcast is created and hosted by Deirdre Mc Gettrick and Audrey Whelan. Their goal is to empower people to make confident interior design decisions for their home and demystify the interior design process.
Deirdre is founder of ufurnish.com (the website to search all furniture retailers in one place) and Audrey is founder of Audrey Whelan Interior Design, audreywhelan.com. They met on Instagram in 2019 and discovered they shared a passion for helping people create their dream homes and from there, The DnA of Home Interiors Podcast was born.
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Season 4 of The DnA of Home Interiors Podcast is proudly sponsored by www.checkatrade.com