Midweek bonus 2: keep on keeping on, Little Joe and a birdsong soundscape
Emily Beecham as Alice Woodard in new film Little Joe.
Transcript
Jane: Hello, and welcome to this midweek bonus episode No 2. I don’t know about you, but it feels like a million years since I did midweek bonus episode just a week ago. Quite a lot’s been happening, hasn’t it? It’s been quite hectic, quite panicky, quite strange. ‘Unprecedented,’ I think is a word that’s being rather overused in the media at the moment, but this really is an unprecedented time. And, as I always knew, you guys have really stepped forward and are being wonderful in lots of different ways. The first way that you’re being wonderful is by putting lovely comments on the stuff that I’m doing on Instagram.
If you haven’t followed me on Instagram where I’m @j.l.perrone you will find a daily, roughly five minute video about one of my plants, me nabbing on about plants basically, up there every day of the week. I’m also hosting ‘Houseplant Hour’ on Twitter at 9pm GMT which is 5pm EDT every Tuesday now. Just follow the hashtag #HouseplantHour or follow my account @janeperrone or @HouseplantHour to get involved with that if you fancy an hour of complete escapism talking about plants.
And several of you have also been joining the Patreon clan of people who are supporting this show financially. This week that’s Jenny and Levi who have become Crazy Plant People. Kate and Clive who have become Ledge -ends, and Christina who has upped her pledge to become a Superfan. Thanks to all of you and if you feel at this time that you can commit to a regular monthly donation to On The Ledge, please do go and visit the show notes for details of how to do that. If you want to give a one-off donation via ko-fi.com, or via PayPal, those links are also available in the show notes.
And I had a lovely email from Christina, the Superfan, who said, “In these uncertain times On The Ledge offers a much appreciated distraction.’ She is living in a part of New York which is a Coronavirus hot spot, so she’s stuck inside for the foreseeable future and she writes, “Now my houseplants and my garden are my playground to keep me occupied and calm as possible, this is just a big fan message to thank you for all you do to keep me and your vast audience informed about plants, smiling about life and connected to a bigger world.” And she also says, “Hi, to Wolfie.” Thank you. Christina. That was a lovely message to receive and I do hope that you go on being able to get in your garden and tend your houseplantsat this difficult time.
The On The Ledge sowalong goes on and with many of us stuck at home perhaps this gives us a bit more time to devote to sowing some seeds. I have sown some chilli seeds and some tomato seeds, and a few kale seeds and other things, but I haven’t got round to doing my cacti yet. That is on my list for this weekend, so I should have a nice soundscape to bring you on that front next week.
But I can see from social media that you guys are getting busy. John has been sowing some beans, he posted a picture of those over on Instagram. Not strictly houseplants, John, but on this occasion I’ll let it go. Solange over on Twitter has been promoting the On The Ledge sowalong, which is fantastic. Thank you very much. Anne, it’s lovely to see you a picture of your misty propagator. I do love a misted up propagator. That’s a sign of great things to come. And also to Kathy, who’s been posting about Haemanthus albiflos seed. I think it’s called the paintbrush plant. It’s a succulent flowering plant that she’s germinating on the window sill, and they are chunky little fellows, aren’t they? They look amazing.
Over on the houseplant fans of On The Ledge, Naomi has been, like me, sowing tomato and chilli seeds. So there’s a lot going on and do add your posts. Just use the hashtag @OTLsowalong. Or in the Facebook add the OTL Sow Along topic so I can track you down and find your posts. And if you’ve got any other burning questions about the sow along that you would like to ask, queries about what seed compost to use, or how deep to sow your seed, do drop me a line and I’ll try to address those in upcoming episodes. Do remember to keep dropping me general houseplant questions for the Easter weekend Q&A which I will be putting together in the coming days and weeks.
And now we’re going to hear from a listener and her name is Sadie. Sadie: Hello. My name is Sadie Spencer. I am a houseplant enthusiast and a listener from the San Luis Valley Region of Colorado, USA. If you’ve never heard of the San Luis Valley, you should give us a quick Google. This area is the most beautiful, mysterious and wonderfully weird place I have ever been. Colorado does give gardening, both indoors and out, a unique challenge. I’m at 8000ft in elevation and you get about seven to nine inches of rain annually, so to garden here you really have to learn to love Yucca.
I’ve had houseplants pretty much my whole life, but recently I’ve really amassed a leafy army. There really isn’t a plant group that I haven’t killed at least one of at some point. I don’t do this professionally. I am a pharmacist during the day, but a scientist at heart, so I love experimenting and learning about the all different kinds of plants all the time.
Jane: Question 1. There’s a fire and all your plants are about to burn. Which one do you grab as you escape?
Sadie: I may need some help from a brawny fireman for this one, but I would definitely save my seven-year old-Meyer lemon tree. It would not be the first time that I’ve snatched it back from the jaws of death. We’ve been through everything together, spider mites, all kind of leaf drop, a few house moves. It’s my favourite plant and I feel like I’ve finally figured out how to take care of it in all the seasons. Plus, I have three baby lemons that are about the size of grapes right now, and I really want to see how that turns out. Jane: Question 2. What is your favourite episode of ‘On the Ledge?’ Sadie: My favourite episode of On The Ledge has got to be 115. The Lithops Episode. I love Lithops. I’ve been obsessed with leaf windows ever since I learned about them and Lithops have them. It’s such a cool thing that evolution can do. I also just really loved the charm and enthusiasm of the nursery owners. They just seemed like such great people. I also loved the Hoya episodes and the sustainability series, but the Lithops episode is definitely my favourite.
Jane: Question 3. Which Latin name do you say to impress people?
Sadie: I have a lot of fun saying Spathiphyllum. It’s also one of the big names that I can remember all the time and feel confident with. So I usually have to slow down for the rest of them because I’m never quite sure if I’m saying Zamioculcas zamiifolia, or Dracaena trifasciata correctly. I remember them and I know what they look like written, but I have a hard time saying some of them. Question 4. Crassulacean Acid Metabolism or guttation? Sadie: I live in a super arid environment, so I have to go with CAM. I wish I could teach all of my houseplants how to do that. Guttation just sort of seems wasteful to me.
Jane: Question 5. Would you rather spend £200 on a variegated monstera or £200 on 20 interesting cacti?
Sadie: This question is so easy for me to answer. Even though variegated monsteras are beautiful, I have a really good knack for killing expensive plants. So I’d put myself on a very strict limit on my plant purchases. I don’t buy anything that’s more than $20 anymore. Well, okay, so I cheat sometimes, so let’s just say $40 is my limit. And I love cacti - you have to in Colorado. Cactus flowers are some of my absolute favourite flowers, so I would go with the cactus.
Jane: Thank you, Sadie. Great to meet you, and if you’d like to put yourself forward for ‘Meet the Listener’ drop a line to Ontheledgepodcast@gmai.com and my assistant, Kelly, will send you details on how to take part.
Matt Candeias is another plant podcaster. His plant podcast In Defense of Plants is absolutely brilliant and I do recommend you listen, particularly possibly this week – the latest episode – because I’m on it. Oh, gosh, haven’t I got a big head! Anyway, I’ve been interviewed by Matt for his podcast and you can hear me in Episode 257 if you are not already sick at the sound of my own voice.
Matt is also making an appearance in this podcast because I called him up a few weeks ago for a chat about a new film that’s come out that’s a little bit planty. It’s called ‘Little Joe,’ and it starts Emily Beecham as Alice Woodard, a plant breeder and single mother who creates ‘Little Joe’ a plant that gives its caretakers joy. And as you may be able to predict, it doesn’t go very well. If you’re a Patreon subscriber of $5 a month or more, very shortly you’ll be able to hear my full chat with Matt about this film, which let’s be honest, we weren’t overly enamoured by, but we did have a great chat about it. But I wanted to give everybody a bit of a taste of what we had to say, so here is a little extract from the start of our interview…
Jane: Matt Candeias, in Defense of Plants host, and plant man extraordinaire, we’re here today to talk about this film, ‘Little Joe.’
Matt: Yeah, hi Jane.
Jane: Hello. I don’t know where to start with this. I guess we should start by summarising what this film is about. I was expecting to be a bit more like jump-scare, than it was. It was quite a slow burn, but the premise is that this woman scientist is working for some kind of corporation, I can’t think what it’s called, but they’re working for a corporation which is trying to develop new species using genetic modification. They work on this particular plant which has got a red flower, which we’ll get into a bit more about that in a bit, because that’s a whole other thing which is supposed to release chemicals that make you feel good, that bring you happiness. This plant ends up being called ‘Little Joe’ which is named after her son.
It stars Emily Beecham as the main character and also Ben Wishaw who’s the male scientist who somewhat is pitted against her. I’ve got my notes that I wrote – I’m just going to look at my notes to remind myself what the first thing I said was because I think it was something where I was just horrified. I think it was something like a horrified reflection on the fact that the other plant that was in this greenhouse that they’re working on looked like a dumb cane, a Dieffenbachia with a tulip flower sticking out of it. And at that point, I have to say, I slightly was lost because I’m thinking, “You didn’t do enough research to figure out that looked really weird.” Was that your reaction too? Matt: It was one of those things where as soon as I saw it, I was like “I see what you did there,” but the flip side of it is I’m so used to watching movies like this, it’s just like they literally went to a buck store and buy an aroid like a monstera or something, or they used a very obvious fake plant that was plastic. I was like, “Alright, you get some credit for an amalgamation of two real things.
Jane: Yeah, no that is true. That is true, and I guess we are looking at this film from a very rarified position of people who probably compared to the vast number of movie goers – I mean not bigging ourselves up, just because of what we do, we’re inevitably going to have a much deeper reflection on things like that than the average Joe Punter is going to have.
The other thing that I noted very early on was this concept of this plant being genetically engineered to make people happy. I wrote down, “Plants make you happy already!” Matt: Yeah, the weird detail they added was the hormone it releases like cytopinin [Matt means Oxytocin] or something is supposed to be the mother baby hormone. My first thought was why would you want to love a plant that much? Jane: Yeah, that would be a scary amount of love. I mean, I don’t know, yeah, that’s not healthy. Also most plants aren’t that high maintenance. If you were trying to treat them like a baby, you’d be really disappointed because they don’t need that much attention. They don’t need the minute by minute attention that a baby needs. Matt: Yeah, and honestly I already get bunged out enough when I accidentally kill a plant. Imagine loving it like an actual child and then killing it, like, “Wooh.”
Jane: I hope that’s given you a taster of my chat with Matt Candeias about the film ’Little Joe’ and if you are a Patreon subscriber stay tuned because an email should be popping into your inbox shortly, letting you know when I have got that on the Patreon feed. Sorry that it’s been a bit lean on there recently. I’ve been busy, as you can imagine, but I am going to be remedying that soon. I’m also going to be running you through my propagation station and everything that I’ve got going on there in another episode of ‘An Extra Leaf’ coming soon.
Well, that’s all for this midweek bonus. I hope this has given you a little respite from the stresses and strains of living amid a pandemic and caught you up with what’s going on the show, and I’ll be back on Friday when I’m bringing you a houseplant tour. Thanks to all of you who are suggesting upcoming episodes and ideas. I’m getting through everything as quickly as I can. You are what drives this show, so let me know your thoughts. What can I do? What am I doing wrong? What could I be doing better? I would love to hear your feedback about the show. Just drop me a line to ontheledgepodcast@gmail.com That really is the best way of getting in touch right now because Kelly, my assistant and I are constantly looking at that inbox.
And if you’re looking for other planty podcasts to listen to during this period, I’m going to put a link in the show notes for today’s episode to a page that’s been put together by a lovely podcaster called Suzie Buttress, who does a podcast about bird watching. She’s put together a lovely list of planty podcasts, so I will link to that so if you’re looking for more stuff to listen to, to provide balm for your ears, that is worth a look.
I don’t know about you, but I’m finding it a little bit tricky to fall asleep at night. I have to say what I’m listening to before I go to sleep. I’m listening to an audio book read by Stephen King of his book On Writing. Whether you’re a writer, or just love Stephen King’s books, or just like the sound of his voice, it’s actually a really good listen. So that’s my non-plant recommendation, and I’d love to know from you how you’re coping with what’s going on right now. Is there any particular house plant that’s bringing you joy? A ritual or a habit that is saving your sanity right now? Let me know and I can share it with other listeners.
This morning when I got up early to start work before my kids woke up, I just took my mobile outside and recorded half an hour of the noises that are happening in my garden around 6am, which is mainly birdsong. So I’m just going to tack that audio on the end of this episode for you to listen to and relax and take you to another space.
Enjoy listening to the birds of my garden and you’ll hear from me again on Friday for Episode 133.
Stay safe, stay home, stay sane with your houseplants.
Bye!
Subscribe to On The Ledge via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Player FM, Stitcher, Overcast, RadioPublic and YouTube.
In this extra episode, I meet listener Sadie from Colorado, USA, talk to Matt Candeias of podcast In Defense of Plants about new film Little Joe, and chill out with the birds in my garden. Check out the notes below as you listen….
#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.
#OTLsowalong is ongoing! You can find all my podcasts on this subject here. Do remember to include the hashtag on Twitter and Instagram and use the OTLsowalong topic when posting in the Facebook group, Houseplant Fans of On The Ledge.
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.
Matt Candeias’ podcast In Defense of Plants is well worth a listen - you can hear me being interviewed about houseplants in episode 257.
In this episode, you can hear an extract of a chat with Matt Candeias about new film Little Joe, which is about a plant genetically engineered to make people happy. You can watch a trailer for Little Joe here. The full interview is now available on my Patreon feed for subscribers of $5 a month or more.
Podcaster Suzy Buttress’s list of gardening podcasts is worth a look: find it here. Suzy’s podcast is great too, it’s called The Casual Birder.
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CREDITS
This week's show featured the tracks Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops, An Instrument the Boy Called Happy Day Gokarna by Samuel Corwin and Chiefs by Jahzzar.
Logo design by Jacqueline Colley.