Let’s Talk Gardens Video Library

Eric Evans takes us on a tour of different gardens throughout history to explain how horticulture came to be how it is, what it aims at, and what it can be for. 

This presentation will provide insight into the natural history of plant-pollinator interactions and how biologists, gardeners, and community scientists can help protect plants and their pollinators.

Maggie Stuckey, bestselling garden author, tells a story on two levels in her new book, The Container Victory Garden. On one level is a detailed how-to guide to container vegetable gardens, written specifically for beginners and told with clarity and gentle wit.

Darryl Cheng’s approach breaks down the barriers to true, long-lasting enjoyment of houseplants – when you understand how plants work, you can gain a deeper appreciation for their character and more acceptance of how they’ll grow.

Join us for an hour of lively discussion on garden topics chosen by you. 

Horticulturist Sarah Dickert will take us through an overview of the most common gardening terms, techniques, tools, and more.

Learn how to identify the most common landscape weeds and how to manage them with Dr. Laurie Fox from Virginia Tech.

Learn how to design and recognize the beauty in a winter garden.

Join us as we explore the history and horticulture of the hop plant, Humulus lupulus, and its role in defining American craft beer.

Learn how to keep your tropical treasures for more than a summer. 

This talk will detail many of the strategies employed to design an ecological park, as well as the management techniques used to cultivate biodiverse parkland. If we can do it, so can you. 

Learn more how the pandemic offered a rare opportunity for Rosenfield to observe how the environment reacts to drops in human activity.

Learn about the common challenges and best practices for watering, choice of nutrients, repotting methods, light requirements, air circulation, and the optimal supplies required for home orchid cultivation

Join Jonathan Kavalier, Director of Dumbarton Oaks’ gardens and grounds, as he shares insights into Farrand and the design of the gardens and explores the challenges and opportunities inherent in stewarding an iconic historic garden into its next century

Through research, planning, design, and construction, the Biohabitats team seeks to inspire ecological stewardship, restore ecosystems, conserve habitat, and support natural regeneration in the landscapes that surround us.

Janet Draper, Horticulturist in the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden, highlights her favorite plants for creating a garden with year-round interest.

Love them or hate them, this year the east coast is going to encounter a phenomenon that only happens once every 17 years. Join Holly Walker, Plant Health Specialist to learn more about cicadas.

Wildlife habitat is of particular focus at the National Museum of Natural History, where you will find the Pollinator Garden and Urban Bird Habitat.  James will teach about native plants you can use in your own garden to support a healthy ecosystem for wildlife. 

Reducing the elements of planting design to the simplest and most basic of design principles can be a powerful approach to creating bold and powerful planting compositions.

Learn about basic design principles and learn how to put foliage first!

Join Andrew Bunting as he explores the breadth of hydrangeas and their relatives and how they can be successfully used in the garden

Together, we will explore how each soil is unique, and I will describe how soil scientists study how soils form, function, and change over time.

Janet Draper, Smithsonian Gardens Horticulturist, will share her top dozen (or so) perennials she relies on to create a garden with year-round interest.

Learn about hand-tinted glass lantern slides and how they were used a century ago to document gardens.

With thoughtful plant selection, garden design and cultural practices, your rose garden can be beautiful and earth friendly.

Frédérique Lavoipierre introduces program participants to the many phenomenal organisms that create a thriving, balanced community in a garden.

Learn how to fabricate a wreath made of succulents and a seeded greeting card.

Learn how to beautifully capture your backyard oasis or neighborhood park no matter what kind of camera you own.

In this one hour illustrated talk, garden designer and writer Gordon Hayward shares his ideas about garden rooms.

Horticulturist Sarah Dickert will discuss some of the key plants and garden features to attract these fun little birds.

Introducing children to gardening is a great way to increase their awareness of where food comes from and the importance of the environment in everyday life.

Watch this webinar to learn more about exploring personal relationships with plants and celebrating garden communities during challenging times.  

Plant suggestions, design tips, and techniques for how to make your late season garden excel. 

Using examples from D.C.-area gardens, Kathy Jentz, editor and publisher of Washington Gardener magazine, will illustrate basic design principles for maximizing garden space.

Learn how to upcycle things to create beautiful (and shareable) garden tchotchkes.

Join Andrew Bunting for an overview of great magnolias for the Mid-Atlantic region.

Hear the stories of garden club members from the 1920s on who took on the highway department, environmental destruction, and even segregation.

Dr. Navarrete-Tindall will discuss how to identify, grow and harvest native fruits, perennial greens, and tubers.

Find out how local public agencies making gardens and green spaces more accessible and equitable to local communities.

Learn how to create harvest themed centerpieces and floral arrangements for all your holiday gatherings.

Learn design tips and tricks, recommended supplies, and a step-by-step tutorial for decorating a fresh-cut, evergreen wreath,.

Have you ever heard of Horticultural Therapy or Therapeutic Horticulture? Learn more about the value and practice of Horticultural Therapy through the Horticulture Therapy program offered in the Lerner Garden of the Five Senses in Boothbay, Maine. 

Join Virginia Thaxton to learn why plant taxonomy is a very important science and how fun and useful it can be getting to know them on a first name basis! 

Wambui Ippolito takes us through various immigrant garden landscapes and histories with the hopes of having a new understanding and approach to immigrant land management.

Are you wondering what plants to add to your garden this year? Let Stephen Dubik show you how to create a dynamic garden using new and underutilized native and non-native plants that have all of the WOW! and none of the insect and disease problems common to home gardens

Learn how plants adapt to harsh conditions and naturally cope with stress in the wild and leave with a better appreciation for their role in the landscape .

Join spider scientist Dr. Sebastian Echeverri as he introduces you to the incredible superpowers, dramatic lives–and even unexpected beauty–of the many amazing spiders in our gardens and across the world.

Learn to love the shade you’ve got. Sylvia Schmeichel, Smithsonian Gardens Horticulturist, will share tips and tricks for creating layered and dynamic plant combinations that result in an inviting space. 

Learn how to use color, texture and height to your seasonal container.

Who are our native bees and how do they interact and compare with the non-native honeybee.

The World Health Organization reports that green spaces in urban areas are essential resources necessary for healthy and sustainable living environments.

Find out how to create a Monarch Waystation in your garden!

Looking for strategies to boost your landscape’s ecological impact? Join us for a look at plant-based solutions to common landscape challenges.

Alex Dencker will discuss some problematic plants, highlight the damage they’ve done and continue to do to our natural areas, and offer native plant alternatives to replace the invasives you may be surprised to learn you have in your garden.

“Pollinator” is a term that has gained massive popularity over the past couple of decades as our knowledge and understanding of our ecosystems have grown.

Join Amy Mawby for an ecological exploration of the season with a focus on its harbingers, our native spring ephemerals.

Understanding the current state of tree diversity within the United States is imperative to protect those species, their habitats, and the countless communities they support, as well as the ecosystem services they provide.

In this lecture, ecologist Melissa McCormick will talk about how current research is working to identify critical points in orchid life cycles to help safeguard orchid populations

Get ready to flex your creative muscles whether you are stuck indoors or braving the elements.  Open to shutterbugs of all levels and ages.  

Learn more about vegetable planting schedules, cultivar selection, maintenance tips, and suggestions on how to make your vegetable garden productive and beautiful. 

Join Horticulturist Janet Draper as she looks back on her 20-plus years of learning and sharing in the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden.

Watch as Smithsonian Gardens’ extensive poinsettia crop makes its magical transition from small, green slips grown in our greenhouse facility to cheery, colorful holiday plants on display in the interiors of our museums.

Learn how to add another dimension to your tree and shrub pruning skillset.

Smithsonian Gardens arborist, Jake Hendee will delve into what, why, and how of structural pruning at a beginner’s level. A gardener’s easy few cuts early in a tree’s life can set it up for a lifetime of success.

Cindy Brown, Smithsonian Gardens’ Education and Collections Manager, will discuss the tedious, sometimes stinky, always mysterious, often frustrating art of seed saving.

Learn how to fold your own seed packet and the basics of seed collecting to get you out in the garden and saving seed for the future!

Learn tips and tricks about planting fall bulbs such as daffodils, tulips and hyacinths.

Discover how to grow 10 herbs to flavor your summer.

Are you inspired by the big showcase gardens, but don’t think you have space at home to make a showy impact? Learn more about how to create a small garden with big impact.

The planting soils surrounding the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C uniquely reflect the planting soil trends at the time of each museum’s completion (or most recent renovation) over 175 years.

Learn more about the Whitehill Lab Christmas Tree Genetics program at NC State which is working to advance North Carolina and the US Christmas tree industry by addressing grower challenges and concerns.

Examine the epidemic of tree and shrub health problems caused by our most basic garden maintenance practices.

Learn more about native shrubs to substitute for your non-native plants.

Suggestions on perennials that make excellent additions to gardens AND help support the habitat ecosystem.

Georgia Audubon’s Habitat Conservation Program Manager, Gabe Andrle, will discuss the symbiotic relationship between birds and trees and how planting native trees can help attract a diverse range of birds to your yard.

Learn about the basic visual signals that plants show when they are under stress

This virtual tour, led by Justin Kondrat, Smithsonian Gardens Orchid Collection Lead Horticulturist, will give you a rare look into how large-scale collections are managed and persevered for generations of inspiration.

This lecture will discuss both the divine and the challenging aspects of the terraced medieval garden at the Washington National Cathedral Gardens.

Learn about organic methods of soil preparation like lasagna layering, how to be strategic with watering, and where to get information on preemergent and post emergent applications.

Learn our pro tips for supporting pollinators and other wildlife through the winter months.