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. 

Learn more about vegetable planting schedules for the mid-Atlantic region, cultivar selection, and maintenance tips with Cindy Brown.

Gary Krupnick provides 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.

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.

Horticulturist James Gagliardi shares 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. 

Rebecca McMackin shares many of the strategies employed to design an ecological park, as well as the management techniques used to cultivate biodiverse parkland.

Marc Rosenfield and Leona Neftaliem share how the pandemic offered a rare opportunity for researchers 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 with Horticulturist Justin Kondrat.

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.

It is said that nothing remains the same except for change, and that is so true for the way we garden, the abundance of available information and even the purpose of a garden.

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 Dr. Holly Walker to learn more about cicadas.

Did you know that you could help protect your local water ways from your backyard? Come learn from Dr. Holly Walker, the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Program Coordinator for Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), on how implementing conservation landscaping practices can help improve local water quality, habitat, and reduce pollution.

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.

Explore how each soil is unique with Dr. Yamina Pressler and learn 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.

Horticulturist Sylvia Schmeichel shares sources for inspiration as well as some of the tips and tricks that Smithsonian Gardens uses to come up with those eye-catching garden displays.

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

As agents of positive change, garden club leaders celebrated beauty, dedicated themselves to community improvement, and challenged Jim Crow in the process.

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 with photographer Hannele Lahti.

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

In this informative webinar, we’ll hear from garden designer and writer, Leslie Bennett, about her approach toward designing life-changing home landscapes.

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.  

Deb Freeman explores the fascinating history and relevance of traditional African-American crops including fish peppers, watermelons, sweet potatoes, collards, peanuts, and other legacy vegetables that still endure today.

Using examples from D.C.-area gardens, Kathy Jentz illustrates 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.

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

Dr. Navarrete-Tindall discusses 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 with Dr. Kasey Yturralde and Watani Hatcher.

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. Horticulturist Sylvia Schmeichel 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 with Melanie Pyle and Jill Gonzalez.

Learn about the diversity of native bees and the types of habitats they seek in our gardens, backyards and green spaces, even window boxes with Dr. Holly Walker.

Marne Titchenell shares strategies and ideas for managing trees in public spaces to promote habitat for birds, bats, pollinators, and other wildlife.

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

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

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

Samantha Nestory highlights native pollinators that don’t always get the spotlight and shares how we can support these incredible movers and shakers in our gardens and landscapes.

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

Dr. Murphy Westwood shares how 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.

Ecologist Melissa McCormick shares how current research is working to identify critical points in orchid life cycles to help safeguard orchid populations.

Photographer Hannele Lahti shares plant photography project ideas to beat the winter blues.

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

Join Smithsonian Gardens for a look at how the festive holiday displays in the Smithsonian museums come together.

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

Mignon Hemsley and Danuelle Doswell offer a compelling case for embracing indoor greenery as a means to enhance mental and physical wellbeing.

Jake Hendee delves into what, why, and how of structural pruning at a beginner’s level.

Cindy Brown discusses 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 with Smithsonian Gardens!

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

Join Smithsonian Gardens and the National Museum of Asian Art for a discussion on the exhibition “Shifting Boundaries: Approaches to American Landscapes.”

Discover how to grow 10 herbs to flavor your summer with Erin Clark.

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 with Sylvia Schmeichel.

Join Smithsonian Gardens, Paul Josey, and Ted Hartsig for a look at the planting soils surrounding the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C.

Justin Whitehall shares his work addressing Christmas tree grower challenges and concerns through the application of genetic, genomic, and molecular biology principles.

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.