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Tovah Martine horticultur author writer photo lecturer
   
 

New Streaming or Live Lecture

 

Issues & Answers: Harnessing Plants to Solve Problems

A lecture by Tovah Martin

Nature is wonderfully imperfect. And that explains why we struggle with bald slopes where almost nothing will grow. Or maybe you’ve got soggy lowland prone to “muddy syndrome” where weeds collect. Then there’s the deer that pester your cabbage patch and the bunnies who think your garden is their self-serve cafeteria. This lecture suggests solutions for a wheelbarrow load of problems from dry shade to gravelly hellstrips plus perennials that can live in peace and harmony with a black walnut. When your property is a symphony of issues, this lecture has answers. Accomplishing remedies harmoniously and creatively, this lecture explores plants that save the planet while also coming to our rescue.

 

In Unison: Creating Harmonious Combinations for Pollinators and You


by Tovah Martin



      Your garden has so much potential. It could become a haven where pollinators thrive, dine, and reproduce. How do you create such a place? With flowers. And while bulking up on the blossoms, you might as well make every moment beautiful. This lecture shares ideas for a pollinator-pleasing place where harmonious colors echo while textural themes reverberate and weave in and out throughout the growing season. Photographed at Furthermore—my own garden—this lecture is an intimate chronicle of a community of plants and their interrelationships. Steal these ideas!

 

Easiest Houseplants Ever with Style

by Tovah Martin

     Looking for the perfect green match for your home? This lecture is full of easily hosted ideas. No matter what your home environment offers, we’ve got you covered with recommendations for plants that will become copacetic roommates. If your home features sunny windows or shady sills; if your home is Sahara dry or comfortably spa-like—this lecture will leave you filled with hope, and an adoption list. Plus, the suggested plants do so much more than just sit around being green. The goal is to find botanical companions that will make your life ultra-beautiful. Dense with design ideas for wannabee indoor gardeners of all tastes. Crammed with firsthand wisdom for care and cultivation of all the suggested companions, this lecture covers all the bases. Want to adopt a houseplant? We offer options that will fit your lifestyle with flair.

 
 

Houseplants by Design: A Virtual Lecture
By Tovah Martin

     You want houseplants, you need houseplants – but do you really utilize houseplants to their fullest potential? In this virtual lecture filled with photos and inspiration from my own massive collection of houseplants, we explore some of the easiest, most rewarding houseplants appropriate for all types of home situations and varying window exposures. We talk about what to grow where and how to host houseplants. But we also add another layer. Beyond your usual practical presentation, here’s ideas for profiling your plants beautifully and artistically. Your houseplant could be so much more than just the green blob in the corner. We talk about design principles and how they relate to houseplants. We discuss ways to pair houseplants and profile them meaningfully to work with your décor. We present containers that really make your houseplants shine with personality. And of course, we tell you exactly how to host and care for houseplants so they work for you. Your habitat needs houseplants—why not do it with panache?


 

Maximizing Space in the Garden: Creating More of a Good Thing
A Zoom Webinar by Tovah Martin

     No matter if you’re gardening in a close-knit neighborhood or a sprawling estate, you want to garden efficiently, prolifically, sustainably, and beautifully. You need to garden smartly and you’ve got to conserve your resources. This lecture focuses on all the points on your checklist. When you layer a garden, not only do you maximize space, but you can also create hardworking habitats. You can fulfill a balance between what you need and what nature needs. Using my own garden that I call Furthermore as an example, I describe how to create layers in varied habitats including the perennial, berry, and vegetable gardens. The result is visually fulfilling, low maintenance, and mulch-eliminating when plants go wall-to-wall. This lecture shares how that shakes down to serve our needs as well as the needs of pollinators and other creatures. You can expect to hear many innovative ideas beyond the usual solutions.

 
 

Personal Houseplant Trainer
Coaching via Zoom

     Who does Martha Stewart Living call to vet houseplant stories? Me. Who does The New York Times, Real Simple, and Redbook call when they need answers to readers’ houseplant quandaries. Moi. Now, I’m here for you too. Thanks to the magic of Zoom, I am available for indoor gardening consultations. For a modest hourly fee, I will troubleshoot your houseplant issues, serve as a houseplant doctor, diagnose issues, suggest new houseplants (and show you examples from my extensive collection), send you follow-up lists of recommended plants, plus be your coach and cheerleader for an hour. We’ll talk about containers, we’ll discuss merging plants into your décor. It’s like hiring a personal shopper for plants. It’s like spending an hour with the houseplant whisperer. Your home deserves this and so do you. The perfect holiday, birthday, anniversary, or Mother’s Day gift! Contact me at tovah@tovahmartin.com for details.

 
 

Your Flower Child Update:
How You Can Be More in Bloom

      Everyone talks about bulking up the blossoms in gardens to benefit pollinators: Here’s how you can make it happen. Join lecturer Tovah Martin as she suggests how to weave pollinator-pleasing flowers into found spaces on your property. We talk about flowers that work particularly well for discretely knitting a garden together—including herbs that please on so many levels. And we liberate herbs from the strict confines of formal beds to let them romp around. But that’s just the beginning: This PowerPoint lecture shows how you can discover under-utilized spaces everywhere including vegetable gardens, roadside strips, converted lawns, and meadows to increase Flower Power. On the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, this message seems particularly important.

 
 

Gardening as if the World Depends on Us
A lecture by Tovah Martin

     Worried about the world? Take action! Actually, just by being a gardener, you are already making a big difference. Want to do more? Gardens offer so many opportunities to link with nature and rescue the world. What can you do to help? Everything! This lecture is filled with ideas from gardeners who rallied their acreage in backyards large and small to make a difference. From 21st Century versions of Victory Gardens to pollinator plants, native shrubs, and bird forage with scenic excursions into cover-the-earth density plantings, lawn alternatives, herbs, and drought-tolerant suggestions, we talk about how you can ally with nature to make the world a better place for all creatures. The results are ravishing—these gardens bristle with beauty and overflow with pride. With a trowel in hand, you can save the earth.

 
 

Houseplant Coaching

      Attention garden centers and flower shops! Do your employees or customers need a little coaching in the houseplant department? I’m here for you! Whether you need a quick rundown on the specifics of houseplant care for your staff or a day-long intensive for staff or customers, classes can be geared to your stock. We’ll cover everything from easiest houseplants for beginners to trouble shooting. We’ll do therapy sessions, tackle issues with answers, and practice repotting. I can lead shopping sprees for a Girls/Guys Night Out. We can even create a combo dish container together. This is a hands-on class, no PowerPoint projection ability is necessary to make it happen. With nearly 50 years of experience, when it comes to houseplants—I wrote the books.



The Unexpected Houseplant

      Get ready for the Houseplant Revolution. What the world needs now is more green close by – and houseplants are the answer. These aren’t your grandmother’s dowdy, dusty versions. These are houseplants with panache. These are plants that you didn’t necessarily associate with windowsills. Have you ever thought of growing a perennial as a housemate, for example? Heucheras and primroses are just a couple of the unexpected houseplants recommended in this lecture. And we talk all about how to bust houseplants out of their plastic past and into a swank future. What? You’ve tried and failed with houseplants? Here’s how to make your windowsill into a success story without quitting your day job. You and kangaroo paws are going to live happily ever after.






Terrariums & You

     When you need nature close by, houseplants are the answer. And if you’ve always yearned to host houseplants, but failed – this lecture will come to the rescue. The answer is crystal clear: Glass can serve as a solution to bond botany and you. With the aid of a terrarium, you can host nature almost anywhere – in your parched apartment or your dim office cubicle. In addition, terrariums can be the ideal venue to bring nature into children’s lives. These “small worlds” introduce beauty, botany, whimsy, sophistication, and sparkle into any decor, but these projects are also surprisingly inexpensive. Not only will we share all sorts of recycling ideas for enlisting everything from vases to cake stands, fishbowls, lemonade pitchers, cookie jars, etc for growing plants and showcasing nature, but recommendations for plant selection, care, and maintenance will be shared. This lecture demonstrates precisely how to work with glass enclosures of all types to incorporate green into your life, no matter how busy your schedule might be.




   
  Tovah Martine horticultur author writer photo lecturer