Home of Houseplants

Jo is joined once again by her husband John, co owner of Home of Houseplants to update listeners on their absence over the last 6 months. The impact of COVID-19 on indoor plant sales in Australia and a shock cancer diagnosis are just some of the reasons discussed for their absence from making podcasts. Join Jo for this quick update to find out what is in store for 2021.

Jo speaks with Andy Baker, a Brisbane based collector of aroids that is relatively new to the hobby. Andy recently travelled to South America with Intrepid Travel and was on the hunt for aroids, in and amongst seeing the cultural sights.

Andy shares all the tips and inside details re his trip, if you are wanting to see the aroids for yourself in their native homelands.

Follow Andy on instagram @plantyandy

Robyn Ganley is one of Australia's most prolific private sellers  of the most in demand, rare and hard to find indoor plants.

Based just outside of the metro area of Cairns, in Far North Queensland, Australia, Robyn along with her husband Snow, have built a number of very large greenhouses on their acreage, toaccomodate their precious plants, that have been accumulated over a number of years.

Join Jo and she wanders around Robyn's property and listen to the description of all the treasures that form part of Robyn's stock for sale and personal collection. Jo travelled to Cairns to record this interview with Robyn in late November 2019.

Apologies in advance about the audio for this one as we were outdoors, with limited recording capabilities.

Happy New Year! January 2020 marks the start of Season 2 of Home of Houseplants. 

In 2020, Home of Houseplants  is travelling across Australia to meet and interview Australia's most popular and high profile growers and sellers of rare and hard to find indoor plants.

First cab off the rank is Jules, from The Plant Factor. Jules is based just outside Cairns, in tropical Far North Queensland, Australia.  As many of you know, in partnership with Peter Sargeant,  Jules harvests and sells cuttings from the precious aroids that live inside the Whyanbeel Arboretum, in the Whyanbeel Valley. If you don't know who Peter Sargeant is, check out episode 2 of Season 1 of this Podcast.

Apologies in advance for the audio quality during this interview. It was recorded in a hotel lobby, next to a waterfall using one microphone.

Follow Jules on instagram via @the_plant_factor or on FB via The Whyanbeel Collection @theplantfactor

In this episode, Jo chats with Clayton, co-owner of Melbourne based Sproutwell Greenhouses. 

Sproutwell Greenhouses was established in 2011 and has grown from strength to strength. Sproutwell greenhouses are a firm  favourite amongst plant collectors and hobbyists alike and they have witnessed a resurgence in their popularity. Sproutwell Greenhouses is a family business that has enjoyed helping gardening enthusiasts and commercial growers achieve their vision. 

So many interesting aspects of glasshouses and greenhouses were discussed in this interview and if you don't have the space of property to have one of these, this is still worth a listen. Clayton and his wife built the company from scratch in 2011, so it is also wonderful story to listen to about how they did it!

In episode 12, Jo sits down with Jane Perrone, a UK broadcaster, freelance journalist and host of the On The Ledge Podcast. Jo and Jane talk about the behind-the-scenes aspect of podcasting, getting started in the houseplant space and the exciting times ahead in the digital houseplant space.

In this episode, Jo sits down with Greg Ruckert, owner of www.elitebulbs.com.au, former aroid collector/hunter and currently the President of the Lilium and Bulb Society of South Australia, a national committee member of the Garden Clubs of Australia and Vice President of the Horticultural Media Association, to talk about Greg's experiences on expeditions through China and Burma to catalogue and discover new plant species, the process of international  quarantine (importing plants/bulbs into Australia)  and where he thinks houseplants are moving in the future.

Hannah and Branko, a young couple from Adelaide, South Australia share a mutual passion for vintage decor, design and indoor plants. Storytellers Workshop was born through their love of collecting unique, one-off treasures for their own home. Hannah and Branko  believe that a home is a sanctuary and that we are able to enhance our mood by surrounding ourselves with objects that are meaningful to us. Being thoughtful about what we place in our homes means that over the years you will have a space that is rich in character and a reflection of your own personality – and that kind of home will never go out of style!

Join Jo as she chats with Hannah and Branko about the role indoor plants play in styling, vintage trends and even how to clean and care for vintage cane and brass planters.

You can follow Storytellers Workshop on instagram via @storytellersworkshop or better still, check out their website, www.storytellersworkshop.com.au.

Steve Falcioni from Australian Company  Organic Group Protectants, speaks to Jo about the range of environmentally friendly products for use by domestic indoor plant collectors and hobbyists, such as neem oil and eco oil. Listen to find out what products Steve recommends indoor plant enthusiasts to use to treat common problems with pests, fungicides and diseases on indoor plants.

In this episode, Jo speaks with Karen Smith, the President of the Interior Plantscape Association, about the surge of indoor plants in all spaces as well as the benefits of filling manmade spaces with indoor plants.

David Brown is an Architect and owner of BB Architects. His workplace is a stunning converted warehouse that aside from providing accommodation for his staff, his home to his collection of close to 1000 indoor plants. 

David started his adult life by collecting rare palms. He soon realised that these would struggle to grow indoors and so increased his area of interest to include mosntera, philodendrons, ferns and sansevieria to name just a few. After listening to this episode and you would like to see images of what his studio looks like, please check out and follow David on instagram via @theplantedstudio.

In episode 6, Jo sits down with Ashlee Yap, the owner of Moist Planties, a fabulous little indoor plant shop in the bayside suburb of Semaphore in Adelaide, and talks about the constant balance of managing plant, business and family life.

In this episode, Jo sits down with the owner of Potso, a new rare and hard to find indoor plant shop in Adelaide, about her experiences in the plant world, and the world of rare plants.

In this episode, Jo sits down with none other than her husband John, who gives insight into how Home of Houseplants can treat and send plants to the previously restricted states of WA, TAS and the NT.

In this episode, Jo sits down with Miguel Pasqual, the President of the Aroid Society of Australia Inc., and has a chat about the recent trend of selling cuttings, losing plants and the special plants that are on Miguel's wishlist in 2019.

In this episode, Jo sits down with Peter Sargent, the caretaker and creator of the Whyanbeel Arboretum in far northern Queensland, 85km north of Cairns. Listen to Peter's experience as well as the impact of social media and the internet on the houseplant industry.

In this episode, Jo sits down and talks with Neil Crafter, Australia'a self-taught leader in Philodendrons. Neil reveals his preferred propagation methods, gives insight into the new breakaway philodendron genus and shares his methods on finding the rare and unique plants that get us excited.

In this welcome episode to the podcast, Jo gives a brief insight into her story, the podcast and what her goal is moving forward.