Horticultural Personalities, Eccentric and Sultry

Tuesday, December 6th
by Editor, Soiled and Seeded

As we head indoors for the season, here are a couple of unwavering horticultural voices unearthed from the archives.

Thalassa Cruso, known as "the Julia Child of horticultural" presided over her houseplants with diligence and wit. An Englishwoman, Ms. Cruso starred in the 1960's television series "Making Things Grow". According to the New York Times, "Ms. Cruso did not merely handle plants: she communed with them as if they were sentient creatures, pinching them, patting them, sometimes dumping them unceremoniously onto the counter as dirt flew around the set."

Here is an episode of "Making Things Grow", featuring a bonsai special.

A certainly lesser known horticultural personality is Molly Roth. In 1976 she released the album Plant Talk: Sound Advice on the care and feeding of houseplants. Hers is a late night, smoky and unhurried treatise. Tracks include English Ivy, Fern, Philodendron, Schefflera, Jade and Croton. Click here for some easy listening.....