The Gardener Ben Podcast

S5E8 of @the_gardenerben_podcast is available for you to listen to now, streaming across Apple, Amazon, Spotify and my YouTube channel.

Containing information on a change to my professional growing advice for planting bare-root roses.

On this week’s episode, I’m joined by the team at @creative.opportunities.bristol, a small, independent Bristol-based charity offering supported employment and training for people with disabilities who are often very disadvantaged and overlooked when searching for employment.

I had the pleasure of being shown around their plots a few weeks ago and could have spent all day with the team as they showed me all the wonderful things they had going on at the charity. However, the charity does need your help and, like all of us, is being squeezed financially. They’re in the process of adding an Amazon Wish List to the top of their Instagram profile and a Donate Now button to their website. If you would like to offer any support whatsoever to this really important and very special charity, please do consider offering them any help that you can.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is proudly brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winners of 31 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar.

Next week, I’m joined by Ashley Salt, @walledgardener_ashley, who is in charge of the Ward Garden at the historic Badminton Estate. So, I hope you join me next week. Until then, happy gardening!

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S5E7 @the_gardenerben_podcast is available to listen to now on Apple, Spotify, Amazon and my YouTube channel.

This week, I have the absolute pleasure of sharing with you a relaxed and informal conversation with the incredibly talented garden designer @samoutingdesigns.

Sam is not only an accomplished garden designer in his own right, making his debut at the Sandringham Flower Show with his very first independent long border design, but is also part of the dedicated team of horticulturalists responsible for beautifying the areas around the Chelsea Flower Show, which many of us take completely for granted, ensuring that they not only look exceptional during the show itself but also can be enjoyed all the way through the year by the Chelsea Pensioners who are resident at the world-famous hospital.

With beauty and plant sustainability at the heart of his work, I hope you enjoy the conversation and head over to his media channels and show his account some love.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is proudly brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 31 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com, and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar.

Next week, join me for the second of my conversations recorded in Bristol, this time with the team at @creative.opportunities.bristol, a small independent charity offering meaningful and engaging horticultural work opportunities for disabled people.

So, join me again next week, and until then, happy gardening!

#gardenerben #podcast #podcaster #gardeningpodcast #listennow

S5E6 of the @the_gardenerben_podcast features an informal conversation with @sproutsofbristol, an award-winning independent houseplant and homeware shop based in Bristol, which has just celebrated its sixth birthday.

To celebrate this lovely episode and @sproutsofbristol’s sixth birthday, you can now go online and use code THEGARDENERBEN15 for 15% off your first online purchase. This code can be used at any time until the end of 2026 but can’t be used in conjunction with any other online or special offer, so don’t miss this great opportunity to add just a few more special houseplants to your collection.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is proudly brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winners of 31 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com, and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar.

Next week, I have the pleasure of sharing with you a conversation with the incredibly lovely @samoutingdesigns, who is an independent garden designer who debuted his very first beautiful border at the Sandringham Flower Show 2026. He’s also part of the very talented team responsible for landscaping and planting all of the public areas we see around the Chelsea Flower Show, ensuring that each of the many areas people take for granted is not only beautiful, sustainable and planted to stand the test of time, but can also be used and enjoyed by the Chelsea Pensioners on a day-to-day basis.

So, join me again next week to listen to that conversation.

Until next week, happy gardening!

#gardenerben #podcast #gardeningpodcast #listennow #growwithme

S5E5 of the @the_gardenerben_podcast is revisited this week for a relaxed and informal conversation with rose-breeding legend Brad Jalbert of @selectroses.

Brad, who was recently inducted into the @americanrosesociety Rose Breeders Hall of Fame, is just the second Canadian ever to have been awarded this incredibly prestigious accolade!

Brad is a rose retailer and lifelong rose hybridiser, and many of you may have seen me in front of some of his absolutely beautiful creations during the review season of 2026.

Brad joins me to once again talk everything roses and to share his wonderful news.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is proudly brought to you in association with Peter Beales Roses, winner of 31 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com, and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar

Next week, the podcast heads to Bristol, and I get to speak to an award-winning independent business, @sproutsofbristol, who have recently celebrated their sixth birthday. So, catch me again next week, and until then, happy gardening!

#gardenerben #podcast #gardeningpodcast #listennow #streamingnow

S5 E4 of @the_gardenerben_podcast is available for you to listen to now on YouTube Spotify Amazon and Apple Music

This week I have the pleasure in bringing to you a conversation with Dan from @dansplantsuk who I’ve had the pleasure in bumping into several times during the show season of 2026 his captivating use of colour form and texture really inspired me to bring you this conversation and I hope that once you’ve listened to the episode you head across his channels and show his account some love

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you proudly in association with Peter Beales Roses winner of 31 Chelsea gold medals and creating timeless roses since 1968 go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com

The Gardener Ben podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar

next week I have the pleasure in welcoming back to the Podcast Brad from @selectroses we have so much to talk about and lots to share with you so I hope you join us again next week

Until then, happy gardening

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S5 E3 of @the_gardenerben_podcast is available for you to listen to now, featuring a wonderful conversation with award-winning garden designer, TV presenter, author and RHS ambassador @manoj_malde_garden_design.

Who I bumped into at Chelsea 2026. Together, we formed a plan to bring you this lovely conversation during our chat. He shares with us how he approaches design, building meaningful relationships with his clients, and walks us through his process, and extends the offer of help to other, less experienced designers on their road to designing and building show gardens at the world-famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you proudly in association with Peter Beales Roses, winner of 31 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968.

And is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar.

Next week, I’m joined by Dan @dansplantsuk, a real up-and-coming star of the horticultural world who’s making a real name for himself up and down the country with his beautiful colour combinations and planting schemes, and has won multiple RHS awards over the last few years.

So tune in again next week on Spotify, Apple, Amazon and, of course, my YouTube channel.

Until next week, happy gardening!

#gardenerben #podcast #podcaster #listennow #streamingnow

Series 5 and episode 2 of @the_gardenerben_podcast podcast features a conversation with Jodie and Lorraine, fondly known as the Mushroom Sisters of @caleybrothers.

I have had the pleasure of bumping into them several times during the 2026 show season. Their simply jaw-dropping displays of their beautiful homegrown mushroom kits are enough to stop you in your tracks and make your mouth water. Hugely passionate about the food that they grow and eat, they supply home-growing mushroom kits, have written a book called Project Mushroom, and have unbelievably created a mushroom-based gin.

I hope that you enjoy the conversation and feel inspired to grow mushrooms of your own at home, as Mark and I have. Mainland UK customers can go online and get 15% off when ordering using the code MUSHROOMBEN. Why not give it a go yourself?

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you proudly in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 31 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar.

Tune in again next week for an informal conversation with award-winning garden designer, TV presenter, writer and RHS ambassador @manoj_malde_garden_design.

Until next week, happy gardening!

#gardenerben #podcast #podcaster #growwithme #listennow

The Gardener Ben Podcast returns for season five and episode one for a very special episode featuring the Reverend Canon Dr Tess Lawton, Canon Missioner of @winchestercathedral.

For a conversation around the Wild Festival of Flowers and Nature, hosted by Winchester Cathedral from the 15th to the 19th of September, the event sees floral installations packed into this incredibly impressive, humbling and beautiful space, with themes spiralling around biodiversity, well-being, sustainability, climate, creativity and hope.

During the event, the outside will be very much brought in to the heart of the cathedral, with multiple floral installations, hands-on workshops and unexpected performances. You can get the tickets for the Wild Festival of Flowers and Nature directly from Winchester Cathedral’s website and via their social media channels.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you proudly in association with Peter Beales Roses.

Winner of 31 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968, go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

Next week, I’m joined by Jodie and Lorraine from @caleybrothers, multiple RHS medal winners and self-confessed mushroom fanatics, to talk about their exceptionally easy home-growing mushroom kits, their RHS-endorsed book and mushroom gin, of all things.

So join me again next week and, until then, happy gardening.

S4E9 of The Gardener Ben Podcast is streaming now.

This week is a very special episode, not featuring very much of me. In fact, the episode has been brought together by some of you who visited the garden during our open weekend a few weeks ago.

The episode has been recorded by my husband, Mark, and captures some of your thoughts and impressions of the garden here at North Lodge, featuring:

And others.

The podcast will be taking a short break but will be back with you on Monday, 6th July.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is proudly brought to you in association with Peter Beales Roses, winner of 31 Chelsea Gold Medals and creators of timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com, and make sure you’re following along on Instagram and TikTok.

The podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar.

#gardenerben #podcast #podcaster #listennow #gardener

S4E8 of The Gardener Ben Podcast is streaming now.

On this week’s episode, I talk you through deadheading your roses and how to deal with pest and disease problems after the recent huge amount of cold and wet weather we’ve had here in the UK.

It also features a personal chat with @hoover_who_better, who, after the sad loss of his mother Joan, decided to mark her passing and celebrate her life by naming a brand-new rose after her.

Launched at the Chelsea Flower Show, the rose has recently gone through a small and intimate naming ceremony at the @peterbealesroses show gardens in Attleborough. I wanted to catch up with Dave and ask him why he chose his particular rose and what drew him to it.

This beautiful new variety will be going through my personal growing review process here at North Lodge over the next 12 months, and I’ll have the pleasure of bringing you my first impressions of this very pretty and very fragrant rose over the next few weeks. ‘Joan Darwent’ is available for you to pre-order for bare-root season now directly from @peterbealesroses.

Next week, after our open garden event, we will be bringing you an open garden special. Having welcomed simply hundreds of you through the gate to the North Lodge Cottage Garden, my husband Mark thought it would be a really lovely idea to capture some of your thoughts and impressions as you left the garden space and ask you what you were taking away from our garden to maybe recreate or change in your own.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you proudly in association with Peter Beales Roses, winner of 31 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com, and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram and TikTok.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar.

Until next week, happy gardening.

S4E7 of the Gardener Ben podcast is streaming now

This week I have the absolute pleasure in bringing you a conversation with husband and wife gardening duo Bryony and Jonathan from @dakicgardendesign.

After the huge success at BBC Gardeners’ Spring Fair in Hampshire in 2025, this year they’re undertaking a massive project with a huge exciting garden installation at BBC Gardeners’ World Live, which takes place between the 18th and 21st of June.

Their design is packed full of tropical foliage, texture and bold colours, and I’ve been following along closely on social media to see how they’re getting on ahead of the show.

All three of us are neuro spicy, so to say that I enjoyed our conversation is an understatement. Finding myself on a call with two other like-minded people was an absolute pleasure, so I hope that you listen to the conversation and enjoy it just as much as I did.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you proudly in association with Peter Beales Roses, winner of 31 Chelsea gold medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram and on TikTok.

Ahead of the @peterbealesroses rose festival, which takes place at their show garden in Norfolk between the 20th and 21st of June next week, I am joined by Dave @hoover_who_better, who after the sad loss of his mother decided to commemorate her life by naming a Peter Beales Rose after her. ‘Joan Derwent’ was launched at the Chelsea Flower Show and will have an official name day very soon at Peter Beales. Dave joins me next week on the podcast, so tune in then to find out more.

The Gardener Ben podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar.

Until then, happy gardening.

#gardenerben #podcast #listennow #gardeningpodcast

This week on The Gardner Ben Podcast, you will have to excuse my slightly hoarse and snotty tones, having had the garden here at North Lodge open to the public over the weekend. I’ve spoken to quite literally hundreds of people and wanted to extend my personal thanks to absolutely everybody who made the trip out to support our local good causes and look around the garden.

On The Gardner Ben Podcast this week, I have the pleasure of bringing you a conversation with Thomas and Bailey from @, who supply cut flower farmers and home gardeners with cut flower plug plants. It’s an account I’ve been following for some time on Instagram, and I really hope that you enjoy our conversation.

The Gardner Ben Podcast is brought to you in association with Peter Beales Roses, winner of 31 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com

The Gardner Ben Podcast is edited by @

Next week I’m joined by my husband-and-wife garden designer and construction duo Bryony and Jonathan from @, who are making their final preparations for BBC Gardeners’ World Live from the 18th to the 21st of June. They join me to tell me all about their new design concept and everything that’s going on behind the scenes ahead of the show.

Three autistic gardeners on one call — what could possibly go wrong? Haha, so I hope you join me again next week. Until then, happy gardening.

S4E5 of The Gardener Ben Podcast has lots of details about the new plants launched at the Chelsea Flower Show 2026 and features Kate @themessyallotmenteer, who from the 18th to the 21st of June can be found exhibiting her brand-new garden concept at BBC Gardeners’ World Live.

Kate joined me for a relaxed conversation about the garden just a few weeks ago, and I really hope that you enjoy hearing all about it.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is proudly brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 31 Chelsea Gold Medals and creators of timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com.

The podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar.

Next week, I’m joined by Bailey and Thomas from @farmerbaileyplugs, so until then, happy gardening.

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S4 E4 of the Gardener Ben Podcast features a conversation with Gwen Hines, CEO of @plantheritage. Together with @theplantingdesigncollective, they are creating a garden for the very first time at RHS Chelsea 2026 called ‘The Missing Collector’s Garden’. Plant Heritage are responsible for managing the UK’s plant collections, and if you would like to get involved in any aspect with regards to the National Collections of Plants, please do make sure you get in touch with them or take a look at their website.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you proudly in association with @peterbealesroses, winners of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creators of timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbeales.com.

Next week, I have the pleasure of bringing you a conversation with Kate 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚, who is off to BBC Gardeners’ World Live at the Birmingham NEC, which takes place between the 18th and 21st of June, and is creating a garden called ‘The Folklorians Garden’. So join me next week when Kate gets to share more about her exciting upcoming project.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar.

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S4E3 of the Gardener Ben podcast features @neilduncan40roseking, who is a real champion amongst rose growers. He’s been growing and exhibiting for many years and, alongside his wife, travels the length and breadth of the UK showing his beautiful roses. So, if you have an interest in how you can become involved in exhibiting your roses, take a listen to the conversation I recorded with Neil just a few weeks ago.

The Gardener Ben podcast is proudly brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com.

Ahead of the Chelsea Flower Show next week, I have the pleasure of bringing you a conversation with Gwen Hines, CEO of @plantheritage. Gwen and her team work behind the scenes to look after our national collections of plants, making sure that we’re safeguarding as many beautiful varieties as possible for future generations. For the very first time, Plant Heritage will be showcasing their first garden at the Chelsea Flower Show 2026, and I’m really excited to see what they bring together. So, if you have a passion for a particular plant or a large collection, make sure that you tune in next week to find out how you can get involved.

The Gardener Ben podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar.

Until next week, happy gardening.

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This week on the Gardener Ben Podcast, I’m joined by Andy and Richard, team members from Chestnut Nurseries, along with their sister site, Cherry Tree Nurseries, based in Bournemouth, and Paul. They are run and operated by the charity Plants and Minds.

Through horticulture, they offer meaningful occupation and employment to people who have suffered long-term mental health problems, using the therapeutic benefits of gardening in a safe and encouraging environment.

Set up years before its time, it’s a really interesting and inspiring story behind two nurseries in Dorset that both offer good-quality, value-for-money plants, pots, and even compost. I hope that you enjoy the conversation I had with Andy and Richard.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is proudly brought to you in association with Peter Beales Roses, winner of 30 Chelsea gold medals and creators of timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.atpeterbealsroses.com, and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram and TikTok.

Next week, I have the absolute pleasure of sharing with you a conversation with @neilduncan40roseking, a rose-growing and exhibiting champion, racking up dozens of medals and awards up and down the UK. So, if you’re interested in growing flowers to exhibit in your garden, make sure that you tune into our conversation next week. Until then, happy gardening.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @my_home_is_my_altar

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Welcome back to the @the_gardenerben_podcast. It only feels like about five minutes since we wrapped up season three, but welcome along to season four.

We are out the gate with a really interesting and wonderful conversation recorded with @thatglasgowwitch just a few weeks ago.

Geo started sharing her craft on TikTok and Instagram as a way of connecting with her daughter remotely, by creating a video library of mindful practices, grounding techniques, and rituals which could be referred back to and used at any time.

It’s evident that the world really needed a window into what Geo shared, as within just a small period of time, tens of thousands of people were watching along, me included.

I hope that you enjoy the conversation with Geo and head over to her accounts on either TikTok or Instagram to get involved by liking, following, and sharing.

Next week, I’m going to be sharing a horticultural story surrounding a local business in Dorset run by the charity Plants and Minds, who operate @cherrytreenurserybmth and @chestnut_nursery, providing therapeutic horticulture and meaningful occupation in a supportive environment, aiming to restore wellbeing to people experiencing life-impacting mental health conditions. So join me again next week, and until then, happy gardening.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is proudly brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea gold medals and creators of timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.peterbealesroses.com, and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram and TikTok.

The Ben Podcast is edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson.

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And just like that, season three of The Gardener Ben Podcast is all wrapped up, concluding with what has now become a tradition: a conversation between myself and @mark_hamilton_anderson.

There are now 55 episodes for you to catch up on and listen to at any time. You can stream the podcast on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you proudly in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea gold medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.atpeterbealesroses.com, and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram and TikTok.

I want to thank all of my guests this season for making it such a wonderful, dynamic, inclusive, and interesting set of conversations, and each and every one of them for being so generous with their time.

@jen_flourishnutrition

@heirloomroses

@ann.russell.3958

@raybould_and_wild

@mat.nicholas.9

@ethan__mi

@goldcoastrosesociety

@childrensallergy

@peatfreepartnership

@sally.nex

@harknessroses1879

@david_long_garden_design

@thatbotanicguy

@buildingafoodforest_scotland

@soulfulwisdomacademy

@hilliergardencentres

@honestcomms

@seed_ball

@richardgrows

@national_chrysanthemum_society

The Gardener Ben Podcast will return to your ears on Monday, 27 April. Until then, happy gardening.

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S3E19 of The Gardner Ben Podcast sees me sharing with you not only a very personal and relatable conversation with Paige (not her real name), but also some incredibly personal and painful parts of my own journey.

Paige is a recovering alcoholic and, in the hope of reaching just one pair of ears that may need to hear her story, wanted to share her journey to recovery with you all.

Personally, I wanted to leave the episode completely unedited, intact, and exactly as it was recorded, so I confess it’s not my most tidy or polished episode, but its integrity was more important than its finish.

If you or anybody that you know is struggling with anything that we discuss in this episode, please do either seek, or help them seek, the help you may need.

I will make sure there are a few points of contact in the comment section below.

The Gardner Ben Podcast is brought to you in association with Peter Beales Roses, winner of 30 Chelsea gold medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.atpeterbealesroses.com, and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram and TikTok.

Next week, to conclude this current season, I’ll be joined once again by my husband, Mark, for a completely unscripted and informal conversation, discussing the highlights and lowlights of season three.

Don’t worry, season four is already being recorded and is well underway. We also have some very exciting news to share with you next week, so keep your ears peeled for that.

The podcast is edited by

Home - Alcoholics Anonymous Great Britain

Use our tools and get help for your mental health | Mind

Overview – Eating disorders - NHS

GambleAware®️: Gambling Help & Gambling Addiction

S3E18 of The Gardener Ben Podcast features a conversation with Neil from @national_chrysanthemum_society.

Neil shares how his passion for chrysanthemums started at a very young age, how the gifting of just a few plants sparked a lifelong love of growing, and how it led to his involvement with the National Chrysanthemum Society.

This is a group of plants I have tried growing in the past with limited success. Still making up one of the largest cut flower crops grown worldwide, I’ve decided to give this lovely group of plants another go and was inspired by my conversation with Neil to order myself some rooted cuttings, which should arrive over the next couple of months.

They will add a nice late splash of colour to the garden and hopefully be ready to cut and bring into the house in October and November.

In my own garden, I’ve been processing that huge pile of weeping willow cuttings, creating dead hedges in organic spiral forms and cutting the excess up for firewood. The weather is still being incredibly unkind to us, so it’s hard to really get on with much in the garden. If you find yourself falling behind, please be kind to yourself — the task will still be there when the weather clears.

There are now just two episodes left in Season Three. Next week’s episode is very long indeed. I have taken the decision to leave the conversation entirely intact and put it through absolutely no editing or post-production whatsoever. The share from Paige (not her real name) is incredibly personal and will resonate on such a relatable level with so many of you. She is a recovering alcoholic and wanted to share her story in the hope of touching just one person who may be in need of a helping hand. Tune in next week to listen to the full conversation.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is brought to you in association with @peterbealesroses, winner of 30 Chelsea Gold Medals and creating timeless roses since 1968. Go online and shop at www.atpeterbealesroses.com, and make sure that you’re following along on Instagram and TikTok.

The Gardener Ben Podcast is edited by @mark_hamilton_anderson.

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