
Episode 71: Weird Plants by botanist Chris Thorogood
11/09/18 • 42 min
Houseplants are all weird and wonderful, but there are some that outdo the rest for their ability to surprise us.
Dr Chris Thorogood is a botanist at Oxford Botanic Garden with a clever sideline in painting brilliant pictures of the plants he loves and studies: his new book, Weird Plants, is a brilliant book for anyone who wants to delve a bit deeper into some of the strangest corners of the botanical world.
In today’s episode I find out from Chris why engineers are studying the slippery qualities of Nepenthes pitchers, which creature uses Low’s pitcher plant as a toilet, and why Stapelia flowers look mouldy.
See full show notes here: https://is.gd/P6okrd
Sign up for The Plant Ledger, my email newsletter about the houseplant scene: https://www.janeperrone.com/ledger
Check out Legends of the Leaf, my book on houseplants http://legendsoftheleafbook.com
Support On The Ledge on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ontheledge
Follow Jane Perrone on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.l.perrone
Join the Houseplant Fans of On The Ledge group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/house...
Join in #HouseplantHour on Twitter every Tuesday 9pm UK time (4pm ET): https://twitter.com/houseplanthour
Houseplants are all weird and wonderful, but there are some that outdo the rest for their ability to surprise us.
Dr Chris Thorogood is a botanist at Oxford Botanic Garden with a clever sideline in painting brilliant pictures of the plants he loves and studies: his new book, Weird Plants, is a brilliant book for anyone who wants to delve a bit deeper into some of the strangest corners of the botanical world.
In today’s episode I find out from Chris why engineers are studying the slippery qualities of Nepenthes pitchers, which creature uses Low’s pitcher plant as a toilet, and why Stapelia flowers look mouldy.
See full show notes here: https://is.gd/P6okrd
Sign up for The Plant Ledger, my email newsletter about the houseplant scene: https://www.janeperrone.com/ledger
Check out Legends of the Leaf, my book on houseplants http://legendsoftheleafbook.com
Support On The Ledge on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ontheledge
Follow Jane Perrone on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.l.perrone
Join the Houseplant Fans of On The Ledge group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/house...
Join in #HouseplantHour on Twitter every Tuesday 9pm UK time (4pm ET): https://twitter.com/houseplanthour
Previous Episode

Episode 70: OTL at the RHS London Urban Garden Show
I normally record On The ledge in my pyjamas with an unwashed face and a mug of tea at ten o’clock at night, so last Friday it was rather a novelty to be at the RHS halls in London, fully dressed and mostly clean, with a cocktail in my hand, recording an episode of On The Ledge in front of a live audience.
My guests were Alys Fowler, Birmingham-based gardener, garden writer and author of houseplant book Plant Love, and London-based horticulturist and garden designer Rob Stacewicz, both fellow plant addicts: I talked to Rob about his incredible UV Garden installation at the show showcasing, and finding out what’s on Alys’s plant Christmas list and taking questions from the audience.
See full show notes here: https://is.gd/xPyl3u
Sign up for The Plant Ledger, my email newsletter about the houseplant scene: https://www.janeperrone.com/ledger
Check out Legends of the Leaf, my book on houseplants http://legendsoftheleafbook.com
Support On The Ledge on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ontheledge
Follow Jane Perrone on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.l.perrone
Join the Houseplant Fans of On The Ledge group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/house...
Join in #HouseplantHour on Twitter every Tuesday 9pm UK time (4pm ET): https://twitter.com/houseplanthour
Next Episode

Episode 72: Dutch houseplant adventures part one
I recently visited the Netherlands as a guest of The Joy of Plants; it was an informative and fun trip, and a brilliant opportunity to understand the fascinating world of Dutch ornamental plant production. This week I’m talking about the plants I saw at the Flora Holland trade show during day one of the visit - next week I’ll cover the greenhouse growers we visited. Former OTL guest (I think we can now call him a regular...) James Wong was there too so we got to geek out over houseplants together - fun!
See full show notes here: https://is.gd/MBdUbl
Sign up for The Plant Ledger, my email newsletter about the houseplant scene: https://www.janeperrone.com/ledger
Check out Legends of the Leaf, my book on houseplants http://legendsoftheleafbook.com
Support On The Ledge on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ontheledge
Follow Jane Perrone on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j.l.perrone
Join the Houseplant Fans of On The Ledge group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/house...
Join in #HouseplantHour on Twitter every Tuesday 9pm UK time (4pm ET): https://twitter.com/houseplanthour
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