The Sentimental Gardener (Trailer)

Join Cass Dowding, an enthusiastic everyday gardener, as she has conversations with fellow plant lovers about the gardens and plants that shape our stories and connect us to what matters most. The show launches end of April 2025. Click subscribe now so you never miss an episode!

Theme music is by Hayden Schueler from @vereyagardening

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Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Hello, I'm Cass Dowding and welcometo The Sentimental Gardener, a
podcast big on memories and meaningand how plants and gardens help us
to connect to ourselves, each other,and the natural world around us.
I love gardening.
And talking to people about their gardens.
But what I find fascinating is the storiesbehind why people grow what they grow.

(00:27):
This is another gardening podcast, butunlike other gardening podcasts focused on
tips and advice, we dig into the personalstories and emotional connections.
People have with their plants and gardens.
My own gardening journey began nineyears ago when we moved to a house in
Melbourne, southeastern suburbs thatcame with an already established garden.

(00:51):
Like many of us during the Covidlockdowns, I found the garden
became both an escape and a constantduring such uncertain times.
What I noticed over those years was howI'd slowly filled the garden with plants
from cuttings and seeds that had grownin friends or family members' gardens.
Almost without realizing it, I'dcreated this living photo album.

(01:16):
Each plant connected tosomeone or somewhere special.
Take the violets frommy Nan and Pops garden.
When they bloom in my backyard, I'minstantly transported to Nan's kitchen
where there were tiny little vases ofthese flowers sitting on her bench.
Smelling that sweet perfume takesme straight back to my childhood and

(01:38):
watching and wonder as Nan coatedthe flowers in sugar to decorate the
cakes we'd have at afternoon tea time.
I mean, this is the thing about plants.
They demand our attention in ways thatphotos on shelves just simply can't.
They need regular care and nurturingto stay alive and intending to them.

(01:58):
We keep our memories alive too.
In each episode of the SentimentalGardener will explore how
gardens reflect our identities,culture, and personal histories.
You'll meet plant people from all walksof life whose gardens carry stories
of family connections passed downthrough generations, places they've

(02:19):
traveled, and people, they love.
Life transitions they've navigated,cultural heritage they're preserving
and the healing they've foundwith their hands in the soil.
Together we'll uncover the truths thatreveal themselves in the garden and about
joy and grief, the passing of time andwhat it means to nurture living things.

(02:42):
Whether you tend a sprawling botanicalcollection, a few house plants, or
just some pots on a window sill.
The plants you choose often revealsomething deeper about who you
are and what matters most to you.
I believe gardens aren'tjust spaces we create.
They're spaces that create us,and that's what I want to explore

(03:05):
together on the SentimentalGardener coming soon, April, 2025.