WHICH TOPICS from the last 12 months of A Way to Garden podcasts caught the most listener attention? Your tastes ranged from Clematis and Hydrangea to great soups and home-baked bread, birds and monarch butterflies, from tomatoes and seeds to making straw-bale gardens and more. Two guests even made the top 12 twice apiece–in each of their two appearances in 2017.

Sample the year’s top shows here–and don’t miss a future episode. Get the links to subscribe free to upcoming shows on Stitcher, iTunes or your favorite podcast player at the bottom of the page.

claudia west on nature-based design

1. Landscape architect Claudia West’s nature-based design wisdoms, including the saying that “plants are the mulch.” Read while you listen or just use the player below.

ideas for fall and winter soup with ali stafford

2. Cookbook author and food blogger Ali Stafford of Alexandra’s Kitchen shared fall and winter soup ideas–including many unexpected flavors. Read while you listen or just use the player below.

extending the clematis season with dan long

3. Specialty grower Dan Long of Brushwood Nursery, with tips on how to choose, and care for, varieties to get many months of Clematis bloom. Read while you listen or just use the player below.

best hydrangeas now and future, with dan hinkley

4. Plant explorer and breeder Dan Hinkley of Heronswood on the best Hydrangea for gardens today, and of tomorrow. Read and listen. Read while you listen or just use the player below.

no-knead peasant bread, with ali stafford (yes, again!)

5. Cookbook author and food blogger Ali Stafford (again!) on making no-knead peasant bread from her book “Bread Toast Crumbs.” Read and listen.

craig lehoullier’s top tomatoes, including dwarf types

6. Author and tomato expert Craig LeHoullier on his top varieties, plus the Dwarf Tomato Breeding Project. Read while you listen, or just use the player below.

craig l. again…on straw-bale gardening how-to’s

7.Author and tomato expert Craig LeHoullier (again!) on the how-to of straw-bale gardening. Read while you listen, or just use the player below.

succulent designs and spring rehab with kathy tracey

8. Nursery owner, designer and succulent collector Katherine Tracey of Avant Gardens on rehabbing succulents post-winter, and using them creatively. Read while you listen, or just use the player below.

brie arthur on the concept of foodscaping

9. Author and horticulturist Brie Arthur on foodscaping: using edibles creatively and productively in landscape design. Read and listen.

shopping for seeds wit david mattern of chanticleer

10. Chanticleer’s vegetable gardener David Mattern on shopping the seed catalogs. Read while you listen, or just use the player below.

andy brand on powerhouse plants for bird gardens

11. Naturalist and nurseryman Andy Brand on powerhouse fruiting plants for attracting the birds. Read while you listen, or just use the player below.

the monarch-milkweed arms race, with anurag agrawal

12.Cornell biologist Anurag Agrawal on the milkweed-monarch butterfly arms race. Read while you listen, or just use the player below.

get the podcast version of future shows

MY WEEKLY public-radio show, rated a “top-5 garden podcast” by “The Guardian” newspaper in the UK, began its seventh year in March 2016. In 2016, the show won three silver medals for excellence from the Garden Writers Association. It’s produced at Robin Hood Radio, the smallest NPR station in the nation. Listen locally in the Hudson Valley (NY)-Berkshires (MA)-Litchfield Hills (CT) Mondays at 8:30 AM Eastern, rerun at 8:30 Saturdays. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).