Gathered: Storied Botanicals

Send a text In this short, poetry-centered episode of Gathered: Storied Botanicals, host Allison B. Young shares a poem, Waking This First Night Sharing My Bed. First drafted years ago and revisited after surviving a house fire, the poem reflects on intimacy, home, breath, and the unseen ways we are connected. A Botanical Reading marks a new mini-episode in between the usual podcast format and offers a quiet moment to slow down, listen, and sit with words. The poem featured in this episode is...

Send a text On this special Halloween episode of Gathered: Storied Botanicals, we wander into the woods at dusk, where strange things grow underfoot and fairy tales turn dark at the edges. Before the night is through, you’ll encounter a glowing forest floor, something watching from the darkness, and a flower shop humming with beauty, precision, and something far more unsettling. Inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ tale “The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage,” this modern variation, “The Flower Sho...

Send a text When was the last time you discovered something? The experience of discovery comes with a wide range of emotions. In this episode, I share a personal essay on discovering mementos from my family's house fire. Gathered: Storied Botanicals is a monthly podcast with room and the will to grow. It's the podcast that brings more flowers into your life through story. Wherever you are, wherever you come from I hope you'll gather 'round. For more flowers in your life: Gathered: Storied B...

Send a text The Oscars are tonight, and I thought I'd reflect on the powerful ways two of the nominated films used flowers to help tell their stories and how they urge us to remember lessons from history.

Send a text Introducing Gathered: Storied Botanicals Gathered: Storied Botanicals is a monthly podcast—with room and the will to grow. In each episode, I delve into the world of flowers weaving my experiences as a floral designer and writer with a flower’s depth and significance. By putting each bloom under a historic, scientific, literary, folkloric, or artistic lens we can better see this fascinating world as fertile ground for teaching us how we relate to and understand the world around us...

Send a text Some unexpected heartbreak has had me change my initial plans for this month's episode and revisit a lyric essay I wrote in Chicago called, "Girlish Notions." It's a departure from past episodes and it's a bit more personal than what I'm comfortable with, but felt compelled to create something as an offer of catharsis. Because of some language geared toward sexual assault, listener discretion is advised for this episode.

Send a text Having missed June's episode, I catch up on an Icelandic adventure that revealed insight into the lupine flower, its role in ancient Rome, Native American medicine, and restoring soil health in Iceland. From there, we gather a fresh look at a life philosophy through a classic children's story.

Send a text Flowering branches are one of the early blooms that promises spring isn't far off. One particular flowering tree has a deep history that's crossed oceans and has inspired artists, warriors, and activists alike!

Send a text The first episode of the podcast’s relaunch! We begin this new season at the root, or roots—literally and metaphorically. Returning to one’s roots or to begin again in a career, creative pursuit, a new place to live, or in life can feel like a setback, but we explore how the plant structure--in all its diversity and complexity--can offer some insight in reframing this point of view.

Send a text The idea of preservation works almost subliminally when working with flowers for how subtle, yet pervasive, the idea is in arranging these blooms. It feels instinctive. Once the stems are cut, it's a matter of racing the clock. What can we do to extend the life of this flower? Or else, how can we alter, transform, this short-lived creation so that we might have it for just a little longer? How can we hang onto the things we care about, the things we love, for just a little longer?

Send a text There are twice as many species of this flower as there are birds in the world and about four times as many mammals. In the first episode of Gathered: Storied Botanicals, we explore the orchid.