Plant This, Not That with Elise Howard | The Beet

Plant This, Not That with Elise Howard | The Beet

From The Beet: A Podcast For Plant Lovers by Epic Gardening

March 23, 2026 · 55 min

About this episode

Jacques chats with Elise Howard about the importance of native plants and how to manage invasive species in gardening.

This week on The Beet, Jacques chats with Elise Howard, author of Plant This, Not That, about why native plants truly matter. They dig into how invasive species disrupt ecosystems, and how to phase them out of your garden gradually. Along the way, they outline how to grow a thriving, abundant native garden at home, and make the case for letting the bugs snack on your plants for maximum ecosystem support. Connect with Elise Howard: Elise has been digging in the dirt since childhood, growing gardens everywhere from Virginia to Maine, from window boxes to coastal landscapes. Her passion for native plants took root more than fifteen years ago while volunteering in New York City’s Riverside Park. She’s now a literary agent after a long career in children’s publishing. Elise lives and gardens with her family in New York City and Western Massachusetts, where she continues to cultivate both plants and ideas. Find more from Elise at her publisher’s site: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/contributor/elise-howard/ Find Elise on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/elisehoward.bsky.social Support The Beet: → Shop: https://growepic.co/shop → Seeds: https://growepic.co/botanicalinterests Learn…

People in this episode

Host: Jacques

Guest: Elise Howard

Topics covered

  • native plants
  • invasive species
  • ecosystems
  • gardening

Keywords

  • ecosystem support
  • abundant native garden
  • gardening tips

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Plant This, Not That

Places: Virginia, Maine, New York City’s, New York City, Western Massachusetts

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