The Garden Mixer: A Gardening Podcast · July 17, 2026 · 17 min
Barrel Aged: Staking Floppy Perennials
It’s mid summer and if you haven’t been staking your floppiest floppers, the chance is you haven’t quite gotten away with it. Some plants stand tall on their own. Others need a little help. In this Barrel Aged One More Sip of The Garden MIxer Leslie Harris and Marianne Willburn tackle one of gardening's most practical—and most overlooked—skills: staking. They discuss which plants are worth staking, which ones are better left alone, how to make supports nearly invisible, and why choosing the right plants in the first place can save you a lot of work. Along the way they share techniques learned at Great Dixter, the beauty of traditional pea-sticking, why timing matters, and a few confessions about staking jobs that never quite happened. Whether you're growing peonies, delphiniums, dahlias, grasses, or other tall perennials, this conversation will help you keep your garden looking natural instead of looking like a tomato patch. Gardening shouldn't be boring. Welcome to a Barrel Aged episode of One MoreSip. One More Sip is our every-other-week deepdive on a single topic — released fresh to paid subscribers, and then, after ayear of fine barrel aging, uncorked for the wider Mixer community. You’re holding the bottle now. Enjoy!! If you’d like to catch these episodes whilethey’re still young — and get all the show notes, the GM Chat, and SubstackLIVE events that go with them — upgrading your free subscription is easy andcosts less than a decent bottle of anything. To those already subscribed: our gratitude isdeep. Thank you for supporting our mission: Gardening Shouldn’t Be Boring. Hit the YouTube subscribe button so we can keep you smilingwhile you hit the mess (your garden) out there. The Garden Mixer Podcast https://episodes.fm/1561064602 Full Show Notes bonus episodes at The Garden Mixer Podcast’sSubstack https://thegardenmixerpodcast.substack.com/ Socials – Pick Your Platform: Follow us on Instagram @thegardenmixer https://www.instagram.com/thegardenmixer/ Indulge us on TikTok @the.garden.mixer https://www.tiktok.com/@the.garden.mixer Spar with us on X @gardenmixerpod https://x.com/gardenmixerpod “FrenchBistro” theme by Adieu Adieu. License D0LZBINY30GGTBBW