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How to Tell Time with Your Garden (And Not a Watch)

How to Tell Time with Your Garden (And Not a Watch)

Author: Maria Failla- Happy Plant Lady and Author of Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness August 18, 2026 Duration: 47:51
Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care
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Is it possible to tell time with your garden? Apparently, birds and plants can tell us what time of day it is! When we recorded this episode, I was in my third trimester, so sometimes I would be up at 2 AM whether I liked it or not. Which was how I found out that the birds in my Florida backyard start up around 4! For a while, I'd check my phone to see how close we were to sunrise. Now I learned to listen. That's the idea behind The Fullness of Time by Cathy Haynes. It's a book I read about how to tell time without a clock, instead using birdsong, blooms, shadows, and stars. It touched the gardener in my soul, and I knew I needed to have Cathy on the podcast to talk about all of the different ways our ancestors kept time in their gardens and in nature. Come learn with me!

 

In this episode, we learn:

  • [02:07] Meet Cathy Haynes!
  • [03:12] What is The Fullness of Time book about?
  • [04:05] The evening primrose in her London backyard that started all of this!
  • [05:55] How does gardening change your sense of time?
  • [07:17] How did ordinary people tell time before clocks?
  • [09:26] Cock crow, midnight spirits, and what each part of the day means!
  • [11:42] Reading a clock vs. actually sensing time
  • [12:20] What is the ornithological clock (how to tell time through birds)?
  • [15:24] Espoma Organic
  • [17:00] Learning to pick out the individual singers in the dawn chorus
  • [17:36] Merlin app to learn birdsong
  • [18:38] What third-trimester insomnia taught me about the 4 AM birds
  • [21:53] What is this Linnaeus’s flower clock?
  • [23:55] Did the Bern Botanical Garden get a living flower clock to work?
  • [26:30] Daisies, chicory, and the timekeeping plants hiding in pavement cracks
  • [28:40] Which time-telling plants can you add to your own garden?
  • [30:59] Why mature sunflowers stop following the sun and just face east
  • [33:26] How did our ancestors use shadows to tell time?
  • [35:21] Ancient scratch sundials on churches and Icelandic hills!
  • [37:37] Light pollution and how to adapt to the sun in a city
  • [39:32] Can you tell the time by the stars?
  • [41:42] What are some simple ways to get started with your time garden?
  • [44:52] Where to find Cathy and The Fullness of Time!

 

Mentioned in our conversation:

 

Interested in tracking time with your local birds and flowers,

check out the full show notes and blog here!

 

Follow Cathy:

Website
Instagram

 

Thank you to our episode sponsor:

Espoma Organic

Visit espoma.com to find your local Espoma dealer or check my Amazon storefront.

 

Follow Maria and Growing Joy:

Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants)by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

Take the Plant Parent Personality Quiz (Get the perfect plants, projects and educational resources for YOUR Lifestyle)

Support Growing Joy with Maria by becoming a Plant Friend on Patreon!

Instagram: @growingjoywithmaria

Tiktok: @growingjoywithmaria

Subscribe to the Growing Joy YouTube channel! /growingjoywithmaria

Website: www.growingjoywithmaria.com

Pinterest: @growingjoywithmaria


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There’s a quiet, accessible kind of wellness waiting for you on a windowsill or in a patch of soil. Growing Joy with Plants explores that very idea, moving beyond basic tips to examine how our relationship with the natural world directly nurtures our mental and emotional health. Hosted by Maria Failla, a self-proclaimed Happy Plant Lady and author of "Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness," this podcast feels like a warm conversation with a knowledgeable friend. Maria guides you through the practicalities of keeping your houseplants alive and thriving, but the discussion always circles back to the deeper connection-how the simple acts of watering, repotting, or simply observing growth can become anchors of calm in a hectic day. Each episode digs into how gardening and engaging with nature, even in small urban spaces, offer tangible tools to manage feelings of anxiety and overwhelm. This isn't about achieving a perfect indoor jungle; it's about finding moments of peace and genuine happiness through the process of care. The underlying message throughout the podcast is a powerful and gentle reminder: tending to your plants is fundamentally an act of tending to yourself. You’ll come away with not just better plant care knowledge, but a refreshed perspective on cultivating joy in your daily routine, learning that the serenity you might seek on vacation can be rooted right in your own home.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

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Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care
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