Get it on Google Play

Motherhood, Seasons of Life and Changing Plant Passions

Motherhood, Seasons of Life and Changing Plant Passions

Author: Maria Failla- Happy Plant Lady and Author of Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness September 15, 2026 Duration: 1:02:54
Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care
LeisureEducationGardenHealthHealth & FitnessHome

Did you know that Becca from Becca De La Plants and I delivered our babies 24 hours and 3 minutes apart?! We didn't plan that. We've been friends for almost 10 years now, and the first time we hung out, she was planning her wedding. Since then, we've gotten married, moved, built businesses, and now she's had her second baby, and I've had my first! For some reason, we keep landing in the same season of life at the same time. So I asked her to come talk with me about it. About two hard pregnancies, about the identity shift nobody warns you about properly, and about what plants have been quietly teaching us the whole time. Come join our conversation!

 

In this episode, we learn:

  • [02:14] Meet Becca De La Plants
  • [06:53] The TikTok comment that flagged her cholestasis!
  • [08:22] Where social media saves you, and where it wrecks you
  • [10:22] Running my business from bed through a sick first trimester
  • [11:43] What prenatal depression took from Becca’s toddler's first years
  • [13:41] The beliefs we absorb about how pregnancy is supposed to feel
  • [14:51] Joey Santore’s Concrete Botany
  • [15:55] Espoma Organic
  • [17:57] Why I wouldn't let myself attach to this pregnancy after two losses
  • [20:42] How one Five Guys order sent me to the ER with gallstones
  • [24:22] How a hard pregnancy made the newborn phase feel blissful!
  • [25:53] Becca's HG lifting the day she delivered and finally being able to eat
  • [28:47] Why snap-back culture makes no sense when you barely gained weight
  • [29:49] The identity shift of becoming a mom!
  • [35:46] How thinking in seasons gives you permission to be fully present
  • [37:37] Is "don't lose yourself" actually good advice?
  • [38:21] My HOT take: why you should have your kids later
  • [42:01] What slow-germinating seeds taught me about timing
  • [42:59] What it's like being last to have a kid when you've always gone first
  • [46:19] Second-baby calm vs. logging every single diaper in the app
  • [47:53] Sibling age gaps, and watching your own sister dynamic play out in your kids
  • [49:49] Childcare, pumping, and holding the next year with an open hand
  • [51:50] Why first-time moms should be allowed to be weird (the mammal side of postpartum)
  • [54:18] Do I let Growing Joy expand beyond plants?
  • [57:22] Why evolving your content is the only way to keep it honest
  • [58:50] A six-month check-in with Becca!

 

Mentioned in our conversation:

 

For all of my and Becca's motherhood hot takes,

check out the full show notes and blog!

 

Follow Becca:

Podcast
Book
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
TikTok

 

Thank you to our episode sponsors:

Quarto: Concrete Botany by Joey Santore

Grab your copy of Concrete Botany at quarto.com, wherever books are sold or through your local bookstore.

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


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.


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

Official website RSS
instagramyoutubetiktokspotify
Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care
Podcast Episodes
All My Plants are Dead [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:31
So, plant friends… all my plants are dead. Well, not all of them. But MANY of them. I had a baby in June, and my houseplants did not survive my postpartum era. What’s interesting is that I've heard from listeners who wen…
Listen to This Before You Buy a Greenhouse! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:59
Have you fallen down the greenhouse rabbit hole yet, plant friends? If you've had plants for more than a year, you're probably like me, who's started Googling "how to put a greenhouse in my backyard" already. And I learn…
The Secret Language of Flowers Every Plant Lover Should Know [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:15
How can we use flowers to further connect with nature and with the world? My mom once photocopied an entire flower dictionary for me from the thick pages of The Language of Flowers. I loved that she did it, but then I ne…
Elevate Your Interior Decor with Plants: A Plant Design Crash Course [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:14
What if the fewer the plants, the bigger the impact? Right now my house is a construction zone, and my plants are on their own. I have an eight-week-old baby, a '70s house we gutted mid-pregnancy, and a carpeted garage.…
How to Tell Time with Your Garden (And Not a Watch) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:51
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 like…
How to Propagate Pothos and Other Vining Indoor Plants [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:29
We're going back to basics today on how to propagate pothos, plant friends! It's one of the simplest things you can do as a plant parent. And pothos is probably the easiest plant to propagate, which is exactly why it's w…
Garden Inspired Cocktails and Mocktails for Joyful Living [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:19
We often talk about garden-to-table, but what about garden-to-glass? AKA how to grow plants for garden inspired cocktails, and all the ways to turn a harvest into something delicious, regardless if you drink alcohol or n…

12345»