Recording on the New York High Line
About Me
I worked as a BBC radio producer for 34 years
I have a passion for audio and plants.
RHS Level 2
Volunteering experience: Inner Temple gardens + the Museum of Homelessness
I am a full member of the Garden Media Guild and a trustee of the charity Plant Heritage
About the podcast
““The plant really is at the heart of all the podcasts”
The podcast began in April 2023 with a story about a lost peony. I quickly realised that plants tell stories; about the people who grew them and loved them.
Plants offer hope in the darkest of times, a mint plant reminding Anya of her home in Kiev. A silver birch tree symbolising resilience after a car accident left Judith in a hospital spinal unit.
People are passionate about plants, whether that is delicate dahlias or magnificent Monkey Puzzle trees.
Many of the plant stories now come from listeners.
Testimonials
“It’s like sitting down with the best kind of friend - someone who is a reliably good listener but can also tell a great story.”
Liz Ware - Founder of the charity Silent Space
Listener comment on the weekly blog
I’m really looking forward to series 4. Our Plant Stories is an absolute gem; your passion for plants, people and stories shines through in every episode….it clearly takes a lot of hard work and dedication to produce each episode, yet each story and off-shoot seems effortless when we listen. Thank you for sharing this labour of love with us!
FAQ
How many episodes have you made?
There are over 60 episodes available on all podcasting apps and the website. They are all ‘evergreen’ so the stories can be listened to at any time of year.
How long are the episodes?
Episodes come out at half an hour - I think it was all those years making 30 min Radio 4 features!
Have you got more episodes in the pipeline?
I am currently making a fourth series which began on 10th February 2026.
How many downloads do you get?
To date the podcast has almost 30,000 downloads. The average is almost 1000 a month. ‘Listen Notes’ ranks Our Plant Stories in the top 3% of podcasts.
Where are your listeners?
Latest figures show that 68% of listeners are in the UK but I also have 12% in the States and there have also been listeners in 23 other countries! The plant stories have taken us to New Zealand, Australia, Canada, America and Chile.
Where can people find you?
I publish a weekly blog and the Our Plant Stories website has all the previous episodes and information about the guests and growing the plants. I can also be found on Instagram ourplantstories_podcast
Media Coverage
The Times - December 2026
Ann Treneman: Our expert’s pick of the gardening podcasts
“Innovative and fascinating - a deep dive into the stories about all things plant-related….a labour of love for Sally Flatman who previous worked as a radio producer for 34 years. She gets out and about, doing in-depth interviews on a spectrum of topics. Examples include the life of a daffodil, the tale of Napoleon’s bald cypress and propagating at Kew. I particularly enjoyed the one about the yucca that Fay Ballard bought her father, the novelist JB Ballard, in 1976.”
Also mentioned in The Guardian, the Radio Times, with interviews on BBC Radio 2, Radio Devon and Radio Cumbria.
Booked to host conversations between gardeners at the British Museum and Kew.
Working with me
Can you review or feature this podcast?
I am keen to grow Our Plant Stories - reaching new audiences. So perhaps your readers, customers, listeners or viewers might enjoy this podcast. Maybe they have stories to share which we could both talk about? Maybe they’ll want to grow the plants featured in an episode and buy them from you!
One listener recently said; “Our Plant Stories totally connects us to place, history and each other! With all the madness in the world listening to something positive and happy is what we all need!”
Another said: “Things have been so dark here with the awful news and this is such a bright spot. It reminds me why there is so much meaning in telling these stories”.
The podcast is currently supported by Buy Me a Coffee.
Do get in touch: sally@ourplantstories.com