Plants Always Win

Plants Always Win


Ep. 31: Joyful Gardening with Chris Paul Rainbows

August 26, 2025

“I am very enthusiastic about [gardening]. I don't know if I'm that great at it. I'm not very knowledgeable. I can't really answer any of your garden questions, but I love getting my hands dirty.”


Gardening is for everyone! We’ve interviewed plenty of experts on Plants Always Win who’ve mastered everything from groundcovers to home hydroponics, but every so often we like to bring you a less experienced guest who is already skilled in one crucial area: gardening with joyful abandon.


In their day job, Chris Paul Rainbows is a speaker and strategist who helps organizations create spaces where everyone belongs. In their own space at home, Chris has tapped into the joy that 80s and 90s children’s television once brought them, designing whimsical gardens inspired by Polkadot Door, Mr. Dressup, Sesame Street, and more. They take us back to the urban-farm inspiration that led them to buy their current home, and the transformation it has undergone with chickens, rabbits, and a surprise pumpkin patch that led to some heartwarming community building. Community, gardening, and cultivating joy are inextricable subjects for Chris, who is an activist for queer and trans visibility. We talk hostas, native plants, managing invasive bindweed, and Chris’ upcoming debut book for 2026, Guinea Pigs Don’t Wear Pants


Now come on into the pumpkin patch through the Polkadot Door and remind yourself just how FUN gardening can be. 


Find Chris Paul Rainbows Online

at their website, where you can also find information about Chris’ upcoming picture book, Guinea Pigs Don’t Wear Pants: https://www.chrispaulrainbows.com/ 

on TikTok: tiktok.com/@chrispaulrainbows

on Instagram: instagram.com/chrispaulrainbows/

on YouTube: youtube.com/@chrispaulrainbows 

on Facebook: facebook.com/Chrispaulrainbows/

on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/chrisfarias/ 


Learn More About The Unicorn Fund:

https://www.chrispaulrainbows.com/blog/unchained-philanthropy-hamilton


Comments? Feedback? Want your garden question to be featured in a future Q&A segment?

Email us, reach out over social media, or get Q&A priority by supporting us on Patreon

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Website: www.plantsalwayswin.com 


Credits

Website Design and Illustration by Sophia Alladin

Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/when-my-ukulele-plays

License code: GWOIMMBAS15FG6PH


Timestamps

00:25 Introduction and Housekeeping

01:55 Meet Chris Paul Rainbows

03:10 Gardening as Play

06:29 Protesting for Urban Chickens

07:47 Female and Male Gingko Biloba Trees

09:35 Corpse Flowers and Little Shop of Horrors

11:30 Pest Control and Fertilizer: Chickens Will Provide

13:45 Can You Go to Jail for an Overgrown Lawn?

15:17 Invasive Micro-Clover Lawn Replacement

16:29 Militant Native Plant Communities

17:23 Chris' Inner Child Garden Project

19:47 300 Accidental Pumpkin Plants

21:54 The Unicorn Fund and the Most Sincere Pumpkin Patch

24:14 Pumpkin Care and Powdery Mildew

27:30 Strange and Fun Pumpkin Types

29:15 Hand Pollinating Pumpkins

30:30 The Importance of Queer and Trans Joy

33:50 Plant Sexes and Pollination

37:15 Chris and Sean Talk Parrots and Budgies

41:03 Dealing with Field Bindweed

47:27 Chris' Children's TV-inspired Garden Plans

48:39 Relationship Roles: The Problem Maker and the Problem Solver

49:36 How Oscar the Boxwood Grouch Started Everything

52:09 Find Chris Online

52:46 Chris' Upcoming Picture Book, Guinea Pigs Don't Wear Pants

53:56 Outro and Contact Us