Ep. 31: Joyful Gardening with Chris Paul Rainbows

Gardening isn't for experts. It's for everyone!

Author

Plants Always Win
August 26, 2025

Plants Always Win is in the News!

We celebrated our thirtieth episode with some outreach to Ontario horticulture societies and news media. If that’s why you’re joining us this week, welcome! We’re so glad to have you here. If you’ve been around for a while, check out these news stories:

But that’s enough bragging. On to this week’s episode!

“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.”—Chris Paul Rainbows

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) Farias 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. During this week’s interview 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. In truth, community, gardening, and cultivating joy are inextricable subjects for Chris, who is an activist for queer and trans visibility. We talk ambitious garden projects, plant choices, managing invasive bindweed, and Chris’ upcoming debut book, Guinea Pigs Don’t Wear Pants. 

Now come on through the Polkadot Door into the pumpkin patch 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:

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.

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 Three Hundred 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