Sun Protection for Gardeners: Melanoma Awareness Month

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

Maria Failla- Happy Plant Lady and Author of Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness

Education, How To, Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Home & Garden, Leisure

4.8 • 883 Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s Melanoma Awareness Month! Two years ago, I walked into a dermatologist’s office thinking I had a simple skin issue… then I walked out with a melanoma diagnosis at 34. As a lifelong gardener, I never expected my love of plants would overlap with a serious health scare, but here we are. I’m not a beach person nor an outdoor enthusiast. I just tend to my garden every day, really. But that little dot on my face changed everything about my relationship with the sun. I learned to love sunscreens, especially UPF clothing. So if you’re a plant parent like me who spends hours outside with your hands in the soil, I hope this becomes your gentle nudge to protect your skin the same way you protect your plants.

In this episode, we learn:

[03:36] Special thanks to Coolibar’s UPF50 clothing
[04:49] Why should we care for our skin as we do our plants?
[08:54] Why short, daily garden sessions still add up to major sun exposure risk
[10:21] Should you use sunscreen?
[11:45] Chemical vs. mineral sunscreens
[13:40] My favorite sunscreen brands
[15:41] Why I love UPF Clothing (especially Coolibar’s sun clothing)
[16:08] Coolibar products
[16:46] What is UPF clothing and why it’s better than sunscreens
[19:40] Gardeners Supply Company
[22:36] Wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses in the garden
[24:34] How to use the UV Index when gardening
[27:04] Hydration and skin health in the garden
[27:26] Espoma Organic
[29:43] Why skin care in the garden matters

Mentioned in our conversation:

Sun protection doesn't need to be complicated!

Check out the full show notes and blog here for my sun protection tips!

Thank you to our episode sponsors:

Coolibar

Protect your skin with Coolibar and save 25% off your order at coolibar.com with code GROWINGJOY25.

Gardener's Supply

Discover your garden favorites and exclusive innovations at gardeners.com and use code GROWINGJOY for free shipping.

Espoma Organic

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

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

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Our Sponsors:
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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Two years ago, I got diagnosed with melanoma at 34 years old. I went into the dermatologist
0:07.0	thinking that I had malasma. I just had a little dot on my face and I came out with a skin
0:11.8	cancer diagnosis at 34. It was absolutely terrifying. Skin cancer completely changed the way that I
0:19.0	look at my relationship with the sun and most importantly
0:21.7	the way that I garden because most of the time that I spend in the sun is gardening.
0:27.2	I'm not a big beach bum.
0:28.5	I'm not a big sun person, but I did get in my garden every day and I learned a lot of
0:33.1	things about sun protection and sun damage, which I'm going to share with you today in hopes
0:36.9	that our community goes into our gardens, educated and empowered to make the right decisions to protect
0:42.8	their skin as much as they protect their plants. Because let me tell you, post-melanoma
0:48.2	diagnosis, I have been shocked at how little gardeners are marketed to, are educated about sun protection. We spend as
0:57.7	much time outside as anybody else with outdoor hobbies like tennis, like golf, like fishing.
1:03.7	They all get lines of UPF clothing specifically designed for them. SPF companies do tons of money
1:10.2	on marketing towards these different outdoor hobbies,
1:13.0	yet gardeners are overlooked. But I have your back. I see you. I'm not overlooking you,
1:18.6	plant friends. So this episode is all about how to stay safe in your garden specifically and
1:24.7	protect that beautiful body of yours and grow alongside the beautiful gardens
1:29.7	that I am sure you are planting up as we speak. Maybe you're even listening to this episode
1:34.8	while you're in your garden right now. So let's dive in. Welcome to the Growing Joy with Plants podcast, where we not only learn how to care for plants
1:48.7	successfully, but how to simply and affordably use our plant babies to cultivate more joy in
1:53.8	our lives by doing so. I'm Maria, former plant killer turned happy plant lady, author of
1:59.4	Growing Joy, The Plant Lovers Guide to Cultivating Happiness, Speaker, Podcaster, and most importantly, your new best. plant killer turned happy plant lady author of growing joy the plant lover's guide to cultivating happiness
	...

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