The Beauty and Benefits of Broadleaf Evergreens

<v Speaker 1>Broadcasting from Studio AA. Here at proven Winter's color Joy Shrubs.
<v Speaker 1>It's the Gardening Simplified Show with Stacey Hervella, me, Rick Weist,
<v Speaker 1>and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson. Well, broad leaf
<v Speaker 1>evergreens are powerhouses in the landscape. They give you interest, structure, privacy,
<v Speaker 1>and color every season and with the right care. And
<v Speaker 1>I make sure to note this. With the right care,
<v Speaker 1>and I'm saying especially proper winter protection. So this is
<v Speaker 1>a good time of the year to talk about it.
<v Speaker 1>These resilient plants will thrive for years, adding beauty and
<v Speaker 1>function to your outdoor space. You know, winter can be depressing,
<v Speaker 1>at least it is for me. Skeletal, bare limbed trees
<v Speaker 1>covered in snow. Thank goodness for conifers, and thank goodness
<v Speaker 1>for broad leaf evergreens. To me, the king or queen
<v Speaker 1>contingent on your viewpoint is the rhododendron. I have to
<v Speaker 1>admit that right up front, there are many wonderful broad
<v Speaker 1>leaf evergreens, But the rhododendron, I think it would be
<v Speaker 1>hard to find among shrubs a more striking personality. The
<v Speaker 1>great blossoms are held up like a prize on a
<v Speaker 1>platter or a circlet of thick, dark green leaves that
<v Speaker 1>sometimes mope in winter, but of course also show us
<v Speaker 1>the promise of spring and summer with those thick buds
<v Speaker 1>that are held up during the wintertime waiting for warmer weather.
<v Speaker 1>And you'll find monster rhododendrons in temperate areas like along
<v Speaker 1>the lake shore here in Michigan or Virginia or the
<v Speaker 1>Pacific Northwest, and less so inland. So rhododendrons, Stacey, they
<v Speaker 1>got to be near the.
<v Speaker 2>Top from it, Well, it's all about the variety very
<v Speaker 2>tiny rddendrons, and there are very massive rhododendrons. And if
<v Speaker 2>you go over into the UK, rhododendrons are an invasive nightmare.
<v Speaker 2>So you know, it all depends on where you're at.
<v Speaker 2>I do think we need to take one tiny step
<v Speaker 2>back because we just recently did an episode on conifers,
<v Speaker 2>which of course is what most people think of when
<v Speaker 2>they think of evergreens. But it kind of got me
<v Speaker 2>to thinking that broad leaf evergreens are a term that
<v Speaker 2>gets thrown around a lot at garden centers or in
<v Speaker 2>articles and so forth, and everyone's kind of like, huh,
<v Speaker 2>what is a broad leaf evergreen? Really, and I think
<v Speaker 2>another way, in you know, being in marketing. I'm honestly
<v Speaker 2>surprised this hasn't caught on. A better way to think
<v Speaker 2>about this would be flowering evergreens, because, as we said
<v Speaker 2>in the conifer episode, conifers don't flower. They are not
<v Speaker 2>considered angiosperms are flowering plants, even though they have reproductive
<v Speaker 2>structures that function similarly to flowers and to fruit. Subsequently,
<v Speaker 2>they aren't technically flowering plants. All of the broad leaf
<v Speaker 2>evergreens that we're going to be discussing today are flowering plants.
<v Speaker 2>They are angiosperms. So a better way to think about
<v Speaker 2>these instead of broadleaf evergreens, because like, who really cares
<v Speaker 2>how broad the leaves are and not all of the
<v Speaker 2>leaves are actually very broad. If you take something like
<v Speaker 2>a boxwood, they all flower because they're all flowering plants.
<v Speaker 2>And how great is that?
<v Speaker 1>That is great? I love that. I'm glad you brought
<v Speaker 1>that up.
<v Speaker 2>Some marketing makeover for broadleaf evergreens today.
<v Speaker 1>Speaking of marketing, I was reading a article from nineteen
<v Speaker 1>o two May of nineteen o two in the Atlantic
<v Speaker 1>Francis Duncan. I love what she says. She says, when
<v Speaker 1>deciduous plants enter forced retirement and begin the winter of discontent,
<v Speaker 1>the rhododendron abdicates nothing of its supremacy. Not only do
<v Speaker 1>the leaves maintain their tropical luxuriance, but the hard green buds,
<v Speaker 1>which appeared as soon as possible after the previous blossoms
<v Speaker 1>had passed, are there. And I love that. I love
<v Speaker 1>watching my rhododendrons in winter. And of course, dendron is
<v Speaker 1>the Greek word for tree.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yep. And you know what rodo is? Rodo No,
<v Speaker 2>it's leaf.
<v Speaker 1>So they're got a sitcom from the nineteen seventies.
<v Speaker 2>I have to say I do love the name rhoda
<v Speaker 2>for this reason. The Greek translation of the scientific name
<v Speaker 2>rhododendron is literally leaf tree.
<v Speaker 1>Interesting, there you have it.
<v Speaker 2>I mean it's descriptive.
<v Speaker 1>I love that. Yeah. PJM. Rhododendroans. I love them smaller
<v Speaker 1>leafed rhododendrons. I know the mesots from western nurseries on
<v Speaker 1>the East Coast in the Boston area. Imagine named after
<v Speaker 1>Peter John Right.
<v Speaker 2>Imagine being Peter John Mezzitt and having one of the
<v Speaker 2>most popular landscape plants in North America. Names for you,
<v Speaker 2>and no one calls it by your name. They all
<v Speaker 2>call it PJM. Yeah, I feel bad. I really feel
<v Speaker 2>bad for him.
<v Speaker 1>It's true, it's true. That's part of the reason and
<v Speaker 1>I bring it up. But what a great plant.
<v Speaker 2>So shout out to Peter John.
<v Speaker 1>There you go, Stacey. I'm gonna ask you a question
<v Speaker 1>because I have a new favorite broad leaf evergreen. If
<v Speaker 1>you view it as being a broad leaf evergreen, and
<v Speaker 1>that is Paisley pop.
<v Speaker 2>That is absolutely bad. It's a if it's an evergreen
<v Speaker 2>and it's a flowering plant, it's a broad leaf evergreen. Again,
<v Speaker 2>it is irrelevant really how broadly leaves are. The differentiating
<v Speaker 2>factor here is that they're all flowering plants. But Paisley
<v Speaker 2>pop is such a cool plant, and it's a North
<v Speaker 2>American native broad leaf evergreen, as a number of broad
<v Speaker 2>leaf evergreens are indeed North American natives, and much like
<v Speaker 2>your beloved rhododendrons, it is in the air casey or
<v Speaker 2>the heather and heath family. So it's going to be
<v Speaker 2>and this is a recurring theme for broad leaf evergreens
<v Speaker 2>in general, it's going to be one of those plants
<v Speaker 2>that wants moist well drained acidic soil exactly. The mythical
<v Speaker 2>moist well drained is cnic soil, But it's true.
<v Speaker 1>And how many times have I gone out to help
<v Speaker 1>people who are struggling with a broad leaf evergreen or
<v Speaker 1>specifically rhododendrons. I'll go to their house. It's a heavy
<v Speaker 1>clay soil. They have automatic irrigation that's pumping all kinds
<v Speaker 1>of water on those roots every day, and the plant
<v Speaker 1>is yellow, declining or even dying because of that. So
<v Speaker 1>you're right, acidic soil, somewhat acidic soil, but well drained
<v Speaker 1>soil that has organic matter in it. Does that make sense?
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely? They love the organic matter. It is so important
<v Speaker 2>for them because if there is one thing that they
<v Speaker 2>don't like, probably even more so than alkaline soil, is
<v Speaker 2>hot dry soil. They're shallow rooted a lot like hydrangeas are,
<v Speaker 2>and so if they have like shallow or hot dry soil,
<v Speaker 2>those roots are just going to cook. And if you
<v Speaker 2>plant a rhododendron, I think you will notice that the
<v Speaker 2>roots are a bit different than other types of plants are.
<v Speaker 2>So organic matter mulch is so crucial with any of
<v Speaker 2>these broad leaf evergreens in keeping them happy in keeping
<v Speaker 2>that moisture and soil acidity and organic matter levels at
<v Speaker 2>the right you know point for them.
<v Speaker 1>With proven winners. Of course, there's black hat rhododendron, which
<v Speaker 1>is a favorite of mine, dandyman. And then the perfect
<v Speaker 1>amundo double pink reblooming azaleas or the reblooming azaleas Zone
<v Speaker 1>six B. I haven't tried one yet here on the
<v Speaker 1>Lake Michigan Lake shore, but I'm tempted to try.
<v Speaker 2>You know, I have seen them survive winter here plenty,
<v Speaker 2>and you know, not with any kind of special uh
<v Speaker 2>you know, treatment or anything like that, but they certainly
<v Speaker 2>can survive. But very often I have seen that you
<v Speaker 2>would wish that they hadn't survived and they you wish
<v Speaker 2>they would just have died so you could take them out.
<v Speaker 2>Because what often happens, even though yes they're hardy to
<v Speaker 2>do USDA is on six B, they can survive. Area
<v Speaker 2>will often take out those flower buds so you don't
<v Speaker 2>get the spring flower buds, and they set the plant
<v Speaker 2>back so far that it takes it all season to
<v Speaker 2>get to the rebloom and it doesn't have the energy
<v Speaker 2>for the rebloom. So you know, very often that's a
<v Speaker 2>real shortcoming of hardiness zones in general is that they
<v Speaker 2>only address what a plant can survive, not the right
<v Speaker 2>conditions for you to get that kind of peak performance.
<v Speaker 2>And I will say, as we're talking about broad leaf evergreens,
<v Speaker 2>by and large, these are not the hardiest plants, which
<v Speaker 2>is not necessarily surprising when you think about the fact
<v Speaker 2>that there are these, indeed often broad leaves. That makes
<v Speaker 2>them much more susceptible to damage in the winter compared
<v Speaker 2>to something like an evergreen or a conifer, like we
<v Speaker 2>talked about an our conifer show a few weeks ago,
<v Speaker 2>which are going to have those very minimal scale like
<v Speaker 2>or needle like leaves where the leaf surfaces are dramatically reduced,
<v Speaker 2>so it's better able to withstand winter, sun, winter wind,
<v Speaker 2>all of that, you know, all of those challenges. Broad
<v Speaker 2>leaf evergreens don't do that. Rhododendrons have some ability to
<v Speaker 2>adapt to cold by curling their leaves and reducing the
<v Speaker 2>amount of leaf surface exposed to the sun and wind.
<v Speaker 2>But overall, I don't think, I mean, I can't think
<v Speaker 2>off Hannah. It certainly proved me wrong. If you can
<v Speaker 2>leave a comment on our YouTube version or email US.
<v Speaker 2>I don't think there are any broad leaf evergreens hardier
<v Speaker 2>than Zone four.
<v Speaker 1>Well, I'll tell you what it's important in areas where
<v Speaker 1>the ground freezes. To your point, Stacey, that you know
<v Speaker 1>where the sun is in winter, and it's low in
<v Speaker 1>the south, so many times the north or east side
<v Speaker 1>of a structure is a great place for broad leaf evergreens. Also,
<v Speaker 1>coming from the garden center industry, I recommend the use
<v Speaker 1>of anti descate sprays. We can talk about them further
<v Speaker 1>in segment four, but they you'll find them in a
<v Speaker 1>garden center, usually under the name of wilt proof or
<v Speaker 1>wilt stop. But they are pine resin sprays that helps
<v Speaker 1>hold the moisture in the foliage over winter when the
<v Speaker 1>plant can't take a drink the ground is frozen. Now, again,
<v Speaker 1>coming from the garden center industry, I thought, well, you
<v Speaker 1>know what, I'll try some of this. I've tried it
<v Speaker 1>in my hair before, in your hair for a hold, Yes,
<v Speaker 1>because it's just a natural pine resin spray. Hair spray
<v Speaker 1>for my broad leaf plant. At the bottle, skeptical, I
<v Speaker 1>looked a scant some left in the bottom to spare,
<v Speaker 1>so I tried some in my hair. Now I'm stylish
<v Speaker 1>and anti desa. Can't my broad leaf next year? Will
<v Speaker 1>flower can now stand up to winter, not cower still?
<v Speaker 1>I pine for your approval with this spray. The trick
<v Speaker 1>is the removal. I'm going inside now to shower. It
<v Speaker 1>took me weeks to get it out of my hair.
<v Speaker 2>Was it an accident or was it on purpose?
<v Speaker 1>I did it on purpose. Plants on Trial is next
<v Speaker 1>here on the Gardening Simplified Show.
<v Speaker 2>Beautify your home and community with proven Winter's Color Choice Shrubs.
<v Speaker 2>With over three hundred and twenty five unique varieties to
<v Speaker 2>choose from. There's a flowering shrub or evergreen for every
<v Speaker 2>taste and every space. Just look for the distinctive white
<v Speaker 2>container your local garden center or learn more at proven
<v Speaker 2>Winner's Colour Choice dot com. Greeting's gardening friends, and welcome
<v Speaker 2>back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where we are talking
<v Speaker 2>about broadleaf evergreens as kind of a counterpart to our
<v Speaker 2>conifer show that we did a few weeks ago, where
<v Speaker 2>we told you all about conifers and what makes a
<v Speaker 2>conifer a conifer. Now we're talking to you all about
<v Speaker 2>broad leaf evergreens and what makes a broad leaf evergreen
<v Speaker 2>a broadleaf evergreen, and the short version of that is
<v Speaker 2>just that they are flowering plants that are evergreen, So
<v Speaker 2>that means that you get great evergreen coverage and you
<v Speaker 2>get flowers. Now, of course, sometimes the flowers are much
<v Speaker 2>more dramatic and showy, and the flowers are the thing.
<v Speaker 2>There are also many broad leaf evergreens where the flowers
<v Speaker 2>are very minimal. They're still present and they're still true flowers,
<v Speaker 2>but you know, the main thing in their cases is
<v Speaker 2>more of the broad leaf evergreen aspects than the flowering
<v Speaker 2>aspect and.
<v Speaker 1>Stacy, would it be fair to say that on a
<v Speaker 1>number of broad leaf evergreens the flowers are super important
<v Speaker 1>because they're a component of berry production.
<v Speaker 2>You are correct about that, yes, thank you. There are
<v Speaker 2>a number of broad leaf evergreens. I think sort of
<v Speaker 2>this the stereotypical or i'll say archetypical broad leaf evergreen
<v Speaker 2>I think for most people is holly.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>You know, we all know that is an evergreen, and
<v Speaker 2>we know that it flowers and then gets those beautiful
<v Speaker 2>bright red berries, so that is kind of like the
<v Speaker 2>standard bearer for all of them, and some get grape fruit.
<v Speaker 2>I think if you live in a milder climate, broad
<v Speaker 2>leaf evergreens are much more common and much more the
<v Speaker 2>norm than they are for us up here. You don't
<v Speaker 2>see a whole ton of like broad leaf evergreen hedges
<v Speaker 2>for us up here, whereas if you go down south
<v Speaker 2>you're gonna see lots and lots of different plants. Camellias
<v Speaker 2>probably my favorite broad leaf evergreen, even though I cannot
<v Speaker 2>grow it, love them so much. They're so beautiful, So
<v Speaker 2>definitely much more popular down south than here, are in
<v Speaker 2>milder climates than here, But there's plenty that we can grow.
<v Speaker 2>And I'm glad that you brought up holly because it's
<v Speaker 2>quite an interesting and diverse group of plants, and so
<v Speaker 2>not unlike hydrangeas, where if someone says, hey, think of
<v Speaker 2>a holly, or think of a hydrangea, one specific type
<v Speaker 2>comes to mind, and of course for holly, that is
<v Speaker 2>the standard Christmas holly with the pointy leaves and the
<v Speaker 2>beautiful red berries. But the truth is that hollies are
<v Speaker 2>actually an extremely diverse group of plants. There are over
<v Speaker 2>four hundred different species of holly or the genus Islex
<v Speaker 2>that are found worldwide, with the highest concentrations in subtropical
<v Speaker 2>China and South America, and of course we have lots
<v Speaker 2>of different native hollys here in Michigan. It's also there's
<v Speaker 2>also jeous varieties in there, which of course you know,
<v Speaker 2>are beautiful winterberry holly. Ilex for dislotta is a deciduous holly.
<v Speaker 2>And within that group of holly's there are some that
<v Speaker 2>are trees, like our native eastern holly ilex opeka, and
<v Speaker 2>there's vines which we don't really have ilex vines here
<v Speaker 2>in North America. So, you know, with having so much
<v Speaker 2>diversity in the genus ilex or holly, it's not really
<v Speaker 2>surprising that there's so many different ways that we use
<v Speaker 2>holly in our landscape. And that is what is prompting
<v Speaker 2>today's plant on trial, which is gembox inkberry holly. And
<v Speaker 2>it is one of the most versatile landscape plants that
<v Speaker 2>we offer here at proven Winter's Color Choice Shrups. So
<v Speaker 2>it is known as Islex glabra. Glabra in Latin means bald,
<v Speaker 2>and you might be like, hey, how does that fit
<v Speaker 2>into this plant? It is still a broad leaf evergreen,
<v Speaker 2>but the stems are smooth, so apparently some are you know,
<v Speaker 2>this is all like taxonomy stuff where botanists get out
<v Speaker 2>their loops and they look real closely and say, oh,
<v Speaker 2>you know, the involucre is slightly haired, so now we're
<v Speaker 2>gonna call this one the bald one, even though like
<v Speaker 2>it's not really any difference.
<v Speaker 1>To crazy when that happens.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, well, you know, they they're into the details. There's
<v Speaker 2>something for all of us out there in this great,
<v Speaker 2>big world. And it's a compact round evergreen. It grows
<v Speaker 2>two to three feet tall and wide. It naturally grows
<v Speaker 2>as a rounded mound. And one of the reasons that
<v Speaker 2>we introduced gembox ink very holly was as an alternative
<v Speaker 2>to another broadleaf evergreen, and that is boxwood exactly.
<v Speaker 1>And in the garden center we have them displayed right
<v Speaker 1>next to each other, and people scratch their heads they
<v Speaker 1>see they're like, what is this?
<v Speaker 2>What is this? Well, you know, boxwood is, honestly, I
<v Speaker 2>have to say, one of my favorite plants. It is
<v Speaker 2>kind of the no brainer for me in my garden
<v Speaker 2>because it does so well. It's honestly one of the
<v Speaker 2>most deer resistant plants. That's why it's the flagship plant
<v Speaker 2>in our deer proof line. Here at proven Winter's color
<v Speaker 2>choice shrubs. It's shade tolerant, it's sun tolerant. It doesn't
<v Speaker 2>need acidic soil like a number of broad leaf evergreens
<v Speaker 2>truly require acidic soil. Boxwood does not, and so it's
<v Speaker 2>just a great all purpose plant for adding order to
<v Speaker 2>the chaos of my garden. That's one of the reasons
<v Speaker 2>that I love it.
<v Speaker 1>So.
<v Speaker 2>With boxwood being so great, why in the world would
<v Speaker 2>anybody want an alternative to it? Well, if you live
<v Speaker 2>in certain areas of North America, you have already had
<v Speaker 2>the answer to this question in your head, and that
<v Speaker 2>is that boxwood is setten by a number of pests
<v Speaker 2>and diseases. Now, so the big one is boxwood blight.
<v Speaker 2>Boxwood blight is a fungal disease that's started in Europe,
<v Speaker 2>and it is well entrenched in Europe and kind of widespread,
<v Speaker 2>and they've found ways to deal with it. It has not, fortunately,
<v Speaker 2>knock on wood marched as quickly in the US as
<v Speaker 2>they had originally feared that it would. It's mostly been
<v Speaker 2>fairly well contained. Of course, that could change it any minute,
<v Speaker 2>But you can't say the same thing about the box
<v Speaker 2>tree moth. And I will tell you this is This
<v Speaker 2>has been a very interesting situation because a year ago,
<v Speaker 2>you know, in twenty twenty four in the Detroit area,
<v Speaker 2>you didn't hear anything about box tree moth. No one
<v Speaker 2>had it, no one thought about it. And twenty twenty
<v Speaker 2>five in the Metro Detroit area was the year of
<v Speaker 2>the box tree moth. And I remember going to the
<v Speaker 2>garden center in spraying and seeing all these signs about it.
<v Speaker 2>And then my mom got it on her box with
<v Speaker 2>you know, right at her front yard. And so it's
<v Speaker 2>spreading so quickly, and it is possible to manage the
<v Speaker 2>box tree moth. They used a spray and actually I
<v Speaker 2>was really shocked at how well it made a recovery
<v Speaker 2>after being sprayed, which you do have to spray for
<v Speaker 2>the caterpillars so that they don't of course eat all
<v Speaker 2>of your box with foliage. And some people, even aside
<v Speaker 2>from these sort of liabils, some people don't like boxwood smell,
<v Speaker 2>you know, the certain especially the English boxwood boxes sempervirons
<v Speaker 2>English boxwood. Yes, yes it has a smell. That's yeah.
<v Speaker 2>It smells like a litter box. And you know, I'll
<v Speaker 2>tell you if you've ever been around one on a
<v Speaker 2>hot summer day. It is not really a pleasant experience
<v Speaker 2>if you have a boxwood and you are wondering why
<v Speaker 2>you smell litter box every time you were around it
<v Speaker 2>on a hot summer day. No, it is not the
<v Speaker 2>neighborhood cats. It is your boxwood, and some people are
<v Speaker 2>very sensitive to that smell. And the other reason why
<v Speaker 2>someone might want an alternative to box what is boxwood
<v Speaker 2>is not native to North America and gembox inkberry holly
<v Speaker 2>as all inkberries are native to eastern North America. So
<v Speaker 2>there's a lot of good reasons to swap out boxwood,
<v Speaker 2>or if you're adding to your garden to plant gembox
<v Speaker 2>or strong box, which is a companion plant to that
<v Speaker 2>inkberry holly instead of boxwood, just as kind of a
<v Speaker 2>hedge against all of these, you know, things that are
<v Speaker 2>potentially going to threaten boxwood. Now, as good as it is,
<v Speaker 2>does have a couple of drawbacks that I just need
<v Speaker 2>to be honest, where it can't really compare to boxwood.
<v Speaker 2>It is not as shade tolerant. Okay has good shade tolerance,
<v Speaker 2>but this is not going to be one of those
<v Speaker 2>plants for deep shade like boxwood is. If you grow
<v Speaker 2>it in very deep shade. One of the great features
<v Speaker 2>of gembox is that it stays very dense and branch
<v Speaker 2>to the ground. In too much shade, it's going to
<v Speaker 2>get sparse, it's going to get open, and you're not
<v Speaker 2>really going to see that great feature that it has
<v Speaker 2>of staying really dense and branched. So part shade is
<v Speaker 2>the most it's really going to be able to take.
<v Speaker 2>It does need moist, acidic soil. And you can ask
<v Speaker 2>me how I know because I have attempted to grow
<v Speaker 2>gembox instead of boxwood in my garden many times, and
<v Speaker 2>my garden is just way too dry and my soil
<v Speaker 2>is pretty close to neutral. So between those two things,
<v Speaker 2>it's just not happening for me. So, but what.
<v Speaker 1>About winter, because you know I struggle with boxwood sometimes
<v Speaker 1>in winter winter damage. How how does gembox right?
<v Speaker 2>So, gembox as a broad leaf evergreen is still somewhat
<v Speaker 2>susceptible to winter damage. And you know when we talk
<v Speaker 2>about winter damage on broad leaf evergreens, we're really just
<v Speaker 2>saying that the sun, the wind, all of those factors
<v Speaker 2>are you know, working on the plant through winter. The
<v Speaker 2>soil is frozen, it can't take any water to replace
<v Speaker 2>what's being lost to sunlight and wind evaporation. And what
<v Speaker 2>can happen in some cases is plants will bronze, and
<v Speaker 2>that is a very common reaction of boxwood. Sometimes they
<v Speaker 2>turn brown and die entirely. Gembox is still susceptible to
<v Speaker 2>some winter damage. But what I have found here is
<v Speaker 2>it recovers a lot better and a lot more quickly
<v Speaker 2>from winter damage compared to boxwood. Because boxwood is a
<v Speaker 2>pretty slow growing plant, gembox is relatively quick by comparison,
<v Speaker 2>So it is a much better recovery with gembox or
<v Speaker 2>strong box than it is with your standard boxwood. So
<v Speaker 2>that's that's a good feature. It's also a better flowering plant,
<v Speaker 2>so boxwood does flower. Most people have never seen a
<v Speaker 2>boxwood flower because they've just never noticed it because it
<v Speaker 2>has these kind of nondescript green flowers, sort of nestled
<v Speaker 2>down in the foliage, inconspicuous. If you happen to notice
<v Speaker 2>a boxwood flowering, it is probably because you heard the
<v Speaker 2>bees on it. Because it blooms very early in spring.
<v Speaker 2>It's very fragrant and full of nectar. And I feel
<v Speaker 2>like every time I've noticed boxwood's flowering, it's because I've
<v Speaker 2>heard buzzing. I'm like, oh my gosh, is there a drone, Like,
<v Speaker 2>where's that coming from? And no, it's just bees on
<v Speaker 2>the boxwood. But gem box inkberry holly has cute little
<v Speaker 2>white flowers, cup shaped and it is a female variety,
<v Speaker 2>so if you have a male nearby, it will set
<v Speaker 2>those nice blue black inkberries. And if you are, you know,
<v Speaker 2>costplaying as a revolutionary war soldier, you can make ink
<v Speaker 2>out of em and write letters back home. So it's
<v Speaker 2>just a cool plant. It's hardy down to USDA Zone five,
<v Speaker 2>heat talant to the USDA Zone nine, and really just
<v Speaker 2>a great alternative for boxwood if you have the right
<v Speaker 2>conditions for it and a're looking for something a little different.
<v Speaker 1>So my dearest abagade.
<v Speaker 2>Forte, on that note, we're gonna take a little break
<v Speaker 2>and we'll open the mailbag and maybe that letter will
<v Speaker 2>be in it. At Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs, we
<v Speaker 2>know that a better landscape starts with a better shrub.
<v Speaker 2>Our team of experts tests and evaluates all of our
<v Speaker 2>flowering shrubs and evergreens for eight to ten years to
<v Speaker 2>ensure they outperform what's already on the market. For easycare reliable,
<v Speaker 2>beautiful shrubs to accentuate your home and express your personal style.
<v Speaker 2>Look for Proven Winners shrubs in the distinctive white container
<v Speaker 2>at your local garden center or learn more at proven
<v Speaker 2>Winner's Color Choice dot com. Greeting's Gardening friends, and welcome
<v Speaker 2>back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where we're talking all
<v Speaker 2>about broadleaf evergreens. For a couple of reasons, it's a
<v Speaker 2>good companion to our earlier conifer show and you can
<v Speaker 2>find that here on YouTube or from your favorite podcast platform.
<v Speaker 2>And also because you know, broadleaf evergreens are about to
<v Speaker 2>take a pretty starring role in the landscape as we
<v Speaker 2>head into winter, not.
<v Speaker 1>Only a starring role, but also will be subject to
<v Speaker 1>weather conditions that can do damage.
<v Speaker 2>Yes for sure. So it's a good opportunity to assess
<v Speaker 2>the broadleafevergreens that you do have, think about ones that
<v Speaker 2>you might want to add next spring, because they are
<v Speaker 2>great plants. I think every every landscape needs a good
<v Speaker 2>mix of conifers and deciduous plants and broadleafever So if
<v Speaker 2>you have any questions about broadleafever greens or anything in
<v Speaker 2>the gardening world, you can always reach us at Gardening
<v Speaker 2>simplified on air dot Com. There's a contact form there.
<v Speaker 2>You can also leave a comment here on YouTube if
<v Speaker 2>you ask a question. Adriana will pass that along to
<v Speaker 2>us if she can't answer it herself, and we will
<v Speaker 2>be happy to help you with that if we can. So,
<v Speaker 2>I know, going into winter kind of people have a
<v Speaker 2>different set of questions than they do in the height
<v Speaker 2>of the season, where it's why is this happening? What's
<v Speaker 2>eating this? And so forth? And now people are like
<v Speaker 2>a little bit more concerned about what they can or
<v Speaker 2>should do moving into the dormant season. And I thought
<v Speaker 2>that's why Dana's question here was a good question.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Dana asked, I live in Scott's Bluff, Nebraska's Zone
<v Speaker 1>five A. I have a hen and chicks plant in
<v Speaker 1>a small plastic strawberry planter. Will this over winter outside
<v Speaker 1>or should I move it to a protected area? Thank
<v Speaker 1>you for your advice.
<v Speaker 2>Right, So, she did send a picture of this, so
<v Speaker 2>we'll have that on YouTube so you can take a
<v Speaker 2>look at what Dana is dealing with. You know, I
<v Speaker 2>wanted to answer this question because people do often ask,
<v Speaker 2>you know, I have such and such in a container,
<v Speaker 2>what should I do? And The bottom line is this,
<v Speaker 2>if you have a hardy plant, which is to say,
<v Speaker 2>a plant that would otherwise be able to survive winter
<v Speaker 2>outdoors in a cold climate. So I would say anything
<v Speaker 2>that is hardy, say USDA Zone two through USDA Zone seven.
<v Speaker 2>Anything that's hard like anything that is less hardy or
<v Speaker 2>less cold tolerant than the USDA's on seven, you can
<v Speaker 2>probably go with the indoor. If it's cold, hardier, you
<v Speaker 2>have to put it outside. You know, I can't really
<v Speaker 2>give you like a whole long scientific explanation as to why.
<v Speaker 2>I can just tell you from my repeated experience, you
<v Speaker 2>just cannot bring a hardy plant indoors into your house
<v Speaker 2>and expect it to thrive or even survive well.
<v Speaker 1>And I think in this case my experience has been
<v Speaker 1>the bigger issue here are not the hens and chicks.
<v Speaker 1>It's the plastic strawberry jar. If the soil freezes expands contracts,
<v Speaker 1>it can cause your jar to split. But the plants
<v Speaker 1>are very very tough. Stacy. You know, when push comes
<v Speaker 1>to shovel, if you're concerned and it's easy to pick up,
<v Speaker 1>why not put it in an unheated shed or something
<v Speaker 1>like that.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you know, I think that the container is a
<v Speaker 2>big part of the equation here. I actually missed when
<v Speaker 2>I was just looking at the picture that Dana sent,
<v Speaker 2>I actually missed that she had plastic in her question
<v Speaker 2>because it looked like it was ceramic in her actual
<v Speaker 2>photo of it. And so that's the other thing. If
<v Speaker 2>something is in a container right now that is not
<v Speaker 2>weather proof, which pretty much generally means anything that is
<v Speaker 2>a non weatherproof container would be anything made out of
<v Speaker 2>clay or ceramic. Now, they certainly sell them out there
<v Speaker 2>that they say our weather proof, you know, that have
<v Speaker 2>been fired at extremely high temperature, so it's driven out
<v Speaker 2>all of the moisture. The conundrum here is that any
<v Speaker 2>ceramic or clay container that claims to be weather proof
<v Speaker 2>is also way more expensive. And you're just like, I
<v Speaker 2>am not going to risk this even heavier, because what
<v Speaker 2>happens is that, you know, in cold climates like ours,
<v Speaker 2>you know, the freezing and thawing that porous material takes
<v Speaker 2>in that moisture and then it freezes and that causes
<v Speaker 2>ice crystals to go in there, and the repeated action
<v Speaker 2>of that back and forth can cause it to crack
<v Speaker 2>or break or flake or otherwise leave your poor plant
<v Speaker 2>with its roots exposed to the worst of the winter.
<v Speaker 2>And that's pretty much true. You know, I would say
<v Speaker 2>even in any climate that experiences regular frost. So this
<v Speaker 2>is an issue, even if you're in zone seven, possibly
<v Speaker 2>even zone eight.
<v Speaker 1>A deal of expansion and contraction and you get the
<v Speaker 1>same thing in the landscape. That's why I've always advised
<v Speaker 1>people that in winter, don't ignore your landscape. Again, here
<v Speaker 1>in Michigan or in the Midwest, we can get periods
<v Speaker 1>where it's super cold and then it warms up and
<v Speaker 1>we get a thaw, or maybe you don't have a
<v Speaker 1>lot of snow cover, and if you heave roots out
<v Speaker 1>of the ground, you'll lose plants. And sometimes you got
<v Speaker 1>to gently press them back into the ground or add
<v Speaker 1>some mult So yeah, yeah, it's an issue.
<v Speaker 2>And I would say the other thing about hens and
<v Speaker 2>chicks specifically, and I grow a lot of them. I'm
<v Speaker 2>crazy about them, so I'm well versed in this phenomenon.
<v Speaker 2>Very susceptible to winter wetness, very susceptible. So if that rosette,
<v Speaker 2>you know, soaks in any kind of moisture, it is
<v Speaker 2>going to rot it right out, and then you're gonna
<v Speaker 2>come out and spring, and you'll like go to touch
<v Speaker 2>your plant and the whole middle just comes out because
<v Speaker 2>it's all gross and rotten. So I would be concerned, Dana,
<v Speaker 2>that this plant is definitely going to experience rot and
<v Speaker 2>or breakage, and try to get it in the ground.
<v Speaker 2>If you can put these types of hens and chicks
<v Speaker 2>into a toime, like a small enclosed space that tends
<v Speaker 2>to be where they are happiest. I have found. Yes,
<v Speaker 2>you know, they're not the kind of thing that you
<v Speaker 2>just put in the middle of the bed and walk
<v Speaker 2>away from, you know, the old lava rock planters, which
<v Speaker 2>we've talked about before. I have mine in an area
<v Speaker 2>surrounded by brick, and they seem to love that. So
<v Speaker 2>they do seem to prefer these kind of more tight
<v Speaker 2>enclosed areas. You just want to make sure that they
<v Speaker 2>have good drainage, and I'm not sure, especially in winter
<v Speaker 2>with a small container like this, what happens often it
<v Speaker 2>freezes that center stays really really frozen because it thaws
<v Speaker 2>from the outside in, and that causes moisture to back
<v Speaker 2>up and rots out your plant. So to be perfectly safe,
<v Speaker 2>and the plants that do look really lovely, Dana, I
<v Speaker 2>would hate to look free to lose them, even though
<v Speaker 2>it's the week after Thanksgiving. I would definitely get out
<v Speaker 2>there and tuck them here and there around in the
<v Speaker 2>garden if you want them to live.
<v Speaker 1>Okay, and writes to us, we have a large patch
<v Speaker 1>of rudebecia in our front border garden. It's been beautiful
<v Speaker 1>for several years, but the last few years it's had
<v Speaker 1>severe black spot. We've tried fungal sprays, disposing of leaves
<v Speaker 1>and fall. We try to keep on top of it,
<v Speaker 1>but we have so much rain lately it doesn't seem
<v Speaker 1>to work. It's not killing the plants, but they look unsightly. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>I feel your pain. The leaves get black spots, turn yellow,
<v Speaker 1>curl up. Do you recommend taking them out replacing them
<v Speaker 1>with newer varieties resistant to black spot? Use the same
<v Speaker 1>area in the garden or not? Should the soil be replaced?
<v Speaker 1>Lots of questions. Yeah, and that's great. I would appreciate
<v Speaker 1>any advice. Thank you.
<v Speaker 2>Know, this is a situation where the the standard variety
<v Speaker 2>of black eyed seasan herbssun from Germany. It's the one
<v Speaker 2>that if you have a black eyed Susan, you almost
<v Speaker 2>certainly have it, it's just becomes so ubiquitous. It's kind
<v Speaker 2>of like what happened with blue spruces back in the
<v Speaker 2>eighties and nineties. It just they were so popular that
<v Speaker 2>it just made it made the disease that they're susceptible
<v Speaker 2>to just much more prevalent and more problematic. And I
<v Speaker 2>think that's happening repeatedly with black eyed Susans across the
<v Speaker 2>country right now.
<v Speaker 1>I think so too. But I do think you have
<v Speaker 1>to key in on whether or not you have automatic irrigation.
<v Speaker 1>And if you have automatic irrigation and you're running it
<v Speaker 1>on those plants all the time, I say they're going
<v Speaker 1>to be more susceptible.
<v Speaker 2>Oh absolutely yeah. I mean, as we've said on the
<v Speaker 2>show many times, fungal diseases, whether it is powdery mildew,
<v Speaker 2>black spot septoria, which you almost certainly have here on
<v Speaker 2>your black eyed Susans, circaspara. Sorry hardwords say there, all
<v Speaker 2>of those diseases thrive in the ideal situation of overhead irrigation.
<v Speaker 2>Wet in the morning, same time, every day, all day long,
<v Speaker 2>to dry out, blamo next morning, wet again. That is
<v Speaker 2>the perfect conditions for these two develop blam. There was
<v Speaker 2>a little blod there's an underwhelming blamo. But in any case,
<v Speaker 2>septoria is a huge problem with Black Eyed Susan And
<v Speaker 2>I'm really excited that Proven Winners has a new variety
<v Speaker 2>out called Treasure Trove Redbeckia. It has been completely resistant
<v Speaker 2>to septoria for over seven years, so very high hopes
<v Speaker 2>for this one. So I would say, if yes, absolutely
<v Speaker 2>replace them, replace them with a resistant variety. I think
<v Speaker 2>Treasure Trove would be a great choice, but there are
<v Speaker 2>some other ones out there. And then yet, if you
<v Speaker 2>can adjust your sprinkler system so that it's not just
<v Speaker 2>pelting those plants. You know, a lot of times people
<v Speaker 2>think that if they have an irrigation system, they're going
<v Speaker 2>to have to get some technician out, pay an arm
<v Speaker 2>and a leg, you know, to get adjustment made. The
<v Speaker 2>fact is, depending on your irrigation heads, they very often
<v Speaker 2>can be adjusted with It was a screwdriver, so you
<v Speaker 2>can kind of change the direction, you can change the angle.
<v Speaker 2>This is something that you can look up based on
<v Speaker 2>the brand of system that you have, which you should
<v Speaker 2>be able to find at your control panel. You know,
<v Speaker 2>look it up and you should be able to find
<v Speaker 2>a way to adjust those sprinkler heads. If not when
<v Speaker 2>you go to get your system turned on in spring,
<v Speaker 2>as the technician, if they could just say turn that
<v Speaker 2>one off. I mean, black eyed Susan is pretty drought
<v Speaker 2>tolerant once it's established anyway, so not a plant that
<v Speaker 2>needs a lot of water.
<v Speaker 1>Make the adjustment by checking the clock or going to
<v Speaker 1>every other day. Personally, I would not water Rudbeckia or
<v Speaker 1>echinations with automatic irrigation. But that's me. I know there's
<v Speaker 1>some people who want to do it for me. I
<v Speaker 1>don't think the plant needs it, and I think it
<v Speaker 1>causes more problems than it's work.
<v Speaker 2>It can make them really floppy too, in addition to
<v Speaker 2>the disease issues that they can get it kind of
<v Speaker 2>they're kind of like, oh, hey, I got all this water.
<v Speaker 2>I guess I just won't be very strong. Yeah, you know,
<v Speaker 2>they get kind of flabby. So anyway, lots of good
<v Speaker 2>reasons to replace that with a butter plant and make
<v Speaker 2>some changes so that you can enjoy beautiful black eyed Suasans.
<v Speaker 2>Once again, we're going to take a little break. When
<v Speaker 2>we come back, we are finishing up our conversation on
<v Speaker 2>broadleaf evergreens, so please stay tuned. Thanks for listening to
<v Speaker 2>the Gardening Simplified Podcast, brought to you by Proven Winners
<v Speaker 2>Color Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs and evergreens
<v Speaker 2>are trialed and tested by experts with your success in mind.
<v Speaker 2>Learn more at Proven winnerscolor Choice dot Com.
<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. As we talk
<v Speaker 1>about broadleaf evergreens, once again, I want to reiterate that
<v Speaker 1>it's important to know the position of the sun in winter,
<v Speaker 1>the sun low in the south or prevailing winds, because
<v Speaker 1>that's what's going to do damage to broadleaf evergreens. Also
<v Speaker 1>feed them in the spring, but once you get to
<v Speaker 1>jeely or so feeding probably is not a good idea.
<v Speaker 1>You want them to harden off heading into winter. Holly
<v Speaker 1>tone has generally been my choice Stacy, but again I've
<v Speaker 1>had great success. A rhododendron, for example, is going to
<v Speaker 1>be spending the entire growing season developing its buds for
<v Speaker 1>next year. So a feeding at the right time, maybe
<v Speaker 1>right after it's done blooming, in my opinion, is the
<v Speaker 1>way to go.
<v Speaker 2>Well, you know, it's one of those things that it's
<v Speaker 2>not unlike your annuals or a vegetable garden or anything
<v Speaker 2>like that. When you're growing a broad leaf evergreen, in many,
<v Speaker 2>many cases, not all, but most, you are growing it
<v Speaker 2>for the flowers. And if you want the best floral display,
<v Speaker 2>a dose of fertilizer I would say at least one
<v Speaker 2>in early spring just as the ground is starting to
<v Speaker 2>thaw is sufficient. But if you give it another one
<v Speaker 2>in like late spring, that will help you get that
<v Speaker 2>floral display that's really going to make a your neighbors go,
<v Speaker 2>what is that? If that's what you want to.
<v Speaker 1>Do, and we want to do that absolutely. But another
<v Speaker 1>important thing to bear in mind then that I have
<v Speaker 1>found people struggle with, and that is squirrels find them
<v Speaker 1>to be a tasty snack. So squirrels will eat rhododendron buds.
<v Speaker 1>They will also eat camellia buds. They're especially fond of them.
<v Speaker 1>I did a little bit of research found that the
<v Speaker 1>buds contain high calorie nectar and that's why they like them.
<v Speaker 1>So where you have a lot of squirrel pressure, you
<v Speaker 1>may want to consider physical barriers like netting, applying deterrent
<v Speaker 1>sprays or some scare tactics or whatever. Usually the situation,
<v Speaker 1>especially if you have a nice fully mature rhododendron. If
<v Speaker 1>they pick off a few buds, big deal.
<v Speaker 2>You won't even notice.
<v Speaker 1>You won't even notice.
<v Speaker 2>Well, that's interesting because you know, over the years I
<v Speaker 2>have often, you know, helped people get to the root
<v Speaker 2>cause of something not blooming. And I will usually say,
<v Speaker 2>you know, probably deer eight the buds. I've never actually
<v Speaker 2>said to someone maybe the squirrels ate the flower buds.
<v Speaker 2>You know, one time, though, I did right back to
<v Speaker 2>a home gardener from the proven winner's feedback line. It
<v Speaker 2>was not about a broadly fevergreen. I think it's about
<v Speaker 2>a hydrangea, because most of the time when someone asked
<v Speaker 2>me why something's not blooming, it's a hydrangea. And I
<v Speaker 2>wrote them, you know, maybe deer or rabbits wrote the
<v Speaker 2>eight the buds. And they wrote me back, which gave
<v Speaker 2>me a reason to review the message that I had
<v Speaker 2>originally sent them, in which I made a little typo
<v Speaker 2>that said, maybe deer or rabbis ate the buds.
<v Speaker 1>Ah.
<v Speaker 2>I don't think they caught it, but cracks me up
<v Speaker 2>to this day.
<v Speaker 1>Wow, a deer, a rabbi, and a rhododendron walk into
<v Speaker 1>a bar. There's a good joke there. Somewhere. Wow, that's
<v Speaker 1>great a love hate relationship. I didn't expect it to
<v Speaker 1>go there. Let me mention though, that if you do
<v Speaker 1>get the squirrel damage, usually it occurs in late winter.
<v Speaker 1>That's when you're gonna win.
<v Speaker 2>They're hard up for good foods.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, A deer, a rabbi, and a rhododent pretty good, Okay.
<v Speaker 1>I have a love hate relationship with Japanese pierras or
<v Speaker 1>Pierras Japonica. Some people refer to it as lily of
<v Speaker 1>the valley shrub. It's a broad leaf evergreen. You're gonna
<v Speaker 1>get those bell shaped flowers in early spring. They kind
<v Speaker 1>of cascade in early spring. People are drawn to them
<v Speaker 1>in the garden center because the foliage, similar to spyreea,
<v Speaker 1>can be really fire red and very very beautiful, and
<v Speaker 1>so people are drawn to them. But boy, when they
<v Speaker 1>pick them up, my concern is that they plant them
<v Speaker 1>again in the right spot. Usually the north or east
<v Speaker 1>side of the home is better. So it's known as
<v Speaker 1>Lily of the Valley shrub, and I guess I probably
<v Speaker 1>have a problem with it, because again, please hold back
<v Speaker 1>on your notes, your letters, your cards, your messages. But
<v Speaker 1>I do not like lily of the Valley.
<v Speaker 2>You oh, you don't like Lilia the Valley. I don't, right, well,
<v Speaker 2>it's not the same family.
<v Speaker 1>I know that.
<v Speaker 2>You know, it looks like it's enough to remind you
<v Speaker 2>of the planet. You know, I totally feel what you're
<v Speaker 2>saying about Pyrus, which is Lily of the Valley shrub.
<v Speaker 2>It is honestly one of the most beautiful flowering evergreens
<v Speaker 2>that you can possibly grow when it is well grown,
<v Speaker 2>and when it is not, it is just it's just
<v Speaker 2>a pity. It's really really hard to see. And you know,
<v Speaker 2>I lived in New York, New York City for many years,
<v Speaker 2>and I used to love to go to Woodlawn Cemetery
<v Speaker 2>up in the Bronx, and I saw the most glorious
<v Speaker 2>it's an old garden cemetery, just the most glorious Piis
<v Speaker 2>specimens in there. They bloom for weeks. But the soil
<v Speaker 2>there is very cidic. It's very uh more mineral base
<v Speaker 2>because it's all like of the bedrock. It's not sandy there.
<v Speaker 2>Everything was you know, either malt or surrounded by grass,
<v Speaker 2>and they just did beautifully. But out here, you know,
<v Speaker 2>very often our soil is just a little bit too
<v Speaker 2>neutral to elkaline, and it's just it's a tough thing
<v Speaker 2>to see when you've seen one that's so amazing to
<v Speaker 2>see the ones around here just kind of struggling.
<v Speaker 1>And that's why I say love hate relationship.
<v Speaker 2>You feel that do it right or.
<v Speaker 1>Don't do it at all when it comes to that plant.
<v Speaker 1>Both you and I Stacey love camelias Camellia japonica. It's
<v Speaker 1>an evergreen shrub grows well, they can get rather large,
<v Speaker 1>but those elegant rose like looms on the plants are unreal.
<v Speaker 1>They like mild winters. That's our problem here in Michigan
<v Speaker 1>with the camellia or sheltered planting locations, but a staple
<v Speaker 1>in southern gardens and Asian inspired landscape.
<v Speaker 2>You know, we have had good luck overwintering are just
<v Speaker 2>chill camellias here in West Michigan. They are fall blooming camellias,
<v Speaker 2>so not like the Caelia japonicas. Those are the ones
<v Speaker 2>with a really big, super colorful, high pedal count flowers
<v Speaker 2>that are just so fabulous. The fall ones are definitely
<v Speaker 2>a little bit more refined in their blooming, not quite
<v Speaker 2>so look at me. And we've had very good survival,
<v Speaker 2>especially if you plant them in a protected spot, especially
<v Speaker 2>if you plant them in spring so they have the
<v Speaker 2>whole season to actually get established and grow. But it's
<v Speaker 2>not a guaranteed. And one of the reasons that we
<v Speaker 2>can be successful here so close to the lake shore
<v Speaker 2>in West Michigan is it's a little bit milder, and
<v Speaker 2>if you can couple that with planting it in a
<v Speaker 2>more protected spot in your yard where it's not just
<v Speaker 2>completely exposed, you can have success. But I am definitely
<v Speaker 2>hoping and waiting for the day where we can grow
<v Speaker 2>Camelia japonica.
<v Speaker 1>You and me both so beautiful. We've got to have
<v Speaker 1>sweet and low sweet box.
<v Speaker 2>Oh yes, great plant, all.
<v Speaker 1>Right, I've been working on this all years. Our cocoa
<v Speaker 1>hookyiana hook aa. Yeah yeahok creat that's close. Okay, great
<v Speaker 1>plant doesn't roll off my tongue like yours. But I'm
<v Speaker 1>getting there.
<v Speaker 2>And that's just a great plant for late winter fragrance.
<v Speaker 2>It's one of the very first things, if not the
<v Speaker 2>first thing to bloom in the landscape in late winter
<v Speaker 2>early spring, and it is just the It's common name
<v Speaker 2>of sweet box comes from the fact that it is
<v Speaker 2>in the bucks a serbox with family, and the fact
<v Speaker 2>that the flowers are just incredibly sweet smelling. This is
<v Speaker 2>a great groundcover plant yep, and thoroughly shade tolerance. So
<v Speaker 2>if you have that like deep dark shade under a tree,
<v Speaker 2>this would be a great choice.
<v Speaker 1>We saw that in the trial garden last year after
<v Speaker 1>an extended period of really nasty winter weather. It was
<v Speaker 1>still performing and actually quite beautiful. So a great plant
<v Speaker 1>for your landscape.
<v Speaker 2>Another one though, that's going to need that slightly acidic, moist,
<v Speaker 2>well drained soil. Don't try to grow this one in
<v Speaker 2>your sandy lake shore garden. Ask me how I know?
<v Speaker 1>What about southern magnolia.
<v Speaker 2>Ah, so beautiful.
<v Speaker 1>Velvety bronze undersides.
<v Speaker 2>Right, such a great plant. Yeah, just a gorgeous, gorgeous plant.
<v Speaker 1>Ideal for southern climates.
<v Speaker 2>And you know you see them around here.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you know.
<v Speaker 2>They definitely don't get to the epic scale that you
<v Speaker 2>see in the south because winter does kind of, you know,
<v Speaker 2>curtail their growth. But you do see them around and
<v Speaker 2>I have even seen them after a very harsh winter
<v Speaker 2>lose all their leaves but still come back and look
<v Speaker 2>perfectly fine within a matter of months.
<v Speaker 1>But yeah, and you will see them lose their leaves,
<v Speaker 1>causing you to question if they should really be considered
<v Speaker 1>a broad leaf evergreen. But I do think they are classified.
<v Speaker 1>Oh definitely, yea, all right, being the American history not
<v Speaker 1>that I am Mahonia aquafolium or Oregon grape holly.
<v Speaker 2>Very cool plant.
<v Speaker 1>Love that plant. Beautiful yellow blooms. That is the official
<v Speaker 1>state flower of the state of Oregon, and also great
<v Speaker 1>for pollinator gardens and dear resistant landscapes. So many different
<v Speaker 1>types of broad leaf evergreens. Again, the key here is
<v Speaker 1>just paying attention and making sure that they're planted in
<v Speaker 1>the right place, paying attention to winter and wind and sun,
<v Speaker 1>and then beyond that stacy, as you've mentioned throughout the show,
<v Speaker 1>how can you beat having an evergreen that also has blooms?
<v Speaker 2>I know maybe the only way I think you can
<v Speaker 2>beat it is if you are somewhere down south and
<v Speaker 2>it's a camellia and it's under the shade of a
<v Speaker 2>live oak, and it's covered in Spanish moss. Oh wow,
<v Speaker 2>you know, expence.
<v Speaker 1>Or add to the list. Think about Holly's and Christmas time,
<v Speaker 1>the iconic what is it?
<v Speaker 2>Burrow lives and Holly jolly Christmas.
<v Speaker 1>Holly jolly Christmas, and yeah, all of that stuff, so
<v Speaker 1>you know, it kind of gets you in the Christmas,
<v Speaker 1>it does, all right. Well, thank you Stacey, thank you Rick,
<v Speaker 1>thank you Adriana. Thank you for watching us on YouTube
<v Speaker 1>or listening to our radio show version or looking for
<v Speaker 1>our podcast. We appreciate it. Have yourself a great week.