Plants That Beat the Heat and Interview With Brie The Plant Lady

Can you dig it? It's time for another episode of the Gardening Simplified Show
with Stacy Hervella, Me, Rick Weistan Adrianna Robinson, our producer and engineer
who makes this garden show grow. All right. So it's August, Stacy,
or if we were to describe it as an adjective, it's August.
Either way, you look at it, it's hot, and it brings up
the question today, can plants get a sunburn? Oh? Absolutely they can.
Absolutely they can. And in future shows we'll talk about other weather sensitivities
like wind or humidity, or drought or freeze. But heat and sunburn has
actually been in the news in Arizona. The suaro cactus are collapsing or some
of them are collapsing due to the heat. And wow, I guess I
don't blame them after more than thirty consecutive days of over one hundred degree right,
and they don't have a very deep root system, So if there aren't
a lot of resources sort of in that surface level for them, they can't
take it. That's really a tragedy because so oro cactuses are so special and
so beautiful. I mean, I guess the good news is if they do
collapse, they'll tend to just grow up right, but hopefully they don't do
that over like hiking trails and that kind of thing. Also worldwide. Of
course, we've talked about olive trees before. We talked about them last year
in Europe and again having problems with heat and drought. So you know,
the Norwegians always had this saying there's no such thing as bad weather, just
bad clothing. I think they say that in Minnesota. Yeah, also i've
heard that before. I don't know that I agree. And you might be
able to say that when it comes to cold or possibly rain, but I
don't think you can say that when it comes to eat, because there's really
only so far you can go. Well, it could possibly also be said
about plants that there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad placement.
But what we're talking about here is extremes, and when you have extremes,
well, plants can get sun burned. They of course love sunlight, they
need to bask in the sun to live, but they also produce a natural
sunscreen to help them deal with the UV rays. And it's quite a fascinating
topic. I didn't know about that. Yeah, So sunscreen makes for great
conversation because it's always topical. So true, Rick, so true. Thank
you, Gary mulch. Well, you know, it could be argued that
some plants are fair skinned. When we talk about plants that like shade or
like to be in the shade, they generally have common characteristics where they tend
to be thin leafed, larger leafed, hastas of course a great example to
shade the roots and they if they get too much sun, can bleach and
stacy. There's a difference between plants bleaching and plants scorching, and in hot
August or August weather, we can see plants sometimes take it to the point
of scorch definitely. I mean, at this point in the season, if
something has been stressed through a variety of other factors, low water, consistent
excessive heats, damage from insects or you know, pests or other things like
that, by August, that war is really starting to show. And you
know they don't have the resources or strength to deal with it at the time
when the heat and light are at their most intense. Yeah, when we
take intense heat and then we add to the mixed drought or lack of water,
well that really gets things into motions. So, like I said,
I find the notion of plants sunscreen fascinating. You know. I think also
about how in winter here in the Midwest or the North, will use a
pine resin spray to coat broad leaf evergreens, kind of a winter sunscreen,
so to speak. Also, and so it's not too odd to think about
it. And of course, as our environment changes and we manipulate plants through
breeding to optimize productivity, it's important to have a full understanding of how plants
operate at every level, and that includes UV protection. I have had interest
and I think we'll do a future show on this too. Listen to a
speaker talking about the zeitgeist of the twenty twenties is to Prairie Up, to
Prairie Up. And I noticed on Amazon a book written in nineteen fifteen by
Wilhelm Miller is still available, The Prairie Spirit in Landscape Gardening, and you
can buy it on Amazon, and it talks about creating that prairie style look
in your landscape. Well, I love it. It's what I primarily go
for. I like things to look wild and knitted together. And it has
several I mean most of the plants that I grow are naturally pretty drought tolerant,
but also the way that they grow in that sort of prairie like community.
I mean, I'm not going to claim I have a real prairie,
but having everything so close together, all they help shade each other's roots,
so they're really resilient, even you know, during periods that we had earlier
this season where we had you know, no rain essentially for two months.
Yeah, that prairie look. They say that there's three basic principles conservation of
native scenery, restoration of local vegetation, and repetition of a dominant line.
So a dominant line in the landscape. So kind of fun to think about.
But today, of course, we think about sunburn. There's been a
fair amount of work done by Purdue University on this subject. We're going to
post that story at our website, Gardening Simplified OnAir dot com. But they
basically identified a plant's ability to develop what is I guess I'll call it a
natural sunscreen to help these plants deal with extreme hot temperatures. And I want
to remind folks that there is a heat zone map. We often talk about
USDA heartiness zones as it relates to minimum temperature every year. But there's also
a map that is called the heat zone map, and we're going to put
that also at the website Gardening Simplified OnAir dot com. And that heat zone
map is kind of interesting. It it identifies the average number of days above
eighty six degrees fahrenheit or thirty celsius that you can expect, and your plant
on trial today will be able to apply that in the heat so on mat
because some plants can take more heat or more days of heat than others.
Absolutely, it's all in their resilience. And I guess partly to do with
that that sunscreen, yeah, exactly. And then of course when we talk
about weather sensitivity and heat and light, we also look at duration or photo
period, and it refers to the amount of time a plant is exposed to
light. So a photo period controls flowering in many plants. You've got the
three categories the short day, long night, the long day short night,
or the day neutral. And you know, it causes me to think about
plants like point sedias or mums coming up on the radar Christmas cactus who need
the shorter daylight in order to bring out the bloom in the beauty right.
The day length triggers the bloom or bulb formation in the case of something like
garlic or you know, even spring flowering bulbs. In so many cases,
it's not just the time of year, it's how much daylight versus nighttime.
It's experiencing. I mean, point set as are a classic example that a
lot of people are familiar with, but it impacts so so many plants.
Now, the key, of course, to avoid sun scorch or sunburn is
to put a plant in the appropriate location. Know what type of location your
plant wants to be in, mulching and watering, making sure that it can
handle some of these heat extremes. Have you experienced any scorch in your garden
issue? I have not, but you know, I and I truly feel
for everybody who's been under extreme heat. But you know, knock on wood.
Here in West Michigan, it's been we haven't really had any intense heat
to speak of. I mean, we've had a handful of days around ninety
so I am not really seeing too much of that in my garden. But
you know, I do want to say when you're talking about, you know,
withstanding all these weather trials. It's really important for people to understand that,
particularly at this time of year, if something is looking really bad or
apparently has died as a result of exposure to the heat, don't just dig
it out, don't give up on it, because a lot of plants will
just say I'm out. I'm conserving my resources for the rest of the season.
I'll see y'all next spring. So it's worth it too. Even if
something you know looks really bad and you're it's kind of killing you on the
inside to look at that every day. You know that a lot of plants
will just go dormant, and you know, I can think of you know,
a dissentia of leading heart is another good examples, one good example.
But there's lots of other plants that just they just shut down and that's their
normal response. So don't freak out necessarily if something looks dead, just give
it more time and it's probably not going to waste its resources. I'm re
emerging at this point in the year, when the photo period has, you
know, decreased significantly, our nights are getting much longer. It's going to
wait until next spring to show itself. Yeah, plants have amazing resiliency,
and they have built in protections to deal with these sorts of things. Again,
take a look at that study that's at Gardening Simplified OnAir dot com.
Today we live, work and play and controlled environments climate controlled homes, cars,
workplaces, even athletics stadiums. We get to enjoy ideal conditions, but
unfortunately for plants and turf well, environmental changes do impact them daily. We're
going to talk about a plant that stands up to the heat and has natural
sunscreen coming up on Plants on Trial. That's coming up next here on the
Gardening Simplified Ship. Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs cares about your success in the
garden. That's why we trial and test all of our shrubs for eight to
ten years, making sure they outperform everything else on the market. Look for
them in the distinctive white container at your local garden center. Greetings, gardening
friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. Before we put today's
plant on trial, you know, last week we talked about blue plants,
blue flowers in our favorite blue plants, and we did not mention a plant
that I have growing in my garden that I realized is an absolute stunner,
super easy to grow blue flowering plants. It is our native flex Linum peren
and I have it in my garden. It's a great plant for pollinators and
supports all sorts of different butterflies in their larva. And wow, what an
absolutely gorgeous blue those flowers are. And they bloom all summer. I mean,
for mine, it's just every single day there's a handful of flowers and
they're just this like beautiful, happy blue face smiling up at you in the
garden. And it's a nice plant because it's it's very like thin and wispy,
so it really weaves nicely amongst the other plants in the garden. So
I just want to put that out there. I was like, I couldn't
believe when I was walking in the garden, I said, I have this
in my garden. And we didn't even mention that when we were listing all
the blue flowers. Blue flowers, you know, it's obviously we can talk
about it for a long time. We talked about it last week. It's
kind of controversial also, and that's what makes it fun. We're all in
pursuit of that beautiful blue flower. Well, I was a perennial flax and
if you like to do fiber or anything like that, you can spin your
own linen if you really want to get into it. But it's a self
sewing annual or self sewing perennial, which you know, I love myself sewers
and just kind of seeds on its own. Definitely one to add it to
your list, and it's one that would look quite stellar with today's plant on
trial, and that plant is Pugster white butterfly bush. I love that plant,
especially if it's planted in areas where you're going to entertain or enjoy the
evening hours, even after the sun goes down. You know, it's a
white flowering plants are a classic choice for busy people who might only get to
enjoy their gardens in the evening because the white really does to shine out from
the garden. It really takes on, you know, another worldly quality,
especially if there is some moonlight or even you know, some artificial lighting.
It really does just bring something so so special. And I think it's unfortunate
that generally speaking, white flowers don't really get a fair shake. You know,
there are those people out there who have their white flower themed gardens,
and that is from a very classic English garden design methodology, and it's beautiful.
But for the most part, I think when people are at the garden
center and say, looking at all of the pugs or butterfly bushes, you
know, at the garden center, and they're seeing blue, they're seeing pugster
blue, they're seeing pugster pink, they're seeing pugs or amethysts, and they're
like, wow, look at all these gargeous colors. And then they're like,
oh, and there's white. But I think that the pugs are white,
that all of the pugsters have extra large flowers. So you've seen these
before, right, they're dwarf butterfly bushes that get to be about two feet
tall and two feet wide, and the flowers are exceptionally large, very very
large, especially in comparison to the plant, and that's one of the things
that makes this so eye catching. But all of them are beautiful. But
really white is one that I don't think enough people realize how much it can
bring to the garden, and especially if you feel like you're not very like
confident in your color, you know design, which there is no such thing
as a lack of confidence. You just put your colors together and eventually it'll
work itself out. That's what I've learned this year in the garden. But
white is a great one if you want to keep a more restrained palette,
if you don't know what color is needed, if you feel like something's just
kind of off, adding a little bit of white. It goes with just
about everything and really can work wonders and making the colors around it pop.
It's a social butterfly, that's what it is. It likes to entertain in
the evening hours, and that's what I love about it. I mean,
this plant makes my heart flutter, this butterfly plant, and it's not pure
white. It does. In the center of the flowers there's a little yellow
dot that you know, helps to instruct the butterflies and moss as to where
the good stuff is, the nectar that they are attracted to. And another
reason why I love Pugster white butterfly bush of all of the series, because
white butterfly bush and white flowers in general don't just attract butterflies, they also
can attract moths. Yes, now, I'm sure we've got some people out
there going why in the world what I want to attract moths, and as
Adriana knows, I am a I am a lover of moths, of course,
not clothes moss. I'm a knitter, so I don't love clothes moths.
Mos. Yes, not moss moths, Sorry about that. But moths
are just fascinating, beautiful creatures. Unfortunately, I'm not a night owl,
so I don't get my full enjoyment of moths. But they're mostly active at
night. And because the white flowers are more visible at night, because they
are full of nectar, they are more likely to attract moths than other flower
colors. So I would say, if if you're sitting there saying I don't
know if I want to trek moths, trust me you do. There are
so many amazing moths that are native to North America that you can see in
your garden if you have plants that actually attract them. So to me,
that's a big, big reason to grow this particular plant on a hot July
or August night. Fun to watch, right, very fun to watch.
Very summary. Now, I know a lot of people are probably also thinking,
like, wait a minute, I heard butterfly bush is bad, and
I heard it's bad for butterflies, so it's probably bad for moths. And
you know the answer. So the reason that people think that is because butterfly
bush do not serve as a host for butterfly larva or the caterpillars, and
that's obviously an extremely crucial part of a butterfly's life cycle. And so you
know, my answer to people who say, oh, well, don't plant
butterfly bush, it doesn't sustain a butterfly through its whole life cycle is that
you know, anytime you're gardening for butterflies or moths, there's no bread alone
kind of answer, like, oh, you don't just plant this one thing
and then pat yourself on the back and walk away. You know, it
is a whole, total approach to your garden with a wide variety of foods.
Just like you would not want to subsist on one type of food,
so having a wide variety of different types of plants, you know, we
would never say, like, just plant butterfly bush and say it's good.
It can be a part of a butterfly garden, but it's not the whole
answer. And one of the reasons why I think that butterfly bush are very
effective in many gardens is because they bloom so long. You know, they
basically they start blooming in July and they're really not going to stop until the
nights get quite long and cool in late September. So that also offers that
really long window of flowers to support butterflies while they're migrating, getting ready to
go dormant, during all of those really crucial periods where they need a lot
of nectar. So I don't think that butterfly bushes are bad. It's just
that they are not the soul answer or soul solution to any time you're trying
to make your landscape more friendly. To well well said, diversity in the
landscape is so important, and this ties in and then you add to it
as you mentioned those beautiful white flowers, the interest in moon gardens, and
of course our topic today, sunburn or heat. I looked it up,
Stacy, and it's listed for heat zone nine, which means, according to
the American Horticultural Society map, it can handle one hundred and fifty days of
above eighty six degree Wow temperatures. That's impressive, it's impression. Yeah,
So butterfly bush in general are a very sun loving and heat tolerant plants,
so they don't necessarily need the heat. I mean, they will certainly bloom
just fine for us here in West Michigan, even though we are having a
milder summer, which, by the way, if you are at a hot
climate, look into visiting West Michigan for your summer vacation. Our weather is
good. Hopefully we'll stay that way. Just trying to say, if you
want to escape, we got room for you. But but you know,
they bloom very well in normal conditions, and they will continue to bloom very
well in very hot conditions. So it's a really good choice if if you
have unpredictable weather. You know, I think a lot of the people like
in Missouri, who really never know what they're going to get. You know,
they get very cold winters, their summers can be scorching, and you
know, that can make it really difficult. So if you have if you're
worried about heat, you want something that's just going to bloom and bloom and
you won't have to worry about it and you won't have to be out there
deadheading or fussing with it because it is too darn hot. I think butterfly
bush is a great choice and I think pugster white butterfly bush is an especially
nice choice, and of course you can always mix it with the other colors,
because all of the colors are really just you know, beautiful. Pugster
blue, of course, is our most popular. It's a thriller. Not
only can you mix it with the other colors, but pugster white is the
perfect plant to mix with perennials. Yes, in your garden, it will
get you know. Like I said, it's a social butterfly. I think
it does very well and a lot of people do think of butterfly bush as
a perennial, but it is actually a shrub. It does make woody growth,
and in that way, it is a shrub. Now we're running out
of time at this particular moment, so I do have tips, of course
for growing butterfly bush successfully. But right now, all you need to know
full sun, very very well drained soil. Do not plant butterfly bush in
any soggy spot. It will not last long at all. But they are
easy to grow in a great choice for whatever kind of hot climate challenges your
weather could be throwing it. So visit Gardening Simplified on air dot com to
get all of the details and visit your local garden center to find a pugster
white butterfly bush to add to your garden. We're going to take a little
bit of break. When we're come back, we've got the garden mail bag.
Stay tuned at proven winner's color choice. We've got a shrub for every
taste and every space. Whether you're looking for an easy care, an unforgettable
hydrangea, or something new and unique, you can be confident that the shrubs
and the white containers have been trialed and tested for your success. Look for
them at your local garden center. Greetings, gardening friends, and welcome back
to the Gardening Simplified Show. It's one of my favorite times of the week
where we open up the garden mail Bag and help you with your garden questions,
which are of course abundant as we are here in full swing. And
speaking of things that are abundant, the hydrangeas in our trial and display garden
are amazing and we really wanted to share that with all of you, So
if you tune into our YouTube channel, we are going to have an exclusive
tour of the hydrangeas and a few other surprises in our trial garden. So
Rick and I will be out there and making a video and kind of giving
you the lay of the land. So please do take a look at the
Proven Winner's Color Choice Shrubs channel on YouTube if you would like to get that
little behind the scenes look at what's going on. It's primetime, it is,
and for hydranges, it is definitely prime time. And of course we
do have a lot of hydrangea questions that we can't get to because you know,
I always want to talk about hydranges, but it's sometimes it's like too
much, we won't have enough time to get to enough questions. So we've
always got resources for you at Gardening Simplified on air dot com. But what
do we got in the mail bag today? Well, Jim writes to us,
why do my pepper plants look like I just planted them? They've been
in the ground since Memorial Day weekend and they haven't grown two inches two years
now, it's done this. What's the problem with my peppers? And I'll
tell you what, Stacy, this is a question I've received many times over
throughout my career and is a real frustration for folks. So what has your
answer been? Well, generally with peppers, I mean, first of all,
we've got to take a look at bright light. We need lots of
light, lots of sunlight. They're also heat sensitive, in other words,
they like daytime temperatures that are seventy eighty degrees. They fruit, you know,
when the temperatures are seventy five to eighty five degrees. And so the
first point is if they were planted out too early or planted into cold,
wet soil. It's one of those plants that needs well drained soil but also
needs moisture. There's a multitude of things that can cause that stunting with peppers.
Yeah, you're absolutely right about the cold. If they are planted too
cold, it sets the back and you would think that they would be able
to make it up by the time it's getting real sunny and warm, but
that's not necessarily the case. You know. I always think anytime that you
are seeing limited top growth, that indicates that the root growth is being similarly
limited. You know, plant can only grow on top as much as its
root systems can support. So if you're not seeing top growth, the problem
almost always lies in the roots, and that I've found that to be.
That's a great point. Stacy compressed soil. I've seen that often stunt peppers.
Yeah, And you know, one thing is that I have heard and
seen myself is peppers do not really love high peat soils, so they recommend
if you're starting your own pepper seeds that you avoid peat. They can actually
still germinate, but it's it's harder for them. If you, of course,
are growing in a container and using a potting mix, look for one
with lower peat. Usually those are going to be balanced enough that that's not
an issue. But if you have like a really peaty soil you're adding peat
moss to your garden or have a peat moss top dressing, I think that
could potentially be an issue. Or you could have you know, things like
moles and voles disrupting things underground there, or larva like grubs, you know,
eating the roots. And you know, I think it's interesting that you
mentioned light because usually I think if someone's growing vegetables, they know that vegetables
need full sun. And it sounds like Jim is a pretty experienced vegetable gardener
from what he says here. But you know, a lot of people don't
realize that sites tend to grow more shady over time. You know, trees
grow up, people plant things, and the same place that you've been planting
all along, all of a sudden one year is just not great for vegetables
anymore. Yeah, that's true. Now. Of course, feeding the peppers
right from the start, I like to use a complete fertilizer that also has
the micro nutrients in it, mix it into the soil, and then I
think the important thing to bear in mind here, Stacy, is that a
pepper when it's planted out into the garden has to integrate itself into the soil.
We talked about the compressed soil or shade or other issues, but remember
that whether Jim starting these pepper plants from seed indoors or if they came from
the greenhouse, they started their life in pretty posh condition. It's no wind,
no stress, nothing. Then you put them out in the garden if
there is some sort of stress like standing water, cold soil, whatever it
may be. I find that with peppers it's super important that they are hardened
off before they go into the garden. And in addition to that, the
first few flowers that come on the plant pick them off. Oh so to
put more energy into the into the plant, well, you know, speaking
of pepper seeds, did you hear about the big pepper seed mix up that
happened this year? Is this a joke? No, no, it's actually
that does sound like the SENTI I'm sure you're working on a punchline right now,
but no, actually it isn't. So I don't know if you heard
this. This is pretty wild. There was a huge seed lot mix up,
and so some of the big big growers who supply box stores with pepper
plants instead of jalapenos, they were banana pepper plants. So all these people
who thought they were going to be growing jalapenos are starting to fruit out and
it turns out they are actually banana peppers, which, you know, I
get it if you really wanted to grow healepenos. Is kind of disappointing,
but I would encourage people, if you are the victim of this mix up,
to look on the bright side, and that is that helopenos are always
easy to find and pretty inexpensive. Banana pepper is not so much. So
you have something, you might have a new favorite, and hopefully it won't
happen again. So I don't know how wide spread it is in Michigan.
But I've heard a lot of people are experiencing a lot of confusion out there.
So why do we got next? Joyce is wondering, can I transplant
June June bearing strawberry plants in September? And I would say June. It
depends on where you are, Joyce rather sorry, June is you're a strawberry,
it depends on where you're located. But if you are in a cooler
climate, say like USCA Zone three through six, I think September is a
fine time to start transplanting. You might want to wait until a little bit
later. And I'd say that's true, not just of your strawberry plants,
but anything any perennials that you need to transplant. You know, I usually
wait until spring to do my transplanting, and that works fine from a plant
health standpoint. But one of the things that I find is that I no
longer have the perception of scale. You know, when you're not when you
don't have the plant growing, and seeing how big it is and seeing how
big its surroundings are, you kind of miss Judd. I mean, maybe
not you, I definitely miss judge how much space everything needs, because of
course in spring, everything looks spacious, so I would say by all means,
September is a fine time. Just wait until a little bit later in
the month, and if you are in a hotter climate, I would wait
even into early October to actually do that. So that just so that the
weather is a little bit cooler and it's easier for the plant to grow roots
and recover from the transplanting. I would agree September is a great time.
Make sure you feed them when you move them. If you're pulling up some
of these runners, moving the plants and planting these June bearing strawberries in September.
Again, soil preparation really important. Well drained soil, rich soil,
but well drained soil, and as you pull them out of the ground,
maybe have some wet paper towel handy wrap the roots in that. Make sure
your new area is prepared and plant away. Take time to do it.
One of my favorite pieces of advice. Make sure your new area is prepared
before you start digging. And you might not get it exactly right, but
it's better to just have to dig or change things a little bit than have
the plant sitting there out of the soil while you try to fix everything well
rooted advice, Stacy Angie writes, I'm looking to make a better perennials and
shrubs for cutting flower. Zone three, Alberta, Canada would love your suggestion.
Well, I love that you want to plant a cutting garden. I
think it's one of the most underrated aspects of gardening. I mean, what's
better than going into your own backyard and being able to cut an amazing bouquet?
Exactly? So, I mean the list is so long. I was
like, how do we even start to answer Angie's question? But since it
is the height of summer, I think one of my first recommendations would be
a dwarf panicle hydrangea like Bobo or a little lime little lime punch, tiny
quickfire. I mean, of course the big ones make great cut flowers too,
like Limelight Prime, Pinky Winky Prime. But I find that unless you
have really large scale vases, they can be a little bit hard to arrange
because they're really large. And I think that the dwarf varieties and these are
perfectly hardy to USDA Zone three Angie, They're perfect for arranging and they give
you such a long window of supply. Yeah, on our website. I
just want to supply you a list, Angie of some of the plants that
I would suggest, and Stacy one that popped into mind right away for me
as it relates to flowering shrubs. We talked about it a few weeks ago.
The Centaura lilo. Oh yeah, definitely, I mean hardy. I
saw that it was hardy to zone two or three, very very hearty,
very very hardy. So they're in Alberta, Canada, boy in the month
of May June being able to clip some lilacs while And I think that's an
important, you know, thing to consider when you're planning a garden for cutting,
and you don't have to just have like, hey, this is my
cutting garden. Everything's you know, relegated to this area. You can certainly
incorporate these throughout your landscape and gardens, but it is important to consider that
seasonality so that you have something you know, interesting and beautiful to cut really
from. You know, the first daffodil in spraying all the way until those
snowflakes fly. Although summertime Helianthus heliopsis, oh my, and I think they
do great in Alberta, Canada. Yeah, they should absolutely, And you
know, it's not exactly a perennial for you in zone three, but it's
hard to go wrong when you want cutting flowers with dahlia's and you can always
lift the bulbs and store them, and they get bigger and better every year.
And what's a garden without sin dahlias, truffle of pink gumfrena. Okay,
don't get us start all right, We're gonna take a little bit of
a break. When we come back, we have a special guest, so
please stay tuned. The Gardening Simplified Show is brought to you by proven winners
Color Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs and evergreens have been trialed and
tested for your success so you enjoy more beauty and less work. Look for
proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs in the distinctive white container at your local garden center.
Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. It's time for branching news.
Not breaking news, but branching news, and we don't make this stuff up.
And today branching News Stacy involves an interview with a fabulous lady. You
may know her from YouTube as Bree the Plant Lady, or have visited her
website Bree grows dot com. She's a garden influencer, author, speaker,
horticulturist, a best selling author. I should say and out true. I'm
going to call it kicking the Plants and friend Bree Arthur from North Carolina.
Bree, thanks for joining us on the Gardening Simplified Show. No, thank
you so much for having me. Now, Bree, you were recently in
West Michigan touring West Michigan, and I wanted to ask you right off the
bat. I know you spent a little time at Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs
and then also at Walter's Gardens Proven Winners Perennials. It's quite amazing what's happening
here in West Michigan, isn't it. All the best genetics are coming out
of Western Michigan. It's the most incredible thing to see. It's just I'm
still reeling from my trip and I think I took a thousand photographs. That's
fantastic. Well, let's talk about North Carolina. We're going to start with
heat, because, of course today we talked about sunscreen and sun scaled and
you know, the plant's ability to be able to handle a certain amount of
sun but we have been dealing with extreme temperatures throughout the United States and throughout
the world the past year, and some plants have been affected. I noticed
on a tour of your garden, and folks, I encourage you to take
that tour. Just go to YouTube and look for Bree the plant lady.
You had manavies in your landscape? Is that what you had? I do.
I'm trialing them for cold heartiness through the winter. I suspect they won't
be totally reliable, but it's you know, it's okay. I'm always trying
to push the limits and see, you know, the reality of climate now,
which there is basically no consistency. I think that's the hardest thing for
gardeners and educators to be able to share advice is that you literally don't know
what's going to happen next. And we here in North Carolina actually had a
very mild early summer with cooler than normal temperatures and a lot of rain,
and then the middle of July it's just like a switch flipped and we're back
to what I would consider to be pretty normal twenty one years in North Carolina.
You know, it's it's unbearably hot, here in the summer time,
sure, but we haven't really had any substantial rain in about six to eight
weeks now, and definitely plants are showing the struggle from temperatures in the upper
nineties and feel like temperatures well over one hundred degrees. It's just yesterday I
was showing the effects of hidicheum ginger lily, which is hardy here in his
own seven going from being in a very shaded condition. I had some trees
removed, and you know, we just within a few days all the leaves
are scalded and I have not been doing my due diligence of keeping that area
water well. Stacy Brie was an inspiration to me. She still is,
but was an inspiration to me a number of years ago when she came out
with her food scaping book. And again, if you watch Brie on YouTube,
you will see how she incorporates zucchini and buckwheat and pep into her ornamental
garden. I call you cutting hedge their bree because you were on this a
long time before many other people were. But I have to say in my
garden too, you were an inspiration to get me to mix in ornamental plants
with food. Vegetable plants, well, it makes them a heart sing,
you know. I always laugh because it really shouldn't be revolutionary. Vegetables in
the same care as most of your really common, full sun ornamental plants.
And why wouldn't you put them in a convenient location that you walk past every
day, that you have an easy access to a hose. They're actually going
to notice them instead of vanishing them to the farthest corner of your backyard.
Your vegetables are your highest maintenance requirement plants. They need you to actually pay
attention to them. And I just think part of the goal of food taping
is just to get people to recognize they can be really beautiful when you manage
them correctly, and you're going to manage them correctly when you look at them
every day. Well, and you know, vegetables are beautiful between the foliage
and the flowers and the colorful fruit. I mean, there aren't that many
ornamentals that can kind of give you all of that and you get to eat
it on top of that. And I do love to combine edibles and ornamentals,
but my problem is I have a terrible deer issue, So my vegetables
have to stay firmly in their little deerproof prison and not mixed too. Now
I can grow like extremely hot peppers mixed in with my ornamental containers. They
knock on wood don't seem to bother those. But there's pretty much almost nothing
edible. As much as I would love to have that look that you have,
and I'm so envious, the deer definitely put the kaibash on it for
me. Unfortunately, the deer are a nightmare. And of course, you
know, it's it's everywhere, it's it's every gardener's problem. And I've been
seriously considering writing another book on really creative strategies for managing it, because it's
something that's only getting worse is we develop more land. And you know,
there's a handful of tricks you can employ, Like, you know, gear
tend to not like the smell of garlic and onions or chives season me alium
family, So if you line bed edges with that, it kind of helps
give a first line of defense. You know, there's some really smelly plants
like marigolds, a rugala mustard that can help again, just sort of deter
them. It's not like you're getting rid of them. You know my adages.
I'm just sending them to my neighbor's yards, may or may not make
my neighbors like me exactly you mentioned, you know, in following you breathe,
I picked up on this. You mentioned plectranthus, and that caught my
attention because I love plectranthus, so many fascinating varieties of plectranthus. But you
mentioned that as a plant also that can help in deterring animals. It's really
quite practical. I mean, most of the plectranthus that we would commonly grow
are going to be treated as summer annuals, so it's not a solution year
round. That you know. If you ever rub those leaves and sometimes put
tranthus is called cuban oregano. There's especially three hundred and fifty different species of
plut tranthus. It's an enormous collection of plants. But they usually have really
strongly scented foliage, and often they have like a cubescence on their leaves,
and that all helps deter things like gear and rabbits that you know are the
most common browsers, and you know what I love about them is you can
put them in pops and they're a great trailing element that you can also grow
them in the ground as a groundcover. And you know, again it's it's
all of about like layering bad smells sure to try and trick these critters.
Well, the nice thing about Plectranthus is it might smell bad to dear,
but it pretty much usually smells wonderful to humans exactly, you know, And
I laugh about that with arugulas. I haven't really like a rugela, but
animals really don't. And so that's an easy plant just to sprinkle seed again
along bed edges, and um, you know, you can harvest it for
yourself. But you know, I've watched rabbits go up to my edges of
arugula and they's like they smell it and they just get so mad. They
just like run, they run to the next yard. They're like, forget
it. I don't like you. I do. I love a rugla.
And I was we were just saying on break that, um, I have
wild ruglas self sewing in my garden abundantly, which is absolutely amazing because I
can pretty much grab an a rugla salad anytime that I want from like spring
tell frost. Unfortunately, my rabbits don't eat it, and the deer don't
eat it. But the rabbits definitely do not run away. They just kind
of thread themselves through the arugalle to get to the stuff. They really I
let my cats be on burrow, you know, seriously. Well, I
love a rugla bree because I'm just a rugla guy. That's a bad put
the best party. A couple quick things I wanted to ask you. I
love the tomato plants in your yard there in North Carolina, and you often
talk of cream sausage tomato, which is a variety I haven't tried. That
sounds interesting. It's a life changing tomato. I know that sounds ridiculous,
but it's true. It is. It's you know, it's just one of
those oddities. I originally got it, thought the name was funny, and
I bought the sea from Baker Creek airloom seed, and I was just like,
well why not. I'm you know, trying all these different varieties of
airlooms, and year after year, I think I'm fifteen years in with growing
it. It still remains my favorite. And it's just one of those things
that like, it's easy, it's easy to grow. You could do it
in a pot, you could do it in the ground. It doesn't grow
exponentially. It's a semi determinant, so you know, use a normal sized
tomato cage and Batt'll manage it. And unlike many of the like roma type
tomatoes or paste varieties, this isn't determinant, and that it flowers and blooms
all at once and then it's finished. It will continuously flower and set fruit
all the way until you have a hard frost. And it's only sixty days
from seeding to setting the first fruit, so you really get a long season
of harvest. And it makes a wonderful sauce. It's great as salsa.
But I also just like it, you know, just sliced and put on
a sandwich. So it's just one of the most versatile tomatoes. And the
abundance of yielding, I think is what makes it so practical. You know,
you can wait all summer long for a big, juicy red slice and
you get like two fruits from a huge plant and there's cream sausage just you
know, go on to town. Every day you're out harvesting a couple more
and it's just really satisfying. This might be a silly question, but I
feel like I have to ask it because I have a picture in my head.
Is it, in fact a white tomato? Well, it is when
it's right. It's actually kind of a pale yellow and it is a roma
type, so it kind of looks like a sausage, so it's sort of
a cream colored sausage. Interesting, the name is quite literal, and it
does make a creamy sauce. So, like you know, I have a
terrible food allergy from a tick infection, so I can't have any dairy or
anything from a mammal and so I can trip myself into thinking I'm having prima
vera when I'm using my cream sausage as my tomato based sauce. O.
I love that your enthusiasm is infectious here, Bree, and appreciate it.
Love watching your YouTube videos when you take the amazel basil, mint, cucumber
and citrus and make us a good old summertime cocktail from the garden. Also,
well, you know, for me, I think heart of the joy
of gardening is the daily use. And what I hope to show through my
YouTube is how wonderful the hobby of gardening is and just been a few minutes
every day. What you get is this enriched lifestyle. And you know,
it's not about just going to the garden center once in the spring. It's
about interacting with your plans on a regular basis. And why not grow what
you want to toss into a cocktail or a mocktail and enjoy it. You
know, that's the point of the effort exactly. And it's about, you
know, enjoying the life in the garden and breethe I know Stacy, and
she loves insects, she loves birds, and I know you have something.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you call it a feet tank in your
landscape where you'll sit at ground level and enjoy the insects and the frogs in
the evening hours. Tell us about that. It's the cheap way to get
a swimming pool. So it is literally a feed tank from track or supply.
And you know, we have a leech field, so we couldn't really
put a swimming pool in, so this was our way around it. And
in the winter we just put a little fountain in and it looks like a
water feature, but you know it's dug into the ground and unlike most swimming
pools that are surrounded by concrete. This one is surrounded by plants. I've
got these fabulous proven winter colias and then a nasil basil on the corners,
and so when you're in the pool, you're basically like space level with the
ground and it's so remarkable. I mean, I have a sleepy at tuberosa
planted in that bed, so I get great monarch caterpillar activity, and then
they actually make their chrysalis on the underside of the colias and you could see
it up close to personal. And I also share the feed tank with a
family of leopard frogs to eat the maquetos. So it works out really really
nicely, and it just feels like a much more authentic, for me,
authentic pool situation. It's also really easy to manage. I have a filter
and a pump, and I keep it chlorinated and I vacuum it like a
normal pool. But it's only like eight foot wide and across and about three
foot deep, so it doesn't take very long to keep it clean, unlike
a giant swimming pool. That's see, this is a pool for cocktails,
not for exod I love it. I'm like ideas over here, but my
husband's listening and correct me. Is this a feat tank or a feed tank?
It's a feed tank. It's an animals a drink out of all right,
Well, I'll tell you what you're talking to the right person, Bree,
Because Stacy is I call her the Esclepius Queen. She loves butterfly days
and has talked often to our listeners viewers about Asclepius, I'm the can a
king. And by the way, in your most recent issue, you mentioned
that cannas are messy, So you and I are going to have to have
a talk about that. Well we are. I'll tell you why. It's
because we have such a problem with leaf rollers here, in part because we
don't get cold enough to kill off a lot of the problem bugs. So
I shouldn't say I should frame that and that I love pianas in northern climates
where they look beautiful. Here in the southeast, the tug on leaf rollers
just chew them up to pieces and they always looked hattered. Oh that's such
a bummer. But you know what, I think you have the same kind
of attitude it sounds like about guardening than I do, which is just like,
you know what, if it's not working, it's not worth it,
you know, like there's other things. There's so much more to discover and
things to fall in love with. And you know why may try to make
a square peg fit into a round hole when you can just go find something
that's easier and more beautiful and doesn't attract leaf rollers or whatever. That's exactly
it. I mean, what we're so lucky in this industry. We have
an endless plant palette, which couldn't have been more expressed through my trips to
Michigan visiting Walters and spring Meadow, and I've literally had my blot in my
mind blown like four thousand times. I still don't think I've recovered from it
all. Just the most beautiful plants. And what I really appreciate is how
thoughtful the breeders are at addressing the concerns not only growers but also home gardeners
and making it so plants, you know, do facilitate the needs for pollinators
and you know bloom longer um maybe don't set seeds so there's no invasive qualities.
You know, making them the size that's appropriate for today's modern day landscape
is so critical. And I mean both everything that's being done at at the
at I call them the Proven Winners Headquarters. H you know, Walters and
spring Meadow is just it's game changing for the industry and it's really really inspiring
the seed Well, you know, that's what it's all about, is you
know, if we can get u, you know, someone to get to
that first plant, to fall in love with something at the garden center or
that they see it online and they get that, you know, then Bree,
it's just a few more steps or a few more years until they end
up like you or me or Wreck or Adriana where gardening becomes that lifestyle.
So really, you know, all of us here at Proven Winners are just
trying to get that first foot in the door because we know how easy it
is to fall in love with plants and gardening once you kind of have that
instant, you know that that moment. Yeah, very true. And Bree,
I've always told people a tomato plant or a pepper plant is the gateway
drug to gardening. If you have success with it, well then before you
know it, you're planting hydrangeas and mangaby and having a great time like we
are. That is the truth. And you know, I think there are
no other hobbies on this planet that make the world a better place to the
degree that gardening does. Wow, you set a mouthful there, for sure.
That's right before and everybody should be proud of every plant they put.
Just you're making a difference exactly. And on that note, before we let
you go, Bree usually ask folks that we interview this question. I know
it's an unfair question, but give our listeners, our radio and podcast listeners,
our YouTube viewers, two plants that are on your must list Bree loves
these plants. Two plants that you suggest for those who are watching or listening
to the program. Oh my gosh, I know it's not fair. I
know. I had to say this is probably a plant that I'm not going
to do very well with that I was just so intrigued with in my visit
to Michigan, Still the dark side of the move. You know, I
grew up in southeastern Michigan and out of my bedroom window I had lilacs and
an understory of a still be and so Stilby Is reminded me of my childhood.
But here I live in a former tobacco field. It's all sand and
I just can't water. Still be enough to to keep them alive. But
I you know, I'm still going to buy it, right, you know,
And so that would say that is like my new obsession. I can't
stop thinking about it. And then I'm looking out my window right now,
and you know, I like to really blur the lines between agriculture and home
gardening. And I've got a beautiful pot with no drainage holes filled with purple
leafed rice called black muddress. And you know, everybody has eaten rice,
but very few people have ever actually seen it growing or grown it themselves.
And this isn't to make it so that I don't buy rice. It's a
pot, you know, that's a ridiculous notion. It's more the idea growing
something you've never grown before that is very meaningful in the global diet. And
it's just an experience for someone to have that's super unique. And I,
you know, I think there's a lot of examples with agricultural crops that can
be converted for home gardening. But looking out at that purple rice right now,
I feel like everybody needs to try that next year. Yeah, that's
fine, not that it was difficult, but I'm on board for cream sausage
and the purple leaf rice. So yeah, you know her as Breathe the
Plant Lady. Look for on YouTube, go to her website Bree grows dot
com. Talk about a plant enthusiast influencer. Bree, Thank you for all
you do for the industry, for influencing people in such a such a fabulous
way. We get excited when we talk plants and gardening. I think you're
a total kick in the plants and appreciate you taking some time with us here
on the Gardening Simplified Show. Well, you are very welcome, and thank
you so much for inviting me. And I'm so glad that I got to
see you last week and I look forward to visiting again next year. That'd
be fantastic. Thanks so much, Bree, enjoy your week, you two
take care all right. Bye bye. Wow, that was amazing. That
made me want to immediately run out to my garden and appreciate all of my
plans, and I hope that you will do the same. We want to
thank you for listening. Thanks Bree for joining us, Thanks Rick, thanks
to Adriana, and again thank you for listening. Have a great week.