The Beauty of Green in the Garden

<v Speaker 1>Broadcasting from Studio A. Here at proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs.
<v Speaker 1>It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show with Stacy Hervella, me,
<v Speaker 1>Rick Weist, and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson. Well Stacy,
<v Speaker 1>Today we're going to talk about a monochromatic approach using
<v Speaker 1>shades of green. If there is a color that you
<v Speaker 1>could plant in mass monochromatically, green's probably the one. It
<v Speaker 1>would be your own secret forest. And I read recently
<v Speaker 1>that there are estimates that there are two hundred, maybe
<v Speaker 1>more than three hundred different shades of green.
<v Speaker 2>Ooh, I love that. I think I love every single
<v Speaker 2>one of them too. Hi, Green is my favorite color?
<v Speaker 2>Is it really as it really is? I mean not gold?
<v Speaker 2>It not be well. I have certain colors that I
<v Speaker 2>like in the garden, certain colors I like to wear,
<v Speaker 2>certain colors I would have for say a but yeah,
<v Speaker 2>green is my favorite color for anything to do with
<v Speaker 2>like clothing, paint, cars. Although I have no green cars
<v Speaker 2>and so on, I love it.
<v Speaker 1>Well, It's near the top of the list for me
<v Speaker 1>because green is a great color. You can zen out
<v Speaker 1>with a green plant until you feel calm. You can
<v Speaker 1>have something green on your dinner plate every night, you
<v Speaker 1>probably should. And green is associated with edible and ecological landscaping.
<v Speaker 1>And of course I think back to the nineteen seventies
<v Speaker 1>when I first got into the industry and the houseplant craze.
<v Speaker 1>During the nineteen seventies, it was a time when everyone
<v Speaker 1>had avocado colored kitchen appliances, the cars were avocado color,
<v Speaker 1>even the shag carpeting in the house was avocado color.
<v Speaker 1>So we were into green back there.
<v Speaker 2>You know. I do have to say growing up as
<v Speaker 2>a child, little child in the seventies, I think that's
<v Speaker 2>part of it. I do think that all of that
<v Speaker 2>avocado green just kind of like seeped into my psyche
<v Speaker 2>and it is one of the reasons why I like it.
<v Speaker 2>I find it very comforting and it reminds me of being,
<v Speaker 2>you know, a kid. We did have the avocado green
<v Speaker 2>appliances and the rest the rusty orange ones too, but
<v Speaker 2>we're not doing an orange show today.
<v Speaker 1>In I think it was called harvest gold, Harvest gold,
<v Speaker 1>harvest gold. Yes. Well, anyhow, in flower beds, green performs
<v Speaker 1>a role for which it is uniquely suited, and that
<v Speaker 1>is peacekeeper. Green is just there, dependable, non competitive and
<v Speaker 1>a medley of hues can be reconciled by the presence
<v Speaker 1>of enough green foliage. I mean often green is used
<v Speaker 1>as the background color or foundation plants for a landscape.
<v Speaker 1>But if you're using just green in a landscape, monotony
<v Speaker 1>is a threat, and you can over come that with contrast.
<v Speaker 1>So you're gonna want to look at mixing textures and
<v Speaker 1>contrasting shapes. I love stone paths through a green landscape.
<v Speaker 1>They really give great contrast.
<v Speaker 2>And all the better if they get covered in moss
<v Speaker 2>and become green themselves.
<v Speaker 1>Exactly exactly, So we're here to trumpet and praise the
<v Speaker 1>color green. As Kermit the Frog said, it's not easy
<v Speaker 1>being green. It seems you blend in with so many
<v Speaker 1>other ordinary things, and people tend to pass you over.
<v Speaker 1>So if you're thinking about a monochromatic green garden, shades
<v Speaker 1>of green. To make sure that your garden doesn't become
<v Speaker 1>a hodgepodge of every green cultivar you could get your
<v Speaker 1>hands on, make an effort to utilize repeated elements throughout
<v Speaker 1>the space. That's one thing you can do to create
<v Speaker 1>a unified picture. One way to make sure that this
<v Speaker 1>is a trick that I like to use one way
<v Speaker 1>to make sure that you're doing a good job of texture.
<v Speaker 1>So again, I think about a green garden and I
<v Speaker 1>think about the thin leaves of ornamental grasses dancing in
<v Speaker 1>the breeze, contrasted to the ruffled, big foliage of let's
<v Speaker 1>say hostas the best way to determine whether or not
<v Speaker 1>you're doing a good job so that it doesn't create
<v Speaker 1>a modeled look in your landscape that you're using different
<v Speaker 1>shades of green, but using texture well and repetition. Go
<v Speaker 1>out there, shoot pictures in black and white.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure, look at the pictures.
<v Speaker 1>In black and white, and it's going to tell you
<v Speaker 1>a lot.
<v Speaker 2>It really does. And in fact, last week's guest Lisa
<v Speaker 2>Roper from Chanticleer Gardens. If you follow Chanticleer on social media,
<v Speaker 2>she will often post the same photo in black and
<v Speaker 2>white and in color to really help everyone to understand
<v Speaker 2>the textural things that are going on there. You know,
<v Speaker 2>the thing about a green garden, though, is I would
<v Speaker 2>bet that most of us probably have a pretty much
<v Speaker 2>all green garden at some point in the season. We
<v Speaker 2>may not be trying for it, but you know, I
<v Speaker 2>find for my garden and it's just a matter mostly
<v Speaker 2>of what I have planted. But there is kind of
<v Speaker 2>this lull after the spring bulbs have faded, but it's
<v Speaker 2>not quite hasn't been like quite warm enough for all
<v Speaker 2>of the late spring early summer stuff to get going
<v Speaker 2>too soon. There's kind of this brief period where it
<v Speaker 2>is mostly green. And I mean, I am not complaining,
<v Speaker 2>but you don't have to try necessarily to make a
<v Speaker 2>green garden, but you do have to try to make
<v Speaker 2>a good green garden.
<v Speaker 1>I think so too. And of course we've had a
<v Speaker 1>show on spacing and layering of plants. That will be
<v Speaker 1>important if you're going to have a monochromatic green garden,
<v Speaker 1>because you know, you can think about colors as bright
<v Speaker 1>as chartruse and then get into some greens that are
<v Speaker 1>so dark they almost look black to my eye. But
<v Speaker 1>then into that also the contrast of the textures. Here's
<v Speaker 1>a point to argue, should the plant leaves be touching
<v Speaker 1>or not? In other words, if you're using just a
<v Speaker 1>monochromatic look, maybe a little space between the plants is
<v Speaker 1>a good idea.
<v Speaker 2>Maybe not, maybe not, It really depends. You know, Sometimes
<v Speaker 2>that space can kind of just turn into black holes too,
<v Speaker 2>and you don't really, you know, So it's that is
<v Speaker 2>mostly I think a matter of personal taste. But I
<v Speaker 2>like my plants to touch.
<v Speaker 1>So from mosses and turf and ferns to giant evergreens.
<v Speaker 1>Between those extremes you're gonna find endless variety. Don't plant
<v Speaker 1>too many of the same form together. I think that
<v Speaker 1>that's the key. Like I said that dancing straps of
<v Speaker 1>ornamental grasses by the large leaves of hostas, I think
<v Speaker 1>that that's going to make a green garden work really
<v Speaker 1>well for you. So cool toned greens leaning towards blue
<v Speaker 1>can be calming, while warm toned leaning towards yellow can
<v Speaker 1>be more vibrant. Again, walking into a gardener, if I
<v Speaker 1>close my eyes, Stacy, I'm amazed at the number of
<v Speaker 1>shades of green that there are.
<v Speaker 2>Oh, there are, especially at this time of year where
<v Speaker 2>everything has kind of changed and morphed, and the flowers
<v Speaker 2>and the flower buds, it's a great time for green.
<v Speaker 1>The Latin word for green is veridice, so you'll often
<v Speaker 1>see the word viridescent in descriptions of plants, or you'll
<v Speaker 1>see the word verdant derives from the French word for green,
<v Speaker 1>and then of course, you know you got to throw
<v Speaker 1>into the whole mix too, is there's many people who
<v Speaker 1>love a beautiful lawn and beautiful turf, and working that
<v Speaker 1>and the texture of it and the color into a
<v Speaker 1>monochromatic green landscape can be simply stunning. I wrote you
<v Speaker 1>a chlorophyll limb a rick. Chlorophyl, of course, is what
<v Speaker 1>makes our leaves green.
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, that's why gardens are green.
<v Speaker 1>My good friend Chlorophil resides in Pleasantville. Not one to
<v Speaker 1>be brash and rarely will clash. His presence gets you
<v Speaker 1>to chill. The knock on phil in some is just green,
<v Speaker 1>can be humdrum in spring. Their emergence is a blast
<v Speaker 1>fill in. His friends, the chloroplast prove phils a genius
<v Speaker 1>green thumb. So it's not easy being green, not loud
<v Speaker 1>or brash, just serene. But my friend Chlorophil can give
<v Speaker 1>you a thrill better than any drama queen.
<v Speaker 2>You know it's true in the Midwest, in the Northeast,
<v Speaker 2>we definitely take green for granted. Green is the color
<v Speaker 2>of our landscapes. But there are certainly places you can
<v Speaker 2>go in the United States where green is quite rare,
<v Speaker 2>and they would probably think of it as anything but humdrum.
<v Speaker 2>It is unusual. But yeah, for a lot of people
<v Speaker 2>here they would say, oh that gardens so boring is
<v Speaker 2>just green, Like, well, green's of color, thank you very much.
<v Speaker 2>And it is worth, you know, appreciating on its own merits.
<v Speaker 1>Absolutely, And I think when you put a landscape like
<v Speaker 1>that together, a monochromatic green landscape in my mind, in
<v Speaker 1>my mind's eye, the exclamation points are going to be
<v Speaker 1>very very important. And there's so many great exclamation points.
<v Speaker 1>I'm excited in my landscape. I just planted the sting
<v Speaker 1>arbor biding and these exclamation points again are going to
<v Speaker 1>give the eye an opportunity to rest as you scan
<v Speaker 1>across the landscape. So again some repetition, but at the
<v Speaker 1>same time, really good contrast in both texture and style
<v Speaker 1>of plant and size will make all the difference if
<v Speaker 1>this is something you want to tack.
<v Speaker 2>And you know, the cool thing about doing something with sting,
<v Speaker 2>which is an arborvidy, is you can use a kind
<v Speaker 2>of themeine variation idea. Yes, get a bunch of other
<v Speaker 2>different arborvidies of different sizes, and they're all going to
<v Speaker 2>have slightly different types of green in them, and then
<v Speaker 2>that unique texture of the foliage will really help to
<v Speaker 2>unite everything. That's a great plan to work with.
<v Speaker 1>In segment four, we'll give you some ideas on some
<v Speaker 1>plants you could use in your monochromatic green garden. But
<v Speaker 1>first up next we'll see how Stacey ties in this
<v Speaker 1>subject in Plants on Trial. That's next here on the
<v Speaker 1>Gardening Simplified.
<v Speaker 2>Show, beautify your home and community with proven Winter's Color
<v Speaker 2>Choice Shrubs with over three hundred and twenty five unique
<v Speaker 2>varieties to choose from. There's a flowering shrubber evergreen for
<v Speaker 2>every taste and every space. Just look for the distinctive
<v Speaker 2>white container your local garden center or learn more at
<v Speaker 2>proven Winner's Color Choice dot Com. Greetings or should I
<v Speaker 2>say greenings gardening friends, and welcome back to the Gardening
<v Speaker 2>Simplified Show, where the order of the day if you
<v Speaker 2>missed us in segment one is all about the color green.
<v Speaker 2>And you know a lot of people would mistakenly, I think,
<v Speaker 2>find green dull or boring, or if they go to
<v Speaker 2>a garden that's mostly green, they would say something like, oh,
<v Speaker 2>I guess this garden already flowered or hasn't flowered yet.
<v Speaker 2>You know, like that the main point of the garden
<v Speaker 2>is the colorful flowers and not the green foliage. But
<v Speaker 2>you know, the simple fact is you're not gonna get
<v Speaker 2>colorful flowers without the green foliage because that's making all
<v Speaker 2>the energy to produce the flowers.
<v Speaker 1>That's right. I think you can create a garden that
<v Speaker 1>will make your neighbors green with ivy. I had to
<v Speaker 1>contrast your your pun there. Yes, that was a good one.
<v Speaker 2>Well, hopefully they won't plant ivy because English ivy is
<v Speaker 2>it can be a very problematic way to get green
<v Speaker 2>in your landscape, although of course it is a classic
<v Speaker 2>and a great way to get a green one. But
<v Speaker 2>you know, there's a time and a place for almost
<v Speaker 2>everything now, as a lot of people probably know, one
<v Speaker 2>of the first proven Winner's Colored Choice shrubs that was
<v Speaker 2>introduced way back in the nineteen nineties was Limelight.
<v Speaker 1>Hydrange minor in full flower.
<v Speaker 2>Oh it's this a great time for HM and Limelight
<v Speaker 2>is not today's plant on trial. But I you know, Limelight,
<v Speaker 2>it's really hard to explain to take people back to
<v Speaker 2>that moment and what Limelight did to change the landscape
<v Speaker 2>in general in the US and Canada, there really had
<v Speaker 2>never been anything like it, and it was an instant hit,
<v Speaker 2>you know, So it was so different. There was really
<v Speaker 2>only two main panicle hydrangs that people were growing at
<v Speaker 2>the time. They were Tardeva and the original PG hydrange in.
<v Speaker 2>Both of those just flowered white and then maybe kind
<v Speaker 2>of sort of turn a little bit pink, and then
<v Speaker 2>you know, just went on and then a long comes
<v Speaker 2>Limelight and it has these bright, vivid green flowers. It's
<v Speaker 2>an easy plant to produce. People just went crazy for it,
<v Speaker 2>and I would say it is almost certainly the most
<v Speaker 2>widely planted panicle hydrangea today, considering that it is all
<v Speaker 2>through the US and Canada and Europe and really all
<v Speaker 2>around the world. I mean, this is a plant that's
<v Speaker 2>really taken the world by storm. People love it. And
<v Speaker 2>early in my career here, so we're talking about fourteen
<v Speaker 2>fifteen years ago, I was running the preven Winters feedback
<v Speaker 2>form for shrubs and I got a message from a
<v Speaker 2>home gardener that has really stuck with me to this day,
<v Speaker 2>and she was downright angry that Limelight was green. Now,
<v Speaker 2>of course, yes, it is right there in the name.
<v Speaker 2>Limelight is called is so called because the flowers are
<v Speaker 2>lime colored. And she said, you know, I bought this
<v Speaker 2>plant because everyone in my neighborhood has these hydrange just flowering,
<v Speaker 2>and they're so beautiful and they're white, and I just
<v Speaker 2>bought this one and it's green, and if this thing
<v Speaker 2>is going to stay green, I am going to be
<v Speaker 2>really angry with you. And she then proceeds to say,
<v Speaker 2>in exactly these terms, no one wants green flowers. She says,
<v Speaker 2>the leaves are green, and flowers are supposed to be colorful.
<v Speaker 1>Like Kermit said, it's not easy being green.
<v Speaker 2>But you know, that really got me thinking about the
<v Speaker 2>fact that is as common as green is in foliage,
<v Speaker 2>among ornamental plants, green flowers are relatively uncommon. So it
<v Speaker 2>makes them actually even more special, lady, because they're less common.
<v Speaker 2>I know, when I first started gardening, I got super
<v Speaker 2>excited to grow a rebeccia that had just come out
<v Speaker 2>called green Wizard, and it had green petals instead of
<v Speaker 2>yellow petals. And to this day I find green flowers
<v Speaker 2>very very interesting. Now, I don't really want to say
<v Speaker 2>that they're rare, because certainly among trees I think are
<v Speaker 2>probably the biggest example, Lots and lots of trees have
<v Speaker 2>what would be considered green flowers, but those are not
<v Speaker 2>really ornamental flowers. They're you know, like a birch cakin
<v Speaker 2>is kind of green. The flowers on you know, your
<v Speaker 2>average Norway maple are green and so on and so forth.
<v Speaker 2>So it's not uncommon for trees, but for ornamental plants,
<v Speaker 2>it is relatively uncommon to find green flowers, and that
<v Speaker 2>makes them even more special. And that is what makes
<v Speaker 2>today's plant on trial, which is in Vincibelle's sublime hydrangea,
<v Speaker 2>so very special. Now this is my absolute favorite, well
<v Speaker 2>tied for my favorite. The other one is invincibel lace
<v Speaker 2>of all of our smooth hydrangeas. Now full disclosure, of
<v Speaker 2>course I can't grow it because I have deer, but
<v Speaker 2>if I could grow it, this would be one that
<v Speaker 2>I would grow.
<v Speaker 1>Agree, I love that hydrange Now there's a rumor, at
<v Speaker 1>least it's stuck in my head that that's the hydrangea
<v Speaker 1>that re placed the one that was named after me,
<v Speaker 1>Limey Ricky or something like that. Is that what it was,
<v Speaker 1>you know, ikymy lime Ricky Lime Ricky.
<v Speaker 2>And you know that plant plant came out before we
<v Speaker 2>started working together. But now I feel kind of bad
<v Speaker 2>that it has replaced Limericky, it feels more personal than it.
<v Speaker 1>Did obviously had an effect on me.
<v Speaker 2>I'm so sorry, Ray, it was not personal. But Lime
<v Speaker 2>Ricky was a spectacular play and I loved Limericky. So
<v Speaker 2>Limericky Hydrangea was sort of the predecessor to Invincibil's Sublime,
<v Speaker 2>and in vincemel Sublime, we dropped it in favor of
<v Speaker 2>in vince Biel Sublime because the flower color on Sublime
<v Speaker 2>is just so vivid and it was beautiful and Limericky.
<v Speaker 2>Don't get me wrong, I loved that plant, but it's
<v Speaker 2>just so bright and so vivid, and the flowers are
<v Speaker 2>even bigger. And Limericky actually won a very prestigious award
<v Speaker 2>from the Mount Cuba Center for Native Plants out in
<v Speaker 2>Maryland as a top performer, and that was top farm
<v Speaker 2>are based on you know, it's stem strength, it's flowers,
<v Speaker 2>and its ability to serve pollinators and wildlife. So this
<v Speaker 2>is kind of the air apparent to that. A little
<v Speaker 2>bit different than Limericky, but still a fabulous plant. This
<v Speaker 2>is our native smooth hydrangea. And one of the things
<v Speaker 2>you'll notice, aside from the fabulous green flowers, is that
<v Speaker 2>the foliage is actually a different color of green compared
<v Speaker 2>to most smooth hydranges. And one of the reasons for
<v Speaker 2>that is because it is a subspecies of Hydrangea arborescents
<v Speaker 2>or smooth Hydrangea subspecies radiata. And what that subspecies does
<v Speaker 2>is the foliage looks a little bit different and it
<v Speaker 2>has a really nice silvery underside as well, so it's
<v Speaker 2>just kind of a fun little twist on it. So
<v Speaker 2>it makes the foliage almost like a dark black blue
<v Speaker 2>type of green. So then when these bright fresh lime
<v Speaker 2>and that they really do look like a fresh lime,
<v Speaker 2>gorgeous flowers pop out. They really really stand out from
<v Speaker 2>the plant. It is a mophead, but instead of being
<v Speaker 2>you know, really big and round like you think of
<v Speaker 2>with incredible, the flowers are kind of more flat domes,
<v Speaker 2>but they're gigantic. They are very very pollinator friendly. And
<v Speaker 2>one of the things that I love about this plant
<v Speaker 2>that is minor and I know we're talking about green,
<v Speaker 2>but the still merits mentioning is that the center of
<v Speaker 2>each floret is pink. So it just has this tiny
<v Speaker 2>little pink dot net when they're fresh, and it just
<v Speaker 2>adds so much contrast. The flowers start off. What I
<v Speaker 2>would perhaps refer to as a celadon green or a
<v Speaker 2>pale jade green. And then as they open immature, that's
<v Speaker 2>when they get to that bright, fresh, limey color. And
<v Speaker 2>then that's really going to persist and develop even some
<v Speaker 2>different marblings of paler green into it until really the
<v Speaker 2>first frost or if it gets water stressed, you know,
<v Speaker 2>the flowers might brown early, but so you have this
<v Speaker 2>really long display of green, and as the flowers become
<v Speaker 2>as they age, they really do become more of a
<v Speaker 2>textural part of the garden rather than just a colorful part.
<v Speaker 1>I love that. And the part that I love about it, Stacey,
<v Speaker 1>is the plant is great for many different zones, even
<v Speaker 1>our friends in Canada Minnesota. I mean pretty cold, hardy.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, so like other smooth hydrangeas, it is hardy down
<v Speaker 2>to USDA Zone three, so all of our smooth hydrangees are.
<v Speaker 2>But unlike other smooth hydrangeas, it is also heat tolerant
<v Speaker 2>through USDA Zone nine.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah that's great.
<v Speaker 2>So a lot of our other smooth hydrangs we only
<v Speaker 2>list as heat tolerant through about USDA zone eight. Simply
<v Speaker 2>they can grow, but they'll be stressed. It's hard of course,
<v Speaker 2>we don't want people to just have plants that live.
<v Speaker 2>We want plants that thrive, so we're trying to give
<v Speaker 2>people the information to get that well. And Vinzabel sublime
<v Speaker 2>is actually a heat tolerant through USDA Zone nine, probably
<v Speaker 2>most likely because of that Radiota subspecies that is more
<v Speaker 2>prevalent in the south, so that probably gives it a
<v Speaker 2>little bit more heat tolerance. But of course if you
<v Speaker 2>are in USDA Zone eight or nine, you're gonna want
<v Speaker 2>to grow this in shade, especially during the hottest part
<v Speaker 2>of the day. That will just help the flowers last longer.
<v Speaker 2>And speaking of the flowers and lasting, the stem strength
<v Speaker 2>on this thing is unbelievable. I have never once seen
<v Speaker 2>a single stem on this thing flop. And just like
<v Speaker 2>lime Ricky. I remember one day we had a four
<v Speaker 2>hour rainstorm and I watched the water just pour out
<v Speaker 2>of the gutter over the lime Ricky and at the
<v Speaker 2>end of it couldn't even tell yeah, yeah, And that's
<v Speaker 2>again that.
<v Speaker 1>Goes back to that, Yes, that's what we learned.
<v Speaker 2>We're gonna find We're gonna have to go deep into
<v Speaker 2>the archives and see if we can find a lime
<v Speaker 2>Ricky for rich lime just like me. Maybe it needs
<v Speaker 2>to be rewired, but of course it is not dear resistant.
<v Speaker 2>It does make a good cut flower, although it is
<v Speaker 2>a little bit on the larger side of that. Full
<v Speaker 2>sun is fine here in Michigan, especially if you can
<v Speaker 2>mulch it. Although, like I said, in warmer climate's definitely
<v Speaker 2>gonna want some afternoon shade. Not exactly drought tolerance, so
<v Speaker 2>sound regular moisture some mulch will do a lot of
<v Speaker 2>good and really help this to be the eye catching
<v Speaker 2>centerpiece of your green garden. I hope you will consider
<v Speaker 2>it for your garden, and if you do, you can
<v Speaker 2>find it at your local garden center. You can see
<v Speaker 2>photos of in Vincebelle Sublime Hydrangea on the YouTube version
<v Speaker 2>as well as at Proven Winner's Color Choice dot Com.
<v Speaker 2>We are going to take a little break. When we
<v Speaker 2>come back, we're opening up the mailbags, so please stay tuned.
<v Speaker 2>At Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs, we know that a
<v Speaker 2>better landscape starts with a better shrub. Our team of
<v Speaker 2>experts tests and evaluates all of our flowering shrubs in
<v Speaker 2>Evergreens for eight to ten years to ensure they outperform
<v Speaker 2>what's already on the market. For easycare, reliable, beautiful shrubs
<v Speaker 2>to accentuate your home and express your personal style. Look
<v Speaker 2>for Proven Winners shrubs in the distinctive white container at
<v Speaker 2>your local garden center or learn more at Proven Winner's
<v Speaker 2>Color te gre Reetings, gardening friends, and welcome back to
<v Speaker 2>the Gardening Simplified Show, where it is our time to
<v Speaker 2>help you with your gardening questions, quandaries and conundrums and comments,
<v Speaker 2>because we do love to hear from you, and if
<v Speaker 2>you have a comment to leave us, you can certainly
<v Speaker 2>do that. You can just go to Gardening Simplified on
<v Speaker 2>air dot com. There is a contact button there, or
<v Speaker 2>you can also leave it as a comment on the
<v Speaker 2>YouTube version. And speaking of YouTube, you know, Ayrianna does
<v Speaker 2>an amazing job of making the YouTube version so much
<v Speaker 2>more interesting, bringing in lots of photos. So if you're
<v Speaker 2>ever listening to us on radio or podcasts and you're like, gee,
<v Speaker 2>I sure would like to see a picture of that,
<v Speaker 2>check us out on YouTube and you will get to
<v Speaker 2>see a picture of that. It's not just you know,
<v Speaker 2>a YouTube video of us sitting in the studio in
<v Speaker 2>front of a background. There are some of that, but
<v Speaker 2>lots of cool stuff to see there and we are
<v Speaker 2>always happy to try to help you the best that
<v Speaker 2>we can. And I felt like, you know, I wanted
<v Speaker 2>to first of all, start off a comment from a listener,
<v Speaker 2>Steve Nelson, and he says, we've been to Nelsonville. We
<v Speaker 2>drove all over to find a souvenir because our last
<v Speaker 2>name is Nelson. They didn't get a brick, but all
<v Speaker 2>he got was a shirt and he enjoys listening to
<v Speaker 2>the show. Now, Adriana was, you know, looking for the
<v Speaker 2>additional you know, stuff to put in to the YouTube
<v Speaker 2>version last week after your talk about Nelsonville and your
<v Speaker 2>presentation of a Nelsonville brick for my birthday, which was lovely,
<v Speaker 2>and she sent me a screenshot that the Nelsonville brick
<v Speaker 2>exchange takes place in the parking lot behind the McDonald's
<v Speaker 2>in Nelsonville, Ohio, which we both just thought was so funny,
<v Speaker 2>Like it makes it sound like it's such like a
<v Speaker 2>shady deal that they've got to, like, you know, do
<v Speaker 2>behind the McDonald's. So anyway, if you're headed to Nelsonville
<v Speaker 2>and looking for the brick exchange, it's behind McDonald's.
<v Speaker 1>I wonder that is great. I wonder if Steve Nelson
<v Speaker 1>is related to the Ricky Nelson of I went to
<v Speaker 1>a garden party theme. Maybe that would be cool to know.
<v Speaker 1>And we also learned from the Brick episode from our
<v Speaker 1>listeners and viewers that overcooked or wonky bricks are called clinkers.
<v Speaker 2>Oh I love clinker brick. Yeah, so in New York
<v Speaker 2>there were definitely a lot of buildings that included clinker brick.
<v Speaker 2>It was kind of popular, like in the nineteen tens
<v Speaker 2>to add some you know, unique texture. Clinker bricks are
<v Speaker 2>very very cool. So I'm a fan.
<v Speaker 1>Excellent.
<v Speaker 2>All right, what do we got in the mailbag this week? Brick?
<v Speaker 1>I'm thinking if I go to Nelsonville, I could get
<v Speaker 1>a senior coffee at the same time. I'd be great.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, it sounds like you should really go, and
<v Speaker 2>you know you might you might have some bricks that
<v Speaker 2>the people really are in demand down there.
<v Speaker 1>All right, Canna do it, Stacey. Let's see if you
<v Speaker 1>can help out. Brisett, I believe is the correct pronunciation.
<v Speaker 1>Helped desperate needed for the second year. I noticed something
<v Speaker 1>that's been eating my ground hug erronia. I've had that
<v Speaker 1>problem and my fire light tidbit Hydrangea I've never been
<v Speaker 1>able to see anything on their leaves. However, because of
<v Speaker 1>the damage, the erronias are not growing. This is the
<v Speaker 1>second year in the ground from a quart sized plant.
<v Speaker 1>They get new leaves but are eaten, so not enough
<v Speaker 1>time for photosynthesis on the plants. Any idea what could
<v Speaker 1>be causing this, how to treat it? I'm desperate for
<v Speaker 1>my erronias to thrive.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, Well, Brissette did helpfully include some photos, and from
<v Speaker 2>what I can see in the photos that she sent,
<v Speaker 2>this is to me a pretty clear case of the
<v Speaker 2>black vine weavel.
<v Speaker 1>Interesting.
<v Speaker 2>So, the black vine weavil is a weavil, which is
<v Speaker 2>a type of beetle. They're the kind that have the long,
<v Speaker 2>skinny snouts. They're actually pretty cute, even though they can
<v Speaker 2>be very destructive. But the black vine weavil leaves a
<v Speaker 2>very specific type of notching on the foliage. Now, they
<v Speaker 2>are known to adore rhododendrons and that is where you
<v Speaker 2>most often see their damage. But they're also pretty you know,
<v Speaker 2>generalist type of feeders. And like I said, I'm pretty
<v Speaker 2>sure about this because that damage is just so distinctive
<v Speaker 2>to weavils. Now, it might not be black vine weavils specifically,
<v Speaker 2>it most likely is because they're common across the US,
<v Speaker 2>and the issue with the black vine weavil is not
<v Speaker 2>so much the damage that you're seeing on the foliage,
<v Speaker 2>but the fact that you are seeing that damage indicates
<v Speaker 2>that they are present and laying eggs there. And I'm
<v Speaker 2>not going to say breeding because I read as I
<v Speaker 2>was researching this question for a brizette that black vine
<v Speaker 2>weevils are parthenogenetic, there are no males, and the females
<v Speaker 2>can lay fertile eggs. So all black vine weavels are
<v Speaker 2>females and they lay fertile eggs without any males. So
<v Speaker 2>that is kind of a scary thought because that means
<v Speaker 2>every single black vine weevile that you have in your
<v Speaker 2>yard is actually laying eggs and contributing to the problem. Now,
<v Speaker 2>a weavil, like I said, a type of beetle, so
<v Speaker 2>that means that it's juvenile stage is a grub. So
<v Speaker 2>what you're basically seeing when you have black vine weevils,
<v Speaker 2>since they don't fly, is knowing that they are laying
<v Speaker 2>a bunch of eggs below the plant, and that those
<v Speaker 2>grubs are eating the roots of your plant. And that's
<v Speaker 2>what usually sets plants back from black vine weevil damage,
<v Speaker 2>not so much the notching that you're actually seeing on
<v Speaker 2>the foliage.
<v Speaker 1>So as you contemplate solutions for this problem, yes, debate
<v Speaker 1>between good and weevil. One thing I've done before with
<v Speaker 1>rhododendrons is I've put tangle foot or a sticky substance
<v Speaker 1>on the stem.
<v Speaker 2>Yep that would work because they don't fly, They're just gonna.
<v Speaker 1>Crawl it, and then you'll know for sure, yes, because.
<v Speaker 2>They'll get caught. That's a great IDEA sticky trap will
<v Speaker 2>also work. So the reason that you haven't seen them
<v Speaker 2>present is because black vine weevils only feed at night.
<v Speaker 2>So it's one of those situations where people see this
<v Speaker 2>mysterious damage like they think that, you know, it's some
<v Speaker 2>sort of thing that's like flying in and out. It's not.
<v Speaker 2>They go back under the mulch during the day. But
<v Speaker 2>again it's the it's the grubs that you need to manage.
<v Speaker 2>It does help to trap the adults, that will help
<v Speaker 2>a lot. As for treating the weevils, you know, that's
<v Speaker 2>a lot more different. Rather the grubs. That's a lot
<v Speaker 2>more difficult because of course they are underground, so I'm
<v Speaker 2>not exactly sure. I'm not gonna give you any advice
<v Speaker 2>on using like a specific pesticide. You can reach out
<v Speaker 2>to your local cooperative extension on what they recommend for
<v Speaker 2>managing grubs. You can also just go down there and
<v Speaker 2>dig around and squish them. They aren't very deep in
<v Speaker 2>the soil, and you know, you can just open it
<v Speaker 2>up and pull them out and squish them. I squish
<v Speaker 2>every grub, every small grub that I see in my
<v Speaker 2>garden when I'm working, because they're almost certainly like a
<v Speaker 2>Japanese beetle or an Asiatic garden beetle. I'm not killing
<v Speaker 2>anything that's interesting, so I just try to get those
<v Speaker 2>guys out of there. But again, the issue is with
<v Speaker 2>the roots. I think if you can do that, it
<v Speaker 2>should help. But also Rick wanted to comment that the
<v Speaker 2>erronia is a favorite of deer and rabbits.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, because that was my problem.
<v Speaker 2>So don't also discount that if you do have them around,
<v Speaker 2>they will eat those stems.
<v Speaker 1>Jerry writes, My daughter Charies, living in Door, Michigan, found
<v Speaker 1>this spider in her flower garden. Can you tell us
<v Speaker 1>what it is? Well, that's easy, look it up. On
<v Speaker 1>the web and how we should deal with it. Is
<v Speaker 1>it dangerous? Should we leave it alone or help in
<v Speaker 1>the flowers. My wife Phyllis and I watch your YouTube
<v Speaker 1>posts every Saturday morning. Thank you for so many inspiring
<v Speaker 1>ideas and knowledge. Thank you Jerry.
<v Speaker 2>And I'm sorry Rick, I didn't send you the picture
<v Speaker 2>that Jerry sent. It is my all time favorite spider,
<v Speaker 2>the garden spider our guyape Rantia. I love this spider.
<v Speaker 2>I have never yet been fortunate enough to have one
<v Speaker 2>take up residence in my yard, but this is kind
<v Speaker 2>of the outdoor spider that I think most everyone thinks
<v Speaker 2>of if they try to conjure up a spider in
<v Speaker 2>their head. It's pretty large. It's black with yellow and
<v Speaker 2>white stripes or kind of marbling on its abdomen. And
<v Speaker 2>they become especially visible at this time of year, later
<v Speaker 2>in the season because what has happened, basically is that
<v Speaker 2>the little baby spiders have actually gotten big enough to
<v Speaker 2>be noticeable. Before they were just kind of small and
<v Speaker 2>you know, hanging out. So at this point in the
<v Speaker 2>season they start to get big and you can walk
<v Speaker 2>out your garden and be like, WHOA, what just happened.
<v Speaker 2>Another thing that makes these so distinctive is they construct
<v Speaker 2>what's known as a stablementia in the middle of the web,
<v Speaker 2>which is like a bunch of dense zigzagging. And there
<v Speaker 2>are a number of different theories as to why they
<v Speaker 2>do that, but overall, the general theory is that it
<v Speaker 2>is kind of like one of those decals that you
<v Speaker 2>put on your windows so birds don't fly into it.
<v Speaker 1>Wow.
<v Speaker 2>So you know, the spiders are not obviously going to
<v Speaker 2>be able to catch birds, they're way too big, But
<v Speaker 2>they also don't want the bird to ruin their very
<v Speaker 2>carefully and beautifully constructed web, so they put that stablementia
<v Speaker 2>in the beginning in the middle to be like whoa,
<v Speaker 2>don't fly through here, and hopefully that works for them
<v Speaker 2>because it's a lot of energy to build a web.
<v Speaker 2>But Jerry, as you can probably tell from my enthusiasm
<v Speaker 2>for this beautiful spider, not harmful. I mean yet if
<v Speaker 2>you really go in and mess with it, it might
<v Speaker 2>potentially bite you, but that's very unlikely to happen. They
<v Speaker 2>are going to kill a bunch of different insects in
<v Speaker 2>the garden. They are a web hunter, so basically they
<v Speaker 2>just wait for stuff to you fly into it and
<v Speaker 2>then they'll wrap it all up and suck the juices out.
<v Speaker 2>They build a new web every single day. If it
<v Speaker 2>were me, I would simply relax and enjoy that this
<v Speaker 2>spider has chosen your yard. I know some people do
<v Speaker 2>get a little bit freaked out, but if you are
<v Speaker 2>freaked out, then when I would also recommend is find
<v Speaker 2>a friend who also loves spiders and they will come
<v Speaker 2>and get it and make a home for it in
<v Speaker 2>their garden and includes me.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, just post the video online. You can watch on
<v Speaker 1>the webcam. I mean, if they're getting that big, right.
<v Speaker 2>Huh yeah yeah yeah. Anyway, beautiful spider, lucky Scharise and
<v Speaker 2>hopefully she can appreciate it instead of being freaked out.
<v Speaker 2>But anyway, thank you all so much for your questions.
<v Speaker 2>We're going to take a little break right now, and
<v Speaker 2>when we come back, we're continuing our conversation on green
<v Speaker 2>so please stay tuned. Thanks for listening to the Gardening
<v Speaker 2>Simplified Podcast, brought to you by Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs.
<v Speaker 2>Our award winning flowering shrubs and evergreens are trialed and
<v Speaker 2>tested by experts with your success in mind. Learn more
<v Speaker 2>at Proven Winners color Choice dot com.
<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified show. As today we
<v Speaker 1>talk about the color green. Last night we had downpour rains.
<v Speaker 1>That was so nice. Took me back to the rainforest
<v Speaker 1>in Costa Rica. The rain was just pelting the leaves
<v Speaker 1>of my bananas and cannas. Really cool sound.
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, I noticed that last night too with my
<v Speaker 2>big allocasia out front. It was making a very interesting
<v Speaker 2>sound as the rain cascaded off the roof onto it
<v Speaker 2>and gave it some much needed water.
<v Speaker 1>Had stuffed green peppers for dinner. That was nice, which
<v Speaker 1>brings me to my dad joke of the day. Why
<v Speaker 1>didn't the green pepper practice archery because it didn't have
<v Speaker 1>an arrow? Moving on? Did you get that?
<v Speaker 2>I did get that?
<v Speaker 1>That bad? I know it's a stretch.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, maybe hot pepper? Maybe why didn't the hot pepper?
<v Speaker 2>Maybe that would improve the joke.
<v Speaker 1>Okay, the hot pepper didn't have a habit narrow.
<v Speaker 2>You know, I'm I'm gowing habanatas this year. You ever
<v Speaker 2>hear those? Yeah? There like Habynio's, but they're not hot,
<v Speaker 2>so they have the flavor. They're very late to ripen,
<v Speaker 2>but they are very cool And I'm about to have
<v Speaker 2>a ton of them.
<v Speaker 1>I like that.
<v Speaker 2>I'll bring you some.
<v Speaker 1>I like that well as you work on this monochromatic
<v Speaker 1>green garden. As a matter of fact, you mentioned in
<v Speaker 1>a previous segment to Stacey, there green cone flowers. If
<v Speaker 1>you go to proven Winter's website, look for green jewel
<v Speaker 1>cone flower. That's pretty cool. And for myself, of course,
<v Speaker 1>I love tulips and any of the Virida flora tulips
<v Speaker 1>that have the green streaks through them, like spring green.
<v Speaker 2>Love that those are so so beautiful, and a lot
<v Speaker 2>of regular white tulips will have a little bit of
<v Speaker 2>green in them too, which is very refreshing looking.
<v Speaker 1>Oh and I love that. I love that combination of
<v Speaker 1>white and green because it's very classic in the garden.
<v Speaker 1>I just think it's a great combination. Of course, us
<v Speaker 1>those are made for the shade and hostas come in
<v Speaker 1>every shade of green, imaginable huge variation and leaf sizes
<v Speaker 1>and shapes, so you're gonna have to incorporate them in
<v Speaker 1>your green garden. Ferns, of course, can brighten up any
<v Speaker 1>dark corner and are great choice for your green garden.
<v Speaker 1>Once established, they fill in quickly. And I know I
<v Speaker 1>just mentioned it but again Musa bajou the hardy banana. Wow,
<v Speaker 1>I cannot believe how fast that thing grows nice. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>it's it's up to my roofline now, so it's it's amazing.
<v Speaker 1>Cordline fruiticosa. I love cordlines. Some people refer to them
<v Speaker 1>as tea plants. Some people call them thie plants. I
<v Speaker 1>don't know whatever.
<v Speaker 2>I there you go.
<v Speaker 1>But one of my favorites for the green garden and
<v Speaker 1>to add great green to your garden is Allocacia. And
<v Speaker 1>proven Winters has an elephant ear called Emerald. I've grown
<v Speaker 1>three or four those this year. Amazed at the performance
<v Speaker 1>of that plant, and Stacey, it just the color green
<v Speaker 1>is so bright and it's so ruffled and textural. That
<v Speaker 1>really adds character to the landscape.
<v Speaker 2>I love every single Allocasia I've ever seen, and that
<v Speaker 2>goes for their cousins, col Acasia's and kalladiums as well.
<v Speaker 2>You know, I have an Allocasia that I've been putting
<v Speaker 2>on my front porch for gosh about five years now.
<v Speaker 2>So if you have one of these, they're super easy
<v Speaker 2>to overwinter. I basically just put it in the basement
<v Speaker 2>and it will wither back, and you know, sometimes if
<v Speaker 2>I think of it, I'll give it like maybe one
<v Speaker 2>or two waterings over the winter. But then comes spring,
<v Speaker 2>put it outside, start watering it, and it just picks
<v Speaker 2>up like it never missed a beat. So if you
<v Speaker 2>do have Emerald Isle or another allocasia that you invested in,
<v Speaker 2>you don't have to just throw it away. And every
<v Speaker 2>year it gets bigger and better. It's another great think
<v Speaker 2>about it. And yeah, the green cannot be beat on
<v Speaker 2>those beautiful plants.
<v Speaker 1>And with the banana tree, the mousa bajoux just mulching
<v Speaker 1>it very heavily here in the north generally, you know,
<v Speaker 1>so they'll die back to the ground, but boys.
<v Speaker 2>Quickly you just you just melt it and lilted in place. Wow,
<v Speaker 2>that's amazing.
<v Speaker 1>But just that hardy banana, you would not be able
<v Speaker 1>to do that, like with Cavendish or some of the
<v Speaker 1>other varieties. Stacey Fairy trail green, Cascade Hydrangea right has
<v Speaker 1>got to be on the list.
<v Speaker 2>Definitely a very strong contender for Plants on Trial today.
<v Speaker 2>But and I love that one because like I was
<v Speaker 2>describing with some invincibil sublime, which was plants on Trial,
<v Speaker 2>it has that great marbling, so it's not just like
<v Speaker 2>it's a plain green surface like you know, your average leaf,
<v Speaker 2>but it's multiple greens all kind of mixing and swirling together.
<v Speaker 1>Going back to the allocacias and colocacias, some of them
<v Speaker 1>have a green that is so dark it almost looks black.
<v Speaker 1>Of course, we love coffee cups, and even when you
<v Speaker 1>look at the house plant area zz plants. People love
<v Speaker 1>ZZ plants so easy to care for provided you don't
<v Speaker 1>over water them. And I remember as a buyer for
<v Speaker 1>foliage plants for retail, we would buy a variety called
<v Speaker 1>Raven and that's just it looks black. It looks black,
<v Speaker 1>so that's amazing. And then you go to the other
<v Speaker 1>end of the spectrum with chartruse plants, whether it be
<v Speaker 1>a chartreuse, sweet potato vine, but just really helps add
<v Speaker 1>that full spectrum of green in your monochromatic garden. Stacey,
<v Speaker 1>of course, I'm glad you talked about hydranges because I
<v Speaker 1>love the green on hydrating.
<v Speaker 2>You know, they really are special and there's just something
<v Speaker 2>I think about seeing those vivid, fresh greens with bloom
<v Speaker 2>at the height of summer that just feels refreshing, like
<v Speaker 2>it's like taking a drink of cold water.
<v Speaker 1>You have to have some hellebores. And when we're looking
<v Speaker 1>at Evergreen's Celtic Pride microbiata, I just love that plant.
<v Speaker 1>Tater tot is so popular, Tortuga junipers and stacy. We
<v Speaker 1>have to mention and talk for a moment about boxwoods,
<v Speaker 1>because if you're gonna have a green garden, you're probably
<v Speaker 1>going to have to have some boxwoods like sprinter boxwood
<v Speaker 1>in there.
<v Speaker 2>Boxwoods are the ultimate green choice, and you know, they're
<v Speaker 2>pretty much always appropriate. They always look great, and you know,
<v Speaker 2>some of the older varieties, especially they can do what's
<v Speaker 2>called bronze in the winter, where their foliage will kind
<v Speaker 2>of take on some purply brownish tones. It's totally normal.
<v Speaker 2>It does not mean that they're dying, whereas other varieties
<v Speaker 2>are known to stay really really green in the winter. Stuff.
<v Speaker 2>That's a really important part of your lens escape vision.
<v Speaker 2>You want to make sure you're picking one this day's
<v Speaker 2>green all winter.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Absolutely, Vegetable plants, of course, would have to be incorporated. Cucumbers.
<v Speaker 1>I have a picture of a cucumber trying to escape
<v Speaker 1>the compound this past week, making a getaway.
<v Speaker 2>I think that's in the air right now is the
<v Speaker 2>vegetable garden is at peak. I've got stuff growing out
<v Speaker 2>of the fences in my vegetable garden as well. And yeah,
<v Speaker 2>it has been a great year for cucumbers, that is
<v Speaker 2>for sure.
<v Speaker 1>If you're looking for texture in that green, monochromatic garden.
<v Speaker 1>Of course, I'm a big fan of grasses, but I
<v Speaker 1>want to mention specifically the graceful grass is king tut
<v Speaker 1>or any kind of Egyptian papyrus, or if it's prints,
<v Speaker 1>the shorter version, because not only do you get some
<v Speaker 1>vibrant green, but you get really cool texture too. So
<v Speaker 1>all important kale, mint, sage, dill, bays, sweet peas, peppers,
<v Speaker 1>they all add an ornamental green field to the landscape.
<v Speaker 1>And again, as you're looking at areas of monochromatic green,
<v Speaker 1>there's just this good, healthy, environmental feel that a garden
<v Speaker 1>like that gives. So why not incorporate some edibles.
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, And you know, thinking about basil, and just even
<v Speaker 2>the basil that I have in my garden right now,
<v Speaker 2>I have four or five different types. It's amazing how
<v Speaker 2>different all of the greens are among them. You know,
<v Speaker 2>the thie basil is like a dark, purply green whereas
<v Speaker 2>like the Italian basil is just the classic green. And
<v Speaker 2>you know what I was just saying over the weekend,
<v Speaker 2>my favorite color is August.
<v Speaker 1>Oh.
<v Speaker 2>I like that because of all the greens she got
<v Speaker 2>right now, it's fabulous.
<v Speaker 1>I like that. I'm going to hang on to that.
<v Speaker 1>That's very good. That's very good. And you're right, Stacey again,
<v Speaker 1>all those different shades of green. I was just thinking
<v Speaker 1>about this lady in our neighborhood who makes Thai food,
<v Speaker 1>and I recognized her restaurant and the reason I did.
<v Speaker 1>She's got a long row of five gallon buckets in
<v Speaker 1>front of the restaurant, and she has holes drilled in
<v Speaker 1>the bottom for drainage, and she has all different types
<v Speaker 1>of herbs, mint, and basil in those containers, and it's fabulous.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they're very ornamental. I mean, I love growing basil, but.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you bet. And if you want that really great
<v Speaker 1>green in your landscape, remember sometimes feeding is necessary. Nitrogen, magnesium, iron, sulfur.
<v Speaker 1>Of course, I love lawn fertilizers that use iron and sulfur.
<v Speaker 1>You don't get the fast growth, but they certainly give
<v Speaker 1>you a nice, dark, deep green to the turf iron
<v Speaker 1>deficiency symptoms become more prominent over time, and you'll just
<v Speaker 1>see that veining in the foliage where you have dark
<v Speaker 1>green veins but yellow between the veins. And many times
<v Speaker 1>you know iron deficiency or magnesium deficiency. They kind of
<v Speaker 1>look the same when you have that problem. But be
<v Speaker 1>looking at that and remember, if you're going to apply
<v Speaker 1>some sort of supplement, make sure to take a look
<v Speaker 1>at the pH of the soil because if the pH
<v Speaker 1>is too high, those supplements of iron or magnesium or
<v Speaker 1>sulfur probably aren't going to work. Well, there you go,
<v Speaker 1>we're giving people the green light today we did. This
<v Speaker 1>was loads of fun. Thank you Stacey, thank you Rick,
<v Speaker 1>thank you Adriana, and thanks to all of you who
<v Speaker 1>watch us on YouTube, listen to our radio show version,
<v Speaker 1>or look for us where you find your favorite podcast.
<v Speaker 1>Make sure to do that. Tell your friends and neighbors
<v Speaker 1>have a great week.