Gardening in the North, Gardening in the South

<v Speaker 1>Coming to you from the Iconic Studio a at proven
<v Speaker 1>winners Color Choice Shrubs. It's time for the Gardening Simplified Podcast,
<v Speaker 1>YouTube and radio show with Stacy Hervella me, Rick Weist,
<v Speaker 1>and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson.
<v Speaker 2>Well.
<v Speaker 1>In the US trends and statistics show people are moving
<v Speaker 1>to Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Georgia for domestic migration. The
<v Speaker 1>leaders are by far Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, South Carolina, Tennessee,
<v Speaker 1>and Georgia. And I think they're getting a lot of
<v Speaker 1>people from the bottom three Illinois, New York and California.
<v Speaker 1>I'm going to guess it has less to do with
<v Speaker 1>gardening and more to do with cost of living, winter, climate, taxation,
<v Speaker 1>all those kinds of things. If it's about gardening and
<v Speaker 1>the best year round weather, the top three states arguably
<v Speaker 1>are California, Hawaii, and Florida. Now, Stacy, for me, I
<v Speaker 1>really like a change of seasons, the change of pace.
<v Speaker 1>But it's no wonder that plant breeders more and more
<v Speaker 1>have focused on plants that are heat tolerant versus cold tolerance.
<v Speaker 3>Well, you know, heat tolerance is an issue. There are
<v Speaker 3>many climates, even in the Midwest. I always like to say,
<v Speaker 3>shout out to those people in Missouri. You've kind of
<v Speaker 3>got the worst of both worlds. You get really cold
<v Speaker 3>and it gets really really hot, and I can't imagine
<v Speaker 3>gardening like that. I mean, it sounds like such a challenge.
<v Speaker 3>So even if you live in what would be considered
<v Speaker 3>like a mild or cool climate, you could definitely still
<v Speaker 3>need plants that can easily tolerate you know, periods of
<v Speaker 3>one hundred degree temperatures or more for several days. That's
<v Speaker 3>not uncommon nowadays.
<v Speaker 2>Great point.
<v Speaker 1>Well, we have our issues in the Midwest like snowstorm winters,
<v Speaker 1>road salt, and we have corn sweat in summer. A
<v Speaker 1>lot of people have never heard of corn sweat before,
<v Speaker 1>but when the corn is actively growing and it's transpiring
<v Speaker 1>out in the fields, they say it really pumps out
<v Speaker 1>the humidity in the Midwest and you can feel it
<v Speaker 1>corn sweat.
<v Speaker 3>I've been hearing about that quite a bit lately. Yeah,
<v Speaker 3>although it does not seem to be affecting us as
<v Speaker 3>of late, the temperatures have plunged, has the humidity.
<v Speaker 1>It feels fall like all of a sudden here in Michigan.
<v Speaker 1>But as Alan Armitage told us a few weeks ago,
<v Speaker 1>he said, it's easier to garden in the north than
<v Speaker 1>in the south.
<v Speaker 2>His opinion.
<v Speaker 1>So I thought I'd give us a quick limb a
<v Speaker 1>rick to start us off today. And my limerick is
<v Speaker 1>ballad of a northern transplant. I faced northern winters with accidity,
<v Speaker 1>sold my house. Now I've got liquidity. I learned through
<v Speaker 1>word of mouth to garden, you gotta go south and
<v Speaker 1>put up with the heat and humidity. I long or
<v Speaker 1>a cool, gentle breeze. I'm surrounded by drooping leaves. My
<v Speaker 1>plants aren't the only thing wilting like me. They are
<v Speaker 1>slightly tilting. It feels like a bajillion degrees. And I
<v Speaker 1>put together that limerick for our guest on today's show,
<v Speaker 1>Bri Arthur. She's joining us today on the show. She's
<v Speaker 1>a best selling author and gardening personality. Brie is widely
<v Speaker 1>known for her leadership with the National Foodscape movement, and
<v Speaker 1>she has lively and informative packed presentations. I've attended a
<v Speaker 1>number of them, and with the more than two decades
<v Speaker 1>of professional horticultural experience, she's a long time contributor on
<v Speaker 1>the Emmy award winning PBS television show.
<v Speaker 2>Growing a Greener World.
<v Speaker 1>So if you want to follow Bri as I do,
<v Speaker 1>briegrows dot Com or her social media and YouTube channel
<v Speaker 1>Breathe the Plant. Lady, Bri, thanks for joining us and
<v Speaker 1>the Gardening Simplified Show and helping us with this conundrum
<v Speaker 1>of comparing northern garden with gardening in the South.
<v Speaker 4>Well, thank you for having me. It's always such a
<v Speaker 4>treat that I was having to really not laugh out
<v Speaker 4>loud during your limerick, but it's pretty accurate.
<v Speaker 1>Well, yes, and I stole that phrase from you, Bree,
<v Speaker 1>because I do follow you on YouTube and many times
<v Speaker 1>you'll be standing out there demonstrating something and you'll say
<v Speaker 1>something like it's a bajillion degrees out here, and I
<v Speaker 1>believe you.
<v Speaker 4>You know, We've had a few days where I thought
<v Speaker 4>my skin was going to melt off my body.
<v Speaker 2>Amazing.
<v Speaker 1>Well, we want to get a little help from you
<v Speaker 1>today and we'll be interviewing you in our fourth segment
<v Speaker 1>about this comparison between gardening in the North and South.
<v Speaker 2>Stacy.
<v Speaker 1>We get comments and mail from people on this topic.
<v Speaker 3>Oh yeah, a lot, because because of exactly so you described,
<v Speaker 3>a lot of people are moving, they get a new home,
<v Speaker 3>they're excited to landscape it, and then they find out,
<v Speaker 3>oh my gosh, I can't grow my beloved lilacs, I
<v Speaker 3>can't grow my beloved peonies, and they feel a bit
<v Speaker 3>on moard. I mean, I've I've said it on the
<v Speaker 3>show before, but I cannot tell you how many gardeners
<v Speaker 3>I've heard from who moved to a hot climate and
<v Speaker 3>we're just like, what do you mean, I can't grow lilacs?
<v Speaker 3>Like what is even going on here now? To me,
<v Speaker 3>it is definitely a question of the grass is always
<v Speaker 3>greener on the other side, because I can enumerate a
<v Speaker 3>number of plants that I would love to grow if
<v Speaker 3>I lived in a warmer climate. To me, that would
<v Speaker 3>be a very exciting opportunity. And I don't think I
<v Speaker 3>would miss lilacs one bit. But it's very hard for
<v Speaker 3>people to leave behind what's familiar and learn to face
<v Speaker 3>these challenges, not just in plant selection, but also in
<v Speaker 3>you know, dealing with humidity, dealing with drought, dealing with
<v Speaker 3>prolonged periods of high tempers and especially high night time temperatures.
<v Speaker 1>So, Brie, you recently gave a talk at the J. C.
<v Speaker 1>Ralston Arboretum at North Carolina State, which I believe is
<v Speaker 1>just up the road from you. What I've learned as
<v Speaker 1>a Southern transplant, are we on the right track here?
<v Speaker 4>You are one hundred percent hitting it, and you know
<v Speaker 4>it's I've been here twenty two years. I did move
<v Speaker 4>here for climate. I decided early on I didn't want
<v Speaker 4>to have to do snow removal as part of my
<v Speaker 4>career path. And we have such an influx of Northerners
<v Speaker 4>moving here, and it's really important to have events like
<v Speaker 4>what the Ralston just held to try and educate the
<v Speaker 4>people so that they don't feel this crushing disappointment when
<v Speaker 4>everything that they do sales and it's what they used
<v Speaker 4>to do successfully in other climates. It really is like
<v Speaker 4>moving to a different planet when you come to the South.
<v Speaker 1>Wow, it's that shocking to the system. Well, I noticed,
<v Speaker 1>based on a description of your talk, you said, my
<v Speaker 1>program covers a lot focusing on the importance of soil seasons,
<v Speaker 1>which are dramatically different there plant selections, including annuals and perennials.
<v Speaker 1>You know, when I follow you breed to try to
<v Speaker 1>learn some things, I see you walk up to a
<v Speaker 1>bed saying, well, I want to retro fit this bed
<v Speaker 1>and dig up the plants and change things for next year.
<v Speaker 1>But I'm going to wait until the weather gets cooler
<v Speaker 1>in December. You want to know what I'm doing in December, breath,
<v Speaker 1>I'm shoveling snow.
<v Speaker 4>It's so accurate, you know. And that's the absolute hardest
<v Speaker 4>habit to break. I've recently gone through this with my parents,
<v Speaker 4>who you know, retired from Michigan and relocated to ake
<v Speaker 4>in South Carolina, and five years in and they still
<v Speaker 4>can't break some of the northern habits.
<v Speaker 2>That's fantastic.
<v Speaker 1>Are the plant varieties that you grow in North Carolina,
<v Speaker 1>Brie all that much different from what we grow in Michigan.
<v Speaker 1>You know.
<v Speaker 4>It's not that they're that different, it's their performance might
<v Speaker 4>be very different, or the plants here might not get
<v Speaker 4>as large. Hosses are a great example. We don't have
<v Speaker 4>enough cold till hours. They don't have proper dormancy in
<v Speaker 4>the winter, so they don't get to be the size
<v Speaker 4>of shrubs. In North Carolina. You have in a few years.
<v Speaker 4>And I sort of dwindle away in part because of
<v Speaker 4>deer and fowls and rabbits, but also just because the
<v Speaker 4>ground doesn't freeze, and plants like hosses and peonies, they
<v Speaker 4>appreciate that cold, dormant period that you get in the north.
<v Speaker 1>You know, that's really interesting. Brie on a show a
<v Speaker 1>couple of weeks ago, we had doctor Allan Armitage on
<v Speaker 1>the show, and he of course is from Quebec, Canada,
<v Speaker 1>studied at Michigan State University. But he said gardening is
<v Speaker 1>much easier in the North than the South because up
<v Speaker 1>north the plants are either beautiful or dead one or
<v Speaker 1>the other, whereas in the South they kind of linger
<v Speaker 1>or hang on like your hostas we have.
<v Speaker 4>This you know, hope springs eternal, you never quite know.
<v Speaker 4>I fully agree with Alan, having lived in both climates.
<v Speaker 4>There's also a lot to be said for having that
<v Speaker 4>rest period in the winter where you aren't actively transplanting
<v Speaker 4>things and you know, working in your garden on a
<v Speaker 4>regular basis. Here it's a twelve month cycle. In fact,
<v Speaker 4>I've actually gone so far as to recommend to a
<v Speaker 4>lot of people that they take June, July and August
<v Speaker 4>off from gardening, and they really only garden from September May,
<v Speaker 4>because the summers are becoming less and less enjoyable.
<v Speaker 1>Now that makes a lot of sense. Coming up in
<v Speaker 1>our fourth segment, stick Around, Brie is going to give
<v Speaker 1>us advice on gardening in the South, especially if you're
<v Speaker 1>a transplant from a northern region. This is gonna be
<v Speaker 1>great and we're looking forward to that. In segment four,
<v Speaker 1>coming up next, we'll hear from Stacy in Plants on
<v Speaker 1>Trial how she's going to tie it in this week.
<v Speaker 2>I can't wait.
<v Speaker 1>That's coming up next here on the Gardening Simplified Show.
<v Speaker 3>Prooven Winners Colored Choice Shrubs cares about your success in
<v Speaker 3>the garden. That's why we trial and test all of
<v Speaker 3>our shrubs for eight to ten years, making sure they
<v Speaker 3>outperform everything else on the market. Look for them in
<v Speaker 3>the distinctive white container at your local garden center. Greening's
<v Speaker 3>Gardening friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show,
<v Speaker 3>where the order of the day is the grass is
<v Speaker 3>always greener. On the other side, you know that people
<v Speaker 3>often do think if only I could grow this, I
<v Speaker 3>would be happy, and I feel that. You know the
<v Speaker 3>other day my husband said to me, if you could
<v Speaker 3>grow an avocado tree, would you I was like, two,
<v Speaker 3>I couldn't. You can't give me enough act because if
<v Speaker 3>I could grow an avocado tree, I could grow lemons
<v Speaker 3>and oranges and limes and all of these great things.
<v Speaker 3>But of course all the people who can grow those
<v Speaker 3>things are probably sitting around going, I really wish I
<v Speaker 3>could grow blah blah blah. So whatever wherever you're at, no,
<v Speaker 3>there is always someone who's wishing they could grow what
<v Speaker 3>you take for granted, if that's any comfort whatsoever. I
<v Speaker 3>know for me, I don't know if I'd want a
<v Speaker 3>garden in a humid climate, but definitely like an arid
<v Speaker 3>Californian Mediterranean climate, I think I would be very very happy.
<v Speaker 1>And you know, I love humidity, but I'm strange. Forgive me,
<v Speaker 1>I'm only humid.
<v Speaker 3>Well, you have short hair, so you don't have to
<v Speaker 3>worry about, you know, getting big hair from the humidity
<v Speaker 3>and all that. But you know, obviously we're talking about
<v Speaker 3>temperature and gardening in hot climates versus cold climates. And
<v Speaker 3>I wanted today's plant on trial to be a plant
<v Speaker 3>that is from a warm climate, or is commonly grown
<v Speaker 3>in warm climates, but can actually be grown in cool
<v Speaker 3>climates as well. And I think that with the advent
<v Speaker 3>of the Internet, obviously that's been a while now, but
<v Speaker 3>that it has really changed the way that people think
<v Speaker 3>about a lot of plants, because you know, for many,
<v Speaker 3>many years, garden centers aren't really going out of limb
<v Speaker 3>and saying like, oh, hey, this is a cool plant,
<v Speaker 3>maybe it will survive for you. But now there's all
<v Speaker 3>of these discussion groups and Facebook groups and all of
<v Speaker 3>that where people are sharing their experience and they're starting
<v Speaker 3>to learn that things can be grown that maybe for
<v Speaker 3>many many years it was just assumed that things weren't
<v Speaker 3>as hardy. And one great example of that is crape myrtle.
<v Speaker 2>What a great choice.
<v Speaker 1>I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say
<v Speaker 1>about this because you've shown me crape myrtle in the
<v Speaker 1>garden here and it is stunning.
<v Speaker 3>It is stunning. And you know, I was thinking that
<v Speaker 3>a lot of people from the North when they travel
<v Speaker 3>to the South, they see crape myrtles, but they don't
<v Speaker 3>really understand what's so special about them, because they're not
<v Speaker 3>usually in the South in the summer, and that is
<v Speaker 3>when crate myrtles excel, and so if you're not familiar
<v Speaker 3>with them, they are honestly one of the most floriferous
<v Speaker 3>flowering shrubs or trees, and most of them are trees,
<v Speaker 3>but there are shrubby varieties. In today's plant on trial
<v Speaker 3>is a shrubby crape myrtle. But they are just I mean,
<v Speaker 3>they'll take your breath away. They are just positively covered
<v Speaker 3>in thousands and thousands of super vivid flowers, and I
<v Speaker 3>mean you can't not notice them. They're just they take
<v Speaker 3>all the attention, and they are They also have really
<v Speaker 3>nice bark, so that's another great feature. That's what most
<v Speaker 3>people will notice about them if they are traveling, you
<v Speaker 3>know south in the winters. Beautiful smooth bark. But you know, overall,
<v Speaker 3>their foliage is just kind of there. They do have
<v Speaker 3>good folk color overall, but their foliage is just not
<v Speaker 3>really their strong suit. So there has long been this
<v Speaker 3>desire to have crape myrtles that have more interesting foliage,
<v Speaker 3>and that's where the Center Stage series of crape myrtle
<v Speaker 3>come in. They have black foliage, so I mean really
<v Speaker 3>not kind of purply, it's really quite a true black.
<v Speaker 3>And there are three different colors of the Center Stage
<v Speaker 3>crape myrtles, each one with black foliage. So there's center
<v Speaker 3>stage red, which we've already covered on the show. There's
<v Speaker 3>center stage coral, which is kind of like a light
<v Speaker 3>slightly orange pink, and then center stage pink, which is
<v Speaker 3>today's plant on trial, which has vivid, bright fuchia flowers
<v Speaker 3>that just absolutely pop against that dark black foliage.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, the flowers look fluorescent to me. And whenever I
<v Speaker 1>fly south and get off the airplane and you go
<v Speaker 1>hail a cab, usually that drive out of the airport
<v Speaker 1>is usually lined with crape myrtle.
<v Speaker 3>Yes, you know they And that's that says so much
<v Speaker 3>about how crape myrtles are so easy to grow, they're
<v Speaker 3>so durable because they are extensively used as street trees.
<v Speaker 3>You can go down to New Orleans and they line
<v Speaker 3>the avenues in the parks down there, absolutely on airports,
<v Speaker 3>and they're super popular as a home, you know, landscape
<v Speaker 3>plant as well. Because they're very easy to grow, they
<v Speaker 3>are very durable. As is common in the South, there
<v Speaker 3>are some pests that specifically prey on crape myrtle, some
<v Speaker 3>bark scales just because you don't have that killing frost
<v Speaker 3>that we tend to get up here, but still they
<v Speaker 3>shoulder that burden without problem, and every single year they
<v Speaker 3>just bloom like crazy.
<v Speaker 2>Well, I'm anxious here.
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna jump ahead then, Stacy, because I'm sold on
<v Speaker 1>center stage, pink crape myrtle. Tell me the USDA Hardiness
<v Speaker 1>zone please, right.
<v Speaker 3>So most crape myrtles, for many, many years were thought
<v Speaker 3>only to grow down to USDA Zone seven, okay, but
<v Speaker 3>they actually most of them will easily grow in USDA
<v Speaker 3>Zone six, some not center stage specifically, even down to
<v Speaker 3>USDA Zone five, And so we're really starting to find
<v Speaker 3>out that they are much more cold tolerant now. In
<v Speaker 3>these colder areas, most of these crape myrtles are going
<v Speaker 3>to die back to the ground, especially if you've had
<v Speaker 3>a hard winter. But the thing is they're able to
<v Speaker 3>come right back up despite the fact that they're woody plants.
<v Speaker 3>They come right back up from their roots and grow
<v Speaker 3>and flower because they flower on new woods. So having
<v Speaker 3>that frost die back over winter doesn't It means you
<v Speaker 3>still get all of that great color. And everybody in
<v Speaker 3>your neighborhood is going to be like, oh my gosh,
<v Speaker 3>what is that because they don't even know that they
<v Speaker 3>can grow them in the first place. So we put
<v Speaker 3>USDA Zone six B on center stage. Crape myrtle that
<v Speaker 3>black foliage that makes them so unique and distinctive does
<v Speaker 3>mean that they are a little less hardy than other
<v Speaker 3>green leafed crape myrtles that are out there. So if
<v Speaker 3>you are in zone five five or zone six A
<v Speaker 3>and you want to try a crape myrtle, center stage
<v Speaker 3>would not be the best one to start with. But
<v Speaker 3>if you're in zone six B, as we are here
<v Speaker 3>in West Michigan, we have had great survival. They will
<v Speaker 3>go on to grow and flower even if they dive
<v Speaker 3>back to the ground, which they actually don't do every year.
<v Speaker 3>And again, these are shrubby crape myrtles, So if you're
<v Speaker 3>trying a crate myrtle in a cool climate, you want
<v Speaker 3>to go for these shrubby types rather than the tree types,
<v Speaker 3>because the tree types will never be able to form
<v Speaker 3>that trunk and grow into that tree. But the shrubby types,
<v Speaker 3>they're multi stemmed, they are the ones that are more
<v Speaker 3>capable of regenerating after really really harsh weather. In Center
<v Speaker 3>stage is definitely one of those. Now, one of the
<v Speaker 3>things that I think is really interesting about crate myrtles
<v Speaker 3>When you see them, all you see is the color
<v Speaker 3>and you just see this big, massive flowers. But when
<v Speaker 3>you kind of zoom in, so to speak, and look
<v Speaker 3>at an individual flower, they are so unique and so
<v Speaker 3>intricate you really kind of can't believe your eyes when
<v Speaker 3>you're actually looking at an individual flower. And these are
<v Speaker 3>in the Lithraci family, so that is the loose strife family. Now,
<v Speaker 3>don't panic. I know most people are going to a
<v Speaker 3>panic when they hear that, especially in the Midwest, because
<v Speaker 3>purple lue strife is such a terrible invasive plant for us.
<v Speaker 3>But just because they're related does not mean they're a problem.
<v Speaker 3>Crape myrtles very rarely set seed and grow even in
<v Speaker 3>hot climates where they would be perfectly at home, so
<v Speaker 3>you don't have to worry about this spreading. But it's
<v Speaker 3>actually a pretty interesting plant family. So when you look
<v Speaker 3>at this flower, of course, it's the flowers that group
<v Speaker 3>plants into families. It is related to pomegranate, so pomegranate
<v Speaker 3>is also in the lithrace as is another invasive but
<v Speaker 3>very interesting plant, the water caltrop Trepa newtens, which is
<v Speaker 3>an aquatic plant. It was very common in the Hudson
<v Speaker 3>River in New York, and they make these really cool
<v Speaker 3>seeds they're kind of charcoally black. They're really fun to
<v Speaker 3>play with. Also in that same family, so it's kind
<v Speaker 3>of a really unusual mix of plants. And when you
<v Speaker 3>look at the flowers of all of them. I know,
<v Speaker 3>I was reading the Wikipedia page on the THREEC today
<v Speaker 3>and it said the petals often appear crumpled, and that
<v Speaker 3>is kind of actually the case. And it's really cool
<v Speaker 3>to see the crape myrtle flowers come. The way that
<v Speaker 3>they are arranged in the bud and the way that
<v Speaker 3>they open. It's just a really really unique plant. And
<v Speaker 3>because this is a shrubby variety, the center stage series
<v Speaker 3>is they're going to be down there where you can
<v Speaker 3>actually see them because in those large trees like that
<v Speaker 3>they use for street trees in the South, you don't
<v Speaker 3>get to engage with the flowers because they're usually pretty
<v Speaker 3>high up on the tree. So these shrubby ones allow
<v Speaker 3>you to get up close to really enjoy how unique
<v Speaker 3>they are. And will of course have pictures of those
<v Speaker 3>in the show notes at Gardening Simplified on Air dot
<v Speaker 3>Com as well as in the YouTube version. If you
<v Speaker 3>are watching that, you'll see what I mean with these
<v Speaker 3>really really unique flowers. Now we did. The Center Stage
<v Speaker 3>series was developed by Megan Mattai, our breeder here at
<v Speaker 3>Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs, who has been on the
<v Speaker 3>show before, and she spent a lot of time developing
<v Speaker 3>these because she we needed them to be powdery mildew resistant,
<v Speaker 3>and any other black foliage crape myrtles that have been
<v Speaker 3>on the market previously were susceptible to powdery mildew. This
<v Speaker 3>is something that's not uncommon for black foliage plants. Whether
<v Speaker 3>it is that they are more susceptible in and of themselves,
<v Speaker 3>or just that the powdery mildew really stands out on
<v Speaker 3>that dark foliage, or a combination of both. I don't know,
<v Speaker 3>but it was really important that these varieties be very,
<v Speaker 3>very resistant to powdery mildew. So if you want to
<v Speaker 3>try it, they are disease resistant, but you are going
<v Speaker 3>to want to put them in full sun, so at
<v Speaker 3>least six hours of bright sun every day.
<v Speaker 2>Full sun. Are they drought resistant?
<v Speaker 3>They are going to be very drought tolerant once they
<v Speaker 3>are established. Of course, it's always you know, you got
<v Speaker 3>to get them there, make sure they get that good
<v Speaker 3>root system down. But yeah, I mean that's why they're
<v Speaker 3>able to grow as urban street trees because they can
<v Speaker 3>withstand long periods of drought.
<v Speaker 1>It's fascinating information, Stacy. I thought the water coltrup was
<v Speaker 1>an Olympic sporting event, so I wrote it down here
<v Speaker 1>and I'm going to look that up.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, look at it's a quite interesting plant and you
<v Speaker 3>will never suspect it's related to today's plan on trial
<v Speaker 3>center stage pink crape myrtle. So we're going to take
<v Speaker 3>a little break right now and when we come back
<v Speaker 3>and open up that garden mailed eggs, so please stay
<v Speaker 3>tuned at proven winner's color choice. We've got a shrub
<v Speaker 3>for every taste and every space. Whether you're looking for
<v Speaker 3>an easy care rose and unforgettable hydrangea, or something new
<v Speaker 3>and unique, you can be confident that the shrubs and
<v Speaker 3>the white containers have been trialed and tested for your success.
<v Speaker 3>Look for them at your local garden center. Greetings, gardening friends,
<v Speaker 3>and welcome come back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where
<v Speaker 3>it's our time to help you in the garden. And
<v Speaker 3>of course, as fall is coming, people have so many questions.
<v Speaker 3>What do I do? What don't I do? And remember
<v Speaker 3>the answer is always winning out. Don't just don't wait
<v Speaker 3>until you know what to do to make a decision.
<v Speaker 3>It's a lot easier to correct something you didn't do
<v Speaker 3>usually than something that you shouldn't have done and did,
<v Speaker 3>if that makes any sense. But we've all been there,
<v Speaker 3>not just for gardening, but especially for gardenings. This is
<v Speaker 3>how gardening informs every aspect of life. The things you
<v Speaker 3>learn at growing plants can can make can make a
<v Speaker 3>difference in all aspects of your life. But if you
<v Speaker 3>do have a question, you are most welcome to reach
<v Speaker 3>out to us at help HLP, at Gardenings Simplified on
<v Speaker 3>air dot com, or just visit Gardening Simplified on air
<v Speaker 3>dot com. We've got a contact form there, and you
<v Speaker 3>can even ask us a question on YouTube by leaving
<v Speaker 3>a comment and we'll make sure that we get back
<v Speaker 3>to you if you have a question there. And what
<v Speaker 3>do we got in the mail bag today?
<v Speaker 1>Well sage advice there, Stacey and I agree fall fabulous
<v Speaker 1>time to be out there gardening. Karma writes, does zucchini
<v Speaker 1>have a short life cycle? I planted six zucchini.
<v Speaker 2>You think I'm.
<v Speaker 1>Crazy, but I have had horrible squash vine borer kills
<v Speaker 1>so many, so I planted a lot. To my surprise,
<v Speaker 1>all lived and I supplied my neighborhood for a few weeks.
<v Speaker 1>Then out of nowhere, approximately second week in August, four
<v Speaker 1>of them stop producing turned yellow.
<v Speaker 2>I just took these pictures.
<v Speaker 1>They aren't dead. What do you think happened? I live
<v Speaker 1>in zone five.
<v Speaker 2>Bet Okay.
<v Speaker 3>So she goes on to say a master gardener in
<v Speaker 3>Utah said, we don't have squash vine borer in Utah
<v Speaker 3>yet when I've seen a little moth that has the
<v Speaker 3>same coloring as a squash vine borer, a moth, a
<v Speaker 3>pumpkin or zucchini Wilson dies with in days, is the
<v Speaker 3>squash vine bor this far west or not?
<v Speaker 4>So?
<v Speaker 3>Karma? I want you to know that I feel your pain,
<v Speaker 3>because you know when people make those jokes about you know,
<v Speaker 3>national sneak zukin me onto your neighbor's porch. Don't leave
<v Speaker 3>your car unlocked or it's going to be full of zucchini.
<v Speaker 3>I have had a similar experience to you, where I
<v Speaker 3>always get squash vine bor, and I'm very jealous of
<v Speaker 3>all these people who have more zucchini than they can
<v Speaker 3>handle because my plants and you know, here in Michigan,
<v Speaker 3>the squash vine borer hits just as they start producing,
<v Speaker 3>so you don't even get like a little bit before
<v Speaker 3>they destroy the plant. If you're not familiar with this,
<v Speaker 3>it is a moth larva. So the little caterpillar they
<v Speaker 3>lay the eggs, it goes into the squash vine and
<v Speaker 3>it actually lives in those hollow stems, and it makes
<v Speaker 3>its way down into the main stem of the plant
<v Speaker 3>and can actually completely detach the plant from its roots,
<v Speaker 3>in which case, of course, it doesn't produce anymore. So
<v Speaker 3>good anya to not have that problem this year. I
<v Speaker 3>actually did have a successful zucchini harvest this year, and
<v Speaker 3>one of the reasons why, I think, is because I
<v Speaker 3>planted it much later than I usually do, so instead
<v Speaker 3>of planting, you know, in May when most people are
<v Speaker 3>planting zucchini, just because my garden wasn't ready and we
<v Speaker 3>were doing so much work in the yard, I didn't
<v Speaker 3>plan until about the second week of June, and so
<v Speaker 3>my zucchini harvest is actually just coming in now. But
<v Speaker 3>I think I kind of missed that crime squash for
<v Speaker 3>you know time. So Karma for your first question, Yes,
<v Speaker 3>zucchini absolutely does have a short life cycle. It's nothing
<v Speaker 3>that you're doing. It's not like you can keep watering
<v Speaker 3>it or do something special to it to keep it growing.
<v Speaker 3>It fruits. It's done. That's just how it is. And
<v Speaker 3>if you want a continuous harvest of zucchini, the best
<v Speaker 3>thing you can do is to continue to sow the
<v Speaker 3>zucchini seeds through the season. So what you would do
<v Speaker 3>is go ahead and make that first sewing, you know,
<v Speaker 3>in early May, and then three to you know, four
<v Speaker 3>or five weeks later, make a second sewing of zucchini,
<v Speaker 3>and you can even probably do a third one three
<v Speaker 3>to four weeks after that because it will you'll see
<v Speaker 3>how many days takes from germination on your seed packet.
<v Speaker 3>It will usually say like fifty four days, and that
<v Speaker 3>will be you know, roughly when you can harvest after germination,
<v Speaker 3>so you can kind of do the math based on
<v Speaker 3>your season. But yeah, that's that's just the way that
<v Speaker 3>zucchini is. But now, I did research about squash vine
<v Speaker 3>bore in Utah, and it is true that it is
<v Speaker 3>primarily a pest in the eastern half of the US
<v Speaker 3>and Canada. However, I did read that the squash vine
<v Speaker 3>bore is found in Mexico and Utah is not like
<v Speaker 3>right next door to Mexico, but it's not far and
<v Speaker 3>moths get around, so I don't think it's inconceivable for
<v Speaker 3>squash vine bore to be present in your area. But
<v Speaker 3>as I was researching this, I also discovered that there
<v Speaker 3>are relatives of squash vine boor with very delightful names
<v Speaker 3>pickle worm. Do you ever have a picklewormickle? Pickleworm?
<v Speaker 2>When the relatives come over, it's trouble.
<v Speaker 3>And this is so pickleworm. Pickleworm is a relative of
<v Speaker 3>the squash vine board and now it does prey primarily
<v Speaker 3>on cucumbers, but because cucumbers are closely related to squash,
<v Speaker 3>it can prey on squash and melon worm, which again,
<v Speaker 3>like the pickleworm, primarily a predator of melons, but can
<v Speaker 3>absolutely grow on squash, and those are found out west.
<v Speaker 3>So it is possible that what you're seeing is a relative,
<v Speaker 3>or it's also possible that you do indeed have squash
<v Speaker 3>vine or it sounds like from everything you describe, that's
<v Speaker 3>what the problem is. But from the photos that you sent, yeah,
<v Speaker 3>these plants are just they've you know, outlived their usefulness
<v Speaker 3>and they just go dormant. And you can use that
<v Speaker 3>as an opportunity to plant a fall crop, either of
<v Speaker 3>squash or of greens, lettuces, carrots, radishes. There's lots of
<v Speaker 3>different ways that you can then transform that space into
<v Speaker 3>a fall crop to extend your season and gets you
<v Speaker 3>a little bit more to harvest.
<v Speaker 1>And Karma says that she lives in Zone five B.
<v Speaker 1>I can tell you from experience that when I gets
<v Speaker 1>hot and humid in summer, any of the q kurbets
<v Speaker 1>are also going to struggle with downy mildew or powdery mildew.
<v Speaker 1>Something to watch for too. All of these types of
<v Speaker 1>things Stacey can cause some wilt in short order.
<v Speaker 3>Yes, definitely. They are very disease prone plants. I have
<v Speaker 3>to confess I'm growing them right now. Both my zucchini
<v Speaker 3>and cucumbers have disease. I'm just living with it.
<v Speaker 2>Mine does too.
<v Speaker 1>Joe Anne writes, I'm a listener to the podcast learning
<v Speaker 1>so much. Thank you well, thank you, Joeanne. And I'm
<v Speaker 1>writing to ask for pruning advice. I have a winecraft
<v Speaker 1>black smoke bush on its leap year. First year sleep,
<v Speaker 1>second year creeps, third year leaps and it did some
<v Speaker 1>funky wild growing. It's sent off tall branches that are
<v Speaker 1>bare until the top where there is a poor of
<v Speaker 1>there is a poor of small branches and leaves. It
<v Speaker 1>looks ridiculous and it's top heavy and bends down in
<v Speaker 1>the rain. My instinct is to cut the long branches off,
<v Speaker 1>but I'm not sure where all right.
<v Speaker 3>So, smoke bush in general, whether it's winecraft black or
<v Speaker 3>royal purple or one of the other many varieties that
<v Speaker 3>are out there, they just do weird things. It is
<v Speaker 3>just an inherent quality that this plant has. They have
<v Speaker 3>some very unusual growth. And particularly no Joanne didn't say,
<v Speaker 3>but particularly if these are plants that you purchased mail
<v Speaker 3>order and there you started with a very small plant,
<v Speaker 3>you're gonna have to do some heavy pruning on them
<v Speaker 3>to try to get them into shape. Now, the good
<v Speaker 3>news is that after they kind of go through this
<v Speaker 3>like awkward teenage phase, you know, roughly in years two
<v Speaker 3>to five they're done like they then they will grow
<v Speaker 3>normal and you won't get this wild and crazy. I
<v Speaker 3>don't even know how to explain it, like pom pom
<v Speaker 3>like growths, funky funky fireworks. Yeah, they're funky, So yes,
<v Speaker 3>I would say go ahead and prune them. You can
<v Speaker 3>prune them any time. At this point it's you know,
<v Speaker 3>it's September. I would probably wait until they are dormant
<v Speaker 3>to prune, just so that they can take in the
<v Speaker 3>energy in the foliage that's on the plant right now,
<v Speaker 3>and then you can pretty much prune it wherever you want,
<v Speaker 3>based on what you want the plant to look like.
<v Speaker 3>So that might mean that you take off that funky
<v Speaker 3>spray of growth and prune below that. It might mean
<v Speaker 3>that you prune off all but one of the branches
<v Speaker 3>in that funky spray of growth to try to get
<v Speaker 3>it to do what you want it to do. Some
<v Speaker 3>people like to grow smoke bush as a multi stem shrub,
<v Speaker 3>some people like to grow it as a small tree.
<v Speaker 3>So it all depends on what your goals are for it.
<v Speaker 3>Just know that wherever you you know, if you cut
<v Speaker 3>off that spray of branches, it is going to branch,
<v Speaker 3>but those branches will then be within the plant. So
<v Speaker 3>whenever this happens, you can feel free to prune it again.
<v Speaker 3>At this point, let the plant take in that energy.
<v Speaker 3>It's just the best practices kind of thing to do.
<v Speaker 3>But then you go ahead and prune it. And we
<v Speaker 3>have a video of a deal with this funny habit
<v Speaker 3>of all smoke bushes. And I will link that in
<v Speaker 3>the show notes for you, Joan, so you can read
<v Speaker 3>and see how we recommend dealing with it.
<v Speaker 1>Tammy writes to us, my elderly parents take great pride
<v Speaker 1>in their lawn care. They're currently using a service to
<v Speaker 1>try and control weeds and dandelions. It's become a cost
<v Speaker 1>burden to them. Is there something out there, tried and
<v Speaker 1>true that you can recommend for weed control that won't
<v Speaker 1>harm the grass? And I say yes, a multitude of things.
<v Speaker 1>Number One, raise the deck on the lawnmower. You raise
<v Speaker 1>the deck on the lawnmower to the top heyth, you
<v Speaker 1>will naturally control weeds in your yard. Also, be out
<v Speaker 1>there in the fall, feeding it and taking care of weeds.
<v Speaker 1>Fall is the best time of the year for control,
<v Speaker 1>and you're going to find comes spring you'll have far
<v Speaker 1>less weeds if you pay attention to it in fall.
<v Speaker 1>And then, Stacey, I'm a big proponent for corn gluten
<v Speaker 1>on the lawn. I think it makes for a great
<v Speaker 1>fertilizer and also is a great weed preventative. It doesn't
<v Speaker 1>kill weeds, but it keeps weed seed from Germany.
<v Speaker 3>Right, and that will go out down in the spring.
<v Speaker 3>The corn gluten meal would go down in the spring.
<v Speaker 3>You know, I think the key. You know, those are
<v Speaker 3>all great advice. You can also use a pre emergent
<v Speaker 3>herbicide to prevent seeds from germinating, but of course then
<v Speaker 3>you need to know if you're dealing with perennial weeds
<v Speaker 3>or annual weeds. So it does take a little bit
<v Speaker 3>of research to figure this out and plan what you
<v Speaker 3>can do, but it's absolutely within the realm of do
<v Speaker 3>it yourself. The other thing I would recommend is keep
<v Speaker 3>that lawn growing vigorously, and it sounds like if it's a
<v Speaker 3>point of pride for them, fertilize it, water it, and
<v Speaker 3>the more thick and dense and vigorous your lawn is,
<v Speaker 3>the better it can outcompete any weeds that attempt to
<v Speaker 3>grow in that beautiful, lush carpet.
<v Speaker 2>Agree and raise that deck.
<v Speaker 3>And raise the deck. So some easy things that you
<v Speaker 3>can do to hopefully keep the green lawn that they
<v Speaker 3>love and a little bit more green in their pockets.
<v Speaker 3>So thank you all so much for your questions. We're
<v Speaker 3>going to take a little break and when we come
<v Speaker 3>back We're going to have a conversation with Arthur about
<v Speaker 3>gardening in the South, so please stay tuned. The Gardening
<v Speaker 3>Simplified Show is brought to you by Proven Winners, Color
<v Speaker 3>Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs and evergreens have
<v Speaker 3>been trialed and tested for your success so you enjoy
<v Speaker 3>more beauty and less work. Look for Proven Winners, Color
<v Speaker 3>Choice Shrubs and the distinctive white container at your local
<v Speaker 3>garden center.
<v Speaker 1>Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. It's time for
<v Speaker 1>branching news and on today's show. As we mentioned in
<v Speaker 1>the first segment in interview with Brie Arthur, now many
<v Speaker 1>of you know of her as Breathe the Plant Lady.
<v Speaker 1>Make sure to check out her YouTube channel, social media
<v Speaker 1>and also go to bregrows dot com. She is an
<v Speaker 1>author and just a wonderful personality who really promotes this
<v Speaker 1>thing we love called gardening. And of course, Brie, you
<v Speaker 1>used to live in Michigan, correct?
<v Speaker 4>Did I grew up in Monroe also known as fun Row.
<v Speaker 4>It's spent a lot of time at Michigan State as
<v Speaker 4>a foe Atuerat owed all the four hs for introducing
<v Speaker 4>me to horticulture and Michigan is just such a special
<v Speaker 4>place for agriculture, but specifically for ornamental horticulture. It's really
<v Speaker 4>the state that leads the industry. It's really remarkable.
<v Speaker 1>Well, let's give some pointers to our southern gardeners here.
<v Speaker 1>You you moved from Michigan to the well just south
<v Speaker 1>of the Raleigh area, I believe, in North Carolina.
<v Speaker 2>Let's start with soil.
<v Speaker 1>What struck you as far as the soil is concerned,
<v Speaker 1>and what are your recommendations for southern gardeners.
<v Speaker 4>Well, soil is the key to everything. And the biggest
<v Speaker 4>disadvantage that Southern gardeners have is the fact that the
<v Speaker 4>ground doesn't free and we get a lot of precipitation
<v Speaker 4>in the winter and all all of your good organic
<v Speaker 4>matter literally flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
<v Speaker 1>Wow.
<v Speaker 4>So the number one thing as a gardener in the
<v Speaker 4>South that you have to sort of adjust psychologically to
<v Speaker 4>is the fact that you're never going to be finished
<v Speaker 4>with soil prep. Every single year you need to add
<v Speaker 4>more organic matter, particularly those fallen leaves that nature provides us.
<v Speaker 4>You know, instead of blowing them away or raking them
<v Speaker 4>or burning them, leave them in your beds. They are
<v Speaker 4>there for a reason. And in the South in particular,
<v Speaker 4>that is the fastest way to improve the ground that
<v Speaker 4>you grow in. Now I find that leaves aren't quite enough,
<v Speaker 4>you probably are still going to have to bring in
<v Speaker 4>some off site substrate, especially if you're living in a
<v Speaker 4>new subdivision where the builder has essentially scraped away anything
<v Speaker 4>that might have been quality soil that's now that it's
<v Speaker 4>sold to stop soil and has left you with something
<v Speaker 4>that might be like the surface of Mars and heavily compacted.
<v Speaker 4>It doesn't absorb water. Usually, it's hydrophobic, and it's a
<v Speaker 4>nightmare to try to dig in, and you know, the
<v Speaker 4>sooner that you can, you know, include organic matter into that.
<v Speaker 4>And then my next recommendation for soil improvement is spending
<v Speaker 4>just a few dollars on some really easy cover crops,
<v Speaker 4>things like di conrads, crimson clover, buckwheat. You know, these
<v Speaker 4>are plants that have more traditional roots literally and agriculture,
<v Speaker 4>but work really quickly to improve hard pan clay, which
<v Speaker 4>is typically what people in the South are dealing with.
<v Speaker 4>And in one rotation with those cover crops, you'll see
<v Speaker 4>an incredible improvement in the porosity and again the retention
<v Speaker 4>of organic matter so that you can start to build
<v Speaker 4>beds and successfully grow plants.
<v Speaker 1>That's a well grounded advice. What about the seasons, how
<v Speaker 1>do you take advantage of the seasons being different than
<v Speaker 1>what we experience here in the north. November December important
<v Speaker 1>months to be in the garden.
<v Speaker 4>I would say, you don't plant anything in any time
<v Speaker 4>before November, and it's so counterintuitive. You know, we often
<v Speaker 4>don't have our first killing frost and filled Thanksgiving wow,
<v Speaker 4>and you know, just to give you a reference of
<v Speaker 4>how different the climate is, and you really don't want
<v Speaker 4>to be putting in, particularly woody plants, trees and shrubs
<v Speaker 4>that are in larger sized pops three gallon, five gallon,
<v Speaker 4>seven gallon and larger, you don't want to install those
<v Speaker 4>in the ground anytime before we've started having regular frosts.
<v Speaker 4>And so we always say, you know, fall and winter
<v Speaker 4>are for planting. Summer is just for barely getting by.
<v Speaker 4>And it's the truth, because if you get your shrubs
<v Speaker 4>and trees planted in late autumn early winter, they're much
<v Speaker 4>easier to get established. They're still going to have to
<v Speaker 4>give supplemental water through the spring and summer during that
<v Speaker 4>first year, but far less than if you were to
<v Speaker 4>wait until you know April or May, or god forbid June,
<v Speaker 4>really don't ever plant anything larger than a one ballon
<v Speaker 4>in the South after May.
<v Speaker 3>Now, bri just so our listeners have context, you are
<v Speaker 3>in the Raleigh Durham area of North Carolina, right, I am, okay?
<v Speaker 3>And what usc heartiness zone are you considered now?
<v Speaker 4>So with the recent change, we have now graduated to
<v Speaker 4>zone eight. Okay, I don't trust it. I think, like
<v Speaker 4>a lot of people are saying now, the zone map
<v Speaker 4>that the East Coast uses in contrast to the sun
<v Speaker 4>that map out west doesn't really take into account all
<v Speaker 4>of the climactic information that we probably need to be
<v Speaker 4>thinking about. Average cold temperature is one set of data.
<v Speaker 4>But you know, it doesn't mean that we now can
<v Speaker 4>just without hesitation plant things that were always that are
<v Speaker 4>that are from the zone eight because establishment is so complicated.
<v Speaker 4>We all have that holiday for you since two years
<v Speaker 4>ago that really wiped out a huge portion of the
<v Speaker 4>South with you know, tons of broadly evergreens that have
<v Speaker 4>been in the ground thirty years and died to the
<v Speaker 4>ground or died all together. And we're all very sensitive
<v Speaker 4>now to the temperature fluctuation that the South is experiencing.
<v Speaker 4>And so I worry now with the zone map that
<v Speaker 4>it doesn't take into consideration enough information, and especially for
<v Speaker 4>people in the North who are pretty used to knowing
<v Speaker 4>like zone five is. That's sort of what our entire
<v Speaker 4>gardening perspective is based off of, Like all of the
<v Speaker 4>information on plant tags kind of revolving around zone five.
<v Speaker 4>You know, I grew up with a zone five mafia.
<v Speaker 4>It's quite accurate.
<v Speaker 2>Oh that's great.
<v Speaker 4>You know, here in the South, I think the bigger
<v Speaker 4>challenge with figuring out plant establishment is just how unpredictable
<v Speaker 4>the weather patterns can be through the winter season. You know,
<v Speaker 4>we can be seventy degrees and then suddenly go to
<v Speaker 4>fifteen degrees within eight hours, and the plants aren't harden off,
<v Speaker 4>and that's really what causes so much damage. So at
<v Speaker 4>Saint gardening is not for the saint of heart. When
<v Speaker 4>you move to the South, you actually have to develop
<v Speaker 4>bicker skins, you.
<v Speaker 2>Know, Brie.
<v Speaker 1>I've always told people there are three types of people
<v Speaker 1>in the world. Those who make things happen, those who
<v Speaker 1>watch things happen, and those who wonder what in the
<v Speaker 1>world just happened? And that's what we're dealing with. As
<v Speaker 1>far as these weather patterns are concerned. It sounds like
<v Speaker 1>you have to be as creative in the South as
<v Speaker 1>we have to be in the north. As a matter
<v Speaker 1>of fact, Stacey, I watched with interest Bree in one
<v Speaker 1>hundred degree weather picking up one of her favorite things,
<v Speaker 1>cattle fence panels from Tractor Supply and using them in
<v Speaker 1>her landscape, not only for deer control, but also to
<v Speaker 1>create these really neat arches to grow your plants on.
<v Speaker 4>I'm addicted to galvanized steel. It doesn't us and the
<v Speaker 4>termites don't eat it, you know. I always tell people like,
<v Speaker 4>if you want to start with raised head gardening, like
<v Speaker 4>maybe buya a like a feed tank, a galvanized speed
<v Speaker 4>tank from Tractors Supply. It won't disappear into your time
<v Speaker 4>from those horrible termites that are everywhere that you look.
<v Speaker 4>And I have realized that I have a real affinity
<v Speaker 4>for things that I don't have to replace with regularity.
<v Speaker 1>I hope Tractor Supply is paying you royalties for these commercials.
<v Speaker 4>You know they aren't, But I have to say I
<v Speaker 4>do appreciate that they're located everywhere, so it's advice that
<v Speaker 4>everyone can take.
<v Speaker 1>For our Southern gardeners. Down south, I see castor bean
<v Speaker 1>plants growing as big as your house.
<v Speaker 2>I see egg.
<v Speaker 1>Plant taller than I am amazing. Do you have to
<v Speaker 1>become a good pruner or make sure that you understand
<v Speaker 1>good pruning practices if you're living in the South.
<v Speaker 4>I would say yes and no. With regard to vegetables,
<v Speaker 4>we have a rule here tomato cages are for peppers
<v Speaker 4>and eggplants, and tomatoes need cattle panels because they grow
<v Speaker 4>so much bigger, often fifteen twenty foot tall. You know,
<v Speaker 4>we have an April to November frost free season and
<v Speaker 4>these vegetables grow that whole time. And then with pruning,
<v Speaker 4>you know, particularly with shrubs, it's really important to look
<v Speaker 4>and get information from local experts or local garden center
<v Speaker 4>because you can't in the South always trust the information
<v Speaker 4>that's on that plant tag.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I mean we you know, we do plant tags,
<v Speaker 3>and they're supposed to go all over the country, So
<v Speaker 3>we do very much rely on local garden centers to
<v Speaker 3>provide that specific information and that specific local insight. And
<v Speaker 3>that's the value really of shopping locally. Is it's not
<v Speaker 3>just that the plants probably didn't go as far and
<v Speaker 3>all of that. But like that, local advice becomes more
<v Speaker 3>and more important the less confident you are gardening there.
<v Speaker 4>That is exactly true, and you'll better be able to
<v Speaker 4>understand where you should put the plants so then you
<v Speaker 4>don't have to do excessive amounts of pruning. Let's face it,
<v Speaker 4>watching something bloom and grow is more enjoyable than cutting
<v Speaker 4>it down.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, all right, sure for our listeners, we've got just
<v Speaker 1>a couple moments left here, Brie, can you share a
<v Speaker 1>few plants that maybe struck you as being great plants
<v Speaker 1>to use if you're in the south, particularly if you're
<v Speaker 1>somebody who used the garden in the north now you've moved.
<v Speaker 2>To the south.
<v Speaker 1>What are three really good winners you should make sure
<v Speaker 1>to have in your landscape.
<v Speaker 4>Oh I love this question so much. Okay, without hesitation,
<v Speaker 4>if you are addicted to lilac, you have to grow
<v Speaker 4>osmansis fragrance. Honestly, it's the plant that can justify the heat.
<v Speaker 4>When osmanthis fragrance starts to bloom, which is starting to
<v Speaker 4>right now, your whole life and perspective will change. It
<v Speaker 4>is truly the most magnificent plant. And then, of course,
<v Speaker 4>because I'm a camellia lady and I did not grow
<v Speaker 4>up with camelias, I was introduced to them upon moving
<v Speaker 4>to the South. You know, there are over twenty five
<v Speaker 4>thousand registered Chamelia japonica over three hundred species of camellias.
<v Speaker 4>You live in a warm climate, camellias are your best
<v Speaker 4>option for residential screening that you will also get fabulous
<v Speaker 4>flowers from all winter long. And then one other absolute
<v Speaker 4>favorite beam of sunshine, ultra fragrant, wonderful plant that brings
<v Speaker 4>you joy in January, edgeworthy of crysantha. And truly these
<v Speaker 4>are three taxa that justify what we live through in
<v Speaker 4>the summer, because when these plants bloom in the winter,
<v Speaker 4>you forget about how hot July in August are.
<v Speaker 3>Well, those are definitely three plants that I personally would
<v Speaker 3>love to grow. Despite the fact that I've been a
<v Speaker 3>lifelong northern gardener. Cameilias are something that I could just
<v Speaker 3>go bananas for. I could just fill my entire yard
<v Speaker 3>with them. I'm crazy about them. So I am glad
<v Speaker 3>to hear that you are taking full advantage of the
<v Speaker 3>opportunities in North Carolina to and osmanthis, Oh my gosh,
<v Speaker 3>just love it.
<v Speaker 2>Well.
<v Speaker 1>You can follow breeze gardening journey through her website bree
<v Speaker 1>grows dot com so that's Burie grows dot com, or
<v Speaker 1>her social media her YouTube channel Breath the Plant Lady.
<v Speaker 1>Bree always a joy and a pleasure to talk to you.
<v Speaker 1>Thank you for everything you do for the gardening industry
<v Speaker 1>that we love and all the encouragement you give to people.
<v Speaker 1>And thanks for joining us on the Gardening Simplified Show.
<v Speaker 4>You are so welcome. Thank you for having me.
<v Speaker 3>Well, that was enlightening and inspiring. I don't think I'm
<v Speaker 3>going to be moving to the South anytime soon, but
<v Speaker 3>if I do, it's good to know what I need
<v Speaker 3>to know to make sure that I am as successful
<v Speaker 3>in gardening is as enjoyable as it is here. So
<v Speaker 3>thank you so much to Brief for your time and
<v Speaker 3>all that great insight. Thank you Rick, thank you Adriana,
<v Speaker 3>and as always, thanks to all of you for listening.
<v Speaker 3>Hope you have a wonderful week.
<v Speaker 1>Ad