Making It Grow is brought to you in part by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.

Certified South Carolina Grown helps consumers identify, find and buy South Carolina products.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 22 varieties of peaches.

Additional funding provided by International Paper and the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau insurance.

♪ opening music ♪ ♪ <Amanda> Well, good evening, and welcome to Making It Grow.

We're so glad that you can join us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension.

And I get to come over here on Tuesdays with people who always give me the most fascinating continuing education.

It's just such a treat to be with these smart people, starting with Terasa Lott, who is the head of the Master Gardener program for Clemson.

And so kindly comes over and helps us out with many things, including putting up an image I think all the time on Facebook.

<Terasa> I do try to keep the Making It Grow Facebook page up to date so people will come and visit our page frequently.

And I agree with what you said about continuing education.

I think as extension professionals, we should be learning something new every day.

<Amanda> And this is a good place to do it, isn't it?

<Terasa> It sure is.

<Amanda> We have fun while we're doing it.

And then, Christopher Burtt, you are down in three counties doing a lot of things.

Tell us where you are.

<Christopher> That is correct.

I'm in Berkley, Dorchester in Charleston County.

Some of the fastest growing areas in the state.

<Amanda> Yep, yep.

And, but you yourself are in a nice place.

I think I like your town.

<Christopher> Yes.

I live in Moncks Corner, which is the heart of Berkeley County.

Yeah.

<Amanda> And, um, you and I were down there for the canal, The old Santee Canal State Park.

Isn't that a lovely place to visit?

<Christopher> Absolutely gorgeous and very reasonably priced.

<Amanda> Yeah, that's always fun, isn't?

Okay.

Carmen Ketron you too have multiple hats with county names on him, I believe is the horticulture agent.

<Carmen> Yes, I serve as Darlington and Florence right now.

<Amanda> And, and I want to tell you again, when we were at the funeral for our dear friend, Tony, your flowers were so lovely and beautiful.

Thank you for sharing your abilities to make that a special day for all of us who can come.

<Carmen> Thank you anything for Tony.

<Amanda> I know, I know.

Yep.

And then Herrick Brown, we're so thrilled to have you here because you are, now that John Nelson officially says he's retired, the curator at the A.C. Moore Herbarium at the University of South Carolina.

<Herrick> That's right, yeah, I filled those shoes, I guess.

August of 2019.

And it's a lot of work to be done, but I'm excited to be here.

<Amanda> Okay.

And do y'all still do plant identifications?

<Herrick> Absolutely.

Yes.

So we're still happy to receive any sort of digital images of mystery plants you might have.

And you can send those to the plantman@herbarium.org All right, <Amanda> All right.

Thanks so much.

Okay.

Well, Terasa, usually you start us off before we have to do stuff that's hard, or tell people that they've got something awful going on with a spirit lightener.

< laughs > <Terasa> Yes.

This has become such a fun part of the show.

We call it Gardens of the Week where we spotlight various gardens from across the state or it could be indoor plants or perhaps, beautiful places that you visited.

And we usually get far more submissions than we could ever put on one show but we do encourage you to visit our Facebook page and see everything that was posted.

Let us begin from Richard Chapman we have a neatly organized garden bed with some garden art adorning his fence.

Pat Cooke shared with us some very hungry black swallowtail caterpillars.

From Jim Lorenz, a hydrangea at M.C.

Riley Elementary.

He said the teachers like it so much, they often take cuttings so they can enjoy the plant at home.

< laughs > From Carol Mohr, some brightly, a brightly colored bromeliad.

Then pink peonies from Agatha King.

And we wrap up today with Laura Steinke.

I hope I, hope I got that name Okay.

She is currently living in Tennessee, but said she learned a lot during the 20 years she lived in North Carolina and watched Making It Grow.

<Amanda> Aww!

So Nice!

<Terasa> Isn't that fun?

It's always good when we feel like we are giving you valuable information and you can put that into practice.

<Amanda> And you know, Terasa, a lot of people, some people can record things but if she's moved and we're not on a cable station or anything at MIG.org our programs are all archived.

And usually the current program that aired that week is in there just in a couple of days.

So I'm encouraging people to go back there and, and look, because that's just not everybody wants to come in at seven o'clock on Tuesday.

< laughs > <Terasa> That's right.

You might be out in your own garden, and I did let her know.

So you can go onto the Making It Grow website, you can use the ETV app and of course she can join us on Facebook, right.

As long as she has access.

She can chat with us live during the show, if she would like to.

<Amanda> Yeah, Okay.

Well, thank you so much.

Well, now let's go into see what people need help with.

<Terasa> Let's see if we can help Rosa in Santee.

<Okay> She sent us a question.

She said first time growing Purple Molly potatoes in a bag.

The plants are developing tiny bulbs that look like they are the beginning of flowers.

Is it too early for flowering?

<Amanda> Goodness, gracious.

She's growing potatoes in a bag.

And I hear about people growing potatoes in different containers rather than Mother Earth.

But what about the structures?

<Christopher> So these are the beginnings of flowers that is perfectly normal.

I actually got flowers very early this year as well.

Generally flowers are going to happen first, then you're going to have kind of a small fruit that forms and then generally you're going to see a significant decline of the plant.

And that's usually an indication that the potatoes are ready.

<Amanda> That they're ready?

<Um Hum> Okay.

All right.

So, have you had good luck growing your potatoes?

<Christopher> Yes, and I have not done it in bags.

So I have done it in containers.

Potatoes are one of those that is probably one of the easiest vegetables in my opinion to grow.

Does not really take a whole lot of work.

Just put them in the ground, let them grow and give them plenty of sun and water and generally they will produce.

<Amanda> Okay, well thank you so much.

Herrick, you.

We're so happy that you're here because you're filling in for Dr. John and we hope that you will help fill those shoes with us many times now, although we still going to ask John to come back <Absolutely> when he can.

But, but there's a special exhibit going on at the University of South Carolina.

And it's about a person who was pretty important in documenting early on what was happening down here in South Carolina in the new world.

So tell us about that exhibit, please.

<Herrick> Mark Catesby set foot in Charleston 300 years ago and started his travels through Carolina, Florida, Bahama Islands.

And so these exhibits are at McKissic Museum in the rare books special collections wing of Thomas Cooper library.

So it's hosted in two locations, <Amanda> because this is the 300th anniversary of when he came and started doing this work.

<Herrick> Right the the tercentennial anniversary.

Um, and so we have a number of things on display.

The exhibits are up through August of this year.

And I encourage folks to come and check it out.

<Amanda> Okay.

Well, you have something that Catesby talked about and discovered.

So let's talk about these plants.

<Herrick> So I thought this might be interesting since these plants actually bite.

< laughs > And these are some of the things that Mark Catesby illustrated in his natural history.

One of the products of his four years traveling through Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands was a two volume work called the Natural History of those areas.

And in Volume Two, he shows us a couple of pitcher plants that grow here naturally in South Carolina.

He depicts one that's really tall, and he and he tells us about it.

And of course Mark Catesby was before Linnaeus, so he used these really long fancy scientific names and when... <Amanda> Before we just had two to worry about.

<Herrick> Right, yeah.

So Linnaeus kind of simplified it for us.

But when Linnaeus did His work in 1753, he pointed to the illustration that Mark Catesby had given us and said, This is what the species looks like.

So that's what we call an indication.

It's sort of the, the physical or graphical depiction of what the species is supposed to, you know, look like.

So Catesby showed us this cool, yellow trumpet pitcher plant.

This is a really tall one, sometimes can get almost three feet tall.

And the flowers on this smell a little bit like sweat that really good at attracting flies, and I've noticed flies hanging around the throat of these things.

Of course, this is like a tubular leaf that traps the insects in there.

<Amanda> And this one you said has a nectary?

<Herrick> Yeah, along the front edge of these leaves, there's usually a little series of nectary glands that can attract ants from the soil up to the throat and then they fall in the pit and feed the plant basically.

<Amanda> Well, they provide certain nutrients <Right> because the plants feeding itself to photosynthesis.

<Herrick> Exactly.

Yeah.

So typically, these plants grow in areas where nitrogen is is not very abundant.

And so they they digest the nitrogen from those insects to kind of act as like a natural fertilizer <Amanda> And there's a beautiful stand of these up around McBee somewhere, isn't there?

<Herrick> Right.

I think in the Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge.

<Amanda> And it's sort of, it's massive.

It's a couple of acres, it seems like and it's on a slope, but you said they need to have wet feet all the time.

<Herrick> Right.

Yeah, they always like to have their feet wet where they occur naturally.

They're going to be in peat, deep peat type bogs and seepage slopes and those sorts of habitats.

This species in particular can kind of be the dominant species over a large area sometimes and it's quite impressive if you see those, you know, if you're out walking in the field.

<Amanda> Okay.

Well, let's do another one.

<Herrick> You wanna try another one?

<Um-Hum> Okay, so another plant that Catesby depicted another pitcher plant is something that Linnaeus called the purple pitcher plant.

This one has a funny common name called Frog's Britches.

< laughs > Don't know what that's supposed to mean exactly.

You can see it's much shorter in stature.

It still has these pitcher shaped leaves.

<Amanda> And it, but the, it's not hooded like this.

<Herrick> No.

So the hood on this one is kind of just open and sort of fiddle shaped.

And if you can look real closely, you can see some of the little hairs that are pointing downward.

So this is a pitfall trap.

And the same, same sort of scenario where a little insect comes along and it gets trapped all these hairs, can't get a grip, falls in, drowns and then becomes fertilizer for the plant.

<Amanda> And then this one has a beautiful flower and I don't know if you would want to sacrifice the flower but it's got kind of an interesting structure <Herrick> Very interesting, yeah.

So this one has been pollinated.

The petals are actually gone.

And you can see these sort of little cutout areas would be where one of the petals would come out and hang down.

And then each of these points that is sort of reflects is actually one of the stigmas.

So what we're looking at as this weirdly inflated style.

This is part of the whole female part of the flower and peel this back a little bit you might see the developing ovary in there.

That little blob that's sort of green.

<Amanda> So the, to pollinate it they have to go inside of this.

<Herrick> It's an amazing trick.

If you're familiar with like Lady Slipper orchids where there's one way in and one way out.

So same thing the flies or bees or whatever, that pollinate these have, they have to go in where the pedal is.

And the only way to exit is between the pedals where they go over the stigma.

So they're, you know, it forces the insect to transfer pollen.

<Amanda> Well, that's really fun.

And I think we'll save the next one to when we come talk to you <Okay> and that one has even more of a story.

<Sounds good> Okay.

Okay, Carmen, you're going to bring out some creepy crawlies.

<Carmen> Yes.

it's like a theme for all of our insects.

< laughs > These are also I wanted to bring out because we've been working a lot with vermicompost.

This spring, all of my 4-H camps that I've been helping out with the 4-H agents, they all want to make their own little worm bins or worm composting.

<Amanda> Isn't that nice that they like worms?

<Carmen> It is.

Even if people were a little bit standoffish at first, they immediately just playing with them for a little bit, they were, were engrossed.

But one of the best things that we can do with our vermicompost is that we can take all of our wastes and let the worms eat them.

And it turns into wonderful, wonderful vermicompost or just regular compost.

And so I brought some of my, my friends with me today.

In the bin we were making... <Amanda> I want to see some worms.

<Carmen> Do you want to?

Okay.

<laughs> So, what we start out with is our red wigglers and so, I don't know how we want to do this, but do you wanna... <Amanda> Oh, just put them down.

<Carmen> Okay, here we go.

Okay, there's our buddies.

<Amanda> Why don't you pick one up, put in your hand so it will contrast an we can see it better <Carmen> Yes, of course.

Well, we can see some of them coming through but you got your little red wiggler worms, and they're tiny.

They're not the fishing worms like most people would normally think of.

They are red wigglers Eisenia fetida and it's wonderful because they, we want those more than like a nightcrawler because they stay on the top couple of inches, eating all of our bile, all of our waste or stuff that I feed them.

Nightcrawlers, they tend to go deep down into the ground.

That doesn't work really well.

<Amanda> So these are the ones that you would really like to have?

<Carmen> These are the, these are the golden ones.

These are the ideal ones that we want.

<Amanda> So you really need to know somebody who's got 'em because you can't go to the bait store and get these guys, can you?

<Carmen> exactly, you know, I have seen some red wigglers on sale at the bait store, but you definitely, yeah, they're very small.

They're very small.

They're on that vegetarian diet that we love, because we don't want to feed them any oils, any cooked foods.

We want vegetable waste, we want cardboard, newspaper.

<Amanda> I thought I saw you with a piece of paper.

<Carmen> Oh, yes.

This is, um, this is my, my little tissue.

They love things that they can eat.

So any of your paper towels that don't have a coating on them.

I also brought some other things.

They love cardboard.

So any of your cardboard bits they love to eat.

Now, any of your newspaper also, the one thing I did want to bring because everyone kept asking is the shiny cardboard.

And the shiny cardboard, I don't know if I can write that.

The shiny cardboard you don't want because it has that waxy coating on it.

<Okay> And that goes the same for any of your plastics, plastic bags, Ziploc bags, they're not eating plastic, or meat, bones.

Eventually, everything, dust to dust.

They will eventually break down.

But for us, we don't want any cook meats or things like that.

And I kept telling the kids at 4-H camp, you can do squash, you can do old squash, like little bits of old vegetables, but not, no fried squash.

Squash, but no fried squash because the oils, any of the breading, you want to keep it out.

<Amanda> Have you ever seen a plate of fried squash that...<laughs> I mean, if somebody makes is sweet enough for you, it all gets eaten.

<Carmen> But any of your vegetable waste is really nice.

And the trick that we've all we've found is those worms', teeny tiny little mouths, and they're actually eating the rotting bacteria on it more than anything else.

So they like it mushy.

You want to make sure that your vegetable waste is in smaller bits.

So it's easier for it to start decomposing, and easier for the worms to get at.

So a bit like this is kind of too big.

What we would want to do is we would want to rip it into smaller bits and make sure that it's moist.

So they are breathing through their skin.

So they need a little bit of wet moisture.

But if it gets too wet, that's how we've invented with our double bucket system.

You actually have holes at the bottom of this that allow for any moisture to drip into our holding pan <Amanda> Because it's just like soil.

If the soil gets saturated, we know that soil is like a, you know, a box, so to speak, and that half of it is solids.

And then the other half is pore spaces.

<Exactly> And so if all the spore space, spore, get filled with water, then there's no oxygen.

No, no ambient air in there.

<Carmen> Exactly, and the poor wormies, they'll start to come up, just like when you see a rainstorm.

<Amanda> So would you soak the egg carton in water and then try to tear it up?

<Exactly> And I bet if you soaked it for a while, it would get kind of wuh luh luh.

<Carmen> Oh, yeah.

And that's perfect.

You want it almost the consistency of a smoothie.

We've done it before where I'll take the vegetable waste.

And actually, Terasa told me about how she does it.

And I'll let her tell actually, with your freezer bag.

<Terasa> I don't personally but I've had people tell me that they, uh, maybe they worry about odors emanating from the kitchen with the stored veggie scraps.

So you can put the things in a freezer bag and freeze it and then take a little bit out and feed your worms at a time because depending on how many worms you have, you know, they don't need a whole lot of food.

I have an under the kitchen bin.

I don't use worms.

I just do traditional composting but I have an under the kitchen bin that has a charcoal filter.

And so I put my scraps in there.

But I've heard also people sometimes run it through a blender, and that makes it small and mushy.

And, whether you're just doing traditional composting or worms, the smaller the pieces, the faster things are gonna break down and happen.

<Amanda> Well, are you gonna, when we come back to you, you're going to tell us how you get the worms to leave the compost so that you can put the compost in the garden?

<Carmen> Exactly.

I can tell you exactly how we do it.

<Amanda> Okay, well, I can't wait.

Okay, lots of fun.

Ah!

Okay, Terasa, some people actually have more than just one spot of their yard they can brag about, don't they?

<Terasa> They do.

We call it our spotlight garden.

When we look, I guess you'd say we take a focus to look at one particular garden and today is Theresa Mazell from Summerville, South Carolina.

You can see that Theresa has quite an assortment of daylilies ranging in color from vibrant hues with bold throats to softer pastels.

We see lots of color displayed in her beds and It appears as if Theresa incorporates some veggies into her landscape beds, and also has found an interesting use for an old trunk turned into a container in a shady spot in her yard.

<Well fun> Lots of fun.

I always get ideas from these photos.

<Amanda> it is.

Well, thank you so much.

And we are always excited when the watermelon queen comes to see us.

Watermelons are really pretty important to South Carolina's economy, and also to just good summertime eating.

Boy, oh boy.

It is so exciting at Making It Grow when the watermelon queen comes to see us and today is no exception.

I am so happy that you're here.

Samantha Nichols, the 2022 Watermelon Queen for South Carolina.

<Samantha> Yes, ma'am.

Thank you so much for having me.

<Amanda> And tell me what the watermelon queen's responsibilities are.

<Samantha> So really my job is to inspire, educate and promote watermelons and everyone that is involved with the watermelon industry across the state of South Carolina.

And we also do a little bit of traveling across other states as well.

<Amanda> And watermelons are actually a pretty big crop in South Carolina.

<Samantha> Yes, ma'am.

They are.

They're actually even ranked number seven nationwide as well.

And they've always been in the top few commodities for South Carolina.

<Amanda> That's wonderful.

And it's interesting because we have a little window when our watermelons coming in, don't we?

<Samantha> Yes, so the most, the peak season for South Carolina is mid June to mid July.

And of course July 4 is the most popular day for watermelons.

It is the fruit that brings smiles to faces.

So on July 4, I'm sure your family is always cutting a watermelon.

<Amanda> And usually y'all go to the bridge run and hand out watermelons there.

And it kind of depends on what's happening with the rules.

But also, I just think it's so much fun that you go to schools.

Tell me about that.

<Samantha> Yes.

So we do a lot of school field days.

And it's so much fun seeing the kids.

Those are probably some of my favorite visits because they think the world when they see so many watermelons covering a table.

They get so excited.

And you know, I was at school the other day and he told me that the watermelons gave him heart eyes and it just made my heart swell!

It was so sweet.

<Amanda> and you usually go like on their field day, so they're already outside and they're hot and they want something good.

<Samantha> So watermelon is a very hydrating fruit.

It is 92 percent water.

And so it's great for athletes, and for kids that are tired on a hot summer day such as field day.

<Amanda> It's a lot better than those drinks that you can buy, in my opinion.

<Samantha> Yes.

So studies have actually shown that watermelon is just as good if not better as the leading sports drinks <Amanda> and what is in watermelon that makes it so good for you besides just the way it taste?

<Samantha> So watermelon is actually a multivitamin within itself.

You have vitamin A, B6, vitamin C and lycopene and citrulline, which you know is great for your heart and for increasing blood flow, which is why we say watermelon fuels athletes.

<Amanda> Well, and it's interesting.

My son is an athlete, and when he's getting ready to try to lose weight to be in a lower weight class, he does martial arts.

He has one meal a night, but he's allowed, he lets himself be all the watermelon he wants to and he said it's just the perfect food for all athletes.

<Samantha> It is.

It is.

It's great.

So you have so much water and just one slice of watermelon.

<Amanda> Well, there, I mean, what's better than just eating watermelon?

< laughs > And thank goodness now when you go to the schools, we have seedless watermelon, so you could, or they would add another category to field day, which would be how far you could spit the seeds.

< laughs > But you got a fun thing that we could serve at a summer event.

<Samantha> Yes, ma'am.

So today we are going to be making watermelon ham rolls.

We have the ingredients right here.

If you are ready to get started.

<Amanda> Let's try it.

<Samantha> Alright.

So we're going to start with the tortilla if you could pass me that.

<Amanda> Alright.

I did wash my hands.

< laughs > <Samantha> And then we have this cute little spreader.

I love it.

And we're gonna take this, um, it is with chives and cream cheese.

It's already pre mixed and so you can just buy it at the store.

<Amanda> Wait, oh, it comes that way?

<Samantha> Yes.

You can either make it yourself or... <Amanda> Chives and cream cheese.

<Yes> Okay.

<Samantha> So we're gonna take a little bit of that and spread it onto the tortilla.

<Amanda> Well, that's going to be tangy with the chives in it.

I think that'd be fun.

That mixture of... <Samantha> Gives it a little bit of kick.

<Amanda> That's gonna be really fun.

I can't wait to taste one.

I'm gonna have to get one as soon as we finish because I know everybody who's here filming is going to rush up <laughs> and then I'll be left without one.

<Samantha> I know just watching, looking at them over there on the plate all morning has been tough.

Aright, so we're gonna make sure we have that spread out evenly onto the tortilla.

We can go ahead and sit that down.

Alright, and then if we can take the lettuce.

<Alright> Just a slice of lettuce.

<Amanda> Is one enough?

<Samantha> One is fine.

Really however much you know your desires.

Yes, ma'am.

And then we're going to take the slice of ham.

<Okay> Thank you.

<Amanda> You know, what be fun too, you could use arugula if you wanted a little more spicy stuff too.

You could just, depends on what's in your garden.

<Samantha> Yeah, absolutely.

You can just add whatever you want, you know.

<Amanda> This is just the basics.

<Samantha> That's right.

And then we're gonna take this watermelon spear.

And the key with this is you want to make sure that it's blotted and it doesn't have as much juice on it.

You want it to be a pretty dry watermelon spear so that way it doesn't make the rest of the wrap soggy.

So you can blot it with some paper towels.

And then we're just going to take it and roll it up.

<Amanda> And I guess that's what these cute little toothpicks with thread on them are for.

<Samantha> And just as easy as sticking the toothpicks in.

And the last step will be to slice <Yes> the wrap.

And then you have the perfect treat for a hot summer day.

<Amanda> That is fun.

That's fun.

And um, since you... <Samantha> It's super simple.

Super simple.

<Amanda> You could make it a couple hours ahead of time since you blotted it so well, I think.

Don't you?

<Samantha> Yeah.

So you can even you know, cut the watermelon up or go and buy the spears.

And if you want to sit it in your fridge overnight, you can have them sitting there with paper towels and go ahead and drain that excess juice.

<Amanda> Okay.

Well, that really looks fun.

And I want to tell you how much we appreciate your coming.

And, um, hope you have a grand time going all around the state.

And you'll be talking to farmers, as well as, some of the stores you'll be doing promotions.

And I guess if we want to find out what we're doing, we could call the South Carolina Agriculture Department if a place wanted you to come and do something for them.

<Samantha> Yes, of course, you can always go through the SCDA and they will get you in touch with my coordinator.

And we can figure out a promotion scheduled to come and visit you.

<Amanda> Well.

That'll be fun.

And I'm so glad you visited us today.

<Samantha> Yes, man, thank you so much for having me.

<Amanda> We really enjoyed that snack.

I would encourage you to try it.

And I would certainly encourage you to try wonderful certified South Carolina grown watermelons.

They just can't be beat.

So my friend Anne Nolte was kind enough to send me a basket of flowers because I had to make a hat.

And so she very sweetly gave me a lily and I've got a quantum Lily and I've got some spirea, Anthony Waterer spirea and then a little bit of traders canthium.

And this hat is actually pretty light and comfortable to wear.

So thank you, Anne.

And it's always nice to have somebody else who'll grow the flowers for you.

Okay.

Well, Herrick, let's talk about the third one you had.

<Herrick> So, I brought one that is, again, another pitcher plant and there's some little neighbors growing with this one.

But, you'll notice that it's kind of in between the last two that we showed, and that's because... <Amanda> And also a little bit more hooded than <Yeah> than the last one we look at.

<Herrick> Exactly.

And that's because this plant here is actually a naturally occurring hybrid of the previous two that we looked at.

<Amanda> Pitcher plants.

Natural hybrids.

Cool.

<Herrick> So, so it's to me, it's kind of interesting because its height is right in between the two and the hood on it is also kind of in between, it's just a perfect melding of the two.

The cool thing about this one, though, is that there's some controversy about what Mark Catesby actually depicted.

So remember, Linnaeus said it was this yellow trumpet pitcher plant.

Later on in the 1800s, there was a banker named Steven Elliot who actually turned into a bit of a botanist, and he wrote this book called The Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgia.

And in that he pointed to the same illustration that Catesby had, but called it Sarracenia catesbaei.

So he named it in Catesby's honor and he thought it was this interesting hybrid between the two.

<Amanda> And it's got a beautiful flower on it to take today, too and I think if we turn this around, are these, these are the old petals that are hanging on?

<Herrick> Yeah.

There's a couple of old petals that are dried and they're still sticking to that style.

<Amanda> That complicated pollination.

<Yes> but it, once somebody goes in there, it's gonna get pollinated.

No doubt about <Herrick> In this case, the parents were, you know, different species.

<Amanda> Isn't that fun?

Okay.

And then what, since you're the botanist, What is this hitchhiker?

<Herrick> This is a little spin, Lindernia or something like that was on there?

I'm not sure.

I figured it was happy, I wasn't going to complain.

<Amanda> You weren't going to weed it.

<Yeah> Okay.

Alright.

Many thanks!

Okay, Terasa, who's next?

<Terasa> Next up is Tom from Pageland.

And Tom posted a message with a picture on our Facebook page.

He said I recently planted several Sunshine ligustrums.

They have a nice flush of spring growth.

Would carefully tip pruning them create fuller specimens later in the growing season.

So I have a feeling that in addition to maybe answering the question, we might have some additional feedback about ligustrum.

<Amanda> Yes.

<laughs> Well, what do you think?

<Christopher> So he is correct.

Obviously, anytime we do what's known as hedge pruning, where we're removing the terminal growth that is going to increase bushiness or lateral growth within the plant.

One of the things we do want to be careful with, especially with these new not necessarily hybrids, but new cultivars, there is going to be some chance of reversion.

This is a Ligustrum sinense.

And so this is going to be the Chinese, <Amanda> Which we know as... <Christopher> Chinese privet, which is highly invasive.

<Amanda> Everywhere, eveywhere, everywhere, everywhere.

<Christopher> This is going to be kind of the newest version of it.

They did have what was known as the variegated Chinese privet, which was very popular; wasn't necessarily sterile, like this one.

But that one, of course, turns out it reverted back to its original form, became just as invasive as the original species.

And it's now on the do not plant list.

The Sunshine unfortunately, it's just the newest in that category, and there can be some issues.

And so privet is very invasive.

It spreads like crazy.

And so it's one of those that just because it is sterile, as we know, with the Bradford pear, doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to stay that way.

<Amanda> Yes.

And Terasa, you used to be connected for stormwater work in some ways.

And we had a place here where they surrounded the area that was the catch basin, whatever you call those places that get hold the overflow for a while.

They surrounded it with privet and I think it drained eventually into the swamp behind Swan Lake, where privet is particularly bad if I'm not mistaken, because doesn't it outcompete a lot of the plants that would, is evergreen, and so a lot of the plants that are kind of little specialists for those swampy areas are just, that they just can't possibly compete with that.

<Christopher> Yes, so it definitely outcompetes pretty much every other species, even really rivaling some of our natives like Wax Myrtle.

And it seems to be able to grow in just about any environment where it doesn't mind wet, dry, shade, sun, it pretty much will grow anywhere.

And it's spread by birds.

It's the main way it spread.

And unfortunately, the birds really liked the little berries that it produces.

And they produce a lot of them.

And so yeah, they they spread quickly and very easily.

<Amanda> Alright, I guess y'all have herbarium samples of invasive plants?

<Herrick> Yeah, we sure do.

I don't think privet necessarily counts as one of those noxious weeds.

So we'll, if we have something like that, we definitely have a slip of paper in there that says we got to be super careful, careful with this because we don't want any seeds getting out.

But we do have a number of specimens of various types of ligustrum and sinense tends to be one that's well represented in the collection.

<Amanda> Well, when Catesby was here, he sent specimens to some of the sponsors, didn't he?

<Herrick> Yes, he did.

So in the British Museum and the herbaria.

at Oxford, there are collections that case be sent to his benefactors, Sir Hans Sloane and there were a couple other folks that were recipients as well.

Those folks are also subscribers to his natural history.

So they kind of helped.

<Amanda> But he also sent seeds over.

And I wonder if any of the seeds that he sent are invasive in other places.

<Herrick> It very well could be.

<Amanda> I mean, it might be interesting to find out.

<Yeah> I hate to cast any bad news on his wonderful work.

< laughs > <Herrick> Yeah, but I know he was one of the first to bring catalpa to the colonists and it was little known outside of Charleston until he had brought it from parts of the interior.

<Amanda> Okay, thank you.

And Carmen, I know you going to talk a little bit more about your worms, but you could talk about your love for the catalpa trees that y'all have because of the caterpillars.

<Carmen> We love the catalpa caterpillars, but we were just talking about a lot of people they're not seeing the caterpillars on their trees anymore, which is a shame because we always use it for fishing.

And we even, we'll even keep it cut back just so that little Carmen can reach it.

< laughs > And pull them inside out, we bread 'em and they're great for fishing.

<Amanda> So you, when you, you turn them inside out and so then you have a moist surface.

And then y'all rolling them around and flour, <Carmen> Corn, corn meal, whatever you want.

<Amanda> Okay, but you don't have to put salt and pepper in it.

<Carmen> No, my husband's very sure that that's what gets on the bread.

<Amanda> That's why you'll get <It's very important> well bring those green things out again and let's see how we can get the worms out so we can get the compost into our garden.

<Carmen> So we, I never want to introduce the red wigglers back into the garden because they're not technically supposed to be here and I want to keep them eating.

So one of the big things that I like to do, you can do a number of ways, but, sometimes what I will do is I will make another little bucket, and I'll put it right on top with little holes.

And I will just start feeding, putting more food in here.

The worms will actually come up into the second bin and start eating there.

<Amanda> Now do you prop it up somehow so it's not on there real tight?

<Carmen> So all of these, luckily, most of your bins, they'll actually have a rim that stops 'em from doing anything too crazy.

And that's the same bit with if you're going to use this to hold the water.

It provides a nice little airspace.

<Amanda> Do you take a little bit, a little bit of the compost for the upper layer?

<Carmen> I like to take a little bit of compost for the upper layer because I actually want to bury most of my fresh waste.

So if you leave just the lettuce and your newspaper on the top, they're not necessarily going to get to it because they like the dark and they like the moisture.

So I'll take a little bit of the finished compost that has the good sand granules in it so they can start eating that as well to help with digestion and <Amanda> Metamucil for worms.

< laughs > <Carmen> Exactly.

And by burying them that helps with the smell that we're always concerned about.

And it helps with the decomposition to give them full moisture.

Now the one trick is I wait until they all come up, which they always do.

And then I'll have the finished stuff right in the bottom so I can put that in the garden.

<Amanda> Isn't that fun?

And that's simple.

And you did this with some 4-Hs, I believe.

<Um-Hum> <Carmen> And I've got a bigger one at home, a big box one, and what you can do with that one if it's a little too, that's a little too intense, is just start feeding some of the vegetable waste to one side and they'll just move on over and then you've got the finished compost ready to go.

So, you can do it either way.

My uncle used to have one that was out of an old refrigerator and so it was quite long.

And he would just move it to the end just, add, start adding them and they would just scurry on their way.

<Amanda> Scurry as fast as a worm can scurry.

<Exactly> Well thank you so much.

That was really delightful.

Mary Vargo is our agent up in Greenville, and she came down and paid us a visit and told us all about her wonderful cutting garden.

I'm talking to my friend Mary Vargo who is the horticulture agent in Greenville.

And Mary, you told me that you had an internship, where in France?

<Mary> Claude Monet House and Foundation.

Yeah, I Yeah, <Amanda> Did it have any influence on your ideas about color and mixing plants?

<Mary> Absolutely.

I've always been obsessed with his work because it's so you know, it's that impressionism, the mix of those colors.

And so being an intern there and being able to experience that and just seeing his world and seeing other people's reactions to his garden was so inspiring.

So I've always just aim to recreate that back home.

So I just grow a mix of colors and textures and forms.

And it just kind of transports me back there.

As if I was still there.

I'd love to go back.

But yeah, I just, always try to grow something new every year.

<Amanda> And in South Carolina, There's always something that'll be blooming.

<Mary> Absolutely.

So, I mean, it's it's right now I've got a bunch of red corn poppies coming up.

So my garden looks very red at this, at this point, bunch of reds scarlet beebalm coming up, and then it kind of transitions into more summer and all my rudbeckia is just taking over and you know that stuff recedes like crazy.

It's like a swarm of yellow in the garden.

So it's really fun to see it transition from spring, summer, fall and see the colors kind of mix into each other.

So, yeah.

<Amanda> Well, let's talk about some of the your favorites.

<Mary> Yeah, absolutely.

Right now what I love and I'd love to see more people grow is nigella.

Nigella sativa there's that Miss Jekyll mix which is like a fun blue, whites, purple pinks and it's just such a fun flower.

It's got, it's got a really cool look to it.

It's in the carrot family.

So it looks pretty similar to the to the foliage you'd see on Queen Anne's lace.

So that's a fun and it's a blue color.

So that's pretty uncommon.

So that's one of my favorites to grow really early spring bloom, and it recedes like crazy too.

And the seed pods, you can dry them.

So they look great.

You can, yeah, you can use the fresh flowers in the spring and then save the seed heads to use for crafts or decorative accents in your home.

<Amanda> Seed heads so beautiful.

<Mary> Absolutely.

Yeah, so poppies too.

I love puppies.

I let my puppies receive quite a bit in my garden.

So and I let them kind of just where they want to live.

They live there in my garden.

So got those red ones.

I've got some Hungarian, blue poppies.

Bred seed poppies, California poppies are blooming right now that I really love.

Bright orange.

<Amanda> Just effortless.

<Mary> Oh god, they're just so graceful too.

I love kind of setting them on an edge of a bed and letting them kind of spill over because they're pretty.

They'll they'll get long on them.

But I think they look really nice when they're at an edge of a border.

So those are really fun right now.

<Amanda> You don't believe in staying in the lines.

<Mary> No, it's chaos and disorder.

Always in my garden.

But I... <Amanda> Well how about midsummer?

<Mary> So yeah, midsummer, I have things like dahlias are kind of coming up there.

They're kind of towards the end of summer blooming.

So I've quite a bit of dahlias coming up.

I grew one last year called Totally Tangerine.

And that one I think is like my favorite Dahlia that I've that I've ever grown.

It's, the color on it is just perfect.

So that's always fun.

Amaranth, I love amaranth.

It gets really tall and you can eat the seeds and they're really good for you too.

I'll harvest the big plumy seed heads and do something fun with them.

They also look great dried, but then they create so many seeds.

So I have like little baby amaranth everywhere in my garden.

Celosia, got some fun little feather flamingo looking ones.

Those are really fun.

Orlaya, have you ever heard of that plant?

I don't know that one.

<Mary> It's sort of a frilly, white.

It looks kind of similar to Queen Anne's lace.

But it's, it doesn't spread as aggressively as Queen Anne's lace so if you if you like that look of Queen Anne's lace, but you don't want it to take over your entire yard.

Maybe go with orlaya.

It's it's a gorgeous look and great cut flower too.

But yeah, beebalm, butcher mountain mint, got several species growing in my garden.

<Amanda> So your, so your also just pollinators are everywhere.

<Mary> Oh, absolutely.

And you know, I've never been stung one time by a bee.

Everybody's always so scared to step foot in this massive jungle flowers in my backyard.

And they're scared of bees.

But you know, I let them do their thing.

They let me do my thing.

And we're all just happy existing together.

Yeah, it's so much fun.

I love having color and texture to play with.

Because I like to make cut flower arrangement.

<Amanda> I know you do.

<Mary> So the more materials I have, the better for me, I can create something.

So every year I just start tons of seeds.

And I really try to look for, when I, when I'm ordering my seeds for the year, I'm looking for colors that are kind of in the same palette or family.

I like complementary colors like monochromatic colors.

So I look for, I'm really into like peachy shades or more muted tones.

I like bright colors.

But I kind of tend to the more muted more natural sort of colors like that.

So when I'm making arrangements, I just try to make it as interesting as possible.

I get easily bored by one or two things and I can respect simplicity in a bouquet or arrangement, But I just want to, I want to people to stop and stare and look at it for a minute and look at all the different features <Amanda> well and some of the ones that we're looking at as we're talking.

We see that that's in them.

<Mary> Yeah, people are always telling me that it's very wild looking and I take that as a compliment because I don't want it to look so structured.

It should mimic nature.

I think you've achieved I've achieved what I was going for if I get that compliment.

So yeah, the more I grow, the better the work looks <Amanda> So your challenge now is a new puppy who has to be taught that there, cuz your, your older dog knows that he's not supposed to go into the garden.

<Absolutely> So you came home from the flea market with a new puppy.

<Mary> With a new puppy, who came for plants.

<Amanda> You're gonna have to use your big girl voice.

<Mary> I know.

I get on my alpha voice but yeah, she's she's just so cute.

She she gets a break when she tumbles through the garden and break stems.

<Amanda> Well, and the way your garden is... <Mary> It doesn't matter.

no, she, she's snapping things off.

It's okay because things are getting yanked out and stuff is put back in.

So yeah, she'll learn.

<Amanda> Okay.

Well, Mary, thank you so much.

I want to come see you in person.

<Mary> Yeah, you should.

come on over.

<Amanda> We'll make a plan.

Well, it's always fun when Mary comes and we hope she will come again.

And that was particularly fun.

Christopher, you said that, you know, they're changing the name of everything.

I think even dogwood has gotten changed.

But so what have they done with tradescantia?

<Christopher> So the purple leaf that you have, that is what's known as secretion is the genus that I actually learned it as which I'm guessing is relatively new.

I've only been doing this for so many years.

But they did change the name because tradescantia, which is spiderwort is very common plant that you see around especially flowering right now.

That's related to it, but that's what's known as secretion now.

<Amanda> My goodness, why are they doing this to us?

<Herrick> Well, it's my philosophy on the thing is that it's a manner of describing what's, what you're familiar with.

And as botanists kind of do more investigations onto the genetic makeup of these plants, they're finding how closely related they are or are not.

And when that concept changes, we have to change the name.

<Amanda> So we're going down to genetics, <Herrick> Sometimes, yeah.

Sometimes somebody's really looked through a bunch of books and figured out that somebody came up with a name for something before the other person <Amanda> And the first person to first name takes precedent.

<Herrick> Right.

nomenclature priority.

<Amanda> Nomenclature priority.

<Right> Whoo!

< laughs > Well, thank you.

Okay, Terasa.

What now?

<Terasa> Well, this one ties in really nicely with Mary's segment, Millie in Lamar said, Is there anything I can plant now that I can use for cut flowers?

<Amanda> Oh, well, if you can stand to go outside, and it never rains, what would you suggest?

<Carmen> Oh, yes, and Mary my bestie and cut flower production with me, we love looking forward and saying that you can really grow cut flowers down here anytime of the year.

But a lot of people they wait till June.

And then they see everybody else's they see the neighbors and they go oh, I want some of that.

But everyone gets worried because it gets so hot.

But zinnias can still be grown right now on June, as well as sunflowers.

And if you do sunflowers, and you can do them every two weeks for a while.

And you can have a really great flush of them into October when they're they're really the prettiest.

The other one is with a lot of stuff late basils as foliage.

A lot of people think that it's too hot for that.

But the Thai basil does work really well.

And if you let them flower, they have the most gorgeous fragrant flowers that you can put in your bouquets.

And then all of our old staples, you can still do marigolds.

And right now a lot of people are getting into chrysanthemums at this point.

A lot of them aren't starting them from the seed or a lot of them actually take them from the from stem cuttings.

But with your chrysanthemums, I guess you would call them heirloom varieties are really coming back into form.

So not just your regular little mums, like grandmas mums, but some of the really nice varieties that almost look like dahlias.

The other ones that I like, stone crops.

So any of your seeding families, they are gorgeous through summer, and they don't need a lot of the watering.

But one of the big ones is goldenrod.

Some of our natives we love any of solidagos and the asters.

They're just starting right now.

In June you could actually take a lot of them and start them and enjoy them through fall.

<Amanda> Okay, and there are some named cultivars, I think, for like, fireworks, <Fireworks> <Yes fireworks> <Amanda> Perhaps less wild looking, but wonderful for arrangements and all.

<Carmen> Oh, yes and dried flowers.

<Oh> Those are the best ones to dry out as well.

And then oh, the last, tithonia.

A lot of people are sleeping on tithonia but tithonia or Mexican sunflower, that only really thrives in the heat down here.

And so absolutely gorgeous.

Bright orange.

We love the orange.

Sorry.

But we love we love the orange where we're at, so, yeah.

<Amanda> Cool.

And I would encourage people when they're making those choices of zinnias and things like that to get the ones that have an open center that has some pollen and nectar for our, for beneficial pollinators or anybody else who needs a little bit?

Okay.

Alright.

Well, that was really, really fun.

Well, Herrick, I thought we could make, see if any of these show the remnants of what fell down in them and dissolves into this fertilizer.

Yeah.

<Herrick> Yeah.

So we've got one of the leaves here, and you can kind of see why they would call it a yellow trumpet.

You know, it looks like a trumpet.

< laughs > <Amanda> Well, I hadn't thought of that.

Oh, and nd also you said it was, it has some, <Herrick> Oh, right.

Yeah.

So it has, this one doesn't show it as easily, probably not on the camera.

But I discovered as I was bringing them in that it has a bit of a velcro effect.

It's probably not going to behave for me now.

But, that lid actually has a little bit of downward facing hairs that will catch things.

Yeah, maybe sort of a slippery slope.

But we can sort of dissect this thing.

And this is sort of the botanist challenge, like when we tried to press plants and put them on a sheet, we got to figure out different ways to get them flat.

So sometimes we do a little leaf surgery or something like that.

And we can cut this thing open.

And the rim is a little tough.

And if we fold that open.

There's actually a fly that is still barely alive in there.

And a bunch of stuff down in there.

<Amanda> You want to dip it out?

Let's dip it out.

<Herrick> Oh, okay, go for it.

<Amanda> Look at that!

Oh, this is so cool!

<Herrick> So indeed, <Whoa> next time you have a picnic, bring one of these.

<laughs> It'll catch all the flies for you.

< laughs > <Terasa> Alternative protein source.

<Wow> <Amanda> Those are certainly flies.

Look at that.

Isn't wonderful?

And something that gets rid of flies.

What in the world could be better?

<Pretty efficient> Yeah.

< laughs > <Terasa> Now you know why the flies are in.

< laughs > <Amanda> I'm glad your compost doesn't smell like this compost 'cause really, that's what this is, isn't it?

This is compost.

Yeah.

I wish that they were really attracted to mosquitoes, but, yeah, but flies, That's, that's pretty good.

Well isn't that just wonderful?

And so nitrogen is the main thing that they particularly need in these areas because when the ground is very moist, it stays saturated.

That's real hard for them to take up.

So they just, isn't that just wonderful?

Well, thank you so much.

Yeah.

Sorry, fellow.

<laughs> Terasa, I think we've got time for a quick question if there's one somebody sent one in that maybe won't take too long to answer.

<Terasa> Well Ann in Walton County, Georgia is hoping for, we can solve a mystery.

She said this plant comes up every year.

It never blooms.

Takes over my flower bed.

Is it a weed?

And she of course sent a picture.

<Amanda> Okay.

Well, Christopher, we have about, almost three minutes.

What do you think?

<Christopher> So, that, this one's a tricky one.

So we both looked at it.

This one's definitely a tricky one.

My first thought was an aster.

And obviously, that's a big family.

So Asteraceae is the sunflower family.

And that's going to include a lot of different native plants, a lot of different weeds.

And this one I thought was the in the Symphyotrichum genus, or your slender asters or your New England asters.

Any of those.

And of course, you thought that, hey, this might be Goldenrod or solidago.

And if you compare them side by side, they look very similar to each other.

And without seeing the flowers, unfortunately, we can't really, kind of define it specifically.

But it's definitely one of those, kind of in that Astra family.

<Herrick> Right.

Yeah.

So they just, it's almost like green blindness.

They all have these yellow composite flowers and they look alike a lot of the time.

<Amanda> So when you get, if we're sending something to you is the flower very important sometimes?

<Herrick> It's absolutely critical for, you know, a good solid diagnosis.

We have to have, in fact, sometimes with the flowers being as small as they are, it helps to actually have the plant so we can look at it under a microscope.

<Amanda> Really?

<Yeah> Cool!

So y'all do go to a lot of trouble to try to do this.

<Herrick> Yeah, absolutely.

We're happy to do it, though, because we love solving mysteries like that.

<Amanda> Mystery plants, of course.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, that was fun.

And um, so we can see that even people who study these things, if we don't have all the information we need, sometimes we just are left saying well, we're not quite sure.

So, I guess you could ask this lady to let it go to flower.

What do you think?

<Terasa> Yeah, she said it never flowered and I don't have any additional information, but perhaps we can reach out and she can let us know.

Perhaps she, you know is taking them out before they have a chance to flower 'cause some of the Aster family is going to be very late flowering, you know into fall.

<Amanda> But if she's been just weeding and weeding and weeding, then maybe she would leave one or two of them.

<Terasa> Yeah.

we'll have to see if we can dig deeper into the mystery.

<Amanda> Yeah, but a lot of them are good for pollinators I'm sure.

Do they, are they good for that purpose?

<Herrick> Yes.

Late season usually that's when these things will be flowering so they kind of carry our pollinators through the end of the year.

<Amanda> Yeah, Yeah.

That's good that they are late.

Well, goodness gracious.

Thank you all so much for being with us and to all of you we say good night.

♪ closing music ♪ ♪ ♪ Making It Grow is brought to you in part by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.

Certified South Carolina Grown helps consumers identify, find and buy South Carolina products.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 22 varieties of peaches.

Additional funding provided by International Paper and the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance