Narration: 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.

♪ Amanda: Well, good evening, and welcome to making it grow.

We're so glad you can join us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty.

And I'm a Eclipse and extension agent.

And I get to come and learn every week from these wonderful people who come as our guests who are fountains of knowledge.

And we have something special for you later in the show.

Lin Ko is a practitioner of ikebana.

and I'm just one of those people who just stuffs things in a jar.

But her creativity is delightful.

And you will certainly enjoy learning from her.

Terasa Lott is in charge of the Master Gardener Program and Terasa.

I don't think people even can comprehend the 1000s of people who are out there who have some really good horticultural knowledge, who are just like ambassadors.

Terasa: They really are.

I mean, Master Gardener is a national program, not just within South Carolina, but they really helped to take the information from their extension service and then disseminate it to people.

And sometimes word of mouth is the best way we can transmit information.

Amanda: And just kind of like, you know, cross the backyard fence sometimes.

So don't you think so?

Well, thank you for doing that.

And also for everything you do for us.

It's my pleasure.

Thank you.

And Zack Snipes is a extension agent down in the Lowcountry.

I always think you're at the coastal center.

Zach: I spend a lot of time out there.

Yeah, more time there than the office.

Amanda: Yeah, yeah.

And so a lot of what you do is to try to help figure out what's what how people can grow these special fruits and vegetables a little more, because I think the restaurant industry down there really likes the newest and the brightest.

Zach: And the niche and the specialty crops are really kind of where we focus and a lot of centers of urbanization in the state, you get a lot of produce, sell.

And so we have a new class called farming foundation.

It's 14 modules, and it's self paced.

And basically, we're trying to teach folks how to go from being backyard gardeners to being you know, someone who can sell at a farmers market or sell to a chef.

Amanda: And, um, and it's free.

And I think you don't have to start like, the first of the month or you don't have to wait till September to start.

You can kind of sign up when you want to.

Zach: sign up.

You could even you know, turn the show off right now and go start the class.

But yeah, it's 14 weeks is self paced.

And if you go to @scgrower.com under our resources tab, we have a big banner.

You can't miss it.

It's called farming foundations.

Amanda: And I just the other day, put in Clemson Farming foundations, and I think they're probably a lot of doorways that will get you there.

Sure.

Thanks for all that work you and your friends put into that.

Okay.

And Jackie Jordan is an extension agent in Fairfield Kershaw and Richland.

Yeah, I got it right.

And, um, you specialize in turf grass, but you also do a fair amount of small fruits, I believe, of some of your growers dont you?

Jackie Jordan: I work with a number of small growers throughout the three counties.

So typically, somebody who is growing on anywhere from one to five acres.

So cut flowers, vegetables, small fruits, Amanda: yeah, yeah.

And it is kind of fun, because there are all these little markets that open on certain days of the week and people come you don't I mean, that's not a big farmer who comes there.

A lot of times.

It's just somebody who's has enjoyed so much growing in their yard that they have extra.

And they'd like to share with people.

Oh, yeah.

Talk to people.

Yeah.

Well, Davis Sanders made the trip down from Greenville from South Pleasantburg Nursery.

And y'all are long running nursery.

Davis: Yeah, we've been around since 1965 in the same location right there on the banks of the Reedy River.

Amanda: You can see that you had everyone so artfully arranged these beautiful plants that you brought.

We can't wait to learn more about them.

Thanks.

Okay.

Well, Mrs. Terasa, do we have gardens of the week?

Terasa: We Do have a garden of the week or several gardens of the week for your viewing pleasure.

It's our virtual field trip across the state to see what's going on in your yards and gardens.

Today we start with Annette Barrett who shared a clematis the varieties called Duchess of Edinburgh it produces beautiful, kind of like double flowers.

Bubba and Mary Grenade sent a photograph of their succulent garden, from Sherry Enn a volunteer Lily.

So sometimes it's nice when things volunteer in our yards.

From Celly Padgett Kahn a water feature in her yard complete with a heron statue.

And last we round up with Sandra Pound who sent us some striped Amaryllis and these plants are in the amaryllis family but not the amaryllis genus.

It's some hippy Astromon I think that's just a fun one to say.

What was your favorite scientific name that you'd like to say at Amanda: #*#*notice I said, If I can have parties another glass of wine, notice the Korea Glip cluster boys.#*#* Terasa: A little longer than hippy Astra was just fun.

It kind of just rolls off your tongue.

Amanda: And you know Amaryllis are fun because when you plant bulbs usually you know you plant them I'm like, if it's that, if the bulbs that you planted with that much soil on top them, but amaryllis, hippeastrum are planted so that they just the top kind of sticks out of the ground, and they're Hardy in South Carolina.

And we'd get up there popping up, Edwards got some they're blooming and a lady down the street who has a protected spot, hers bloomed a good while ago.

And I just think they're a lot of fun.

Terasa: They are a lot.

We just brought home a pot from my mother in law's and that's something I had ever grown before.

It was absolutely gorgeous.

And I was watching a video about why it's important to plant them higher than you normally would.

And so they can think it waterlogged.

Amanda: Oh, is that what it is?

And interestingly, they're hollow.

And so if you're going to use them in an arrangement, you have to get a dowel and put it in it, and then wrap it with tape, or else the stem will start curling in or get shorter and shorter which I can relate to.

I wish somebody had wrapped me with tape.

And you know, before we move on, I know we've got a lot of things do but.

I've never understood and all this clematis when you cut them back, and I mean, if you don't know what you got, and you can like cut them back after they bloom and it's probably not going to kill them at least Davis: Most most varieties are like that.

Yes.

And, and my rule of thumb with clematis is treat it like a like a hydrangea.

If you don't know what group yours belongs to just take out half the wood, leave the other half and see what happens.

Amanda: Okay, but Oh, because it's gonna be a rather full, vine probably right?

Yeah.

Cuz I mean, who can remember and you supposed to put the tag up when you get it?

And well, thank you, so just don't sweat it.

Right.

Okay.

Thank you very, very much.

Okay, well Treasa, I think you've got a question to start us off.

Terasa: I do.

Reese in Hollywood sent this question.

And I think he might have a BLT on his mind.

He says, I never have good luck growing big slicing tomatoes.

Do you have any tips that might turn my brown thumb green?

Amanda: Well, there's a nurse, there's a produce stand here and Sumter that they go, they travel all over, they have heirlooms there.

So that's, that's my way of getting a great BLT.

But um, it there's nothing as rewarding as going out and getting one yourself.

And um, so what are some tips you can give us?

Zach: Yeah, sure.

So in my opinion, slicing type tomatoes are probably the most difficult ones to grow.

The a lot of your cherries grape and Roma tomatoes typically are a lot easier, they're a little more forgiving.

Typically, those tomatoes are indeterminate type, which means that they keep growing as opposed to the slicers.

A lot of your slicing type tomatoes will grow to a certain height.

And then they'll stop growing and they'll put on fruit and then they're kind of done for the year.

Amanda: So you tend to get if you're fortunate you get a whole lot of tomatoes at one time.

And then that's sort of it.

Is that right?

Zach: Correct.

And so, you know, with with bloom and the temperatures that you have to fall within that range of the blooming, I really liked the indeterminate varieties better.

Because if it gets hot for a few days and you miss those blooms, or those blooms get aborted, then it's going to put more on so as the plant grows through the summer, it's going to put more and more tomatoes on so the indeterminate varieties are a little more forgiving.

Amanda: Well, if they get real big and rangy, can you prune them?

Zach: Yes, so I'm a big fan of pruning all tomatoes.

And we have some pictures that I can share.

But basically, if you kind of look at tomato ranch here, you'll start to see these little tomato leaflets come out here and when they're really small, less than two inches in length, you want to pinch prune those Okay?

And you want to do that up into the first cluster you So the first cluster of flowers, you want to leave one of the little leaflets coming out, and then everything below it, you want to print out.

All right, that helps make the tomato send a lot of its nutrients to the actual tomatoes and the fruit versus getting a big, bushy plant.

And that'll help with disease and insect management as well.

Amanda: And it seems like with the hotter nights that we're having, that sometimes that affects pollination, is that true?

Can you talk about that?

Zach: Right?

Yeah, so tomato, tomatoes have to be pollinated in the pollen obviously, is a protein.

And that protein is denatured, or kind of unfolds at high temperatures.

And so anything over 85 during the day and around 7075 At night, plus the humidity we have really messes up that protein structure of the pollen and so you really don't get good pollination happening.

So that's why it's really important to plant on time according to our planting guides, so that the bloom period happens before it gets really hot and sticky and during the summer.

Amanda: So don't feel like you're doing something wrong if you're just if you're not getting fruit in the summer, because you can't air conditioned your tomatoes.

Zach: Correct?

Correct.

Now, there are some varieties that are what we call heat set, or heat tolerant tomatoes.

And they can withstand temperatures a little bit hotter, and still set fruit.

So make sure you're looking for those when you're thumbing through your seed catalogs Amanda: that you said that the cherries and those seem to be less affected by that or just maybe put on flowers and Zach: they continuously put on flowers.

And so if you you know, have a couple of days where it's hot, you might abort those flowers, but then you're gonna put on more flowers and it's gonna make more fruit.

So, and one of my favorite varieties is Sungold cherry tomatoes and they look a lot like your necklace.

Amanda: Not gonna sacrifice my necklace for a sandwich.

But maybe this is the closest tomato I'm gonna get this year.

But you know, Zach, sometimes when you go to get tomatoes, it'll be like in a little cup or something.

And it'll be like this tall.

And that's a lot for to stand up on its own.

Is there a way that I've heard sometimes you could not with most plants, you can't be buried in the stem but I heard tomatoes, sometimes you can kind of plant them sideways or something, Zach: Right.

So tomatoes are one of the few plants where they can grow roots from the stem.

And so if you lay a tomato sideways, it's really leggy tomato in later sideways and covered with soil, you'll grow roots there, and you'll have a lot more robust root system to grow the plant.

But personally, when I'm buying tomatoes, I like the really small kind of stocky ones.

Yeah.

And if you feel the stem of the tomato, you want to almost feel like a twig.

And if it's really hard, and it has a really good root system, that plant will typically outperform a big tall one that you're going to pay more money for.

Amanda: Oh, Lord.

Well, if you just if you just didn't have a lot of choice wherever you went, and you weren't going to put it on its side.

Would you take those leaves off before you did that?

Zach: Yes.

Oh, yeah, that would strip the leaves and that will kind of stimulate the roots to grow versus leaves.

Yep.

Amanda: And um you know a lot of times they say you supposed to little some plants dry out before you don't hurt him if you know if you want them every four days but but to tomatoes prefer having a consistently moist not wet but moist, Zach: correct?

Yeah.

Yeah, you want you want the roots to be moist at all times because that plant is continuously growing is transpiring just like other plants, but because the plane is so fastly actively growing, it needs a lot of water and especially when it's putting on fruit.

It needs a good bit of water.

Amanda: Okay, so is mulch a good way to try to help them in the garden?

Zach: Absolutely.

So a lot of soil volume if you're growing in a container.

And anytime whether you're growing in container or bare ground, you need some sort of you know, wheat straw or mulch compost to kind of hold that moisture in.

Amanda: And um, maybe Terasa one day we can find out if people what kind of mayonnaise people like Will their BLTs?

Terasa: I don't know if it's a good idea for me to participate in that.

Amanda: Well, then let's maybe we should go to another question.

Terasa: We could just taste test.

That'd be fun.

But yes, we do have another question.

gardenias are fairly popular I'd say in the South Carolina landscape that can be a little finicky Delilah in Chapin and says the leaves on my gardenia are turning yellow.

What could be causing this and what should I do?

Amanda: Okay.

Well as I love the white gardenia smell, Jackie, they really are nice.

Although my grandmother wants went to a wedding.

And the groom fainted because they had decorated gardenias which I think would have been kind of embarrassing for them.

Apparently some people Jackie Jordan: almost fainted during mine.

Amanda: Yeah.

But anyways, so but what do you think's going on with these yellow leaves, Jackie Jordan: So it really depends on where those yellow leaves are showing up in the shrub.

So if the newest growth is kind of a pale yellow and the vein standout sharply green, that could indicate that she's got an iron deficiency.

So because iron is not a very mobile nutrient, so it'll show up in the newest growth.

If the leaves, the older leaves are turning yellow, and they're kind of starting yellow at the center and moving out, that would indicate that she might have a nitrogen deficiency.

Because nitrogen is very mobile in the plant.

And so it will take the plant will take nitrogen from older leaves to put it into the new growth goodness.

If that's kind of if you step back and you take a look at the shrub, and you kind of see a little bit of yellow kind of all over, it could be that the plant is getting ready to turn over its leaves.

Evergreen leaves are good for about three years.

And so some years, you'll see those plants turn over more heavily than others.

So it's kind of shocking, because it really will stand out yellow.

And that's just the plant getting ready to turn over those leaves and put on new growth.

Amanda: Okay, well, and you know, it's interesting because live oakes makes people think you have leaves on them all the time.

And where I used to park, there was a lot of work and it seemed like in the springtime, all the leaves fell off the live oak.

They didn't fall off in the winter when you think right Jackie Jordan: and then is that with those evergreen cycling?

Yeah, they'll they'll those evergreens will do it a lot in the spring as because they'll get ready for that new growth to come on April May.

Amanda: Yeah, you have plants or plants are interesting.

<They are.> Terasa: a misnomer, right?

When we think of evergreens, it's not that they never lose their bodies.

It's just that they don't drop all of them at one time.

Amanda: Okay, well, Davis, I guess you're gonna point out some things in our camera, we'll get a good picture of them.

How should we start with these show tells?

Davis: Well, let's let's start right here on the left hand end have three relatively new hybrid and so these are these are hybrids of the native Florida anise and the the less common but equally native Mexican anise it's the one the one on the the first one here on the left is one called Orion.

You can tell that it's it is an anise from the of course from the the liquorish scent of the leaves.

Orion is one of the constellation series that tend to stay a lot more compact, they don't get as tall and rangy as as the species this wouldn't happens to have really pretty white flowers.

Most of the most of the anise have either red or pink flowers.

And they're not extremely floriferous.

But the the constellation series are really pretty compact, they stay very dense and they bloom a lot heavier than other species as well.

Amanda: And alsothe contrast with the white and the green.

It's just so noticeable, right?

Right.

If you have a dark leaf and a red you know blooms sometimes you just don't notice it as much.

Now you're saying that sometimes the flowers are not sweetly scented.

Davis: Well my experience with the species Florida Anis is that when the plant is in full bloom the the scent is without without trying to be delicate, the same kind of reminds me of rotting meat.

But, but the hybrids Amanda: like they were placed where something had been hit on sand, right, right, Davis: Some sort of putrid smell.

But, but the a lot of the hybrids have have kind of lost that fragrance.

In fact, just about all of the hybrids are virtually scentless except for the foliage.

The one that's in the center here is another one of the hybrids, this one is called Gray Ghost.

Here again, it has more or less white flowers, it's just a little bit of a pink highlight in the center.

But it's got a very narrow margin of white on the leaves kind of like the little shady lady called levar of the Florida hands.

Here again, it's this one doesn't stay quite as compact as the constellation series but it's still a really pretty addition to a shady garden.

Like all the anis trees they do prefer some shade and and they can also take quite a bit of moisture.

So if you have a wet shady area, this is an excellent plant for that because that can be kind of problematic for a lot of other shade loving plants.

And then the third one on the far right is one called Scarlet lady.

Scarlet lady has a super compact hybrid that one's only going to get up about four to five feet stays very dense and has real deep ruby red flowers.

Flowers are a little bit larger than than on the species.

So it's um it's showy when you're up close to it but like you said from a distance that that dark red sometimes gets lost in the foliage.

But since it does have such a such a compact and dwarf growth habit, you can put it close near the edge in front right along the edge regarding the path in the shade have a little unexpected surprise around the corner.

Amanda: Now how hardy are these in places that might get a late cold snap or anything Davis: Well the thing about these The thing about these most of them do I do actually bloom sporadically throughout the spring summer and even in the fall and they bloom heaviest in the spring but since one of the parents is the Florida Anis wich is actually Hardy way on up in zone six the species the species Florida Anis is all over the Biltmore Estate up in the mountains in Nashville.

So um, so yeah, they've got a they've got a great cold tolerance and being a Southeastern native, they've also got a great heat tolerance.

Amanda: Wow.

And so they'll flower a few flowers along and along so if you enjoy seeing the flowers occasionally when you walk out there, you'll probably find some that you can look at right?

Okay, well that was really really fun and Gosh hybridizers are just they're just going crazy these days.

Davis: Well and it's not necessarily a bad thing because hybridizers looked for the the really primo characteristics of a plant and tried to eliminate some of the less desirable traits, sometimes you do lose lose some of the some of the plants desirable traits like say in the case of the native calla canthus, sweet shrub Carolina all spice.

There is not a more fragrant woodland native than the species but the more highly hybridized they are the less less fragrance they have and most of the newer hybrids wasa fragrance all together.

Amanda: Yeah.

Oh, well.

They do.

I like okay, well, thank you for all that information.

Well, you're welcome.

Terasa do we have somebody who felt confident enough to have a spotlight garden.

Terasa: We sure do.

Today's spotlight is Gabrielle Hunt, who is lives on James Island.

In the first photo, we see a combination of Neely cup sage and Karolina Lupin adorning a trellis is a climbing rose with red orange flowers that remind me of the colors of a sunset.

Next we see clematis bell of woking, which produces a star shaped silvery mov flower.

Gabrielle's yard offers several wildlife habitat components.

Here we see a bird bath which serves the purpose of providing water not only for bathing, but also for drinking.

And we wrap up with nest box complete with predator guard that's important.

And a peek inside gives us a glimpse of four baby birds in the making.

Thanks Gabrielle for allowing us the opportunity to see your yard.

Amanda: In the making I like that.

In the making.

We told you earlier that we were going to give you a treat and watch a traditional Asian art form of flower arranging.

And today I'm with Lin Ko an ikebana specialist.

And we are going to do something that looks already very fascinating.

Lin Ko: Yeah, this is a bamboo.

Can you tell is a bamboo sprayer with gold to paint and already have two notches here.

So it can fit into the bowl nicely without a rolling around.

Amanda: You have a a willing and capable husband I understand.

Yes, but I'm gonna hold this just for a minute, while you tell us what you did to prepare this lovely container so that you wouldn't damage it.

Lin Ko: Yes,because the glass container tends to crack easily.

So before I put into the GanSan this is the GanSan I put in I already crushing it with some of the little tiny pebbles.

Okay, when you put in the pebble, be careful not throw in you kind of sprinkle in and now it's crucial.

Yeah, it will not crack.

Okay.

Amanda: And we call these sometimes we call them frogs or pin cushion cushions Lin Ko: a ping frog kenzan.

kenzan is Japanese term.

Amanda: So and also that raise it up a little bit maybe gives you that sort of access to it that you know, are you going to begin the arrangement with this piece of bamboo on it?

Lin Ko: Yes, I will.

Because some of the flower be on this side.

Some of them on that side.

So I feel that if I have it in place, yes.

I do not mess up.

Amanda: The way you've got it the way your husband helped you.

It's not going to move.

It's pretty stationary.

Yes, yes.

Lin Ko: Yes.

Well, very good job.

Yes.

And I'm going to start with with the flowers, the anthurium.

okay, and the tallest one I will have a band of flowers flowing down to the side.

Okay, so let's try and before you put in you have to cut the flower end inside the water to prevent the air gets into the stem.

Amanda: Okay, we'll make the flower last a lot longer.

Yes, yes, and this Lin Ko: kind of flower already have a longer life than most of the flowers, you plug in, okay.

And then probably you don't want that straight, a little bit tilted.

Amanda: All right.

And I believe that you try to go kind of blue to press so that you don't break the stem.

Lin Ko: That's right, you always hold on to the bottom of the stem instead of the top.

Or if you put too much stress, it can break.

Okay.

And this one, I'm going to cut again, inside of water, right?

And you may want to try different angles, not everything lined up at the same angle, or live at different angles to give a more interesting look.

Okay.

Amanda: As I understand the flowers, you try to let them speak to you.

And, and at the end, there's a conversation that occurred between the flowers and you.

So it's very interactive, Lin Ko: That's true that's true, so they don't want them to be completely against each other.

Yes, they want to talk to each other, but you avoid, arrange them in the same direction.

Okay.

See, and I choose a little slightly red, yeah, I like that.

Maybe this one will go this side, cut it, we can always make adjustment.

Okay, a different angle from the other channel.

Amanda: A lot of movement already Lin Ko: Yes, and then you can always make adjustment.

And this one is the largest one I have them go to the very end, right.

And in between, there are so much space we want to fill in something bity not big.

Okay, so I'm using the orchid.

Oh, this kind of okay, it has lots of smell very good.

So let's add in.

Amanda: and so it will take up a fair amount of space, but it's not going to cold.

Lin Ko: Yes.

Beautiful.

That's large.

That's the reason I use this flower and also the color actually contrast.

With the, with the red so that's really a wonderful Amanda: And the Lazy Susan does that help you a good bit?

Lin Ko: That's right the lazy Susan actually helped me to maneuver the container and also give people a good view.

They are audience Oh yes.

Okay, and then now I'm going to fill in the green no arrangement will look good without green.

That's really easy.

You have beautiful flower but there is no green doesn't look right.

So I'm going to plug in this and there are three different choices as the leafs can meet apart okay, I could have I could use this I could use this I could use this but I choose this because I think this is very nice to have a little interesting cut in the middle.

This one is too busy because too much of the cut and that one is to smooth.

So I choose this one to give a little of the interest Okay, so now we are doing this also low.

Amanda: also these flowers are going to remain the top focal point.

Lin Ko: Yes.

Also low, okay see.

nothing shall compete with the flower and then another one.

Okay, let me see.

Yeah, it's nice from this view is nice but there here are still some empty space.

at this one, I believe is a little bit too tall.

Amanda: So you do have to you start at one way and then as you feel you sometimes you say now that's just a little too dramatic or too prominent.

I have to make an adjustment.

Lin Ko: That's true.

That's true.

I'm using the little tiny thin Key Bocconi flower to be in the middle and you can also use the baby sprigs.

That's also a good place to go.

Okay, I'm using this one and then See how much of the height I need?

I need to trim a lot more.

This is only trying to fill the space to hide the kenzan.

Yes.

And of course at the end, you can always add more of the pebbles to cover the kenzan so people will not see it.

Okay.

But for the stripper pole, I think again that is not that visible.

So the good thing is, it's already red tape.

Amanda: Yes, I can barely see it.

Lin Ko: Yes.

And then we are going to fill in the space.

I always don't know what the outcome will be until I finish the whole thing.

And that's the good thing.

That's the fun thing.

If you can already picture the outcome is no fun.

Okay.

The fun thing is.

Amanda: letting the flower speak to you.

Lin Ko: True.

That's true.

Yeah.

And you have conversation ongoing, always ongoing.

Even though after you put it in despair for two days, you walk by say fended off telling me they are suffering, okay?

In that case, you have to do something, either change the water, or probably repress the better one.

And then change the water.

You can throw in some some ice cubes to refresh the water.

Or you can use the turkey punch the turkey baster.

Yes.

Absorb all the water out and put the new water in.

That's the that's the best way to handle it.

Because I found if you want to redo the whole thing is too much troubles.

Yes.

And there is a slightly little tiny spot in pretty much I need it.

Amanda: And the looseness of this little flower makes it perfect for taking up space, but not being too heavy.

That seems that way.

Lin Ko: So if you sprits maybe, you sometimes you do have to trim it.

Yes, because sometimes they come across they're really thick.

But this flower does not have that kind of problem.

Okay, so I think I like it this way.

What do you think?

Amanda: I think it's quite lovely.

Lin Ko: Yes.

Let me add some more water to complete Amanda: and did you have a different Lin Ko: display if I have a strong display tomorrow with Amanda: this?

Okay.

Lin Ko: Let's do the other way because that's the front.

Yes.

Amanda: This is again, we're and you know, repetition is always nice.

So we have what looks like the bamboo used in the Lin Ko: yes, the bamboo.

Yes.

Yes.

The bamboo and the bamboo.

Okay, and this is origami paper.

Oh, I just wrapped in to give a little bit accent.

Amanda: I think it is a tiny touch but it makes a big difference Lin Ko: Yeah, I think this is beautiful.

This is the back.

That's the front.

Okay, okay, that's the font.

Amanda: Lin Ko is certainly a very creative and accomplished artist.

It's fun to see the way that other people do flower arranging.

And I found out that your mother does flower arranging beautifully.

Jackie Jordan: Oh, yeah.

Yes, she does.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Amanda: And I asked if maybe if we start sharing some of her arrangments, So Terasa can put them on our Facebook page.

She is really accomplished.

Yeah.

So I was looking for hat stuff and the hat, my light yellow baptisia bloomed and now this dark yellow one darker yellow one is blooming and there was a piece of begonia that was too long so I just don't tell Everet and then I'm ninebark which is a native and I think as it gets larger it's supposed to have a very attractive Bark it's full of flowers, right?

It has been full of flowers.

And do you use that in some of your landscaping?

Davis: Actually, it's one of my favorite go to plants for a spot that that might get half Sun half shade particularly a morning sun.

The further north you go the more of a sun tolerance they have but as far south to get a ninebark to to perform well it does need a little bit of shade a little bit cooler temperature.

But the they're so versatile because now there's so many different growth habits of the ninebark and with the with the propagation by tissue culture that's become so popular in the past 20 or 30 years.

There are a lot of colorforms was out there that might not might not have been available.

You know, even as recently as 10 to 15 years ago, everything from sort of an amber color called Ginger wine, there are some that have got bright yellow foliage.

My favorite ones are the dark leaf ones like Diablo and particularly Panther panther is a really pretty when the leaves are almost black.

That's the name.

Amanda: I think it's just the plain old one.

Davis: Well, and those the natives is is always a great choice though.

The name ninebark of course comes from that bark pattern that it gets as it matures.

It splits and fissures and exfoliates and it literally comes the common name comes from the Native American word, which means ninebarks, because it looks like it has nine different layers of bark.

Amanda: Oh, fascinating.

Well, and I'm glad you told me that because I had one that was planted where it got a lot of sun and almost no water and it died one year.

And this one is near where is near sprinkler that leaks.

And it gets afternoon shade.

And it's just happy as a clam.

Davis: So when I do put those on one of my designs if the if the if the client decides or tries to tell me they don't like it, I always tell them to leave it there for a year.

And if it's not their favorite plant in the landscape for the next within the next year.

I will personally come and replace it.

And I have yet to replace one.

Amanda: Wow.

That's something so well.

I'm keeping this one so you just oh good.

It's not up for replacement.

Alrighty, Terasa, who?

Whom shall we try to help now?

Terasa: We are going to try to help Luis it seems tomato is a popular theme today.

Luis says I'd like to grow some heirloom tomatoes with unusual shapes and colors.

But disease is always a problem.

What can I do?

Amanda: Oh, boy, that's your tastes good, though.

But they're funky looking sometimes.

Yeah, kind of hard to slice sometimes.

But are they are they more difficult often, Zach?

Zach: I tell people, if you look at heirloom tomato the wrong way it will die.

You know, the thing are the heirlooms heirlooms do taste good.

A lot of a lot of times they're better than you know, commercial type varieties or you know, especially varieties you buy in a grocery store.

Because they are passed down from generation to generation and typically pass things down.

That tastes good.

Yeah.

So that's why I raised like Cherokee purple, and things just are incredible tasting tomatoes, but they are a little more challenging to grow.

A technique that has been developed for years, but it's kind of catching on now, especially with some of the larger farms and even home gardeners is grafting.

So just like fruit trees are grafted, we're starting to graph tomatoes now.

And we're grafting specifically for soil borne diseases.

So that's why it's really important for you know, farmers, home gardeners, whoever, if you're growing a crop of tomatoes, and they die one year to really identify the pathogen that killed them.

Because a lot of these root stocks that we use are specific to certain diseases.

And certain diseases look the same if you just look at the plant, and it's wilted and dead, but bring it into our office and we can send it to the lab to figure out the pathogen that killed it.

And then when you go to purchase grafted plants for next year, you would buy a root stock plant that's specific to the disease that killed your plant.

Amanda: Sounds complicated.

So you would take not just that the leaf the top is what's gonna look dead to you, but get from the roots.

Zach: Yeah, the plant that died.

And then once once we do that we can plate it out in our labs and figure out what pathogen killed it goodness.

And once we figure that out, then going forward, you can choose the correct rootstock that will be resistant to that disease.

Amanda: So how many different rootstocks are people using for these?

Zach: There are so many and I would name some, but a lot of them are just numbers.

Yeah, so it might be RST 10049 and four eight and so you would you would from a company you can order from online there's actually a big place in North Carolina, or they're a big grafting facility.

I mean, you can get them from online retailers but you would buy the rootstock specific to the disease and then you would buy the science or the top part of the plant that's really what you want.

So it could be that Cherokee purple or that Rutgers or that mortgage lifter?

Yeah.

Amanda: Goodness now also, Solon AC, which I guess is the family tomatoes around.

Is it rotation important and a lot of people don't know what all is in that family.

So could you talk about that for just a minute please?

Zach: Right.

So within the nightshade family or Solon, a shape family, you have tomatoes and peppers, eggplant, potatoes, and a lot of these are susceptible to the same diseases and nematodes.

So it's really important for home gardeners to rotate away from those spots for two, three, even four seasons.

So those pathogens don't build up in rotate.

What I mean by that is a plant from a different family.

So you might would plant, you know, brassicas, or broccoli or cabbage or lettuce or something in that spot.

We have a lot of issues with nematodes, especially where people grow tomatoes in the same spot year after year.

And if you do get one of these pathogens or nematodes in there, it's gonna be really hard to eradicate it.

And so your options are either rotating, don't grow tomatoes, or anything from that family, or use grafted plants.

Amanda: Okay.

Um, I had been told that if you had nematodes, and you grew something in the mustard family, brassicas, so I guess and till that in at the end, that sometimes that can help with the nematode situation.

Is there any truth to that?

Zach: Yes.

So brassicas are when when you tell them in and they break down, they release this chemical called ISO five oh, cyanate.

Say that again, I so thiocyanate, boy, Zach: as these things break down in the soil, they have these properties that kind of not sterilize the soil, but keep nematodes and diseases and pathogens kind of at bay.

And so they're really good to use behind a solanaceous crop until them into the soil and work it now we're not going to get rid of the problem completely eradicate the problem, but it is a very good Integrated Pest Management step that a lot of our commercial farmers actually use.

Amanda: you can't just go out, you need to till it into that correct.

A good bit of the plant mass gets into the soil.

Zach: Correct.

So you would you would grow the crop solely for the purpose of tilling it back in or getting it into the soil because when the plant breaks down, that's when those chemicals are released.

Amanda: That effect.

Take some leaves off the collards every now and then.

Zach: Yeah, for a pot or two just Yeah.

Okay.

Amanda: That'd be hard to resist if they were looking good.

Oh, righty.

Okay Treasa.

Terasa: Well, from vegetable gardening to lawn care, August in Lexington wants to know, is it really important to mow my grass at a certain height?

And if so how do I measure that?

Amanda: Goodness gracious.

All right, Jackie.

Jackie Jordan: So I would start with measuring, you want to measure the length of the blade.

So you can just go out there with a ruler real quick.

For your lawnmower, I would go back and refer to the manual and see what those numbers are listed for the heights because just because it says one or two doesn't mean that that's you know, one inch, two inches.

So those positions on the lawnmower can vary.

I see, you can refer to your manual, you can measure the blade.

That's probably the easiest way.

As far as cutting your grass, it has a huge impact that we never want to remove more than a third of the blade at the time.

Because that's removing half of the plant's ability to photosynthesize.

So if you come in and you scalp the grass, you're cutting off over half of its ability to photosynthesize.

Amanda: the roots problem is it was had a relationship with the roots.

And so if it's not photosynthesizing, I guess it can't supply the roots with what they need either.

Jackie Jordan: Oh yeah, definitely.

So it'll stop growing for at least 24 to 72 hours depending on what species now you can manipulate your grass to kind of do what you want it to do.

So in the spring, you're better off cutting your grass at a lower height.

That way it forces the turf grass to branch out and it actually will become thicker so you could thicken up your lawn in the spring.

And then once we start to get to the heat of July, raise your mowing height up to the maximum for that your grass and that will encourage the root system to go deeper, it'll be more drought tolerant you know it will put up with the stresses of the weather and then leave it tall as we go into the winter months because as we go into fall, that's going to have a lot of reserve carbohydrates for to draw on for next year.

So if your grass is having growing in a little bit more shade, you definitely want to keep it at the upper end so it can maximize Amanda: getting as much sun now we have fact sheets on different types of turf grass.

And I imagine that within those gives you the recommend Jackie Jordan: it does right it will say you know if you're doing a common Bermuda you would do anywhere from an inch to an inch and a half or hybrid Bermuda would be three quarters of an inch to an inch and a quarter.

A biggest thing I see is where people cut their St Augustine too short that really should be minimum two inches.

It's better off at two and a half to three inches from mowing height.

Amanda: Now some people like to catch all their clippings and put them on the side of the road where they run in storm sewer.

Mmm, isn't, can't you get some of the nitrogen that your plants can, just letting the clippings go back Jackie Jordan: you can majority of the clippings are water, and then about 30% of that can actually be nitrogen and you get some other micronutrients as well.

And if you do recycle your clippings, you can drop your fertilizer requirement by 25%.

So cutting off a fourth of that fertilizer, Amanda: well and I would think to just, you know, it's going to become organic matter.

Oh yeah.

And that always improves your soil I mean, proves the the moisture holding capacity of your soil and, and soils and add some nutrients.

Jackie Jordan: It does not in any way contribute to thatch at all.

And actually, that will help to kind of control your thatch because you're introducing those nutrients and you'll get some micro organisms feeding from the top to help break down that thatch.

Amanda: But the main thing is you want you do need to have a sharp, you want your blades to be sharp, right, Jackie Jordan: you do want to keep your lawnmower blades sharp, it's good to go out and sharpen them at least once if not twice a season because there's good sharp lawnmower blade will help that recovery from mowing because if it's not, and you get that really tattered look, and you have those little white things sticking out, that's the xylem and phloem of the turf grass, so it's losing water like crazy if you have a ragged lawnmower blade Amanda: and I think that somebody blade, told me that you should like disconnect the battery before you start taking the blades off.

Jackie Jordan: Oh, yeah.

They do that he thinks Amanda: Okay, okay, thank you.

There's a lot to cutting grass.

Well, let's move from cutting grass to something that doesn't need to be cut at all.

Davis: Well, let's start with some more native plants here.

This is the wood Poppy you're selling Dean Poppy.

You can see it's got a really pretty little yellow flower.

That is sweet as it can be a wonderful texture.

This is another good one for deep shade.

Which as a as a Southeastern native.

This is one of the throwbacks that goes all the way back to when when we actually had forested areas in the southeast before we came in and built our factories and subdivisions and all that good stuff but up but this is a really lovely filler for for a moist shady garden.

It's got a wonderful texture to the leaf, their bright yellow flowers sort of go on up into June, sometimes early July.

And it's very durable perennial as long as you don't let it dry out and deer won't eat it.

Amanda: Well, there's something to be said.

Now, is it evergreen or deciduous?

Davis: It's deciduous.

Amanda: Is it still?

I mean, we're not.

Davis: Yeah, yeah.

You're not gonna be out looking for green things in the woods in the winter anyway.

Amanda: It's truly lovely.

Now does it spread at all?

Davis: Yes, it does.

It's not an aggressive spreader.

It's it's a very well behaved perennial.

If you plant it and just let it go, it will eventually develop pretty dense carpet.

Amanda: I can see in this one that there probably too and yeah, yeah.

Okay, that is just the yellow is so vibrant.

And you know, that's fun, because, you know, it's like the Carolina all spice it's not showy it but this one start?

Yes.

Davis: Oh, while we're, while we're on the subject of yellow natives.

We also have the native Carolina looping or thermolysis.

It's, it's, excuse me.

It's very similar to the to the yellow baptisia you've got in your in your hat, it'll develop a raceme of beautiful bright yellow flowers.

There are a couple of cultivars One of them's called Carolina moonlight, which has a little bit paler yellow, but the species is a really nice yellow color.

Here again, it is deciduous, this one will grow in full sun to part shade.

The more sun it gets, the more dense and compact it'll stay in the heavier it'll bloom.

Amanda: Okay, and so does it have does this one have the moisture requirements of this one?

Or is this one tolerant of its layers?

Davis: It's a little bit more tolerant it does need regular watering needs to be evenly moist.

Amanda: Okay, that's well that's really fun.

I can't wait to look it up and see what the picture with the flower looks like.

No, thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Okay.

I think in front of the desk we've got some Japanese maple Streamlight talking#* Davis: right down on the on the far end.

Most people when they think of Japanese maple see the Think of the great big upright Redleaf ones like the blood good and the Emperor one or the the mounding and spreading types like the one right in front of well actually we're not talking about any of those four different ones in this time.

That don't fit norm that you're saying that right you first describing the one that everybody Everybody thinks about right.

Right?

Yeah, they can be quite beautiful.

Yes, yes, they are.

And they just about every landscape in South Carolina has a spot for a Japanese maple, you just need to find it.

On the on the end down there on the far right and from Terasa is one called Koto No Ito, or the direct translation of that from the Japanese is like the strings of a harp.

So it's called the harp strings, Japanese maple.

It's got a very fine, fine leaf that cascades downward, like the strings of a harp.

And the larger the tree gets, the more pronounced that cascading foliage is, it's it's very sensitive to light breezes.

So whenever there's a breezy day in the summertime, those leaves just literally flutter and look like flowing water.

Amanda: Well, how is it going to grow?

Is it going to it's a good size?

Davis: It's a fairly upright grower and it can top out 15-18 feet so it's a pretty good size when you notice it.

Yes, yes, it's upright vase shaped and brilliant orange fall color, really beautiful, beautiful tree in the fall, quite dramatic.

And to the to the left of the harpstrings is a red leaf of variety called Astro linary, which is basically just a red leaf harpstrings.

Here again, it's got that same upright growth habit, it's going to have more of a scarlet or red, bright red color in the fall.

And it's that one would be a nice one to show off against a white wall or beige colored wall, something like that in the summertime.

Amanda: Now, I know some of them start off red, and then become green as the summer goes on is this gonna keep the reddish color Davis: it will eventually take on a greenish cast but usually that's more heat related.

If you're in a cooler climate, it's going to keep the red color a lot longer.

Amanda: You just have it for two, you know for that wonderful, right?

No gross spring season.

And there's nothing Davis: Well forsynthia only blooms wrong for 10 days.

But that doesn't make it any less beautiful no are necessary.

Another of the red leaf Maples that are brought is one called Red filigree lace.

You can see from the from the close up there that the leaf is almost doubly dissected.

This is another one that's going to have somewhat of an upright weeping habit.

But it's it is going to be a little bit more of a mounting shape.

So it's a nice filler as a focal point in a Asian style garden or even in a a formal garden where it might be surrounded by more formal shrubbery and and angularity a lot of lines and this will just give you a nice foil to typically when Amanda: it's so fine, textured, I feel like it needs to almost have something around it as a background as something for you to see that texture against how then it Davis: also well then it's also a good one to use near a garden path where where the person viewing it will actually pass close to it.

So they cannot they can see that Amanda: this won't disappear in the background because it's remarkably family.

Right, Davis: exactly.

And then the last one up there is basically just a chartreuse leaf form of that same plant the the the third one from the from the right is called lemon lime lace.

Same leaf, same growth habit, but it's just got that super bright green color.

Here again, the the double saturation on the leaves.

That was going to turn out a really brilliant orange in the fall also.

And so it's it would be a good one against a dark background or even as a freestanding, freestanding specimen or focal point and how tall are these?

Those Those can get up 10 to 12 feet in time very slow.

Amanda: Terasa, We've got like a minute and a half.

Is there something super quick we should answer.

Terasa: Ah, maybe Dixie in Santee wants to know if there are any roses that don't require a lot of maintenance.

Amanda: Okay, Jackie?

Jackie Jordan: Well, actually, Texas A&M released our number of roses labeled as Earth Kind.

They took 300 Roses, they established them they you know, mulch down watered and got them established and then came back three years later and these 21 varieties were Amanda: Okay, well, that gives us all still alive and doing well.

Okay, so look for the Earth Kind roses.

There's some beautiful ones.

My favorite is Belinda's Dream.

Say it again?

My favorite is Belinda's Deam.

Lovely, beautiful pink shrub rose gorgeous.

a lot to think about.

And I believe are those also somewhat resistant to rose rosette virus?

I think Texas A&M is doing some research on that.

Maybe not.

Jackie Jordan: I don't know about the rose rosett.

Definitely Blackspot and more Amanda: Well, there's something to be pest.

said for that because you're spraying every time you step out the back door.

Okay.

Well, that's wonderful and just called Earth kind roses.

Okay, Well thank you all so very, very much and may all, you have wonderful tomatoes of some sort that you could have a BLT We'll get to the mayonnaise question eventually.

Night Night everybody.

♪ Narration: 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