WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.720 --> 00:00:07.040
Sprout it from the rooftops. Today
we talk seed, starting here on the

2
00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:12.400
Gardening Simplified Show, coming to you
from Studio A at proven Winners Color Choice

3
00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:16.879
Shrubs. It's Stacy Hervella, me, Rick Weist, and our engineer and

4
00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:23.320
producer Adrianna Robinson. Okay, talking
seed, starting here we go. Everyone,

5
00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:27.160
please be seeded. This is gonna
be fun. Stacy. You know,

6
00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:32.479
I was thinking the other day,
gaining three minutes of light every day

7
00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:37.079
here starting in mid February, all
the way to the summer solstice in June.

8
00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:40.719
I think it's June twentieth this year. Three minutes a day, and

9
00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:44.759
if I do the calculation, that
gives me an extra six hours by the

10
00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:48.600
time we get there. What I
can do with six hours of time?

11
00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:51.399
Yeah, And you know you can
already feel it, even though it's mid

12
00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:56.159
February. I think that the difference
in the light already is so so noticeable,

13
00:00:56.200 --> 00:00:59.840
especially after work. I love it. I love it. Now it's

14
00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:04.879
great time to plant, and well
plant indoors. Some seeds. Shop for

15
00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:11.920
some seeds. I kind of to
me, it's like buying Christmas decorations in

16
00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:15.840
July, or buying a swimsuit in
the middle of winter, or buying a

17
00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:21.560
snowblower on Labor Day a great thing
to do, and we're going to encourage

18
00:01:21.560 --> 00:01:23.040
you to do that. By the
way, best time to buy a lawnmower

19
00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:26.920
or patio furniture September October. Oh
yeah, they want to clear it out

20
00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.359
so they can make room for those
snowblowers. So the concept here, no

21
00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:37.159
pressure, great selection, and with
any activity, the anticipation is half the

22
00:01:37.239 --> 00:01:41.239
fun. I do know, having
worked in the garden center industry for years,

23
00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:46.840
they see that garden seeds and bulbs
are two things that are often bought

24
00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:51.439
on impulse and never get planted.
Oh my gosh, guilty as charged.

25
00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:55.239
Not bulbs, So I mean,
I've had my share of unplanted bulbs,

26
00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:59.079
but seeds, for sure. You
know, seeds are the perfect example or

27
00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:01.599
the gardening example of I don't know
what the exact version would be, but

28
00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:07.120
your eyes are bigger than your stomach. Your enthusiasm when you're shopping for seeds

29
00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:12.560
might just be a little bit more
than your space, your time, your

30
00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:15.280
energy, in which case, you
know, I feel you you're in good

31
00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:20.120
company. It's like visiting the buffet
in Las Vegas. So let's touch on

32
00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:23.000
a few quick things. Number one, resist the urge to start seedlings too

33
00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:29.520
early a stretched on you. Right, seeds exist in a state of dormancy,

34
00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:35.159
but once the ideal conditions arrive,
which you're going to provide, these

35
00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:38.400
seeds will sprout and hopefully start to
go. Now it's an ideal time to

36
00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:45.840
use some recycled containers and one of
my favorites stacy uh huh yogurt cup my

37
00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:50.840
yogurt cups for those of you watching
us on YouTube. I think yogurt cups

38
00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:55.840
are perfect for the occasion. And
who would want to grow uncultured seedlands anyhow?

39
00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:59.960
Indeed? Right, yeah, so
there you go. You want to

40
00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:05.400
be legenddairy, make sure to put
holes in the bottom like I did here

41
00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:08.400
with my yogurt cup for drainage,
because one of the key things with seeds

42
00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:15.039
starting, Stacey and germination is that
we need the soil to be moist but

43
00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:19.199
not soggy or wet. We can
rot, but at the same time they

44
00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:22.840
can dry out too, So it's
a little bit of a dance. And

45
00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:25.800
I like to water from the bottom
up. I find that works well.

46
00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:29.439
Really, even when you have a
little tiny seedling that doesn't have the roots

47
00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:32.280
down there to actually bring up the
moisture. You can get enough moisture into

48
00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:36.680
that soil, and that brings up
a key component, and that is most

49
00:03:36.680 --> 00:03:42.439
people will use soiliss mixes, a
good quality soilist mix that is lightweight and

50
00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:46.439
yet is able to hold some moisture. And then we have to provide warmth.

51
00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:53.120
Warmth is very very important. Prior
to doing that, for folks who

52
00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:57.240
carry over seeds from year to year, maybe you want to test these seeds

53
00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:00.439
and check the germination rate. Yep, easy to do and the math is

54
00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:04.599
easy too. If you pick out
ten seeds ten seeds, roll them up

55
00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:09.520
in a paper a moist paper towel, put them in a plastic baggie,

56
00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:13.879
and then wait for a little while, and once they've sprouted, wait a

57
00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:16.040
little bit longer, giving all of
them a chance. And then, of

58
00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:20.800
course, with ten seeds of seven
seeds have germinated, obviously we have a

59
00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:26.439
seventy percent germination rate, and you
can see whether or not it's worth it

60
00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:30.639
for you to put the effort into
it. That said, again, so

61
00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:35.759
much fun to go out and buy
some new seeds and enjoy doing that.

62
00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:43.480
Now, damping off as far as
seeds are concerned is a disease that it

63
00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:47.160
can occur. Suddenly all your seedlings
have flopped over. We want to provide

64
00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:51.639
plastic or a cover over the top
to increase the humidity. But once they've

65
00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:56.079
sprouted, boy, we've got a
tent. That thing allow a little air,

66
00:04:56.199 --> 00:05:00.759
maybe a little fan to run to
allow some circulation on the seed links.

67
00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:05.680
Otherwise we're going to experience damping off. That said, throughout the years,

68
00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:12.959
a fifty percent milled sphagnum over the
top of the soil has worked well

69
00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:15.079
for me. But in my reading
the other day, Stacy, I read

70
00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:19.959
star chicken grit, finely ground stone. Have you heard that? I have

71
00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:23.720
heard that. Yeah, the fine
chicken grit so not the course chicken grit.

72
00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:26.560
Now, if you don't have chickens, it might not be worth it

73
00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:30.120
for you to buy a giant sack
of chicken grit to do this, But

74
00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:33.839
other similar things will work. I
mean, you can use like a coarse

75
00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:39.959
sand I've seen that people use,
and we use frequently here at the nursery,

76
00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:43.800
Vermicky lte and perlite. It will
work as well. Anything that just

77
00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:49.079
kind of keeps that soil surface covered
and with lots of airspace on top of

78
00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:53.399
it, so nothing too fine and
something that packs in like that. That

79
00:05:53.480 --> 00:05:57.439
makes sense, and that's part of
the reason why I like the watering from

80
00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:01.720
the bottom, also because I like
to try to keep the foliage dry once

81
00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:08.639
the seedlings have emerged. And then
again circulation is very very important. Now,

82
00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:15.160
once those shoots emerge, the seed
initially held whatever that new seedling needed

83
00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:19.000
to get it off to the races. But then once the plant develops,

84
00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:26.319
leaves starts to photosynthesize. Very important. That we're applying a water soluble fertilizer,

85
00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:28.959
we're going to have to add some
nutrient well, So it really to

86
00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:31.319
me, it depends on if you
are buying, if you're starting with a

87
00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:35.480
fresh soil list mix from the garden
center, which is going to have fertilizer,

88
00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:39.279
yes, or if you're recycling.
Now, I usually recycle my potting

89
00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.199
soil. I just go out to
where I store it for the winter and

90
00:06:42.279 --> 00:06:44.519
fill my containers with it. People
might say, oh, are you worried

91
00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:46.480
about those fungal diseases and all of
that, And the answer is I'm not

92
00:06:46.600 --> 00:06:49.040
so. First of all, my
soils kept dry over the winter. It's

93
00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:55.319
in a big plastic bin and Second
of all, overall soilist mixes like we

94
00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:58.920
using containers and for seed starting generally
don't hold on to a lot of moisture.

95
00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:01.920
That's the point. So a lot
of disease does not develop because they

96
00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:04.879
are well drained, and all of
those conditions that would normally you know,

97
00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:11.680
foster disease aren't actually occurring. So
I so I'm always recycling that. So

98
00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:15.800
I do use a fertilizer, but
I probably would start it depending on the

99
00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:18.879
crop, maybe like I do like
every two weeks in a very low feed,

100
00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:21.680
like a half strength. Yeah,
yeah, like that, Yeah,

101
00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:27.120
which makes perfect sense. All right. Let me give you a limerick on

102
00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:31.439
my seed starting prowess, so to
speak, which isn't always very good.

103
00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:35.879
Today I planted some seed. Please
grow to them, I plead. I've

104
00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:41.639
got dirt and water on my floors
growing something meant for outdoors, and results

105
00:07:41.720 --> 00:07:46.199
are not guaranteed. Soon maybe they
will sprout. I'll nurture day in day

106
00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:50.120
out in the mess. They offer
me hope and help me with winter to

107
00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:57.720
cope even if they just peter out. I studied their germination estimator, but

108
00:07:57.800 --> 00:08:03.120
I'm more of a terminator. The
portrait is very nice in itself was worth

109
00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:07.519
the price. I'll put the picture
on my refrigerator. You know, it

110
00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:11.240
does bring up a point. Stay
see that buying these seed packets, they

111
00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:15.800
have a lot of information on them, and it probably would make sense to

112
00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:18.560
read the information. Oh definitely,
there you can find out all sorts of

113
00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:22.079
things. You know, whether or
not the plant, the seed needs some

114
00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:26.279
sort of pre treatment. Sometimes that
might mean filing with a nail file or

115
00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:30.759
you know, pre soaking in some
cases, like I know, morning glories

116
00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:35.759
and nasturtium, bigger seeds are often
recommended that you pre soak them. There's

117
00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:37.200
all sorts of stuff. Some things
will need a little cold treatment. So

118
00:08:37.240 --> 00:08:39.600
it's a good idea to get all
of your ducks in a row with that

119
00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:43.960
information before you embark on the actual
planting. Because you know one thing about

120
00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:48.440
seeds. Once they're planted, good
luck recovering them. If you decide that

121
00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:54.480
you wanted to make a change,
you can't unring the bell usually the old

122
00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:58.759
adage, you can't do that,
So important to follow the directions on the

123
00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:03.039
path, like the depth of the
seeds. Some seeds, you know you

124
00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:09.559
mentioned stratification or nicking the seed coat. Some seeds need light in order to

125
00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:13.039
germinate, and you're not going to
want to plant those two deep. Also,

126
00:09:13.159 --> 00:09:18.679
soil temperature is important generally seventy to
seventy five degrees, and in some

127
00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:22.879
homes that may be a little difficult
to achieve unless you add a little supplemental

128
00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:26.679
Right, And you know, I
finally, after many, many years of

129
00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:31.960
starting seeds Indoors did invest in some
seed starting mats, germination mats. It

130
00:09:33.000 --> 00:09:35.320
makes such a difference. I mean, the seeds practically leap out of the

131
00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:39.320
soil. They're not that expensive.
It's just kind of one of those things

132
00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:41.360
where I was like, well,
they're growing, so why do I need

133
00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:45.960
one? But the difference between them
merely growing and really just jumping out of

134
00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:48.960
the soil is night and day when
you have those germination mats, and that's

135
00:09:50.039 --> 00:09:54.759
less chance for something to go wrong
during that really crucial germination period. Absolutely.

136
00:09:54.919 --> 00:10:01.919
Also, the seedlings obviously are going
to require light, maybe some artificial

137
00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:07.159
light from you if you have a
really good window, turning the little containers

138
00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:11.440
or the flat so that they're not
leaning in one direction, or if you're

139
00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:16.600
providing that supplemental light, get it
close enough to those seedlings right. Yeah,

140
00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:20.960
And you know last year we talked
a little bit about lights. Before,

141
00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:22.960
you know, having lights was like
this big thing, like, oh,

142
00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:28.159
they're really serious. And now,
especially LED lights, they're so powerful,

143
00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:31.559
they're so inexpensive, they're cheap to
run. I would highly, highly

144
00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:35.879
recommend it because I'm not saying absolutely, don't grow seeds if you don't have

145
00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:39.679
a grow light. But if you
really want vegetable plants that are growing to

146
00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:41.879
grow well, or flower plants for
that matter, that are actually going to

147
00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:46.840
grow well and have a good sturdy
stem, you've got to get them off

148
00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:48.519
to the best start. You can
definitely play around with, you know,

149
00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:52.399
just doing stuff for the fun of
it, but if you're serious about the

150
00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:54.440
crop that you're growing, a light's
the way to go. So where do

151
00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:58.279
you stand on the tickle camp?
A lot of people say, get a

152
00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:01.279
little paint brush and tickle the where
do you stand in that? I usually

153
00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:05.759
keep a fan on them for a
certain amount of hours once they get a

154
00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:07.919
little bit on the taller side.
So that does it for me. Just

155
00:11:09.399 --> 00:11:15.240
some kind of circular plants on trial
is coming up next here on the Gardening

156
00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:20.120
Simplified Show. We'll see what Stacy
has in store and a reminder, of

157
00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:24.960
course, you can visit us at
our website Gardeningsimplified on air dot com and

158
00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:28.519
we'll put the show notes there.
Plants on trial next, stay tuned,

159
00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:37.320
Proven winners, Color Choice Shrubs.
Cares about your success in the garden.

160
00:11:37.559 --> 00:11:41.000
That's why we trial and test all
of our shrubs for eight to ten years,

161
00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:45.679
making sure they outperform everything else on
the market. Look for them and

162
00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:50.600
the distinctive white container at your local
garden center. Greeting's gardening friends, and

163
00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:54.440
welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. While we were on break, we

164
00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:58.000
were chatting about seed starting and we
got a helpful tip from Adriana, our

165
00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:01.679
producer, that I just wanted to
share out there for anyone who's getting all

166
00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:05.399
excited about the heat germination mats.
They are a great idea. They are

167
00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:09.159
great for seedlings, but Adriana shares
that they are also good for cats and

168
00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:16.639
not surprising when you think about a
cat and it's affinity for a sunlit patch

169
00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:20.360
in your yard, in your room
or whatever. Well, similarly, it

170
00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:24.200
has an affinity for that warm seedling
heat mat that you might be trying to

171
00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:30.120
use, and no compunction whatsoever about
knocking your seedlings out of the way to

172
00:12:30.759 --> 00:12:33.759
get to that warmth. Instead of
being a lap cat, it's a mat

173
00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:39.679
cat. It's a matt cat.
Yes. So anyway, a little word

174
00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:43.159
of advice there from Adriana, who
fortunately did not lose any seedlings last year,

175
00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:48.480
but could have because of Fuego the
heat mat loving cat, and I

176
00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:54.840
did want to just add one lasting
to our seed conversation from experience as well.

177
00:12:54.960 --> 00:12:58.399
You know, when I first started
gardening, I was just I would

178
00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:01.679
read about you know, I had
seed starting book and I would read the

179
00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:03.840
packets and it would say, you
know, so directly in the ground,

180
00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:07.399
and I would say, yeah,
for some people, maybe I'm starting the

181
00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:11.000
stuff indoors. I can do this. Those rules are for other people.

182
00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:18.799
And the simple fact is now with
many years of gardening experience under the belt,

183
00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:22.120
that it is good advice and you
really should follow those instructions. And

184
00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:26.600
when something says that it is best
direct zone, which is to say,

185
00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:30.759
putting it directly in the ground or
container outside where you want it to grow,

186
00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:35.919
that's true. I mean, you
can certainly experiment, and I would

187
00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:37.639
never want to say, oh,
don't even try, but you know,

188
00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:41.399
I would say if you're going to
experiment, save some of your seed too,

189
00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:45.919
so directly and you'll really you will
notice the difference. I mean,

190
00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:48.200
i've certainly. I think lettuce is
a great example. You get real antsy,

191
00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:52.559
you sew some lettuce seed indoors just
to get a head start. It

192
00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:56.720
grows that long stem and it's laying
down on the on the soil, and

193
00:13:56.759 --> 00:14:01.080
then you direct sow some lettuce and
it comes up and it's beautiful and it

194
00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:03.799
grows exactly like you think it should. So not to discourage a spirit of

195
00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:09.879
experimentation, but you don't want to
sow all your seed in one indoor basket,

196
00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.840
as it were. I think it's
a great point. Try both,

197
00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:18.240
do both an experiment, and of
course make sure to look at the timing

198
00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:22.399
on the package. Also go to
the last frost date, do a little

199
00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:26.240
mathematics there as you get into them. Absolutely so anyway, all for planting

200
00:14:26.279 --> 00:14:31.879
seed and seed is the inspiration for
today's plant on trial, and today's plant

201
00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:37.399
on trial is still waters. Clemitis. Now probably have a lot of people

202
00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:41.320
out there going what clemitis and seed? What's going on here? But clemitis,

203
00:14:41.320 --> 00:14:46.120
of course everybody loves clemenis for their
flowers. They're large, they're super

204
00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:50.919
colorful, they're super showy. But
I personally think that the seed heads are

205
00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:54.559
equally if not more, I mean, if not more, that might be

206
00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:58.960
a little bit of a stretch,
but at least equally as delightful as the

207
00:14:58.039 --> 00:15:01.399
flowers on a cle This, wouldn't
you agree? Certainly interesting? Yeah,

208
00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:05.279
So I was asking around in the
office today as I was thinking about the

209
00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:11.960
show, what the seed pods of
Clematis remind different people here of. So

210
00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:18.279
a couple things. Fireworks, puffballs, pinwheels, something from a Doctor Seuss

211
00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:22.200
book, especially the Truffle of trees, and if you are of a certain

212
00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:28.320
age and fandom, tribbles from the
classic Star Trek episode. That is great.

213
00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:31.600
I like that. So one of
those things hopefully spoke to you as

214
00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:33.960
you are listening to the show,
or if you're watching on YouTube, then

215
00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:37.879
you've already hopefully seen the picture that
Adrianna is going to put in the YouTube

216
00:15:37.879 --> 00:15:43.919
show. But they are they're so
neat, So they the seed head.

217
00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:46.279
You know, the center of a
clematist is fairly fluffy in and of itself,

218
00:15:46.840 --> 00:15:52.080
but that seed head that the flower
becomes, it's just this beautiful round

219
00:15:52.200 --> 00:16:00.480
ball of these sort of stems with
feathery, silky white almost feathers on them,

220
00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:04.840
and they're absolutely gorgeous when the flower
fades in you know, springer summer.

221
00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:07.600
Depending on the type of clematists you
have, in the case of still

222
00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:11.080
Waters, that's going to be the
first bloom is going to start winding down

223
00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:17.000
by early summer, and they have
this just silky white and green look,

224
00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:22.000
and then as the season progresses those
turn brown and then again that feathery stuff

225
00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:29.120
kind of develops, and so it's
just this swirly, fluffy ball on your

226
00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:33.080
plant. And they're so interesting.
Yeah, it's as fun as the flowers.

227
00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:36.360
And to me it's fireworks. They
go cub bloom. Yeah, it's

228
00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:40.200
just really cool. So you know, it's kind of one of those things

229
00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:45.919
that I think it's really unsung,
and I think it's even nicer to use

230
00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:49.600
in an arrangement later in the season
and to just keep an open mind about

231
00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:53.679
the ornamentation that these seed pods,
even if you bought a clematis for its

232
00:16:53.679 --> 00:16:59.399
flowers, bring to the garden in
addition to those flowers. But let's get

233
00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.840
to still Waters clemists, and so
that is today's plan on trial and what

234
00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:06.359
we are focusing on now. I
do want to say it's seedheads are not

235
00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:10.559
out of the ordinary. They are
just as fabulous as any other clematists out

236
00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:17.119
there. But its flowers are very
very interesting, and I have found it

237
00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:21.799
difficult to find the right words to
describe their color, and the closest I

238
00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:26.599
can come is icy violet. Icy
violet. Yes, so they kind of

239
00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:32.000
have like a they have a cool
purple bluey tone, but also like some

240
00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:37.640
white in there, and it almost
gives it kind of like a glowing effect

241
00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:41.759
in the gardens, So a pale, a lighter color, but certainly with

242
00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:45.480
those purple and blue tones, and
just like I said, sort of an

243
00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:51.000
iciness. It's really kind of ethereal, almost skylike, and it's not one

244
00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:52.480
that you find in a lot of
other plants. I can think of few,

245
00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:59.480
if any, you know. I
love the crystal spires azure salvia from

246
00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:03.119
proven Winner perennials. This is much
more purple than that. So I was

247
00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:06.960
kind of racking my brain and I
can't quite think of anything that comes close

248
00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:11.119
to the flowers of Stillwater's clematis.
So if you're watching YouTube you'll see them.

249
00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:14.400
Otherwise, check us out at Gardening
Simplified on air dot Com for some

250
00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:18.880
photos, or our Instagram page to
see what that looks like now. I

251
00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:22.680
one of the most incredible combinations that
I have ever seen in my time working

252
00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:29.279
here for proven Winter's Color Choice Shrubs
was when a gardener planted Stillwater's clematis with

253
00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:33.720
black lace elderberry. Oh wow.
And it was just studying now. Black

254
00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:37.680
lace elderberry is a plant that does
not need any further ornamentation. It's a

255
00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:42.720
very highly ornamental plant with black foliage
and finally dissected. But the color of

256
00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:48.720
those two and I think that that
is a really great point of inspiration for

257
00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:52.279
using Stillwater's clamatis in your garden is
that it can take any of those darkly

258
00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:56.559
foliaged plants or dark leaf plants,
whether it's a black leaf, a purple

259
00:18:56.599 --> 00:19:02.640
leaf, trees, shrubs, perennials, and a lot of times, as

260
00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:06.359
much as I love that dramatic dark
foliage, it can kind of turn into

261
00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:07.880
a black hole in the landscape.
I can kind of just like suck all

262
00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:12.279
the lights out of the landscape.
And by combining it with this really unique

263
00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:18.079
color, it just brings light and
life and interest to the combination. You're

264
00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:21.839
on a roll here. I'm just
letting you go. This is inspirational because

265
00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:25.720
I want to see this in my
landscape. Regardless of whether or not you

266
00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:30.440
pronounce it clematis or rightly clematis.
You know that's okay. I you know,

267
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.519
there's no wrong pronunciations, only wrong
spellings. As we say, as

268
00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:37.200
long as as long as you can
walk into the garden center and get the

269
00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:41.519
plant that you're looking for, you
did good personally. I like the way

270
00:19:41.559 --> 00:19:45.200
you say it better than I do. I can help old habits die hard,

271
00:19:45.240 --> 00:19:49.759
I definitely feel that. So so
this is a great plant for that.

272
00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:55.759
And it's a great plant as our
any clematis vining clematists to spruce up

273
00:19:55.880 --> 00:20:00.720
any kind of hedge or evergreen.
And this is that I learned as a

274
00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:03.640
rooftop gardener in New York City.
Is plant a clematist by the base of

275
00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:10.000
like an arbor idy hedge, and
let it use that shrub or treat as

276
00:20:10.039 --> 00:20:12.160
a support for the plant, and
the clementists will have no trouble finding its

277
00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:15.039
way, you know, all through
the plant, and it will come out

278
00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:18.960
and these fabulous flowers will just peek
out where you least expect them. It's

279
00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:23.519
like letting nature do your gardening for
you and it just looks amazing. And

280
00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:29.559
I think sometimes when you take yourself
out of the equation and let those surprises

281
00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:32.680
happen, that's when you find it
to be, you know, really rewarding

282
00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:34.720
and you can take full credit.
Don't worry, we won't tell I'm an

283
00:20:34.759 --> 00:20:38.640
inspider. This is excellent. Now, Stacy, Uh, where is this

284
00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:44.119
plant developed? So? This was
developed in the Netherlands by a world renowned

285
00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:48.480
clematist expert named Rim Snoyer. I
don't speak Dutch, so forgive me mister

286
00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:52.880
Snoyer and Company if I have mispronounced
your name. But he is. He's

287
00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:57.880
written books on clematists. He's a
clematist, breeder and appreciator extraordinaire. And

288
00:20:57.960 --> 00:21:02.599
he's also the breeder of some of
our other clemitists in the proven Winter's line,

289
00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:06.799
and certainly still Waters is one of
our absolute favorites from him. So

290
00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.839
it's Hardy from USAA zones four through
nine. So I think we're covering the

291
00:21:10.839 --> 00:21:15.160
needs of our cold climate and warm
climate friends with this one. So wide

292
00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:18.839
range gonna be about four to seven
feet tall and about three to five feet

293
00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:22.599
wide. Always hard to judge those
sizes with a vine, but it's gonna

294
00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:25.880
want support. This is a full
vining clematis, and like other clematis,

295
00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:27.920
you're gonna want the feet in the
shade and the head and the sun.

296
00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:32.720
So plant it where the roots are
gonna be shaded. Another great reason to

297
00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:34.519
plant it, you know, at
the base of a shrub or tree,

298
00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:38.000
where that's going to provide that shade, and then the colemitists can figure out

299
00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:41.680
the rest of it on its own. But then you want sun or parts

300
00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:47.119
on on those leaves and flowers for
the best results. But those roots,

301
00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:51.480
they need to stay cool and they
do not like heat. They don't like

302
00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:53.599
to dry out. They don't like
it to be too wet. And when

303
00:21:53.640 --> 00:21:56.079
you plant your clematis, you're gonna
find out why, because you're gonna see

304
00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:00.960
they have these thick, fleshy roots
that's really like nothing else, and so

305
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.880
they need a little bit of special
care. Well, we'll give you all

306
00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:07.240
the special care instructions on growing still
Whattters Clemenists or any clemitist in your garden

307
00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:11.519
at Gardeningsimplified on Air dot Com.
But right now we've got to take a

308
00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:12.920
break. Quas when we come back. We're answering your garden questions, so

309
00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:23.400
please stay tuned. At proven Winner's
color Choice, We've got a shrub for

310
00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:29.559
every taste and every space. Whether
you're looking for an easycare rose and unforgettable

311
00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:33.359
hydrangea, or something new and unique, you can be confident that the shrubs

312
00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:37.079
and the white containers have been trialed
and tested for your success. Look for

313
00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:41.799
them at your local garden center.
Creeting's Gardening friends and welcome back to the

314
00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:48.319
Gardening Simplified Show. It's time to
answer your gardening questions. You're pressing horticultural

315
00:22:48.359 --> 00:22:52.240
issues tis this season. The issues
are only going to become more pressing for

316
00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:57.079
the next couple months when things start
to emerge or not and pruning and people

317
00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:00.119
have a lot of questions, so
you're always welcome to reach out to us

318
00:23:00.359 --> 00:23:04.079
at help HLP at Gardening Simplified on
air dot com, or just visit Gardening

319
00:23:04.119 --> 00:23:08.279
Simplified on air dot com, use
our contact form, leave a comment on

320
00:23:08.319 --> 00:23:11.440
YouTube, leave a comment on Instagram. We all talk to each other.

321
00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:17.559
We'll get it and we'll get you
the information that you need. And the

322
00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:22.000
questions are definitely rolling in because people
are thinking about the gardening. So what's

323
00:23:22.039 --> 00:23:25.440
in the mail bag today? Well, in the mail bag, Randy writes

324
00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:27.880
to us, I'm gonna buy your
one gallon size let's dance, big band

325
00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:33.720
and wee bit grumpy high ranges for
pots. I live either zone six or

326
00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:37.119
seven. Things have changed in the
zones. Yeah, you're right about that,

327
00:23:37.240 --> 00:23:41.759
Randy, most of us got to
raise this past year. I live

328
00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:45.720
in between Charleston and Huntington, West
Virginia. I'd like to know the proper

329
00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:51.519
sized pot for them, best soil
or miniature and other pointers for them.

330
00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:57.680
Yeah. So the zone here is
going to be fairly irrelevant to the answer

331
00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:03.400
that I'm going to give you.
But generally speaking, and especially when it

332
00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:07.960
comes to big leaf hydranges and other
plants that can be quite sensitive to overwatering,

333
00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:15.160
I recommend that you don't go with
your ultimate sized container at the start.

334
00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:18.440
Yes, yes, correct, Yeah, so you know you certainly will

335
00:24:18.440 --> 00:24:22.880
see those really huge containers. And
I do recommend again, when a plant

336
00:24:22.960 --> 00:24:29.200
is relatively susceptible to overwatering, that
you don't want to start with a plant

337
00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:33.000
with a container that's going to leave
a lot of extra soil around the plant

338
00:24:33.079 --> 00:24:37.079
that the roots haven't grown into because
what happens is that just holds on to

339
00:24:37.160 --> 00:24:40.680
water. It's like surrounding your plant
with sponges. Now, some plants are

340
00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:45.240
more sensitive to this than others,
but I would recommend basically starting with something

341
00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:53.839
that's only about anywhere from two to
four maybe six inches larger in diameter than

342
00:24:53.880 --> 00:24:57.480
the size of the container that you
purchase. So Randy said that he's looking

343
00:24:57.519 --> 00:25:02.160
at one gallon size Dance Big Band
and wee Bit Grumpy, which yes,

344
00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:04.519
is its real name. I don't
think we've covered that on Plants on Trial

345
00:25:04.599 --> 00:25:07.640
yet, but we'll have to tell
the story of Grumpy's name when we do

346
00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:14.119
those one gallon sizes and a proven
winner's colored choice one gallon container are going

347
00:25:14.200 --> 00:25:17.599
to be ten to twelve inches in
diameter, So across the top, it's

348
00:25:17.640 --> 00:25:19.119
not named after me, is it? No? It's not? Okay,

349
00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:26.319
good continue so, and you're never
grumpy, so it definitely couldn't even be

350
00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:30.240
named after you. We Bit Giddy, on the other hand, maybe so

351
00:25:30.359 --> 00:25:33.400
ten to twelve inches, So you're
going to one look similarly for a container

352
00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:38.920
that is somewhere in that twelve to
sixteen inch range, so that we don't

353
00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:41.279
have a ton of extra soil.
The plant's going to be able to live

354
00:25:41.319 --> 00:25:45.400
in that for a good three years, if not longer. And you know,

355
00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:51.559
people also need to remember that the
container itself has a dwarfing effect on

356
00:25:51.599 --> 00:25:55.799
the plant. By being having its
roots contained, that has the effect of

357
00:25:55.880 --> 00:26:00.440
keeping the plant a little bit smaller. That's why bone size work. Right.

358
00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:03.720
There are huge trees that you cram
into this little container, and by

359
00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:08.519
restricting their root room, it does
in turn restrict the overall size of the

360
00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:11.839
plant. So I don't like to
start off with, you know, putting

361
00:26:11.880 --> 00:26:17.200
it in a giant twenty four inch
municipal container. I like to go along

362
00:26:17.480 --> 00:26:19.880
and you know that it will be
time to transplant it when it's really hard

363
00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:23.000
to keep your plant watered. When
it falls down very often, you know,

364
00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:27.759
it blows over in the wind,
or it's flowering really becomes diminished.

365
00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:32.440
But it should last a good i'd
say three seasons at least. It's great.

366
00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:36.400
So you're recommending not to do the
set it or forget it thing where

367
00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:38.039
we right away put it into a
big pot. Now. Of course,

368
00:26:38.279 --> 00:26:42.200
when I was on Cape Cod this
past summer, they were putting them into

369
00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:48.559
these larger fabric type containers. But
they were sinking them into the ground.

370
00:26:48.119 --> 00:26:55.000
So in this case you're recommending to
monitor the plant and upsize when we need

371
00:26:55.039 --> 00:26:59.240
to. So definitely go larger than
the container that you're purchasing, but don't

372
00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:02.720
go extreme, you know, again, go in that four to maybe six

373
00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:07.680
range. The more sensitive your plant
is to overwatering, the more dry conditions

374
00:27:07.720 --> 00:27:11.200
it needs, the more careful you
need to be with that. And along

375
00:27:11.240 --> 00:27:15.039
those same lines, plants that are
very sensitive to water or are very very

376
00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:19.680
drought tolerant, you can put those
into shallower one into shallower bowl type containers.

377
00:27:21.079 --> 00:27:22.960
But if they need a lot of
water, you're going to want one

378
00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:26.720
of the more proportional equally tall as
wide, sort of like the classic flower

379
00:27:26.759 --> 00:27:30.519
pot shape. Fantastic. Okay,
Stacey, we have a question from on

380
00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:37.480
about a snowball plant. My snowball
plant has some kind of worms that eat

381
00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:41.680
all the leaves to skeleton like I
search online and found out it might be

382
00:27:41.880 --> 00:27:47.480
Viburnum leaf beetle. How do I
get rid of them? Yeah, so

383
00:27:47.640 --> 00:27:53.079
great question, and definitely if you
have skeletonized viburnum leaves VLB Viburnum leaf beetle

384
00:27:53.640 --> 00:27:59.680
is almost certainly the culprit. They
have very distinctive damage, but very very

385
00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:02.440
wide spread damage. And you know, I love insects, and normally when

386
00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:04.759
it comes to insects on plants,
I'm like, Eh, they can tolerate

387
00:28:04.839 --> 00:28:07.799
it. You know, it's okay, hand pick them if you see them,

388
00:28:07.880 --> 00:28:11.440
but don't lose any sleep over it. Well, Viburnum leaf beetle is

389
00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:17.039
definitely an exception to that because they
are extremely destructive and because they do skeletonize

390
00:28:17.039 --> 00:28:21.799
the plant so badly, very often
they can't recover, and one or two

391
00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:25.240
seasons of that and you will lose
your viburnum. Now, we did have

392
00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:30.680
a question I think on viburnum leaf
beetle last season during the viburnum leaf beetle

393
00:28:30.680 --> 00:28:33.960
season, which for us we're in
Michigan is usually around June early July.

394
00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:40.880
But I'm really glad that On wrote
this question because now is the time to

395
00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:45.799
start looking for viburnum leaf beetle eggs
on your plant. And this is the

396
00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:52.400
best most effective chemical freeway to manage
viburnum leaf beetle because the way that they

397
00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:56.400
lay their eggs on the viburnum stems
is very, very distinctive and they'll be

398
00:28:56.480 --> 00:29:00.079
very easy to spout right now without
any foliage on the plant, and they

399
00:29:00.119 --> 00:29:07.000
look kind of like pits or bumps
depending on how old the egg sites are,

400
00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:10.400
and they're going to be all in
a line on your viburnum stems.

401
00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:12.680
So I'm going to post some links
at the show notes at Gardeningsimplified on air

402
00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:17.079
dot com, so you can look
and get familiar with what it looks like

403
00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:21.319
and then go out and inspect your
plants very carefully. Now, most of

404
00:29:21.319 --> 00:29:23.960
the pictures that I see, they
tend to be the egg laying sites tend

405
00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:27.519
to be more on thinner, newer
growth, so it's not going to be

406
00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:30.480
usually weighed down at the base of
the plant on the really thick growth.

407
00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:34.119
But once you know what to look
for, they're going to really stand out

408
00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:37.839
to you when you're looking at your
viburnum plant, and then you can take

409
00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:41.799
them and just snip them out.
Now, that is going to mean that

410
00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:47.400
you are removing flowers, because viburnums
bloom on old wood, so that means

411
00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:51.319
that they have their flower buds on
the plant right now to bloom this spring.

412
00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:52.759
But in this case, I would
say, you know, if the

413
00:29:52.839 --> 00:30:00.000
question here is a non toxic,
completely effective pest control method that reduces flowers.

414
00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:03.960
But over time you're going to disrupt
that life cycle and hopefully your plant

415
00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:07.240
won't continue to get leaf beetle.
It's worth it. It's not going to

416
00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:10.039
harm the plant to have those cut
off. Of course, it will harm

417
00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:12.240
perhaps your enjoyment of it, but
so well, if I burn a leaf

418
00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:17.039
beetle, so to me, it's
kind of worth it to just do that.

419
00:30:17.079 --> 00:30:19.599
And of course if you are snipping
them out, you're going to want

420
00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:23.279
to make sure that you throw them
away. Don't just drop them on the

421
00:30:23.319 --> 00:30:26.759
ground under the plant, don't put
them in your compost pile. These are

422
00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:30.279
plants that you're going to want to
take a plastic sack out with you and

423
00:30:30.359 --> 00:30:34.160
fill it up, tie it tightly
and put it in the garbage can and

424
00:30:34.279 --> 00:30:41.680
throw them away. February and March
great time to be out scouting in the

425
00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:44.799
landscape. It really is. Poyne
is well taken. You want to be

426
00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:47.160
out there and you want to be
looking. The other day I went into

427
00:30:47.319 --> 00:30:52.279
the compound and the compound was breached. Oh no, buy a rabbit,

428
00:30:52.680 --> 00:30:56.359
ate ate my roses down to the
nubs. Oh no, yeah, I

429
00:30:56.440 --> 00:30:59.640
was frustrated, but I was out
there scouting, and that's what you want

430
00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:02.440
to do in February and March.
And by the way, to the mail

431
00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:07.319
bag, I sent a picture to
Adriana of the deer around my home and

432
00:31:07.799 --> 00:31:12.400
it proves the point that deer can
read. I put up signs that said

433
00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:15.839
no deer aloud, and I have
a picture of a deer that's standing there

434
00:31:15.880 --> 00:31:19.559
reading the sign. Well, I
guess you're gonna need a no rabbits allowed

435
00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:23.240
sign now, because whether or not
they'll read it, I don't know,

436
00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:27.000
but I might as well cover all
your bases. So yeah, winter is

437
00:31:27.000 --> 00:31:32.599
a great time for scouting and dealing
with these pests in a way that again

438
00:31:32.640 --> 00:31:36.039
does it require any chemicals. A
couple of other things you can be looking

439
00:31:36.079 --> 00:31:41.079
for if you are out there is
tent caterpillars. So tent caterpillars have a

440
00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:45.680
very distinctive egg mass that would be
on your suceptible plants, so your cherries,

441
00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:48.400
your crab apples, regular apples,
that kind of thing. Very easy

442
00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:52.519
to spot those masses, especially in
a tree where you've had tent caterpillars in

443
00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:56.039
the past, and you can just
take a putty knife and scrape that mass

444
00:31:56.119 --> 00:32:01.079
right off and get rid of it. And in a more timely concern,

445
00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:07.000
Spotted lantern fly eggs can also be
spotted, can also be scouted in winter.

446
00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:10.759
I know me too. You do
want to look, of course,

447
00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:14.720
at what both of these look like. The lantern fly eggs have kind of

448
00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:21.079
a gross, putty looking yellow or
gray, kind of clumpy look. But

449
00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:22.920
if you have them, you can
scrape them off, you can put them

450
00:32:22.960 --> 00:32:27.640
into a bag, a bucket of
soapy water, alcohol. There's a lot

451
00:32:27.640 --> 00:32:30.400
of different things you can do with
them. But we'll put all the resources

452
00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:31.519
out there now. But it's a
good way, especially if we have a

453
00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:36.079
nice day and you want to be
outside but you don't really know what you

454
00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:37.720
should be doing. Scouting for some
of these pest eggs is a great way

455
00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:40.839
to spend that time. Get out
there and scout do it. Yeah,

456
00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:45.160
it makes a difference. Gina has
a challenge on her hands. How can

457
00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:47.119
I get rid of my zebra grass? It's in a tight space and I

458
00:32:47.160 --> 00:32:52.319
can't get a shovel under it.
Stacy, I'm thinking she's probably talking about

459
00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:57.279
the miscanthus yeap and those clumps can
get very very large. Now I have

460
00:32:57.359 --> 00:33:00.559
some novel ways to do it,
which involve a toast strap. But if

461
00:33:00.599 --> 00:33:06.640
you don't have a pickup or a
bumper hitch or whatever, maybe not you're

462
00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:08.519
going to need a little bit of
help. It's just work, you know,

463
00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:13.319
ornamental grasses, and everyone who's listened
to the show has hurt us sing

464
00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:16.160
their praise and I know especially you
are a fan. But if and when

465
00:33:16.200 --> 00:33:21.440
the day comes that you need to
remove one, that is when their liabilities

466
00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:25.680
truly make themselves known. That's when
you cash in on ways you've helped your

467
00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:30.000
neighbors over the past year and get
them in on the ass. Yes,

468
00:33:30.359 --> 00:33:32.640
it's not an easy tak The roots
are very fibrous, they're very dense,

469
00:33:34.279 --> 00:33:37.279
and you know, when you have
that thick sort of crown of the planet

470
00:33:37.319 --> 00:33:40.119
is very hard to get into.
And poor Gina, it sounds like it's

471
00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:43.880
making it even worse that she's in
a tight space and can't really get any

472
00:33:43.960 --> 00:33:47.240
leverage with a shovel. So I
don't even think it would be that easy

473
00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:51.480
to remove with a truck, because
how are you going to get the something

474
00:33:51.519 --> 00:33:53.960
around the just joking. Really,
technically the way to do it, and

475
00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:59.559
I have done this very sharp shovel
sharpen the edge of the shovel and divide

476
00:33:59.559 --> 00:34:02.559
it in two quarters before trying to
lift it out of the ground. And

477
00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:07.200
then once it's divided into quarters,
it's easier to pull out. You can

478
00:34:07.240 --> 00:34:08.880
share it with friends and neighbors.
Yeah, or if you just want it

479
00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:14.599
gone, which you probably will by
the time you finish the job and are

480
00:34:14.599 --> 00:34:17.280
in a tight space. GENA.
One thing you could consider is investing in

481
00:34:17.400 --> 00:34:22.599
a good sharp mattic or pickaxe,
which is going to give you a lot

482
00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:24.840
more of a chopping effect. So
you're gonna, you know, be using

483
00:34:24.840 --> 00:34:29.039
a lot of upper body strength and
a lot of shoulders into it. But

484
00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:31.159
that sharp, it's almost like hacking
at it with an axe or something.

485
00:34:31.159 --> 00:34:34.400
You can get a better swing.
You don't need as much space, and

486
00:34:34.440 --> 00:34:37.519
as long as that's sharp, and
I think sharpness is the key here.

487
00:34:37.559 --> 00:34:40.119
No matter what you're using, you
should hopefully be able to get it out.

488
00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:43.679
Good luck, Gina. I don't
want to be flip about it,

489
00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:47.599
but it is not a job.
And whatever you do, wear safety glasses.

490
00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:51.119
And I'm not joking here, I
mean, boy, oh boy.

491
00:34:51.159 --> 00:34:55.159
You're using an axe or sharp shovel
or a pickaxe, use wear some safety

492
00:34:55.199 --> 00:34:58.639
glasses. Yeah, I want.
I want to. Saw a neighbor trying

493
00:34:58.639 --> 00:35:00.159
to dig out an ornamental grass and
I said, oof, that's a tough

494
00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:04.760
job. I don't envy you.
And next thing I came back, I

495
00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:06.360
thought, Oh, I wonder if
you got that grass out. No,

496
00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:10.119
he just abandoned the project. So
anyway, thank you all so much for

497
00:35:10.159 --> 00:35:15.280
your questions. I hope those answers
were helpful and give you something actionable for

498
00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:16.679
your next steps. If you have
a question for us, you can always

499
00:35:16.679 --> 00:35:22.320
reach us at help Hilp at Gardeningsimplified
on air dot com. We're going to

500
00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:23.239
take a little break now, but
when we come back, we have a

501
00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:34.360
special guest for branching news, so
stay tuned. The Gardening Simplified Show is

502
00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:38.039
brought to you by proven Winners Color
Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs

503
00:35:38.039 --> 00:35:43.920
and evergreens have been trialed and tested
for your success so you enjoy more beauty

504
00:35:44.039 --> 00:35:47.079
and less work. Look for proven
Winners Color Choice Shrubs and the distinctive white

505
00:35:47.079 --> 00:35:53.440
container at your local garden center.
Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show.

506
00:35:53.519 --> 00:35:58.960
It's time for branching news, and
today we have a talk with Ben Wright,

507
00:35:59.000 --> 00:36:04.280
who is the national account manager for
leaf Joy by proven Winners. Of

508
00:36:04.320 --> 00:36:09.639
course, houseplants have foliage plants have
been very, very popular throughout the years,

509
00:36:09.639 --> 00:36:15.639
but there was, boy, quite
the explosion in interest in twenty twenty,

510
00:36:15.159 --> 00:36:22.239
and certainly the selection provided by leaf
Joy. Fascinating to take a look

511
00:36:22.280 --> 00:36:30.719
at all this interest in houseplants,
fueled by Instagram and social media and a

512
00:36:30.760 --> 00:36:35.840
new generation of plant lovers, supply
and demand. But what keeps it going?

513
00:36:36.079 --> 00:36:38.960
Ben? Thanks so much for joining
us here on the Gardening Simplified Show.

514
00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:44.239
Yeah, happy to be here.
Thank you for having me. Thanks

515
00:36:44.239 --> 00:36:47.360
so much, so, Ben,
What does keep it going now? I

516
00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:59.079
personally believe that the high interest in
houseplants continues if number one people have success,

517
00:36:59.239 --> 00:37:02.079
and I know you you guys do
a lot to ensure the fact that

518
00:37:02.119 --> 00:37:08.880
the consumer has success with leaf Joy
plants bringing nature inside and then also new

519
00:37:08.960 --> 00:37:14.599
cultivars. But let's start with the
success. You know, I've seen a

520
00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:19.360
lot of houseplants throughout the years working
in the garden center industry, but boy,

521
00:37:19.440 --> 00:37:24.599
leaf joy is is different and interesting
because of the information you provide the

522
00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:30.440
consumer right there at the point of
purchase. I think that that will really

523
00:37:30.480 --> 00:37:36.880
help keep this interest in houseplants moving
forward. Yeah, you're spot on about

524
00:37:36.960 --> 00:37:42.679
that. The tag is really important. We want to make sure consumers always

525
00:37:42.760 --> 00:37:46.880
have the information they need to succeed. But that starts a lot earlier than

526
00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:51.679
just at this tag level that they
see at their local garden center. It

527
00:37:51.719 --> 00:37:57.119
starts with how we grow our plants
and where we grow them. We're actually

528
00:37:57.119 --> 00:38:00.239
located in Stuart Straft, Virginia,
in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains,

529
00:38:00.719 --> 00:38:06.320
and the reason we're here is all
about temperature and light levels. We're

530
00:38:06.360 --> 00:38:10.199
actually able to maintain a nice average
daily temperature here below eighty five degrees,

531
00:38:10.760 --> 00:38:15.639
so our foliage always grows consistent and
with the same quality, whether it be

532
00:38:15.679 --> 00:38:21.880
the middle of summer or the dead
of winter. One of the great advantages

533
00:38:21.960 --> 00:38:27.440
of that is our controlled environment growing
and so the consumer does better because we

534
00:38:27.519 --> 00:38:31.039
can control the humidity, the light
levels, the temperatures in our greenhouse.

535
00:38:31.440 --> 00:38:36.840
We even have our own carbage capture
system where we can capture CO two and

536
00:38:36.920 --> 00:38:42.559
pump it into the greenhouse to encourage
more growth, and so the consumer gets

537
00:38:42.559 --> 00:38:46.239
a plant that's more resilient and they
see more success. It's really about this

538
00:38:46.280 --> 00:38:52.480
holistic approach to growing houseplants. So
it starts with how you grow them and

539
00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:57.840
then making sure you give people the
right information and those tags they identify where

540
00:38:57.880 --> 00:39:02.559
the plants should go in the home
through really easy to understand information. Great

541
00:39:02.599 --> 00:39:07.239
example was a low light plant we
call all cortoon collections. These are plants

542
00:39:07.280 --> 00:39:15.679
perfect for interior rooms, spostine humidity
loving plants perfect for a bathrooms atrium collection,

543
00:39:15.440 --> 00:39:21.519
highlight loving plants perfect for an exterior
room, and work life space gaving

544
00:39:21.599 --> 00:39:25.079
plants perfect for a home office.
So when we identify spaces in the home

545
00:39:25.679 --> 00:39:32.239
and then give variety specific care information
about watering, fertilizers, light levels,

546
00:39:32.280 --> 00:39:37.760
and the name of the plants,
the consumer is armed with more information to

547
00:39:37.800 --> 00:39:42.480
succeed. And we think it just
takes all of that drive and success.

548
00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:47.679
Yeah, I think that's absolutely key, Ben, because again I have seen

549
00:39:47.719 --> 00:39:52.599
that, for example in the bulb
industry when people try to grow bulbs or

550
00:39:52.639 --> 00:39:55.760
whatever. If they are successful in
that first venture, and boy, if

551
00:39:55.800 --> 00:39:59.400
I had a dime for everybody who's
come up to me and said I have

552
00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:02.360
a brown thigh, everything I touched
eyes or I can't grow a cactus or

553
00:40:02.360 --> 00:40:07.199
whatever. Going in here, Ben, you are you're basically sowing the seeds

554
00:40:07.199 --> 00:40:13.239
for success right from the very start. Yeah, we believe here at least

555
00:40:13.320 --> 00:40:16.360
joy that more people have a green
thumb than they realize. They're not just

556
00:40:16.480 --> 00:40:21.559
given, they're just not given the
right plants or the right information to succeed

557
00:40:21.760 --> 00:40:24.840
exactly. So if you give someone
that information and they succeed the first time,

558
00:40:25.320 --> 00:40:29.599
they're going to keep giving it a
try and discover a new passion and

559
00:40:29.639 --> 00:40:32.360
love and they do, in fact
have a greens up. So Ben,

560
00:40:32.639 --> 00:40:37.199
going back to what you said when
you're talking about how different things are growing

561
00:40:37.960 --> 00:40:43.400
at your facility there, can you
kind of pay the picture for our listeners

562
00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:50.159
of what it looks like inside a
greenhouse where houseplants are being produced. Yeah,

563
00:40:50.199 --> 00:40:54.719
so our houseplants are grown a little
bit differently. Most tractful foliage in

564
00:40:54.760 --> 00:41:00.320
the United States has grown in the
South in fields with shape, and there's

565
00:41:00.360 --> 00:41:05.760
a few disadvantages we see with that, and we think we answered of our

566
00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:09.760
facility here, and one of them
is it's not a controlled environment. So

567
00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:15.719
you have a lot of bugs that
can stress the plants. Your humidity levels

568
00:41:15.039 --> 00:41:20.760
wing quite a bit with every weather
system that comes through, and then you

569
00:41:20.800 --> 00:41:25.880
can't control your moisture or rain levels
like you can in a greenhouse. And

570
00:41:25.960 --> 00:41:30.679
so we grow in a five acre
greenhouse, now expanding to add another five

571
00:41:30.719 --> 00:41:35.599
acres, which is really exciting.
But our greenhouse, when you walk into

572
00:41:35.679 --> 00:41:37.639
it, the first thing you're gonna
notice is how tall it is. We

573
00:41:37.679 --> 00:41:43.480
have twenty one feet from the gutters
to the floor. And what that does.

574
00:41:43.679 --> 00:41:47.119
It means our plants that ground level. Even on a hot summer day,

575
00:41:47.559 --> 00:41:52.400
they don't get warm because it takes
all days that heat to get down

576
00:41:52.440 --> 00:41:55.800
to ground level. And then it
really is more than just the height of

577
00:41:55.840 --> 00:42:00.639
the building. One thing you'll notice
is all the of powder coated white.

578
00:42:00.760 --> 00:42:05.360
Have any of you ever leaned up
against the hoop house with bare metal poles

579
00:42:05.400 --> 00:42:10.320
in the summer that is really really
warm, right, You're likely to burn.

580
00:42:13.039 --> 00:42:16.199
And so every pole is powder coated
white, so that way they don't

581
00:42:16.400 --> 00:42:21.079
hold that heat in and then radiate
it at night. So we keep the

582
00:42:21.199 --> 00:42:25.639
temperature down and keep the plants happy
so they don't enter summer dormancy. And

583
00:42:25.679 --> 00:42:30.440
then our climate system is completely automated, state of the art out of Europe,

584
00:42:31.159 --> 00:42:36.000
and so it includes two layers of
shade cloth that we can set the

585
00:42:36.079 --> 00:42:40.039
exact light levels from each area in
the greenhouse depending on what we're growing.

586
00:42:40.719 --> 00:42:46.639
And then we have high pressure foggers
to set the humidity levels in those spaces.

587
00:42:47.559 --> 00:42:52.639
And watering is really important. We
want to make sure the plants are

588
00:42:52.679 --> 00:42:57.880
targeted with exactly the water they need
and not too much so they have crown

589
00:42:58.039 --> 00:43:01.519
rot or root rot issues, right. And so we use an incredible flooding

590
00:43:01.559 --> 00:43:06.880
floor system called earth Good forliing.
And what's so cool about it is I

591
00:43:06.880 --> 00:43:10.480
can fill a bay from below and
drain it in another fifteen minutes with no

592
00:43:10.639 --> 00:43:16.320
sitting water. And so we make
sure every single plant leaves this greenhouse really

593
00:43:16.440 --> 00:43:21.320
just as happy as it can be. And what makes me really happy is

594
00:43:21.320 --> 00:43:25.400
how sustainable that is. We actually
capture that water and it goes back into

595
00:43:25.440 --> 00:43:31.079
our large fifty thousand gallons folding tanks
and is reused, so we don't waste

596
00:43:31.119 --> 00:43:37.119
any water, there's no runoff.
And then even our natural gas boilers that

597
00:43:37.159 --> 00:43:40.119
are used to heat the greenhouse in
the winter, we capture that CO two.

598
00:43:40.199 --> 00:43:45.079
Like I mentioned earlier, we pump
it into the greenhouse to encourage more

599
00:43:45.159 --> 00:43:50.440
growth so the plants are more resilient
and healthy. And then because we're not

600
00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:55.320
outdoors. We can use good bugs
to control the bad bugs. So when

601
00:43:55.400 --> 00:44:01.039
you have bugs, we can use
an integrated pest management approach to attack the

602
00:44:01.119 --> 00:44:06.679
things we don't want on our houseplants
and make sure the consumers don't bring a

603
00:44:06.679 --> 00:44:12.000
plant home that's infested with some sort
of paste that affect the other plants well.

604
00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:15.400
And that's absolutely key. And folks, we're talking to Ben Wright.

605
00:44:15.519 --> 00:44:21.079
He's national account manager of leaf Joy
by Proven Winners. Ben, I would

606
00:44:21.079 --> 00:44:24.199
agree with you because throughout the years
working in the garden center industry, I've

607
00:44:24.199 --> 00:44:30.719
been a purchasing agent for foliage plants, many bought from tropical regions and stacy

608
00:44:30.800 --> 00:44:36.880
when they arrive sometimes those boxes are
so con wet, collapsing and you never

609
00:44:36.960 --> 00:44:40.400
know what's going to crawl out of
the thing. So this is this is

610
00:44:40.519 --> 00:44:46.440
fantastic. Ben, talk to us
about cultivars because looking at your website the

611
00:44:46.559 --> 00:44:52.119
leaf Joy plants, I love the
names that you've given to many of these

612
00:44:52.239 --> 00:44:58.440
plants. But talk to us about
cultivars because people get excited about new introductions.

613
00:44:58.480 --> 00:45:01.239
The house plan industry is no longer
unger a Boston fern and a pothos

614
00:45:01.239 --> 00:45:07.079
and a Philly in the corner.
It is the cultivars being produced in this

615
00:45:07.400 --> 00:45:13.639
golden age of plant breeding, our
famulus. Yeah, they truly are.

616
00:45:14.280 --> 00:45:17.280
And some of it is not only
about the new varieties, but some of

617
00:45:17.360 --> 00:45:22.400
it is taking the old varieties and
bringing new genetics into it. One of

618
00:45:22.440 --> 00:45:30.519
my favorite varieties we call our clingedon
pycus benjam mina. And what I love

619
00:45:30.559 --> 00:45:35.159
about that plant is it doesn't drop
leaves. When you think of a pycus,

620
00:45:35.280 --> 00:45:38.239
you remember the one your grandmother had
or you got as a wedding gift

621
00:45:38.360 --> 00:45:43.960
twenty five years ago, and anytime
you looked at it wrong, or you

622
00:45:44.000 --> 00:45:45.880
know, breathed on it, or
you change the temperature in the house one

623
00:45:45.920 --> 00:45:50.440
degree, it will lose all of
its leaves. And I have some personal

624
00:45:50.480 --> 00:45:54.079
experience with this. My mom and
my father got a pycus from my grandfather

625
00:45:54.159 --> 00:45:59.360
as a wedding gift twenty five years
ago, and I always remember every single

626
00:45:59.480 --> 00:46:02.679
year we would lose the leaves on
that tree about twice a year because you

627
00:46:02.719 --> 00:46:07.639
know, the change in temperature or
humidity, or when we bring it outside

628
00:46:07.679 --> 00:46:13.320
in the summer. And to now
have a pychius that doesn't drop leaves is

629
00:46:13.400 --> 00:46:15.840
just absolutely mind boggling. Me and
I think that is really cool, So

630
00:46:15.880 --> 00:46:20.320
I do want to mention that one
as something that I think is special.

631
00:46:22.199 --> 00:46:25.360
But in regardless to these new cults
of ours, we're really excited to be

632
00:46:25.559 --> 00:46:32.559
actively working with breeders that have over
five hundred species of hoya in a variety

633
00:46:32.639 --> 00:46:37.920
of colors to appeal to everyone.
And so that is the line we're actively

634
00:46:37.000 --> 00:46:43.840
expanding. And then of course the
variegated sport, the plants that people are

635
00:46:44.159 --> 00:46:50.119
craving in the world, they're starting
to become more commercially viable as work is

636
00:46:50.159 --> 00:46:53.760
being done to stabilize those genetics.
So when you think of a monsterra Thie

637
00:46:53.800 --> 00:46:59.920
constellation or a philadeldron white wizards,
these are those plants of whites and green

638
00:47:00.280 --> 00:47:04.960
and beautiful colors that at one point
may have cost hundreds of dollars. There's

639
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:08.400
a lot of work being done behind
the scenes with the breeders to make them

640
00:47:08.400 --> 00:47:15.280
more approachable to the common consumer.
And your plant collector can now approach a

641
00:47:15.360 --> 00:47:16.800
plant and they have been out of
their budget before, which has been very

642
00:47:16.840 --> 00:47:24.559
excited. So ben I always ask
folks who we interview to give our listening

643
00:47:24.599 --> 00:47:30.559
and viewing audience. A couple of
favorites, your personal favorites that you could

644
00:47:30.559 --> 00:47:36.679
share with folks, and why so
give me a couple of personal favorites of

645
00:47:36.719 --> 00:47:39.079
yours. We mentioned the ficus,
of course, and I agree. Boy,

646
00:47:39.679 --> 00:47:44.599
here in Michigan, the minute we
hit October or November, fifty percent

647
00:47:44.599 --> 00:47:47.360
of the foliage falls off. So
that's a great introduction. But give me

648
00:47:47.400 --> 00:47:52.679
two favorites of yours personally that you
have got to have in your home.

649
00:47:52.679 --> 00:47:59.440
Yeah, I first thought, absolutely
love our hydroponic line of houseplants. We

650
00:47:59.480 --> 00:48:02.840
call them our H two oh series. And I travel a lot in my

651
00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:07.519
role. I'm gone for sometimes a
week at a time, and it can

652
00:48:07.559 --> 00:48:10.000
be stressful to leave the plants at
home, and so what I love about

653
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:15.679
these plants is I can be gone
if I didn't have other plants for up

654
00:48:15.719 --> 00:48:19.159
to a month at a time,
and still come home to beautiful foliage.

655
00:48:19.360 --> 00:48:22.800
So they really are the easy care
house plants, perfect for a busy professional

656
00:48:22.920 --> 00:48:28.039
or someone who travels a lot.
Beautiful foliage in a black bowl of a

657
00:48:28.119 --> 00:48:32.239
cork with just a little bit of
water and actually best used regular task water.

658
00:48:32.360 --> 00:48:37.000
It's easy for the consumer, and
so that is one of my favorite

659
00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:43.559
items. I also love our living
lace ferns of Vana. It is a

660
00:48:43.800 --> 00:48:50.679
beautiful fern with distinctly ruffled and scalloped
arching bonds, and it's got these incredible

661
00:48:50.760 --> 00:48:55.760
leaves that emerge light green and then
they develop a powderly kind of blue green

662
00:48:55.840 --> 00:49:01.159
patina as they age, and those
are just absolutely stunning. Most people run

663
00:49:01.199 --> 00:49:05.440
when they see burned, so they're
so delicate. But I found this to

664
00:49:05.480 --> 00:49:09.079
be very hardy burned and it just
draws my eyes in every single time.

665
00:49:10.119 --> 00:49:13.719
I love that one. It is, and it's not one that I would

666
00:49:13.760 --> 00:49:16.280
have thought, you know, would
be easy for people to grow under normal

667
00:49:16.320 --> 00:49:22.119
household conditions. So what's your tip
for growing that one successfully in a normal

668
00:49:22.119 --> 00:49:28.360
home? Yeah? My tip that
plant belongs in our atrium collection, and

669
00:49:28.440 --> 00:49:30.880
I believe our spoking collection if I
have the information it's the top of my

670
00:49:30.960 --> 00:49:37.960
head correctly. But you know,
I really think it's important not to overlove

671
00:49:37.039 --> 00:49:42.280
your houseplant. I think that's where
a lot of people have a hard time.

672
00:49:42.719 --> 00:49:46.039
We tend to overwater them or overhear
for them, and so, you

673
00:49:46.079 --> 00:49:51.800
know, I'm a simple houseplant person. I've discovered my passion for it in

674
00:49:51.840 --> 00:49:54.880
the last two to three years,
and for me, it's as simple as

675
00:49:54.960 --> 00:50:00.840
I stick my finger in the soil
and if that top inches soil is dry,

676
00:50:00.920 --> 00:50:04.320
then at that point I look at
watering it. I don't stick to

677
00:50:04.400 --> 00:50:09.159
a regular schedule because depending on whether
your air conditioner has kicked on or off,

678
00:50:09.719 --> 00:50:13.760
or you've got your heater running,
or it's been a cloudy week with

679
00:50:13.880 --> 00:50:17.519
low light, your plants may have
not used the water you gave them the

680
00:50:17.559 --> 00:50:22.239
week before and they may not need
additional water. So I think it's important

681
00:50:22.400 --> 00:50:25.840
to be successful with this kind of
variety or others, but to make sure

682
00:50:25.840 --> 00:50:30.000
you're flexible in your water and schedule, really checked the moisture content of the

683
00:50:30.079 --> 00:50:35.800
soil instead of just blindly giving your
plant the same amount of water every week

684
00:50:35.840 --> 00:50:39.000
on a schedule. We're chatting with
Ben Wright. He's the national account manager

685
00:50:39.119 --> 00:50:45.000
leaf Joy by Proven Winners in Stuart's
Draft Virginia. Ben, you mentioned the

686
00:50:45.400 --> 00:50:53.000
H two Z line beautiful Plants in
really fun containers to grow house plants.

687
00:50:53.360 --> 00:50:58.519
But I'm sure for our listeners and
our viewers, one of the one of

688
00:50:58.519 --> 00:51:04.239
the questions in their mind is how
long can a plant last in just pure

689
00:51:04.360 --> 00:51:07.159
water? In other words, how
often do you need to change the water.

690
00:51:07.280 --> 00:51:13.800
What's your position on that. Yeah, I have seen plants in these

691
00:51:13.840 --> 00:51:19.320
water globes go for one to two
years, and so we choose varieties that

692
00:51:19.440 --> 00:51:22.440
are going to do well in this
environment. Eventually it might get too big

693
00:51:22.480 --> 00:51:29.320
for that container. But every single
variety we've chosen to be in our waterline

694
00:51:30.360 --> 00:51:35.920
is successful in that environment. Our
advice is to change in the water every

695
00:51:36.000 --> 00:51:38.159
one to two months or as needed
to fill it up, so all your

696
00:51:38.239 --> 00:51:44.320
roots are submerged in water. And
that's it is designed to be easy,

697
00:51:44.639 --> 00:51:46.880
set it and forget it. Well, Ben, I was in Tampa,

698
00:51:46.960 --> 00:51:52.280
Florida, and I went to an
exhibit of leaf joy plants, and I

699
00:51:52.320 --> 00:51:57.320
can tell you that the people I
was with and other folks there, they

700
00:51:57.559 --> 00:52:04.119
gravitated towards growing plants in just water. They loved it. They were attracted

701
00:52:04.159 --> 00:52:07.239
to it. So if you could
get a plant to do well for a

702
00:52:07.320 --> 00:52:10.079
year or two, I would think
that that would really be appealing to the

703
00:52:10.119 --> 00:52:15.719
general consumer. Yeah. Absolutely.
What I love about it is we all

704
00:52:15.760 --> 00:52:21.360
love gifting flowers, But what if
you could get a live plan that you

705
00:52:21.400 --> 00:52:24.199
don't have the stress or the guilt
factor of gifting to someone? Like you

706
00:52:24.239 --> 00:52:28.440
said with a browns arms and they
kill it. So the what is so

707
00:52:28.599 --> 00:52:30.840
cool about these is all of a
sudden, instead of gifting flowers or gifting

708
00:52:30.880 --> 00:52:36.400
in addition to flowers, now we
can give house plants without that guilt of

709
00:52:36.519 --> 00:52:38.599
oh, maybe this person isn't in
a position to care for it, right,

710
00:52:39.000 --> 00:52:43.440
and so it becomes a new option
of gifts for friends and families.

711
00:52:43.920 --> 00:52:45.840
I love it as a good housewoman
presidence. I have some friends who just

712
00:52:45.880 --> 00:52:49.760
bought a house, and first thing
I thought of was, let's get them

713
00:52:49.760 --> 00:52:52.280
some bowls for every room in their
house. Yeah, yeah, no,

714
00:52:52.400 --> 00:52:55.440
that's great. Yeah, I love
it. And you know, I've seen

715
00:52:57.199 --> 00:52:59.760
you guys. It's not just oh
this is just a little you know,

716
00:53:00.039 --> 00:53:02.400
aisle full of water. You're doing
all sorts of interesting things, different shapes,

717
00:53:02.440 --> 00:53:07.199
really unexpected new ways to enjoy houseplants. And I think that that,

718
00:53:07.480 --> 00:53:10.960
you know, really just again opens
up a new world, just as is

719
00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:16.039
the plant breeding and coming up with
new varieties does. Yeah. Absolutely,

720
00:53:16.079 --> 00:53:21.519
it's making people reconsider how they grow
plants that are what they grow them to

721
00:53:21.519 --> 00:53:25.280
be successful in in the environment.
We're always working with our breeders to bring

722
00:53:25.360 --> 00:53:30.239
us new varieties that will do well
in both soil and water. So we

723
00:53:30.280 --> 00:53:32.960
have more options for the consumer as
time goes. Ben, as far as

724
00:53:32.960 --> 00:53:37.400
the breeders are concerned, question for
you just a curiosity thing for me.

725
00:53:38.119 --> 00:53:42.800
Who creates the names for the plants? I think you've got great names,

726
00:53:43.119 --> 00:53:46.400
you know, like you take a
pothos and calling it beaut to fall for

727
00:53:46.559 --> 00:53:51.920
a trailing plant, you come up
with some really creative names. Who comes

728
00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:54.480
up with these names? Because I
do believe the name of a plant is

729
00:53:55.280 --> 00:54:01.519
important, You're you're absolutely right,
really important. It helps establish that connection

730
00:54:01.800 --> 00:54:06.880
that someone has to a plant.
The number of people in our team who

731
00:54:06.920 --> 00:54:09.360
tell me they create their own personal
names for their plants when they get home

732
00:54:10.119 --> 00:54:14.840
is always staggering to me and makes
me smile some of the fun names people

733
00:54:14.880 --> 00:54:19.320
come up with. But here at
leastly we work closely with our partners that

734
00:54:19.440 --> 00:54:23.039
proven winners to help come up with
a list of potential names, and then

735
00:54:23.079 --> 00:54:28.000
our team here at the Greenhouse votes
on them, and so we really take

736
00:54:28.000 --> 00:54:31.639
a collaborative approach to choosing names for
our new foliage. So that way,

737
00:54:31.800 --> 00:54:36.239
not only does it make sense for
the variety, but our team here at

738
00:54:36.280 --> 00:54:39.000
the Greenhouse is a sense of ownership
in those new names they get to say,

739
00:54:39.000 --> 00:54:43.760
wow, I helped come up with
beautiful or a living lace Divanna with

740
00:54:43.800 --> 00:54:47.239
my idea, and so it's really
exciting to have that kind of team approach

741
00:54:47.280 --> 00:54:51.800
to these sort of things. I
know, the feeling the names of my

742
00:54:52.079 --> 00:54:53.880
of plants that I have, you
know, suggested that have won. You

743
00:54:54.000 --> 00:54:58.639
do have a different approach to that
plant than you would if it wasn't your

744
00:54:58.679 --> 00:55:01.840
idea. I feel that. So, you know, you guys have had

745
00:55:01.880 --> 00:55:07.199
so many interesting new ideas, new
packaging, new varieties. So what's next

746
00:55:07.239 --> 00:55:10.920
for the leaf Joy line. Yeah, we're really excited to bring our Leaf's

747
00:55:10.960 --> 00:55:16.760
Joy Little's line, which is our
small nine centimeter friendly house like consumer friendly

748
00:55:16.800 --> 00:55:22.440
houseplant. So those with a budget
in mind. They're perfect for a standalone

749
00:55:22.519 --> 00:55:27.519
pottery or a dish garden. And
there's lots and lots of colors. We

750
00:55:27.599 --> 00:55:31.480
have beautiful fetonias and pinks and reds
and whites and greens, and so we

751
00:55:31.599 --> 00:55:36.639
have all these really beautiful plants and
what's about a three and a half inch

752
00:55:36.719 --> 00:55:42.320
container at a really approachable low price
point, almost like a sampler houseplant.

753
00:55:42.480 --> 00:55:45.639
And so if you're nervous about houseplants
or you think you have a brown thumb.

754
00:55:46.000 --> 00:55:51.360
This really enables someone to get that
proven winner's quality that they know they

755
00:55:51.400 --> 00:55:54.519
can trust at a price point that's
more approachable, and so they can put

756
00:55:54.559 --> 00:55:59.320
their toes in the stand. As
someone would say. With houseplants, so

757
00:55:59.360 --> 00:56:02.280
the n is the diameter of the
container, not the size of the plant,

758
00:56:04.079 --> 00:56:06.840
that's correct. I just want to
make sure in case anyone's tried to

759
00:56:06.880 --> 00:56:09.760
do math about the size of the
plant in their car or whatever right now.

760
00:56:12.239 --> 00:56:15.880
And these some like they would be
perfect for like shower gifts, favors,

761
00:56:15.960 --> 00:56:19.960
that kind of thing. Yeah,
they make a great gift item as

762
00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:23.079
well. And so I just love
the emphasis we've done on making sure there's

763
00:56:23.119 --> 00:56:30.800
a bright collection of colors to really
make anyone smile. We really pride ourselves

764
00:56:30.840 --> 00:56:34.760
here at leaf Joy and having over
one hundred and twenty different varieties in our

765
00:56:34.760 --> 00:56:37.679
program, so we really think there's
a plant for everyone, and so we

766
00:56:37.760 --> 00:56:42.920
hope we've got the assortment for those
people. Ben just a couple more quick

767
00:56:43.000 --> 00:56:46.320
questions. One National Plant of the
Year, National house plant of the Year,

768
00:56:46.679 --> 00:56:51.719
I believe is an Allocationia am I
correct one? That? Yeah,

769
00:56:51.760 --> 00:56:58.320
that's correct. It's our mythic alocasia
dragonite. It is a beautifully textured out

770
00:56:58.480 --> 00:57:02.599
casia that has a small, unp
stature growth, so it's perfect in any

771
00:57:02.679 --> 00:57:07.360
room in the home. It won't
take up a lot of space. And

772
00:57:07.400 --> 00:57:10.079
the texture, people don't believe it's
real. It almost feels like plastic.

773
00:57:10.800 --> 00:57:14.400
If you were in Tampa and you
had the pleasure of feeling that plant,

774
00:57:14.440 --> 00:57:16.559
I always tell people you got to
feel this plant. You won't believe it's

775
00:57:16.559 --> 00:57:23.239
real. It is incredible. Ben
If folks are interested in going to their

776
00:57:23.280 --> 00:57:29.320
favorite garden center or their local garden
center and saying I want you to carry

777
00:57:29.599 --> 00:57:32.840
leaf Joy by Proven Winners because I
want to buy these plants, what's the

778
00:57:32.840 --> 00:57:37.559
best way folks can get more information
about leaf Joy? Is there a website

779
00:57:37.599 --> 00:57:42.840
they can visit? Yeah, there's
a couple of really great resources. First,

780
00:57:42.840 --> 00:57:45.920
if you want to know one of
your local garden centers carry leaf Joys,

781
00:57:46.199 --> 00:57:50.239
you can go on to Provenwinners dot
com and they've got a storefinder.

782
00:57:50.280 --> 00:57:53.320
It's really convenient. You can type
in your zip code and they'll tell you

783
00:57:53.400 --> 00:57:59.159
exactly what garden centers near you currently
carry leaf Joys. And then, if

784
00:57:59.199 --> 00:58:01.920
you're a garden center looking to bring
meak Joy to your consumers, and your

785
00:58:01.960 --> 00:58:06.920
customers. You can reach out to
us just stop on our website at the

786
00:58:06.920 --> 00:58:13.000
Plant Company dot com or contact us
at sales at the Plant Company dot com.

787
00:58:13.800 --> 00:58:17.320
That's fantastic. His name is Ben
Wright, National account Manager, Leaf

788
00:58:17.480 --> 00:58:21.920
Joy by Proven Winners. Ben,
thanks so much for joining us on the

789
00:58:22.320 --> 00:58:24.840
Gardening Simplified Show today. Yes,
it's been my pleasure. Thank you for

790
00:58:24.880 --> 00:58:29.039
having me. All right, anyone
got a fever for a new house plant?

791
00:58:29.159 --> 00:58:32.320
I know, I do, I
do well. I will be out

792
00:58:32.320 --> 00:58:37.480
shopping this weekend to make my indoors
a little bit splash here and I hope

793
00:58:37.559 --> 00:58:40.519
you will too. So thanks so
much to Ben from Leaf job I Proven

794
00:58:40.519 --> 00:58:44.559
Winners. Thank you Rick, and
thanks to Adriana, and of course thanks

795
00:58:44.599 --> 00:58:46.079
to all of you for listening.
We really appreciate your support and we'll see

796
00:58:46.079 --> 00:58:46.639
you next week