WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:06.400 Coming to you from Studio A here at Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. It's 2 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:11.679 time for the Gardening Simplified Show with Stacy Hervella me, Rick weisst and our 3 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:17.039 engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson. All Right, Stacy, so you know we 4 00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:23.320 could be considered as garden influencers with what we do on a weekly basis, 5 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:27.760 and we had an individual reach out to us and ask us, well, 6 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:33.399 Stacy and Rick, let's turn the tables on you who are influencers in your 7 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:35.640 life? And I think this will be fun to talk about. I think 8 00:00:35.640 --> 00:00:39.840 it's a great topic because you know, even if you don't have necessarily like 9 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:43.600 a big gardening support system, like your family doesn't garden, you're not surrounded 10 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:48.679 by gardeners, you do find yourself influenced by gardens that you've visited, things 11 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:52.880 that you've read, maybe social media accounts that you follow, and that is 12 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:56.159 how you grow as a gardener. There's a lot of things you can figure 13 00:00:56.200 --> 00:00:59.920 out on your own as you're cobbling your way through the garden. But most 14 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:03.399 of the things that I think that you learn from people that you respect and 15 00:01:03.479 --> 00:01:08.000 admire and look up to as horticulturists. You know, those people really stick 16 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:11.599 with you and they are part of your journey. Absolutely, I've had many 17 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:15.040 influences in my life. I'd have to start off with my dad. My 18 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:21.719 dad immigrated to the US in the mid nineteen fifties from Europe, and my 19 00:01:21.799 --> 00:01:26.760 dad was a big time gardener. He loved to garden, and he instilled 20 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:30.120 that love in me both. He instilled in me a love of taking hikes, 21 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:34.840 gardening, and birds, those three things that's lovely. And my dad 22 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:38.959 is ninety four years old. He has a great sense of humor. But 23 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:44.120 I remember distinctly as a little kid, he gave each of us kids a 24 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:49.000 little garden plot to get us growing plants and interested in plants. So we 25 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:53.799 each grew our vegetable plot. One morning, to my horror, I walked 26 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:59.959 into the backyard and all of my plants were uprooted, laying on their side, 27 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:05.760 dying and withering. Now I immediately knew who the culprit was. My 28 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:09.319 sister, my older sister, Jane, and I think she was just so 29 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:15.960 curious as to what was going on underground that she decided to have a look 30 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:20.520 see. But of course she didn't pull her plans out. She pulled mine 31 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:23.000 out and I will never forget it as long as I live, and we 32 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:29.479 laugh about this to this day, my sister. So basically I tattled on 33 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:36.000 my sister to my parents, which upset her, but what did she expect. 34 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:38.840 So that night when I went to bed on my pillow, there was 35 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:43.280 a little note from her and it said, dear Rick, I hate you, 36 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:52.879 love Jane. I'll never forget that. So aveiled confession. Other influences 37 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:57.840 owners of a garden center in West Michigan, Flowerland, who essentially never let 38 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:02.000 me get comfortable. Every year they had a new project, a new position, 39 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:06.879 whatever it may be, and challenge the daylights out of me. That 40 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:10.240 was a huge influence to me. I think that that is a really important 41 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:14.759 part of why we interact with other people. It's much harder to challenge yourself. 42 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:16.159 I mean, you can kind of challenge yourself, but you know, 43 00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:22.120 when you have other people who are really encouraging you and pushing you to get 44 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:23.960 better and to find out the reasons why and to think about things a little 45 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.240 bit more deeply, that's you know, that's where that influence comes from. 46 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:31.840 Yeah. Absolutely, I was influenced by a drama director. I was always 47 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:36.800 in drama, and I loved, you know, one of the things I 48 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:42.360 loved was the fact when you're on stage the lights are so bright you cannot 49 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:47.199 see the audience. It's dark out there, but you can feel their energy, 50 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:52.280 you can feel their support, you can feel their laughter. It's kind 51 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:54.599 of like putting bulbs in the ground and then you know they're in the dark 52 00:03:54.680 --> 00:04:00.080 earth. You know that potential's there, but you just can't see it. 53 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:05.360 Is a huge influence on my life. Alan Armitage he's a professor of horticulture 54 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:12.280 at the University of Georgia and Alan he's famous for wearing a tilly hat. 55 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:16.560 Yep. But he was really influential to me, and I'd recommend you read 56 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:20.560 his books. I've read his books cover to cover. He's a guy who 57 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:27.319 puts humor into gardening. He's a guy who is like, Okay, enjoy 58 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:31.680 the garden, but we don't have to be that serious about it. There's 59 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:36.160 joy in gardening, there's also humor. You have to have a sense of 60 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:41.759 humor. If you haven't killed any plants, you're not trying hard enough, 61 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:45.680 that's for sure. And so Alan was a huge influence on me well. 62 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:49.199 And Alan Armitage, of course is a giant in our industry. If you 63 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:53.959 haven't heard of him before and you are a perennial gardener, you really owe 64 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:56.120 it to yourself. He is a perennial expert. I mean, he's a 65 00:04:56.519 --> 00:05:00.560 horticultural expert in general, but perennials are his specialty. Of his books, 66 00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:05.279 he wrote the book on perennials basically, and yeah, just so knowledgeable, 67 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:08.879 you know. And I love when you meet those people, and it's very 68 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:12.319 common in our industry, I think, to find these people who just have 69 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:16.959 this incredible base of knowledge and just this wonderful personality where you just want to 70 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:20.160 be with them because you learn and you get inspired, and it's just a 71 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:27.160 great energy to engage with. It is, and he influenced me significantly. 72 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:32.480 And then Hank Prince. Hank Prince was my closest friend and he passed away 73 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:40.079 twenty eight years ago this June of brain cancer. But Hank was very involved 74 00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:45.839 in the horticulture industry, in the garden center industry, especially conifers and West 75 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:51.439 Coast conifers. Loved and it's been fun to watch his three sons grow and 76 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:57.360 his eldest son, Henry, also involved in the industry. Loves photography, 77 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:01.360 loves conifers, evergreens, that sort of thing, and Hank was one of 78 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:06.240 these people that would always push me. Now, Hank and I started doing 79 00:06:06.360 --> 00:06:12.639 live radio in nineteen ninety three. We did a call in radio show. 80 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:15.519 We knew nothing about radio. They just rolled us into the studio, put 81 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:20.160 a microphone in front of our face and said start taking calls from people. 82 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:26.000 And we did. And I did the Flowerland Show for thirty years. But 83 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:30.439 Hank Prins was a huge influence on me. And when you lose someone like 84 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:38.360 that at a young age, it really has a huge impact on your life 85 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.879 because I look at what he's done in the industry, how he loved gardening, 86 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:46.720 and the influence he had on me and other people. And so then 87 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:53.519 in your walk in life you pay attention to how you treat others and how 88 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:59.160 you approach your career professionally. It was a huge influence for me, Stacy, 89 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:01.600 and I think it sounds too like someone like that, and with Ellen 90 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:09.120 Armitage, who is very giving of their knowledge, that really influences you to 91 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:14.079 be that same way and to share your knowledge. And the interesting thing about 92 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:17.879 gardening is that there are some hard and fast facts that are just true about 93 00:07:17.879 --> 00:07:23.079 the way plants grow, but there's also so much of a personal perspective that 94 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:27.439 you get from what you grow and where you grow at and your decisions that 95 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:30.600 we really need people like that who are willing to come out and share that 96 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:35.240 experience and pass that on to you so then you have some context for the 97 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:38.639 decisions and everything that you want to make in your garden. And it sounds 98 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:42.079 like both Hank and Allen have been that person to you absolutely. And then 99 00:07:42.120 --> 00:07:46.680 of course for me, a third person in my life lead in life as 100 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:53.800 a baby boomer, as a baby boomer now and an aging person in rewirement, 101 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:59.040 So I fill out medicare forms during the week and garden. That's basically 102 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:03.319 what I do. But a key person in my life was a gentleman by 103 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:11.800 the name of Virgil Westdale. Virgil Westdale passed away two years ago at the 104 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:16.360 age of one hundred and four years old. Wow, this is an amazing, 105 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:22.600 amazing man. And Virgil Westdale is a person who served in the four 106 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:30.600 hundred and forty second Regimental Combat Team in World War Two. He overcame discrimination 107 00:08:31.319 --> 00:08:35.399 and was one of the most His unit was one of the most decorated units 108 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:41.519 in American military history. He had a Congressional Gold Medal. He had the 109 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:48.000 French Legion of Honor award for extreme bravery, which was founded in May of 110 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:54.480 eighteen o two by Napoleon Bonaparte. Twenty five US patents to his name. 111 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:56.960 Wow. I'd visit him in the rest home and there's pictures of him with 112 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:03.080 US presidents on the wall, twenty five US patents, the Congressional and you 113 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:05.879 stand there and you're amazed. And you wouldn't know it if you did not 114 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:11.120 know this gentleman and the story behind him. Now. I wrote about Virgil 115 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:16.320 Westdale in my book Operation Rumination, Turning Back the Clock, and if you 116 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:20.559 want more information on that, you can go to a link to the book. 117 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:22.960 You can go to my website. Thank you very mulch dot com. 118 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:31.960 But Virgil was an amazing gentleman and really influenced my life, especially in the 119 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:37.399 past few years, and how I conduct myself moving forward. Fabulous swing dancer. 120 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:41.559 I think at the age of like eighty seven or whatever, he got 121 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:46.279 bored, so he went to work for the TSA at the airport. Just 122 00:09:46.759 --> 00:09:52.519 an unre and his story is so unreal and I don't have the time to 123 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:56.879 get into it. But I did write about him in my book, and 124 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:03.759 a real defining moment for me. Virgil liked coffee at McDonald's, and I'd 125 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:07.200 take him to McDonald's and we'd sit there, and it always blew me away. 126 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:13.279 Here's one hundred and two year old, decorated US military veteran, and 127 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:16.720 I'm sitting across the table from him, and we both get the senior discount 128 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:22.759 on our coffee. I thought that was really cool. But you know, 129 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:26.159 I looked across the table at this amazing man and I said to him, 130 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:31.360 I said, Virgil, how did you accomplish what you did in life? 131 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:35.559 And he did the same thing other veterans would say to me. They shrugged 132 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:37.879 their shoulders and they say, well, you just do what you gotta do. 133 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:41.159 And I said, Virgil, that's not good enough, and and so 134 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:46.519 I never forget it. He put that senior coffee down, he and he 135 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:48.039 sat there for a moment, and then he looked at me and he said, 136 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:52.799 Rick, somebody said it couldn't be done, but he, with a 137 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:56.480 chuckle, replied that maybe it couldn't, but he wouldn't be one to say 138 00:10:56.519 --> 00:11:01.600 so until he tried. So he buckled in with a trace of a grin 139 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:05.799 on his face if he worried he hit it. He started to sing as 140 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:09.840 he tackled the thing that could not be done, and he did it. 141 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:13.000 Well, that's lovely and I love that. So I'll just end with saying 142 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:20.120 that these influences. Like I was watching an interview of Jerry Seinfeld recently, 143 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:22.600 Jerry said, one of the best things you can accomplish in your life is 144 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:26.759 to develop a skill, and you carry that with you. Skill much more 145 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:33.399 important than money. Yeah, So those were influences in my life, and 146 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:37.200 that's the approach I take to gardening too. If you haven't killed any plants, 147 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:39.879 you're not trying hard enough. That's for sure. In there and give 148 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:45.159 it the old college try. We're gonna hear Stacy's influences coming up next here 149 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:54.000 on the Gardening Simplified Show. Proven Winner's Colored Choice Shrubs cares about your success 150 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:58.279 in the garden. That's why we trial and test all of our shrubs for 151 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:01.559 eight to ten years, making they outperform everything else on the market. Look 152 00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:07.759 for them and the distinctive white container at your local garden center. Greeting's gardening 153 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:11.480 friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified show. You know, normally 154 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:13.799 at this time of the show, we would be putting a plant on trial, 155 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:16.360 one of the proven winner's colored choice shrubs. We tell you all about 156 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:20.120 it and you decide if you're going to add it to your garden. And 157 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:22.320 I will attempt to bring this around to plants on trial by the end of 158 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:26.559 it, but we'll see how it goes. But I did want the opportunity 159 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:28.240 to talk about my influences as well, and I think, you know, 160 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:33.240 I hope that this show, this episode really helps people think about, you 161 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:35.360 know, who are the people who influence them as gardeners, as people, 162 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:39.039 especially as we come up onto Mother's Day and all of that. Now, 163 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:43.799 I kept my influences much more to the gardening side of things. And my 164 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:46.919 first influence was my grandmother. So, you know, a lot of people, 165 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:50.360 I think when you are a horticulturist, people assume that you grew up 166 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:54.559 in this like you know, garden wonderland, and I did not. I 167 00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:58.200 most certainly did not. My mom was not a gardener. I'll get to 168 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:03.399 my mom in a moment. And my maternal grandmother, Glenna Webb, was 169 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:07.000 a huge influence on me because she didn't really garden garden like she had plants. 170 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:11.039 You know, she had a rose garden. She used to plant these 171 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:15.919 huge sunflowers always every year on the side of her garage, and you know, 172 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:18.279 she had like little things like that. But one of my earliest memories 173 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:22.799 related to plants is that when I was about three years old, she had 174 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:26.000 a large patch of Lily of the Valley on the side of her garage. 175 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:31.519 I can see it clear as day right now. And she was telling me 176 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:35.000 about them, and you know, she told me to smell them, and 177 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:37.559 that was sort of like where everything. I was just like, this is 178 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:41.919 amazing. And then she told me that I could pick as many flowers as 179 00:13:41.960 --> 00:13:46.120 I wanted, and that was like, I mean, you know, you're 180 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:48.519 three years old, you want to pick flowers. You're always being told you 181 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:52.799 can't pick flowers, and so for her to just say to me, like, 182 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:56.320 you can take as many of these as you want was life changing. 183 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:01.360 And if you've ever picked a Lily of the Valley, I don't think there 184 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:05.559 is any more satisfying flower to pick because the stem, the flower stem just 185 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:09.519 comes right out of that leaf sheath sure perfectly. It just slides right out 186 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:13.440 like it was meant to do it, and I just remember that feeling of 187 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:18.279 like being in that patch and pulling them out and just like I'm good at 188 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:22.039 this. Of course I didn't realize it was the plants just being inherently, 189 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:28.720 you know, amenable to cutting. And so that really to me was like 190 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:31.440 I think one of my first experiences where plants were not just like a thing 191 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:35.639 that I saw around me, but something that I engaged with and something that 192 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:39.360 you know, I that were like a part of life. Now to this 193 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:43.279 day, I always keep some Lily of the Valley around because of this. 194 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:46.399 I don't particularly like the plant. I mean, as any gardener can tell 195 00:14:46.440 --> 00:14:50.399 you, it's not the most attractive plant. It's fabulous when it's you know 196 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:52.840 that weak or two when it's in bloom, but you know, the foliage 197 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:58.360 starts to go dormant early, looks super crummy. It's way way too aggressive. 198 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:01.039 The only way I'm able to keep it and check is because my garden 199 00:15:01.159 --> 00:15:03.919 is so dry, so that helps to keep it from spreading too too much. 200 00:15:05.159 --> 00:15:07.360 But you know, I always will have Lily in the Valley in my 201 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.960 life to honor my grandma's influence. And I've talked on the show too about 202 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:13.120 my mom. I mean, so many people when you ask them about what 203 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:18.159 their gardening influences are going to say a parent, and my mom is a 204 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:20.039 gardening influence on me, but not in the way most people think. Not 205 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:22.080 in the way that a lot of the other people I'm going to talk about 206 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:26.399 her are the people you talked about was because you've heard me talk about it 207 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:30.600 before. My mom is a scared gardener. Sorry, Mom, you know 208 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:33.440 it's true. I don't think she would deny this. She's an uncertain gardener. 209 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:37.840 And you know I grew up she always did the exact same plantings every 210 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:41.759 year. So we had whiskey barrels in the backyard. They had a spike 211 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:46.600 in the center, red geraniums and a ring of white alyssa on the outside 212 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:50.960 every year. And you know, it didn't. It wasn't until I became 213 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.080 a professional horticulturist and she was still living in New York. I wasn't living 214 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:56.720 in Michigan where she was, and she would call me. There would be 215 00:15:56.759 --> 00:15:58.080 a Saturday morning in May where she would call me and she'd be like, 216 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:02.399 I'm at the garden center and I don't know what to do. I see 217 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:04.879 this thing it says, it's this, is it good will? I like 218 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:08.480 this? You know she was. She didn't want to take the risk of, 219 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:11.559 you know, spending that money and spending that time on things that weren't 220 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:14.919 going to do well for her, and she had been burned. Of course. 221 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:18.399 You know, back then, plants didn't, especially annuals, didn't perform 222 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:22.279 like they did now. You'd get lobilia and that thing would peter out, 223 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:25.240 you know, the second it got over like seventy five degrees or something. 224 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:32.480 And so her you know, fear and hesitation really influenced me, I think 225 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:37.360 in the way that I talk about gardening. And as I was learning about 226 00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:41.600 plants and gardening and horticulture school, it influenced me to think more about, 227 00:16:41.639 --> 00:16:45.440 like, how can I share this information in a way that gives people the 228 00:16:45.480 --> 00:16:49.519 same aha moment that I'm having right now. So when I'm explaining things, 229 00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:52.159 I often have my mom in mind, whether it's you know, I'm talking 230 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:56.399 about a shrub or whatever I think about. You know, that same people 231 00:16:56.440 --> 00:17:00.320 approaching those problems with that same kind of fear that my mom had. So 232 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:04.200 I couldn't, of course, forget horticulture school. I went to the New 233 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:08.079 York Botanical Garden, School of Professional Horticulture, and met so many wonderful horticulturists 234 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:11.759 in that time. But one person who really sticks out in my mind is 235 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:18.000 Francesca Couelo. She was the director of the amazing Helped Conservatory at the New 236 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:23.279 York Botanical Garden. I mean truly one of the world class conservatories in our 237 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:27.720 country and in the world, and it had She's a native of Brazil, 238 00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:30.000 and I think she was native to Guyana, so she was trapped. She 239 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:34.799 was from tropical areas, and you know, compared to a lot of the 240 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:38.319 other people that I encountered in my time at NYBG. When I was at 241 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:45.799 the conservatory, fran I think did more to help me understand, you know, 242 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:49.079 digging into where plants are from, what that means for how they grow, 243 00:17:49.160 --> 00:17:53.359 how to combine plants, looking seeing plants, you know, not just 244 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:56.359 looking at plants and saying, Okay, it's this, it's this tall, 245 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:00.960 the flowers are yellow, blah blah blah. Like she was real tuned into 246 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:06.000 all of the details and took the time to sort of point those out and 247 00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:08.279 what they meant from a horticultural perspective. So I think she really took a 248 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:12.839 lot a much more of a mentoring kind of approach where she was legitimately teaching. 249 00:18:14.359 --> 00:18:15.799 And you know, when I was in those rotations in horticulture school, 250 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:18.480 a lot of people were just like free labor, get out there, and 251 00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:23.519 Fran really took the time to show me things that I would not have otherwise 252 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:26.240 noticed, and I think that really helped me see plants in a different way. 253 00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:33.200 My former boss at Martha Stewart Living, Andrew Beckman, amazing horticulturist, 254 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:37.640 just a wonderful guy. And it is from him who he actually learned this 255 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:40.720 saying from a friend of his, so it wasn't his, and I forget 256 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:45.279 the person who actually originally said this, but Andrew often repeated it and it 257 00:18:45.319 --> 00:18:49.680 has become a defining mantra for my garden. And that is the measure of 258 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:52.559 a good garden is how many places it has where you want to sit down 259 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:56.960 and have a drink That is awesome. So it doesn't matter what you're drinking, 260 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:02.440 water, coffee, anything else, but at you know, idea behind 261 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:06.599 the garden and having places that it's not just plants that you just look at, 262 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:10.039 it's gardens are places that you are in that you spend time in and 263 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:14.000 you're surrounded by and that's something that I have, you know, used to 264 00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:17.519 kind of I mean design my garden such that it is, but thinking really 265 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:22.160 about what are these spaces and when you incorporate seating areas, and it can 266 00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:25.640 be a small area just it can be two stumps in a little clearing, 267 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:30.279 or it can be something much fancier that encourages you again to engage with your 268 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:33.640 garden and get out in it and not just think of it as something that 269 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:37.359 you look at. So Andrew taught me so so much about plants, but 270 00:19:37.319 --> 00:19:41.680 that one thing. And he is now the editorial director at Timber Press, 271 00:19:41.720 --> 00:19:45.400 so you can still partake in his work. I don't know that that quote 272 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:49.160 has gotten out much beyond our department when I worked at Martha Stewart Living, 273 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:52.920 but Andrew definitely was a big influence and I learned so much from him, 274 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:56.119 and he gave me so many opportunities. And you know, that's another thing 275 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:00.720 when people give you opportunities like you were talking about flower land. When when 276 00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:03.799 someone takes the time to give you that opportunity and sees your potential, that's 277 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:07.640 you know, just a huge, huge influence in your life, and then 278 00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:11.119 to bring things more up to date. I did want to talk, of 279 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:15.400 course, about my boss, Tim would Tim is someone who I have learned 280 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:18.799 so much from. You know, he is a plant breader himself, and 281 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:22.759 there's a lot of times where I especially when I first started here thirteen years 282 00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:26.920 ago, there was things I didn't know and he was such an expert and 283 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:29.880 there were things that I could always ask him. And I always found that 284 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:33.240 when I came to him with a plant problem I was helping someone with, 285 00:20:33.400 --> 00:20:37.480 he always gave me a new perspective. He saw something that I didn't see 286 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:41.359 in there, and that really helped me to, you know, give the 287 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:44.599 person a better answer and better advice. So it really helped me get to 288 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:47.799 where I am and able to answer things like all the questions that we get 289 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:52.640 in the mailbag. He's yeah, he's so knowledgeable. And of course plant 290 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:56.240 breader Megan the tie, she's my friend, she's my colleague, and it's 291 00:20:56.279 --> 00:21:00.519 just it's so awesome. She's awesome too, And it's just so great to 292 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:04.440 have friends who have the same interest as you and who you're always able to 293 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:11.359 talk about and grow with and just learn more from each other's unique perspective. 294 00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:14.240 It's just a huge thing. So briefly, I did want to talk about 295 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:18.119 some famous influences in my life, so you can explore these more if you'd 296 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:22.400 like. William Robinson, author of the book The Wild Garden. The Wild 297 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:25.480 Garden at Wave Hill one of my favorite public gardens, favorite spaces in any 298 00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:29.359 public gardens in the world. He wrote the book on that type of design 299 00:21:29.400 --> 00:21:32.839 and that is what I aspire to today. You can get it for free 300 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:37.559 as an ebook if you are interested. It's a little bit old old style 301 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:41.000 writing, I think it was written in like the eighteen hundreds, but absolutely 302 00:21:41.079 --> 00:21:45.160 worth reading and fascinating. Christopher Lloyd is my all time favorite garden author. 303 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:51.799 I love reading him. He has this way of incorporating personality with knowledge and 304 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:53.680 he's just a wonderful, wonderful read. And then Beth Chattow. I don't 305 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:57.480 know if you read Beth Chadow. Beth Chadow is well known for her two 306 00:21:57.480 --> 00:22:03.079 books, The Damp Garden and The Dry Garden, and so there are different 307 00:22:03.160 --> 00:22:06.519 approaches that she took to her incredible garden in the UK, and The Dry 308 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:11.480 Garden is definitely a handbook for me living in essentially a very very dry garden. 309 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:14.440 And then finally I do have to just give a shout out to Pete 310 00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:18.440 Udolf. Pete Audolf, I don't know how you pronounce it, but you 311 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:22.160 know, when I was in New York City and he had just designed the 312 00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:26.480 high Line, you know, New York City's hottest park, I realized that 313 00:22:26.599 --> 00:22:29.559 all of these people who when I was a horticulturist at Tavern on the Green, 314 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:33.000 who never paid any attention to our plants, never paid any attention to 315 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:36.240 the plants in Central Park. They were just ho home regular plants. The 316 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:41.519 way that Pete Audolf combines plants makes people sea plants. It makes people pay 317 00:22:41.559 --> 00:22:45.799 attention. And even though I worked in Central Park for three years, I 318 00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:49.319 never heard anybody ask what's that? But when I was on the high Line, 319 00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:52.839 I repeatedly heard what's that? I wonder what that plan is, I 320 00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:56.160 wonder what that plant is? And it's just, you know, there's something 321 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:02.759 about his design that really I think makes people like it helped to mitigate plant 322 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:06.960 blindness, and I really admire that in him, and influenced of course by 323 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:10.359 his plant choices, because he is a fantastic plantsman as well as designer. 324 00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:15.000 So I'm out of time to wind this into a plant on trial or going 325 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:17.240 to take a break. Maybe I'll be able to do that before we answer 326 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:26.440 questions in the garden mail bag. At proven Winner's Color Choice, we've got 327 00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:30.640 a shrub for every taste and every space. Whether you're looking for an easy 328 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:33.960 care rose and unforgettable hydrangea, or something new and unique, you can be 329 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:37.759 confident that the shrubs and the white containers have been trialed and tested for your 330 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:44.519 success. Look for them at your local garden center. Greetings, gardening friends, 331 00:23:44.559 --> 00:23:48.400 and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. We've just been telling you 332 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:52.559 about the people who have influenced our horticultural careers and our lives. And I 333 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:55.960 did say I was going to try to bring it back to a plants on 334 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:57.680 Trial, and I do want to do that because I do think that if 335 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:02.160 you have these influences in your life, one of the best ways that you 336 00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:04.880 can honor them is by planting something that you shared. So I talked a 337 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:07.720 bit about how I will always have Lilia the Valley, even though I think 338 00:24:07.720 --> 00:24:14.440 it's kind of a crummy plant, because because we're going to get cards and 339 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:18.000 letters and comments on that right, and I you know, I get that, 340 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:22.079 But there's so many things I think you know that that you can take 341 00:24:22.119 --> 00:24:23.519 the time to think about and if it, you know, if that influence 342 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:27.799 you know was a parent, is there, for example, an old fashioned 343 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:30.519 shrub like Whigela. I think I hear from so many people who say that 344 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:36.359 Whygela always reminds them of their grandparents? Or lilacs, lilacks. I mean, 345 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:37.480 you cannot go wrong with lilox, and we're going to do a show 346 00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:41.559 in Lilacs coming up soon. But you know, of course, any time 347 00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:45.240 there is a scent, scent is of course the closest to your brain. 348 00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:49.920 So those memories are much more, uh, you know, vivid when you 349 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:53.960 smell that. So I would encourage you, instead of having today's plant on 350 00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:59.000 trial, to think about, you know, what are the plants that the 351 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:03.920 people who influence you in gardening to garden that made you love gardening or taught 352 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:07.400 you something. What are the plants that you can have in your yard to 353 00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:12.599 not only enjoy in their honor, but so that you can pass on that 354 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:17.799 same knowledge just like that person did for you. So I encourage you to 355 00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:21.200 think about what that looks like for you obviously for me, it looks like 356 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:23.119 Lily of the Valley, even though it's not a great plant. But I 357 00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:26.799 have lots of other plants to throw out my garden that remind me of of 358 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:30.799 different people. Now, I do not plant my mom's red geraniums, though, 359 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:33.279 just to put that out there right now, I'm not going to see 360 00:25:33.319 --> 00:25:37.039 one of those in your ears, not in my yard. They're okay, 361 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:38.880 They're just not for me. Your mom is a wonderful lady, and I 362 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:42.440 have the privilege of meeting her, and that's that's a great story, you 363 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:45.559 know, part of your story to Stacy, a fascinating story. What an 364 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:52.880 unbelievable education you have and experiences. And Adriana and I like to joke around 365 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:56.480 that Stacy's the most intelligent person we've ever met in our life, and I 366 00:25:56.519 --> 00:25:59.400 still feel that way. I don't want to embarrass you, but it's definitely 367 00:25:59.400 --> 00:26:03.640 not true. And every week on this show, you as well as myself 368 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:07.680 and Adriana, we get to learn a new word. Because you were also 369 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:11.920 a linguistics major, How did you get into that? It's a good question. 370 00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:15.960 Yeah, I was. I did get my bachelor's in linguistics from the 371 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:21.319 University of Michigan, and it is amazing. It is one of those things 372 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:23.559 where, yeah, people and we know it's even weirder. My uncle has 373 00:26:23.599 --> 00:26:27.519 his PhD in linguistics. Wow, so two linguistics people and one family, 374 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:33.160 what are the chances Thanksgiving must be interesting around your place. I was just 375 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:37.880 really interested in language and the phenomenon of language. And I loved reading and 376 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:41.160 I loved writing. But you know, I grew up in the Detroit area, 377 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:45.200 so we used to get a lot of TV from Canada and they would 378 00:26:45.240 --> 00:26:48.440 have commercials in English and French. Not commercial commercials, but like the station 379 00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:52.759 identification and that kind of thing. And so I was aware from a pretty 380 00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:56.279 young age that there was this other language out there. And you know, 381 00:26:56.279 --> 00:26:57.440 growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, it's not like I was exposed to 382 00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:03.119 all sorts of different languages. But I started getting a little exposed to French. 383 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:04.519 And my mother had taken French in high school, and so she would 384 00:27:04.519 --> 00:27:07.160 like say things like, oh, well, this is how you say, 385 00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:11.839 you know, apple and French or whatever. And I just was so fascinated 386 00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:15.559 from a young age at this idea that there's like this whole other, you 387 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:21.200 know, set of words that are are describing the same things that I am, 388 00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:26.279 and so I just I loved that and wanted to study the phenomenon of 389 00:27:26.359 --> 00:27:30.920 language and realized that linguistics was the study of that, and so I went 390 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:34.759 into it. It was a really interesting study. I knew I did not 391 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:41.119 want to be a linguistics researcher or professor, but when people tell me that 392 00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:45.319 I've explained something to them, clearly I can thank linguistics because it does. 393 00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:49.880 It's writing a lot of long papers, it's doing a lot of research and 394 00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:55.000 parsing that research. So even though it's not directly related to what I do, 395 00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:57.319 it does have a huge influence on the way I explain things to people, 396 00:27:57.359 --> 00:28:00.599 which is really important to me to help them understand I think so too, 397 00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:04.319 and we all benefit from it. Stacey, And that's fantastic. You 398 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:08.799 know. I didn't go to linguistics school, but my parents spoke Dutch in 399 00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:11.400 the house when I was a little kid, so I'll never forget. In 400 00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:18.119 elementary school, one day I was sent home from school with a note because 401 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:22.920 I was mixing Dutch with my English. Oh couldn't understand me. So yeah, 402 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:27.200 that was interesting. But hey, to celebrate last week you mentioned that 403 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:32.599 maybe I should rhyme or do a limerick about a new word. You taught 404 00:28:32.680 --> 00:28:37.599 us a botanical word, ediolated, And I've been working on that all week 405 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:44.079 long, thinking about ediolated. Now stacy for our viewers, our listeners, 406 00:28:44.359 --> 00:28:49.799 ediolated means what so edulated et io l a t ed before Rick pollutes your 407 00:28:49.799 --> 00:28:56.000 brain with his version of diolated. It means when a plant gets really thin 408 00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:59.720 and skinny and pale because it's reaching for the light. So that's ediolation. 409 00:29:00.119 --> 00:29:03.359 I always said stretched, Well that works too, yes, But now from 410 00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:07.000 this day forward to the end of my life, I'm always going to say, 411 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:11.920 Eddieolated, how you influenced people. But see, the thing about linguistics 412 00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:15.119 is like it's not about hey, there's all these rules. It's about being 413 00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:18.799 understood. So if you're understood, you can say stretched. If you say 414 00:29:18.880 --> 00:29:22.519 eddiolated, you might not be understood. So just something to keep in mind, 415 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:26.839 Well, understand how my brain works. I heard that and I wrote 416 00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:33.519 the ode to Eddie olated. His plants are stretched and faded. Poor Eddie, 417 00:29:33.720 --> 00:29:37.799 Eddie olated, try as he might, he lacks good daylight. His 418 00:29:37.960 --> 00:29:44.400 daisies are barely foliated. His garden has him irritated. Poor Eddie Eddie elated. 419 00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:49.440 His goals are far fetched with plants that are stretched and sadly incapacitated. 420 00:29:51.160 --> 00:29:56.119 His home turf is undomesticated. Poor Eddie Eddie olated. He needs some support. 421 00:29:56.279 --> 00:30:03.039 He's battling mugwart. He's humiliated and frustrated. Good will needs to be 422 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:07.599 cultivated to keep our friend motivated. Send letters, notes and cards of encouragement. 423 00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:15.000 Best regards to Eddie. Poor Eddie Eddie elated. Wow, Rick I 424 00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:19.920 challenged you to rhyme ediolated and you went above and beyond the call there. 425 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:25.359 That was wonderful. That's simply how my brain works. That's how my brain. 426 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:26.640 I think we're going to have to put that into an AI to get 427 00:30:26.680 --> 00:30:32.799 an image of what eddiolated actually looks like, So look for that on the 428 00:30:32.839 --> 00:30:36.759 YouTube version of the show. So unless you have your own version of ediolated 429 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:40.279 in your head, you want to keep that. I love that. I 430 00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:41.640 love it too, of course, Stacy. On our show, we get 431 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:45.839 questions from folks and pictures and we love that too. As part of our 432 00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:52.119 mail bag set. Yes, and we heard from a listener Carrie. Carrie 433 00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:56.160 is in her first years of gardening in central Florida, and gardening there has 434 00:30:56.200 --> 00:31:00.039 brought her to tears many times, she says, even though she was a 435 00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:03.680 heart major in the seventies and her dad built her a greenhouse for her horticulture 436 00:31:03.720 --> 00:31:07.759 graduation, but now she is in this totally different climate learning a whole and 437 00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:11.480 it is like language. When you have to go in garden in a new 438 00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:14.480 climate like that, it is like learning a new language. Learning new plants. 439 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:18.720 It's like new words, new ways to combine them. But Carrie has 440 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:22.880 a massive success to share, and she said, even though she had many 441 00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:26.200 varieties in the greenhouse, she's now overjoyed to be able to plant these same 442 00:31:26.240 --> 00:31:29.920 plants in her yard and keep on her outdoor lunai, which is of course 443 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:33.359 a beautiful shaded patio that are very popular in Florida. I wanted to share 444 00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:37.559 with you my discovery of my first papaya tree in my front garden. I 445 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:41.279 watches it flowered like crazy, and I waited for fruit. I was amazed 446 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:45.680 to see with my own eyes how white the stephanotis like flower tips that's a 447 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:49.000 kind of jasmine. Eventually closed up to create the papaya fruit, and she 448 00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:55.319 enclosed some pics of her very first home grown papayas. She says she loves 449 00:31:55.319 --> 00:31:59.759 the show, she appreciates the warm zone ideas that we do include, and 450 00:31:59.799 --> 00:32:02.200 she he's a grateful gardener in the Sunshine State. So we will put Carry's 451 00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:07.920 pictures of her first papias on our show notes at Gardening Simplified on Air dot 452 00:32:07.920 --> 00:32:09.880 Com, and of course they will be in the YouTube version of the show 453 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:14.119 as well. I love that and you know, it makes me think of 454 00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:17.240 a famous person I met, Steve Miller or the Steve Miller band. I 455 00:32:17.400 --> 00:32:22.759 love that group and his song Jungle Love. I left a creative papayas by 456 00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:27.960 your front door, right yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah, So 457 00:32:28.039 --> 00:32:31.079 thanks Carrie. And if you don't have if you want to celebrate your gardening 458 00:32:31.559 --> 00:32:36.160 successes with us, you can always reach us at help HLP. At Gardening 459 00:32:36.200 --> 00:32:39.000 Simplified on Air dot com, you can leave a comment on a YouTube video, 460 00:32:39.240 --> 00:32:42.680 you can leave a comment on Instagram, or you can just write a 461 00:32:42.759 --> 00:32:46.160 visit Gardening Simplified on air dot com and click on the contact tab because yeah, 462 00:32:46.200 --> 00:32:50.000 I mean, it's frustrating when you don't have someone who shares your enthusiasm 463 00:32:50.039 --> 00:32:52.240 for gardening. And you're like, but this is really cool, trust me, 464 00:32:52.279 --> 00:32:57.279 and they're like, okay, you know. But along that line, 465 00:32:57.680 --> 00:33:00.200 Stacey, we got a note from Sandy I placed in order with proven winners 466 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:07.559 for my very favorite hosta. It's the Shadowland we Whee. I first saw 467 00:33:07.559 --> 00:33:13.279 this beauty at the Michigan State University Extension Garden and Grand Rapids and absolutely fell 468 00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:16.519 in love with it. I dore the name we and have named mine Maxwell, 469 00:33:16.920 --> 00:33:22.319 after the little piggy with the pinwheel on the Geico commercial. His name 470 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:25.240 was Maxwell. I'm going to place a pinwheel next to mine in the garden. 471 00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:28.519 I thought you'd get a chucklate. Oh, that's so cute. That 472 00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:31.480 is such a neat hostess. If you're not familiar with it. It has 473 00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:36.880 super duper undulating leaf margins, so they're really wavy and not just like a 474 00:33:36.880 --> 00:33:40.279 little bit wavy, like very very strong wavy. And it just gives it 475 00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:45.920 a really unique textural look in the garden. And when I could grow hostas 476 00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:49.559 in my old house, I did have that one. But hostas are definitely 477 00:33:49.559 --> 00:33:52.400 a no go for me now between the hot, the dry, the deer, 478 00:33:52.839 --> 00:33:57.480 not a chance, you know exactly. Well, we got to take 479 00:33:57.480 --> 00:33:59.279 a little break. When we come back, we're going to answer a couple 480 00:33:59.319 --> 00:34:08.079 more garden questions, so please stay tuned. The Gardening Simplified Show is brought 481 00:34:08.079 --> 00:34:13.519 to you by Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs and 482 00:34:13.559 --> 00:34:17.599 evergreens have been trialed and tested for your success so you enjoy more beauty and 483 00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:22.960 less work. Look for Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs in the distinctive white container 484 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:29.280 at your local garden center. Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show and extended 485 00:34:29.400 --> 00:34:32.079 version of the mail Bag this week. And Stacy, I've got a question 486 00:34:32.280 --> 00:34:38.840 for you. Actually it's a question from Cindy Banana water madness. You've probably 487 00:34:38.880 --> 00:34:44.440 seen this in social media. I compost bananas in my garden, but to 488 00:34:44.599 --> 00:34:50.719 soak them in stinky water won't it cause fruit flies? I want to hear 489 00:34:50.760 --> 00:34:53.800 what Stacy thinks of this. You know, it's I'm gonna call it a 490 00:34:53.880 --> 00:35:00.280 hack or a trend in social media to soak banana peels in water and then 491 00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:02.559 water your plants with them, right, And the claim is that it's a 492 00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:07.280 magical in concoction that you could just make from something you'd otherwise throw away. 493 00:35:07.840 --> 00:35:10.679 And it's gonna do all these wonderful things for your plants. So on the 494 00:35:10.679 --> 00:35:15.599 topic of influencers, there are many positive influences on social media for gardening that 495 00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:20.360 you can engage with, and there are many negative influences yes, as well. 496 00:35:20.639 --> 00:35:22.039 Now this one, I guess it might be kind of a stretch to 497 00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:29.159 call it negative because there's probably no harm aside from the gross, smelly, 498 00:35:29.320 --> 00:35:31.880 slimy banana water. And if you've listened to the show before, you know 499 00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:36.639 neither Rick nor I are fans of bananas. But even if we were, 500 00:35:36.719 --> 00:35:40.599 we would still be opposed to this phenomenon of banana water because of what the 501 00:35:40.599 --> 00:35:45.920 claim is is that the banana full of potassium, and if you soak it 502 00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:49.000 in water and fuse it in water, that potassium is just going to like 503 00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:52.039 come right out of the peel and infuse the water full of potassium and it's 504 00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:55.440 going to be some sort of super potion and it's not Potassium is not water 505 00:35:55.519 --> 00:36:00.960 soluble. So when you're soaking that banana peel in water, yeah, it's 506 00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:04.000 going to look like something's happening, But all that's happening is like the flesh 507 00:36:04.079 --> 00:36:07.880 is like coming off in the water and getting like slimy, and it's not 508 00:36:08.159 --> 00:36:14.880 actually adding any potassium to the water. Now, there are definitely gonna be 509 00:36:14.920 --> 00:36:17.280 people out there who say, well, I watered with banana water and my 510 00:36:17.360 --> 00:36:21.840 plants did great. Now, there is a saying in horticulture that you may 511 00:36:21.880 --> 00:36:24.039 be familiar with, and that is the best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow. 512 00:36:24.760 --> 00:36:30.960 And that basically means that the more you are engaging with your plants, the 513 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:32.920 better they're gonna do, because you're not like, oh, I forgot about 514 00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:36.599 that thing in the back forty and it's not getting any water, and it's 515 00:36:36.599 --> 00:36:39.360 just like dying in the sun. If you're watering it, you're looking at 516 00:36:39.400 --> 00:36:44.280 it closely, you're picking up on all those changes. And certainly watering with 517 00:36:44.320 --> 00:36:46.440 banana water is the same as watering. It's still going to get the plant 518 00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:51.559 water and keep it healthy. But let's not pretend that it's some sort of 519 00:36:51.719 --> 00:36:58.000 magical concoction. It's not. It's just a gross, slimy banana peel in 520 00:36:58.159 --> 00:37:02.000 water. Absolutely, we compost those banana peels instead of infusing them in water. 521 00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:06.599 They will do far better in the compost when the microbes and everything are 522 00:37:06.639 --> 00:37:09.280 able to break them down and turn them into organic matter, which does have 523 00:37:09.360 --> 00:37:13.519 nutrients, so your banana pil doesn't have to go to waste. You also 524 00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:16.199 don't need to sit around with a disgusting picture of banana water in your house 525 00:37:16.199 --> 00:37:22.039 for who knows how long. Yellow Yeah, tell you. You know. 526 00:37:22.079 --> 00:37:24.400 There's also a saying don't follow the crowd, or in this case, don't 527 00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:28.480 follow the bunch. Yeah, that's a good one. Yes, Sue, 528 00:37:28.920 --> 00:37:31.079 someone should someone should put that other. But you know, it's true that 529 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:37.480 a lot of things, so called hacks or whatever on social media feel like 530 00:37:37.559 --> 00:37:42.199 they could be true. So it's very tempting to share them and to say 531 00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:45.679 what's the harm in it? And again, there's probably not any harm in 532 00:37:45.719 --> 00:37:49.000 banana water. Yes, you are likely to get fungus nuts, but you're 533 00:37:49.079 --> 00:37:53.199 likely to get fungus nuts if you are overwatering with regular non banana water as 534 00:37:53.280 --> 00:37:58.239 well. So I think it's important that we, whatever it is, that 535 00:37:58.280 --> 00:38:00.679 we fact check and into it and say, you know, is this really 536 00:38:00.760 --> 00:38:06.480 the best way? Is this doing what it's claiming to do. It goes 537 00:38:06.519 --> 00:38:08.320 back to our IPM thing, which is like you want to do the least 538 00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:14.880 harm with the most benefit. Well said Stacy, Let's stick with slimy subjects 539 00:38:14.920 --> 00:38:19.039 here and a note and pictures from Lisa. By the way, we do 540 00:38:19.159 --> 00:38:24.039 our show on radio, podcast and YouTube. Adriana drops wonderful pictures into YouTube 541 00:38:24.039 --> 00:38:29.400 that you can see, including the pictures that Lisa sent us of some worms. 542 00:38:30.119 --> 00:38:34.000 Speaking of a slimy subject, she says, these are the biggest night 543 00:38:34.039 --> 00:38:37.760 crawlers I've ever seen during the mornings last week. They were out in the 544 00:38:37.800 --> 00:38:39.800 dogs area. When I was out with the dogs, I counted four or 545 00:38:39.800 --> 00:38:44.559 five of them stretched out in the yard like this. Gonna have a bumper 546 00:38:44.599 --> 00:38:49.000 crop of nightcrawlers. And yes, these are very very long worms. But 547 00:38:49.440 --> 00:38:54.920 I would remind people that worms have circular muscles and they have longitudinal muscles. 548 00:38:55.480 --> 00:39:00.639 The circular muscles, when they contract those, that's when an earthworm gets really, 549 00:39:00.719 --> 00:39:07.400 really long. And she put this earthworm up against a ruler ruler stick, 550 00:39:07.880 --> 00:39:09.280 so you can see that picture, or you can go to our website 551 00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:15.079 Gardening Simplified on air dot com. The longitudinal muscles, when they contract those, 552 00:39:15.159 --> 00:39:19.960 then the worm gets shorter. So it's not unusual to see worms really 553 00:39:20.039 --> 00:39:22.199 long in the garden. And it could be a matter of age, it 554 00:39:22.199 --> 00:39:25.519 could be a matter of different species of worms because there are a number of 555 00:39:25.519 --> 00:39:30.480 different species, you know, that we have. It could be that like 556 00:39:30.599 --> 00:39:34.840 umulched and that created an environment that was more friendly to these bigger worms. 557 00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:37.559 So there's a lot of reasons why that could happen. But yeah, it 558 00:39:37.559 --> 00:39:40.760 sounds like someone needs to get a fishing pole. There you go, dip 559 00:39:40.800 --> 00:39:44.480 into that mail bag. Do you have over there? Oh my gosh, 560 00:39:44.519 --> 00:39:46.000 we have. We have so much stuff. We have a lot of different 561 00:39:46.079 --> 00:39:52.639 questions and oh, Tina writes, this was an interesting She's also in Florida, 562 00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:55.599 and she was surprised to see that one of the supertunias she planted last 563 00:39:55.679 --> 00:40:00.559 year returned this spring, and she was wondering if it's possible to move it. 564 00:40:00.639 --> 00:40:02.280 So when we had Adam Mosley, who's one of the breeders of super 565 00:40:02.360 --> 00:40:07.199 tunias, on the show a couple of weeks ago, he talked about we 566 00:40:07.239 --> 00:40:09.800 talked a lot about how they can live in hot climates, and he says 567 00:40:09.880 --> 00:40:14.840 usually they kind of peter out in Texas at least by summer when it's getting 568 00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:17.360 really hot and really dry, and that's when he loses his But in Florida, 569 00:40:17.360 --> 00:40:21.519 of course, it tends to be more humid, and so when you 570 00:40:21.559 --> 00:40:24.079 live in these more mild climates, you don't have any frost or cold that 571 00:40:24.119 --> 00:40:29.079 would normally kill the supertunias, and so hers probably just got real small and 572 00:40:29.159 --> 00:40:31.639 kind of went like, you know, a little bit dormant, conserved its 573 00:40:31.679 --> 00:40:36.119 resources, and then when spring came and it was warm and sunny and everything 574 00:40:36.159 --> 00:40:39.800 again, it's a supertunia lemon slice or super Bell's lemon slice, and it's 575 00:40:39.800 --> 00:40:44.880 looking great. So by all means, yes, you can absolutely move it, 576 00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:47.079 Tina to someplace else. Looks like you just got a little bonus. 577 00:40:47.119 --> 00:40:51.760 Soyah. It's kind of one of those things that an annual when we use 578 00:40:51.800 --> 00:40:53.480 when we talked about this a couple weeks ago as well, when we talk 579 00:40:53.519 --> 00:40:57.760 about the term annual, we use it to mean a plant that we're just 580 00:40:57.760 --> 00:41:01.199 growing for one season. But there is difference between a true annual one that 581 00:41:01.280 --> 00:41:05.719 goes from seed to seed within one season. So that would be like cilantro 582 00:41:05.880 --> 00:41:07.800 or dill. If you've ever tried to grow those, you know, you 583 00:41:07.800 --> 00:41:10.039 plant the seed, you get the plant, and then it goes to seed 584 00:41:10.039 --> 00:41:17.280 and it's gone. Whereas petunias and caliber Coa's superbells and supertunias are potentially perennial 585 00:41:17.360 --> 00:41:22.159 if they are living in an area. So it's an annual is a horticultural 586 00:41:22.239 --> 00:41:24.960 term, it's not necessarily a botanical term that actually describes the behavior of your 587 00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:30.239 plant if all conditions are right. And it's important to note Proven Winters tests 588 00:41:30.320 --> 00:41:36.119 its plants all over the world in different conditions, Stacey, to test the 589 00:41:36.199 --> 00:41:39.400 genetics. And when we're talking about annuals. In chatting with Kevin Hurd from 590 00:41:39.440 --> 00:41:43.400 Proven Winters, he said to me, part of the reason they do some 591 00:41:43.440 --> 00:41:49.159 of their trialing in Florida is to put some of these annuals under winter conditions 592 00:41:49.239 --> 00:41:53.039 and see how they perform after a hot, sticky, humid summer, again 593 00:41:53.480 --> 00:41:59.559 testing those genetics. Yeah, there's so many different factors that are worth exploring. 594 00:42:00.119 --> 00:42:04.119 From Chris, and his question is about new raised garden beds. He 595 00:42:04.159 --> 00:42:08.320 has four of them. They're four by eight feet long and twenty seven inches 596 00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:10.960 tall. That's a deep bed. Is it okay to fill the bottom of 597 00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:15.039 the raised bed with topsoil and the other half with a special mix from the 598 00:42:15.039 --> 00:42:17.320 garden center. I don't want to fill it with logs and such. And 599 00:42:17.360 --> 00:42:22.719 he says thanks. He enjoys the show, so you know I have. 600 00:42:23.199 --> 00:42:29.239 I have very many strong feelings about a mending soil and also with filling garden 601 00:42:29.280 --> 00:42:32.039 beds, so I get that now. Generally speaking, as I've said on 602 00:42:32.079 --> 00:42:37.519 the show, many times, plant roots are concentrated in the top eighteen inches 603 00:42:37.559 --> 00:42:40.679 of soil, So you want to give all of your plants a good solid 604 00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:46.119 eighteen inches of consistent growing media, whether that means topsoil or like a raised 605 00:42:46.119 --> 00:42:49.039 bed soil which you don't need. I mean, you can just fill those 606 00:42:49.079 --> 00:42:52.159 things with topsoil you don't need if it's a lot more expensive to get something 607 00:42:52.159 --> 00:42:54.960 else. I think topsoil is likely to be the most cost effective choice in 608 00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:58.800 most areas. Top soil. But I was going to mention to you some 609 00:42:58.960 --> 00:43:04.440 greenhouses, and including one that I currently help out part time, will sell 610 00:43:04.480 --> 00:43:09.079 something called recycled greenhouse soil. In other words, they're going to have plants 611 00:43:09.119 --> 00:43:13.199 that they don't or plants at the end of the season or whatever, and 612 00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:15.920 instead of just wasting that soil, they put it in a pile and people 613 00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:20.280 can buy it really cheap. So that's something to check out at your local 614 00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:23.119 green That's a great idea. I didn't know about that, So I would 615 00:43:23.119 --> 00:43:28.920 not recommend Chris having two different substrates within the bed. One thing that can 616 00:43:28.960 --> 00:43:31.719 happen when you have those different layers. It is better to have the heavier 617 00:43:31.760 --> 00:43:36.320 layer below. But as I've talked about on the show, this bathtub effect, 618 00:43:36.400 --> 00:43:39.199 so that light, fluffier soil on the top has big pores, it 619 00:43:39.239 --> 00:43:43.559 can hold a lot of water. The top soil below it is going to 620 00:43:43.559 --> 00:43:45.519 have smaller pores because it's true soil, so it's going to be more of 621 00:43:45.559 --> 00:43:51.079 a clay or sand based soil. It's going to have much smaller pores. 622 00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:53.519 So you're able to apply a ton of water to that top layer, and 623 00:43:53.559 --> 00:43:57.360 then gravity starts to take its toll. It starts to drain down and all 624 00:43:57.360 --> 00:44:00.719 of a sudden, it's like trying to like jam a huge crowd through a 625 00:44:00.719 --> 00:44:04.559 little tiny door and it doesn't work, So the water ends up sitting in 626 00:44:04.559 --> 00:44:07.360 that top layer. So I would not recommend using two different things. If 627 00:44:07.920 --> 00:44:12.639 you have, you know, cost effective I would cost effective pricing on one, 628 00:44:12.679 --> 00:44:15.000 I would try to mix them. But otherwise I would say, unless 629 00:44:15.039 --> 00:44:19.880 you can get the recycled greenhouse soil, all topsoil is gonna be your best 630 00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:22.920 bet for filling that raised bed. So if you have any questions for us, 631 00:44:22.920 --> 00:44:27.440 you can always reach us at Help HLP at Gardening Simplified on air dot 632 00:44:27.440 --> 00:44:30.639 com, or just visit Gardenings Simplified on air dot com and click the contact 633 00:44:30.639 --> 00:44:32.920 tab. Or of course, if you leave us a comment on YouTube, 634 00:44:32.960 --> 00:44:36.559 Adriana will always pass those on to us so we'll get you an answer. 635 00:44:36.599 --> 00:44:38.760 There's so many ways to reach us, especially as we go into gardening season 636 00:44:38.760 --> 00:44:43.519 and people have a lot of different questions about what's going on. But that's 637 00:44:43.559 --> 00:44:45.880 all the time we have for this week. We want to thank you all 638 00:44:45.920 --> 00:44:47.719 so much for listening. Thank you Rick, thank you Adriana, and again, 639 00:44:47.760 --> 00:44:51.320 thank you all so much for listening. We appreciate you and help you 640 00:44:51.320 --> 00:44:52.360 have a wonderful week ahead.