Speaker 1: Broadcasting from Studio A. Here at proven winners Color Choice Shrubs.
It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show with Stacy, Hervella me,
Rick Weist, and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson. Well, pumpkins, squash,
and gourds are members of the enormously diverse cucurbit family,
and they've been providing mankind with food and utilitarian objects
since well before recorded history and today Stacy, as Bonnie
Raitt would sing, Let's give him pumpkin to talk about.
This is a fun topic, especially this time of the year,
and names differ throughout the world, but in the United States,
any round orange squash used for pies or jack O'Lanterns
is likely to be called a pumpkin. But is the
term pumpkin really botanically correct or are they actually squash?
And of course squash are divided into two categories, tender
and hard skinned or winter squash. So what I thought
I'd do, Stacy, is I thought I would ask Ai
that question didn't help me at all. What they had
to say on the subject was this, A pumpkin is
botanically a type of squash which is in the same
family as gords. While squash are generally grown for eating
and gords for decoration, the term pumpkin often refers to
ornamental but edible winter squash varieties. So a pumpkin is
a squash, which is a type of gourd. But not
all gords are pumpkins, and not all squash are pumpkins.
Speaker 2: What all pumpkins are squash but not all squash or pumpkins?
Speaker 1: I'm confused.
Speaker 2: Yes, no, well that was not a great answer. May
I may not be as smart as it. I mean,
it was okay, it was okay. I think, you know,
I think back in the day, the definition would for
the average American been pretty clear. Pumpkins are the round
of orange things, and then gords are those things, those weird,
clubby wardy looking things. But you know, thanks to certain
people like Martha Stewart popularizing the enormous diversity in the pumpkin,
squash and gourd tribe of the Kerkuba tasti or cucic
circubit family, the lines are a lot blurrier because there
are certainly squashes that have many of those same categories
as a gourd, but are not only edible but actually delicious.
And they're now being sold only for decorative purposes, and
people are missing out on a great opportunity to eat
a really tasty thing.
Speaker 1: Exactly, let's lay this pumpkin to roast here. Okay, So
for me, I immediately go to butternut squash. I love
butternut squash. I love butternut soup. I love playing with
the immersion blender in the pot because that's just fun
for me, it's therapeutic. But boy, oh boy, is that
delicious to me? Butternut squash is fall in a bowl.
Speaker 2: It's yes, it's a classic choice. I would say. You know,
I'm honestly not a huge fan of winter squash for
the most part. For the most part, there's some exceptions.
I do like some of the more dense, flavorful varieties,
and I also don't like recipes that play up the
sweetness too much, and most of the recipes make them
sweeter than they need to be. So like I'm thinking
more of like the sage and brown butter squash type
of thing. But you know, the thing about butternut squash
can't carve. It can't make a jack lantern out of
a butternut squash, because it's all solid, you won't have
anything hollow in there to put the light in.
Speaker 1: So throughout the ages, squash, gourds, pumpkins used for food,
used for utilitarian reasons, bulls and ornamentation, fastening, eating kind
of thing, and of course, well I personally believe squash
makes a smashing good dinner. But I did find in England, Stacey,
to try to reduce food waste, there are a lot
of people who get out the knitting needles and make pumpkins,
handmade pumpkins. I've got a link from the BBC that
will share on our website. I thought that that was
really that's fun.
Speaker 2: I'll make one for you know, Halloween is still some
about a month away, so we'll have time to have
a hand knit pumpkin in the studio.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 2: But you know, there's something to be said about reducing
food waste because, like I've said, a lot of these
really popular and expensive, you know, decorative items that are
sold in stores. Now, you know, the white ones and
the green ones and the silvery kind of grayish ones
are all edible, but you definitely do not want to
be eating any gords. Those are toxic. Gords can be
very toxic. They have a strong bitter flavor. But if
you are wondering, I was thinking of, like, how can
we help our listeners understand if the beautiful squash type
thing that they purchased is edible or not. Here's my advice.
Go to a good, reputable seed company like Johnny's Selected Seeds.
That's one of my favorites, Pine Tree Garden Seeds. I
order from them a lot and look at their selection
of pumpkins that they carry, and if it is listed
is edible, then you will know that that is edible.
Because again, you know, there's these really like crazy wordy
pumpkins that are choice foods in Europe, but in America,
since they're merchandised with plants that are less you know,
with pumpkins and squashes that are looking less edible, we
tend to just throw them away. Another cool thing that's
happened in recent years is farmers and zoos and so
forth asking for the pumpkins at the end of the
season for their animals. So we've even done a little
bit to reduce food waste while also keeping a lot
of those autumn vibes alive.
Speaker 1: I love that. Yeah, the last thing you want to
do is get caught off off off gourd. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And you know you don't have to worry too
too much about eating a toxic gourd, because, as with
many toxic plants, it will taste perfectly ghastly exactly, and
you will not continue to eat it unless you are
some kind of masochist. But yeah, I mean, you obviously
are going to want anything to be cooked. And I
think when you cut them open, if you can kind
of up, skirts are often really hard to cut. You know,
you can't get into them at all. If you can
cut it open, good chance it's a pumpkin. And if
it's not like all gross and piffy inside, also a
good chance it's an edible pumpkin.
Speaker 1: And you're right, Stacey. So many different types of pumpkins
today for decoration purposes, not just for food purposes. I
took a look everything from wardy goblin pumpkins to cream
cheese and ghost white pumpkins. Atlantic Giant of course, Big
Max Howden Field is the industry standard for decades, Sugar
Connecticut Field, sweetye Pie, baby Bear Harvest mood. I mean,
it goes on and on and on, and they're fun
to decorate with. But to grow them in your own yard,
of course, you're gonna be dealing with things like squash,
vine borer, cucumber beetle aphids, cutworms, stink bugs, downy mildew,
powdery mildew, and another issue that you're gonna have to
wrestle with space, lots and lots of space. It requires
a lot of them.
Speaker 2: That's the main reason I haven't grown them, because you know,
every year when I get those seed catalogs and I'm
looking at the I'm like, ooh, that is cool. I
want one of those. And then I'm like, I just
don't have their mon If they weren't deer, if they
were deer resistant, I would be in a lot better shape.
But since they're not, and I have to grow them
in my already somewhat limited vegetable garden, I don't. The
other thing is, not only are these huge, huge plants,
but a lot of them. The bigger the fruit that
they produce, the fewer fruits they're going to produce. So
then you are devoting you a good ten to fifteen
square feet of your yard to getting you know, maybe
three bumpkins.
Speaker 1: I have the solution for you, and I was hoping
to get one of these, but they're pretty expensive. Now
you'll see people growing cu curbets on trellises and arbors,
but you need something that's really got some gravitas because
there's going to be a lot of weight. Yeah, and
they're aggressive, and I've seen people using everything from burr
lap to underwear to create a little hammock to hold
these gourds aloft as they grow them. But my solution
is a moongate. A moongate, and I want a moongate
for my landscape in the worst way. They're really expensive,
but it's an architectural element in traditional Chinese gardens. Its
circular shape basically a double circle that is really solid
and able to hold these up. So I'm hoping that
I can get myself a moongate.
Speaker 2: That sounds lovely, So we'll talk about more.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about this more during segment four. Let me
end this segment with a limb a rick because this
past year we all learned during the drought that pumpkins
are basically ninety to ninety two percent water. They are water,
so is squash. So I'm giving you a dry pumpkin
limbo rick because it's been so dry around here lately
with my garden, I've had interventions, but lack of water
has caused considerable tensions. While the vines did sprawl, the
pumpkins are small. Despite my good intent, I was counting
on a sizeable batch pumpkins from the vines. Two detach.
It's all kind of scary. I'll fix it and be
wary by applying a pumpkin patch. Aw that's cute, as
they say in the Pumpkin Business. Roll with it. Baby
plants on trial is next. Let's see how Stacey ties
this in here on the Gardening Simplified.
Speaker 2: Show, beautify your home and community with proven Winner's Color
Choice Shrubs. With over three hundred and twenty five unique
varieties to choose from. There's a flowering shrubber evergreen for
every taste and every space. Just look for the distinctive
white container your local garden center or learn more at
proven Winner's Color Choice dot com. Greetings gardening friends, and
welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where if you
are watching on YouTube, you will see I'm wearing an
orange shirt. For today's Pumpkin and squash and gord theme.
Adiroann has got a green shirt on, kind of like
those nice green ones and you've got your black to
give us the whole Halloween kind of vibe here. But
you know, obviously it's way too late to talk about
growing gords or pumpkins or squash for this year. But
I think it's good for people to think about, you know,
as they buy them and decorate with them and enjoy
them in their homes. You know, it's kind of like
we get detached from where these plants come from. And
I would also say that if you love a certain
squash or gord or pumpkin that you have purchased and
the end of the season starts approaching, why not save
the seeds. You know, you can almost certainly be able
to save the seeds and grow them yourself the following
year if you have the space, because as we just said,
they are definitely not one for those of us with
limited space, because they will take up quite a lot
of them where you can grow them onnitrellis or a
moon gate like you said, but you know, they definitely
need a lot of space and a lot of patients
because also are a long season.
Speaker 1: And part of the reason there are so many colorful
gords out there is they're easy to cross pollinate, and
so I think that's why through the years so many
different types of gords have developed in gourds that we
can enjoy in our landscapes.
Speaker 2: It's fun to grow, Yeah, it's fun to grow, and
so yeah, if you have one that you love and
you really want to make sure you get your money
out of it, because a lot of those gourds are
not cheap. Dig on in there, save those seeds, dry
them out, and plant them in the garden next year,
and then you can just keep doing it. It preserves
your investment. But of course that is not today's Plants
on Trial, and there is in fact no plants in
the kerkubit Tasy family that encompasses the squashes and gourds
and cucumbers and all of that kind of stuff. That
there's no woody plants in that family. And so of
course there is no woody plants. So we don't have
any kerkubatasi here and the proven Winter's color choice line.
But what we do have is autumn vibe plants. And
I was thinking as I was preparing for today's show,
you know, this is a vibe autumn, not an actual autumn.
Because we had like a little bit of cool weather
that made you go, oh yeah, this is Fall's common,
this is great. And now it's like summer is here.
It's not letting up. Even the nights are super warm
and humid, so it feels like we're back in August
instead of heading into October. So if you want fall vibes,
you got to make them yourself. There's just no other
way around it. This year you're probably be wearing shorts
instead of a sweater, but you have to make your
own fall vibes. So the plant today's plant on trial
is a fall vibes plant, not an actual pumpkin or
anything like that. Now, you know, it's interesting. I feel like,
you know, we've talked about it in previous years, that
fall is kind of like a second spring where everything
kind of gets this fresh lease on life. Colors get brighter,
things flower like roses, and you know what I have
to say, overall, I'm not seeing that as much as
I have in previous years. Yeah, because I think between
how dry we've been and how warm and sunny it
has remained, I'm not really getting that like really great refreshment.
Except for a couple of things in my yard that
are looking great. I will have to say my Almino
is doing amazingly well. That seems to have brighter colors,
more fragrance, lots of flowers on there. My autumn joy
seed not a plant I particularly love, but I had
some small ones that I planted and they are looking
absolutely beautiful right now. And Carryopteriss sure Carryoptress really comes
into its own right now. We have beyond Midnight Carryoptress,
which is a great plant, and then beautiful blue flowers
to go with the orange. I have New England Asters
just starting to bloom. I actually just started blooming within
the last couple of days. That is a late bloomer.
Speaker 1: Nice, it is a late bloomer, but beautiful, beautiful, Love it.
And I don't think astors get the press they should,
But it's because mums suck all the oxygen out of
the room.
Speaker 2: Right, Yes, I think that the New England Asters, a
symphotrichomes definitely deserve at least as much attention as the mums,
if not for their amazing color, because they're just this
beautiful kind of purply blue color. I have to say
I have a lot of plants in my garden, hundreds
and I'm not sure there's really anything that attracts a
bigger diversity of pollinators in my garden except for the
New England Asters, and that's just getting started. But none
of those are the plants on trial. No, No, today's
plan on trial again. It's about the vibes. It is
kodiac spiced durvilla.
Speaker 1: Now I love this and I'm looking forward to hearing
about this because in my landscape, I've had people stop
by and in the last week or two each has
pointed out the Kodiak orange dear villa and how beautiful
it's getting. And it is. It's gorgeous in fault. But
Kodiak spiced.
Speaker 2: Yes, this one is going to be new in garden
centers in this coming spring in twenty twenty six. But
of course we do have a pretty robust line of
kodiak or villa's already a Kodiak orange. Like you said,
we got Kodiak red and Deurvillas are a plant, a shrub.
They're native to North America. There you can find them
throughout Michigan and most of the eastern half of the
United States. And you know, to me, they are just
one of those plants that's just a little workhorse, right.
They don't attract a ton of attention. You're not like, whoa,
oh my gosh, what is that. But they're always doing
what they're supposed to do without really any fussing. You know.
Speaker 1: It's interesting. My son in law stopped by the other
day and he's sitting on the deck and he pointed
at them, and he said, I never noticed those before,
but those are gorgeous.
Speaker 2: Because they're getting fall color right now.
Speaker 1: But you know, it's just there's such a workhorse in
the landscape, but when you get into fall, people take
notice definitely.
Speaker 2: And so Kodiak spice earns its name because it's got
all of those spicy vibes that we get right now,
the pumpkin spice, the pumpkin pie. So it has kind
of that warm orange, dark orange, cozy kind of color,
particularly in the new growth. As the new growth starts
to mature through the growing season, it turns kind of
a really nice chartruse, but it continues to get those
warm tones in the new growth. And then of course, yeah,
all of the darvilla have great fall color, whether they
actually change color or it's just a matter of them
kind of keeping the color that they have, but changing
sort of the vibrancy of it. It just gets a
lot brighter.
Speaker 1: It's like butternut squash soup for the eyes.
Speaker 2: That's a very good way to put it. Feels I
like that it's a little too long for a plant name,
but it is a good one. So they do get flowers.
They're going to be flowering, you know, mostly in July
and August. They get small yellow flowers that native bumblebees
just absolutely love. So that's a good thing because those
are our native bees, not the honey bees, and it's
our native bees that really need our help and support.
So this is a great choice. And it's just kind
of like a nice rounded, three to four foot tall
and wide orange, warm spice kind of plant. So whether
you want to put something like a low hedge, if
you're just looking for a foundation planting, if you're looking
for something to add to a perennial or flower garden,
this plant can do it. It can be trimmed. You
cannot trim it. There's really like kind of no wrong answers.
I feel like when it comes to durvilla.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I started growing them in my landscape a few
years ago. Because I was told how great they are,
and I was like, well, we'll see they've lived up
to their billing.
Speaker 2: I'm glad you're I'm read. I'm glad to hear that
now they are. They have a good heartiness range, hardy
down to USDA Zone three, heat tolerant through about USDA
Zone eight, So that definitely covers a lot of our
listenership out there. As for deer resistance, I would give
them a B minus. I think about a B minus,
which is to say they're not going to cause major damage.
They're not going to leave you with sad nubs. But
I have found that they do like to eat, especially
the tips the new growth in spring, especially like very
early in the season when food is really scarce and
they're really really hungry. I usually find that by the
time summer rolls around, they're not really eating enough to
interfere with a flowering at all. So it's something that
they'll eat, but they won't severely damage. And a lot
of times when you're looking for deer resistant plants, it's
that Okay, it might be damaged, but is it going
to be severely damaged? Is it actually going to cause
a hole or a liability in my lane landscape because
the deer ate it so badly. So kind of medium,
not the most resistant, but definitely not one that's their
favorite where they're really going to cause a ton of damage.
And like I said, good flowering.
Speaker 1: And in the garden center, Stacey, when I talk to folks,
I tell them, if you want a plant that's a
native plant that really attracts pollinators, because that's been my experience.
You know, you mentioned that, but I just want to
support that and say the pollinators are all over that
plant in summer when it's blooming.
Speaker 2: They are, Yeah, they really really like it. And you know,
the flowers are just kind of a nice little bonus there.
The foliage under Villa two is really clean, and I
don't just mean that it is disease resistant. It is,
but there's something about the very tidy way that the
leaves are born on the stems that's just appealing. So
this isn't one of those plants where your neighbors are
going to be, you know, running over to ask you,
oh my gosh, what is that? Except for possibly in
the thall for those autumn vibes. But it's just a
good workhorse plant for any kind of basic landscaping that
you need to do, and I feel like so often
people are turning to other basics, you know, like barberry
or burning bush or something like that, where in many,
many cases, Durvilla is going to be a much more
environmentally friendly and a more visually interesting choice. So if
you're thinking about doing some landscaping or adding some new
plants and you want some great vibes all season, but
especially in the fall, consider Kodiak Spiced Durvilla. It will
be in garden centers next springing. If you need to
find a garden center near you, just visit Prooven Winners
Color Choice dot Com. It's all right there. We're gonna
take a little break. When we come back, we're opening
up the garden mail bags to stay tuned at Proven
Winners Color Choice Shrubs. We know that a better landscape
starts with a better shrub. Our team of experts tests
and evaluates all of our flowering shrubs and evergreens for
eight to ten years to ensure they outperform what's already
on the market. For easycare, reliable, beautiful shrubs to accentuate
your home and express your personal style, look for Proven
Winners shrubs in the distinctive white container at your local
garden center or learn more at proven Winner's Color Choice
dot com. Greetings gardening friends, and welcome back to the
Gardening Simplified Show, where it is our pleasure to help
you with your gardening questions, quandaries and conundrums, as well
as celebrations different SeaSound, but still something we're happy to
share with you. And if you have one of those,
you can reach out to us at help at Gardening
Simplified on air dot com, or just visit Gardening Simplified
on air dot com and use the contact form there
to write us and we will do what we can
to help you. And you know, I feel like gardening
questions kind of have like two like they have like
three seasons. Right Spring, Oh my gosh, everything like what happened?
Is should this be leaving out yet? What's going on? Summer?
Oh my gosh, everything's dying? It has leaf spot, you know,
freaking out about that. Come fall. It's you know, more
like what should I do going into winter.
Speaker 1: It's a good way of looking at it. I like that,
you know. For me spring, I've learned with people who
put a plant in the ground if it survives winter,
it's almost going like going to a fast food restaurant
and placing an order for some fries and you get
that bonus onion ring in the package. Right, it's coming up,
It's coming back. So yeah, yeah, right, those three different seasons.
I'm sorry, It's just that's how my mind was.
Speaker 2: You're hungry.
Speaker 1: I I am hungry.
Speaker 2: Uh And you know, Chance Surf, you have a gardening question.
Other people have the same question, and that is why
I picked Paul's question here for us to answer, because
Paul's question gets at a question that a lot of
people are about to be asking themselves.
Speaker 1: Stacey, I'm going to guess it's the number one question
you've been asked through the years.
Speaker 2: Is it one or another? Permutations of this question? Absolutely so,
Paul says, here are pictures of our hydrangs with no
flowers this year. As you can imagine, they are big
leaf hydranges hydrange of macrophylla. His question then, is when
do we trim them and how much? I have read
one third to one half in spring. But I need
the pros to help me. Now, as you here we go,
and as you have heard me say, if you've been
listening to this show for any length of time. When
it comes to pruning, and especially when it comes to
pruning hydranges, when in doubt, don't do not prune. And
so Paul and I've written him back personally to make
sure he does not prune these plants. Like I said,
they are big leaf hydrangeas. This is the kind with
a shiny, leathery leaves, and they should have the big, nice, round, pink,
purple or blue flowers. Right now, if you have that
type of hydrangea, whether or not it bloomed in your
yard this past summer, right this very minute, it is
making its flower buds for summer of twenty twenty six.
So that means that if you were to trim it
or cut it back or anything like that, you will
be removing the flower buds it has busily been making
for next year. So the answer is, if you have
big leaf hydrangeas, do not prune them. Don't prune them
by half, don't prune them by a third, put the
pruners down and walk away. And it's hard for people.
Speaker 1: Hard because whether it's late fall or it's spring, you
just have these sticks. Yeah, And if people feel the
need to do something.
Speaker 2: Well, that's just it. And you know, Paul said that, hey,
these hydrangeas didn't flower, well, there's a couple of flowers
on some of them, and I think that that kind
of makes people feel like they are compelled to do
something to intervene. They think that pruning is going to
fix the problem, when pruning is actually exacerbating the problem.
Speaker 1: But one of the problems here is that with panicle
hydranges a pruning actually helps, in my opinion, makes the
plant more beautiful, helps it bloom. So at the end
of the day, stacy, doesn't it come down to making
sure to determine whether it's a panicle or a big leaf.
Speaker 2: Hydrange Absolutely, So therein lies the confusion because people say, Okay,
how do I prune my hydrange is without realizing there
are these six different types of hydrangs in our gardens.
So it's not a question that you can answer with
one question. You have to have a follow up question,
and that is what type of hydrangea do you have?
So that's why when in doubt, don't If you do
know which type of hydrange you have, then you'll know
that yes, panicle and smooth hydrangees can and should be
pruned usually after their dormant in fall or in late
winter early spring. But again when in doubt, don't do anything,
because even those plants are not going to be negatively
affected from no pruning, whereas the types of hydranges that
bloom on old wood and shouldn't be pruned will very
much be negatively affected if you prune them. So you
can always send us a picture. Take a picture to
your local garden center. Look online, we've got our hydranges
Demystified intro info sheet that will help you with that. So, Paul,
no pruning, let your plants be and hopefully that will
put you in a better shape for next year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you nailed at Stacey, and you've done a lot
of work on helping demystify hydranges for people. And I'm
telling you, boots on the ground in the garden center,
I'll run into this with customers and I'll say to them,
what kind of hydrange do you have? And I get
the glassy eyed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, wait, there's types. Just solve I out.
Speaker 1: I just had hydrange true rights to us. I'm struggling
in my Zone six South Niagara garden would get reblooming
evergreen azaleas to thrive. Is they're my wife's favorite flower.
I must win the battle over this problem. After losing
all their leaves during our tough winter, they hardly flowered
in spring, have not rebloomed at all. Some of them
are also suffering with yellow leaves. Is this a nutritional deficiency?
Drew says, What am I doing?
Speaker 2: Well, you know, Drew, there are a lot of people
in USDA Zone six and colder who would dearly love
to be able to grow reblooming evergreen azaleas. Yes, and
I have to tell you, you know, Drew did include photos,
and yes, the plants are very chlorotic. But I have
to say I'm pretty impressed that you were even able
to get them as large as you have, because, you know,
the simple fact is, well, there's two simple facts here,
by and large evergreen reblooming azaleas. The genetics that go
into that plant to make them reblooming, they're just not
very cold tolerant. And believe me, breeders are working hard
on introducing more and more cold tolerance into these reblooming azaleas,
but it is a very long process because now they
have to kind of try to bring in cold you know,
hardier genetics to counteract the tenderness. Most reblooming azaleas are
not considered hardy and only to USDA Zone seven. Only
recently are there newer ones that are hardy to zone six. Now,
stack on top of that the issue that not all
USDA's on six areas are the same. Now, certainly you
know you can have if you are in a kind
of coastal area like we are here in West Michigan,
you can do pretty okay, it's a milder Zone six.
But there are certainly inland zone six, like in say Kentucky, Missouri,
those kind of areas where you have the worst of
all worlds. You have really really hot summers and cold
not snowy winters. So it's very hard to say, okay,
this is heat, this is cold tolerant to zone six
and kind of address those huge differences within USDA Zone six.
So I will tell you my experience here with reblooming
evergreen azaleas in USDA Zone six B. They survive winter,
but you wish they hadn't because they come out looking
so crummy, especially if you have like those prolonged periods
of very cold weather, what snow melting on them, they
will survive. And the reason that your plant is not
flowering in spring is because the winter setback is so
severe it kills all of those spring buds because those
spring buds are on old wood, so those flower buds
would need to make it all the way through winter
intact in order to be able to bloom in spring.
So that kind of takes out your spring bloom. In
most cases, now you'd be thinking, Okay, well it can rebloom.
That's one of the reasons I'm growing this, except that
that winter setback was so severe that they don't even
have a chance to get on the vegetative growth that
they need from that winter setback to be able to
get to the stage where they're setting flower buds for
a rebloom. So in that case, Drew, it's not so
much that you're doing anything wrong. It's just that this
is a tough plant to grow in your conditions. If
you have a protected area kind of like up near
your house or in a little corner a microclimate, try
to take advantage of that. But I would say to
have reasonable expectations about what these plants can actually do
in your landscape, and you don't have to disappoint your wife,
because there are still lots of wonderful, hearty azaleas that
can grow perfectly well in your climate. They're not reblooming,
but they'll still give you, you know, a lot of that
good azalea life absolutely.
Speaker 1: Like you always say, Stacey, send your questions and conundrums,
and Drew has a conundrum.
Speaker 2: And yes, right, and he does. Drew, you do have
some iron induced chlorrosis on your plants or that's probably
pH induced. So a lot of everybody knows that rhododendrons
and azaleas need acidic soil. If they don't have acidic soil,
certain nutrients that they need are tied up, and one
of those is iron. So it's typically a good idea
if you are growing them in less than ideal pH
like anything kind of i'd say above like six so
neutral to even slightly acidic is usually not enough for them.
You're going to need to apply some sort of iron wrench.
And that's going to be true whether you're trying to
grow the evergreen reblooming ones or any other type of azalea.
So it's fine, you just kind of have to deal
with your pH. But mulch organic matter and moisture will help,
but I'd say a lot of rhododendron and azalea growers
they keep the iron close at hand because they use
a lot of it.
Speaker 1: Check the pH I agree, and let me mention that, again,
coming from the garden center industry, I believe the Espoma
Holy Tone is fab for azalea's and rhododendron.
Speaker 2: That's true, Yeah, definitely. I don't usually recommend it unless
you know your soil needs acidifying, but i'd say that
based on the condition of your azalea's, yours does. So
that's an easy way. Although I don't think that's available
in Canada, and I know Drew is in Canada, but
I'm sure you have something similar, so just check at
your local garden center. All right, So, thank y'all so
much for your questions. We're going to take a little break.
When we come back, we're picking up that conversation on squashes, pumpkins,
and gorge. So stay tuned. Thanks for listening to the
Gardening Simplified podcast, brought to you by proven winners Color
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trialed and tested by experts with your success in mind.
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Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified show. Let the Gourd
Times rule. I got to give you a quick joke here, Stacy.
See if this one works. What are jack o lanterns
afraid of the dark things that go pumpkin the night?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's cute. Thank you. Now, I wish I wouldn't
have used that. Throw that one away. Okay, So this
is interesting. Illinois is far and away America's pumpkin growing king.
By the numbers. They produce four hundred and eighty five
point one million pounds of pumpkins in twenty twenty four,
according to USDA data. So that's amazing. And much of
the state's output is used for the canned stuff that
you might buy for making pumpkin pie or bread.
Speaker 2: Well, I hear that's actually a Hubbard squash, not a pumpkin. Yeah,
so I know that blows a lot of people's mind
because in their head they're having a pumpkin pie and
it's that cute little pumpkin that's on your front porch
that became a pie. No, it's a Hubbard squash, which
is an absolutely glorious squash giant, so big, but not
what you have in your mind. So I would highly
resturmend that. But it's okay. What matters, does it taste good?
Speaker 1: So Illinois number one, Indiana comes in number two, Pennsylvania, California,
and then where we live, Michigan. So the climate, the
soil conditions, they kind of call it the Orange Belt,
makes it ideal for growing pumpkins. What I thought was
really interesting is this summer in August, we had a
gully washer rainstorm, and especially in Wisconsin across the lake,
they had flooding in the Milwaukee area, and they were
saying that in some of the pumpkin fields people who
grow pumpkins, the pumpkins were actually floated.
Speaker 2: Oh wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it had rained so hard. And I was reading
about a farmer there his son had recommended that in
the past that he grow rye grass, tall rye grass,
and he says it makes a straw mat for the
pumpkins to grow them, and he feels it helped save
their pumpkins this year. So I thought that that was
pretty interesting. Of course, storing pumpkins, pumpkins and winter squash
store best long term in a cool, dark airy location
about fifty to sixty degrees, but you want a relatively
coolish area. Reason I bring that up, Stacy, is that
soon we'll be packing away our summer flowering bulbs, digging
up our cannas, our allocations other plants. And a key
is dry and cool. You do not want to put
things into storage wet. You want it dry and cool
when we're storing all things horticultural so to speak.
Speaker 2: And you know the squash, So if you're growing it
yourself and you harvest it for storage, you should definitely
out in the sun to harden that to make sure
that shell gets nice and tough for you know, for storage.
You can't just like harvest it and need some time
to develop outside of the plant when it's no longer
getting that water, get that hard shell. And that's what
makes it so easy to keep long term.
Speaker 1: Agree winter squash. I also along the lines of this show,
thought I would look up Guinness Book of World Records
Minnesota horticulture teacher Travis Genger I believe is his name,
two seven and forty nine pound pumpkin Wow, which beat
the previous record by forty seven pounds. Now this was
a couple of years ago, but What I found interesting
about this and why I bring it up, is he
said that his pumpkin's gigantic size. It got to that
point because of the extra care and twelve watering a day.
He named the pumpkin Michael Jordan, actually Michael Gordon. But
here's the thing, care and feeding. To get to that
point and to get that record pumpkin, he spent fifteen
thousand dollars on the pumpkins care and feeding, oh my god,
according to the website, to get to that point. So
for you, while I'm gonna grow a world record giant pumpkin,
better think about what it takes to get to that point.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, you don't have to grow a world
record breaking pumpkins to still grow a really fun and
cool pumpkin. But I'm glad that you brought up the
giant pumpkins because of course, you know, the world Pumpkin
way off is October fourth, so that's coming soon. And
every year they seem to break the barrier. They get
bigger and bigger. Took a long time to break the
one ton barrier, but now that they do, it happens regularly.
But to grow any kind of large pumpkin, it's not
a matter of taking any old pumpkin and pumping it
full of water and fertilizer. You can only grow a
giant pumpkin from a giant pumpkin seed, not that the
seed is giant, it is a seed for a giant pumpkin.
So if you're into that, make sure that you're picking
something that can actually do what you want it to do.
And you know know that you are if you really
want it to get it as big as possible, you're
definitely in for a lot of work and TLC. But
it can be so fun. And you know when when
like the pumpkin that you just mentioned, you know that
guy will probably if he wins any kind of contest,
he'll make up his money in prize money, but he
will also make up his money in selling the seeds,
because you know, typically a single giant pumpkin seed over
the one ton mark can easily go for one hundred
dollars or more for a single seed. So Adrianna is
making some notes here retirement plan. So definitely you don't
need to go to that level, because you know, any
standard seed company will sell some really large pumpkins. But
it's all about what you're starting out with, you bet.
Speaker 1: Now. Of course, anybody who's grown Q kurbets in their yard,
whether it's cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, gords, whatever it may be.
I have found through the years folks who ask me
questions they struggle a little bit with the male and
female flowers and pollination and whether or not they should
use a brush or a Q tip and help the
process along. Don't worry if your winter squash only has
male or female flowers early in the season. That's usually
the case, and it's pretty common for young plants. And
what I have found through the years they see is
that as the plants grow and develop and they start
to take off, the ratio will even out as the
plant matures. But you know, I had a customer, a
lady who called and and said that she got only
female plants, and she was insisted she only got female plants,
and someone at the garden center told her she had
to come in and buy some males. And she thought
that was ridiculous. Now I said, yes, it is really.
So My point is there's a little bit of hand
holding early on in the sea.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you do need to be patient, and of course
if you are a giant pumpkin grower, you can't afford
to be patient because you need to get those things
going as soon as possible. But for most of us
who are just growing you know, squashes and gourds and
pumpkins to enjoy at home. Yeah, a single plant will
produce separate male and female flowers. You can tell the
difference because the female flowers will have the little pre
formed fruit at the base of the flower, so it
needs to get pollinated from the adjoining male flower. And
those plants, those flowers both need to be present at
the same time. They can be on different plants. That
works just fine, but you do need both. And yeah,
I find with at least with zucchini, which is the
main circubit that I've ever grown, I find that I
get a lot of male flow for the first couple,
you know, weeks, and it takes a while for the
female flowers to start appearing.
Speaker 1: But for some people that patience is difficult. So then
get out there with a Q tip. It's fun, of course,
many many different types and that's the point. Here's so
many different types of pumpkins, but so many different types
of gourds and squash and curcubita.
Speaker 2: Pepo or people curcubita people.
Speaker 1: I've heard it pronounced both ways. Yeah, it's a fun
one people, But that's your that. Those are your highly colorful,
ornamental type gords that we would always sell in the
garden center and are always fun for decorating. And then
if you want to really get into this, of course
you could get into the hard shell gords, the lufa gords. Right,
all of this, and again I have found stacy in
many cases. What it comes down to is getting the
right seed in spring.
Speaker 2: Definitely know what you want to grow and she's that,
and of course giving it enough space. And even if
you're not trying to grow a record breaking pumpkin or gored,
these are plants that are very hungry and thirsty.
Speaker 1: Exactly.
Speaker 2: You cannot pretty much fertilize them enough. You know, weekly
is probably fine for most of us, but they're really
going to need a lot of resources to be able
to produce. And the bigger the plant, the bigger the
fruit that it produces, the more it's going to need.
I've typically found that those with smaller fruits are going
to be a little bit less demanding, or at least
you just get something because you know, sure those little
pumpkins might be this big, but at least you're getting them.
Speaker 1: The bigger the pumpkin, the harder they fall, right, that's
how it works. And yeah, you're right, lots of sunlight
watering over the top can become a problem. So consider
all of those things if you're thinking of growing gourds
or pumpkins in your garden next year. But if you
have the space or you've got a great harbor, Stacey,
I encourage people to do it.
Speaker 2: It's so fun, and especially if you have kids or grandkids,
they're just going to go bananas to see that, so
it's worth it if you have a space. I don't.
I wish I did.
Speaker 1: All right, So that's it from the boardroom, all yours.
Speaker 2: I'm the chairman of the Gord and.
Speaker 1: Chairman of the Bard, so take it away.
Speaker 2: Well okay, So and our.
Speaker 1: Viewers and listeners, Adriana are going to be upset if
you edit this out, so I think you're gonna have
to leave it in.
Speaker 2: You're really getting the all right anyway, Thank you Rick
for all of that. That was amazing. Thank you Adriana,
and thanks so much to all of you for listening
and watching. We truly appreciate it, and if you have
a wonderful week ahead,