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Speaker 1: Coming to you from beautiful West Michigan and the gorgeous

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Lake Michigan shoreline. Here at Studio A proven winners Color

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Choice Shrubs, It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show with

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Stacy Hrvella me Rick Weisten, our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson.

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Well Stacy, Today, let's talk about perennials. Unlike their short

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lived counterparts, the annuals, perennials are typically cold, hardy plants

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that come back year after year, and perennial plants, arguably

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over the last ten twenty thirty years, have been extremely

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popular plants, and I think in part Stacy because you

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can dig them up and move them around your landscape

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like puzzle or chest pieces, and there's so many wonderful

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and fabulous cultivars we're going to talk about that.

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Speaker 2: You know, I love what you just said there, puzzle

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or chess pieces, because a puzzle is like random and

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abstract and you don't know what's happening, and chess is strategic.

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And I find that there are gardeners with both of

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those that is well so those approaches. So whether you

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are a puzzle piece perennial gardener or a chess, peace

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perennial gardener. We're all about perennials.

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Speaker 1: Today outstanding and of course perennials too. You can make

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new friends. Perennials are generally moved about, are shared via

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root divisions, at least most perennials that way, So you

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can head out into your landscape or your garden and

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split your plants. It's not embarrassing as a matter of fact,

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it'll entertain your neighbors and stay see your neighbors will benefit, unless,

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of course, you well are sharing with friends or enemies.

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If you have enemies. Of course, there's stories of people

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who have shared cuttings from let's say English ivy or

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Lily of the Valley or snow on the mountain and

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their friend has never forgotten about it.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I think we had one of those people last

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summer that when they got the utunia the chameleon plants, yes,

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as a pass along plant. So yes, make sure if

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you're taking plants from a friend, they know what they're

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doing and you know what you're getting into you before

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you put that in the ground.

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Speaker 1: Fortunately, so many wonderful cultivars today and proven winters. Perennials

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just year after year gorgeous plants that you can enjoy

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in your yard and landscape. So the envelope please on

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National Plants of the Year Perennials twenty twenty five and Stacy,

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we're going to start off with a Brunera Jack of

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Diamond's heart leaf Brunera. It's Brunera macrophilla hardy and zones

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three through eight. And the great thing about this one

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is it has huge about ten inch leaves that overlap

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dramatically at the base. I love the over lapping leaves

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and I think that that's a big component. Also in

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the development of cultivars is branching and good branching with plants.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. It's a kind of thing that I

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think the average gardener may not really notice or when

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we say, like, oh, this perennial was developed for good branching,

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doesn't necessarily make a big difference. But if you were

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to grow that side by side with a plant that

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wasn't developed for that, you can definitely notice the difference.

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And you know Brunner. I say Brunner, you say Brunera.

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But most people know this plant from the famous old

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cult of our Jack Frost. So if you don't know

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what we're talking about. If you think Jack Frost, Brunner

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or Brunera, this is an improved, vastly improved version of

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Jack Frost, with much, much bigger leaves. And I noticed

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that one of the things they're also touting about it

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is that the leaves kind of curl, so you say

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the overlap, like at the heart, the apex of the heart,

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one of the leaves curls over the other. And this

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is great because it's a shade perennial. And you know,

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it's even better about it as a shade perennials. It

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is slug resistant, yes, because of the very deer resistant.

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But you know, a lot of people who garden in

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shade would, which I don't, so I don't really have

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a lot of empathy about that myself. But you know,

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slugs can be a huge issue in the shade. It's moist,

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it's cool, it's dark, and they love that condition. So

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of course, anyone who tries to grow hostas in the

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shade knows about the pain of slugs. And the great

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thing is, yeah, Brenara is not bothered by slugs because

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it is so kind of briskly.

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Speaker 1: Fantastic a slugfest well, and of course people would also

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argue with this plant. Yeah, great, the foliage and the

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veining in the foliage, but what about those beautiful baby

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blue flowers, those baby blue Forget Me Not tight blossoms.

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Speaker 2: Boy, that's attractive, right, And a lot of people do

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confuse Forget Me Not with Breneray. They are closely related,

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but they are not the same plant. Forget Me Not

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is usually a short livedaniel and it doesn't have the

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foliage impact that Brnera does. So if you love the

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flowers of Forget Me Not and you want something that's

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maybe not going to spread around and has a good

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foliage present your garden, Brunera is your absolute go to

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you play. Now, how do you have heartiness and heat

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tolerance on this? I don't know what it is? Your shoulder?

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Speaker 1: Yeah that's fine, that's good.

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Speaker 2: So like that's a huge range where people can grow it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so Brunnera, Brunera whatever, Just wait till we get

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to Nepeta. Up next envelope, Please hosta of the Year Shadowland,

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Miss America. Hosta majestic hosta that will capture your heart.

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Medium green, heart shaped leaves and white centers and light

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green streaking and near white flowers with a lavender pattern

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and Stacey. There's probably some folks out there who would

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say enough with the hostas already. I mean there's so many.

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Speaker 2: You know, hastas are kind of like a little mania

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unto themselves. Before many years there was like rose fanatics,

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camellia fanatics, all these people who were really really into

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your daylilies. And now i'd say over the past twenty

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years there is become a whole new genus or group

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of people hosta fanatics. People absolutely love them. And I

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think for people like me who are hosta spectators because

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again I don't have shade and I have deer, so

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I can't grow. Now, I am not a host to participant.

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I'm a spectator. You know. I can appreciate them in

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other people's gardens, but I'd say for the average you know,

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garden viewer, they start to look very similar. You kind

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of say, I don't really notice that much of a difference,

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whereas the hosta enthusiast is gonna, you know, go on

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and on about all those little difference. But there is something.

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First of all, I do love when it comes to hostas.

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I do prefer the type like miss America here where

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the margins are green and go to white in the

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center over the type with the white edge and the

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green center. So I do love that. But what's actually

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really special about this plant, and you really have to

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see this, of course we'll have pictures in the YouTube

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version as well on Instagram and on our show notes

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at Gardening Simplified on air dot com. Is the flowers. Yes, now,

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the flowers on this I believe the description on the

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proven Winter's website said chin height, but that of course

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depends on how tall you are. But you have to

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look at these pictures because they are every bit as

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tall as like, you know, your average height of a

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woman about They get to be about five feet tall. Wow,

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and that is really cool. So the overall plant, you know,

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proven Winters has definitely had a tendency to get these

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giant size hostas, which I love. Those are fabulous like

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Empress Wu and the like. And Miss America is not

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in itself a huge hosta, but it has these flower scapes.

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They get to be about five feet tall.

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Speaker 1: And the flowers are important when it comes to hostas.

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There are some people who would just grow hosta for

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the foliage, but the blooms stacey are important for pollinators

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or hummingbirds.

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Speaker 2: The blooms are polarizing. I was thinking, I was wondering

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if there was like a way that we could do

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a survey because my mom hates hosta flowers. She goes

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and she knocks them out because she does not like them,

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or some people do. You see them as a major

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ornamental factor. So if you are the non hostile flower

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type and you're gonna grow Miss America, don't be so

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fast to just knock them out. You might actually like

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them when they're hovering five feet above the ground.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, take out those blossoms. How would Arnold Schwarzenegger

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put it? Hasta la vista baby?

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Speaker 2: I think that's probably what my mom says when she

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prunes him out.

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Speaker 1: I'll be by, okay, envelope please. We have to move

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on to the landscape Perennial of the Year. And I

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can see why it's the landscape perennial of the year

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because this is a perennial that behaves. It doesn't get

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all all kinds of rangey and that sort of thing

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cats me out. Nepeta. I think that this is a

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plant that I classify as an over achiever. It really

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checks the boxes. And we have to start with the

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fact that Stacy, when I hear people talk about a

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perennial like cats me out on Nepetta. I hear people

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saying Nepetta, Nepita, Nepeita, I just throw up my hands.

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Speaker 2: What about cat min catnans? Thank you, there's one we

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can all agree on. I say Nepada. But however, you know, again,

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the main point is that you walk out of the

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garden center with the plant that you want, So pronunciation

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is less important than spelling. But yeah, I mean nepita overall.

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You know, certainly out here on the lake shore, you

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go to the Grand Haven boardwalk, it's everywhere. It's blooming

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all along the boardwalk all summer long.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And it's just one of those plants that you know,

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when city managers and park planners can rely on something

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to look this good for this long and require that

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little maintenance, it's going to do the same for you

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in your house. But you do need full sun. This

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is definitely a full full sun plant. The other two

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or shade plants, the other two perennials of the year,

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but this one I would not do less than six

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hours of bright sun each.

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Speaker 1: Day, a uniform sun lover and attracts bees, hummingbirds, other pollinators,

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and resists deer and rabbits.

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Speaker 2: Doesn't attack cats, could you ask for Does it attract.

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Speaker 1: Cats well to a degree, but cats, you know they don't.

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They don't go nuts on the plant like they would

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with cat and it.

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Speaker 2: Right, so it's related but not the same things.

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Speaker 1: Yes, exactly. We're going to talk to Kayla Olsoen from

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Proven Winners in segment four. We'll talk about these award

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winners for twenty twenty five the plants of the Year.

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In addition new introductions you don't want to miss that

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that's coming up in segment four. Coming up next in

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Plants on Trial, we'll see what Stacy has on her

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mind here on the Gardening Simplified.

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Speaker 2: Ship, beautify your home and community with Proven Winner's Color

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Choice Shrubs with over three hundred and twenty five unique

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varieties to choose from. There's a flowering shrubber evergreen for

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every taste and every space. Just look for the distinctive

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white container your local garden center or learn more at

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Proven Winners color Choice dot Com. Greeting's Gardening Friends and

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Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where we're celebrating

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the twenty twenty five proven winters Perennials of the Year,

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not to be confused with the Perennial Plant Association Plant

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Perennial of the Year, which is a totally different plant.

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The plant for this year is Picgnanthemum muticumo. That's that

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is a mouthful also known as mountain mint. Probably not

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one of the best known perennials, but one of my favorites.

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It is a native perennial and a pollinator magnet. It

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is one of the plants in my yard that gets

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the most diversity of pollinators of anything that I grow.

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It blooms late in summer, so a great time when

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insects are starting to either migrate or go dormant, and

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it is known to be Pygnanthemum is a little bit rambunctious,

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but I managed to control it by keeping it very dry.

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Speaker 1: Is rambunctious a nice way of saying invasive.

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Speaker 2: I mean it's not invasive, like it's not going to

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self so and you know, make a pest of itself.

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It's relatively easy to manage, but it does form large

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colonies when it is happy.

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Speaker 1: And because it has mint.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it is a mint relative, but it looks like

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no other mint you've ever seen before. Looks very very different.

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But a great plant. Just if you are having trouble

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controlling it, just try to keep it drier if you can,

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and then you will find yourself in my shoes where

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you actually have to replace it every couple of years

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because the whole plant dies out because my soul is

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so dry. But it's worth it, you know.

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Speaker 1: It's a great point. Though perennials does not necessarily mean

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the plant is forever.

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Speaker 2: That's true. Yeah, and some plants are perennials, but you

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no longer have your original parent plant because it's run.

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And but this isn't as show about perennials. This is

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a show about shrubs and gardening. But I do have

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a lot of perennials, and I do love them. And

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like I was saying, when I first moved to my

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house near the lake shore, I had hostas and that

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did not last long and you know, beyond my first season.

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But you know, I was willing to water stuff because

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it was new. So between how dry and while drained

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my soil is I have very little shade, and of

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course the deer, I mean deer in hostas. It's like

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deer and day lilies. You just they love them. You

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just cannot grow them. But I still do appreciate them,

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and I like when I see them growing well, because

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they are very structural perennials sure, you know, compared some

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perennials are maybe not so structural, but hostas, you know,

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they just have this beautiful presence in the garden. And

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when I was a rooftop gardener in New York, the

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designer that I worked for just loved to use them.

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We used them so so much, and so that's kind

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of where I fell in love with them. And now

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I've given up. But I realized thinking about sort of

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the perennials of the year and how I could tie

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one of the perim winters shrubs to the perennials of

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the year, that you know, what they don't talk about

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a lot is pairing shrubs with hostas. And that could

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be because hosta growers just grow hostas. They don't have

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space for shrubs. They're so into their hostas that they

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never even bother to think about a perennial because all

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their space is taken up by hostas. But as much

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as hostas are beautiful plants in the summer, they totally

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disappear over winter. You know, a lot of the native

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perennials that I grow, they still have some nice structure.

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I mean, the plant parts that are above ground are

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dead and long gone, but I keep them so that

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birds can eat the seeds. With hostas, that first frost

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comes along and blam, oh they are gone, disappeared. They

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are completely disappeared. So nothing persists above ground with hostas.

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So if you are a hosta fanatic, that means you've

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got not a whole lot to look at all winter.

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And for that reason, I think that if you love hostas,

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it really is worth considering how to pair them with

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shrubs so you get some of that year round structure.

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Speaker 1: Great points.

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Speaker 2: And I thought long and hard about what would be

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a good shrub to pair with hostas, because I think

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that what makes a good pairing of any two or

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given plants or groups of plants is that they kind

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of you know, you can have that like shining moment

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where everything is just going gangbusters, or you compare things

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so that they kind of prop each other up at

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their lowest points and so I went with the ladder

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for this uh and today's plant on trial is spice

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baby viburnum. Love that plant, such a great plant. So

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this is a Korean spice viburnum, which some of our

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listeners may be familiar with. It is also known as

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Viburnum carlesii, and it it's primary characteristic of all Viburnum

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Carly's eyes is extremely fragrant flowers in spring. Now, I

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have to caution our listeners if you see a viburnum

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flowering in spring, do not just run up to it

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and stick your nose in it. Because some spring flowering

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viburnum now unique animally houndy cat pie. There's all sorts

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of different fragrance sense aroma's odors that they can have.

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But Viburnum carlysii is a fantastic fragrance. It's sweet, it's spicy,

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it's just it's really hard.

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Speaker 1: To explain it intoxicated.

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Speaker 2: It is intoxicating. And of course, since it's a shrub,

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plants are covered and have quite a few flowers. Now,

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what makes spice baby viburnum especially suitable here is that

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it is about half the size of conventional Korean spice

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viburnums or shorter. It reaches three and a half to

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five feet tall and wide, compared to more conventional varieties,

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which will easily get to be ten feet.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's moderate for viber yes.

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Speaker 2: Vivenums generally can get quite large. So the great thing

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about this when we're talking about pairing it with hostas

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or other shade perennials, is that three and a half

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to five feet is going to stay much more in

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scale with these lower growing perennials, So you're not going

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to have something that's like, you know, ten feet tall,

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and then you get these little two feet tall hostas

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all around it. So the scale works well. And now

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consider I just said this plant flowers in spring with

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really nice, fragrant, white pink flowers. And at the time

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when that happens, it's pretty early spring, the hostas will

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either not be up or will just barely be coming up,

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which is a beautiful thing. They are beautiful when they

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do that, But you really can't like pile on enough

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in spring, right, So even if your hostas are starting

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to emerge, spice baby viburnum is going to be just

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the right thing to kind of bring some more interest

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to that area of your garden, have the fragrance, have

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the color, and then as your hostess start to expand

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and come into their own later in the season, the

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spice baby viburnum is just going to kind of gracefully

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seed the stage to the hostas. It looks great all season.

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It has kind of a bluish green foliage with just

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like the lightest coating of kind of I don't know.

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I wouldn't call it fuzz necessarily, and I wouldn't call

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it hairs, but it's kind of like a fuzzy, hairy

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coming home to it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And it comes down to texture, Stacey. It's texture.

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And that's one of the things I love about hostas too,

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the foliage textures.

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Speaker 2: You know, that's a great point I didn't really think about,

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like this is a great texture plant to add to

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already a textural plant. Now, come fall. Many times hostas

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will go dormant, you know, early, especially if it was

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dry or conditions were less than ideal, or of course

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if there was a frost or you know, sometimes by

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the time you know, fall rolls around and your hosta

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is just sitting there looking relentlessly summary and you're like,

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all right, let's make with a fall color. Already the

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seasons have changed. Spice babef viburnum is going to light

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up with red and orange and yellow. Fall foliage usually

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mostly red, but it kind of takes that that thing

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we were talking about a few weeks ago, where it's

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more light in the center and darker on the outside

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of the plant. So it's really going to do that

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heavy lifting in spring when the hostas are just going

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and then bring back some great autumn seasonality in the fall,

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and then that when your hostas have gone completely dormant

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and disappeared and you're not even thinking about them. Since

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it is a shrub, it's going to offer that nice

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framework in that garden. And that's great for birds. I mean,

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you know, anyone who has a garden right now is

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noticing that their perennials aren't really doing all that much

359
00:19:17,519 --> 00:19:19,799
for the birds right now. But the shrubs, the trees,

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certainly perennials that persist above ground for winter, those are valuable,

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really valuable for birds right now. So this is really

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going to again kind of pick up the slack when

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your hostas are not doing their thing. The reason that

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you're growing up, I.

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Speaker 1: Think your concept here, Stacey is brilliant because perennials bloom

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for a season, and I'm not talking about a year.

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I'm talking about generally spring or summer or fall, and

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they bloom for just a certain period of time. So

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to have that backup support.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's fabulous and it's the kind of plant that

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I think when you look at the pictures either on

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our YouTube version or on our Strototick Gardening Simplified on

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air dot com, you'll see it just like hostas can

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just kind of nestle really nicely around the base in

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between the plants. So it's just a really friendly, nice

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accent to add to your garden. Now, I do have

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to give everyone one little word of caution about Korean

378
00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:22,000
spice viburnum. Like many viburnums, it is a rather slow

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growing plant. So this may be one of those plants

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it's going to cost a little bit more than other plants.

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But again that's because when you buy a shrub, you're

382
00:20:29,519 --> 00:20:32,039
buying time. You're buying the time that someone took to

383
00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:35,039
grow it and raise it into a larger plant. So

384
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you may have to make a little bit more of

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00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,119
an investment, but it's a very long lived plant. The

386
00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,960
fragrance more than makes it worth. It pretty durable in

387
00:20:43,039 --> 00:20:44,839
terms of where it will grow. It's hardy down to

388
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,039
USDA Zone four, heat tolerant through USDA Zone eight, so

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00:20:48,039 --> 00:20:50,960
that's a pretty good chunk of the US and Canada

390
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:54,400
where it can grow full sun to part shade. So

391
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I know a lot of people who have Hosta gardens

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are probably growing in relatively deep shade. It will still

393
00:21:00,079 --> 00:21:01,559
row in deep shade, but you're not gonna have as

394
00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:03,720
much flowers, and you're not gonna have as good a

395
00:21:03,759 --> 00:21:06,160
full color. But as long as you're getting some sort

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of filtered shade. Overall, we all know that viburnums are

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00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:12,599
good shrubs for the shade, and of course it is

398
00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:14,920
also very dear resistant. Not that that matters to you

399
00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:18,119
if you have hostas, but you know, always a nice

400
00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:20,720
little feature to have in your back pocket there, right,

401
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So Spice baby viburnum. It's going to be available at

402
00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:25,960
your local garden center this season. Do make sure you

403
00:21:26,039 --> 00:21:28,440
check it out on YouTube or on the show notes

404
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:30,480
at Gardening is simplified on air dot com, and decide

405
00:21:30,519 --> 00:21:32,799
if it's going to earn a spot in your garden.

406
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Hosta garden or not, We're gonna take a little break.

407
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When we come back, we're answering your garden questions, so

408
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:47,160
please stay tuned. At Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. We

409
00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:50,079
know that a better landscape starts with a better shrub.

410
00:21:50,279 --> 00:21:53,119
Our team of experts tests and evaluates all of our

411
00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,119
flowering shrubs and evergreens for eight to ten years to

412
00:21:56,279 --> 00:22:00,640
ensure they outperform what's already on the market. For easycare, liable,

413
00:22:00,759 --> 00:22:04,519
beautiful shrubs to accentuate your home and express your personal style,

414
00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:07,359
look for Proven Winners Shrubs in the distinctive white container

415
00:22:07,559 --> 00:22:10,000
at your local garden center, or learn more at Proven

416
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:16,039
Winner's Color Choice dot com. Greetings gardening friends, and welcome

417
00:22:16,079 --> 00:22:19,599
back to the Gardening Simplified Show. It may be January,

418
00:22:19,759 --> 00:22:22,720
it may be Michigan or whatever states you're in, but

419
00:22:22,759 --> 00:22:25,359
we're still answering your gardening questions because you know what

420
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,480
we wonder about the garden never really stops. Sometimes we're

421
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,039
just sitting at the kitchen window staring out there doing

422
00:22:32,079 --> 00:22:34,400
dishes and we remember, oh, yeah, I don't know when

423
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:36,000
to prune that, or I meant to do X y

424
00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:37,519
Z with that, and I don't know what to do.

425
00:22:37,599 --> 00:22:39,440
Speaker 1: Or Like we talked about at the end of twenty

426
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,440
twenty four, gardeners always have something to look forward.

427
00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:46,599
Speaker 2: That's so true, and so we invite you to send

428
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,319
us your gardening questions. You can just go to Gardening

429
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,880
Simplified on air dot com and write us there. You

430
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:54,799
can also even leave it as a comment on YouTube,

431
00:22:54,839 --> 00:22:57,319
and Adriana does pass those along to us as she

432
00:22:57,519 --> 00:22:59,839
is working through your comments, because we do read them,

433
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,759
and we really thank you for engaging with us over

434
00:23:02,799 --> 00:23:06,000
there on YouTube. It means a lot, and you know,

435
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,960
we're happy to get comments as well as questions. Absolutely,

436
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,599
because you know a lot of us are gardeners. We

437
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,880
don't have like a community of gardening friends or people

438
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:17,920
just don't really you know, don't get it and you

439
00:23:18,039 --> 00:23:20,720
just want to celebrate with like a like minded.

440
00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:25,400
Speaker 1: Person, Yeah, and just share some of those thoughts. For example,

441
00:23:25,799 --> 00:23:30,200
all of the people who say I say lilacs funny

442
00:23:31,079 --> 00:23:33,680
and they say lilacs beautiful.

443
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,720
Speaker 2: Yes, there was quite a debate that on the on

444
00:23:36,759 --> 00:23:38,440
the last YouTube I saw that, but.

445
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,319
Speaker 1: It seems like it's almost split fifty to fifty down

446
00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:41,720
the middle.

447
00:23:41,799 --> 00:23:46,759
Speaker 2: I don't know, I don't know. I say sirringa, I'll

448
00:23:46,799 --> 00:23:50,839
just steer clear of the whole debate and say, sirringa.

449
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:51,440
Speaker 1: I'm jumping right in the pool.

450
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:54,880
Speaker 2: But you know, we heard from a like minded gardener

451
00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:57,519
and this may be laugh I had to share it.

452
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:03,599
Our listener, Tim right with two lines. December twenty ninth,

453
00:24:03,799 --> 00:24:08,200
purchased tulip bulbs for three bucks. December thirtieth planted tulip

454
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:13,200
Bulb's smiley face. Love it, Tim, you know, and people

455
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:14,960
have heard us say over and over again, whenever you

456
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:16,759
get them and can get them in the ground is

457
00:24:16,839 --> 00:24:19,240
a fine time to do that. I don't think that

458
00:24:19,279 --> 00:24:22,279
Tim is probably in Michigan because I don't know that

459
00:24:22,319 --> 00:24:25,440
our soil was actually diggable on December thirtieth.

460
00:24:25,599 --> 00:24:29,160
Speaker 1: Oh it's diggable. I worked in the garden center industry

461
00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:33,480
for years, and I can recall times in late December

462
00:24:33,559 --> 00:24:36,079
early January where I'm out in the backyard with a

463
00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:39,359
pickaxe and a shovel and a flashlight, and I've got

464
00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:43,039
one of those warm caps over my face, you all

465
00:24:43,039 --> 00:24:45,559
the type people wear when they rob a bank.

466
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,279
Speaker 2: A ballaclov and yeah, there you go, gotcha.

467
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:51,359
Speaker 1: And you know, my neighbor drives up and is wondering

468
00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:54,319
what am I doing back there? I had that once

469
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,039
and four weeks later that neighbor moved. We never talked,

470
00:24:58,079 --> 00:25:00,119
so I think they wondered what I was doing.

471
00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,039
Speaker 2: They probably thought you were like burying treasure and they

472
00:25:03,079 --> 00:25:04,559
went back there and dug it up and they were like,

473
00:25:04,599 --> 00:25:05,480
what the heck is this?

474
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:11,799
Speaker 1: But is it doable? It's doable. You may need a pickaxe.

475
00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:13,880
Speaker 2: And you can always use contators. But no bulbs are

476
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,519
off the definitely off the shelves now until we get

477
00:25:16,519 --> 00:25:20,920
summertime bulbs. But thank you Tim for sharing your thoughts.

478
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,519
As obviously a like minded fellow gardener.

479
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,000
Speaker 1: Ea writes to us high, I'm new to gardening and

480
00:25:27,079 --> 00:25:31,960
really enjoy your podcast. I purchased two al Nino Chetalpa's

481
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,799
this past year. Am I saying that right? Stacy Chatalpa's.

482
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:36,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.

483
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,079
Speaker 1: After hearing about them on your podcast, they were amazed.

484
00:25:40,079 --> 00:25:44,640
See I'm I'm paranoid now about the lilac thing or lilac.

485
00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:46,160
Speaker 2: Well, you know what I'm saying. As long as you

486
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:47,920
walk out of the garden center with the right plant,

487
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:48,960
it's no big deal.

488
00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:51,400
Speaker 1: Thank you. And coming up in segment four, we'll talk

489
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:55,920
to Kayla Olson about napettas or nepitas or nepetas. All right,

490
00:25:56,319 --> 00:25:59,599
they were amazing performers in my garden. Unfortunately, this year

491
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:03,000
we had a hurricane in September ooh, and a cold

492
00:26:03,039 --> 00:26:06,720
snap not long afterwards, and they both lost all of

493
00:26:06,759 --> 00:26:09,480
their leaves. They're basically stick. Should I cut them back

494
00:26:09,519 --> 00:26:12,519
to the ground or leave them as in hopes that

495
00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:16,759
spring will revive them or did the double whammy take

496
00:26:16,799 --> 00:26:19,839
them out? And EA sent to photos.

497
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:21,640
Speaker 2: Also right, So I thought this was a great question

498
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:23,960
to answer because one of the things that I have

499
00:26:24,079 --> 00:26:27,119
seen over the years answering questions that people have written

500
00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:29,960
into proven winners is a lot of people who live

501
00:26:30,039 --> 00:26:32,720
in milder climates or warmer climates, and I'm assuming that

502
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:36,960
EA does since they had a hurricane. Usually those tend

503
00:26:37,039 --> 00:26:41,680
to be more affecting the milder climates. Is that a

504
00:26:41,759 --> 00:26:45,240
plant that is deciduous, in other words, that loses its

505
00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:50,160
leaves every year, will actually be deciduous across the board,

506
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,160
So it will lose its leaves even in a milder

507
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:57,599
climate like North Carolina or South Carolina or Georgia or Alabama.

508
00:26:58,079 --> 00:27:01,480
That's totally normal, and so it's nothing to worry about.

509
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:04,960
Your plants are totally fine. This is an extremely durable plant.

510
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,000
It doesn't surprise me that, of course, between the wind

511
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:09,759
of the hurricane and all of the rain and then

512
00:27:09,799 --> 00:27:12,440
the cold snap that it did drop its foliage. Now,

513
00:27:12,519 --> 00:27:15,640
what I found in my garden with al Nino, mine

514
00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:18,480
actually had green foliage on it until we got a

515
00:27:18,599 --> 00:27:21,000
very very hard frost after Thanksgiving. So it was kind

516
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:23,440
of weird because my garden was all dormant and here's

517
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:24,400
a Selnino just like.

518
00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:25,640
Speaker 1: La la la la la.

519
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:29,440
Speaker 2: Life is good, but it's not uncommon for it to

520
00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,440
lose its foliage in a milder climate earlier. So you

521
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:34,559
have nothing to worry about.

522
00:27:34,559 --> 00:27:34,799
Speaker 1: Ea.

523
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,680
Speaker 2: If you want to cut them back just to manage

524
00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,720
their height, you certainly can. What we find in colder

525
00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,359
climates like ours here in West Michigan with al Nino

526
00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:46,519
is that sometimes a very harsh winter will knock them

527
00:27:46,559 --> 00:27:48,160
back and they'll come back from the roots and still

528
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,640
go on to flower. But in a milder climate, this

529
00:27:50,759 --> 00:27:53,240
plant is going to get quite large, so I would

530
00:27:53,319 --> 00:27:55,680
not necessarily cut it back right now. Kind of see

531
00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:57,799
what it does, but then keep that in your back pocket.

532
00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:00,839
For future seasons because comes this thing is going to

533
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:02,519
be back with a vengeance. It's going to look great,

534
00:28:02,519 --> 00:28:04,440
It's going to bloom, and then you can decide if

535
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:06,359
you want to manage its height in the future.

536
00:28:06,799 --> 00:28:09,720
Speaker 1: Such a great plant. And Stacey, you inspired a lot

537
00:28:09,759 --> 00:28:15,880
of people, myself included, and Jennifer who writes from Zone

538
00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:21,599
six B outside of Boston about Kinsley's ghost. Such a

539
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:25,079
cool plant and the story that you shared on that

540
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:30,559
is is fabulous. And Jennifer is asking you, Stacy, about

541
00:28:30,599 --> 00:28:32,960
growing it up a dead maple tree. I think you

542
00:28:33,039 --> 00:28:35,720
mentioned we're going to do that. Yep, all right. Doing

543
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,160
it has the same question that I had to help

544
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:42,400
it climb, given that honeysuckles do not self cling, you know,

545
00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:44,039
how do we get this done right?

546
00:28:44,079 --> 00:28:46,759
Speaker 2: So she's basically saying like, hey, you're growing in on

547
00:28:46,839 --> 00:28:49,000
a dead maple that seems too big. Well, I guess

548
00:28:49,039 --> 00:28:51,559
I should have mentioned that my maple is small. My

549
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:55,119
dead maple is not an old, mature dead maple. It

550
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,000
is a small Norway maple that previous owners had planted.

551
00:28:59,079 --> 00:29:01,839
It was really close to our property line. I also

552
00:29:01,839 --> 00:29:04,799
don't particularly care for Norway maples because they don't do

553
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,640
that much, you know, in terms of contributing to wildlife

554
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:10,599
or beauty. They don't have good full color. They get

555
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,519
tons of tar spot. So we decided to take to

556
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:15,880
kill it by girdling it. We just took off the

557
00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:18,640
We actually cut a ridge into the base of the plant,

558
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,119
and now we use it for our birdhouse and you know,

559
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:24,400
birds perch, and it actually just had a Cooper's hawk

560
00:29:24,799 --> 00:29:27,519
perching in it last weekend, which is pretty amazing. So

561
00:29:27,759 --> 00:29:29,880
I would say the diameter of the maple that I'm

562
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:34,480
growing it on is maybe four to five inches, so

563
00:29:34,519 --> 00:29:37,519
it's certainly narrow, small enough, you know, like just like

564
00:29:37,519 --> 00:29:42,400
about this small enough for the honeysuckle to climb up

565
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,119
on its own. But now if you did want to

566
00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,440
grow it on a thicker plant, you can certainly make

567
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:52,519
some concessions. I've seen people do anything from you know,

568
00:29:52,559 --> 00:29:55,319
putting on screws and creating some sort of kind of trellis.

569
00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,279
Some people will just like lean a trellis fishing line.

570
00:29:58,279 --> 00:29:59,920
There's lots of things that you can do. But you

571
00:30:00,079 --> 00:30:02,839
are correct, Jennifer. It does not self clan. It does

572
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:05,440
need to twine around, but as long as you can

573
00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:09,359
provide something for it to do that, it will be

574
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:12,279
just fine and it will find its way around and

575
00:30:12,599 --> 00:30:16,400
become a beautiful specimen. So my apologies for the confusion there,

576
00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:18,640
but growing it around a small tree would be no

577
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:19,240
problem at all.

578
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:22,599
Speaker 1: You know, one thing I've often done is after Christmas,

579
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:26,960
I've taken the old Christmas tree the cut Christmas tree

580
00:30:27,319 --> 00:30:31,200
and moved it outside in my landscape. I've stuck them

581
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:34,279
in the ground with hopes that it would root and grow.

582
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:35,599
Never has happened.

583
00:30:35,839 --> 00:30:40,920
Speaker 2: That would be amazing. You'd have to be calling Ripley's

584
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:42,440
believe it or not if they're still around.

585
00:30:42,839 --> 00:30:45,160
Speaker 1: But essentially I do it for the birds in the

586
00:30:45,799 --> 00:30:49,039
winter time, providing cover as they dart back and forth

587
00:30:49,039 --> 00:30:52,720
from the bird feeder. Stacey and anyhow to make a

588
00:30:52,799 --> 00:30:56,720
lawn story short. What I do is I plant as

589
00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:00,359
the needles fall off, morning glories at the base. Cool.

590
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:02,319
Love that, So there you go.

591
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,440
Speaker 2: So Joni asks a great question, how do you care

592
00:31:05,519 --> 00:31:08,440
for a standard rose? I purchased a Julia Child standard

593
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:10,640
in the summer of twenty twenty four. How do I

594
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:12,279
keep it? Do I keep it staked? How do I

595
00:31:12,319 --> 00:31:14,880
trim it? When do I fertilize, et cetera. Now, Julia

596
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:19,400
Child is such a fabulous rose. Julia Child personally picked

597
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:22,440
it to be named for her. It's yellow, has the

598
00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:26,200
most gorgeous fragrance, it's very disease resistant, it is reblooming.

599
00:31:26,599 --> 00:31:30,359
It was kind of like the og disease resistant landscape rose,

600
00:31:30,359 --> 00:31:32,440
even though it's actually more of a hybrid tea. So

601
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:36,039
very jealous, beautiful plant and a standard rose. A standard

602
00:31:36,119 --> 00:31:39,000
is the technical term for a tree rose. So roses

603
00:31:39,079 --> 00:31:41,759
naturally are multi stem shrubs. They want to kind of grow.

604
00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:44,440
They sometimes have weak stems, sometimes have strong stems, depending

605
00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:48,839
on the species, and some growers will train them specifically

606
00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:51,680
to take on this tree form where they have almost

607
00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:53,839
like a trunk and then the canopy of the rose

608
00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:57,000
on top. Now that happens with hydrangeas too, but hydrangels

609
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,759
are much sturdier and much woodier and don't as much training,

610
00:32:00,799 --> 00:32:04,119
whereas a rose standard for the most part, for most

611
00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:07,119
of us in the US especially, are unlikely to be

612
00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:09,279
able to grow without a steak. Wouldn't you agree?

613
00:32:09,319 --> 00:32:09,880
Speaker 1: I would agree?

614
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I would say keep it staked, and whether

615
00:32:13,759 --> 00:32:15,920
or not the steak that the grower sends it with

616
00:32:16,079 --> 00:32:19,680
is sufficient for its long term sustainability, I can't say,

617
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:21,119
but it does. You're going to want to have it

618
00:32:21,519 --> 00:32:23,160
on a pretty good steak, and I think like a

619
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:26,319
one by one wooden steak is fine. If you just

620
00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:29,119
google standard roses or tree form roses, you'll see lots

621
00:32:29,119 --> 00:32:31,599
of different solutions out there. So this is a plan

622
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:33,759
that you do need to keep steaks, but not guy

623
00:32:33,799 --> 00:32:35,960
wired like a tree. Just you know, steak it next

624
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,400
to it and then prune it in spring like you

625
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:41,680
would any other rose, which is to say that you're

626
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:44,640
going to be looking at where those buds are starting

627
00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:46,519
to come out, and you're going to be cutting back

628
00:32:46,559 --> 00:32:50,440
to where there is a nice thick bud coming out.

629
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:52,759
Because the thicker the bud you come up, prune back

630
00:32:52,799 --> 00:32:56,039
to the thicker and more vigorous the growth that comes

631
00:32:56,039 --> 00:32:58,839
from it will be For roses. You know, you can

632
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:03,640
fertilize just once year in early spring with a rose fertilizer.

633
00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:06,000
Both Rick and I like Ispoma. Rose Tone is kind

634
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:09,400
of a general purpose rose and shrub fertilizer, but you

635
00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:12,680
can use whatever you have. You can also fertilize monthly

636
00:33:12,759 --> 00:33:15,359
through late July if you want to. It's not necessary.

637
00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:17,519
Once should be fine. You could also even do a

638
00:33:17,559 --> 00:33:20,039
second one in June just before it's about to bloom

639
00:33:20,039 --> 00:33:22,799
to give it that extra oof. But overall, yeah, your

640
00:33:22,839 --> 00:33:26,079
biggest challenges are going to be making sure that the canopy,

641
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,039
so to speak, stays in proportion with the trunk, and

642
00:33:29,039 --> 00:33:31,799
then that trunk stays nice and sturdy and staked, because

643
00:33:31,799 --> 00:33:35,160
if anything happens to that, you will lose your standard rose.

644
00:33:35,279 --> 00:33:38,240
And as with many plants that are grown as standards,

645
00:33:38,319 --> 00:33:40,119
it is a big investment. So you do need to

646
00:33:40,119 --> 00:33:43,720
be careful and preserve your investment, but enjoy what a

647
00:33:43,759 --> 00:33:47,680
fabulous choice mistakes are. Indeed, we're going to take a

648
00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:49,799
break and when we come back, we've got Kayla Olsen

649
00:33:49,799 --> 00:33:57,880
from proofo Wwinner's Perennials, so please stay tuned. Thanks for

650
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:00,640
listening to the Gardening Simplified Podcast, brought to you by

651
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:04,079
Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs

652
00:34:04,079 --> 00:34:06,880
and evergreens are trialed and tested by experts with your

653
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:12,440
success in mind. Learn more at Proven winnerscolor Choice dot com.

654
00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:16,800
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. Today in branching News,

655
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:21,960
we'll chat with Kayla Olsen with Proven Winners Perennials. Kayla Olsen,

656
00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:27,440
Proven Winners Perennials, Regional product manager for the Central US

657
00:34:27,559 --> 00:34:30,840
and Kayla, thanks for joining us on the Gardening Simplified Show.

658
00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:32,840
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me.

659
00:34:33,559 --> 00:34:35,719
Speaker 1: This is an exciting time of the year to look

660
00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:40,840
forward to Spring twenty twenty five, and in our first segment,

661
00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:45,320
we talked about the national Plants of the Year and

662
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:48,719
wanted to get a comment from you on these plants.

663
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:53,360
Let's start with Jack of Diamond's heartleaf brunera. What's your

664
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:55,840
feelings on that plant? It's Perennial of the year.

665
00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:01,000
Speaker 3: You know, it is one of my favorite ground covers,

666
00:35:01,079 --> 00:35:03,880
and that's because it has such big leaves. I think

667
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,519
when we think of groundcovers, we always think of small

668
00:35:06,599 --> 00:35:10,519
textured plants, but this one really has quite a large presence.

669
00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:13,400
While the plant itself doesn't get more than you know,

670
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:18,960
sixteen inches tall, the plant leaves are what's really so

671
00:35:19,119 --> 00:35:23,280
interesting about this, with that scallop that kind of curl,

672
00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:25,239
so you get a ton of texture not only in

673
00:35:25,639 --> 00:35:28,639
the vein nation, but in the leaf itself.

674
00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:32,159
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful perennial of the year. How about Hosta

675
00:35:32,159 --> 00:35:37,599
of the Year, Shadowland Miss America hostile. What really strikes

676
00:35:37,639 --> 00:35:39,239
you about this hosta introduction?

677
00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,239
Speaker 3: You know, the Shadowland series is fantastic because there's such

678
00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:48,360
large plants, and typically, you know, we think of a

679
00:35:48,519 --> 00:35:51,400
large or a gigantic which is what a lot of

680
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,719
these are classified as as just kind of getting almost

681
00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:58,480
as big of a shrub as a shrub. This one,

682
00:35:58,519 --> 00:36:01,800
in particular, you don't get nineteen inches talls. You're saying,

683
00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:04,119
that's not a gigantic hosta, what are you talking about?

684
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,400
But really it's the spread of this plant getting about

685
00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:12,360
fifty five inches wide at its maturity, so it's lob wide.

686
00:36:13,159 --> 00:36:14,800
So if you're looking for something to really take up

687
00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:18,079
a lot of space and really brighten up a shady spot,

688
00:36:18,519 --> 00:36:22,519
this is a fantastic selection because you get that white vanation,

689
00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:24,960
but you also kind of have a multitude of colors

690
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:28,559
around the edge of that leaf, so you get quite

691
00:36:28,599 --> 00:36:31,360
a bit of tonal variation. And you also do get

692
00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:33,840
really pretty flowers with this one. I think people don't

693
00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:37,000
think apastas for flowers, but we do get some really

694
00:36:37,079 --> 00:36:42,599
large scapes that are lovely lavender color, and I've seen

695
00:36:42,599 --> 00:36:46,239
people actually start putting these in cut flowers. So there's

696
00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:49,840
more than just foliage attraction for this fantastic hoasta.

697
00:36:50,199 --> 00:36:54,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely an impact plant and then landscape Perennial of

698
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:57,119
the year. I can see why this one was chosen.

699
00:36:57,159 --> 00:37:00,360
It's a favorite of mine, cats meow, And I'm going

700
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:03,800
to ask you, Kayla, we were joking about this earlier.

701
00:37:04,719 --> 00:37:08,239
As far as your pronunciation is concerned, at least, I've

702
00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:13,159
heard it all nepeta, nepita, nepita, what do you say?

703
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:17,800
Speaker 3: I am kind of partial to nepata, but I've heard

704
00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:21,440
it all the ways as well, Tomato, tomato, whatever your

705
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:25,440
preferences for cat mins. I don't think we all know

706
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:27,360
what we're talking about, right, exactly.

707
00:37:27,079 --> 00:37:29,599
Speaker 1: Right, exactly? What do you love about cats me ow?

708
00:37:31,039 --> 00:37:33,119
Speaker 3: You know, I think we're all used to some of

709
00:37:33,159 --> 00:37:35,280
the older varieties that have been on the market for

710
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:39,440
a long time that kind of flap open and definitely

711
00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:42,599
need one or two or three haircuts throughout the year.

712
00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:46,199
This is one of those plants that you're really kind

713
00:37:46,199 --> 00:37:49,320
of taking it to that next generation where you still

714
00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:53,480
have that lovely habit. But we've got really beautiful spikes

715
00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:56,159
of sky blue flowers with a purple calyx, so you

716
00:37:56,199 --> 00:37:57,800
get a little bit of a two tone effect with

717
00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:02,639
that purple color, super long blooming. It branches really well,

718
00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:05,719
so it doesn't open up quite as bad, and so

719
00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:10,440
it keeps a really nice tidy habit, and so it's

720
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:14,679
a well behaved cat in the garden, and the pollinators

721
00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:17,519
love it and you'll love it as a gardener as well,

722
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,480
not having to give it so many haircuts to keep

723
00:38:20,519 --> 00:38:21,199
it looking good.

724
00:38:21,679 --> 00:38:24,639
Speaker 2: And from your perspective, is that what makes one of

725
00:38:24,679 --> 00:38:28,480
the proving winner's perennials suitable for the landscape Perennial of

726
00:38:28,519 --> 00:38:30,599
the year, this kind of low maintenance or is it

727
00:38:30,679 --> 00:38:33,760
that there are already plants that are widely used in

728
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,599
the landscape trade. What is the qualification there?

729
00:38:37,679 --> 00:38:40,320
Speaker 3: So for a landscape perennial the year, you definitely hit

730
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,199
on it. Not only does it have to have great

731
00:38:42,199 --> 00:38:46,840
garden performance, be low maintenance, especially for the commercial companies

732
00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:50,000
that are having to come back and touch bold plants regularly.

733
00:38:50,559 --> 00:38:53,920
But availability is really a big deal with this. A

734
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:55,440
lot of the time with our plants of the year,

735
00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:57,840
they have to be on the market for a certain

736
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:00,840
amount of time. They can't just be an new variety.

737
00:39:01,199 --> 00:39:03,320
But when it comes to the landscape perennial, of the year.

738
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:05,719
We absolutely want to make sure that that plant has

739
00:39:06,119 --> 00:39:09,719
readily available in the market for landscapers to get access to.

740
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:14,119
So it has to be available in large quantities from

741
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:17,920
a lot of different growers and wholesalers. So we really

742
00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:20,840
want to make sure that that plant is available in

743
00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:25,639
the supply chain when designers are looking for it, they

744
00:39:25,679 --> 00:39:29,719
can get access to it very easily. And then you

745
00:39:30,039 --> 00:39:33,079
also have that confidence that this has great performance and

746
00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:36,440
it's trustworthy. And these aren't just plants that we come

747
00:39:36,519 --> 00:39:40,599
up with. These are voted on by a number of

748
00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:44,159
industry professionals as well, so people who are active in

749
00:39:44,199 --> 00:39:46,960
the industry give an opportunity to say, yeah, we think

750
00:39:46,960 --> 00:39:49,079
that that is such a great plant, we'd like to

751
00:39:49,119 --> 00:39:50,840
give it a little extra special attention.

752
00:39:51,639 --> 00:39:56,639
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Kayla Olsen. Proven winners' perennials in this

753
00:39:56,760 --> 00:40:02,039
segment and Kayla beyond the perennial Plants of the Year,

754
00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:09,199
unbelievable the number of new exciting introductions. I mean, I've

755
00:40:09,199 --> 00:40:11,559
got to mention right off the top, both Stacey and

756
00:40:11,599 --> 00:40:14,679
I struggle with deer pressure and so I'm a big

757
00:40:14,719 --> 00:40:20,159
fan of aliums and I'm reading about this Bobblehead alium,

758
00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:25,960
where the description says much larger and more robust than serendipity.

759
00:40:26,079 --> 00:40:30,039
I love serendipity, So you got my attention there.

760
00:40:31,199 --> 00:40:35,239
Speaker 3: Well, we love serendipity as well. But you know, a

761
00:40:35,239 --> 00:40:37,119
lot of the aliums that we've seen in the market

762
00:40:37,159 --> 00:40:40,440
have been a little bit smaller and more moderate in size.

763
00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:44,159
Bobblehead is one of these varieties that's actually really large,

764
00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:47,559
and so for people that have been maybe struggling with

765
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:52,440
planting dailies because the deer just loved a munch on them,

766
00:40:53,159 --> 00:40:56,039
this is a great alternative in the same size as

767
00:40:56,039 --> 00:40:59,320
a daily. So we're talking thirty to thirty two inches

768
00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:03,800
tall the plant itself, not really including that flower scape,

769
00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:08,440
and so it's got some substance. The leaves are a

770
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:11,760
fantastic kind of strappy twist to them, so you get

771
00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:15,440
a little bit of texture. Still they're that pretty glaucous

772
00:41:15,599 --> 00:41:18,760
blue green. But I think one of the things that

773
00:41:19,039 --> 00:41:21,880
is fantastic about a large alium is that you also

774
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:25,000
get large flowers. And so when we say that these

775
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:27,559
flowers are about three three and a half inches, to

776
00:41:27,599 --> 00:41:30,159
give you a sense of scale, think about the size

777
00:41:30,159 --> 00:41:33,280
of a tennis ball. And so now you've got almost

778
00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:35,840
three foot wide plant. There are two foot wide plants

779
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:39,920
that's got all these tennis balls of lavender flowers on

780
00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:41,960
them that the deer and rabbits aren't gonna much on.

781
00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:47,239
Speaker 2: Twist my arm. I'm loving it. I'm definitely adding that one.

782
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:50,280
Speaker 3: This season was a little bit earlier than some of

783
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:53,000
the other varieties, and so you're going to see it

784
00:41:53,039 --> 00:41:55,480
in midsummer and those flowers are going to last for

785
00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:56,039
a long time.

786
00:41:56,800 --> 00:42:00,719
Speaker 1: Stacy's been talking about pairing perennials with flowers and shrubs,

787
00:42:00,719 --> 00:42:03,800
and Stacy, this one caught my eye. I don't know

788
00:42:03,840 --> 00:42:07,840
about you, but the living large a big sky salvia

789
00:42:08,239 --> 00:42:10,760
supersized perennial Salvia's.

790
00:42:10,679 --> 00:42:13,559
Speaker 2: I mean, I love big perennials. So again, twist my

791
00:42:13,679 --> 00:42:15,679
arm like you're speaking my language here.

792
00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:17,840
Speaker 1: What about that plant, Kayla.

793
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:21,960
Speaker 3: That is one of those hidden gems that I think

794
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:25,320
people have never seen at this type of salvia on

795
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,239
the market before. It's new to us, and we think

796
00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:31,159
that consumers are just going to be so excited about

797
00:42:31,159 --> 00:42:33,960
it because it does give you almost the shrub like

798
00:42:34,079 --> 00:42:39,039
size perennial. So much of the breeding has been shrinking things,

799
00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:42,079
but this time we decided to go big or go home.

800
00:42:43,159 --> 00:42:47,559
And so this is a Pretensius type salvia, so everything

801
00:42:47,559 --> 00:42:52,559
about it is supersized. You get large strappy leaves, you

802
00:42:52,639 --> 00:42:56,320
get really tall flower scapes, and you also get really

803
00:42:56,880 --> 00:43:00,719
large individual flowers. So you get a lot of texture

804
00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:03,679
with this plant. And as it blooms, it just keeps

805
00:43:03,719 --> 00:43:06,880
working up the stem, adding more and more color, so

806
00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:09,840
you get a long season of bloom. Huge impact in

807
00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:10,360
the garden.

808
00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:14,039
Speaker 2: Now. I know a lot of people gardeners in colder

809
00:43:14,039 --> 00:43:16,599
climates like us here in Michigan here selvia, and they

810
00:43:16,599 --> 00:43:19,920
start to get, you know, maybe a little bit cautious

811
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:21,960
because we can We've all fallen in love with a

812
00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:25,519
tender selvia that we cannot grow. So what's the hardness

813
00:43:25,519 --> 00:43:26,960
on this one?

814
00:43:28,079 --> 00:43:30,559
Speaker 3: If you think that Michigan is a cold climate, I

815
00:43:30,599 --> 00:43:34,960
got news for you. Party up in Pull zone three.

816
00:43:35,559 --> 00:43:39,559
All of our friends up in Minnesota, the Dakotas in

817
00:43:39,639 --> 00:43:43,400
the Canada can also enjoy this plant. So it's super

818
00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:45,679
hardy in this soone that come back a year after

819
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:46,280
year for you.

820
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:52,360
Speaker 1: The fabulous summerrific hibiscus Stacey, both you and I enjoy

821
00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:54,239
them in our yards. I don't know, do you have

822
00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:56,719
cookies and cream? I see cookies and cream.

823
00:43:56,840 --> 00:43:59,039
Speaker 2: I do have cookies and cream. But the plants that

824
00:43:59,079 --> 00:44:01,280
I got were last year's sam so they're little. But

825
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:03,280
cookies and cream is a smaller one, right, Khila.

826
00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:06,559
Speaker 3: It is a small one. It is a nice little

827
00:44:06,559 --> 00:44:09,360
treat for you in the garden. I think that this

828
00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:12,400
one is probably going to be my favorite new perennial

829
00:44:12,480 --> 00:44:15,920
this year. A lot of people don't realize that partial

830
00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:19,440
hybiscus are natives the US, and they're used to them

831
00:44:19,480 --> 00:44:22,599
because being these giant plants that can kind of take

832
00:44:22,639 --> 00:44:26,039
over a space. This one is really fantastic because it

833
00:44:26,159 --> 00:44:30,880
really only gets about three feet wide and three feet tall,

834
00:44:31,199 --> 00:44:33,559
so it's a nice compact plant that can fit in

835
00:44:33,599 --> 00:44:38,639
a ton of different landscapes. And it really has fantastic foliage.

836
00:44:38,679 --> 00:44:42,079
So even when it's not blooming, you still get this

837
00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:48,239
great violet purple foliage. And then when it starts to bloom,

838
00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:51,559
it really shows you that display of pure white flowers.

839
00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:54,039
The flowers are super large, but they don't have that

840
00:44:54,159 --> 00:44:57,239
red eye that you typically get with a red foliage plant,

841
00:44:57,320 --> 00:44:59,960
and so it's a really big contrast and none.

842
00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:01,679
Speaker 2: Of them yellow. Because I know, some of the earlier

843
00:45:02,880 --> 00:45:06,440
whites did kind of have like a more yellowy ivory tone,

844
00:45:06,599 --> 00:45:10,079
and this one is a really nice crisp, pure white.

845
00:45:10,199 --> 00:45:12,039
Speaker 3: Crisp pure white. Yet you'll see a little bit of

846
00:45:12,159 --> 00:45:15,960
yellow on the anthers with a little bit of that pollen,

847
00:45:16,079 --> 00:45:18,599
but it's not enough to really make you see unless

848
00:45:18,599 --> 00:45:21,840
you're looking up close. This is a fantastic plant that

849
00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:25,280
I think is going to be super Popular's.

850
00:45:24,159 --> 00:45:28,920
Speaker 1: Talk about a few more of these wonderful introductions, Kyla.

851
00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:37,280
I'm looking at Kaleidoscope different cultivars there of hardy ice plant. Wow,

852
00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:41,719
I think that there's real interest in ice plant.

853
00:45:43,079 --> 00:45:46,320
Speaker 3: Well, it's such a fantastic ground cover that's super low

854
00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:50,920
growing at only about two to four inches tall. And

855
00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:53,480
I think people think of ice plant as a succulent

856
00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:57,239
and you can't grow it in cool climates, but that's

857
00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:01,559
not necessarily true. We've been relying heavily overwintering it in

858
00:46:01,599 --> 00:46:05,039
western Michigan in zone six, but we believe that it's

859
00:46:05,039 --> 00:46:07,360
actually a little bit hardier than that. We think into

860
00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:10,159
five B, especially if you've got really well drained soil,

861
00:46:11,079 --> 00:46:15,039
especially if it's sandy, it's going to do fantastic and

862
00:46:15,079 --> 00:46:17,000
so You got a lot of interest with this plant,

863
00:46:17,039 --> 00:46:20,159
aside from it really covering the ground with these thick

864
00:46:20,199 --> 00:46:23,400
waxy leaves. In the spring, when it's emerging, you get

865
00:46:23,480 --> 00:46:28,199
fantastic deep purple and burgundy colors. And then once it

866
00:46:28,239 --> 00:46:31,119
starts blooming throughout the season, it just kind of doesn't

867
00:46:31,239 --> 00:46:34,760
stop blooming unless it's a really cloudy day. I think

868
00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:38,960
most people don't understand that this plant is very photo sensitive.

869
00:46:39,039 --> 00:46:42,199
So when the sun comes out, those flowers open right up,

870
00:46:42,599 --> 00:46:44,760
and when the sun goes behind the cloud, they might

871
00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:46,920
close up a little bit. So they kind of like

872
00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:48,519
to play peekaboo with you throughout the day.

873
00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:52,320
Speaker 2: Oh, they keep things interesting. Yeah, But now the Cloudscope series,

874
00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:54,199
you have multiple colors in this right.

875
00:46:54,840 --> 00:46:58,199
Speaker 3: We do. There's four colors in the series, and so

876
00:46:58,239 --> 00:47:01,960
we've got Dancing Numbers, which is a reddish orange. There's

877
00:47:02,119 --> 00:47:06,360
Orchid Flash, which is a deep dark labnder pink. There's

878
00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:09,599
Pink Radiance, which has a light pink flower and it's

879
00:47:09,760 --> 00:47:11,719
kind of a rosy purple center. So you get it

880
00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:15,679
two tone effects. And my favorite is Razzle Dazzle, and

881
00:47:15,719 --> 00:47:19,480
that is because it's a bicolor. It's got raspberry red

882
00:47:19,519 --> 00:47:22,920
tips with a future purple eye, and then the anthers

883
00:47:22,920 --> 00:47:26,599
and stamens create kind of a creamy, whitish yellow center.

884
00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:29,559
So you've got three colors going on and it's just fantastic.

885
00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:33,239
Speaker 2: Well, I have them all in my new succulent garden

886
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:37,559
and I'm super excited to see them. I do have

887
00:47:37,639 --> 00:47:46,000
a problem with rabbits and my Dellas Burma. Any advice there, dear.

888
00:47:46,599 --> 00:47:48,039
Speaker 3: I feet that you don't like as much.

889
00:47:49,880 --> 00:47:53,039
Speaker 2: I know, I know, but I started with bigger plants,

890
00:47:53,039 --> 00:47:55,960
so I'm hopeful that at least some will survive enough

891
00:47:56,039 --> 00:47:59,039
that early spring onslaught when they're like, you know, so

892
00:47:59,199 --> 00:48:02,440
hungry for any little tender bit that's emerging. But I

893
00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:04,559
love Dellas Fermother. Just one of those plants that people

894
00:48:04,599 --> 00:48:08,039
see and they're like, you can grow this in Michigan, right.

895
00:48:08,159 --> 00:48:10,280
Speaker 3: And the nice thing about this series as well is

896
00:48:10,280 --> 00:48:13,280
that they're really vigorous. And one thing that some of

897
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:15,400
the older varieties have had is that they're a little

898
00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:18,119
slow growing and they kind of take their time to spread.

899
00:48:19,079 --> 00:48:23,320
These are not aggressive, but they definitely grow pretty quickly

900
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:26,880
for DLAs Birma, and so at about two years, you're

901
00:48:26,920 --> 00:48:30,320
going to see them get to about twenty four inches wide,

902
00:48:30,679 --> 00:48:34,880
and so they will continue to grow, but they will

903
00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:36,840
start taking up a little bit of space and moving

904
00:48:36,880 --> 00:48:39,039
in and around the rocks and other plants that you've

905
00:48:39,079 --> 00:48:42,599
got and continue that trail of color all summer.

906
00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:47,239
Speaker 1: With the interest in cut flower gardening and cutting flowers

907
00:48:47,280 --> 00:48:52,480
from your own garden, I'm keying in here, Kayla and Alstromeria.

908
00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:55,480
You know, this is a plant that in the garden

909
00:48:55,519 --> 00:48:59,079
center industry I always sold as a summer flowering bulb

910
00:49:00,159 --> 00:49:03,199
people used for cut flowers. Now here you have a

911
00:49:03,239 --> 00:49:08,239
series summer break, summer breeze, summer heat, and you're saying

912
00:49:08,280 --> 00:49:12,159
that it's trialed pretty well in Zone six trials.

913
00:49:13,199 --> 00:49:15,360
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is definitely one of those plants that has

914
00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:18,320
taken a really long time to gain some traction in

915
00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:22,199
the perennial market because it has been such a florist

916
00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:27,159
flower or treated as an annual bulb. But we're starting

917
00:49:27,159 --> 00:49:30,119
to get some genetics that are allowing us to overwinter

918
00:49:30,280 --> 00:49:33,400
up into zone six. Because this is kind of a

919
00:49:33,519 --> 00:49:37,519
tropical plant. It's also known as Peruvian lily, so it's

920
00:49:37,639 --> 00:49:41,199
neative to Peru. But now that we've got these great

921
00:49:41,800 --> 00:49:44,840
colors for the garden, the other big thing about getting

922
00:49:45,079 --> 00:49:47,079
a good garden plant was making sure that it had

923
00:49:47,119 --> 00:49:50,360
good foliage as well, and it created had a nice

924
00:49:50,400 --> 00:49:53,480
habit overall in the garden. Wasn't just a bunch of

925
00:49:53,519 --> 00:49:59,599
leggy stems. So aside from this fantastic bloom flower of

926
00:49:59,639 --> 00:50:02,119
these ants and the nice long stocks that you can

927
00:50:02,119 --> 00:50:05,159
still do cut flowers with, the foliage in the garden

928
00:50:05,199 --> 00:50:08,119
itself is great. I think Summer Breeze probably has the

929
00:50:08,159 --> 00:50:12,000
prettiest foliage because it's a lot darker. It's got some

930
00:50:12,079 --> 00:50:15,639
purple black tones, so it really contrasts with the flowers.

931
00:50:16,320 --> 00:50:17,079
Speaker 1: That's beautiful.

932
00:50:17,159 --> 00:50:19,840
Speaker 2: Now what Sorry, Rick, but I'm curious since I have

933
00:50:19,840 --> 00:50:23,079
not grown Elster Maria myself, it's hard for me to

934
00:50:23,199 --> 00:50:25,920
kind of envision or make that you know, visual transition

935
00:50:26,039 --> 00:50:28,440
from the cut stem that I'm used to to what

936
00:50:28,480 --> 00:50:30,639
the habit actually looks like in the garden. So can

937
00:50:30,639 --> 00:50:33,679
you kind of give us a visual picture of, you know,

938
00:50:33,760 --> 00:50:36,880
what it actually looks like, what a gardener can expect

939
00:50:36,880 --> 00:50:38,199
and how to use it in the garden.

940
00:50:39,320 --> 00:50:43,440
Speaker 3: Yeah. So they do get kind of tall, about thirty

941
00:50:43,440 --> 00:50:46,320
six to forty two inches tall, so about three feet

942
00:50:46,639 --> 00:50:48,840
and they also get about three feet wide. They form

943
00:50:48,880 --> 00:50:52,480
a really nice mound with a lot of color at

944
00:50:52,480 --> 00:50:55,440
the top of the plant, and you'll notice that the

945
00:50:55,559 --> 00:50:58,480
flowers there's multiple blooming on each stem at each time,

946
00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:01,320
with a bunch of bugs waiting in line to start

947
00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:04,400
blooming right afterwards, so it just keeps that color going.

948
00:51:04,840 --> 00:51:07,840
They're really good at self cleaning, so when one flower's done,

949
00:51:08,079 --> 00:51:10,599
it makes way for the rest, so you don't have

950
00:51:10,679 --> 00:51:12,599
to do a lot of dead heading. It'll do it

951
00:51:12,599 --> 00:51:16,320
by itself. But also because of this great mound, there's

952
00:51:16,440 --> 00:51:18,400
lots of stems coming out of the base of it.

953
00:51:18,840 --> 00:51:21,719
If you do decide to take a few for your bases,

954
00:51:22,199 --> 00:51:25,719
you're not going to harm the habit of the plant,

955
00:51:25,880 --> 00:51:29,000
so you can enjoy it both at your table and

956
00:51:29,079 --> 00:51:31,480
in your garden at the same time. And these do

957
00:51:31,599 --> 00:51:35,360
really really well in well drained soils. But we do

958
00:51:35,400 --> 00:51:37,880
recommend a little bit of winter protection, so if you

959
00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:41,440
could throw a few extra leaves, some extra cuttings on

960
00:51:41,519 --> 00:51:44,599
there to make some extra molts in the winter time,

961
00:51:44,719 --> 00:51:46,800
just especially if there isn't a lot of snow cover

962
00:51:46,880 --> 00:51:49,679
in your area throughout the winter when those temps really

963
00:51:49,679 --> 00:51:52,280
do dip, you'll get the best results from that.

964
00:51:53,760 --> 00:51:56,440
Speaker 1: Just a few moments left here, KYLEA. But wanted to

965
00:51:56,519 --> 00:52:00,280
ask you, being in the garden center industry for many years,

966
00:52:00,320 --> 00:52:03,519
at least from my personal perspective, I would say that

967
00:52:03,679 --> 00:52:10,400
campanulas as well as yarrow, I call it achillia. I

968
00:52:10,440 --> 00:52:12,320
don't know if you pronounce it that way or not.

969
00:52:12,639 --> 00:52:14,599
You say achille, I do I do?

970
00:52:14,679 --> 00:52:15,519
Speaker 3: I call it achillia?

971
00:52:15,639 --> 00:52:15,840
Speaker 2: Yeah?

972
00:52:16,480 --> 00:52:20,079
Speaker 1: Am I right that that there's real interest in new

973
00:52:20,159 --> 00:52:23,679
cultivars with both Campaniola and yarrow.

974
00:52:24,760 --> 00:52:28,039
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're definitely having a moment that they were kind

975
00:52:28,079 --> 00:52:31,639
of considered your grandma's plant for a while and there

976
00:52:31,760 --> 00:52:34,760
wasn't a lot of breeding work happening, and so some

977
00:52:34,840 --> 00:52:38,159
of the varieties on the market were getting a little sale.

978
00:52:39,199 --> 00:52:44,239
So in terms of the achillia, we do have a series.

979
00:52:44,280 --> 00:52:47,280
It's the Firefly series, and we've got a number of

980
00:52:47,280 --> 00:52:50,039
different colors in there. Most recently we just added a

981
00:52:50,159 --> 00:52:54,480
fusia and a red. And so not only are we

982
00:52:54,559 --> 00:52:58,079
kind of updating the habit of those plants, making sure

983
00:52:58,079 --> 00:53:01,280
that they've got really hearty stems, that they don't open up,

984
00:53:02,079 --> 00:53:03,920
that they're not a bully in the garden that just

985
00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:09,960
kind of aggressively propagates itself around so it stays where

986
00:53:09,960 --> 00:53:12,760
you planted it. We're also bringing some of those more

987
00:53:12,880 --> 00:53:16,880
intense colors to the garden, so it's not necessarily all

988
00:53:16,880 --> 00:53:19,320
the soft past cells. That you can get some fusha

989
00:53:19,360 --> 00:53:21,840
and some reds in there as well for some excitement.

990
00:53:22,719 --> 00:53:25,719
And when it comes to companila, there's quite a few

991
00:53:25,719 --> 00:53:30,559
different species that we're playing with. One of the series

992
00:53:30,639 --> 00:53:35,519
it is our bell series, and these are a Glomorada type,

993
00:53:36,199 --> 00:53:38,800
so they're an upright but they kind of have a

994
00:53:38,840 --> 00:53:43,000
really unique flower structure. They're clustered in a way that

995
00:53:43,079 --> 00:53:45,400
you maybe wouldn't know it was a bellflower unless you

996
00:53:45,400 --> 00:53:49,400
looked pretty closely at each individual flower. And so not

997
00:53:49,440 --> 00:53:51,920
only do we have a purple in that series, which

998
00:53:51,960 --> 00:53:55,079
is a really deep violet purple, but we also have

999
00:53:55,119 --> 00:53:58,119
a white and so they look really great together and

1000
00:53:58,159 --> 00:54:00,800
really contrast each other nicely. And then we also have

1001
00:54:00,880 --> 00:54:05,840
a series of Carpavoca types which are our mini Marvel series.

1002
00:54:05,880 --> 00:54:08,880
There's three colors in it, and these are the really

1003
00:54:08,920 --> 00:54:14,119
ground cover type companilas. That's fantastic along the edges of

1004
00:54:14,159 --> 00:54:17,039
your garden, kind of filling in those little spots in

1005
00:54:17,039 --> 00:54:21,440
between your taller plants and providing you summer long color

1006
00:54:21,920 --> 00:54:26,760
along your walkways with so many flowers that you almost

1007
00:54:26,800 --> 00:54:28,360
can't see the foliage at times.

1008
00:54:29,159 --> 00:54:32,800
Speaker 1: Beautiful Kayla, thanks for joining us on the Gardening Simplified Show.

1009
00:54:32,920 --> 00:54:35,639
Before I let you go, going to ask you an

1010
00:54:35,719 --> 00:54:38,480
unfair question. Do you have a favorite? So much to

1011
00:54:38,639 --> 00:54:42,000
look forward to in twenty twenty five? And if you don't,

1012
00:54:42,199 --> 00:54:44,960
then just tell me. No, Rick, I can't pick a favorite,

1013
00:54:45,000 --> 00:54:46,679
But do you have a favorite?

1014
00:54:47,360 --> 00:54:48,960
Speaker 3: You know I do and I have to say it's

1015
00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:51,880
cookies and cream. That plant just makes me so happy

1016
00:54:51,880 --> 00:54:53,079
every time I look at it.

1017
00:54:53,360 --> 00:54:58,760
Speaker 1: Oh, fantastic, fantastic, Kayla Olson proven winners Perennials, Kala, thanks

1018
00:54:58,800 --> 00:55:01,239
so much for joining us on the Simplified Show.

1019
00:55:02,239 --> 00:55:04,519
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me happy gardening.

1020
00:55:04,280 --> 00:55:05,159
Speaker 1: Happy Gardening.

1021
00:55:05,760 --> 00:55:08,400
Speaker 2: Well that was great. I am so hyped up for

1022
00:55:08,440 --> 00:55:10,800
this spring. I have a bunch of those perennials, which

1023
00:55:10,840 --> 00:55:13,159
is great, and I'm going to be adding a bunch.

1024
00:55:13,079 --> 00:55:15,519
Speaker 1: More so something to look forward.

1025
00:55:15,320 --> 00:55:18,119
Speaker 2: Absolutely still a couple months away, but you know, it's

1026
00:55:18,159 --> 00:55:20,440
all about the dream. So thanks so much te Kayla

1027
00:55:20,559 --> 00:55:23,440
for all of that time and great information. Thank you Rick,

1028
00:55:23,800 --> 00:55:25,840
thank you Aderana, and of course thanks to all of you.

1029
00:55:25,880 --> 00:55:28,079
For listening. We really appreciate your support and hope you

1030
00:55:28,079 --> 00:55:29,119
have a wonderful week ahead.