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Speaker 1: Coming to you from Studio A here at Proven Winters,

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Color Choice Shrubs. It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show

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with Stacy Hervella me, Rick Weist, and our engineer and

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producer Adrianna Robinson. Well, Stacy, I love today's topic. We're

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going to talk about lavender. Lavender smells like a spa

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day minus the cost. It's where calm meets color. People

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love lavender. It's also a very misunderstood plant. One of

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those plants that is a perennial but acts like a

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woody shrub. Similar to all the questions we get on

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puning bud Leah's a plant that's a woody shrub that

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acts like a perennial. And I guess I have to

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say Stacy, with all the cultivars. Also, no wonder people

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are confused.

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Speaker 2: Yes, lavender was one of my first big gardening mistakes.

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Oh and I have not made it since. But before

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we go into lavender, Rick, it's March first, it's meteorological spring.

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We change the background and it is depending on how

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you count it. And Rick definitely is in the meteorological

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going by the months rather than the equinoxes.

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Speaker 1: So happy spring, Happy Spring, boy, I've been looking forward

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to this. We're going to thaw out here in the

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north and enjoy spring for all it's worth. You know,

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lavender is one of those plants Stacey, that you should

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not prune in the fall or in winter. At least.

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My recommendation is, if you want to be successful with lavender,

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prune it in the spring, just as we're starting to

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see some growth.

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Speaker 2: Yes, that is the key. Let the plant tell you

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when and where to cut. And you know, lavender is

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a little bit like it is like buddleia. It's also

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a little bit like big leaf hydranges in that when

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you go out into the garden in spring to clean up,

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you look at this mess of sticks with their kind

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of wilted foliage and you go, oh, I couldn't possibly

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be nothing's going to come out of that that looks dead.

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And so you cut it back and there goes your lavendar.

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And that's what I did in my first garden. Okay,

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And the leavender did not come back because I cut

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it back to nothing. There were no buds left to

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come back. But you know, you have to. It's one

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of those plants you have to have a little faith,

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don't prune and as always went in doubt, don't prune.

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And this goes for lavender and spring or anything else

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in spring, just leave it and you can fix it

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later rather than pruning it, which you can't usually fix. Yeah,

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and then wait for that new growth to start to emerge,

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and then you know the plant's alive. It's showing you

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where on the stem it is alive, so you know

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exactly where to cut and uh yeah, so you kind

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of have to let the plants show you rather than

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impose your will on the plant.

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Speaker 1: Just like bud Leah because budd Leo will show you too.

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Speaker 2: Right, absolutely, same exact thing. Yeah, and you know they

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require the same conditions as well, So if you're successful

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with butterfly bush in your garden that they also need,

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you know, really well drained, soilful sun. Chances are you'll

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be successful with lavender. And if you're successful with lavender,

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then you will be successful with.

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Speaker 1: Butterfly bush exactly. Because the key here with lavender, if

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I cut to the chase, is that, first of all,

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I think everyone should have lavender in their yard. But

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if you're going to have lavender, you need to understand

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the different types of lavender. That are out there. And

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then secondly, I think the true key is soil that

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is well drained and a good sunny spot and pruning

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it at the right time of the year. And if

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you do those three things, you're going to be successful

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with lavender.

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Speaker 2: You know, we're lucky. We live in a great environment

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for growing lavender. And I have a ton of lavender

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in my garden. I'm putting even more in this year

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because it's going to be an inside border to my

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herb garden. Nice and it just thrives here. And you know,

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I don't really harvest it or use it for anything,

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but I love lavender. I love the way it looks

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in the garden. I love its silvery foliage. I love

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its fragrance. You know, my absolute favorite thing is weeding

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around lavender. Oh yeah, the best, just like you just

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get it. Being in the garden. Doesn't get much better

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than that. Just like working, as you know, enjoying it's

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one thing. But like if you're working, you're down there,

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the leaves are brushing your arms and it just smells amazing.

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I love that.

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Speaker 1: Like they say, lavender late than never, is that how

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it goes? Yeah, lavender late than never? But you're right.

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It's recommended, for example, to plant under bedroom windows. I

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have some lavender under the bedroom window on the west

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side of the house, so the breezes are predominantly from

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the west, the summertime breezes. And of course lavender is

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noted for its ability to calm nerves, anxiety, all of

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these good things. The reason they put it in sachets

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and and pot pourrie, et cetera, et cetera. Lavender has

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a great It.

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Speaker 2: Has a great reputation on mental well being, and of

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course in food it's a little more polarizing. Some people

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love it, some people not so much.

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Speaker 1: You know.

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Speaker 2: The other thing is pollinators love it. And that's one

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thing that I really really enjoy in the garden is

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when lavender is in bloom and it's just swarming with

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all sorts of bees and butterflies and the color just

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I love it.

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Speaker 1: It's fabulous. Quick limb a rick for you, because yes,

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I too, am inspired, Stacy. In my garden, it's a mainstay.

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It lines each and every walkway. Its presence makes me chill.

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My space is trank. Will Laughender your blues away? Did

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you see what I did? I did see that yeah, Laughender,

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I kind of like that one. Yeah. So it's important

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to understand the different types of lavender. Here in the North.

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Most people are using something we would call English lavender,

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which is confusing because it's really native to England. It's

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native to Mediterranean areas. But then you go beyond that

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and you look at some of the new hybrids, so

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there's a difference between lavender and Lavendin's Phenomenal is a

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great hybrid variety that you can grow in your landscape,

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gets very large, Stacey, as far as English lavender is concerned,

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I planted Sweet Romance in my yard. It's English lavender.

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So we're talking about the angustifolia lavenders, beautiful blooming not

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just on the terminal but a little ways down the stem,

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and very fragrant, very hardy, very tough.

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Speaker 2: Yes, that's what it's all about. It's a proven winners perennial.

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So it's a great choice. I grow both headcoat and Phenomenal. Okay,

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And you know, it's always interesting to me seeing them

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side by side in my garden because you really can't

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necessarily tell in the garden center, but seeing them side

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of my side in my garden I would describe it

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this way. The English lavender headcoat, which is probably one

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of the most popular varieties, certainly one that you'll find

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at your garden center. It looks English like. It has

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kind of a tidy, well behaved vibe to it. It

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stays very small. It just feels like a proper English garden,

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whereas the Phenomenal kind of has more of like a

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South of France wild kind of vibe, whereas the head

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coat is like kind of more like square, rectangular looking.

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I love how the Phenomenal just makes this big mound

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with this array of flowers coming out of it. So

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I actually use them both in my lavender border, and

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I so it's mostly comprised of hadcoat, but I put

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the Phenomenal at the corners so that looks kind of cool.

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And phenomenals also later it's a little bit later to

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bloom than had coats, so it's kind of like I've

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got this great season extender out there. I love them both.

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I would be hard pressed to pick one over the other.

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And I hope to add even more lavenders to my garden.

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But you know, as you say, not all lavender is

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very hardy, even for us here in zone six. A

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lot of them are zone eight or warmer.

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Speaker 1: And for people who are growing lavender just for the

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scent or growing it to use essential oils. Let's say,

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it's important to understand the difference between lavendin's and lavender,

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and so Stacey, Phenomenal, as you mentioned, would be a lavendin,

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and your English lavenders would be obviously lavender. And you're right,

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they almost seem more suited for a formal type garden,

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whereas Phenomenal or some of the English hybrids, so to speak,

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how can I best put it? They don't color within

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the lines.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I like that about them, and it's good to

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make them right. So you know, if you're confused about

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what we're talking about with lavendin, well, one thing you

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can do is just look at the heartiness on the

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plant tag, because the lavendons are the hardiest lavenders. And

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not only are they the hardiest, they're the most resilient.

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So if you're growing in a clay soil and you've

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typically had trouble trying to overwinter lavender, one of these lavendons,

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like Phenomenal or its sister plant Sensational, would probably be

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a better choice for you. Whereas the English lavender, lavendula

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and gustifolia. Just look at the tag there no X

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because the lavendons are Lavendula x EnterMedia. So if there's

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no X there, you know you've got a straight species

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like the English lavender exactly.

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Speaker 1: And with that English lavender again hot sunshine, well drained.

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I'm growing mine practically in beach sand.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I don't fertilize them. They do just fabulous. And Stacy,

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you're talking about the different types of lavender. Of course,

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we've talked about the English lavender. There is a French

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lavender it's Lavendula dentata, but it's only hardy to zone eight.

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I have tried growing wooly lavender in my yard and

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I've had some success doing it. But again that's a

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plant that is only to zone eight. I'm six A,

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six B, but I've had some success growing there. You

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have we talked, Yeah, I have, but it's hit and missed.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not pretty the English hybrids as we just

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talked about. And then you have Spanish lavender, which has

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these pineapple shaped type flowers.

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Speaker 2: With little buddy ears of petals on the top. I love, love,

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love Spanish lavender. My understanding is that is only hardy

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to USA Zone eight or so as well. It is

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so unfortunately not that's like my dream lavender because that

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one is one of the best ones for perfume and fragrance,

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and it just looks a little bit different. But you

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know what, again, I'll be grateful for what I can

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get here.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, all same here and when you're growing lavender, I

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feel like I'm trying to sell this to people, but

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I don't think I have to sell it. Lavender is

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much loved Stacey pess diseases or things like rabbits or

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deer generally non fat.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, they don't like as much as we like to smell.

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They mercifully do not. And yeah, they don't get any

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pester diseases except unless you give them root rot. And

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I think that's why we kind of do have to

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sell lavender to people, because so many people have loved

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it and had a bad experience, and so you kind

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of knew need to get back on the horse and

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try it again, because it's possible that if you didn't

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know this, you bought the wrong type of lavender for

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your soil, for your conditions. So you know now, especially

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with phenomenal and sensational on the market. I have heard

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great reports from even like farmland in Ohio clay country,

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open exposed areas that they have had great winter survival

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on phenomenal. So you know, times are always changing, the

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golden age of plant breeding, and they're even resolving the

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issues that make lavender unattainable for some people.

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Speaker 1: So you've done a lot of copywriting and descriptive writing

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on play ants over the course of your life, Stacey,

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and I wanted to ask you as far as lavender

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is concerned. At the outset, I mentioned that it's a

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perennial that kind of acts like a woody shrub. Would

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you be willing to classify something like that as a

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sub shrub?

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Speaker 2: That's exactly what I classified it.

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Speaker 1: Really, Why is that because.

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Speaker 2: It's only partly shrubby, like partly cloudy but partly shrubby.

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So a subshrub is defined as something that is woody

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at the base but herbaceous for the rest of the plant,

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and that's exactly what lavender is. So you know, the

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top bottom, you know, from the ground up like maybe

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five inches or so, are true wood shrubby, but all

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the growth that it puts on is herbaceous fantastic.

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Speaker 1: You know. I was at a trade show, a winter

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trade show, and someone was kind enough to give me

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Proven Winners Sweet Romance English lavender, and I took it

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and threw it in my shed because it gets very

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cold here in Michigan in the winter. Then I planted

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it in a hot, sunny area. That thing made it

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through winter, thrived, continues to thrive, blooms its head off,

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laughs at the deer and the rabbits, and provide so

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much joy and satisfaction. I just can't sing the praises

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of that plant enough.

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Speaker 2: I love it, love it.

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Speaker 1: Now. I'm interested in seeing how you're going to tie

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this in in plants on trial. That's coming up next

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here on the Gardening Simplified Ship.

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Speaker 2: Beautify your home and community with proven Winter's Color Choice Shrubs.

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With over three hundred and twenty five unique varieties to

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choose from. There's a flowering shrubber evergreen for every taste

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and every space. Just look for the distinctive white container

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00:13:48,639 --> 00:13:51,320
your local garden center or learn more at Proven Winter's

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Color Choice dot com. Greeting's Gardening friends and welcome back

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to the Gardening simplified show where we are celebrating spring.

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If you look out the window and the weather is

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not well, at least it feels like it's on the

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way now that it's March, even though March can be

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a little bit cruel in it's uh in the weather

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it serves out, you know, nice one day and really

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super crowdy the next, as they say, but you know

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it's here, and it does make it feel like it's closer,

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and I am. You know, all this talk about lavender

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has got me so so excited about my new RB garden.

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Now It's going to be a while till I can

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start on my new herb garden in my garden renovation,

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because I have so much other stuff to do before

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I can get to that. But in thinking about lavender

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and thinking about my herb garden, I was remembering so

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in my previous job, I worked for a garden magazine

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if you remember magazines from way back in the day,

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And one of the things that I did was I

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went around to see gardens all over the country and

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to find gardens to feature in the magazine. Obviously a

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pretty great gig if you can get it, and one

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of my absolute favorite gardens that I had ever seen

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was at this beautiful eighteen sixteen farmhouse in rural New Hampshire,

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and yeah, it was amazing. And the garden, you know,

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because this is like way back and goes back to

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like colonial times, it was not uncommon for people to

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have sort of small kitchen gardens very near to their home,

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so they would grow probably medicinal herbs, culinary herbs, yeah,

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some you know, different things that they could use in

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the household and in this garden, and keeping with that tradition,

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the gardener had created a small formal herb garden just

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outside the kitchen door there, and it was made up

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of four square beds, kind of raised beds surrounded by

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thick lumber, and it was all surrounded by flagstone. And

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that kind of gave it this really nice sort of

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push and pull of formality because you had the formality

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of these very rigid square and then the flagstone had

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some you know, different self sowers and stuff growing in

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And I've talked about it before. I love that look

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and what the gardener had done. So the beds are

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full of herbs, and in two of them she had

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planted lilac standards. Okay, So a standard, if you're not familiar,

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is basically a tree form that looks a lot like

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a lollipop y. So lilacs are naturally shrubby. There is

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a tree lock that tree liloc that's a totally separate species.

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We're not going there today. These are lilacs that have

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been trained by the grower to take on a tree

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like form. And so what this gardener did was she

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took those two tree or those two standard lilacs, and

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put them right in the center of two of the beds.

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And this is so memorable to me because it looked

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absolutely amazing. It accomplished several things. So it brought height

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to the herb garden because by and large, most herbs

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that were growing in our herb gardens are not particularly tall.

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There's stuff, certainly like a lavage matures that will get

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to be six feet tall. There's some herbs that get big,

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but mostly they're all kind of you know.

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Speaker 1: Little shows show exclamation.

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Speaker 2: Exclamation points, right, and they provided this exclamation point without

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providing shade, because of course herbs are sun loving plants,

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and so by having this very sort of small canopy,

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it didn't shade out the plants. Below it, and in

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my opinion, best of all, it also provided flowers and

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color at a time when the herbs weren't really doing

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all that much.

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Speaker 1: I can picture it in my mind, you can.

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Speaker 2: And then we're going to have a picture of the

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exact garden on our YouTube show show. So if you

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have not tuned into YouTube, you can check us out

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over there. Just search for Gardening Simplified. You will find us.

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Because yeah, this garden was actually featured in the magazine

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that I was working at back then. The trees that

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she had used were Miss Kim lilacs. Because this is

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many years ago, and now my choice is I think about,

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you know, sort of reinterpreting this in my garden. I

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would do this with bloomerang dark purple lilac, and that

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is today's plant on trial. I love that it's a

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great plant, and I'm picking Bloomerang dark purple for a

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couple of reasons. Number one, it's going to be somewhat similar.

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You're going to be able to find it in these

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tree forms because it's been around for quite a long time,

333
00:18:25,079 --> 00:18:28,400
so growers now know the formula for producing it in

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00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,839
this tree form shape, so it's pretty easy to find

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compared to any of our other lilacs. As a tree form,

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of course, it's very easy to find. As a shrub form,

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it's very disease resistant, so unlike other lilacs, you don't

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have to worry about like bacterial leaf spot and fungus

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and all those other things that a lot of other

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lilacs get. And it's reblooming.

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Speaker 1: So that's just so fabulous. I mean, back in the day,

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I loved Miss Kim lilac. We sold a lot of

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them in the garden center. But this is a great example, Stacey,

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of how things have progressed forward and you just have

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the choices are unreal.

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Speaker 2: Right, because why would you choose Miss Kim that only

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flowers once when you can have bloomemering dark purple which

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00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,079
is going to flower in late spring, but then continue

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to put out those flowers through the summer for just

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a little bit of extra interests and of course attracting

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pollinators and all of that. And the other reason that

352
00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:22,880
I think lilac is such a great choice for this

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00:19:23,039 --> 00:19:28,319
is because lilacs and herbs like similar conditions. They both

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want full sun and they both absolutely demand well drained soil.

355
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Now there is a divergence here a little bit, because

356
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bloomering dark purple lilac is hardy down to usdas on three,

357
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and a lot of the herbs that we're talking about,

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including lavender, are often only hardy to about zone four,

359
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and some lilacs only choose zone five. It really depends

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on your condition. Certainly, if you have very very well

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drained soil, you might be able to get away with

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growing lavender in USDA zone four. So there might be

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a little bit of a disconnected there. But I absolutely

364
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loved this combination, and I love Bloomering Dark Purple anyway,

365
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because it was the second in the Bloomerang series. So

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we introduced the original Bloomerang reblooming lilac way back in Gosh.

367
00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:18,440
I think it was like twenty ten or something like that,

368
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and it was a huge hit, and like everything else

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00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,640
in our program, you know, we continue to develop it

370
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and refine it and look for improvements, and so Bloomering

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Dark Purple was the next improvement, and it has completely

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overtaken the original Bloomerang. The dark purple comes in, it's

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primarily most visible when the plant is in bud okay.

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The flower buds are the dark part when they open,

375
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they're kind of more of a standard lilac color, but

376
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they really are very impressive when they are in bud

377
00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,160
and it blooms so much. It's just a very very vigorous,

378
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very easy to grow plant.

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Speaker 1: Stacey. Aside from the beautiful blooms, what I love about

380
00:20:55,839 --> 00:20:59,599
the plant is the foliage. The foliage is in my

381
00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,279
open so much better than what you would find on

382
00:21:02,319 --> 00:21:04,160
a typical vulgaris line.

383
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,119
Speaker 2: Right, So, Syringa Vulgaris, which is the common eyelac that

384
00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:09,039
everyone sort of you know, thinks of when they think

385
00:21:09,039 --> 00:21:13,240
about a lilac, has big, almost sort of heart shaped

386
00:21:13,319 --> 00:21:17,359
leaves and that provides a totally different texture than the

387
00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:20,599
bloomerang lilacs, which have a very fine texture small leaves.

388
00:21:21,599 --> 00:21:24,240
And I think it just works really really well, especially

389
00:21:24,319 --> 00:21:28,039
in that tree form compared to you know, a regular

390
00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,240
Syringa Vulgaris. You're not going to find in a tree

391
00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,440
form typically because they're just too big and vigorous.

392
00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:36,000
Speaker 1: And so is it fair to say that with the vulgaris,

393
00:21:36,599 --> 00:21:39,839
odds are you're prone to powdery mildew, but not with

394
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the bloomerang.

395
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Speaker 2: That is absolutely true. I have never seen a bloomerang

396
00:21:43,759 --> 00:21:46,240
in our trials with powdery mildew. It is a slightly

397
00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:50,000
different species. It is a hybrid, and one of the

398
00:21:50,079 --> 00:21:52,559
sacrifices that you make for that is that the flowers

399
00:21:52,559 --> 00:21:56,279
are still very fragrant, but they don't have the lilac smell,

400
00:21:57,319 --> 00:21:58,960
and I do miss that. But you know what, it's

401
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,200
not a like, you know, know, all or nothing kind

402
00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,319
of proposition. I do have regular traditional lilacs in my

403
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,440
garden as well, and then there's room for these, so

404
00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,279
you can kind of get the best of both worlds.

405
00:22:11,319 --> 00:22:13,240
So there is a little bit of a trade off there.

406
00:22:13,319 --> 00:22:15,000
But you know, it is so much nicer that they

407
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,680
do rebloom, that they resist disease. It makes them a

408
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:21,240
lot lower maintenance. And another great thing about combining them

409
00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:23,119
with herbs both you're resistant.

410
00:22:23,519 --> 00:22:23,920
Speaker 1: Yeah.

411
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Speaker 2: Wow, so you don't have to worry have these plants,

412
00:22:27,079 --> 00:22:28,920
and your herb garden can be like, you know, the

413
00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:30,559
one place where you don't have to worry about the

414
00:22:30,599 --> 00:22:33,440
deer messing up with your good life out there.

415
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,599
Speaker 1: I posted that in social media last weekend.

416
00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:39,160
Speaker 2: Oh I saw that. Yeah, that was very cute.

417
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a deer in the yard. And you can

418
00:22:42,559 --> 00:22:44,519
this time of the year, they're so hungry. You can

419
00:22:44,599 --> 00:22:46,799
just walk right up to them. They don't even flinch,

420
00:22:47,319 --> 00:22:49,680
you know, And I'm like, you know, the deer asked me,

421
00:22:50,079 --> 00:22:51,960
when are the tulips going to be in bloom? And

422
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:54,200
I'm like, please don't touch my high ranges.

423
00:22:55,799 --> 00:22:57,920
Speaker 2: Well, I have seen their tracks in the snow, so

424
00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:02,200
they are obviously they're busy looking, but hopefully they aren't

425
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:04,200
going to find too much in my garden, of course,

426
00:23:04,279 --> 00:23:07,799
until spring comes and everything starts coming out all tender

427
00:23:07,839 --> 00:23:11,279
and delicious. So, like I said, bloomering, dark purple lilock

428
00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:13,680
hardy to usdas on three. It's only heat tolerant through

429
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,680
about USDA zone seven. But I'll tell you, if you

430
00:23:16,759 --> 00:23:18,960
are one of our hot climate listeners and you're thinking,

431
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,680
oh shoot, I can't grow this, I'm jealous of you

432
00:23:21,759 --> 00:23:23,960
because if I lived in your warmer climate, you know,

433
00:23:24,079 --> 00:23:27,519
my choice would be a bay leaf topiary. Wouldn't that

434
00:23:27,519 --> 00:23:30,519
be amazing? Yeah, so you could grow that into that

435
00:23:30,559 --> 00:23:33,119
tree form because bay leafs are hardy two about USCA

436
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:37,519
zone eight. So you know, don't despair grow the bay

437
00:23:37,599 --> 00:23:40,240
leafs and know that I am very, very jealous of

438
00:23:40,279 --> 00:23:43,400
you and it still works in exactly the same way,

439
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,799
so there's something for all of us. So when it's

440
00:23:46,799 --> 00:23:48,920
not in a tree form, bloomering dark purple lilac is

441
00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:51,440
going to be about four to six feet tall and wide.

442
00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,960
So I just wanted to mention that because the treeform

443
00:23:55,039 --> 00:23:58,160
shrubs like bloomering dark purple as a standard do tend

444
00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,680
to be quite a bit more expensive because there's a

445
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,319
lot more time that goes into producing them, so they

446
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:05,240
are a little bit more of an investment than a

447
00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:07,839
shrub form. But if it's not in your budget or

448
00:24:07,839 --> 00:24:10,319
in your taste, I still think that bloomering dark purple

449
00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:14,319
makes a great choice as a hedge or specimen to

450
00:24:14,519 --> 00:24:16,759
combine in your herb garden for all of the same

451
00:24:16,799 --> 00:24:19,039
reasons that I just mentioned. So whichever way you find

452
00:24:19,039 --> 00:24:21,920
it or prefer it as a shrub or as a

453
00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:24,720
standard or small tree, it's going to be a great choice.

454
00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:26,200
It's going to go well with your garden, it's going

455
00:24:26,279 --> 00:24:28,680
to go well with your lavender, and it's going to

456
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:30,920
be a plant that you will treasure every spring when

457
00:24:31,039 --> 00:24:33,000
it does start to flower, and it will be in

458
00:24:33,039 --> 00:24:35,960
your garden center very soon, as we will all be

459
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,200
heading out there, So if you want more information, more details,

460
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,359
just visit Gardening Simplified on air dot com. You'll see

461
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,200
it in the show notes and get everything you need

462
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,160
to know to find a place for it in your garden.

463
00:24:48,279 --> 00:24:50,079
So we're going to take a little break. When we

464
00:24:50,079 --> 00:24:51,880
come back, we're opening up the garden mail bags, so

465
00:24:51,880 --> 00:25:01,920
please stay tune it At Proven Winner's Color Choice Shrubs,

466
00:25:02,039 --> 00:25:05,160
we know that a better landscape starts with a better shrub.

467
00:25:05,319 --> 00:25:08,200
Our team of experts tests and evaluates all of our

468
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,200
flowering shrubs and evergreens for eight to ten years to

469
00:25:11,319 --> 00:25:15,680
ensure they outperform what's already on the market. For easycare, reliable,

470
00:25:15,839 --> 00:25:19,559
beautiful shrubs to accentuate your home and express your personal style.

471
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,440
Look for Proven Winner's Shrubs in the distinctive white container

472
00:25:22,599 --> 00:25:25,079
at your local garden center or learn more at proven

473
00:25:25,079 --> 00:25:30,480
Winner's Color Choice dot com. Greeting's Gardening friends, and welcome

474
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,799
back to the Gardening Simplified Show. We're celebrating spring by

475
00:25:33,799 --> 00:25:37,279
talking about a summer blooming plant, lavender. But you know

476
00:25:37,319 --> 00:25:38,759
it's a good time to plant it in spring, and

477
00:25:38,799 --> 00:25:42,000
that's another tip for people who maybe haven't had much

478
00:25:42,039 --> 00:25:45,400
success with lavender in the past. Anytime that you're kind

479
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,680
of pushing a plant's hardiness zone or winter survival, the

480
00:25:48,799 --> 00:25:51,759
earlier you can plant it in spring, the better off

481
00:25:51,799 --> 00:25:54,160
you'll be because then it has more of an opportunity

482
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,119
to create a good root system before the challenges of

483
00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,279
you know, cold, wet fall and winter set in. So

484
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:02,640
put it on your plant list to get it in

485
00:26:02,839 --> 00:26:06,359
quickly in the spring and hopefully set yourself up for success.

486
00:26:06,559 --> 00:26:08,960
Speaker 1: And I know this segment is about our viewers and

487
00:26:09,079 --> 00:26:12,960
listeners questions, but quick question for you, Stacy. When I

488
00:26:13,039 --> 00:26:18,000
see I think it's called lo and Behold blue Chip junior, yep, yeap.

489
00:26:18,319 --> 00:26:21,200
Love that plant. And when it's along lined along a

490
00:26:21,279 --> 00:26:24,160
walkway that almost looks like lavender from a day, it.

491
00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:26,839
Speaker 2: Can very much look like lavender. And that was actually

492
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,480
my first thought for today's Plant on Trial, but I'd

493
00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,680
already done it. Okay, but that's a night. But you know,

494
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:34,880
the thing is, like, I can't really necessarily recommend it

495
00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,839
as an alternative to lavender, because I agree, if you

496
00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:41,279
can grow lo and Behold blue Chip junior buddleia, you

497
00:26:41,279 --> 00:26:44,000
can also grow lavender because as we've said, they definitely

498
00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:47,720
require similar conditions, and the butterfly bush is only hardy

499
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:49,839
to about usdas on five where you might be able

500
00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:52,279
to push it a little bit more with some lavender.

501
00:26:52,319 --> 00:26:55,640
But yeah, a great way to get that look different

502
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,480
fragrance yep, different bloom time, but still a great plant.

503
00:26:59,599 --> 00:27:03,839
So you know, we understand that not everyone has gardening

504
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,359
friends to celebrate their horticultural successes and triumphs with or

505
00:27:07,839 --> 00:27:12,680
commisserate on their horticultural conundrums. So we love hearing from you.

506
00:27:12,799 --> 00:27:15,279
And one of our listeners, Colin, wrote us he is

507
00:27:15,319 --> 00:27:20,279
in Central Florida Usdazo nine B, so probably plenty warm

508
00:27:20,319 --> 00:27:23,000
spring is well underway there, I would imagine, And he says,

509
00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:25,559
I wanted to share some winter cheer with you here

510
00:27:25,559 --> 00:27:28,559
in Central Florida. This year, we have a rare phenomenon.

511
00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:32,119
Two of the most distinctive flowering trees, pink and yellow

512
00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:36,160
tababuyahs or trumpet trees, are in full bloom. Usually the

513
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:38,480
pink ones bloom a month before the yellow ones, but

514
00:27:38,519 --> 00:27:42,240
this year their bloom times completely coincided. They are in

515
00:27:42,319 --> 00:27:45,599
the big non yac plant family and are outstanding trees

516
00:27:45,599 --> 00:27:47,880
for Florida. I hope these beautiful trees brighten up your

517
00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:50,319
winter gardening feed. And I've included a picture of my

518
00:27:50,319 --> 00:27:53,839
own garden as well, which is an adorable little Florida

519
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:57,440
cottage that I just kind of want to move right into. Sorry, Colin,

520
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:00,680
but it's just perfect. And yeah, I would love to

521
00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:02,920
be a Florida gardener one day. It sounds so fascinating.

522
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,759
Speaker 1: Well, Colin, a big thank you, very mulch to you.

523
00:28:05,839 --> 00:28:09,519
Those those pictures really warm to my heart. And that

524
00:28:09,839 --> 00:28:15,160
tree some people call it trumpet flower. I believe they

525
00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,839
call it trumpet flower, and you call it taba boo

526
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:28,880
ya tababoya like, but it is a Histeranthus tree, so

527
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:33,759
a tree that blooms before the foliage comes out, so

528
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:38,519
like red bud or magnolia, and trees notably do that

529
00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:43,960
because the flowers are more accessible to pollinators or wind

530
00:28:44,119 --> 00:28:49,039
pollination if they bloom before the leaves emerge. And so

531
00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:51,640
I love that. And I saw a number of those

532
00:28:52,359 --> 00:28:55,720
in Costa Rica this past year, but I was not

533
00:28:55,839 --> 00:28:59,079
there during the dry season, so they were not in bloom.

534
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:04,079
Real characteristic to that tree is that the trunk grows

535
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:08,319
in contorted shapes in the rainforest or when there's a

536
00:29:08,359 --> 00:29:12,599
lot of other plants around trying to reach for the sunlight.

537
00:29:12,839 --> 00:29:15,319
What a gorgeous, fabulous.

538
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,720
Speaker 2: Tree they are. I would love to be able to

539
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:18,480
grow these, and it's interesting he mentions that they are

540
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,480
in the Big noniac So if people tuned into our

541
00:29:21,519 --> 00:29:23,880
winter garden tour, I talked about our new dress to

542
00:29:24,039 --> 00:29:30,240
thrill crossvine, Big Nonia Caprioleta Capriolta. Yeah, which the whole

543
00:29:31,039 --> 00:29:35,160
plant family Big Nonisa is actually named for so and

544
00:29:35,279 --> 00:29:37,440
if you do grow the standard trumpet vine, it is

545
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,839
also in that same family, but not obviously a tree.

546
00:29:41,519 --> 00:29:44,000
It's interesting that these two did bloom at the same time.

547
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:49,079
I have seen that happen in certain places, namely Nantucket,

548
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:53,640
where things that normally do not bloom together in other

549
00:29:53,759 --> 00:29:57,279
climates bloom together. I'm not really sure what the explanation

550
00:29:57,359 --> 00:29:59,359
here is in Florida, but you know what, you got

551
00:29:59,359 --> 00:30:01,359
to take what you can get and it looks absolutely amazing.

552
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,599
So please do tune in on YouTube or our show

553
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,200
notes at Gardeningsimplified on air dot com to check out

554
00:30:07,279 --> 00:30:09,680
Collins photos. What else we got in the mailbag, And.

555
00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:12,119
Speaker 1: If you're proud of your garden or the way it's looking,

556
00:30:12,599 --> 00:30:15,079
send us a picture we'd love to see it. That's

557
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,119
I want to touch on this. Don wrote to us

558
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:24,599
weeping Alaskan cedar struggling and losing some of the lower branches.

559
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:26,960
So I took a look at the picture that was

560
00:30:27,039 --> 00:30:30,079
sent to us. Is it doing better after some fertile

561
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,960
It's doing better after some fertilization in recent years. But

562
00:30:34,079 --> 00:30:37,240
Don is asking us whether or not the naked bottom

563
00:30:37,359 --> 00:30:41,079
will fill in, or should I plant something in front

564
00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:44,599
of the cedar or rip it out and start over.

565
00:30:44,799 --> 00:30:48,440
So an Alaskan seedar and Stacy I took a look

566
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:50,759
at the picture. First of all, this is a plant

567
00:30:50,759 --> 00:30:51,920
that I absolutely love.

568
00:30:52,079 --> 00:30:52,680
Speaker 2: I love it too.

569
00:30:53,039 --> 00:30:57,440
Speaker 1: Secondly, one of our topics a few weeks ago was

570
00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:01,400
to move plants in the landscape. I'm going to suggest

571
00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:04,400
that Don Bust to move Oh wow, now that ain't

572
00:31:04,519 --> 00:31:08,920
gonna be difficult. This is a large tree. Yeah, and

573
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:11,880
if that were my home, I like where he put it.

574
00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,400
It's just too close to the house. I would move

575
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,839
it out away from the house. Suggests that. But I'm

576
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:21,799
going to suggest that Don Bust to move this. This

577
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:26,359
tree is so gorgeous. There there are spectacular specimens at

578
00:31:26,359 --> 00:31:32,000
the Morton Arboretum Michigan State University campus. And then of

579
00:31:32,039 --> 00:31:35,920
course I remember spending time in Oregon, where along the

580
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:40,279
Pacific coast and in the Northwest you see them everywhere,

581
00:31:40,359 --> 00:31:45,160
usually in wet areas, but just beautiful and being grown

582
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:49,480
in the nurseries there that are between Portland or Gresham,

583
00:31:49,759 --> 00:31:54,599
Oregon and Mount Hood. Stunning. They knock your socks off.

584
00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:58,079
So I want Don to keep this plant and maybe

585
00:31:58,119 --> 00:31:59,079
try to bust a move.

586
00:31:59,279 --> 00:32:03,000
Speaker 2: All right, that's a brave because it is a pretty

587
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:04,880
big plainton. We'll have pictures, of course in YouTube and

588
00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:08,000
at Gardening Simplified on air dot com. This is a

589
00:32:08,039 --> 00:32:10,880
great plant. Now, I don't necessarily feel like it's too

590
00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,079
close to the house because the interesting thing about these

591
00:32:13,119 --> 00:32:17,319
is that they do very often grow pretty flat, kind

592
00:32:17,319 --> 00:32:19,839
of like almost in two dimensions, like a piece of paper.

593
00:32:20,279 --> 00:32:23,440
So they're not one of these big spreading trees. They

594
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:26,720
have these sort of flat weeping branches, and people do

595
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:29,079
very often use them to fill in small spaces. And

596
00:32:29,119 --> 00:32:32,079
I love where Don put this because it's a perfect

597
00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:36,039
example of taking the cues from your house's architecture and

598
00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:38,519
determining where to put a plant. It put it writes

599
00:32:38,559 --> 00:32:40,839
back between some windows so it's just a perfect framing

600
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:43,920
of this plant. So you can certainly try to move

601
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:46,000
it if you would like. I definitely wouldn't get rid

602
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:48,039
of it, because I think it is beautiful, and obviously

603
00:32:48,119 --> 00:32:50,559
you've invested several years in it, because it is mostly

604
00:32:50,559 --> 00:32:54,119
looking pretty great. The red flag to me that stood

605
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:57,279
out here that is possibly accounting for the dieback that

606
00:32:57,319 --> 00:33:00,960
you've seen on is the steaks. So I don't know,

607
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:05,839
Don didn't mention when he planted this, but it looks

608
00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:07,920
to me like unless he did start with a quite

609
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:11,200
large tree, indeed, that it probably doesn't need those steaks

610
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:13,240
anymore and they could be girdling the plants.

611
00:33:13,279 --> 00:33:15,160
Speaker 1: Ooh, the steaks are high.

612
00:33:15,039 --> 00:33:18,440
Speaker 2: The stakes are high and not necessary anymore, and so

613
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:23,119
I wouldn't be surprised if it's possible that how whatever

614
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:25,640
the staking material was that goes around the trunk is

615
00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:28,519
starting to cut into that and that's what accounted for

616
00:33:28,599 --> 00:33:32,759
that branch loss down below. Whether you want to plant

617
00:33:32,799 --> 00:33:34,400
something in front of it to kind of cover up

618
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,079
the bare bottom, that is up to you. Don I

619
00:33:37,079 --> 00:33:38,920
think it looks great just as it is. I would

620
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:41,359
just continue the TLC and I think that it will

621
00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:44,920
eventually be fine, but do check that steaking, and I

622
00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:48,680
think it can probably be removed entirely. If it's already

623
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:52,400
included into the bark, then I would definitely just cut it,

624
00:33:52,559 --> 00:33:54,200
make sure it doesn't get any worse, and just keep

625
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:54,799
an eye on it.

626
00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:58,200
Speaker 1: That's a great catch. You're right, And as far as

627
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:02,279
his question is concerned, the branches replacing themselves on the

628
00:34:02,319 --> 00:34:05,119
lower part of the plant, possibly, but it's going to

629
00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:06,119
take a long time.

630
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:06,160
Speaker 3: You know.

631
00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:10,039
Speaker 2: The biggest issue with that is typically as the plant

632
00:34:10,039 --> 00:34:13,760
has matured, it starts to shade out its own lower branches,

633
00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:15,920
and so that's why you don't often see, for example,

634
00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:18,679
a white pine that's branched all the way to the ground,

635
00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:23,280
because if that is lost through damage or whatever, the

636
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,639
upper parts of the plant are so broad that they

637
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:27,679
shade out the bottom and it doesn't get enough sun

638
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:30,880
to actually recover. So whether or not o'll recover, I

639
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:33,079
don't know, but I think it's still beautiful, and I

640
00:34:33,079 --> 00:34:35,199
think if you just plant something sort of in front

641
00:34:35,199 --> 00:34:37,119
of it to take, you know, cover up that that

642
00:34:37,159 --> 00:34:40,119
bare trunk. If you don't like it, then you could

643
00:34:40,119 --> 00:34:42,280
certainly do that. You could also maybe even try a

644
00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:46,719
clematis up there to cover it. And you know, if

645
00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:49,719
you're into into crazy different plant.

646
00:34:49,519 --> 00:34:53,639
Speaker 1: Ideas, because I did that with a weeping blue spruce. Oh,

647
00:34:54,159 --> 00:34:56,800
I didn't want it in my yard, but it was

648
00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:59,880
a beautiful specimen. I didn't want the blue spruce and

649
00:35:00,079 --> 00:35:03,000
my yard, but it was in the dumpster. Somebody dumped it,

650
00:35:03,199 --> 00:35:05,800
dumped it. So I pulled it out of the dumpster,

651
00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:07,960
brought it back to life, and I have a clematis

652
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:08,880
that's growing through it.

653
00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:11,639
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like, you know, helping it out there, picking

654
00:35:11,679 --> 00:35:14,519
up the sluck. And you know, it's a great It's

655
00:35:14,559 --> 00:35:16,920
exactly what Klementists do in nature. So it's a very

656
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:22,199
natural kind of solution to that problem. If you're so inclined,

657
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:22,880
I call.

658
00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:24,599
Speaker 1: It divine intervention.

659
00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:28,320
Speaker 2: Do take a look at the picture of Don's landscape

660
00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:29,920
that we're going to have on YouTube or in our

661
00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:32,480
show notes, because I think he's made some great choices.

662
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,639
He clearly has a great love for conifers and a

663
00:35:35,679 --> 00:35:38,480
great eye for designing his landscape. So I'm really grateful

664
00:35:38,519 --> 00:35:40,800
that you sent that in, Don, and keep us posted

665
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:42,480
on the seater how it goes this season.

666
00:35:42,599 --> 00:35:43,400
Speaker 1: Good job done.

667
00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:46,159
Speaker 2: So that's all we have time for today. You know

668
00:35:46,199 --> 00:35:47,920
it is important to us to be able to answer

669
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:50,800
your gardening questions. So if you have an urgent gardening

670
00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:53,400
question and you need to get in answer, go ahead

671
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:54,760
and write us. We might be able to answer it

672
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:56,719
on air, but you can also reach us at Proven

673
00:35:56,719 --> 00:35:59,559
Winners color Choice dot com and get a personalized answer

674
00:35:59,639 --> 00:36:01,719
from one for horticulturists, you don't have to wait around

675
00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:04,639
because unfortunately we seem to always run out of time

676
00:36:04,679 --> 00:36:07,360
despite our best intentions. We're going to take a little

677
00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:08,840
break and when we come back, we have got a

678
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,519
special guest to talk more about using lavender, so please

679
00:36:11,519 --> 00:36:20,119
stay tuned. Thanks for listening to the Gardening Simplified Podcast,

680
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:22,960
brought to you by Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. Our

681
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,039
award winning flowering shrubs and evergreens are trialed and tested

682
00:36:26,079 --> 00:36:29,000
by experts with your success in mind. Learn more at

683
00:36:29,039 --> 00:36:32,639
Proven Winners color Choice dot com.

684
00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:36,239
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show today for branching

685
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:40,440
news and interview that we've been looking forward to. Prior

686
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:45,199
to that, just have to touch on a couple more questions, Stacey,

687
00:36:45,599 --> 00:36:49,400
I have received messages and emails from people I mentioned

688
00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:51,719
a week ago that I'm going to be at Plat

689
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:55,800
Hill in Chicago on March eighth. For people who are

690
00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:59,920
interested in my schedule, whether it's stand up comedy or

691
00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:02,639
for example, this weekend, the Home and Garden Show and

692
00:37:02,679 --> 00:37:05,679
Grand Rapids, you can find the schedule at thank You

693
00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:08,960
Very mulch dot com. I'm just gonna simply say that

694
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,320
we'll put the link there also on our website, so

695
00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:15,320
it's thank you very mulch dot com. You just click

696
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:19,199
on stand up and you'll be able to see the

697
00:37:19,239 --> 00:37:22,039
big comedy show coming up on March twenty six, or

698
00:37:22,079 --> 00:37:25,079
if I'm giving talks on gardening, it's all right there

699
00:37:25,119 --> 00:37:26,000
on the website.

700
00:37:26,199 --> 00:37:26,599
Speaker 3: Nice.

701
00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:30,599
Speaker 1: Yes, and we have a mystery that still needs to

702
00:37:30,599 --> 00:37:31,119
be solved.

703
00:37:31,159 --> 00:37:36,159
Speaker 2: Yes, we have sparked the internet's biggest newest mystery, apparently

704
00:37:36,199 --> 00:37:40,559
with our question from Stephen Mary last week about the

705
00:37:40,599 --> 00:37:44,559
mysterious sudden pruning of their crepe myrtle in a container.

706
00:37:44,639 --> 00:37:45,599
Speaker 1: People are into this.

707
00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:48,239
Speaker 2: Yes they are. I was not expecting that, but when

708
00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:50,440
I came in on Monday after the show it aired,

709
00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:52,719
there were a number of people who claim to be

710
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,880
very invested in the Stephen Mary crepe myrtle mystery. So

711
00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:58,440
I'm going to reach out to Stephen Mary. We're going

712
00:37:58,519 --> 00:38:00,719
to see what they think about our answer and some

713
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:03,239
of the other theories that were put out there on YouTube,

714
00:38:03,239 --> 00:38:05,920
and see if we can't get some closure here.

715
00:38:06,199 --> 00:38:10,159
Speaker 1: I love that the Steve and Mary Craipe myrtle mystery.

716
00:38:10,519 --> 00:38:14,159
Who done it? I love it all right. Tying in

717
00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:17,519
with our lavender talk today, this is going to be fun.

718
00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:23,039
A chance again to talk to Lisa Rose. Lisa's an herbalist, forager,

719
00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:29,480
urban farmer, writer, background in anthropology, and a professional focus

720
00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:34,000
on community health, food farming, wild plant knowledge. I could

721
00:38:34,079 --> 00:38:38,400
go on and on, and her books are much loved. Lisa,

722
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:41,480
thanks for joining us again on the Gardening Simplified Show.

723
00:38:42,559 --> 00:38:44,760
Speaker 3: Thank you very much for having me. And it seems

724
00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:47,320
like we've got a respectable plant to talk about this

725
00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:51,840
time instead of one of my dastardly favorite weeds. Lovely lavender.

726
00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:56,199
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're right. Usually we're talking stinging nettle or something

727
00:38:56,320 --> 00:39:01,000
like that, but we're talking lavender. Lisa, Do you like lavender?

728
00:39:01,079 --> 00:39:02,000
Let me start there.

729
00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:04,079
Speaker 3: I do. I think it's lovely.

730
00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:06,559
Speaker 1: And what do you like about lavender?

731
00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:10,760
Speaker 3: I love it's aroma. So in my Grand Rapids garden,

732
00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:15,559
I have a lovely firm filled with a lavender love variety.

733
00:39:15,559 --> 00:39:19,079
It's an English lavender and it's you know, when it

734
00:39:19,119 --> 00:39:22,679
comes into flower at the end of June. It's a

735
00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:27,440
wonderful pollinator. And it's filled with all sorts of insects

736
00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:31,920
of course, the variety of bumblebees, natives and even some

737
00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:35,760
of the dastardly glommers, you know, the wasps and whatnot,

738
00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:39,719
but they love those. The aroma, just the aromatics of

739
00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:44,239
the lavender for me, is medicinal. It is uplifting. I

740
00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:47,199
use it also as a culinary spice, and again just

741
00:39:47,239 --> 00:39:52,719
for its visual aesthetic beauty. It's gorgeous and I'm very

742
00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,760
lucky to have that burm of lavender because I think

743
00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:58,440
across my time being a gardener, this is the first

744
00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:01,639
time that I finally planted it, and it loves where

745
00:40:01,679 --> 00:40:04,280
it's planted. So I take that as a w in

746
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:05,440
my book as a gardener.

747
00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:08,280
Speaker 2: Always good when you get it right. And just like

748
00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:12,079
you had imagined it. Now, you mentioned using lavender in food,

749
00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:15,119
so you said that you have a lavendula and gustifully

750
00:40:15,119 --> 00:40:18,519
in English lavender variety. Are you harvesting that and using

751
00:40:18,519 --> 00:40:19,360
that in recipes?

752
00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:23,199
Speaker 3: I do in fact, I do an entire suite if

753
00:40:23,239 --> 00:40:26,360
that balance between cutting it back and like, I love

754
00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:28,880
to have the pollinators enjoy it. But I really do

755
00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:31,159
love to do a full cutting of my lavender when

756
00:40:31,159 --> 00:40:34,320
it's in full aromatic, full bloom in the dry weather

757
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:37,239
of this of the summertime, and then I'll bundle it.

758
00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:39,480
Our viewers are going to be able to see a

759
00:40:39,519 --> 00:40:42,480
couple images of me just simply bundling it and drying

760
00:40:42,519 --> 00:40:46,679
it for use across the year. So again I'll use

761
00:40:46,719 --> 00:40:50,320
it a medicinal plant and then also as a culinary spice,

762
00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:51,800
both the leaves and the flowers.

763
00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:55,360
Speaker 2: Oh the leaves too, because I how people mostly only

764
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:57,280
use the lavender buds in food.

765
00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:01,000
Speaker 3: The entire part of the the aerial parts of the

766
00:41:01,039 --> 00:41:05,400
plant are usable. I tend to gravitate toward making sure

767
00:41:05,559 --> 00:41:09,480
that I harvest for culinary use, of course, and medicinal

768
00:41:09,599 --> 00:41:13,480
use the more tender part of the woody stem and

769
00:41:14,079 --> 00:41:19,000
the newer growth, and retaining the woodier bits for you know,

770
00:41:19,079 --> 00:41:20,159
future productivity.

771
00:41:21,159 --> 00:41:24,079
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Lisa Rose. I've had a front row

772
00:41:24,119 --> 00:41:26,599
seat to be able to watch Lisa over the years

773
00:41:27,119 --> 00:41:31,719
write these wonderful books that are much loved, including Urban

774
00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:36,840
Forager and Lisa. Today, I guess my focus is on

775
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:42,880
Midwest medicinal plants to identify, harvest and use wild herbs

776
00:41:43,039 --> 00:41:46,199
for health and wellness. I have to admit to you

777
00:41:47,119 --> 00:41:50,280
a month or so ago here on the show, I

778
00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:53,800
sounded kind of nasal because I was dealing with a cold,

779
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,039
and you came to mind. And as a matter of fact,

780
00:41:57,079 --> 00:42:01,559
I walked into the backyard and harvested some pine needles

781
00:42:01,599 --> 00:42:05,840
and boil them up and started breathing and it helped.

782
00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:08,360
So you you came to mind there, Lisa.

783
00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:12,199
Speaker 3: That's that's a blessing. And you know, I love that

784
00:42:12,199 --> 00:42:14,360
that you were able to consider the pine, even though

785
00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:18,280
we're not talking about pine today. It's that aromatic quality

786
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:21,159
that the tips of the of the spruce and pine

787
00:42:21,199 --> 00:42:23,440
they can be They're different, of course, but they can

788
00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:27,559
be used interchangeably for an herbal steam. They can open

789
00:42:27,599 --> 00:42:30,840
the sinuses like I actually also this time of year,

790
00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:35,599
at the springtime, find pine tips to be extremely helpful

791
00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:39,719
to kind of scrub the gunk that like we'll get

792
00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:42,159
the colds that are going around the ends of the

793
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:44,559
flu virus or the ends of a you know, a

794
00:42:44,639 --> 00:42:48,840
cold virus. And that pine tipsy is very aromatic and

795
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:52,440
can help open up you know what's just stuck in grime,

796
00:42:52,599 --> 00:42:55,599
and lavender can honestly behave in the same way in

797
00:42:55,639 --> 00:42:59,519
the winter. If you're using that dried lavender from your garden,

798
00:43:00,119 --> 00:43:02,760
you can create an herbal steam. You can bring that

799
00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:06,599
into the shower in the bathroom, and again it's just aromatic,

800
00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:09,480
opens up the sinuses. And you can even blend the

801
00:43:09,599 --> 00:43:13,480
leaves and the dried flowers with other plants for a

802
00:43:13,559 --> 00:43:16,000
nice aromatic sea if you want to blend it with

803
00:43:16,039 --> 00:43:18,960
a camomile for a little bit of relax and herb,

804
00:43:19,119 --> 00:43:23,519
maybe also with some peppermints. There's no shortage of ideas

805
00:43:23,519 --> 00:43:26,760
on how to blend the lavender into winter wellness.

806
00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:29,639
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess that's where I was going with the comment,

807
00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:33,119
is that in many cases, plants Stacey that we love

808
00:43:33,199 --> 00:43:38,119
in the landscape, including lavender, fragrance or aroma, is just

809
00:43:38,159 --> 00:43:38,960
so important.

810
00:43:39,159 --> 00:43:41,760
Speaker 2: It sounds like a great care for spring fever too exact.

811
00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:44,199
You get a little sense of what's down the line

812
00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:48,599
after a long linter where it seems almost unimaginable in.

813
00:43:48,519 --> 00:43:53,400
Speaker 1: Writing your book, Lisa, whether it's lavender or other herbs,

814
00:43:53,960 --> 00:43:57,159
sunlight and drainage really important.

815
00:43:56,559 --> 00:44:00,719
Speaker 3: Correct, absolutely, And with the lavender, you know it is

816
00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:03,360
not it's not a native to you know, in the

817
00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:08,079
Michigan areas where I am currently so finding that sweet spot.

818
00:44:08,119 --> 00:44:11,360
It loves the full hot sun and dry soil and

819
00:44:12,079 --> 00:44:15,440
too much water, too little water, not enough water. Nor

820
00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:18,239
it's facing it. She will tell you whether or not

821
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:21,519
she likes where she's living just by making it through

822
00:44:21,519 --> 00:44:26,000
the winter. So you know I've I've not given up.

823
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:28,280
And finally, like I said, in my garden, I have

824
00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:32,519
a spot where it's just thriving and it delights me

825
00:44:32,599 --> 00:44:35,679
with happiness. It's like a little bit of Provence, you know,

826
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:38,679
in my in my gardens that gives me quite a

827
00:44:38,679 --> 00:44:41,320
bit of joy during the summer and then of course

828
00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:44,519
is dried and preserved for the rest of the year

829
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:46,559
in my in my spice cabinet.

830
00:44:46,719 --> 00:44:49,559
Speaker 2: Well, you know, you make a great point because lavender

831
00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:53,440
is definitely one of those plants that needs proper sighting.

832
00:44:53,599 --> 00:44:56,000
So it's a lot of people will think a lavender

833
00:44:56,079 --> 00:44:58,960
is difficult to grow, and that's not necessarily true. It's

834
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:02,599
just that its needs all are fairly specific, not unusual.

835
00:45:02,639 --> 00:45:05,039
I mean, you're not bending heaven and earth to try

836
00:45:05,079 --> 00:45:07,199
to grow it. But you definitely need that good drain,

837
00:45:07,239 --> 00:45:09,519
and you definitely need that warm sun. And so people

838
00:45:10,039 --> 00:45:13,639
who may not have had success in the past shouldn't

839
00:45:13,679 --> 00:45:15,480
just throw up their hands and write it off. They

840
00:45:15,519 --> 00:45:19,159
should continue to investigate, as you did, you know, whether

841
00:45:19,199 --> 00:45:21,079
there's potentially a better spot in their yard.

842
00:45:22,159 --> 00:45:24,559
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it might come to the fact that that

843
00:45:24,639 --> 00:45:27,119
might not be in your garden at all. And so

844
00:45:27,239 --> 00:45:29,920
then it's like that reconciling with well, maybe you know,

845
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:33,639
maybe there's another plant better suited to you know, the

846
00:45:33,719 --> 00:45:37,239
climate and conditions that are in my garden. Sometimes there's

847
00:45:37,280 --> 00:45:40,039
some acceptance that comes along with that, you know. I

848
00:45:40,079 --> 00:45:42,480
guess I had kind of resolved that if it wasn't

849
00:45:42,519 --> 00:45:46,119
going to grow in my sandy well drained, dry burm,

850
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:50,679
then I was done. But alas the last one was success.

851
00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:52,440
So that's given me a lot of joy.

852
00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:54,679
Speaker 2: Like I said, and do you know what varieties or

853
00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:55,760
variety you planted?

854
00:45:57,000 --> 00:45:59,320
Speaker 3: You know, I'd have to I don't. It might be

855
00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:01,760
a month set. I'd have to go back at my notes.

856
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:06,119
I'm pretty sure it's a month said. Admittedly, I'm I'm

857
00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:10,119
somebody that kind of just I'm an end of season shopper,

858
00:46:10,280 --> 00:46:14,639
so whatever might be admittedly might be available. I know,

859
00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:18,280
I'm you know, I am your forager, right like I

860
00:46:18,320 --> 00:46:18,840
There you go.

861
00:46:19,719 --> 00:46:21,039
Speaker 1: The apple doesn't fall.

862
00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:24,840
Speaker 3: Far from the tree does not, and you know, I

863
00:46:25,159 --> 00:46:27,679
mean just from an economy sake. And I feel like

864
00:46:27,719 --> 00:46:31,039
the English lavenders as well have a bit more tolerance

865
00:46:31,199 --> 00:46:34,000
for some of the variability that we have because there

866
00:46:34,079 --> 00:46:37,000
is more moisture here, more moisture content in the Great Lakes.

867
00:46:37,039 --> 00:46:41,639
But that's just that's only my limited experience with a

868
00:46:41,760 --> 00:46:43,679
wide range of varieties of lavender.

869
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:48,760
Speaker 1: Lisa as an herbalist. Now that we have inspired people

870
00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:52,840
on today's show to have more lavender in their landscape,

871
00:46:52,880 --> 00:46:57,000
and we talked about the different types of lavender, but

872
00:46:57,119 --> 00:47:00,559
as an herbalist, what are some good companion plays in

873
00:47:00,679 --> 00:47:04,440
your mind for our viewers and our listeners. I mean,

874
00:47:04,679 --> 00:47:08,639
what's a few must have herbs to go along with

875
00:47:08,719 --> 00:47:10,199
that lavender in your garden.

876
00:47:10,960 --> 00:47:15,039
Speaker 3: When I think of a lavender, I do go immediately

877
00:47:15,360 --> 00:47:19,800
to the more traditional French and English style cottage gardens.

878
00:47:20,079 --> 00:47:23,119
And I love my lavender as a border. I love

879
00:47:23,159 --> 00:47:28,440
it as an adjacent to rose bushes, you know, and

880
00:47:28,519 --> 00:47:32,360
in general from my point of view as a forager

881
00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:36,880
and just as someone that looks at a garden space

882
00:47:37,559 --> 00:47:41,440
and considers the ecological balance, I really love to make

883
00:47:41,480 --> 00:47:44,280
sure that I have a diversity of plants in my

884
00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:48,440
garden landscape, so you know, the lavender with the roses

885
00:47:48,519 --> 00:47:52,840
adjacent to my other culinary herbs. I also then have

886
00:47:53,559 --> 00:47:59,280
a bit more wild and uncultivated spaces between my rose

887
00:47:59,599 --> 00:48:04,840
I also so do lots of integration of cover crops

888
00:48:04,920 --> 00:48:09,719
and my walkways and paths, and that helps again from

889
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:14,400
a companion planting, I'm not a landscape architect by training

890
00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:17,079
at all, and my goodness, if you've seen my garden

891
00:48:17,440 --> 00:48:20,880
that would validate that statement. I am a forager. Let

892
00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:24,079
it grow wild, but I feel that, you know, adding

893
00:48:24,119 --> 00:48:28,199
it adjacent to a diversity of plants in the culinary

894
00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:30,880
garden and looking for the English style and French style

895
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:35,679
gardens is really my favorite inspiration. With the lavender, I.

896
00:48:35,599 --> 00:48:38,920
Speaker 2: Agree, you know, in my garden, I feel like the

897
00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:41,880
way it looks just takes me on a visual vacation

898
00:48:42,159 --> 00:48:43,920
because it does feel you know, a lot of my

899
00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:47,199
gardens are native and wild, and so I'm working on

900
00:48:47,239 --> 00:48:49,239
this very formal herb garden in the back, which does

901
00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:53,559
kind of just like have that you know, Mediterranean vibe.

902
00:48:53,679 --> 00:48:55,800
And you know, it's kind of like the concept of

903
00:48:55,800 --> 00:48:59,400
garden rooms, right, like a different vibe and different you know,

904
00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:04,000
move food in every part of the garden. But I

905
00:49:04,039 --> 00:49:06,119
love it combined with herbs. And you know, for me,

906
00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:10,119
dialing up that silvery foliage just is what kind of

907
00:49:10,119 --> 00:49:13,000
transports you from you know, Western Michigan, which is a

908
00:49:13,000 --> 00:49:17,119
lovely place, but uh, it visually transports you to somewhere

909
00:49:17,119 --> 00:49:19,320
on the you know, Mediterranean instead of Lake Michigan.

910
00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:22,840
Speaker 3: It does one hundred percent. And I love your concept

911
00:49:23,039 --> 00:49:27,480
of the garden room. And that's to say that one

912
00:49:27,519 --> 00:49:30,960
doesn't need a tremendous amount of space. You can style

913
00:49:31,199 --> 00:49:34,960
these plants, especially lavender. It's got portability where you can

914
00:49:35,000 --> 00:49:37,639
have it in containers even if your garden might only

915
00:49:37,679 --> 00:49:41,280
be seasonal, and in patios and use those as beautiful

916
00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:44,079
pops of you know, the silver green. Like there's just

917
00:49:44,199 --> 00:49:50,440
something it does have that Mediterranean vibe. And I think

918
00:49:50,480 --> 00:49:53,760
that northern California. I had lived there for a while, right,

919
00:49:53,800 --> 00:49:56,400
and so it's even you know, northern Michigan up in

920
00:49:56,480 --> 00:49:59,800
Leylano County. The lavender has just got that. It's like

921
00:49:59,840 --> 00:50:02,840
a Christine Madeleine for me as different places that I've

922
00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:07,840
lived and and it does offset some of the more

923
00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:11,039
wild and feral, you know, Michigan roots that I have.

924
00:50:11,239 --> 00:50:14,760
It's it's elegant. Like I said, I'm delighted to have

925
00:50:15,519 --> 00:50:18,960
been upgraded in status today on the show, Rick.

926
00:50:21,360 --> 00:50:23,679
Speaker 1: I love that. I love that. At Lisa, I wanted

927
00:50:23,679 --> 00:50:26,239
to ask you while we had you on. I've had

928
00:50:26,239 --> 00:50:29,000
a number of people reach out to me recently about

929
00:50:29,119 --> 00:50:32,760
b balm or Manarda. Is that a favorite of yours?

930
00:50:33,559 --> 00:50:37,199
Speaker 3: It is a favorite. So Manarda all the species, both

931
00:50:37,599 --> 00:50:42,320
the cultivated, is a common with a variety of different variants.

932
00:50:42,440 --> 00:50:44,920
Is a common one in all of our greenhouses, right,

933
00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:50,719
and it's very common in large scale plantings for gardens,

934
00:50:50,920 --> 00:50:53,519
for buildings, and so it's and then just you know,

935
00:50:53,559 --> 00:50:57,960
even for the regular home gardener. And what I love

936
00:50:58,039 --> 00:51:01,519
about it is that it is on the spectrum of

937
00:51:01,559 --> 00:51:05,280
mint family plants. It's very spicy and aroma and flavor

938
00:51:05,559 --> 00:51:11,760
like youreregano. And then it's blossom is just stunning. It

939
00:51:11,800 --> 00:51:17,000
just has this beautiful, flamboyant bloom right around the fourth

940
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:21,480
of July that dried for teas. It just holds up

941
00:51:21,519 --> 00:51:24,119
really nicely and can be beautiful and hand dried tea

942
00:51:24,119 --> 00:51:27,639
blends and actually does pair very very well, both fresh

943
00:51:27,679 --> 00:51:28,800
and dried with lavender.

944
00:51:29,440 --> 00:51:31,480
Speaker 2: I wouldn't love that. That's interesting me.

945
00:51:31,920 --> 00:51:35,480
Speaker 1: Fantastic. I always feel inspired after talking to you, Lisa,

946
00:51:35,519 --> 00:51:39,039
and I'm so anxious for spring, can't wait to get

947
00:51:39,039 --> 00:51:44,360
it started. Lisa Rose an herbalist, forager, urban farmer and writer.

948
00:51:44,679 --> 00:51:48,960
Look for her books. Today we've been talking about Midwest

949
00:51:49,079 --> 00:51:53,679
medicinal plants, identify, harvest and use one hundred and nine

950
00:51:53,800 --> 00:51:58,679
wild herbs for health and wellness. Lisa, For our listeners

951
00:51:58,719 --> 00:52:01,360
and our viewers, how can they find you? How can

952
00:52:01,400 --> 00:52:03,119
they find your books?

953
00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:07,960
Speaker 3: My meanderings and musings can be found on the socials,

954
00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:10,840
on the instagrams and the book of Faces, and then

955
00:52:10,880 --> 00:52:13,360
of course with my writings and books. I'm very lucky

956
00:52:13,400 --> 00:52:17,239
to have a large network of independent booksellers, so I

957
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:20,039
do recommend folks pick those up there, but also on

958
00:52:21,159 --> 00:52:25,880
the big A delivery vans. Those the Amazon booksellers as

959
00:52:25,880 --> 00:52:28,760
well can get those books into your hand in pretty

960
00:52:28,840 --> 00:52:29,639
rapid fashion.

961
00:52:30,519 --> 00:52:35,440
Speaker 1: Fantastic. Thanks for inspiring us again today, Lisa. We appreciate it.

962
00:52:35,800 --> 00:52:38,119
All the best to you and look forward to having

963
00:52:38,199 --> 00:52:39,920
you on the show again down the road.

964
00:52:40,639 --> 00:52:44,199
Speaker 3: It's my pleasure and I'm excited to see maybe potentially

965
00:52:44,280 --> 00:52:47,440
us again sometime in person where we can whip up

966
00:52:47,480 --> 00:52:50,519
a foraged and garden cocktail together something.

967
00:52:50,599 --> 00:52:54,960
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we need to talk about that a moment. Sure,

968
00:52:55,920 --> 00:53:00,039
how we do that? You're whipping up some Tom.

969
00:53:01,480 --> 00:53:04,840
Speaker 3: Well, Tom Collins. Yes, one of my favorite little summertime

970
00:53:04,960 --> 00:53:07,960
treats is is whipping up a little bit of lavender

971
00:53:08,119 --> 00:53:10,800
simple syrup, which is you know, using i you know,

972
00:53:10,960 --> 00:53:15,880
using the leaves and the flowers of the lavender create

973
00:53:15,960 --> 00:53:19,280
that simple syrup which has actually got versatility beyond the

974
00:53:19,320 --> 00:53:21,719
cocktail cart. You can even driss little over a little

975
00:53:21,760 --> 00:53:24,800
bit of vanilla ice cream, but mixed in with a

976
00:53:24,800 --> 00:53:27,360
little bit of gin, a little bit of lemon juice,

977
00:53:27,400 --> 00:53:30,559
a little bit of club soda, some lemon slices and

978
00:53:30,599 --> 00:53:34,400
a few fresh lavender sprigs. You know, stir that up,

979
00:53:34,480 --> 00:53:37,159
have a couple of delicious short bread cookies on the side,

980
00:53:37,199 --> 00:53:39,119
and maybe a soop of that ice cream, and that's

981
00:53:39,159 --> 00:53:42,519
a nice June afternoon on the patio in the summertime.

982
00:53:42,719 --> 00:53:46,639
Speaker 1: Do you have this recipe in writing Lisa.

983
00:53:46,079 --> 00:53:48,519
Speaker 3: It is in your inbox, sir, it is in your

984
00:53:48,559 --> 00:53:49,559
inbox right now.

985
00:53:49,920 --> 00:53:56,159
Speaker 1: Yes, And with our viewers and our listeners, oh boy,

986
00:53:56,480 --> 00:53:59,159
if they weren't enticed to grow lavender before, they will

987
00:53:59,159 --> 00:53:59,519
be now.

988
00:53:59,639 --> 00:54:02,280
Speaker 3: So there you go, right out the gate, starting out

989
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:07,320
the season with really good, good intentions exactly exactly.

990
00:54:07,199 --> 00:54:11,360
Speaker 1: What a wonderful use for lavender. Thank you so much, Lisa.

991
00:54:11,639 --> 00:54:12,480
We appreciate it.

992
00:54:12,519 --> 00:54:15,519
Speaker 3: Take care of yourself, thank you, and I appreciate the

993
00:54:15,559 --> 00:54:17,679
both of you as well. Have a great kickoff this spring.

994
00:54:17,960 --> 00:54:18,639
Speaker 2: Thank you too.

995
00:54:18,800 --> 00:54:19,039
Speaker 3: Well.

996
00:54:19,079 --> 00:54:22,079
Speaker 2: On that note, I am definitely ready for spring and

997
00:54:22,239 --> 00:54:24,920
pruning my lavender, but not too soon, not until it

998
00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:27,639
actually starts growing and tells me when it wants to

999
00:54:27,679 --> 00:54:30,360
be prune. So we want to thank Lisa Rose for

1000
00:54:30,400 --> 00:54:34,159
her time and her great Tom Collins recipe. Thank you, Rick,

1001
00:54:34,239 --> 00:54:36,280
thank you, thank you Adriana, and of course thank you

1002
00:54:36,320 --> 00:54:37,840
so much to all of you for listening. We truly

1003
00:54:37,840 --> 00:54:39,599
do appreciate it and help you have a wonderful week

1004
00:54:39,599 --> 00:54:39,760
at

