Speaker 1: Broadcasting from Studio A. Here at proven winners color Choy shrubs.
It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show with Stacy Hervella
me Rick weisst and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson
Well Stacy. Today we talk about the botany of Christmas.
Speaker 2: Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas.
Speaker 1: So I thought about this, and I'm thinking, okay, I'll
just make a quick list right off the top of
my head. Pine spruce, fir, missile toe, that romantic epiphytic parasite,
holly ivy, point seta and of course send us your cards,
your emails, your letters on the pronunciation of point seta
or point setia, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg. I got to mention
nutmeg because it's an eggnog and I love eggnog. I mean,
it's a fabulous, fabulous drink and I won't dwell on
the lestrawl sugar and alcohol part of it. And chestnuts,
So you know, immediately put those twelve on the list.
But there is so much more that you could add
to the list. I mean, consider the fact you could
put a pair on the list. You could add mint, cactus, kalladium, roses, citrus, rose,
Mary in the Bible, mrr was used as an anointing
or embalming oil. Frankinson's was used as perfume or incense.
You have Star of Bethlehem a minor bulb or nithegallum. Yes,
umbulatum toxic and invasive. So by me mentioning it, I'm
not suggesting you plant it, but it has to be
on my list when I think of all things Christmas
and botany, Stacy, the list is quite extensive.
Speaker 2: It is. I mean, yeah, there's all sorts that we
didn't even get into yet, but exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: We felt like we had done this for Thanksgiving, which
obviously was much more food based. But I started thinking
about it, and you know, Christmas is a very plant
based holiday. Yes, it is to gather around the tree.
You know, you got your whole points set up.
Speaker 1: We move a whole tree into the house.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean there are few, if any other holidays
that are quite so centered around plants.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, And I found it interesting, Stacey. A
study by Stanford University that showed that some indoor plants
and natural views reduce stress, holiday stress and boost well being.
But they found in this study they felt that about
twenty percent nature in your room is optimal. In other words,
too many plants sixty percent or more can actually increase stress,
creating an overwhelming feeling. The key is balanced connection, not
just quantity. And I guess I could understand that, because
if your room is packed full of plants, there's a
lot of stress in taking care of those things.
Speaker 2: Well, yes, but I guess it all depends on how
much you enjoy watering. Because if you do enjoy watering
and caring for your plants, right, then having all of
those plants might not be stressful. Is just like, look
at all that I've accomplished, and you feel very reflective
about everything that you've done for me. I would probably
I would love to have the room full of plants,
but as long as it had like, you know, a
marble floor or something so I didn't have to worry
about water all.
Speaker 1: That's true now, of course, as in my years as
a foliage plant buyer in the garden center industry. Again,
more plants you can add. Ammarillis, Oh Gotta Have Am
has become heavily commercialized. The waxed bulbs. They dress them
up with little sweaters, stick a poky little stand underneath.
They're not grown conventionally like they used to be grown
a cyclo kalladium. And one that's really interesting to me
is the gold crest lemon cypress. Interesting plant and can
be grown outdoors in zones seven to eleven, not this
far north, but they'll put them into little pots and
decorate them.
Speaker 3: Up for Christmas.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I like those because they are a golden evergreen
that doesn't look chlorotic or sick. Yes, the color looks
very deliberate and festive and cheerful, and that's not something
you can always say about golden about golden evergreens exactly.
Speaker 1: An interesting plant, Snicio. The angel wing is a plant
that we talk about in spring and putting into our
containers and gives a really cool look. But I do
see greenhouses and other people starting to incorporate that in
as a holiday plant.
Speaker 2: That makes sense. It's kind of all looks like it
already got snowed on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, spearmint ferns.
Speaker 2: Gotta have speariment, and you know it's you might think like, oh, hey,
there's no mint like I think of mint for like
mojitos or mint lemonade, but you know it's peppermint everything
at Christmas correct, and that comes from a plant from peppermint.
Speaker 1: Hellabores have found their way into the gift plant selection
for Christmas. And then I'm going to save this for
segment four because we're going to have to talk about
zygo cactus or Christmas cactus or Thanksgiving cactus or holiday cactus,
whatever you want to call it. It's slumberjura, I believe
is the correct pronunciation, but a holiday which isn't really
a cactus at all. It's not a cactus. It's more
of an epiphytic succulent.
Speaker 2: It is a true cactus in terms of the flowers, right,
but it is actually right nothing like the rest of
the cactus. And I think if my memory serves, and
I know that our bright YouTube viewers will, and if
I am wrong, I believe they are the only ones
that are not native to the New World. They were
actually the only cac daisy that can be found in Africa.
Otherwise all cactasy are only growing in South and North America.
Speaker 3: Interesting.
Speaker 1: Interesting as a Christmas flower, Stephanotis Flora bunda, or some
people will call it Madagascar jasmine and evergreen woody vine
is commonly grown as a houseplant.
Speaker 3: Not easy to grow, No, definitely.
Speaker 1: But really found traction within the garden center. Calanchoe also,
I always called it retirement home plant, and I can.
Speaker 2: Say that I'm flying off the shelves.
Speaker 1: Well, my dad just turned ninety six and he's in
a retirement home and when I go there, I make
sure to dress lightly because it is hotter than a
sauna in there. But the kalanchoe plant can really stand
up to it, babe. And thuriums I'm surprised that in
thurium doesn't get more tract. They are sold at Christmas
time beautiful brilliant red, white, pink, but doesn't get a
tremendous amount of traction. And then when I left the
garden center industry, a plant that really was taking a
foothold was Stromante triostar is. This houseplant is known for
its variegated green, pink, cream and magenta leaves that fold up.
I think it's in the Maranta family with prayer plant
and really makes for a great different Christmas plant when
we're talking about Christmas horticulture. And then of course one
thing that was very popular were all the branches, so
willow branches, birch branches, and then of course we've got
to talk about Arctic fire and any of your dogwoods
that produce those beautiful, brilliant branches that we put in
our containers.
Speaker 2: Right, and no worry about any paint flakes in your
containers because that color is natural.
Speaker 3: I love that, I really do.
Speaker 1: And then of course also chestnuts, and I'll move chestnuts
to segment four also because again we've talked about this
in previous weeks, but there are chestnut The chestnut tree
is really starting to make a comeback.
Speaker 3: A lot of people working on.
Speaker 1: This, and there's some areas in the United States where
you can find groves of chestnut trees that are thriving
and really making a comeback. And of course chestnuts have
to be part of the list. We'll continue that list
in segment four. Let me mention to you for my
limb a rick this week when I'm shopping around in
a store, one song that I can't stand Let it Snow,
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, And it's because the
song is a farce. The composers who wrote Let It
Snow wrote it in southern California in July of nineteen
forty five, when it was super hot outside. They stayed inside,
and they wrote let it snow, come on over here
to Michigan right now and experience it. Of course, Dean
Martin made it famous. He recorded a cover of the
song in nineteen sixty six. So along that line. Because
I don't like that song, maybe you do, I rewrote
the lyrics for this week's.
Speaker 3: Limb a Rick.
Speaker 1: Oh, the weather outside is frightful, the wind chill is
not delightful. And since in our garden we can't grow.
Speaker 3: I gotta let it go, Let it go, let it go.
Speaker 1: It doesn't show signs of stopping. So indoors, I am
e shopping online, spending lots of dough. There's a doorbell.
Hope it's a Bordeaux. When we finally get frost bite,
how I'll wish it would no longer storm. But if
you hold onto your your coat real tight, at best,
you'll be maybe lukewarm. Oh my zwe hardiness. Nine plants
are slowly dying, My dear, I'm still goodbying. I'll sip
on my martini espresso and let it go, Let it go,
let it go.
Speaker 2: Oh, you are really on fire with the Christmas themed
limericks this year. Rick, I got gotta hand it to you.
Speaker 1: Snow gets Me on fire, Cold Plants on trial coming
up next here on the Gardening Simplified.
Speaker 2: Ship, Beautify your home and community with proven Winner's Color
Choice Shrubs with over three hundred and twenty five unique
varieties to choose from. There's a flowering shrubber evergreen for
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white container your local garden center or learn more at
proven Winner's Color Choice dot com. Greetings gardening friends, and
welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where we're talking
all about the botany behind Christmas. I mean, really, we
could do an hour's long show or if we really
wanted to dig in deep and talk about all of
the science and culture behind all of these plants. You
know again, because like we said in segment one, I
don't think that in the US we have a holiday
that is more focused around plants, not just eating them,
but decorating with them and enjoying them than Christmas. And
as far as the pronunciation of point seta goes, as
I always say, the important thing is you walk out
of the garden center with a plant that she came
in to buy. I don't think whether you say whether
you say points setia or point seta really matters, even
though it is indeed spelled points SETI, I a at
the end. And I will tell you that once my
grandmother learned that as she must have read it in
a newspaper article or something, and I remember she made
it her remaining life's work. Always make sure she said
points setia, and it did kind of rub off on me.
I can you know, I don't have a strong opinion. Again,
as long as you're walking out with a plant that
you want, we're good.
Speaker 3: There you go.
Speaker 1: And I've sold millions of those throughout the years in
the garden center industry, and I have this the other day,
I went to a shopping center and I saw someone
with a cart full of them. Outside the wind was
twenty miles per hour, and I'd say the outdoor temperature
was around twenty two degrees yikes.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So we've been talking a lot with moms. How you know,
the moms that we get here in the US for
our gardens are pretty much just a shadow of what
a mom can be. And I would say the same
thing about point setta. Now, I have not been to
Mexico to see it in bloom. But in the wild,
that little point set on your tabletop is a ten
foot tall monster of a plant. Yep, and very very cool.
I've only actually seen them. They weren't growing wild, but
I did see blooming and growing outside of Nazareth in Israel. Yeah,
and they were just towering. And you know, so it's
so funny to think about this, this cute little thing
that you've got on your dining room table and everyone's
you know, impressed by when in the wild. I would
encourage you to look it up because they are quite
a different plant. The botanical name just for funzies here
before I get to the real plan on trial, Euphorbia.
So you know Euphorbia from a lot of common garden plants. Yeah,
pul karama, and pul karama is the Latin word for beautiful,
so points out literally the scientific name translates as beautiful Euphorbia.
That of course is up for debate. So you can
bring that up at your Christmas table if you would
like to, and you have other botanically minded guests over there.
But speaking of amazing plants for the holidays, I love holly,
and you know, I think in our first season of
the show, we devote an episode to Holly and Oak.
We talked about the significance of oak and holly and
ancient olden times England and how it both plants remained
to this day a crucial part of the holiday.
Speaker 1: I love Holley, I love deciduous holly. I love broad leaf,
evergreen holly. We joke about the Christmas songs again. Remember
I worked during the Christmas season selling stuff. So when
you hear a song for the four hundred and sixty
seven thousandth time, right, Yeah, but a song that I
love Holly Jolly Christmas, Burro lives love that.
Speaker 2: That's so cute. Yeah, So even in all those years,
you never got sick of that.
Speaker 3: One, never got sick of Burrel lives.
Speaker 2: Mister Christmas himself, yes, with a sprig of holly on
his hat, and I believe that's what Frosty the Snowman had.
But holly has been incorporate associated with this time of
year since ancient ancient times, so it actually goes back
to the Romans, probably earlier than that. The Romans, it
was a key part of their Saturnalia celebrations, which last
to December seventeenth to December twenty third. The Druids and
the Pagans, of course incorporated into their traditions, decorations, holiday traditions,
all of that kind of stuff. And I think it
is really that connection to the Druids and Pagans that
have people so associate holly with England and the fact
that the holly that is depicted in these Christmas cards
and holiday specials and everything. When you talk about holliy
at Christmas, you weren't talking about the holly in most
of our backyards. You're talking about islex aquafolium English holly.
And I don't think that helps its reputation for being
a very English thing. But the fact is that islex
aquafolium grows wild all the way down through Italy and
down into northern Africa. So Morocco algae area has all
of those areas have pockets of ilex aquafoliam English COLLI, yeah,
it is. I mean, imagine being in Morocco and you're like, oh,
well there's an English holly kind of wild thought. So
it makes sense then that, of course it was not
just those English cultures, but all sorts of European cultures
that have really venerated this plant, and because of its
tradition and its beauty, and it is such a beautiful plant.
English holly has really thick, really glossy green leaves and
these spines that I don't think would be forgiven on
any other plants. It's prickly, car it is very prickly.
So if you have a holly, unless you have like
Alex Cornuda horned holly, and you think it's prickly, you
have not met in English holly. Because those the that thick,
glossy foliage, there's no give to those those prickles on
those leads. They will definitely poke right into your skin.
But it just makes it so beautiful and distinctive. And
then of course, if it's a female holly, you also
are going to have those bright red berries. So evergreen redberries.
It's a natural fit. And it's also natural for Americans
to have long wanted it for their gardens. But English
holly is not very hearty, as you may have guessed
just by that little range I gave you of where
it grows wild, which a lot of those areas are
not just warm, but they're not cold. And so that's
really sort of where the tricky part of growing English
holly is for most of us here in the US,
is is that even in USDA Zone seven, which it's
considered hardy too, if you get too much cold or
cold that lasts too long, it will not do well.
And so the English hollies that are bought are bought
in the US are mostly grafted onto Nellie Stevens holly,
so they're not on their own roots. And in an
attempt for more people to be able to grow this holly,
there were a lot of hybrids made, and the holly
that we have, especially those of us in colder climates
that is closest to the English holly is ilex me
Survey or me survey, which is a hybrid between English
holly and Islex regosa, which is a wild holly native
to Russia. The Sakhalin Islands so very cold areas. So
by crossing these, Kathleen me Serf, who was just a
backyard plant breeder playing around in her backyard because she
desperately wanted some of that English holly and it was
just not growing for her, even out on Long Island
back in the nineteen fifties, so she crossed them and
she kept playing around and crossing them, and she is
the one who has brought us one of the most
widespread hollies to this day, blue Holly, or me Serve hollies,
as they're sometimes called, our Castle series of blue holly.
Now there are four plants in the Castle series. The
flagship plants are castle Spire, which is the female and
that one grows kind of into a tall pyramid, and
then castle Wall is the male. Because like other hollies,
you only get fruit on the females. The males do.
You need to be there in order to contribute pollen
so that the females actually develop some fruit, but you
only need about one male to every four to five
females in order to get that fruit. So castle spires
the female, castle Wall is the male, and these combined
make a beautiful privacy hedge or specimen planting. The male
can be anywhere within about fifty yards or fifty feet
rather of the female, so they don't if you're right
next to each other, so you can kind of play
around with your yard and spread them out so.
Speaker 1: You're not And that is a point of confusion with
many customers in the garden center dealing with that and
figuring it out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, most people think they need to be right next
to each other. They do not. And that is as
close as we're going to be able to get for
most of us to that holly. So it's not as spiny,
and the leaves are not as green, which you may
think of as a good thing or a bad thing.
They definitely do have a pretty distinctive blue cast I
would say, you wouldn't look at it and say, oh, hey,
that's blue foliage. But if you look at alex aquafolium
and you look at the foliage of alex maservey, you
will notice that they are distinctly different. But as far
as the berries go, it's a pretty impressive plant.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, it is beautiful.
Speaker 2: I love Holly two and I really do wish I
could grow it. But to grow hollywell, you need acidic
soil and you need moist soil. It is not a
drought tolerant plant. I don't know of any holly that
is really very drought tolerant at all. So, and it's
also not dear resistant despite those spines. Even Islex aquafolium
is not totally dear resistant either. So between those things,
I unfortunately will not have holly in my yard as
much as I do enjoy the plant, but if you
have the right conditions for it, what better way to
plant some horticultural history than add Castle spire holly from
Proven Winter's Color Choice Shrubs to your garden.
Speaker 3: You'll have a holly, jolly Christmas.
Speaker 2: Hopefully you will anyway, but it'll be hollier and jollier
if you plant one next spring. We're going to take
a little break. When we come back, we're opening up
the mailbak, so please stay tuned at Proven Winner's Color
Choice Shrubs. We know that a better landscape starts with
a better shrub. Our team of experts tests and evaluates
all of our flowering shrubs in evergreens for eight to
ten years to ensure they outperform what's already on the market.
For easy care, reliable, beautiful shrubs to accentuate your home
and express your personal style, look for Proven Winner's Shrubs
in the distinctive white container at your local garden center
or learn more at Proven Winner's Color Choice Creating's Gardening
Friends and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where
we are just about to celebrate Christmas here in the
US and dedicating it to all about Christmas eve plants.
But of course, once Christmas is over, we're all faced
with a harsh reality that spring is several weeks away. Okay,
not to be a downer here in this very holly jolly.
Speaker 3: Time but most wonderful time.
Speaker 2: But you know it will get people thinking about house plants,
adding to their houseplants, taking care of the house plants
that they already have. And so to that end, we
heard from a listener who has a reaction to your
suggestion of using miracle whip as leafshline. Now, I do
want to say it wasn't necessarily a suggestion that you
were like, please do this. You were like, you can
do this, you can do it. Was not an endorsement,
was just so, Linda says. I listen to your podcast
every time I knew and hits my list. Thank you, Linda,
and I enjoy learning new hints and history of plants origination. However,
I felt I needed to suggest to address Rick's suggestion
to use miracle whip as a leaf shine and I
will note that he did say don't do this if
you have pets or children. I bet I'm not the
only one you've heard from please see the recommended practices
for shining up house plant leaves. Thank you. So she
sends a link of other sites that recommended various different
things for shining housepunt leaves, not all of them, you know,
kitchen sink kind of stuff that you might have sitting around.
But one thing that I will say is, you know,
some of the objections voice about using miracle whip as
a leaf shine are that it will quote unquote clog pores.
But I will say that any product sold as a
leaf shine is going to clog plant pores. They're pretty
much all wax, an oily kind of wax, right, That's
how they get the shin.
Speaker 1: And so you know, you got to take this in context.
So I appreciate your comment, Linda, So bear this in mind.
First of all, it all started because I was making
tuna fish and I cut up the celery and.
Speaker 3: I had some leftover. That's how it started.
Speaker 1: But really technically the way it started again in the
garden center industry, sometimes we have to send some plants
out to a funeral or some other type of event,
and you need those spatophylums the pothos to shine. And
if you don't have some conventional leaf shine, and I'm
with you on.
Speaker 3: That, Stacy.
Speaker 1: I agree with you because house plants in my home,
I would not use leaf shine.
Speaker 3: They need to breathe.
Speaker 1: I don't need to shine those plants. It's more or
less a presentation type of thing to put them in
miracle whip.
Speaker 3: I mean, they're stunt.
Speaker 1: You'll get lots of you give a spat the phylum
as a gift plant and you've lathered it up in
miracle whip, you're gonna get compliments.
Speaker 2: Well, you know it's mostly oil. And again that's mostly
what they're using for these things, is an oil that
will keep down the dust. Personally, I do feel like
overly shined leaves look kind of unnatural.
Speaker 3: They do look unnatural.
Speaker 1: And again I am not suggesting you put miracle whip,
but I am trying to get a reaction, and I
get a reaction from some of these things that I say.
But it's real life, boots on the ground kind of stuff.
You're in a garden center, the orders going out, you
got to shine these plants.
Speaker 3: They got to look beautiful.
Speaker 1: The hotel you're sending them to expects them things to
be shining to the point where you can see your reflection.
Speaker 2: In the plant, and you have a tude of sandwich
in the fridge for lunch, and you just put.
Speaker 3: To you and everybody's happy and here we are.
Speaker 2: So there's a good topic for your Christmas table discussion.
If things are getting a little awkward, you can just
who's used miracle Whip's mayonnaise? Well, so, I wonder because
the mannis contains egg I don't know that miracle whip
contains eggs, right, so you know that could be a difference.
I don't really know.
Speaker 3: It's like cool whip.
Speaker 1: To this day, we have no idea what non dairy
cool whip. But I haven't tried cool whip on plants.
Speaker 2: Oh, so you could give that a whirl. I would
just use a damp brag honestly, if I was worried
about it, just wipe the dust away on the top
on the bottom.
Speaker 3: You're going to get more emails, okay, yeah, people are
going to email.
Speaker 2: All right, Well, we welcome you to do that. And
if you do want to email us, well, you can
always leave a comment on YouTube in the comments there,
and we read all of those. Adriana does in responds
to those, or you can reach us at Gardening Simplified
on air dot Com. There is a contact form right
there for your convenience. What have you got the meleg.
Speaker 3: Forgive me if I get this wrong.
Speaker 2: But Aleen a ligne, I think Aleen?
Speaker 3: Aleen? Yeah, I would guess Aleen.
Speaker 1: So Aleen writes to us, Hello, I love listening to
your show. I have a proven winner, mister Poppins, love
that plant.
Speaker 3: Would I be able to get.
Speaker 1: Berries on a native straight species of Ilex Vertisilada with
the mister Poppins So.
Speaker 2: Great question and the answer is maybe. That's the answer
to everything in horticulture. So the issue that so, the
fact that mister Poppins winterbury holly is a selection or
a cultivar has less to do with the answer to
this than it's bloom time. And that is what it's
all about with Holly's or really it's true with any
dioecious plant like holly. But it's also true of plants
that need another variety to pollinate, but aren't male and
female like a viburnum. And that is the key to
success here, is that the bloom times of the male
and the female plant need to overlap exactly so in
the winterbury holly world, there are essentially two groups of
winterberry hollies. There are the early blooming winterbury hollies, which
is basically what you would consider the ones that are
native more to the colder areas, and then you have
the later blooming group. Now it's not a matter of months.
It really is a matter of weeks the difference between
when these bloom. So you may get some overlap, but
what you really want is those flowers freshly open, so
that the pollen is as fresh as possible, and that
the female portions on the flower are as receptive as
possible to that fresh pollen that's coming out, so that
they actually set fruit. So the late blooming is more southern.
So if you have a variety with like Southern gentlemen,
that typically belongs to the late blooming group of winterbury holly.
So is mister Poppins going to going to pollinate your
native hollies. It depends on if they're early or late blooming. Again,
if you're here in Michigan or basically north ish of
the Mason Dixon line, probably it will work. But if
you are in the south or in a warmer climate,
you would not probably get the same results because it
is those plants need the longer exposure to warm temperatures
to bloom, so that's why they're considered The later blooming
group gets warmer in the south earlier and faster than
it does here in the North, and so it's the
plants need more accumulated heat in the spring in order
to bloom up here, it doesn't happen, so they tend
to bloom earlier, whereas the other ones would bloom much
later when we have accumulated more heat. So if you're
in the north, probably If you are in the South,
probably not, and you would need to pair it instead
with fairy poppins or another plant from the early blooming group.
Speaker 1: Makes sense, Cheryl writes, Hello gardening friends, I have a
question about Amarillis. For several years now, I've been saving
my Amarillis bulbs through the process of growing outdoors in
summer that's good digging for dormancy, and repotting in October
for winter blooms. I've had some repotted since Halloween and
there is no growth coming. They aren't planted too deep
and are in the front of south facing windows like
usual and have been watered. I thought maybe I wasn't
watering them enough, so have increased it, but to no avail.
These bulbs are about three to five years old. Could
they be aged out? Appreciate your input and I would
think initially, Cheryl, no, these bulbs are not aged out.
Speaker 3: And I love the process that you're using.
Speaker 1: In summer. The amarilla should have that strap like foliage
on them.
Speaker 3: In summer, you should be feeding them. Many people will.
Speaker 1: Use something like just a water soluble type fertilizer when
they're feeding their annuals. And yes, you'd clean them up,
cut them up, bring them indoors for fall. But I
would think that maybe you're just pushing the schedule a
little bit here because they do need a resting period
of a number of weeks.
Speaker 3: And that would be my guess.
Speaker 2: That was my guess too. Yeah, so you put them
outside in the summer and let them photosynthesize and then
they need complete darkness right for that kind of fall
late summer fall period, and it needs to be dry.
Speaker 1: Many people will tip the pot or pull the amarillis,
cut the roots, cut the strap like foliage off, give
them a resting period before repotting them and trying to
get them to grow again.
Speaker 2: Right, So we don't know. You know, from Cheryl's message
how long of a dormant period they had, and I
would that would be my suspicion to you. But on
the other hand, it's they can be slow.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I've certainly seen multiple people get an amorillis bulb from
a kit, and everybody got the same kit, and some
were rocketing right out of the soil and others weren't.
But here's the thing, Cheryl, I wouldn't do anything right now.
Go ahead, let them do what they're going to do
based on how they were treated. And the worst that's
going to happen is you're not going to get any
flowers this year, which of course is disappointing. But you
can buy some new ones that will flower. They all
go on sale after Christmas pro tip, and then let
them grow their foliage and then look into it. I
don't know offhand how much of that that dormant period
in the dark that they actually need, but you know,
try getting closer to that. Maybe it needs a few
extra weeks and then this thing we'll get back on track. Yeah,
because you haven't lost anything.
Speaker 1: The bulbs you're buying in a store are cured, prepared
and ready to rock it, like you mentioned, so I'd
give it a little more time, agree with you. I
wouldn't do anything different right now, but maybe more of
a resting period in the future.
Speaker 2: Right but the plants aren't dead. Even if they don't
flower now, they're just gonna put on that foliage and
give it a try next year. So and that's what
we all need to do.
Speaker 3: That's right.
Speaker 2: All right, We're gonna take a little break and when
we come back, we're continuing on our conversation on the
button Christmas, so please stay tuned. Thanks for listening to
the Gardening Simplified podcast, brought to you by Proven Winners
Color Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs and evergreens
are trialed and tested by experts with your success in mind.
Learn more at Proven Winners color Choice dot com.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. We're having a
nature natural Christmas. And while we're on that subject, to
again going back to the garden center industry, we'd always
have reindeer around at Christmas time. And I don't know
if you knew this, but I know you appreciate insects.
Stacey and reindeer suffer with symptoms similar to a cold,
such as coughing and sputtering. Maybe that's what caused the
legendary red nose. It's not a common cold. It's an
infestation of a fly larvae ew. And they call them
snot by nuts ew. Yeah, And what they do is
they kind of just like sneeze and cough them out.
Speaker 2: This is not Christmas dinner conversation.
Speaker 3: No it's not, but it's certainly as interesting.
Speaker 2: I mean, unless you want to ruin everybody's Christmas dinner.
Speaker 3: Nature's an amazing thing.
Speaker 2: Well I did not know that. Okay, it's pretty horrifying.
Speaker 1: How about chestnuts? What we would do is we want
roast chestnuts over and open fire. We'd roast them over
a weber grill with a propane tank, but close enough.
That of course, is a Christmas thing. Chestnuts over and
open fire. And there's a state forest in Virginia. And
if you live in this area, please correct me, okay,
because I've heard it many different ways. As a matter
of fact, near Stuart's Draft, Virginia, where proven winters leaf
joy houseplants are grown and originate, there's a state forest there,
and I've heard it pronounced lesson lessane and lesson ee, so.
Speaker 3: Not sure it's spelled l E s.
Speaker 2: N E.
Speaker 1: So regardless of how it's pronounced, here's the point. In
the nineteen seventies, the Virginia Department of Forestry planted and
orchard of American chestnut trees there. It remains the largest
and oldest experimental planting of the species in the United States.
And I do a lot of reading backpacker dot com
that type of thing, and people talking about getting into
the trail head they're at that state park and finding
that grove of American chestnut trees and stating that it's
absolutely thrilling.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that must be. That's great.
Speaker 1: More plants for Christmas?
Speaker 3: Botany do? I dare say it?
Speaker 1: But for years in the garden center industry, we sold
a lot of dwarf Alberta spruces with the decorations.
Speaker 2: But you did. I mean they you know, I've given
them their props for being quite a structural A little. Yes,
they are excellent for placing Christmas lights on compared to
most anything else. I mean, you know, more power to
those who want to grow them. I do not not
even as a little Christmas tree, but I get it.
Speaker 3: I get it they're popular.
Speaker 2: I mean, I've certainly planted my share is holiday decre
that is for sure.
Speaker 1: And if you buy a point set Tiah, take a
moment to grab a pencil or a knife or something
and poke a few holes in that foil at the
bottom of the plant and set it in a tray,
because that's something that I see all the time is fungus,
gnats and other problems result. You know, we talked about
the point seti as earlier and how in nature they're
massive plants. They, like other plants in horticulture, were bred
to have stiff, short, sturdy stems, long lasting blooms. And
to be honest with you, Stacey, I'm a amazed at
what has been done over the last ten twenty thirty
years with point settas because when I first came into
the industry in the nineteen seventies, boy, they weren't very
tolerant of cold drafts and water and all that type
of thing.
Speaker 3: But they are pretty tough now. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean the old advice that you shouldn't put it,
you know, in the shot of a door, aren't near
a heat vent or anything like that. It is amazing
that they've been able to breed for that. But for
the best longevity of your point setta, you should still
avoid any of those extremes because they are very tender
tropical plants.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Like I always say, avoid the cold drafts. You
drink the Heineken and give the pointsetta some point setia
some water.
Speaker 3: So Zygo cactus.
Speaker 1: Now, this is a topic that a lot of people
love to talk about holiday Thanksgiving or Christmas cactus. Why
is my Christmas cactus blooming at Thanksgiving? Or why is
my Thanksgiving blooming on Valentine's Day or whatever it may be?
And I called it an epiphytic succulent stacy. You said,
technically it is a cactus because.
Speaker 2: Of the flower, because it's in the cactasy.
Speaker 1: Yep. So this plant, of course is amazing and a
lot of love for this plant with many people because
we look.
Speaker 3: Forward to the blooms.
Speaker 1: And the other issue as it relates to this plant
is through the years, I've seen so many people who
share them within their family. They have heirloom holiday cactus,
they get passed on or worse yet, you have parents
who are maybe in their seventies, they've had this plant
that they got from Grandma. The thing's probably eighty years old.
And you, as the son or daughter of these parents,
are told we're going to Florida for the winter, so
take care of the plant. Talk about stress, Yeah, for real.
You don't want to blow it here. You don't want
to overwater the plant. And overwatering, of course, is a
serious problem for holiday cactus. It's a popular winter flowering
houseplant native to Brazil. Of course, all kinds of colors, red, purple, oranges,
pink's cream color, but in its native environment. And we
often talk about that with plants. Look at not necessarily
where it's from, but what is the environment where it grows.
And these cacti grow on rocks or in trees where
hummingbirds pollinate the flowers. They have segmented stems, and then
they actually do not want you know, you say Brazil,
but they don't want hot sun. They don't want hot
sunlight generally seventy to eighty degrees. A little bit of
shade I have found works really well for holiday or
Christmas cactus. In addition to that, Grandma had great success
with getting the holiday cactus to bloom. And I think
part of the reason is is because Grandma lived in
a whole older home and it wasn't as energy efficient.
The windows weren't as airtight.
Speaker 3: Airtight. Seeah, let's put it that way. Airtight.
Speaker 1: And it is that change of season, not only light
but also temperature that will bring on these blooms. So
having it outdoors in summer, similar to our writer on amarillis,
in a shaded area, feeding it during its growth cycle,
but then giving it the opportunity to have that change
of seasons. Now some people are able to successfully do
that indoors in their.
Speaker 3: Home without moving it. That's great.
Speaker 1: The plant loves that spot. Others will take it outside
and the plant will get the right light during summer
in a shaded area, be fed just like we're feeding
the amarillis, and then when you bring it in, it's
that change of season that brings on those bloom staces.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think that the easiness of getting
a holiday cactus, whether it's a Thanksgiving, your Christmas cactus
into bloom, is what has made them such an heirloom plant.
You know, it's kind of you know, if you have
an orchid and it's not blooming, you just get rid
of it. You're like, I'm not passing this along to
my grandkids. This thing is just you know, doesn't earn
its spot in my menagerie of houseplants. Whereas a Christmas cactus,
I mean they will bloom without you doing anything. The
orchids can be a little bit more finicky depending on
the orchid. Just to give an example. So my father
in law is, you know, he still has some houseplants
from when my mother in law was around, and he
doesn't have nearly the motivation to care for them that
she did. But just when I was over there for Thanksgiving,
I happen to notice that the little whether it's a
Thanksgiving Chris or Christmas cactus, I don't know, it was
in bloom. And this man has not watered this thing.
I don't even think he's looked at it, you know,
in months, and there it was covered in red flowers.
And it's because you don't have to get things right
as long as it's getting some light. That changing day
length is what triggers the flower bud formation and those
flowers to open. So it's really dead easy. So everybody's
bringing points set is over to everyone's house at Christmas time,
and then you know a lot of people feel bad
when they can't keep it alive afterward. But it is
really intended as a holiday plant that you can absolutely
compost or throw away after the holidays are over. Whereas
if you want to give someone something that is long term,
I don't think you can do better than a Christmas cactus.
I mean, those things are like a bulletproof.
Speaker 1: I agree, and I agree with you that in many
cases they do better based on neglect. Yeah, and the
root system is small proportionately to the top of the plant.
Speaker 3: So if you.
Speaker 1: Just follow those general guidelines and understand that it's the
longer nights and a change in temperature that generally is
going to cause the onset of the buds, and do
not over water you're going to kill that plant. You
can have success with Christmas cactus. And there are many
families who have Christmas cactus holiday cactus that are ten, twenty, thirty,
forty fifty years.
Speaker 3: Old or older.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'd love to hear from you if you have
one in your.
Speaker 3: Front or see a picture.
Speaker 1: Some families, of course, will have heirloom fruitcake that they pass.
Speaker 3: Around in the family.
Speaker 1: When I was when I was doing live radio, we
would take a fruitcake and throw it off the ninth
floor to see if it would bounce, and they do bounce.
Speaker 2: Well, I hope you had someone down there to make
sure no one got struck by the falling floor eight.
Speaker 1: We were very safe and please don't send your emails letters. Sorry,
I endorse fruitcake. I like fruitcake. I'm not talking badly
about fruitcake.
Speaker 3: It was just a radio stunt anyhow, her looom fruitcake
and holiday cactus.
Speaker 2: Well, this has been fun, Yes, it has been fun.
It's been all over the place, but that's what it's
all about.
Speaker 3: Kind of like me.
Speaker 1: Thank you staceaing Rick, thank you Adriana, and thanks to you.
Thanks for watching us on YouTube listening to the radio
version of the show. Anything I say take with a
grain of salt, okay, tongue in cheek, and look for
us wherever you get your favorite podcast.
Speaker 3: Have a great week.