Speaker 1: Coming to you from just outside of studio A here
Speaker 1: at Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. It's time for the
Speaker 1: Gardening Simplified Show, and not just any gardening Simplified Show,
Speaker 1: Episode one hundred.
Speaker 2: Congratulations, congratulations Rick, and congratulations Adriana, and thanks to you
Speaker 2: for sticking with us for all of these episodes. Now,
Speaker 2: as much as I would love to stay out here
Speaker 2: and do the show from the garden, we're going to
Speaker 2: head inside and get started, all right, So here we are.
Speaker 2: It's our one hundredth episode. It is amazing. It's been
Speaker 2: less than two years. We've reached one hundred, so one
Speaker 2: hundred different episodes. You can see them all on our
Speaker 2: website at Gardeningsimplified on air dot com. So if you
Speaker 2: missed one you want to go back, you can find
Speaker 2: them all there. And as we look forward into the
Speaker 2: next one hundred episodes and beyond, we wanted to hear
Speaker 2: from you, and we wanted to hear what you think
Speaker 2: about the show and what you want to see more
Speaker 2: of on the show. Now I can tell you without question,
Speaker 2: Rick and I can sit here and talk to you
Speaker 2: about plants and gardening all day long. We'll tell you
Speaker 2: things you don't even want to hear about plants and gardening,
Speaker 2: but that's what you know. The whole point of the
Speaker 2: show is is you, and is the show serving you
Speaker 2: and helping you become a better gardener and serve your
Speaker 2: needs in the garden and with plants. So we would
Speaker 2: like to invite you to fill out The survey will
Speaker 2: be linked on our website at Gardeningsimplified on air dot com,
Speaker 2: as well as in the comments on our YouTube or
Speaker 2: in the caption on our YouTube video. You can just
Speaker 2: click that now. It is optional, but if you want
Speaker 2: to put an email address, we will draw a winner
Speaker 2: at random to get a proven winner's color choice swag bag.
Speaker 2: You'll get a hat and socks and notebooks and all
Speaker 2: sorts of fun stuff that we'll get from our swag
Speaker 2: at closet, so that'll be one winner at random. It
Speaker 2: can be completely anonymous. Your survey responses are anonymous. We're
Speaker 2: not going to say, you know, Rick Vice seven at
Speaker 2: whatever emailed and said the show is great, don't change
Speaker 2: a thing. We will not be able to connect you
Speaker 2: with your answers, but we will definitely value your time
Speaker 2: and responses to that, so we'd appreciate that if you
Speaker 2: have a moment to fill that out.
Speaker 1: Tied into that survey, Today, Stacey, we talk about garden
Speaker 1: Topia and we've got a great interview coming up with
Speaker 1: Jan Johnson, an author, a designer who wrote a beautiful
Speaker 1: book called garden Topia that's coming up in our fourth
Speaker 1: segment and should be phoned. And you know what brings
Speaker 1: up the question is garden topia attainable? And tied into
Speaker 1: that survey, Stacy, I would say that I've learned that
Speaker 1: gardening is about continuing education. I'm amazed at how much
Speaker 1: I learn every day. I should say I'm amazed at
Speaker 1: how much I don't know. And that's the great thing
Speaker 1: about gardening, know how plants interact, how they live in
Speaker 1: the earth, who they live with, and how they share
Speaker 1: their resources. If you don't educate and learn, you're a laborer,
Speaker 1: not a gardener. So a true gardener is constantly seeking
Speaker 1: out new answers, you know.
Speaker 2: And that's so true. And I people will often say, oh,
Speaker 2: you're a garden expert, and I always bristle at that
Speaker 2: because there are no garden experts. I mean, yes, I've
Speaker 2: been gardening a long time and I've definitely learned a
Speaker 2: lot of things and have an under some understanding. But
Speaker 2: I can tell you too. The longer I do this,
Speaker 2: the more I realize how much I don't know, the
Speaker 2: more I realize that plants are just weird and do
Speaker 2: strange things all the time that completely surprise you. And
Speaker 2: I think, you know, Thomas Jefferson really said it best
Speaker 2: because he said, though an old man, I am but
Speaker 2: a young gardener, and he was well into his seventies
Speaker 2: at that point. And you know, that is the attitude
Speaker 2: that you have to take as as a gardener. I
Speaker 2: think a lot of us, speaking from experience, kind of
Speaker 2: do our drawn to gardening because we're maybe a little
Speaker 2: bit of a control freak. We like to have our
Speaker 2: little area that we can control and maybe impose our
Speaker 2: will on. But then there's also this element of whatever
Speaker 2: nature throws at you is whatever you have to deal with.
Speaker 2: And that's how you learn, is the challenges. You don't
Speaker 2: learn by everything going well all of the time. You
Speaker 2: learn best with the challenges.
Speaker 1: I've always found, Yeah, I agree completely, And when I
Speaker 1: go out and speak to groups, I know you do
Speaker 1: the same, Stacey. I always say to them, I'm not
Speaker 1: the gardening expert. I'm an experienced failure. That's what I am.
Speaker 1: And then when we share our stories and what we've learned,
Speaker 1: everybody benefits. And that's the basis of the Gardening Simplified show.
Speaker 1: You know. Again, we develop a relationship with our gardens,
Speaker 1: with our yards, and I always have to chuckle when
Speaker 1: somebody comes up to me and says, you know, my
Speaker 1: yard got away from me. No, your yard didn't get
Speaker 1: away from you. You got away from your ear.
Speaker 2: It's true. And also I think that there is some
Speaker 2: something to be said about embracing the wildness. There are
Speaker 2: different approaches to gardening and some people you can certainly
Speaker 2: see this if you drive around any neighborhood. Some people
Speaker 2: are the maintain everything to within an inch of its life.
Speaker 2: Everything has to be trimmed, no plants can touch. Everything
Speaker 2: is a neat, little tough and that is an absolutely
Speaker 2: lovely and valid way to garden, if that's what you
Speaker 2: want to do. But I can tell you you know,
Speaker 2: my tendency is more toward the wild. I don't have
Speaker 2: a lot of weeds because I space my plants closely together,
Speaker 2: and I'd rather have my plants I'll grow in together
Speaker 2: and prune out some stems than to spend the whole
Speaker 2: day falling weeds myself. And of course, within that fast spectrum,
Speaker 2: there's a whole lot of other ways to garden. You
Speaker 2: can mix those two, and you know, I think people
Speaker 2: would be a little bit more interested. I mean, there's
Speaker 2: certainly lots of people are interested in gardening, but I
Speaker 2: think people would be more interested if they realized that
Speaker 2: there was so much more room for creativity and forgiveness
Speaker 2: in plants. Then they assume that there is.
Speaker 1: That's well said, and also forgiveness on not being able
Speaker 1: to pronounce plant names. Now for episode one hundred, here Stacy.
Speaker 1: It's always a privilege to be able to sit next
Speaker 1: to you and do this show. Your knowledge is amazing
Speaker 1: and your ability to pronounce botanical names blows me away.
Speaker 1: So I thought for show number one hundred, I'd write
Speaker 1: a limb a rick for you called Liberties with language.
Speaker 2: Ooh, I like it.
Speaker 1: Today we are turning one hundred. Where did the time go?
Speaker 1: I wondered, It's been a successful run. Time flies, We're
Speaker 1: having fun. Lots of Latin names I've blundered. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening and viewing our commitment. We're renewing botanical names can agast,
Speaker 1: So just say them really fast then pretend you know
Speaker 1: what you're doing. That's my approach.
Speaker 2: I like, you know, it's a valid approach. There is
Speaker 2: nothing wrong with that. And you know I've said it
Speaker 2: on the show and I think and I will continue
Speaker 2: to say it, and that is that a scientific name
Speaker 2: is a great thing to know because it is universal.
Speaker 2: So if you were in another country out a botanical garden,
Speaker 2: you would be able to know what plant you were
Speaker 2: looking at. But at the end of the day, plant
Speaker 2: names serve primarily to get you what you want at
Speaker 2: the garden center, and as long as you are walking
Speaker 2: out with the plant that you wanted and hopefully a
Speaker 2: few more additional new friends to get to know, that's
Speaker 2: all that matters. Whether or not you pronounce it quote
Speaker 2: unquote correctly is really you know, people will think, oh, Stacy,
Speaker 2: she's such a you know, she's just so up on
Speaker 2: grammar and you have to say things right, and that's
Speaker 2: not true at all. For many, many years, I actually
Speaker 2: said hydrange up macro phila or macrophyla, and someone said,
Speaker 2: why are you saying macrophila. You don't say chlorophyle And
Speaker 2: he said, you're right, those are the same root words
Speaker 2: like the phyl And that's what I realized. It's just
Speaker 2: about consistency. So make up your mind how you're going
Speaker 2: to pronounce stuff. Try to interpret that consistently over all
Speaker 2: different parts of speech. Easier said than done, probably, but
Speaker 2: I you know, I again, I leave plenty of room
Speaker 2: for giveness when it comes to plant names out there.
Speaker 1: I'll be consistent and just say I'm really fast. That's
Speaker 1: what I'm going to do. So, Stacy, we've had a
Speaker 1: lot of great topics through the first one hundred episodes.
Speaker 1: Of course, people have enjoyed us walking through the trial
Speaker 1: garden plants of the year, pruning specimen plants. I was
Speaker 1: amazed at how vines and clematis or clematis was such
Speaker 1: a popular topic. But again, to reiterate, I'm interested in
Speaker 1: hearing from our listeners, from our viewers who make this
Speaker 1: show the topics that you're interested in. Because, yes, one
Speaker 1: hundred episodes, but Stacy, I think we've just scratched the surface.
Speaker 2: We have, and there's always so much more to talk
Speaker 2: about new topics as well as revisiting old topics with
Speaker 2: new context. Because you know, if we do a spring
Speaker 2: pruning show, that's going to have a very different kind
Speaker 2: of context and lean than if we were to do
Speaker 2: a fall pruning show or a winter pruning show. And so,
Speaker 2: you know, things never really get old. And here's the
Speaker 2: other thing, especially if you are a gardener who is
Speaker 2: very much still learning, as we mostly all are, it
Speaker 2: doesn't hurt to have things repeated a little bit to
Speaker 2: remind you and bring it back to top of mind.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, So today we'll talk about garden Topia. Is it attainable?
Speaker 1: A great interview coming up in our fourth segment. I
Speaker 1: like plants that celebrate the seasons, that give three or
Speaker 1: four seasons of interest, plants that are foundational, plants that
Speaker 1: put on a show, Plants that are low maintenance, enjoyed
Speaker 1: by wildlife, native of ours like proven winners, color choice shrubs,
Speaker 1: berry Poppins, winterberry or brandywine Vi Burnham. And then of course,
Speaker 1: one of our best topics during the one hundred shows
Speaker 1: was lering plants and positioning plants. That's a hot topic, Stace.
Speaker 2: It's a hot topic. And you know that is one
Speaker 2: where I think a lot of people, and I talked
Speaker 2: about it on the episode. People think there's a right answer,
Speaker 2: People think that there are these formulas, and you can't
Speaker 2: veer out of them. I can tell you that even
Speaker 2: the most talented garden designers out there who make it
Speaker 2: look easy, they have not always gotten it right. They
Speaker 2: finally got it right, and we all keep experimenting. And
Speaker 2: I think that's really the key, is to keep a
Speaker 2: critical eye and give yourself room to not necessarily make mistakes,
Speaker 2: but to do things that maybe don't work out, and
Speaker 2: then you can almost always, i mean, short of planting
Speaker 2: like an oak tree, you can almost always move things
Speaker 2: and change your mind.
Speaker 1: One of the favorite topics on The Gardening Simplified Show
Speaker 1: is the second segment Plants on Trial, and we can
Speaker 1: tap into Stacy's knowledge of plants, and that's coming up
Speaker 1: next here on our one hundredth episode. We'll see what
Speaker 1: plant Stacy has to share with us. That's coming up
Speaker 1: next here on The Gardening Simplified Show.
Speaker 2: Proven Winner's Color Choice Shrubs care about your success in
Speaker 2: the garden. That's why we trial and test all of
Speaker 2: our shrubs for eight to ten years, making sure they
Speaker 2: outperform everything else on the market. Look for them and
Speaker 2: the distinctive white container at your local garden center. Greetings,
Speaker 2: Gardening friends. For the one hundredth time, it is my
Speaker 2: pleasure to talk to you about plants on trial, which
Speaker 2: is where we take a plant, one of the three
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty plus proven Winner's Color Choice shrubs, and
Speaker 2: tell you all about it, and you decide if you're
Speaker 2: going to put it in your garden. But before we
Speaker 2: get there, the bigger question is garden topia possible?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 2: Of course I believe absolutely it is. It certainly is happening.
Speaker 2: For me. My garden honestly just looks so amazing right now.
Speaker 2: It is unequivocally a late July garden just by virtue
Speaker 2: of the plants that I have in it, you know,
Speaker 2: late July, early August, late midsummer garden, and everything is
Speaker 2: just so grown in. I can't see my neighbors anymore
Speaker 2: because you know, my big silphium cup plants are ten
Speaker 2: feet tall, and you know, everything is just lush and
Speaker 2: wonderful and full. And for me, that is garden topia,
Speaker 2: that feeling of just sort of being surrounded by this
Speaker 2: paradise of you know, diversity of plants, diversity of insects, birds,
Speaker 2: baby bunnies that are so cute. I have a set
Speaker 2: of two living in the garden right now, which are adorable,
Speaker 2: and you know, they help you rabbit proof your garden
Speaker 2: because you're not going to be able to have a
Speaker 2: garden and long if you've got a pair of baby
Speaker 2: bunnies and they eat everything. So for me, yeah, I
Speaker 2: think the garden topia is absolutely possible, and I think
Speaker 2: that I'm experiencing it, especially at this time of year.
Speaker 2: But I think the trick for most people when it
Speaker 2: comes to this notion of garden topia, this utopian you
Speaker 2: know garden that can it exist in your backyard, is
Speaker 2: that a lot of people don't know what that would
Speaker 2: look like for themselves.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think it's embracing the fact that a
Speaker 1: garden is a living thing. It's constantly changing. So when
Speaker 1: you talk about utopia, I mean a garden is never finished.
Speaker 1: That's why we have photography.
Speaker 2: Right yes, absolutely, yeah, And.
Speaker 1: So to reach utopia, I think it's like it's it's fluid,
Speaker 1: is what it is.
Speaker 2: And our listeners miss Adriana's little uh hurah there for photography.
Speaker 2: Ada is also a videographer and photographer as well as
Speaker 2: our producer. So you know, figuring out what you want,
Speaker 2: figuring out what that ideal garden topia would look like
Speaker 2: for you. You know, that might be the you know,
Speaker 2: maintain all of the neatly prune shrubs. It might be
Speaker 2: a wild garden. It might be a mix of all
Speaker 2: of those things. But one element that I personally found,
Speaker 2: especially living you know, in a small city in a
Speaker 2: heavily residential area, one element that I think is very
Speaker 2: very crucial for a successful garden a utopian garden is
Speaker 2: a sense of enclosure, as you want some structure and
Speaker 2: something that makes your garden feel private. And it doesn't
Speaker 2: have to be, you know, a complete privacy edge, but
Speaker 2: this element of privacy I think for me is very
Speaker 2: very crucial to a successful garden because it makes you,
Speaker 2: as the gardener and person who enjoys your garden, feel
Speaker 2: like you have someplace to really escape to. And I mean,
Speaker 2: this is gonna sound kind of mean, but I'm going
Speaker 2: to go for it anyway. It kind of it kind
Speaker 2: of gives everybody else something to be jealous of that
Speaker 2: there's a space that they can't go in that you've created,
Speaker 2: and it really is like, oh, I wonder what's back
Speaker 2: there behind that hedge. You know, there's something very enticing
Speaker 2: about a closed gate, about a closed off hedge about
Speaker 2: a place that you can't enter, and I think that's
Speaker 2: just as important in someone's garden as it is like
Speaker 2: in a public garden or anything like that. So this
Speaker 2: sense of enclosure and creating that is really important. Now,
Speaker 2: open vistas are very important to you, and I'm sure
Speaker 2: our guests will talk more about this, and my garden
Speaker 2: has a little bit of both. You know. I give
Speaker 2: some great borrowed scenery, which is basically when you can
Speaker 2: see something off in the distance from your garden, and
Speaker 2: one of those is a beautiful, magical giant elm tree
Speaker 2: that somehow escaped Dutch elm disease, and that adds a
Speaker 2: lot of sort of permanence to the garden. It's not
Speaker 2: in my yard, it's off, but I can see it
Speaker 2: from my garden. So you kind of have this mix
Speaker 2: of enclosure created by tall plants and as well as
Speaker 2: this ability to see out. So I think these tall
Speaker 2: enclosing plants are a really crucial part of the garden
Speaker 2: and not something that I think most people think about
Speaker 2: including in their garden because most people are like, I
Speaker 2: want something short, I don't want to have to prune it.
Speaker 2: You know, they're thinking more about just things framing the
Speaker 2: window or again being very neat and tidy, and these
Speaker 2: taller plants that provide that enclosure are really really crucial
Speaker 2: now for most people if they're talking about a privacy hedge,
Speaker 2: an enclosure of some sort, some way to kind of
Speaker 2: screen off of you or to protect, you know, to
Speaker 2: create your own little protected area. The number one plant
Speaker 2: most people think of arborviting, right, I mean absolutely, it's
Speaker 2: kind of the go to hedge plant, and for good reasons.
Speaker 2: It's fast growing, it is inexpensive for growers to produce.
Speaker 2: It's an easy plant for them to grow, which makes
Speaker 2: it very inexpensive for you to buy, which is something
Speaker 2: that also usually if you're planting a hedge, kind of
Speaker 2: that cost comes into play because it's a lot of plants,
Speaker 2: it's native, it has a delicious, delicious smell. I love
Speaker 2: the smell of arboridy foliage. Pretty easy to grow, pretty durable,
Speaker 2: and pretty fast growing as well, but not extremely heat
Speaker 2: tolerant and as Rick and I can certainly attest, far
Speaker 2: from deer resistant. An arborvity would never last and it
Speaker 2: would be, you know, like a snowball in July in
Speaker 2: my garden. Because deer don't just eat it. They love it,
Speaker 2: that fruity fragrance. They adore it. So you know, for me,
Speaker 2: arborvity to create a sense of enclosure is just not like,
Speaker 2: not even something I could consider.
Speaker 1: I'd add an element through the years in garden centers,
Speaker 1: watching people, the element of touch. Also, arbor vidy is
Speaker 1: is fun to touch, comparatively comparatively to let's say, juniper.
Speaker 2: Huh oh, yes, that's for sure too. It's not prickly.
Speaker 2: It has a nice kind of smooth, waxy looking leaf.
Speaker 2: But again, not all of us have arborvide as an
Speaker 2: option for creating that sense of enclosure or screening off
Speaker 2: an insightly view. And another important aspect of this is like,
Speaker 2: you know, you're creating your garden topia and blamo, there's
Speaker 2: your air conditioner, Like not really bringing the romance when
Speaker 2: you see your noisy old air conditioner in the middle
Speaker 2: of your beautiful, romantic garden. So that might be a
Speaker 2: situation where you want to kind of screen that off
Speaker 2: from the area, you know, where you're spending time, so
Speaker 2: you don't have to see it and think about it.
Speaker 2: And so you're looking for these screening or hedging or
Speaker 2: privacy type of plants. Arborviti is not an option. Well,
Speaker 2: I do have an option for you. It is today's
Speaker 2: plant on trial, and it is this is just one
Speaker 2: piece of it. It's not the plant cedar rapids. Cama
Speaker 2: cipress love it. Yes, So Camma cipress is also known
Speaker 2: as false cypress. And you know, we could spend a
Speaker 2: whole show, probably one day, talking about the nuances and
Speaker 2: confusion between cypress and cedar and all of these different terms.
Speaker 2: But Camma cipress is known as false cypress and also
Speaker 2: known as hinoki cypress. So Hainoki cypress is a plant
Speaker 2: that I think a lot of people are familiar with.
Speaker 2: They may have heard the name. Technically speaking, Hainoki cypress
Speaker 2: is Cama cipress obtusa, and that is a very specific one.
Speaker 2: It tends to be very small and selected for having
Speaker 2: really unique foliage. They look like they were in a
Speaker 2: coral reef or something like really sculptural, beautiful foliage. They
Speaker 2: tend to be specimen plants, though slower growing because of
Speaker 2: this short.
Speaker 1: As it relates to arborvidi, great for hedging. As you
Speaker 1: pointed out, camicipress just makes a great specimen plant.
Speaker 2: That's true, except there are also Cama cipprus that can
Speaker 2: be used as hedges, and cedar rapids is one of them.
Speaker 2: So cedar rapids is a Cama Ciprius pacifera. So the
Speaker 2: point that I'm making here is that there are a
Speaker 2: number of different species of Camma cipprus out there. So
Speaker 2: don't you say, hey, I've got this, you know, little
Speaker 2: Hinoki cypress. I've had it for twenty five years. The
Speaker 2: thing is five feet tall. There's no way I'm making
Speaker 2: a hedge out of this. There are other types of
Speaker 2: Cama Cippus out there, fall cypress. Camma ciprius pacifera is
Speaker 2: what cedar rapids is. Fun fact, since we're talking about
Speaker 2: botanical names, the pacifera part of the name pisi fer
Speaker 2: comes from the Latin for p bearing like it bears peas.
Speaker 1: But wow, you've given us all a head ucation.
Speaker 2: I have, and it's not remol related related to peas,
Speaker 2: just the little tiny green fruits that it bears. Apparently
Speaker 2: to someone back in the day Linnaeus or whoever resembled piece.
Speaker 2: So Camma Cipus pacifica very different animal than the Hanoki cypress,
Speaker 2: also known as the Sowara cypress. So you might be thinking, wow,
Speaker 2: these names sound kind of Japanese, and you are correct.
Speaker 2: Most there are native Cama cipress to the US, but
Speaker 2: most of the ones we grow in our garden are
Speaker 2: native japan to Japan, and this is no different. But
Speaker 2: this plant is a fast growing Cama cipress, so faster
Speaker 2: growing than most Cama ciprus that you might be used
Speaker 2: to or have had in your garden, and that makes
Speaker 2: it a viable hedge plant. It naturally grows with a
Speaker 2: dense pyramidal habit, so it's going to have that same
Speaker 2: kind of ice cream cone shape that people love upside
Speaker 2: down ice cream cone shape that people love so much
Speaker 2: in most arbor idy. It's going to get to be
Speaker 2: about thirty feet tall and twelve to fifteen feet wide,
Speaker 2: so this is a bigger plant. It might not be
Speaker 2: a viable hedging option for your screening option for you
Speaker 2: if you live in a smaller area, because that twelve
Speaker 2: to few fifteen foot range at the bottom is taking
Speaker 2: up quite a bit of real estate. But if you
Speaker 2: have more space, I think that sense of enclosure in
Speaker 2: creating separate spaces for you to spend time in is
Speaker 2: an even more crucial part of creating that garden topia,
Speaker 2: because how else are you going to you know, break
Speaker 2: up your space and create those more intimate spaces than
Speaker 2: with some structure like this.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I agree with you. It's all about space.
Speaker 1: And I love your concept of borrowed space. I'm sitting
Speaker 1: here thinking about my space, my enclosure, and then the
Speaker 1: borrowed space, Lake Michigan, the dunes and my neighbor's outdoor shower.
Speaker 1: I got to do something about that.
Speaker 2: Lake Michigan and the dunes is good. But yeah, the
Speaker 2: outward shower. Maybe time for a camma cipress or something
Speaker 2: else like that. Now, Cama ciprus and cedar rapids specifically,
Speaker 2: the branchlets are very soft and kind of almost feathery.
Speaker 2: So I brought this one in and if you're watching
Speaker 2: us on need To, you can see they just have
Speaker 2: these almost featherlike branchlets that gives it a really elegant
Speaker 2: kind of soft to look nice, bright green foliage. And
Speaker 2: this is deer resistant. Now, it's not prickly like where
Speaker 2: you know, you can see me touching it. I'm not,
Speaker 2: you know, wincing in pain. Here, tiny bit of prickliness
Speaker 2: on it, But overall, camisippris is a great deer resistant
Speaker 2: alternative to arbor id, and it's a bit more heat
Speaker 2: tolerant as well. This can easily grow up to USDA
Speaker 2: Zone eight, a little less hardy. We're looking at USDA
Speaker 2: Zone four on this, whereas most arbor IDs are down
Speaker 2: to USDA Zone three. Did you touch It's nice and soft. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so a really really nice choice. And I think it's
Speaker 2: just good for people to know that. You know, when
Speaker 2: it comes to this, you don't just have to throw
Speaker 2: up your hands and say I can't grow arborvidy. I
Speaker 2: don't know what I'll do. I guess I'll just have
Speaker 2: to invest in a really expensive wall or something like that.
Speaker 2: You can still create plant based solutions to building garden rooms,
Speaker 2: to screening off unsightly views, and to creating that beautiful
Speaker 2: sense of privacy and enclosure in your garden with other plants.
Speaker 2: So check us out at Gardening Simplified on air dot com.
Speaker 2: You will see everything you need to know about cedar
Speaker 2: rapids Cama ceprus and you can decide if it is
Speaker 2: the right solution for your privacy and screening needs in
Speaker 2: your garden. We've got to take a little break. When
Speaker 2: we come back, we're going to be opening up the
Speaker 2: garden mail bag for the one hundredth time, so stay
Speaker 2: tuned at proven winner's color choice. We've got a shrub
Speaker 2: for every taste and every space. Whether you're looking for
Speaker 2: an easy care rose and unforgettable hydrangea, or something new
Speaker 2: and unique, you can be confident that the shrubs and
Speaker 2: the white containers have been trialed and tested for your success.
Speaker 2: Look for them at your local garden center. Greeting's gardening friends,
Speaker 2: and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. You know,
Speaker 2: when we first started the show, we knew without question
Speaker 2: that we wanted to have some mailbag segment where people
Speaker 2: could write in with their questions because it's something that
Speaker 2: we really care about doing. Ooh, and so please to
Speaker 2: answer gardening questions for the one hundredth time and continue.
Speaker 2: Even if you take a look at our survey and
Speaker 2: we look at making some changes as we move ahead
Speaker 2: with the show, it's always going to be important to
Speaker 2: us to keep some opportunity to answer garden questions. Helps
Speaker 2: everybody know what's going on. And you know, so often
Speaker 2: if you have a question, other people have the same question,
Speaker 2: So it's a good opportunity so you can reach.
Speaker 1: I have questions like what's in Rick's coffee?
Speaker 2: I think I know now.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry.
Speaker 2: Go ahead, so visit us at Gardening Simplified on air
Speaker 2: dot com. There you can reach us through the contact form.
Speaker 2: You can even attach a photo, and then you can
Speaker 2: also find a link to our survey which you can
Speaker 2: take and fill out with your thoughts on the future
Speaker 2: of the show as well as what you've liked so
Speaker 2: far and if you would like be entered to win
Speaker 2: a proven winner's color choice swag package.
Speaker 1: I just love that, Stacy, because we'd love to hear
Speaker 1: what you have to say or if you have thought topics, boy,
Speaker 1: let us hear about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we love hearing about it. And you were sharing
Speaker 2: with me an interesting idea from a listener, Marv. Yeah, tomatoes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Marv sent us some pictures. You're seeing it on
Speaker 1: YouTube or you can go to our website, Gardeningsimplified on
Speaker 1: air dot Com. Marv doing a great job with his
Speaker 1: tomatoes and a great photo of how he pairs basil
Speaker 1: with his tomatoes. He grows basil at the base. I
Speaker 1: have always said that it is basil instinct to grow
Speaker 1: basil in close proximity to tomato plants because the tomatoes
Speaker 1: will taste better. I have no scientific evidence for that,
Speaker 1: but I believe it.
Speaker 2: Well, it's convenient in any case to have the basil intro.
Speaker 2: There's no evidence, but it doesn't hurt and it does
Speaker 2: look great together. And then you know when you're harvesting
Speaker 2: your peak tomatoes for that, you know Ensalada cuprazy at
Speaker 2: the end of summer. The basil's right there. Now, what's
Speaker 2: interesting to me is that Marvis is growing a little
Speaker 2: leaf basil. I feel like most people grow the bigger
Speaker 2: leaf basils, but he's growing a little leaf basil sometimes
Speaker 2: called box basil, sometimes called Greek basil, and that's the
Speaker 2: main basil that he has. So that's an interesting take
Speaker 2: as well. It gives it kind of a more formal look.
Speaker 2: But it's very, very pretty.
Speaker 1: It's beautiful. It's beautiful. Michael writes to us. This Bollywood
Speaker 1: variegated azalea has been in the ground a few years.
Speaker 1: It is a great little azalea with awesome showstopper blooms
Speaker 1: in the spring. My concern is that it appears to
Speaker 1: have a girdling root, so we're looking at that picture,
Speaker 1: and again we'll share that picture on our website. Also,
Speaker 1: is this a problem and if it is, can anything
Speaker 1: be done to secure the longevity of the shrub?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So, a girdling root basically just means a root
Speaker 2: that is growing around and around in circles and can
Speaker 2: actually start to wrap around the plant and cut off.
Speaker 2: You know, we've all seen a tree sort of grow
Speaker 2: into like a fence or something like that. Sometimes a
Speaker 2: tree winds, sometimes the fence winds. So what happens is
Speaker 2: these roots they grow around and around, and they can
Speaker 2: actually cut off the plant from the roots or cut
Speaker 2: off part of the cambium so that water and sugars
Speaker 2: can't make their way through the plant. And sometimes this
Speaker 2: can be an issue of just how the plant was
Speaker 2: grown originally. Sometimes it just happens on its own just
Speaker 2: because of the way that the roots grow. But my
Speaker 2: advice in Michael's case here would be to just go
Speaker 2: ahead and snip that root. You can see in the photo.
Speaker 2: It is a rather larger root. And azalea's overall are
Speaker 2: pretty sensitive to anything going on with the roots. They're
Speaker 2: shallow rooted. But you know, I think you do obviously
Speaker 2: love this plant it's a nice established specimen. I think
Speaker 2: that just snipping that root, like right where it starts
Speaker 2: to cross over the other root, because all of this
Speaker 2: is happening above ground. So that's why Michael can tell
Speaker 2: I would just go ahead and snip that out with
Speaker 2: a nice, very very sharp, fresh pair of pruners and
Speaker 2: just kind of correct the problem. I think that's better
Speaker 2: than having it potentially get worse and then not having
Speaker 2: an opportunity to correct it.
Speaker 1: I would agree with clipping the root if push comes
Speaker 1: to shovel. I would suggest doing it in fall. Of course, fall,
Speaker 1: because the soil is nice and warm and there's no
Speaker 1: stress on the plant. Roots can redevelop at that time
Speaker 1: of the year. Not that that's critical. I'm just saying
Speaker 1: from my experience that's probably when I would.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're right, And the timing is obviously
Speaker 2: perfect because here we are at the height of summer.
Speaker 2: Fall would be perfect again because the plant's already going dormant.
Speaker 2: It's still going to have plenty of all of that
Speaker 2: root root growth time in the fall, So I would
Speaker 2: go ahead and snip that out. If this were a tree,
Speaker 2: it would maybe be a little bit different that wouldn't
Speaker 2: be quite a straightforward, but since this is a small shrub,
Speaker 2: I would say do that before it gets worse and
Speaker 2: the plant, you know, should be okay.
Speaker 1: Stacy, you loved some beautiful pictures that Rebecca sent to us,
Speaker 1: photos of an area where she's been hiking for years,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden that area is covered in mysterious.
Speaker 2: Flower, right and now, I so when you sent these
Speaker 2: pictures to me, I was maybe I immediately knew what
Speaker 2: the plant was, But when I looked through the photos
Speaker 2: that Rebecca sent, I can see how it would be
Speaker 2: pretty freaky because this plant is absolutely carpeting this area.
Speaker 2: And so you can look at the photo on YouTube
Speaker 2: or on our website at Gardeningsimplified on air dot com.
Speaker 2: But just if you are in the car or whatever listening,
Speaker 2: it's a forest here in Michigan and there is all over,
Speaker 2: you know, literally thousands of these flowers coming up on
Speaker 2: say maybe a twelve inch stem, little ball starburst flower,
Speaker 2: you know, maybe about the size of a quarry. They
Speaker 2: look like alis, they look like aliums. They also could
Speaker 2: look like in aralia, which was one of the first things,
Speaker 2: which one is one of the first things I thought,
Speaker 2: but then I said, no, no, I know what exactly what
Speaker 2: this is absolutely carpeting the ground. I mean literally thousands
Speaker 2: of them. I have never seen a site like this
Speaker 2: in my life. And what it is is ramps. Yeah, yeah, ramps.
Speaker 2: So if you're familiar with ramps, they are a native
Speaker 2: Alium family member, so a native onion relative. They come
Speaker 2: out in spring with beautiful broad leaves and a purple stem.
Speaker 2: They will give you, before worn, the worst onion breath
Speaker 2: you've ever had in your life, but it is more
Speaker 2: than worth it because they have such a unique and
Speaker 2: delicious flavor. And most people only think about ramps in
Speaker 2: spring when you would actually harvest them or see them abundantly,
Speaker 2: especially in moisture woods, so not so much dry woods,
Speaker 2: but in moisture woods you'll see them. Most people never
Speaker 2: see them flower because ramps flower what is known in
Speaker 2: horticulture as naked, so that means that they flower without
Speaker 2: any foliage or other parts of the plant. So even
Speaker 2: though ramps come out in spring and that's when you
Speaker 2: actually harvest the leaf and little bulb and stem there,
Speaker 2: the flowers bloom here in late July without a single
Speaker 2: shred of evidence as to what the plant is, so
Speaker 2: it's really kind of bewildering, especially to see it at
Speaker 2: the scale that this is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, bewildering and beautiful. So we appreciate those those pictures.
Speaker 1: Doing a little research on that. To Stacey, what I read,
Speaker 1: and I'm not sure if this is true, but I
Speaker 1: read seven years for one ramp seed to emerge as
Speaker 1: a shoot, Oh wow, and that would explain why she's
Speaker 1: hiking in the area, had never seen it before, and
Speaker 1: now all of a sudden sees it. Ramps can be
Speaker 1: quite expensive, they're a delicacy, and they can also be
Speaker 1: over foraged.
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, they can definitely be over foraged. It's Rebecca
Speaker 2: has not found an or over forged path, right, you
Speaker 2: know area of it because they are abundant. But yeah,
Speaker 2: you do have to be careful obviously, never harvest ramps
Speaker 2: on property that is not your owner, that you don't
Speaker 2: have permission to harvest on. But that is why it's
Speaker 2: a good point why all of a sudden, after hiking
Speaker 2: there for many years, you see this explosion of ramflowers,
Speaker 2: and Rebecca, what you saw really is an anomaly. It
Speaker 2: was very special and you should consider yourself lucky. And
Speaker 2: if you aren't Rebecca. You should definitely check out the
Speaker 2: pictures because it is pretty magical.
Speaker 1: It's gorgeous. And then Michelle sends us a photo of
Speaker 1: an echinasia with a split personality stage.
Speaker 2: Yes, so this was a fun one and you're definitely
Speaker 2: going around look at a picture of this as well
Speaker 2: on Gardening Simplified on air dot com. And what you'll
Speaker 2: see is a regular echinaesia. So people are familiar with ecinaesia,
Speaker 2: usually it's purple, but this particular one is an orange
Speaker 2: or yellow one. And what has happened to the plant,
Speaker 2: the flower itself is that it almost looks like someone
Speaker 2: took painter's tape and made a line directly down the
Speaker 2: center of the flower. And half of it is bright
Speaker 2: yellow and half of it is distinctively bright orange.
Speaker 1: Stunning.
Speaker 2: It is very stunning, and it is a known as
Speaker 2: a chimera, and a chimera it's named for the ancient
Speaker 2: Greek creature fire breathing monster that was had a lion's head,
Speaker 2: a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. Now some pictures
Speaker 2: of a chimera. If you look it up, it's got
Speaker 2: the lion you know, head and forearms, it's got the
Speaker 2: goat head and back quarters, and then the tail and
Speaker 2: the serpent's head, So it's all three animals crushed into
Speaker 2: one kind of terrifying creature. How that translates botanically to
Speaker 2: what a plant chimera is is. It is multiple genes
Speaker 2: manifesting within a single flower. This isn't like totally unusual,
Speaker 2: but it's not common. And the chimera mutation is basically
Speaker 2: just as the flower was developing that apical mara sem
Speaker 2: where the growth point comes from. It just whatever mutation happened,
Speaker 2: it caused those two genes to develop at similar rates.
Speaker 2: And it literally means that there are two different genomes
Speaker 2: existing within this single flower. Now, I will tell you
Speaker 2: right now, chimeras are very complicated genetically, and I could
Speaker 2: not possibly even pretend to explain to you what's actually
Speaker 2: going on. But I did find some great resources that
Speaker 2: I will post in our show notes at Gardening Simplified
Speaker 2: on air dot com if you are interested in learning more.
Speaker 2: There's no need to do anything if your plant does this.
Speaker 2: I asked some of our plant breeders what they thought
Speaker 2: if this would continue, if you would see this again
Speaker 2: next year, and they said very likely you will, so
Speaker 2: no need to do anything. It's not a mutation. It's
Speaker 2: it's not a weakening mutation. It's a mutation, but it's
Speaker 2: just you know, genes from the plant's past sort of
Speaker 2: making themselves known today.
Speaker 1: Accept compliments on the mutation. I think it's beautiful chimerism,
Speaker 1: something that I've seen often in Zenius.
Speaker 2: Oh yes, yeah, there's some Some plants are more susceptible,
Speaker 2: and obviously the daisy family are ast racy, as we
Speaker 2: can see with zecond aisha. So if you find a
Speaker 2: k chimera, go ahead and send us a picture and
Speaker 2: patch yourself on the back. So we're going to take
Speaker 2: a little break. When we come back, we've got a
Speaker 2: special guest for branching news, so please stay tuned. The
Speaker 2: Gardening Simplified Show is brought to you by proven Winners
Speaker 2: Color Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs and evergreens
Speaker 2: have been trialed and tested for your success so you
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Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, and today for
Speaker 1: branching news and interview. Looking forward to this along the
Speaker 1: subject of garden Topia, and if you're watching on YouTube,
Speaker 1: Stacy's holding up this beautiful book right now written by
Speaker 1: Jan Johnson Now. Jan is an award winning landscape designer
Speaker 1: and author and a speaker. She studied landscape architecture and
Speaker 1: received a graduate degree in planning. She's worked in New York, Honolulu, Japan, California, Washington,
Speaker 1: d C. Of course, designs landscapes, and as I mentioned,
Speaker 1: is an author the beautiful book garden Topia Designed Basics
Speaker 1: for Creating Beautiful outdoor Spaces. Of course, this follows the
Speaker 1: other books she's written, The Spirit of Stone and Heaven
Speaker 1: is a Garden. I love following Jan on Instagram because
Speaker 1: it's inspirational. Jan, Welcome to the Gardening Simplified Show.
Speaker 3: Well, hello everyone, Hi, Rick, thank you so much for
Speaker 3: that great intro.
Speaker 1: Let me start here because it's our topic. And of
Speaker 1: course people right now are looking at your beautiful book,
Speaker 1: garden Topia. Garden Topia, you say, is that rare marriage
Speaker 1: of the art of landscaping and the technical knowledge of
Speaker 1: how to compose a landscape? I should ask right off
Speaker 1: the bat, Jan, is garden Topia attainable?
Speaker 3: Oh? Absolutely? And it doesn't matter how big a piece
Speaker 3: of property you have. I mean, it could be very small,
Speaker 3: like I have a very small backyard, but it is
Speaker 3: definitely my little sanctuary.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we were talking about space earlier. You mentioned sanctuary.
Speaker 1: That's one of the ideals as far as garden Topia
Speaker 1: is concerned, is to create your space. And you know,
Speaker 1: this is episode one hundred. One of the most popular
Speaker 1: shows we did was a show on layering, in other words,
Speaker 1: how to place plants and where to place plants. I
Speaker 1: noticed on Instagram that you recently landscaped a fire pit
Speaker 1: area and I thought it was just so beautiful because
Speaker 1: you simply used what was it hacking achlore, Japanese forest grass.
Speaker 3: Exactly, Japanese forest grass that was a variety called all.
Speaker 1: Gold, Okay, and that made for an amazing space.
Speaker 3: Oh listen, Yeah, it was a very simple h terrace,
Speaker 3: you know, bluestone terrace that we made, and then how
Speaker 3: to kind of define it well the easy and in
Speaker 3: deer countries, you know, you always have to worry about
Speaker 3: the deer chomping on your plants, and so Japanese forest
Speaker 3: grass seemed to me to be a great solution. And
Speaker 3: I bordered a good portion of the terrace with this
Speaker 3: beautiful yellow gold grass that just all grows in together.
Speaker 3: It's just lovely.
Speaker 2: It is one of those plants that I think so
Speaker 2: many people have, you know, a big, tall, stiffness canthus
Speaker 2: in mind when they think of ornamental grasses, and so
Speaker 2: when they see hakonakloa and it just has that like lush, soft,
Speaker 2: touchable texture, it really makes people rethink ornamental grasses. And
Speaker 2: I'm sure that designer you know of your caliber who
Speaker 2: have that experience. You know, you can also use it
Speaker 2: to kind of visually simulate water and other different textures
Speaker 2: in the garden.
Speaker 3: Yes, and it's also really good for erosion control, you
Speaker 3: can because it just like you were saying, it has
Speaker 3: that soft, kind of moundy look to it, which is
Speaker 3: so great. And so it works really well on a
Speaker 3: slope because you know, you're not looking up at a
Speaker 3: stem necessarily, just all the soft breed bending over. Yeah,
Speaker 3: it's really wonderful.
Speaker 1: We're chatting with designer and author Jan Johnson her beautiful
Speaker 1: book garden Topia, and you mentioned Jan. Okay, so garden
Speaker 1: Topia is attainable. In looking at your blog, I was
Speaker 1: interested in this quote that rare moment of reconnection can
Speaker 1: become more prevalent in your life if you take the
Speaker 1: time to notice the natural world. Just as a wine
Speaker 1: connoisseur relishes that first sip on the tongue, you can
Speaker 1: learn to savor a flower, a rock, or even a breeze.
Speaker 3: Isn't that so lovely And it's so true, isn't it.
Speaker 3: I mean, people just have to stop and be observant
Speaker 3: and just notice, in my opinions, how amazing nature is.
Speaker 3: And it's much more easily done if you have a
Speaker 3: little outdoor space that you can do that in. You know,
Speaker 3: like it's hard when you're just being bombarded by all
Speaker 3: the stimuli. But if you're got a space, even if
Speaker 3: it's just a terrace and you have pots, you know,
Speaker 3: with flowers in them, at least if you have a
Speaker 3: little place where you can stop and just take some
Speaker 3: deep breaths and just see what's around you. I find
Speaker 3: that people once they learn to appreciate a flower or
Speaker 3: a texture of a plant or something like that, it
Speaker 3: never leaves them. You know.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that, and jan you call them stop time moments.
Speaker 1: Of course, I've done years of radio and I was
Speaker 1: always taught to create what we call driveway moments where
Speaker 1: you sit in the car and you're not going to
Speaker 1: leave the car because you're really listening to what's being
Speaker 1: said on that show. But stop time moments. How do
Speaker 1: we create stop time moments in our landscapes?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I guess they should explain what that means.
Speaker 3: I certainly understand driveway moments. I have done that so
Speaker 3: often when you sit in the car because you want
Speaker 3: to keep hearing the podcast or whatever you're listening to.
Speaker 3: You just sit different finishing more minutes than that. But
Speaker 3: I guess what it is is that we'll and I
Speaker 3: write this, I think of myself. You know, I'm always
Speaker 3: rushing from here to there, get things done. Whatever. You
Speaker 3: just stop and one moment can almost feel like ten
Speaker 3: minutes because it's just that time where you, like I said,
Speaker 3: you stop and you just kind of almost get lost,
Speaker 3: you know, you almost get lost in the thought or
Speaker 3: even like in a fragrance like I have. Every summer,
Speaker 3: I plant the garden you bush in a big planter,
Speaker 3: and I put it outside in my door, and I
Speaker 3: just go out there and I sniff the gardenias. I mean,
Speaker 3: that's my stop time moment, it's like, Okay, I get it.
Speaker 3: You know, that's what I mean by that.
Speaker 2: And I think, you know, so many people feel like
Speaker 2: you have to know something about plants or about gardening
Speaker 2: to get there, and you know, so often I think
Speaker 2: if people just let themselves fall in love with something,
Speaker 2: even if it is just one plant, and they put
Speaker 2: it on a container on their little terrace or near
Speaker 2: you know, on their back porch where they spend time.
Speaker 2: You know, as you spend time with a plant, and
Speaker 2: as you get to know it, and you see the
Speaker 2: light change, and you see the plant change through time,
Speaker 2: and you know, through the seas, and you watch insects
Speaker 2: interact with it. All of this that is really what
Speaker 2: starts to I think, take you down that road. It's
Speaker 2: not the kind of thing where I think a lot
Speaker 2: of people just assume, oh, you know, they've just already
Speaker 2: had some sort of enlightenment and I'm never going to
Speaker 2: get there, but that we've all found our way to
Speaker 2: that level of enjoying an appreciation of plants and gardening
Speaker 2: through yes, single moments like that.
Speaker 3: Yes, And also like you were just saying, and I
Speaker 3: agree with you totally, even if it's just one plant,
Speaker 3: you create a relationship with that one plant. You may
Speaker 3: not know anything else, but you know the hellibores because
Speaker 3: Aunt Mary gave you this plant that you didn't know
Speaker 3: anything about. And now that you see that it's evergreen
Speaker 3: and it actually has a flower in early spring. I mean,
Speaker 3: and then that's what gets you started on that path,
Speaker 3: you know, and you say hello boys, and go oh,
Speaker 3: let me tell you about my hellboy.
Speaker 1: You know, that's exactly my point. Jan You develop a
Speaker 1: relationship with plants and with your landscape. If you don't
Speaker 1: take the time to develop that relationship, then you're more
Speaker 1: or less a laborer, not a gardener. And I apia right.
Speaker 3: Oh absolutely, And I'm trying. What I try to do
Speaker 3: is design basics. Is because a lot of people love
Speaker 3: these plants and they'll go out and they'll get that
Speaker 3: beautiful uh let's dance hydrangea or something that they but
Speaker 3: then they just kind of go, well, where do I
Speaker 3: put it? Where do I put it? It's and I'm
Speaker 3: saying no, no, no, let's think about that before you
Speaker 3: you know, buy the plant, make you know, get prepared
Speaker 3: a little bit beforehand. But I and I try to
Speaker 3: make it easy to follow. I say things like a
Speaker 3: pop of red and they you know, and like that's
Speaker 3: a great design. Kip, by the way, is that you
Speaker 3: know all these great artists like Sey Zon or Norman Rockwell,
Speaker 3: for a look at their paintings, they always have a
Speaker 3: little pop of bread in the painting. I used to
Speaker 3: I used to take my son when he was young,
Speaker 3: to the Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts, and I used to
Speaker 3: tell them to look at the paintings and find the
Speaker 3: little dot of red for me, and he could in
Speaker 3: every single one. And it's the same thing in the garden.
Speaker 3: You can just put a little dot of red, like
Speaker 3: a little red coxco or or a red poppy or
Speaker 3: something like that, and it and it adds a little
Speaker 3: vibrancy to the scene.
Speaker 2: That's such a great piece of advice too, that you know,
Speaker 2: people don't people think, oh, I don't know enough about color.
Speaker 2: I don't know enough about color theory to design a garden.
Speaker 2: And you know, in that case, don't you don't have
Speaker 2: to be the expert. You know, let Paul Clay be
Speaker 2: the expert. Let Norman Rockweller says on be the expert,
Speaker 2: and take your inspiration from the color that someone like
Speaker 2: that has already. You know, if you connect with the
Speaker 2: painting or another piece of artwork, you know, how can
Speaker 2: you interpret those same kind of colors, you know, in
Speaker 2: plants in your own yard. There's just so many opportunities
Speaker 2: for inspiration. And honestly, Jen, that's what I really love
Speaker 2: about your Garden Topia book. I see the subtitle here
Speaker 2: on the back is one hundred and thirty five Inspiring
Speaker 2: Tips to transform any backyard, garden or lawn. And this
Speaker 2: is exactly the kind of book that I love to
Speaker 2: have around, like on my coffee table, on my side table,
Speaker 2: and then whenever you need a little bit of garden inspiration,
Speaker 2: especially in the winter, you know, thinking about how I
Speaker 2: want to make this change, and I think this is
Speaker 2: just one of those books that is just so full
Speaker 2: of inspiration and then you know, actual practical information on
Speaker 2: how you can then interpret it in your garden. But
Speaker 2: you know, it's just I think it's really like I
Speaker 2: love a good informational book. I love a good book
Speaker 2: you can get into and read all about taxonomy and
Speaker 2: all of this other stuff. But these good design books
Speaker 2: where you can just kind of let your imagination run wild,
Speaker 2: and you know, ask yourself, what do I like about
Speaker 2: this idea, what would this mean in my yard with
Speaker 2: the materials you know, like out here in Michigan, we
Speaker 2: don't you know, bluestone re costs and arm and a leg,
Speaker 2: So you know, how can we use our materials to
Speaker 2: you know, interpret a lot of these ideas. And I
Speaker 2: just think I really enjoyed looking through this book so much.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much. Yeah, And you know, people say
Speaker 3: to me, well, out of all these tips, what's the
Speaker 3: most important tip. I've had that question, and you want
Speaker 3: to know what it is. Yes, it's called it's all
Speaker 3: about the soil. I think that's the one because if
Speaker 3: you don't, if you don't create beautiful, beautiful soil, then
Speaker 3: you're already going to sail, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: Like even like even in pots, right you have to
Speaker 3: plant it in potting mix, in a in a planter, right.
Speaker 3: Not you can't take the sell out of your yard
Speaker 3: and jump it in the planter because it's too heavy.
Speaker 3: But the same thing with planting. And I always say
Speaker 3: to people, you know, you don't have to buy the
Speaker 3: seven gallon plant by the three down plants, but just
Speaker 3: put the money into making your soil beautiful.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's great. We're chatting with Jan Johnson her
Speaker 1: beautiful book Garden Topia. Jan is a speaker and author,
Speaker 1: a designer, and Jan just recently adran Or Robinson got
Speaker 1: back from Cape Cod and her photography, of course, is
Speaker 1: always so beautiful. Her video. Oh yeah, but it looks
Speaker 1: like the high Ranges were gorgeous. You just returned.
Speaker 3: Also, Yes, every year, like clockwork, I spend a week
Speaker 3: camping in Wellfleet, which is the northern part of Cape Cod.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't miss it for the world because it's just
Speaker 3: it is a gardener's paradise. I mean everybody goes, of
Speaker 3: course to sit on the beach, but the plants there
Speaker 3: grow like crazy, especially hydrange.
Speaker 1: And of course you also recently traveled to Italy. Is
Speaker 1: that correct?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 3: Boy, was I lucky? Yes, I've never been there before
Speaker 3: and a family member got married and so of course
Speaker 3: we had to go, no matter what, we had to
Speaker 3: go to this wedding. Boy was I happy to do that.
Speaker 3: You know, Rennaissance gardens or something unusual, right not, you know,
Speaker 3: with all their statutory and everything, but they knew how
Speaker 3: to use design technique like nobody else. I mean, we're
Speaker 3: still learning from them. They use statuary and plants together
Speaker 3: to create a marvelous environment. I highly recommend people to
Speaker 3: check out the gardens of Italy, and.
Speaker 2: You know the fact that they have persisted. Of course,
Speaker 2: they've been changed, and you know, different owners have changed
Speaker 2: them according to their whims over time. But you know
Speaker 2: the fact that these gardens have persisted for literally hundreds
Speaker 2: of years as a real testament to how timeless they
Speaker 2: are and how much we need gardens as humans, you know,
Speaker 2: to enjoy. And yeah, I think Italy is it is
Speaker 2: definitely a bucket list trip for any gardener exactly.
Speaker 3: And you know, it's interesting you say that, because, in
Speaker 3: my opinion, we need gardens and parks and common outdoor
Speaker 3: spaces more than ever. We have to make places where
Speaker 3: people can enjoy the outdoors, you know, especially with our kids.
Speaker 3: You know, they're always staring at screens. You know, we
Speaker 3: need places that allow them to get in your little
Speaker 3: stream and play with it and just enjoy nature. And
Speaker 3: if nature's not nearby, then we have to create it
Speaker 3: in some form or other. That I feel so strongly about.
Speaker 1: That I love that.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 1: Jan your work has been featured in many publications and
Speaker 1: you have more than forty years of experience. You own
Speaker 1: New York based Johnson Landscape and Landscapes and Pools. So
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask you a very unfair question for
Speaker 1: the benefit of our listeners and our viewers, and that
Speaker 1: is do you have a favorite plant?
Speaker 3: Wow? Yes, I do you have that? Depth? Oh? Yes,
Speaker 3: I do. It's the Oakley hydranger.
Speaker 2: Yes, great answer.
Speaker 3: I love Oakley hydrangea and all varieties. I mean, they're
Speaker 3: also its great varieties. And the reason I love that
Speaker 3: so much is, first of all, I love the old texture.
Speaker 3: I love the flowers and the fact that the flowers
Speaker 3: stay on the plant and they just get darker with age,
Speaker 3: and then of course in the fall it gets that burnished,
Speaker 3: dark red leaves. It's just I just love that plant.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd have to agree with you. It's one of
Speaker 1: my plants that I put into the category of three
Speaker 1: to four seasons of interest and that that plant makes
Speaker 1: for an ideal impact in landscapes. Her name is Jan Johnson.
Speaker 1: Her book Garden Topia.
Speaker 3: Jan.
Speaker 1: How do people learn learn more about you? Do you
Speaker 1: have a website you can share with us?
Speaker 2: Sure?
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, thank you for talking about my
Speaker 3: Instagram every day I post on Instagram every day and
Speaker 3: so that's the Instagram address is Johnson Design j O
Speaker 3: h N s e N. Designed. A lot of people
Speaker 3: don't realize that, but my last name is Johnson is Johnson.
Speaker 3: And then my I have a substack. Now I don't
Speaker 3: know if people know what that is. It's the platform
Speaker 3: for posts, and so my substack is Jan Johnson dot
Speaker 3: substack dot com. And of course the name of it
Speaker 3: is Gardentopia. And lastly my website which is Johnson Landscapes dot.
Speaker 1: Com Johnson Landscapes dot com. So j O h N
Speaker 1: s e n. The book is garden Toopia. And yes,
Speaker 1: I would agree, Stacey. When I get on Instagram, Jan's
Speaker 1: one of the first people I look for.
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2: It is so wonderful to have such a great source
Speaker 2: of inspiration. And we really appreciate you sharing your work
Speaker 2: and your perspective and making that a feel for anybody.
Speaker 3: And I really love proven winners plans just so you know,
Speaker 3: and all the great variety you guys.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you well, it means a lot to us.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us today. Jan, We appreciate it so
Speaker 1: much and all the best to you.
Speaker 3: Thanks again, bye now bye bye bye.
Speaker 2: Well that was great. Now, if you didn't catch any
Speaker 2: of those links, we will have them all linked for
Speaker 2: you so you can find Jan's Instagram, website and substack
Speaker 2: on our website, Gardening Simplified on air dot com. We
Speaker 2: want to thank Jan, I want to thank you Rick,
Speaker 2: I want to thank you Adriana, and thank you all
Speaker 2: so much for following us for the past one hundred episodes.
Speaker 2: Here's to the next one hundred. Hope you can take
Speaker 2: a moment to fill out our survey at Gardeningsimplified on
Speaker 2: air dot com. Thanks so much and have a wonderful
Speaker 2: week ahead.