March 2, 2024 • 43 mins
Whether it's from poor drainage or a high water table, wet soils can be hard to deal with. But there are lots of beautiful plants that will thrive in them! Learn what they are and other tips for dealing with soggy situations. Featured plant: Sugar Shack buttonbush.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Coming to you from Studio A atProven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. It's time
for the Gardening Simplified Show with StacyHervella me Rick weisst and our engineer and
producer Adrianna Robinson. Well, Stacey, We've had some comments and some questions
from folks who watch us on YouTubeor listen to the podcast or listen to
(00:23):
us on radio about the fact thatthey have wet spots in their garden.
We've done some shows on drought,but today I think we've got to help
out these folks who have plants thathave wet feet. You know, it
happens a lot, and certainly it'sless common for you and I out here
by the lake shore, where oursoils really sandy and really well drained.
(00:43):
Even if we were to get somesort of torrential downpour, it's usually going
to drain out pretty quickly because sandysoils drain well. But especially people who
have clay soils or people who havea shallow water table, they can have
naturally wet soil and that can feelreally limiting for people. Absolutely, and
of course we know that plants needoxygen as much as they need water,
(01:03):
or taking a plant and planting ittoo deep. Again, roots need oxygen
in order for the plant to thrive. So rainfall is a good thing,
but sometimes it can pose challenges,and today we'll talk about that here on
the Gardening Simplified Show. And bythe way, when a plant's under stress
due to too much water, staceydisease can quickly become a problem. Well,
(01:29):
sure, a lot of diseases.When people talk about root rot and
that kind of thing, those thingsdon't happen to healthy plants that are in
well drained soil. They happen whenthere is a lot of moisture and the
plant can't get oxygen to recover fromall of that of that water. Yeah,
and I've also seen situations in landscapeswhere folks are struggling primarily because they
(01:51):
are an irrigation set it and forgetit individual, and there's a rain button
there on the clock for you.Irrigation. Just pay attention to that.
Weather patterns change and so you're goingto have to adapt to it with your
irrigation. Now, stay see afew different ways to deal with it.
(02:12):
Number one, raised beds elevate plantingareas above the surrounding soil level to improve
drainage and prevent water logging. That'sone way. Swales are another way to
create shallow, gently sloped ditches todivert excess water. Drainage ditches, I
guess in a worst case scenario,you may want to install a drainage ditch
(02:36):
or a French drain. And thenthe other thing that I think is really
important in these wet areas is toadd organic material. Many times the wetness
is due to dense soil particles likeclay. Soils avoid the temptation to add
sand. Sand plus clay equals concretebethinking organic material well, and the organic
(03:00):
material is going to be a loteasier to haul around and incorporate into your
garden compared to sandwhich is extremely extremelyheavy. I think another really important part
of this equation is determining what isthe cause of that excess moisture in the
first place. Because those solutions thatyou just listed, you know, which
of those is going to be bestfor you really depends on what is the
(03:20):
culprit in the first place. Andso many of us you know out here
it's common for the water table tobe very high, but i've certainly you
know, been in places where there'sjust natural water features or you know,
drainage is naturally poor, and inthat case, there's probably less you can
do with it. If it's astormwater runoff issue, like with your house,
then a French drain might be thesolution. You might be able to
(03:40):
get new gutters or downspouts and changethat so that you can actually, you
know, manage where that water isgoing. But once you determine that cause,
then you can look at the solution. And some solutions might be inexpensive.
Some solutions might be very expensive ifthey require a lot of like regrading
and reworking of your area, andsome solution can actually be really fun.
And I was glad that you mentionedabout the swales because one thing that's so
(04:04):
popular right now is rain gardens.Yes, and that is a great plant
based solution to a wet area thatis maybe super wet when it rains and
then dries off a little bit inthe summer, like when we're sort of
in between, and rain garden plantsare specifically adapted to those conditions. Great
points made their Stacey, And ofcourse, where you're with your plants around
(04:25):
your home, take a look atthe gutters, take a look at the
down spouts. It's a pretty easyfix to be able to move or at
least move the water from the downspouts into another direction. And you're right.
In some situations, we have plantsthat are underwater part of the year
and dry and that boy, that'stough, tough on plants. Let me
(04:49):
give you a limerick on the subject. I want a lovely retreat, but
high water my efforts deplete. Ilive in a floodplain. The water just
won't drain. I constantly have wetfeet. My yard is under a flood.
My soil type is mud. I'mfeeling under the weather. We're all
(05:10):
in this together. My landscape isa dud. You know, this is
a tough situation to deal with.It is and you know, again going
back to like the difficulty aspect,if you have what soil, it's hard
to dig. It's going to bedifficult to get those plants in there.
But the good part is that ifyou are doing a plant based solution,
like a rain garden or like plantsthat simply tolerate wet soil, you invest
(05:32):
that time and effort once and thenyour plants should be good to go.
And you know, on the brightside, you never have to worry about
watering. Yeah, that's true.Look at the bright side. I like
that. Let's talk about some ofthose plants that can handle the water,
because I think that that's a greatsolution is plants that are tolerant to having
(05:53):
wet feet. And one grass thatI just love is switch grass or panic
and generally we think about them indry areas or grasses being drought tolerant,
but I've found that switch grasses canhandle it quite well. Papyrus like the
graceful grasses, TUTS series, fiberoptic grass is really great, the Juncus,
(06:17):
the blue mohawk or curly whirly juncus, and then of course stacey.
Also your sedges. I love sedgeslike the toffee twists sedge. Any of
those are a situation where we canuse a grass like plant in a wet
area. You know, Sedges arealso known as carrecks botanically, and I
(06:38):
have to confess that my absolute mostfavorite carrecs out there are all wet soil
carrects. Okay, I mean there'sreally nice dry soil carrecks that can you
take it dry and are very versatile, but my most favorite ones are absolutely
for wet areas, so you know, it's a typical gardening situation. The
grass is always greener on the otherside, you know, very good.
(06:58):
Another great water in tolerant place isyour favorite cannas. Yes, cannas can
handle it. I appreciate you bringingthat up. And while we're on the
subject of foliage plants that can handlewater, how about iris, Siberian iris,
Japanese iris. You know, Siberianiris are almost semi aquatic and they
can really handle wet feet and bloombeautifully for you. So if you've got
(07:23):
a wet area, I would certainlylook at Siberian iris. Ligularia bottle rocket.
Yeah, I love that plant,and that if you do see that
it is a native species. Ifyou see that growing in the wild,
you're absolutely going to see that inthose wet, deeply forested areas, just
sitting there doing its thing and lookingamazing. Also, another great perennial would
(07:44):
be cardinal flower cardinal lobilia. There'ssome great varieties there that you can pick
from. And when we move onto shrubs, I don't want to steal
your thunder because stay tuned in segmenttwo and Stacey always gives us a great
plant in plants on trial, SoI'm not going to steal your thunder on
the shrubs, although I do wantto say you're an individual who really got
(08:09):
me excited about chokeberry erronia, andI think that that's a great plant.
Clethras summer sweet vanilla spice is anotherone, and we'll see what Stacy has
up per sleeve in segment four.And then of course trees. You know,
we want to try to grow treesin wet areas. Many people do
(08:31):
struggle with it. I think thatthere's some great choices there. Red maple's
a great choice, Juneberry river birch. Hackberry willow, of course is an
obvious and swamp oak. The speciesthat was used at the nine to eleven
memorial site in beautiful, beautiful,really amazing native oak. And of course,
(08:52):
even though it's not as common togrow out here, we cannot forget
the bald cypress yes growing in thecypress swamps of the South and really just
one of the most beautiful and interestingplants. We do have some in our
trial garden here. I mean they'refascinating. They grow these knees, these
woody outgrows when they're in a lotof standing water that will definitely trip you
(09:13):
if you're walking through the woods oranything. But they're so beautiful and so
interesting, and they're a deciduous conifer. They are a conifer, but they
actually lose their leaves every fall,which is why they're called bald cypress.
But we have so many amazing Americannative trees that can take this kind of
conditions, So you know, you'rereally spoiled for choice. Even though your
(09:33):
initial you know, reaction might be, oh man, what can I grow
nothing? I'm just gonna be livingin a swamp over here. There are
actually a number of really interesting,beautiful plants that you can grow that have
seasonal interests. They're not just somethingthat will simply grow there and you'll just
be like, okay, yeah it'sthere. I mean, you'll actually get
a good show. I agree.So if you've got a wet spot that
you're dealing with, don't throw inthe trowel. There's a lot of options
(09:56):
for you. Oh Zelkova tree,I was thinking about that too, So
don't throw in the trowel. Ijust wet my plants. You can do
it and be successful in wet areas. We'll find out what plant Stacy has
in mind. Coming up next inPlants on Trial here on the Gardening Simplified
Show. Proven Winner's Color Choice Shrubscares about your success in the garden.
(10:26):
That's why we trial and test allof our shrubs for eight to ten years,
making sure they outperform everything else onthe market. Look for them and
the distinctive white container at your localgarden center. Greeting's gardening friends, and
welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where it is our pleasure to be
the first, maybe the first towelcome you to spring. Yes, it
is officially meteorological spring. That meansthat if you measure the seasons by the
(10:52):
month rather than the actual astronomical dates, when the equinox or solstices happen,
that it's spring. So meteorological springis March April May. And that means
that just yesterday we started meteorological springthe way I'm going to measure it,
Stacey, March one spring start.The earlier, the better for you.
Earlier. Well, we're celebrating ithere with a new backdrop. If you
(11:13):
haven't seen it on our YouTube show, you can see that there we'll be
looking at this for the next threemonths. Will it is meteorological spring,
and we are definitely very happy aboutit, even though this year's weather has
definitely made it seem like spring camea lot earlier. Wow, February strange,
very strange. I have had mysnow crocuses in bloom for about a
(11:33):
week two weeks now, the earliestthey've ever bloomed in the entire time I've
grown them in, you know,fifteen years, glory of the snow snow
drafts which Hazel hellibores goes on andon. They're they're in bloom now you're
in Michigan, so it's a goodopportunity for you to document that through your
social media. It's always good tolook back and see those dates, just
like a meteorologist would. But speakingof spring, today's plant on trial is
(11:58):
actually a summer plant, so I'mgetting way ahead of myself. Today's plant
on trial is sugar shack button bush. Sugar shack button bush, that's correct,
and it is not a plant thatyou're going to see doing a whole
lot until summer rolls around. Butof course I picked it to match with
(12:18):
today's show, and it is absolutelypositively one of the most wet tolerant,
wet soil tolerant shrubs that we offer. A I figured that's why you picked
it, and you know that's whatwe do on this show. You introduced
the plant and then I simply repeatit like Ed McMahon on the Johnny Curson,
(12:41):
just like that. So I wantyou to leave that in Adriana.
I know Ed McMahon from Star Search, not this night shot. I was
not allowed to stay up that lateduring those years. But anyway, this
is a very interesting plant. Sobefore I get in to its ability to
tolerate what so, I want tojust kind of paint a mental picture of
(13:03):
it for you. It is aplant that is native to North America,
and its main attraction is by farits flowers. And its flowers are such
that if you were to see themin a book or a picture on Instagram
or something like that, you wouldthink it was some sort of crazy exotic
plant. The flowers, when itblooms in about mid to late July,
(13:26):
are these perfectly round spheres that looklike a pincushion with pins coming out all
around them. Now, they're relativelysmall, probably about this a little bit
bigger than a quarter, So Iknow, sometimes you can't really tell the
scale, but they just look likesomething from out of this world. And
in fact, one of the firstvarieties of button bush that was selected and
(13:46):
available on the market was actually calledSputnik, oh, after the Soviet spacecraft,
because it resembled that that sort ofcircular, spiny looking thing. The
other thing about the flowers just themost incredible fragrance. And you know,
I often find that when a planthas incredible fragrance and it's summer blooming,
(14:07):
there's just something about that combination ofthose hot, humid days and that amazing
fragrance coming off the plants that isreally just makes your day. So let
me let me ask you a quickquestion a minute, Stacy, I can
see button bush based on how theflowers look. But here at proven Winter's
color choice shrubs, how'd you settleon sugar shack. Well, that's a
(14:30):
very good question, and I'm afraidI don't really have a very good answer.
Oh. I distinctly remember the conversationwherein we named it sugar shack.
But very often so what we're doingwhen we're trying to name plants is we're
thinking about, Okay, this isthis is a native North American plant.
We want something that kind of impliesthat it's you know, related to sort
(14:52):
of these vernacular traditions, like asugarshack, even though it blooms in summer
and it's pretty hearty. So thisplant is hardy from you USDA Zone four
and heat tolerant all the way upto USDA Zone ten. So it's actually
one of the broadest hardiness range ofany of the plants that are in the
proven Winter's Color Choice line. AndI think that we just kind of liked
that name because of the sweetness,you know, of the flowers, the
(15:15):
sweetness of the fragrance, and italso just kind of just kind of stuck
and it's out in the woods whereyou might find a sugar sheck. I
think it's right. So I thinkwhen people see the flowers again, they
think that it's something exotic, butI have seen native button bush. Cephalanthis
occidentalis is the scientific name, growingright downtown Grand Rapids, right along the
(15:37):
river there. Wow, would yousay that botanical name again, cephalanthis occidentalis.
Wow, that's really impressive. Well, cephalanthis it means like a head
like flower, so that's where thatroundness comes. And occidentalis actually means eastern
because this plant is native to theentire eastern half of North America, so
that's where the botanical name comes from. But this is a plant that is
(16:00):
far from exotic, far from unfamiliar. And again, if you are walking
along the river, walking downtown GrandRapids by the gerald Ford Museum, you
will actually see wild button bush growingalong the river beautiful. And if you
certainly if you go up north,you'll find it growing along any kind of
like large pond, small lakes.It will also grow like in Grand Rapids,
(16:22):
along running water, so along rivers. And I always just find it's
so interesting that when something looks andfeels so exotic to find out that it's
actually really ubiquitous if you're just inthe right kind of environment for it.
Ubiquitous and a native plant. Andthe botanical name is as tough to say
as meteorological spring. I actually findCephalanthus accidental. It's a little easier speaking
(16:45):
for rolls off your tongue. Sothis is again a very easy plant to
grow. Now, it does wanta lot of water, and this is
a case that you're going to findthat typically though more tolerant of wet soil,
something is the less tolerant it willbe of drought or dry soil.
There are a couple of exceptions outthere. I think you mentioned Erhonia.
(17:07):
That's one that can can kind oftake those extremes. Although it will definitely
start to suffer if it's too dry, it won't suffer if it's too wet.
So this is not a plant fordrought. I have tried to grow
it in my garden. I cannottoo well drained, not enough water.
But if you have an area youknow, again clay soil, high water
table, if you have like alive on a river or a pond or
(17:30):
something like that, this makes sucha beautiful choice. Now, what is
the reason that we selected sugar shackspecifically out of all of these button bushes
that you can find all over Michigan. Is we were looking for a way
to make this plant more friendly togrowing in home gardens. Now, if
you were to see a button bushout in the wild, it could be
anywhere from you know, eight toten or twelve feet tall and wide and
(17:55):
typically and this certainly includes the onesin Grand Rapids. Not a great looking
plant if you see the flowers,you're like, oh, that's kind of
neat, But you know the plants, they're kind of scraggly. You know,
they've had a lot of damage justfrom you know, the river raging
by and having things, you know, float by and break branches and so
forth. So it's not necessarily aplant that she would recognize so well if
(18:17):
you were to see it in thewild and it's bloom period again is only
in sort of that like mid tolate July time frame. But it does
have some other distinguishing characteristics, veryglossy foliage, and I think that that
is that makes this plant really attractivewell outside of its blooming season. So
we've got it down to about afour to five foot tall and wide size,
(18:37):
so you can't actually use it inyour home landscape and enjoy those flowers.
Another distinctive characteristic that we selected itfor is after those flowers fade,
what's left is sort of this round, almost a little bit like a plane
tree or a sycamore seed pod,sort of like that, but they turn
(18:59):
red, and so the other onesin the wild after that flower fades,
i'll just kind of turn brown ortake on a little bit of red.
With sugarshack. We were selecting forthat remaining fruit to be a really nice
bright red and you can see thisin our show notes at Gardeningsimplified on air
dot com, and you can lookat the pictures also on our Instagram and
of course if you're watching on YouTube, you'll see everything. And it really
(19:19):
gives this plant a lot more seasonof interest, which is another thing that
people are going to want when itcomes to including it in their landscape.
Rather than just appreciating it. Theywant it to be a size that works
for their landscape and they want tohave that longer season of interest, and
we want to give it to them. Yeah, so, Stacey, more
seasons of interest. But I thinkthe other selling points as you've mentioned a
(19:41):
native plant, yes, and thenI'm looking at your description the honey scent,
the sugar shack element of it.I would think this thing would attract
pollinator. Oh my gosh, itis a buzz with pollinators in the summer.
It's something you really have to seeto believe it. Almost it's one
of those plants. I love this. I'm sure a lot of people are
(20:02):
probably recoiling at the mirror idea,but I love standing next to a plant
like this when it's in bloom ona summer day, and it's just like
throbbing with life, just like buzzingand noisy, with all of the insects
with you. I think that's athrill. I love that. I'll stick
my hand right in there. It'sfabulous. Yeah, it's great. Hopefully
you don't get stune. But theinsects will actually, and this is true,
(20:25):
the insects will be so busy,you know, feeding off. The
plants are not interested in you.You really got to go mess with them
to try to distract distract them fromthe wonderful nectar of sugar. Shehck button
bush. So as I said,very wide hardiness range, hardy USDA zones
four through USDA Zone ten, sovery cold tolerant as well as very heat
tolerant, very useful, four tofive feet tall and wide summer bloom time.
(20:47):
And one last thing, oh twoless things actually very deer resistant.
Ah. So this is a plantthat you don't have to worry about the
deer getting So great if you havemore of an unmanaged property and are just
looking to get more interesting plants init. And it was recently awarded the
Pennsylvania Horticulture Society Gold Medal. Isee that. That's that's a big deal.
It's a very big deal. It'sa very prestigious award. We have
(21:08):
a couple of other plants that haveearned it, but definitely one that we
were very proud of to get that. So we thank the people at PHS
for that, and hopefully you willtake that as an additional recommendation to add
sugar shack button bush to your landscape. You can get all the details at
Gardening Simplified on air dot com.We're going to take a little break.
When we come back, we're openingup that garden mail bags, so please
(21:29):
stay tuned. At proven Winner's ColorChoice, We've got a shrub for every
taste and every space. Whether you'relooking for an easy care rose and unforgettable
hydrangea, or something new and unique, you can be confident that the shrubs
and the white containers have been trialedand tested for your success. Look for
(21:51):
them at your local garden center.Greeting's Gardening friends, and welcome back to
the Gardening Simplified Show. You know, I do love to help people with
their garden questions. I never reallyget stumped, but you can certainly try.
Oh and if you have a gardeningquestion, whether or not you think
it'll stump us. If it's stumpedyou, you can certainly reach out to
(22:11):
us any time at help HLP atGardeningsimplified on air dot com, or just
visit Gardening Simplified on air dot com. We've got a handy contact form there
that you can fill out and sendus, and we would be happy to
offer our experience and expertise and perspectiveon your problem, as we're going to
do for these gardeners Stacy, asI always say, that gets my stump
(22:32):
of approval. Chuck writes to us, we live in Zone seven A north
of Atlanta, Georgia. We alsolive in deer country, which forces us
to purchase deer resistant shrubs. Iwent heavy with daisy gardenas about twenty of
them. Two years have passed andno blossoms. My pH is between six
(22:52):
point five and seven with a fertilizerfor acid loving plants, just do the
trick or do I add extra saltfor in spring? I read pH of
five to six is optimum, butcan't get my pH. Lower bushes are
green and growing great, but nobeautiful white blossom. Well, that is
very disappointing because it is you know, gardenias are beautiful, their foliage is
(23:15):
attractive, and their habit is typicallyvery attractive. But you know, let's
face it, we're growing it forthe flowers. So I certainly can understand
Chuck's pain. And one of thereasons why I really wanted to get this
one out here is because whether ornot you can grow gardena, I think
that this hints at a common misconceptionabout plant health, and that is that
(23:36):
soil pH will If the soil pHis an issue, it's not necessarily going
to manifest as a lack of flowers. What you're going to see is unhealthy
foliage exactly. And so if you'renot getting flowers, my first thought would
not be to blame the soil pH. If, as you say, the
plant is growing green and looking healthy, then the pH is almost certainly not
(23:57):
the issue. Yeah, because isif the pH was a problem, it's
going to be evident in the veiningof the foliage and the color. Yeah,
you're going to see a lot ofyellow leaves especially. You know,
new growth is going to be slowto come out. When it does come
out, it's going to look sicklyand unhealthy. And you know we've talked
about this on the show before,but soil pH is the reason that plants
(24:18):
have specific soil pH needs is notbecause of the acidity of the soil and
oh my roots can take in anacidic environment or a less acidic environment.
It's because the soil pH controls theavailability of nutrients to the plants. So
all of the nutrients in the soilare minerals, their elements, and a
chemical reaction has to take place forthem to become free from the soil bond
(24:41):
and be taken up for the plant. And that is going to happen differently
under different soil conditions. And thisis why if you do have a soil
pH issue for your plant, again, it's not likely going to manifest itself
through a lack of flowers. Socertainly it can be you know, nutrients
starved enough that that is the issue, but it that would not be the
only symptom you're seeing. You're alsogoing to see yellow foliage, weird sort
(25:04):
of veining foliage. There's a lotof different nutrient deficiencies that can happen,
so chuck, if your soil isreally about a six point five to seven.
That's probably a little bit higher thanGuardina's would want. But as long
as your foliage is still nice andgreen, I wouldn't worry about that.
I would start turning my attention todifferent explanations for the lack of flowers.
And there's a couple of possible reasons. So number one is potentially maturity.
(25:29):
So these plants have only been inthe ground about two years. Normally this
isn't a huge issue for Guardinas,but it is something to consider certainly.
You know the whole sleep, creepleap. The first year a plant sleeps,
the second year it creeps and grows, and then the third year it
leaps, so that could be anissue. And whenever something's not flowering,
you know what, we've got toask. You're gonna say it. I'm
(25:51):
not gonna say it, You're going, okay. We got to ask if
you're prumned it and if so,win, because pruning is probably the number
one reason certainly when it comes tohydranges can be for anything else. The
number one reason that a plant wouldn'tbloom guardinas because they bloom in early spring,
bloom on old wood. So basicallythat means that if you prune your
guardena at any point from say September, until it would be blooming the following
(26:15):
spring, you would be cutting offthe flower buds that the plant had already
formed. It's making those flower budsin fall and winter and then just opening
them in spring. So if youneed to prune your guardina, the only
time you can safely do that withoutremoving flowers is immediately after it flowers.
Yeah, I agree completely on thepruning thing. I think in addition to
(26:36):
that, taking a look at availablelight. Also when we're having difficulty with
pruning, I think we've got totake a look at the amount of sunlight
that those plants are, yeah,for sure, and too much shade.
Although gardinias can definitely tolerate some lightshade, and the hotter your climate,
the more shade they can take.It's certainly worth considering because yeah, in
deep shade, pollinators are not asactive, and so the plant is less
(27:00):
likely to flower because it's not gettingthe energy, and why would it when
there's no pollinators, And ultimately,as much as enjoyment, As much as
we get enjoyment from the flowers,the flowers do exist only to make seeds.
So if it's not going to beable to do that, then a
lot of times the plant won't justwon't put the energy into blooming. I
just let you do your thing withthat answer, and I'll do the Ed
McMahon thing again. You are correct, man. I like it because I
(27:25):
really have nothing else to add.You nail it. Yeah, So anyway,
Chuck, don't worry too much aboutthe pH unless you start seeing the
yellow foliage. If you have beenpruning, and I know when someone has
miss prune something, the urge tokick yourself is very strong. But on
the bright side, if pruning isactually the solution, that's a very easy
thing to fix. You know,if the issue is shade, that's not
(27:47):
so easy to fix, because thenyou might have to move the plant or
change something around. At least withpruning, you can modify your behavior and
not prune it and get back tobeautiful, fragrant Grdemia flowers hopefully this year,
if not next. It's a kickin the plants, all right.
Genny's asking us about powdery mildew.What causes it to form on plants?
Does it spread to other plants inthe garden? If not treat it.
(28:11):
How do you get rid of itand treat it? Can I deal with
it in spring before disease begins?Should the disease plant be cut back or
removed? You know, Jenny,great questions. And let me say right
off the top, Stacey, thatcoming up next week we'll talk about IPM,
and this is a great question asit relates to that, and anytime
(28:37):
that we're looking at issues like powderymildew, I think we've got to remember
what we learned in school a longtime ago. Whenever we have a disease,
it's like a triangle. You havea pathogen, you have a host,
and you have an environment that's suitableto it growing. And I think
you know my comment would be onpowdery mildew that fungal spores travel. Yes,
(29:03):
they sure do. They're very small, they can easily travel on the
air. And I found that Ginny'squestions were all really really good questions.
So to answer the first question,what causes it to form on plants,
It's exactly what Rick said. Thefungal spores are in the air. Certain
plants are more susceptible than others,and they thrive in conditions where a plant
(29:26):
is alternately wet and dry. Sothey can't really live well on a plant
that's always dry. They can't reallylive well in a plant that's always wet.
But if you have say a sprinklersystem, and it pelts all your
plants first thing in the morning,they spend all day drying, and then
the next day boom happens all overagain. That is ideal conditions for powdery
mildew to develop. Now, asfar as it's spreading to other plants,
(29:48):
this is interesting. As much asit can seem like powdery mildew is a
ubiquitous disease, powdery mildew is alwaysspecific to the plant that it's on.
So the powdery mildew that would impactsome thing like a rose is not going
to be the same powdery mildew thatwould affect something like a coreopsis. They
are specific to those genera or thegenus that you're growing. So the idea
(30:11):
that it would spread to other plantsin your garden, yes, it will
spread to similar plants, so otherroses or other choreopsis, but that same
type of powdery will not crop upon other plants. If other plants get
it, it got another strain orspecies of the powdery mildew fungus. I
like that and fungal spores are fun. Guys like me just kind of hang
(30:32):
out and wait until the environment's right. And you know, you mentioned the
irrigation issue. If you're watering,you know, try to water at the
base. The other thing I've found, Stacy, is if you're overfertilizing your
plants, that can be an issue. Yeah, well, anytime there's that
fresh new foliage. What happens whena plant leaves out is as that foliage
(30:53):
matures, a wax cuticle develops andthen it's less susceptible to those fungal diseases.
But when it's fresh in spring,when it is moist, when there
is a lot of fungal spores freshon the wind, it's really easy for
them to land on that foliage.And I think this is sort of one
of the big gotchas of powdery mildewis that by the time it starts showing
(31:15):
up in your garden in you know, June, it actually infected your plants
probably two months prior, and sopreventative is really has to happen in spring.
But I will say overall, powderymildew can be very unsightly, and
in extreme conditions it can be extremelyunsightly, But overall I encourage people to
just kind of take it with agrain of salt. My standard advice.
(31:37):
If it's a branch that you caneasily cut off without really harming the plant
or you know, ruining its overallappearance, I would say, just snip
it out and throw it away.That reduces the inoculum or amount of fungal
spores out there and the other thing. And this is definitely one of those
easier said than done types of piecesof advice. But try to clean up
all of the foliage from the plantafter it, because what happens with this
(32:00):
plant and its life cycle. Thoseleaves had powdery mildew on them, They're
going to fall below the plant.They're going to sit there with those fungal
spores on them, and then thefollowing spring, if conditions are right,
which they very often are, they'rejust going to go right back up and
reinfect that plant and it's new foliage. By removing that foliage from the base
(32:21):
of the plant, you can reallydo a lot to reduce it. Of
course, the fungal spores are stillon the wind it's not foolproof, but
it is something and you know,every little bit does help. And this
is sort of the crux of IPMas we're going to talk about next week.
I think it's well rooted advice.All right, thank you all so
much for your questions. If youdo have a question for us, again,
reach us at Gardening Simplified on airdot com. We're going to take
a break when we come back BranchingNews. The Gardening Simplified Show is brought
(32:50):
to you by proven Winners, ColorChoice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs
and evergreens have been trialed and testedfor your success so you enjoy more beauty
and less work. Look for provenWinners Color Choice Shrubs and the distinctive white
container at your local garden center.Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show.
It's time for branching news and HappyLeap Year. February twenty We get an
(33:14):
extra day this year, or wehad an extra day, and I try
to make I try to make themost of it. Get up early in
the morning Leap Day, I goto ihop, have breakfast, you know,
kind of cool. So three hundredand sixty five days to a year
twenty four hours a day, butit actually takes the Earth three hundred and
(33:35):
sixty five point four nine zero daysto orbit the Sun. That just kind
of blows my mind. Who's counting? Who's counting exactly? Well, I'll
tell you who's counting. The reasonthat we have this leap day or extra
day every four years is because centuriesago people kept track of the Sun's position.
(33:57):
They couldn't watch whether people on thenews or whatever it may be.
They didn't have the digital advantage advantageswe have today, and so they kind
of looked at that sort of thingto know when to plant or harvest,
and so it was a big dealto them. But I just try to
take that extra day and make themost of it, really pack a lot
(34:21):
in that day because I feel likeI'm getting a bonus. Yeah you are,
I guess, Yeah, I guess. So. So anyhow, I
start off the day by going tothe I hop like anyone would on leap
Day. And it's unbelievable. SoI hope you enjoyed it. Did you
drink a happy beer? Oh?Yes, I do, a very happy
one in IPA. All right,I say, eat more plants. Us
(34:45):
adults found many feel either tired,frustrated, or even sad by the time
their day is done. Now that'sreally sad. I'm looking at a survey
here, and but here's the point. Many people credit their diet for making
them feel that way, either frustrated, sad at the end of the day,
(35:08):
or tired. One in five Americanssaid they don't even have the slightest
idea where their food comes from.So the top motivators to buy sustainably sourced
foods or maybe this year put avegetable garden on your docket and grow some
vegetables at home is to eat healthieroverall, improve their heart health, weight
(35:30):
management, boost their energy, ormanage their stress levels. Again, we
see surveys over and over again theadvantage of growing your own food in your
own yard and taking advantage of thatthis year. Make a resolution to do
that in twenty twenty four. Andyou know, I think so many people
(35:51):
think, oh, well, vegetablegarden. That sounds like a lot of
work. But really it can beas simple as just growing one tomato plant
or just growing one basil plant.And I think, you know, you
don't have to just dive into thedeep end. If you want to great,
but you don't have to. AndI find that, you know,
it's very encouraging and addicting when youdo start to have that little bit you
(36:13):
know, Oh, I just youknow, put a little bit of homemade,
homegrown basil on this. You know, I just harvested some homegrown tomatoes.
And once you get that feeling,you want more. So it can
start small, and even that makesa big difference. Yeah, if you
can chop up some slices of greenpepper and throw them in a little tupperware
container and then midday while you're atwork, you could munch on those,
Yeah, and just casuals. Yeah, I agree with these. Anyone anyone
(36:36):
else? Anyone want? Anyone wantto know about my homegrown green pea.
Come over here, look at mypeppers. Yeah, you've got it.
Anyhow, I like to talk aboutfresh food and how important it is and
that you know, not only doesit help us physically, but it also
helps us mentally. And I guessthat's the point I'm trying to make.
(36:57):
If you can show your fellow coworkers that you know, I grew this
in my garden, it it feelsgood. So have you heard about the
restaurant on the moon. No greatfood, no atmosphere. You know what,
I can always tell whether or notyou like one of my puns by
your sigh. I have a Icall it my seismograph. So there you
(37:22):
go. All right, here's asad story. Let's move to a sad
story. Duke University has decided toclose its herbarium. No, that's sad.
I don't know if I'm pronouncing thatright, Stacey, but I think
I am. It's an herbarium.So it's a collection of eight hundred and
twenty five thousand specimens of plants,fungi, algae. They've been collecting them
(37:45):
for a century. So an herbariumis like a library, but it differs
in that the information is stored ina biological form. So it's a collection
of plant specimens. They preserve them, they label them, they store or
them. Maybe they're pressed on paper, flattened, dried, mounted, some
(38:05):
of them maybe are seeds or microscopicslides, DNA extractions, whatever it may
be. But of course, yeah, I can you know, I can
certainly consider the fact that it's veryexpensive to keep an herbarium going, and
yet a lot of people are veryupset about this. And understandably so because
(38:29):
in today's day and age with DNA, they you know, they're able to
go back and pull important data asfar as these plants are concerned, and
issues like climate change or how plantsare adapting to the climate or the area
where they're at. So, andin defense of Duke University, they've stressed
(38:52):
that their plan is to move theherbarium someplace else. They're saying, we're
not destroying anything, but boy,what an archive after one hundred years and
they've decided, you know, they'renot going to fund it anymore. I'm
hoping they can find a new homefor it, you know, I hope
so too. Arberia are very interestingand important aspects of research, so usually
(39:15):
you know, associated more with museumsor large institutions, which is kind of
surprising that a big university like Dukewould actually get rid of theirs or move
it. It sounds to me likethe herbarium needs a marketing campaign, Like
we need to get some like museumexhibits going so people can get interested in
herbaria and you know, start tocare more about the preservation and what we
(39:36):
can learn from the preserve specimens.Yeah, that's great. And I'm sure
it's a budget issue. And ifyou want to read more on this and
educate yourself on this, the NewYork Times did a great article and we'll
put the link there at Gardeningsimplified onair dot com, so check that out.
Wow, while we're on the subjectof depressing news, and I didn't
(39:58):
want to bring this up, Stacy, but just over a year ago,
we talked about Flacco, the owl. I did hear about this in New
York, who fled the Central ParkZoo enclosure after it was vandalized and he
died. Yeah, he collided witha building in Manhattan, the Wildlife Conservation
(40:19):
Society announced, And it made mereally sad when I saw that, because
boy, people were really rallying aroundFlacco. They were enjoying bird watching,
learning more about bird watching as heflew about Central Park and they're in New
York and they would post updates onTwitter about his eating habits, that sort
(40:39):
of thing. And he died,So yeah, kind of sad. I
mean, window strikes are always sosad, and especially when it is you
know, a bird of prey,which is of course, I mean,
it's tragic anytime, but especially whenyou have something that is relatively rare or
uncommon, like a bird of prey. But you know, this is why
it's so important people keep their lightsoff at night to try to minimize it.
(41:00):
I mean, we'll never be ableto completely get rid of bird strikes
because sometimes the sun can just hita window at a certain angle and the
birds get confused. But any littlebit that we can do if you frequently
have bird strikes. I remember wedid a branching news story once on how
the deca had to be on theoutside. If you put it on the
inside, it didn't work. Anylittle thing you can do can help,
(41:21):
and you might not know how ithelps. But yeah, we have to
do the best that we can withwhat we have. Absolutely, by the
way, it causes me to think, how was superb Owl Sunday? It
was good. I did not seeany owls, not for a lack of
looking, but I personally did notsee any owls superb or otherwise. At
least you were out there birdwatching,Yes, definitely, all right, I
(41:43):
love it. And then you everlike to go just to websites that are
selling homes like Zillow. I liketo do that. And we're going to
post a picture of one that Ispotted in fullsome Lake California things an entertainers
paradise. It's not that the houseis so big, but the backyard landscape
(42:07):
just is unreal. You got tosee it to believe it. The hedges
back there spell out the word Margaritaville. Oh my, and it's hilarious to
take a look at in California.So you got to take a look at
that, because that is huge fun. And it brings up the point that
(42:28):
our landscapes and our plants and outdoorour living areas give us a chance to
enjoy entertaining folks or just enjoy itfor ourselves and have some fun with it.
In this home boy, they tookit the extra mile. Well,
you know, it is important thatwe look at our gardens as opportunities for
self expression. I mean, Ican't say that spelling Margaritaville would be my
choice for hedgewords, but you know, if you love Margarita's and you love
(42:52):
Jimmy Buffett, then I guess that'swhat you're going to spell with your hedge.
A term. I walks into abar, he sits down and says,
hey is the bartender. With that, we'll end our show today.
It's been fun The Gardening Simplified Show. Look for us on Instagram, look
(43:12):
for our website, the Gardeningsimplified Showon air dot com, and of course
watch us on YouTube or radio,or look for us wherever you get your
favorite podcasts. Stacey, thanks somuch, Thank you, Adriana, and
thanks most of all to you,thanks for tuning in The Gardening Simplified Show.
Coming to you from Studio A atProven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. It's time
for the Gardening Simplified Show with StacyHervella me Rick weisst and our engineer and
producer Adrianna Robinson. Well, Stacey, We've had some comments and some questions
from folks who watch us on YouTubeor listen to the podcast or listen to
(00:23):
us on radio about the fact thatthey have wet spots in their garden.
We've done some shows on drought,but today I think we've got to help
out these folks who have plants thathave wet feet. You know, it
happens a lot, and certainly it'sless common for you and I out here
by the lake shore, where oursoils really sandy and really well drained.
(00:43):
Even if we were to get somesort of torrential downpour, it's usually going
to drain out pretty quickly because sandysoils drain well. But especially people who
have clay soils or people who havea shallow water table, they can have
naturally wet soil and that can feelreally limiting for people. Absolutely, and
of course we know that plants needoxygen as much as they need water,
(01:03):
or taking a plant and planting ittoo deep. Again, roots need oxygen
in order for the plant to thrive. So rainfall is a good thing,
but sometimes it can pose challenges,and today we'll talk about that here on
the Gardening Simplified Show. And bythe way, when a plant's under stress
due to too much water, staceydisease can quickly become a problem. Well,
(01:29):
sure, a lot of diseases.When people talk about root rot and
that kind of thing, those thingsdon't happen to healthy plants that are in
well drained soil. They happen whenthere is a lot of moisture and the
plant can't get oxygen to recover fromall of that of that water. Yeah,
and I've also seen situations in landscapeswhere folks are struggling primarily because they
(01:51):
are an irrigation set it and forgetit individual, and there's a rain button
there on the clock for you.Irrigation. Just pay attention to that.
Weather patterns change and so you're goingto have to adapt to it with your
irrigation. Now, stay see afew different ways to deal with it.
(02:12):
Number one, raised beds elevate plantingareas above the surrounding soil level to improve
drainage and prevent water logging. That'sone way. Swales are another way to
create shallow, gently sloped ditches todivert excess water. Drainage ditches, I
guess in a worst case scenario,you may want to install a drainage ditch
(02:36):
or a French drain. And thenthe other thing that I think is really
important in these wet areas is toadd organic material. Many times the wetness
is due to dense soil particles likeclay. Soils avoid the temptation to add
sand. Sand plus clay equals concretebethinking organic material well, and the organic
(03:00):
material is going to be a loteasier to haul around and incorporate into your
garden compared to sandwhich is extremely extremelyheavy. I think another really important part
of this equation is determining what isthe cause of that excess moisture in the
first place. Because those solutions thatyou just listed, you know, which
of those is going to be bestfor you really depends on what is the
(03:20):
culprit in the first place. Andso many of us you know out here
it's common for the water table tobe very high, but i've certainly you
know, been in places where there'sjust natural water features or you know,
drainage is naturally poor, and inthat case, there's probably less you can
do with it. If it's astormwater runoff issue, like with your house,
then a French drain might be thesolution. You might be able to
(03:40):
get new gutters or downspouts and changethat so that you can actually, you
know, manage where that water isgoing. But once you determine that cause,
then you can look at the solution. And some solutions might be inexpensive.
Some solutions might be very expensive ifthey require a lot of like regrading
and reworking of your area, andsome solution can actually be really fun.
And I was glad that you mentionedabout the swales because one thing that's so
(04:04):
popular right now is rain gardens.Yes, and that is a great plant
based solution to a wet area thatis maybe super wet when it rains and
then dries off a little bit inthe summer, like when we're sort of
in between, and rain garden plantsare specifically adapted to those conditions. Great
points made their Stacey, And ofcourse, where you're with your plants around
(04:25):
your home, take a look atthe gutters, take a look at the
down spouts. It's a pretty easyfix to be able to move or at
least move the water from the downspouts into another direction. And you're right.
In some situations, we have plantsthat are underwater part of the year
and dry and that boy, that'stough, tough on plants. Let me
(04:49):
give you a limerick on the subject. I want a lovely retreat, but
high water my efforts deplete. Ilive in a floodplain. The water just
won't drain. I constantly have wetfeet. My yard is under a flood.
My soil type is mud. I'mfeeling under the weather. We're all
(05:10):
in this together. My landscape isa dud. You know, this is
a tough situation to deal with.It is and you know, again going
back to like the difficulty aspect,if you have what soil, it's hard
to dig. It's going to bedifficult to get those plants in there.
But the good part is that ifyou are doing a plant based solution,
like a rain garden or like plantsthat simply tolerate wet soil, you invest
(05:32):
that time and effort once and thenyour plants should be good to go.
And you know, on the brightside, you never have to worry about
watering. Yeah, that's true.Look at the bright side. I like
that. Let's talk about some ofthose plants that can handle the water,
because I think that that's a greatsolution is plants that are tolerant to having
(05:53):
wet feet. And one grass thatI just love is switch grass or panic
and generally we think about them indry areas or grasses being drought tolerant,
but I've found that switch grasses canhandle it quite well. Papyrus like the
graceful grasses, TUTS series, fiberoptic grass is really great, the Juncus,
(06:17):
the blue mohawk or curly whirly juncus, and then of course stacey.
Also your sedges. I love sedgeslike the toffee twists sedge. Any of
those are a situation where we canuse a grass like plant in a wet
area. You know, Sedges arealso known as carrecks botanically, and I
(06:38):
have to confess that my absolute mostfavorite carrecs out there are all wet soil
carrects. Okay, I mean there'sreally nice dry soil carrecks that can you
take it dry and are very versatile, but my most favorite ones are absolutely
for wet areas, so you know, it's a typical gardening situation. The
grass is always greener on the otherside, you know, very good.
(06:58):
Another great water in tolerant place isyour favorite cannas. Yes, cannas can
handle it. I appreciate you bringingthat up. And while we're on the
subject of foliage plants that can handlewater, how about iris, Siberian iris,
Japanese iris. You know, Siberianiris are almost semi aquatic and they
can really handle wet feet and bloombeautifully for you. So if you've got
(07:23):
a wet area, I would certainlylook at Siberian iris. Ligularia bottle rocket.
Yeah, I love that plant,and that if you do see that
it is a native species. Ifyou see that growing in the wild,
you're absolutely going to see that inthose wet, deeply forested areas, just
sitting there doing its thing and lookingamazing. Also, another great perennial would
(07:44):
be cardinal flower cardinal lobilia. There'ssome great varieties there that you can pick
from. And when we move onto shrubs, I don't want to steal
your thunder because stay tuned in segmenttwo and Stacey always gives us a great
plant in plants on trial, SoI'm not going to steal your thunder on
the shrubs, although I do wantto say you're an individual who really got
(08:09):
me excited about chokeberry erronia, andI think that that's a great plant.
Clethras summer sweet vanilla spice is anotherone, and we'll see what Stacy has
up per sleeve in segment four.And then of course trees. You know,
we want to try to grow treesin wet areas. Many people do
(08:31):
struggle with it. I think thatthere's some great choices there. Red maple's
a great choice, Juneberry river birch. Hackberry willow, of course is an
obvious and swamp oak. The speciesthat was used at the nine to eleven
memorial site in beautiful, beautiful,really amazing native oak. And of course,
(08:52):
even though it's not as common togrow out here, we cannot forget
the bald cypress yes growing in thecypress swamps of the South and really just
one of the most beautiful and interestingplants. We do have some in our
trial garden here. I mean they'refascinating. They grow these knees, these
woody outgrows when they're in a lotof standing water that will definitely trip you
(09:13):
if you're walking through the woods oranything. But they're so beautiful and so
interesting, and they're a deciduous conifer. They are a conifer, but they
actually lose their leaves every fall,which is why they're called bald cypress.
But we have so many amazing Americannative trees that can take this kind of
conditions, So you know, you'rereally spoiled for choice. Even though your
(09:33):
initial you know, reaction might be, oh man, what can I grow
nothing? I'm just gonna be livingin a swamp over here. There are
actually a number of really interesting,beautiful plants that you can grow that have
seasonal interests. They're not just somethingthat will simply grow there and you'll just
be like, okay, yeah it'sthere. I mean, you'll actually get
a good show. I agree.So if you've got a wet spot that
you're dealing with, don't throw inthe trowel. There's a lot of options
(09:56):
for you. Oh Zelkova tree,I was thinking about that too, So
don't throw in the trowel. Ijust wet my plants. You can do
it and be successful in wet areas. We'll find out what plant Stacy has
in mind. Coming up next inPlants on Trial here on the Gardening Simplified
Show. Proven Winner's Color Choice Shrubscares about your success in the garden.
(10:26):
That's why we trial and test allof our shrubs for eight to ten years,
making sure they outperform everything else onthe market. Look for them and
the distinctive white container at your localgarden center. Greeting's gardening friends, and
welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where it is our pleasure to be
the first, maybe the first towelcome you to spring. Yes, it
is officially meteorological spring. That meansthat if you measure the seasons by the
(10:52):
month rather than the actual astronomical dates, when the equinox or solstices happen,
that it's spring. So meteorological springis March April May. And that means
that just yesterday we started meteorological springthe way I'm going to measure it,
Stacey, March one spring start.The earlier, the better for you.
Earlier. Well, we're celebrating ithere with a new backdrop. If you
(11:13):
haven't seen it on our YouTube show, you can see that there we'll be
looking at this for the next threemonths. Will it is meteorological spring,
and we are definitely very happy aboutit, even though this year's weather has
definitely made it seem like spring camea lot earlier. Wow, February strange,
very strange. I have had mysnow crocuses in bloom for about a
(11:33):
week two weeks now, the earliestthey've ever bloomed in the entire time I've
grown them in, you know,fifteen years, glory of the snow snow
drafts which Hazel hellibores goes on andon. They're they're in bloom now you're
in Michigan, so it's a goodopportunity for you to document that through your
social media. It's always good tolook back and see those dates, just
like a meteorologist would. But speakingof spring, today's plant on trial is
(11:58):
actually a summer plant, so I'mgetting way ahead of myself. Today's plant
on trial is sugar shack button bush. Sugar shack button bush, that's correct,
and it is not a plant thatyou're going to see doing a whole
lot until summer rolls around. Butof course I picked it to match with
(12:18):
today's show, and it is absolutelypositively one of the most wet tolerant,
wet soil tolerant shrubs that we offer. A I figured that's why you picked
it, and you know that's whatwe do on this show. You introduced
the plant and then I simply repeatit like Ed McMahon on the Johnny Curson,
(12:41):
just like that. So I wantyou to leave that in Adriana.
I know Ed McMahon from Star Search, not this night shot. I was
not allowed to stay up that lateduring those years. But anyway, this
is a very interesting plant. Sobefore I get in to its ability to
tolerate what so, I want tojust kind of paint a mental picture of
(13:03):
it for you. It is aplant that is native to North America,
and its main attraction is by farits flowers. And its flowers are such
that if you were to see themin a book or a picture on Instagram
or something like that, you wouldthink it was some sort of crazy exotic
plant. The flowers, when itblooms in about mid to late July,
(13:26):
are these perfectly round spheres that looklike a pincushion with pins coming out all
around them. Now, they're relativelysmall, probably about this a little bit
bigger than a quarter, So Iknow, sometimes you can't really tell the
scale, but they just look likesomething from out of this world. And
in fact, one of the firstvarieties of button bush that was selected and
(13:46):
available on the market was actually calledSputnik, oh, after the Soviet spacecraft,
because it resembled that that sort ofcircular, spiny looking thing. The
other thing about the flowers just themost incredible fragrance. And you know,
I often find that when a planthas incredible fragrance and it's summer blooming,
(14:07):
there's just something about that combination ofthose hot, humid days and that amazing
fragrance coming off the plants that isreally just makes your day. So let
me let me ask you a quickquestion a minute, Stacy, I can
see button bush based on how theflowers look. But here at proven Winter's
color choice shrubs, how'd you settleon sugar shack. Well, that's a
(14:30):
very good question, and I'm afraidI don't really have a very good answer.
Oh. I distinctly remember the conversationwherein we named it sugar shack.
But very often so what we're doingwhen we're trying to name plants is we're
thinking about, Okay, this isthis is a native North American plant.
We want something that kind of impliesthat it's you know, related to sort
(14:52):
of these vernacular traditions, like asugarshack, even though it blooms in summer
and it's pretty hearty. So thisplant is hardy from you USDA Zone four
and heat tolerant all the way upto USDA Zone ten. So it's actually
one of the broadest hardiness range ofany of the plants that are in the
proven Winter's Color Choice line. AndI think that we just kind of liked
that name because of the sweetness,you know, of the flowers, the
(15:15):
sweetness of the fragrance, and italso just kind of just kind of stuck
and it's out in the woods whereyou might find a sugar sheck. I
think it's right. So I thinkwhen people see the flowers again, they
think that it's something exotic, butI have seen native button bush. Cephalanthis
occidentalis is the scientific name, growingright downtown Grand Rapids, right along the
(15:37):
river there. Wow, would yousay that botanical name again, cephalanthis occidentalis.
Wow, that's really impressive. Well, cephalanthis it means like a head
like flower, so that's where thatroundness comes. And occidentalis actually means eastern
because this plant is native to theentire eastern half of North America, so
that's where the botanical name comes from. But this is a plant that is
(16:00):
far from exotic, far from unfamiliar. And again, if you are walking
along the river, walking downtown GrandRapids by the gerald Ford Museum, you
will actually see wild button bush growingalong the river beautiful. And if you
certainly if you go up north,you'll find it growing along any kind of
like large pond, small lakes.It will also grow like in Grand Rapids,
(16:22):
along running water, so along rivers. And I always just find it's
so interesting that when something looks andfeels so exotic to find out that it's
actually really ubiquitous if you're just inthe right kind of environment for it.
Ubiquitous and a native plant. Andthe botanical name is as tough to say
as meteorological spring. I actually findCephalanthus accidental. It's a little easier speaking
(16:45):
for rolls off your tongue. Sothis is again a very easy plant to
grow. Now, it does wanta lot of water, and this is
a case that you're going to findthat typically though more tolerant of wet soil,
something is the less tolerant it willbe of drought or dry soil.
There are a couple of exceptions outthere. I think you mentioned Erhonia.
(17:07):
That's one that can can kind oftake those extremes. Although it will definitely
start to suffer if it's too dry, it won't suffer if it's too wet.
So this is not a plant fordrought. I have tried to grow
it in my garden. I cannottoo well drained, not enough water.
But if you have an area youknow, again clay soil, high water
table, if you have like alive on a river or a pond or
(17:30):
something like that, this makes sucha beautiful choice. Now, what is
the reason that we selected sugar shackspecifically out of all of these button bushes
that you can find all over Michigan. Is we were looking for a way
to make this plant more friendly togrowing in home gardens. Now, if
you were to see a button bushout in the wild, it could be
anywhere from you know, eight toten or twelve feet tall and wide and
(17:55):
typically and this certainly includes the onesin Grand Rapids. Not a great looking
plant if you see the flowers,you're like, oh, that's kind of
neat, But you know the plants, they're kind of scraggly. You know,
they've had a lot of damage justfrom you know, the river raging
by and having things, you know, float by and break branches and so
forth. So it's not necessarily aplant that she would recognize so well if
(18:17):
you were to see it in thewild and it's bloom period again is only
in sort of that like mid tolate July time frame. But it does
have some other distinguishing characteristics, veryglossy foliage, and I think that that
is that makes this plant really attractivewell outside of its blooming season. So
we've got it down to about afour to five foot tall and wide size,
(18:37):
so you can't actually use it inyour home landscape and enjoy those flowers.
Another distinctive characteristic that we selected itfor is after those flowers fade,
what's left is sort of this round, almost a little bit like a plane
tree or a sycamore seed pod,sort of like that, but they turn
(18:59):
red, and so the other onesin the wild after that flower fades,
i'll just kind of turn brown ortake on a little bit of red.
With sugarshack. We were selecting forthat remaining fruit to be a really nice
bright red and you can see thisin our show notes at Gardeningsimplified on air
dot com, and you can lookat the pictures also on our Instagram and
of course if you're watching on YouTube, you'll see everything. And it really
(19:19):
gives this plant a lot more seasonof interest, which is another thing that
people are going to want when itcomes to including it in their landscape.
Rather than just appreciating it. Theywant it to be a size that works
for their landscape and they want tohave that longer season of interest, and
we want to give it to them. Yeah, so, Stacey, more
seasons of interest. But I thinkthe other selling points as you've mentioned a
(19:41):
native plant, yes, and thenI'm looking at your description the honey scent,
the sugar shack element of it.I would think this thing would attract
pollinator. Oh my gosh, itis a buzz with pollinators in the summer.
It's something you really have to seeto believe it. Almost it's one
of those plants. I love this. I'm sure a lot of people are
(20:02):
probably recoiling at the mirror idea,but I love standing next to a plant
like this when it's in bloom ona summer day, and it's just like
throbbing with life, just like buzzingand noisy, with all of the insects
with you. I think that's athrill. I love that. I'll stick
my hand right in there. It'sfabulous. Yeah, it's great. Hopefully
you don't get stune. But theinsects will actually, and this is true,
(20:25):
the insects will be so busy,you know, feeding off. The
plants are not interested in you.You really got to go mess with them
to try to distract distract them fromthe wonderful nectar of sugar. Shehck button
bush. So as I said,very wide hardiness range, hardy USDA zones
four through USDA Zone ten, sovery cold tolerant as well as very heat
tolerant, very useful, four tofive feet tall and wide summer bloom time.
(20:47):
And one last thing, oh twoless things actually very deer resistant.
Ah. So this is a plantthat you don't have to worry about the
deer getting So great if you havemore of an unmanaged property and are just
looking to get more interesting plants init. And it was recently awarded the
Pennsylvania Horticulture Society Gold Medal. Isee that. That's that's a big deal.
It's a very big deal. It'sa very prestigious award. We have
(21:08):
a couple of other plants that haveearned it, but definitely one that we
were very proud of to get that. So we thank the people at PHS
for that, and hopefully you willtake that as an additional recommendation to add
sugar shack button bush to your landscape. You can get all the details at
Gardening Simplified on air dot com.We're going to take a little break.
When we come back, we're openingup that garden mail bags, so please
(21:29):
stay tuned. At proven Winner's ColorChoice, We've got a shrub for every
taste and every space. Whether you'relooking for an easy care rose and unforgettable
hydrangea, or something new and unique, you can be confident that the shrubs
and the white containers have been trialedand tested for your success. Look for
(21:51):
them at your local garden center.Greeting's Gardening friends, and welcome back to
the Gardening Simplified Show. You know, I do love to help people with
their garden questions. I never reallyget stumped, but you can certainly try.
Oh and if you have a gardeningquestion, whether or not you think
it'll stump us. If it's stumpedyou, you can certainly reach out to
(22:11):
us any time at help HLP atGardeningsimplified on air dot com, or just
visit Gardening Simplified on air dot com. We've got a handy contact form there
that you can fill out and sendus, and we would be happy to
offer our experience and expertise and perspectiveon your problem, as we're going to
do for these gardeners Stacy, asI always say, that gets my stump
(22:32):
of approval. Chuck writes to us, we live in Zone seven A north
of Atlanta, Georgia. We alsolive in deer country, which forces us
to purchase deer resistant shrubs. Iwent heavy with daisy gardenas about twenty of
them. Two years have passed andno blossoms. My pH is between six
(22:52):
point five and seven with a fertilizerfor acid loving plants, just do the
trick or do I add extra saltfor in spring? I read pH of
five to six is optimum, butcan't get my pH. Lower bushes are
green and growing great, but nobeautiful white blossom. Well, that is
very disappointing because it is you know, gardenias are beautiful, their foliage is
(23:15):
attractive, and their habit is typicallyvery attractive. But you know, let's
face it, we're growing it forthe flowers. So I certainly can understand
Chuck's pain. And one of thereasons why I really wanted to get this
one out here is because whether ornot you can grow gardena, I think
that this hints at a common misconceptionabout plant health, and that is that
(23:36):
soil pH will If the soil pHis an issue, it's not necessarily going
to manifest as a lack of flowers. What you're going to see is unhealthy
foliage exactly. And so if you'renot getting flowers, my first thought would
not be to blame the soil pH. If, as you say, the
plant is growing green and looking healthy, then the pH is almost certainly not
(23:57):
the issue. Yeah, because isif the pH was a problem, it's
going to be evident in the veiningof the foliage and the color. Yeah,
you're going to see a lot ofyellow leaves especially. You know,
new growth is going to be slowto come out. When it does come
out, it's going to look sicklyand unhealthy. And you know we've talked
about this on the show before,but soil pH is the reason that plants
(24:18):
have specific soil pH needs is notbecause of the acidity of the soil and
oh my roots can take in anacidic environment or a less acidic environment.
It's because the soil pH controls theavailability of nutrients to the plants. So
all of the nutrients in the soilare minerals, their elements, and a
chemical reaction has to take place forthem to become free from the soil bond
(24:41):
and be taken up for the plant. And that is going to happen differently
under different soil conditions. And thisis why if you do have a soil
pH issue for your plant, again, it's not likely going to manifest itself
through a lack of flowers. Socertainly it can be you know, nutrients
starved enough that that is the issue, but it that would not be the
only symptom you're seeing. You're alsogoing to see yellow foliage, weird sort
(25:04):
of veining foliage. There's a lotof different nutrient deficiencies that can happen,
so chuck, if your soil isreally about a six point five to seven.
That's probably a little bit higher thanGuardina's would want. But as long
as your foliage is still nice andgreen, I wouldn't worry about that.
I would start turning my attention todifferent explanations for the lack of flowers.
And there's a couple of possible reasons. So number one is potentially maturity.
(25:29):
So these plants have only been inthe ground about two years. Normally this
isn't a huge issue for Guardinas,but it is something to consider certainly.
You know the whole sleep, creepleap. The first year a plant sleeps,
the second year it creeps and grows, and then the third year it
leaps, so that could be anissue. And whenever something's not flowering,
you know what, we've got toask. You're gonna say it. I'm
(25:51):
not gonna say it, You're going, okay. We got to ask if
you're prumned it and if so,win, because pruning is probably the number
one reason certainly when it comes tohydranges can be for anything else. The
number one reason that a plant wouldn'tbloom guardinas because they bloom in early spring,
bloom on old wood. So basicallythat means that if you prune your
guardena at any point from say September, until it would be blooming the following
(26:15):
spring, you would be cutting offthe flower buds that the plant had already
formed. It's making those flower budsin fall and winter and then just opening
them in spring. So if youneed to prune your guardina, the only
time you can safely do that withoutremoving flowers is immediately after it flowers.
Yeah, I agree completely on thepruning thing. I think in addition to
(26:36):
that, taking a look at availablelight. Also when we're having difficulty with
pruning, I think we've got totake a look at the amount of sunlight
that those plants are, yeah,for sure, and too much shade.
Although gardinias can definitely tolerate some lightshade, and the hotter your climate,
the more shade they can take.It's certainly worth considering because yeah, in
deep shade, pollinators are not asactive, and so the plant is less
(27:00):
likely to flower because it's not gettingthe energy, and why would it when
there's no pollinators, And ultimately,as much as enjoyment, As much as
we get enjoyment from the flowers,the flowers do exist only to make seeds.
So if it's not going to beable to do that, then a
lot of times the plant won't justwon't put the energy into blooming. I
just let you do your thing withthat answer, and I'll do the Ed
McMahon thing again. You are correct, man. I like it because I
(27:25):
really have nothing else to add.You nail it. Yeah, So anyway,
Chuck, don't worry too much aboutthe pH unless you start seeing the
yellow foliage. If you have beenpruning, and I know when someone has
miss prune something, the urge tokick yourself is very strong. But on
the bright side, if pruning isactually the solution, that's a very easy
thing to fix. You know,if the issue is shade, that's not
(27:47):
so easy to fix, because thenyou might have to move the plant or
change something around. At least withpruning, you can modify your behavior and
not prune it and get back tobeautiful, fragrant Grdemia flowers hopefully this year,
if not next. It's a kickin the plants, all right.
Genny's asking us about powdery mildew.What causes it to form on plants?
Does it spread to other plants inthe garden? If not treat it.
(28:11):
How do you get rid of itand treat it? Can I deal with
it in spring before disease begins?Should the disease plant be cut back or
removed? You know, Jenny,great questions. And let me say right
off the top, Stacey, thatcoming up next week we'll talk about IPM,
and this is a great question asit relates to that, and anytime
(28:37):
that we're looking at issues like powderymildew, I think we've got to remember
what we learned in school a longtime ago. Whenever we have a disease,
it's like a triangle. You havea pathogen, you have a host,
and you have an environment that's suitableto it growing. And I think
you know my comment would be onpowdery mildew that fungal spores travel. Yes,
(29:03):
they sure do. They're very small, they can easily travel on the
air. And I found that Ginny'squestions were all really really good questions.
So to answer the first question,what causes it to form on plants,
It's exactly what Rick said. Thefungal spores are in the air. Certain
plants are more susceptible than others,and they thrive in conditions where a plant
(29:26):
is alternately wet and dry. Sothey can't really live well on a plant
that's always dry. They can't reallylive well in a plant that's always wet.
But if you have say a sprinklersystem, and it pelts all your
plants first thing in the morning,they spend all day drying, and then
the next day boom happens all overagain. That is ideal conditions for powdery
mildew to develop. Now, asfar as it's spreading to other plants,
(29:48):
this is interesting. As much asit can seem like powdery mildew is a
ubiquitous disease, powdery mildew is alwaysspecific to the plant that it's on.
So the powdery mildew that would impactsome thing like a rose is not going
to be the same powdery mildew thatwould affect something like a coreopsis. They
are specific to those genera or thegenus that you're growing. So the idea
(30:11):
that it would spread to other plantsin your garden, yes, it will
spread to similar plants, so otherroses or other choreopsis, but that same
type of powdery will not crop upon other plants. If other plants get
it, it got another strain orspecies of the powdery mildew fungus. I
like that and fungal spores are fun. Guys like me just kind of hang
(30:32):
out and wait until the environment's right. And you know, you mentioned the
irrigation issue. If you're watering,you know, try to water at the
base. The other thing I've found, Stacy, is if you're overfertilizing your
plants, that can be an issue. Yeah, well, anytime there's that
fresh new foliage. What happens whena plant leaves out is as that foliage
(30:53):
matures, a wax cuticle develops andthen it's less susceptible to those fungal diseases.
But when it's fresh in spring,when it is moist, when there
is a lot of fungal spores freshon the wind, it's really easy for
them to land on that foliage.And I think this is sort of one
of the big gotchas of powdery mildewis that by the time it starts showing
(31:15):
up in your garden in you know, June, it actually infected your plants
probably two months prior, and sopreventative is really has to happen in spring.
But I will say overall, powderymildew can be very unsightly, and
in extreme conditions it can be extremelyunsightly, But overall I encourage people to
just kind of take it with agrain of salt. My standard advice.
(31:37):
If it's a branch that you caneasily cut off without really harming the plant
or you know, ruining its overallappearance, I would say, just snip
it out and throw it away.That reduces the inoculum or amount of fungal
spores out there and the other thing. And this is definitely one of those
easier said than done types of piecesof advice. But try to clean up
all of the foliage from the plantafter it, because what happens with this
(32:00):
plant and its life cycle. Thoseleaves had powdery mildew on them, They're
going to fall below the plant.They're going to sit there with those fungal
spores on them, and then thefollowing spring, if conditions are right,
which they very often are, they'rejust going to go right back up and
reinfect that plant and it's new foliage. By removing that foliage from the base
(32:21):
of the plant, you can reallydo a lot to reduce it. Of
course, the fungal spores are stillon the wind it's not foolproof, but
it is something and you know,every little bit does help. And this
is sort of the crux of IPMas we're going to talk about next week.
I think it's well rooted advice.All right, thank you all so
much for your questions. If youdo have a question for us, again,
reach us at Gardening Simplified on airdot com. We're going to take
a break when we come back BranchingNews. The Gardening Simplified Show is brought
(32:50):
to you by proven Winners, ColorChoice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs
and evergreens have been trialed and testedfor your success so you enjoy more beauty
and less work. Look for provenWinners Color Choice Shrubs and the distinctive white
container at your local garden center.Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show.
It's time for branching news and HappyLeap Year. February twenty We get an
(33:14):
extra day this year, or wehad an extra day, and I try
to make I try to make themost of it. Get up early in
the morning Leap Day, I goto ihop, have breakfast, you know,
kind of cool. So three hundredand sixty five days to a year
twenty four hours a day, butit actually takes the Earth three hundred and
(33:35):
sixty five point four nine zero daysto orbit the Sun. That just kind
of blows my mind. Who's counting? Who's counting exactly? Well, I'll
tell you who's counting. The reasonthat we have this leap day or extra
day every four years is because centuriesago people kept track of the Sun's position.
(33:57):
They couldn't watch whether people on thenews or whatever it may be.
They didn't have the digital advantage advantageswe have today, and so they kind
of looked at that sort of thingto know when to plant or harvest,
and so it was a big dealto them. But I just try to
take that extra day and make themost of it, really pack a lot
(34:21):
in that day because I feel likeI'm getting a bonus. Yeah you are,
I guess, Yeah, I guess. So. So anyhow, I
start off the day by going tothe I hop like anyone would on leap
Day. And it's unbelievable. SoI hope you enjoyed it. Did you
drink a happy beer? Oh?Yes, I do, a very happy
one in IPA. All right,I say, eat more plants. Us
(34:45):
adults found many feel either tired,frustrated, or even sad by the time
their day is done. Now that'sreally sad. I'm looking at a survey
here, and but here's the point. Many people credit their diet for making
them feel that way, either frustrated, sad at the end of the day,
(35:08):
or tired. One in five Americanssaid they don't even have the slightest
idea where their food comes from.So the top motivators to buy sustainably sourced
foods or maybe this year put avegetable garden on your docket and grow some
vegetables at home is to eat healthieroverall, improve their heart health, weight
(35:30):
management, boost their energy, ormanage their stress levels. Again, we
see surveys over and over again theadvantage of growing your own food in your
own yard and taking advantage of thatthis year. Make a resolution to do
that in twenty twenty four. Andyou know, I think so many people
(35:51):
think, oh, well, vegetablegarden. That sounds like a lot of
work. But really it can beas simple as just growing one tomato plant
or just growing one basil plant.And I think, you know, you
don't have to just dive into thedeep end. If you want to great,
but you don't have to. AndI find that, you know,
it's very encouraging and addicting when youdo start to have that little bit you
(36:13):
know, Oh, I just youknow, put a little bit of homemade,
homegrown basil on this. You know, I just harvested some homegrown tomatoes.
And once you get that feeling,you want more. So it can
start small, and even that makesa big difference. Yeah, if you
can chop up some slices of greenpepper and throw them in a little tupperware
container and then midday while you're atwork, you could munch on those,
Yeah, and just casuals. Yeah, I agree with these. Anyone anyone
(36:36):
else? Anyone want? Anyone wantto know about my homegrown green pea.
Come over here, look at mypeppers. Yeah, you've got it.
Anyhow, I like to talk aboutfresh food and how important it is and
that you know, not only doesit help us physically, but it also
helps us mentally. And I guessthat's the point I'm trying to make.
(36:57):
If you can show your fellow coworkers that you know, I grew this
in my garden, it it feelsgood. So have you heard about the
restaurant on the moon. No greatfood, no atmosphere. You know what,
I can always tell whether or notyou like one of my puns by
your sigh. I have a Icall it my seismograph. So there you
(37:22):
go. All right, here's asad story. Let's move to a sad
story. Duke University has decided toclose its herbarium. No, that's sad.
I don't know if I'm pronouncing thatright, Stacey, but I think
I am. It's an herbarium.So it's a collection of eight hundred and
twenty five thousand specimens of plants,fungi, algae. They've been collecting them
(37:45):
for a century. So an herbariumis like a library, but it differs
in that the information is stored ina biological form. So it's a collection
of plant specimens. They preserve them, they label them, they store or
them. Maybe they're pressed on paper, flattened, dried, mounted, some
(38:05):
of them maybe are seeds or microscopicslides, DNA extractions, whatever it may
be. But of course, yeah, I can you know, I can
certainly consider the fact that it's veryexpensive to keep an herbarium going, and
yet a lot of people are veryupset about this. And understandably so because
(38:29):
in today's day and age with DNA, they you know, they're able to
go back and pull important data asfar as these plants are concerned, and
issues like climate change or how plantsare adapting to the climate or the area
where they're at. So, andin defense of Duke University, they've stressed
(38:52):
that their plan is to move theherbarium someplace else. They're saying, we're
not destroying anything, but boy,what an archive after one hundred years and
they've decided, you know, they'renot going to fund it anymore. I'm
hoping they can find a new homefor it, you know, I hope
so too. Arberia are very interestingand important aspects of research, so usually
(39:15):
you know, associated more with museumsor large institutions, which is kind of
surprising that a big university like Dukewould actually get rid of theirs or move
it. It sounds to me likethe herbarium needs a marketing campaign, Like
we need to get some like museumexhibits going so people can get interested in
herbaria and you know, start tocare more about the preservation and what we
(39:36):
can learn from the preserve specimens.Yeah, that's great. And I'm sure
it's a budget issue. And ifyou want to read more on this and
educate yourself on this, the NewYork Times did a great article and we'll
put the link there at Gardeningsimplified onair dot com, so check that out.
Wow, while we're on the subjectof depressing news, and I didn't
(39:58):
want to bring this up, Stacy, but just over a year ago,
we talked about Flacco, the owl. I did hear about this in New
York, who fled the Central ParkZoo enclosure after it was vandalized and he
died. Yeah, he collided witha building in Manhattan, the Wildlife Conservation
(40:19):
Society announced, And it made mereally sad when I saw that, because
boy, people were really rallying aroundFlacco. They were enjoying bird watching,
learning more about bird watching as heflew about Central Park and they're in New
York and they would post updates onTwitter about his eating habits, that sort
(40:39):
of thing. And he died,So yeah, kind of sad. I
mean, window strikes are always sosad, and especially when it is you
know, a bird of prey,which is of course, I mean,
it's tragic anytime, but especially whenyou have something that is relatively rare or
uncommon, like a bird of prey. But you know, this is why
it's so important people keep their lightsoff at night to try to minimize it.
(41:00):
I mean, we'll never be ableto completely get rid of bird strikes
because sometimes the sun can just hita window at a certain angle and the
birds get confused. But any littlebit that we can do if you frequently
have bird strikes. I remember wedid a branching news story once on how
the deca had to be on theoutside. If you put it on the
inside, it didn't work. Anylittle thing you can do can help,
(41:21):
and you might not know how ithelps. But yeah, we have to
do the best that we can withwhat we have. Absolutely, by the
way, it causes me to think, how was superb Owl Sunday? It
was good. I did not seeany owls, not for a lack of
looking, but I personally did notsee any owls superb or otherwise. At
least you were out there birdwatching,Yes, definitely, all right, I
(41:43):
love it. And then you everlike to go just to websites that are
selling homes like Zillow. I liketo do that. And we're going to
post a picture of one that Ispotted in fullsome Lake California things an entertainers
paradise. It's not that the houseis so big, but the backyard landscape
(42:07):
just is unreal. You got tosee it to believe it. The hedges
back there spell out the word Margaritaville. Oh my, and it's hilarious to
take a look at in California.So you got to take a look at
that, because that is huge fun. And it brings up the point that
(42:28):
our landscapes and our plants and outdoorour living areas give us a chance to
enjoy entertaining folks or just enjoy itfor ourselves and have some fun with it.
In this home boy, they tookit the extra mile. Well,
you know, it is important thatwe look at our gardens as opportunities for
self expression. I mean, Ican't say that spelling Margaritaville would be my
choice for hedgewords, but you know, if you love Margarita's and you love
(42:52):
Jimmy Buffett, then I guess that'swhat you're going to spell with your hedge.
A term. I walks into abar, he sits down and says,
hey is the bartender. With that, we'll end our show today.
It's been fun The Gardening Simplified Show. Look for us on Instagram, look
(43:12):
for our website, the Gardeningsimplified Showon air dot com, and of course
watch us on YouTube or radio,or look for us wherever you get your
favorite podcasts. Stacey, thanks somuch, Thank you, Adriana, and
thanks most of all to you,thanks for tuning in The Gardening Simplified Show.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com