May 31, 2025 • 43 mins
Big plants hold a special fascination: watching them shoot from nearly nothing to truly epic proportions in a matter of weeks never gets old. Learn our favorite big plants! Featured shrub: Miss Violet butterfly bush.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Broadcasting from Studio A Here at proven Winners, Color Joy Shrubs.
It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show with Stacy Hrvella,
me Rick Weist, and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson.
Today we talk about big plants. What a great topic.
Go big or go home, big shots, the big picture,
(00:23):
speak softly and carry a big stick, too big for
one's breeches. You get the idea. Ever, put a landscape
plant in the ground and it gets much bigger than
you expected, or an dissipated.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Uh yes, because I live in a fantasy world where
I can plant whatever I want and ignore the spacing.
So yes, that has happened to me many times.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
And I believe you are not alone. I think about
the movie Big with Tom Hanks. Loved that movie, and
you know he wishes that he was big, and then
he visits what was it? I put it down here Zoltar,
the fortune teller machine, the antique fortune teller machine, and
(01:08):
suddenly he gets what he wished for. What a great movie.
But big landscape plants, it's all relative. Of course, we
can talk about big trees, but this is about big
landscape plants with big characteristics and size, something that's out
of the routine, so to speak. Now, it's not a
definitive list. This is just a conversation because Stacy, I
(01:31):
think you and I could probably do three four, five
six shows on big plants.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Because I love them. I am going to come right
out and say, yeah, we're not talking about like, you know,
the giant sequoias out in California, which are obviously extremely
amazing and impressive, but like their tree, you know, they're gigantic.
For me, what this show is about are those plants
that basically go from nothing in spring where there's nothing
(01:56):
above ground, and the next thing you know, by the
time summer rolls around, they're five six, seven, ten feet tall.
And watching that process of something going from nothing to
just this massive plant, it just never gets old from me.
I absolutely love it. My garden is full of these
types of plants, and yeah, the more I can get,
(02:17):
the better I agree.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
And no garden is too small for a large leafed plant.
The key is knowing how, where and when to use it,
all of which depends on the impression that you want
to make. But you can punctuate. You can make an
impression with big plants. I mean I think off the
top of my head. Stacey, we've talked about El Nino
(02:41):
desert orchid.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Sample definitely a great example.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
The cup plant that you love, and we should talk
about that today callicanthus sweet shrub. Any of those types
of plants in a shady spot, A hosta is a
great example. You have the Shadowland Empress woh Sta hybrid,
you have shadow Land Gigantisaurus Hasta hybrid, and of course, Stacey,
(03:07):
the old standard summon substance.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, I love those hostas. Now. Of course I don't
have them because I have deer and very little shade
and I don't water, and that's how you're going to
get the truly impressive results on those is. Yes, plenty
of moisture. But boy do I love seeing a well
grown giant hosta. Just fills me with envy.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, it's fantastic. It's like they're saying, stop here, look
at me. It's great. And then you can take it
to the next level. Plant in mass for impact, where
space is not constrained. You take some of these dramatic
plants and then plant them in mass I think of
the airport here in West Michigan in the entrance where
(03:49):
they have a viburnum placatum double file and they get
so large and when they bloom and they're in the
ent entrance in a drift.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I've never knowniced that. I guess I've never flown out
in late spring, but I will have to make some
arrangements and see this legendary planting. Yeah, I mean, I
think that a lot of people think that big plants
are bad because they don't have space. But the fact is,
I think that big plants are extremely useful in low
(04:21):
maintenance gardening because if you plant one very large plant
and you cite it, well, it's basically no work. Sure,
you know, it's like you can just transform an area
of your yard from something that you have to mow
or trim or whatever and just plant something large and
it kind of just takes care of itself. It makes
(04:41):
a bigger impression. And you know, I think that in
many ways, big plants are getting harder to find. There
is a prevailing assumption in the horticulture industry right now
that people want smaller plants, and it is true that
people very often have smaller yards, but that doesn't mean
is not place for big plants. And you know, a
(05:03):
well chosen big plant can make all the difference, especially
in the small yard.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Exactly. It can be explosive. But you know what, again,
big is relative. You can find big in something like bulbs.
You look at bulbs. I was always excited in spring
when the big elephant ear bulbs would come in and
then you look, you know, there's big as softballs, and
you think, wow, the potential that lies in this plant
(05:29):
or alium gigantium, or the fritile areas or whatever it
may be. I shared with Adriana a picture of met
at Koekenhoff trying to fill my big European shoes for
YouTube listeners and viewers. But I'm always on the lookout
for something bigger, better, more unusual. I'm a fan of
(05:50):
plants with big, tropical showy leaves, so you know I
love canas colocacia bananas. I mean, you take something like
Mussa bajou, which is the hardy Japanese fiber banana. Even
though in the north and I'm in Zone six B,
it dies back to the ground if you're able to
(06:11):
keep it alive. The amount of growth, like you said
at the outset, Stacey, is quite inspiring that you get
in one season have.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
You been able to successfully elul Oh, that's cool. How
old is yours? Then?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Well, I had one for numerous years until I moved,
and now this spring I just planted one, so I'm
gonna try again.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
So what's your secret to overwintering this? Just keeping it dry?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Okay, Soltz, you've got a mulch. The plant needs a
fair amount of water during the growing season in order
to produce that growth. But for winter good I'm talking
mounded mulch.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Okay, yeah, big. You know, make sure that that that
rise them under there is well buried exactly, And then
of course you can't risk uncovering it too late, because
then you could earth plant right exactly. But it's worth
it to have a hardy banana exactly.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
One of my favorite big plants in the landscape is rhododendrons,
and I think part of the reason for that is
because the root system is small proportionately to the top
of the plant. And I went out yesterday shot a
couple pictures for YouTube viewers of just some neighbors who
have gigantic rhododendrons. Well, again, we live on the lake
(07:29):
shore here in West Michigan, and the conditions allow us
to grow rhododendrons that need moisture and yet need good drainage.
If they sit in water, they're not going to do well.
And then you think about rhododendron maximum or great laurel
or wild rhododendron. You see a lot of that in
(07:50):
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These things get absolutely huge.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Yeah, rhododendron can be very You know the one that
goes that meme that goes around about the This is
the one hundred year old rhododendron with a lady who
planted it. So she apparently planted it as an infant.
But it's a good example of how of the truly
epic proportions rhododendron can reach.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah, if the conditions are right, you bet rhododendri Rhododendron
Dell is a great landscape showcasing all the rhododendrons at
Arnold's Arboretum. And I went arnold Arboretum and I went
there this past year. Four hundred and forty six rhododendrons
(08:35):
in that collection. I think about full speed a hedge
and arbor vitie that gets very, very tall and yet
in the garden center. I see a lot of people,
Stacey who opt for Thuya placata, which is the green
giant or great Western cedar because of deer pressure.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Right, so green giant is actually a hybrid between Placata
and Standiscia. Is im a Asian species. But green Giant
lives up to its name. It is a big it's tall,
but it's also very broad at the base, so it's
really it's good for privacy hedging if you have a
lot of ground space. Otherwise, something like full Speed Hedge
or north Pole from proven Winners are great choices because
(09:16):
they take up less ground real estate but can still
give you the privacy. Do you have to space them
a little bit more closely, of course to make up
for that. But green Giant is a household name, but
it is definitely not for every yard. But it's cool,
all right.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
I'll give you a big plant, Limerick. And by the way,
we're going to continue to talk about big plants in
segment for it will also be interesting to see Stacey's
plant on trial that is chosen this week as we
talk about big plants. Here's my limb rick. I need
a plant colossal, not something dainty or docile, something downright
(09:53):
large that shows it's in charge, as big as a
dinosaur fossil. I want a plant that's big, a leafy, robust,
large fig. A plant that's substantial and really consequential, not
a wimpy, modest twig. To big plants, I'm deferential that
fill my lot residential. Nothing that is passive. Make it
(10:14):
really massive with foliage, substantial, something that is enormous. Tell us,
please inform us of a plant with impact that isn't compact.
It's got to be ginormous.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
We'll see what kind of impactful plant Stacey shares with us. Next.
In Plants on trial here on the Gardening Simplified.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Show, Beautify your home and community with proven Winner's Color
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every taste and every space. Just look for the distinctive
white container your local garden center or learn more at
(11:00):
proven Winner's Color Choice dot com. Greetings gardening friends, and
welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. We're talking about
one of my all time favorite topics as well as
plants to put in the garden, and that is big plants.
I mean, I like small plants. Let's like, not pretend
that's not true. I have tons and tons of small plants.
(11:22):
I have tiny little seedum's, tiny little supervivum, and I
love those as well. But there is just something to
me that is so inspiring about something like smarific hibiscus,
which you know, comes spring, not a thing to be
found in the ground, no signs of life whatsoever. And
then you know, late May, couple little tiny shoots start
(11:42):
to poke up and you're like, okay, and then you know,
by July you've got a five foot tall plant covered
in flowers, and you're just like, how did that happen?
Speaker 1 (11:52):
It's exciting, it's explosive. Not only a big plant, big flowers,
big flowers.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, so I love that. I also love, you know,
any number of native plants. Like one of my favorites
that I have is Agastaki nepatoides. So this is the
green hissip and nepatoides means it looks like catnap, which
it kind of does, except that it gets to be
eight feet tall and it puts on these amazing candelabra
type branches and again, I just love seeing that go
(12:21):
from like where where even is that plant? To just
this massive presence in the landscape. It never it never
gets old for me. And you know, when it comes
to shrubs, of course, there's lots of big shrubs. If
we were just talking about plants that reach epic proportion
as well, I could still go on all day. But
there the shrub version of this ability to go from
(12:42):
virtually nothing to just a massive in bloom plant I
think is best epitomized by butterfly bush.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Now, especially older varieties of butterfly bush. As I said,
the industry is largely under the operating under the belief
that people want smaller plants, and there's definitely been a
tendency to breed smaller and smaller butterfly bush compared to
back in the day, when you know, good luck finding
a butterfly bush it's under six feet. Now it's more
like good luck finding a butterfly bush that's over six
(13:12):
feet anymore. And I think there's still a place for that.
But no matter what size butterfly bush you have, they
all share this ability to kind of come out of
winter looking like they're dead, nearly dead. It's one of
the plants that I think people are most likely to
give up on because they just look so ghastly, you know,
(13:33):
in late winter, early spring, and next thing you know,
they're growing and you think, okay, well, I guess it
were covered from that winter damage, but it's not going
to flower. And then like a week later it's covered
in flowers. I mean, it's amazing, blamo blamo exactly. So
today's plan on trial is one of my favorite of
our butterfly bush and that is Miss Violet. Oh my gosh,
(13:57):
this is a plant that you know, I like Budi.
I am definitely choosy about what I put in my garden,
but my neighborhood a Miss Violet, and that made me
want a Miss Violet because it was so pretty that
I just love the deep purple flowers sow. The Miss
series of butterfly bush are developed to be about four
(14:18):
to five feet tall and wide and to have kind
of a more elegant habit than your average budlia. So
some butterfly bushes can have like a really uh, let's
just say habit is not their strong suit, especially some
of those older varieties where these really do have like
kind of an elegant, vaselike habit and that four to
five foot you know, size is nothing to sneeze that
(14:39):
that's still quite an appreciable size, but much more versatile
than some of those older ones that would you know,
just get really really huge.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yeah, and I'd love that Miss series. It was Adriana
who got me excited about Miss Molly. Put it in
my landscape.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Love that that's our favorite plant in the whole proven
winner's line. Miss Molly is her number one pick. Now,
I I have seen the Miss series of butterfly bush
undergo this exact same phenomenon that I'm talking about in
my own garden. So at my previous home, I had
planted a Miss Molly butterfly bush. So this is all
from the same breeding series. A breeder named doctor Dennis
(15:14):
Warner out of North Carolina State University. He is now retired,
but he was really really passionate about butterfly bush and
he devoted the latter part of his career to developing
non invasive butterfly bushes because at that point, in certain
milder climates, butterfly bush was starting to spread by seed
sure it was getting banned, and he really did not
(15:35):
want to see that happen. So he devoted his resources
into the Low and Behold series. So some of the
earlier Low and Behold butterfly bush, which of course are
are low, small growing butterfly bushes, and my favorite the
Miss series. So I planted a Miss Molly. It was full. Now,
I generally do not recommend that you plant butterfly bush
in full. So now that we're here in late spring
(15:57):
early summer, especially if you're in a cold clam and
you're thinking about adding a butterfly bush to your garden,
now is the time to do it. You want to
make sure that it has a nice long season ahead
to develop a good root system to help it come
back from you know, any damage that it's going to
get in winter. So you know, but I work in
the industry, so I get free plants. And when you
get free plants, you don't just you know, you plant them.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
And I worked in the garden center industry, and if
you get bargain bin plants in October, you plant them
exactly and hope for the best.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Exactly, can't beat the price. So I planted this Miss Mollie,
and you know, it looked great at that fall, and
then come the following spring, other butterfly bushes that are
planted near it coming back without a problem. I'm like,
all right, cool, and this Miss Mollie is showing not
a sign of life, not a single sign of life
now again. And I do have pretty good conditions, but
(16:49):
there's a lot of different things that could happen. So,
you know, I kept waiting because I know that butterfly
bush are always late to emerge, and the colder or
harsher your winter is the harder the slower they are
to come back from. That so especially true for people
in USBA Zone five and six. So I'm waiting. Still nothing,
still nothing. Finally, the second weekend in June rolls around
(17:10):
and I think that's it. This thing is not coming back.
I'm going to just pull it out. So I lean over,
bend over to pull it out with my bare hands,
because this is something you can do when you have
very sandy soil. It's really quite a fun benefit. Not everything,
but some things. So I reach down to pull it
out and I see just this tiny little shoot coming
(17:32):
out of the ground, and I thought, all right, all right,
we'll give it a whirl. We'll see what you can
do from this tiny, little, you know, one inch shoot
and I am not even joking. Three weeks later the
thing was fully grown and in bloom.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I mean it was insane. It was absolutely amazing and
plants just you know, it's one of those plants that
just has this ability to, I guess, summon the extensive
resources in its roots to come back from even a
really really harsh winter, and it's just so amazing to
see that kind of comeback.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Yeah, it's true. I have a Missviolet. Two years ago
we had a very mild winter, hardly any die back.
This past winter, Stacey mine pretty much had. I had
die back to the ground, but it's really recovering quickly.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
That's the crazy thing is they do recover quickly. And
all butterfly bush, especially in colder climates or if you
have clay soil and you get cold winters, that is
their death knell. They hate that. They will definitely be
sat back, if not die. But the thing is, yes,
you do have to have faith with these plants because
they can come back in such an amazing way. So
(18:38):
a couple more tips for success, whether you're growing today's
plan on trial Miss Violet with its fabulous purple flowers
or any butterfly bush. Again, plant it sooner than later,
especially if you are in a cold climate or you
are planting it in less than ideal conditions. So that
would be like clay soil, poorly drained soils. You don't
want to put it in any soil of its wet.
It will not make it. You can plant them in
(19:01):
clay soil, but they definitely need a longer time to
get established. Because it's not even so much winter that
will take out a butterfly bush. It's being cold and wet.
So really the danger times are kind of that late
fall where the ground hasn't frozen yet, it's not cold
enough to actually like snow or freeze, but we're getting
(19:21):
a lot of rain that's terrible for it. And then
the same thing happens on the other end of the
season in early spring, when you know we're kind of
past the worst of the cold, but we get a
lot of rain and the soils cold and wet. They
absolutely hate that, so plant early, plants high. If you
have a drainage issue, make sure this you're putting it
so that's a little bit above the soil surface rather
(19:42):
than even with the soil surface and make sure you
prune these things. So this is so important. Butterfly bush
is one of those plants that you definitely want to
prune to make sure it stays nice and compact, maintains
that really nice habit and flowers from top to bottom,
because that amazing ability to regrow that we were just
(20:03):
discussing also means that if a butterfly bush is not trimmed,
it's just going to keep going up and up and
up and up and get really tall, really lanky, look
super weird, and then you don't even get to enjoy
the flowers.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Prune hard and it helps stimulate blooming lass it does,
and it's just yeah, it's important.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
And if you don't know where to prune it, the
best thing to do is to wait until it starts
to grow, because then the plant is going to tell
you exactly where it is alive. You can cut back
to just above there, and then all the energy that
the plant has will grow into those you know, remaining
shoots or buds, and the plant will start to grow
and again and bloom so fast you will not even
(20:43):
believe it's possible. I wouldn't have believed it if I
saw it myself. So a fascinating plant to have great
summer color, NonStop flowers. You know, that's one of the
things I loved about seeing the one in my neighbor's yard.
Just that purple, that deep true purple, looks so good
with all of summer's colors, all the reds, all the yellows,
all that kind of stuff I have in my garden.
(21:04):
And of course it attracts butterflies.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah, the butterflies exactly a magnet for and hummingbirds.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
So a great plant with unique color and a plant
that will, I think inspire you, whether it survives winter
without any damage, or for those winters where it might
get a little damage but will redeem itself shortly. So
you can find it at your local garden center. If
you don't know where your local garden center is, visit
proven Winter's Color Choice dot com. We've got a list
(21:30):
of retailers for you right there. We're going to take
a little break. When we come back, we're opening up
the mailbanks. If these stay tuned at proven Winter's Color
Choice Shrubs, we know that a better landscape starts with
a better shrub. Our team of experts tests and evaluates
(21:50):
all of our flowering shrubs and evergreens for eight to
ten years to ensure they outperform what's already on the market.
For easycare, reliable, beautiful shrubs to scentuate your home and
express your personal style, look for Proven Winners shrubs in
the distinctive white container at your local garden center or
learn more at Proven Winners color choice dot com. Greetings
(22:12):
gardening friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show,
where it's time for us to help you with your
garden questions, conundrums, and quandaries. And I'll bet they are
happening in spades right now. You know, it was a
slow start here in Michigan, but we got those couple
of warm days and man, everything has just exploded. There
(22:33):
is so much going on, most of it good, but
perhaps some of it bad, confusing, not sure what to do,
and that's where we come in. So you can reach
us at Gardening Simplified on air dot com and we'll
be happy to take a look at your question if
you do need an answer right away. We do want
you to get the help that you need because we
only have time for about three questions and sometimes not
(22:53):
even that. So you can also reach us at Proven Winners,
color choice dot com and get an answer for your
question from a professional horticulturist who actually cares about your success.
So we do want to make sure that we are
helping you out in a timely manner, So don't hesitate
to reach out to us other ways if we can't
get to you on this show. Who do we have
this week?
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Stacy Scott writes to us, hanging baskets. Our front porch
is covered heavy shade, and we struggle keeping hanging baskets
looking good beyond a few weeks. This goes for flowers
and plants that are supposed to be better in the shade. Example,
given two Berus pogonias, what are we doing wrong right?
Speaker 2 (23:32):
So? Well, first of all, I think two bris pogonias
kind of need their own little exemption carved out of
what we're saying. We did recently do a whole show
on hanging baskets where we gave a lot of advice.
But I know now probably a lot of people who
is since that show actually probably have hanging baskets in
their yard at this point and are maybe wondering what
(23:53):
to do. So I do want to say and Ricky
talked about this in that episode hanging Basket. There are
usually the soil less media in them is typically a
peat base media and peat moss will become hydrophobic, which
is to say it becomes very difficult to rewet if
it gets dry and you in the garden center, most
(24:16):
hanging baskets are on drip, so they're constantly getting like
a low supply of water and that prevents the soil
from drying out once it gets to your house. If
that soil service is exposed because it's still young and
hasn't filled in fully or whatever, and it dries out,
it becomes very very hard to rewet that. So what
happens is you're sitting there watering, the water's flowing out
(24:38):
the bottom and you're patting yourself on the back that
you need did a great job, but you actually have
not wet any of the roots whatsoever. So it's something
you need to be really careful of. I would say,
if your hanging basket isn't doing well, take it down.
You're probably not going to be able to solve any
hanging basket issues from the ground when it is up
in the air hanging wherever you have place because you
(25:00):
can't get a good look at it, and that's the
only way you're going to know it's almost certainly a
water issue. You know, very rarely is this going to
be any kind of disease. And if it is a disease,
then it's a disease that was probably caused by too
much water rather than something that was like actually wrong
with the plant. So take it down if it has
if it's too dry, and you'll be able to tell
it when you take it down because they'll feel really light.
(25:22):
It's kind of you know, it's a I think a
skill you develop, but once you've experimented with it, you
know pretty well. So take it down if it's very dry,
dunk it in water, so don't you're not going to
leave it in standing water. But that will help to
fully rewet the entire volume of soil rather than just
you know, dribbling a bit of water from the top.
(25:45):
So you can treat it just like you would anything
else and use that bottom watering technique to fully saturate
it and that will help a lot in terms of
actually keeping it healthy.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Now, so sorry ahead, there's plenty of wonderful plants to
grow in the shape I agree Stacey that soil or
soillest mix can become hydrophobic. Combined with that the roots
tend to mass on the surface also, so yes, the
water that you think you're applying is hitting the surface
(26:15):
heading over to the sides of the basket. If it's
dried out. At some point that soil has contracted from
the side of the basket and so that water is
just simply running down the side and out the bottom.
I agree with taking them down. In the garden center,
you're dealing with thousands of hanging baskets. The way we
do it is as you walk along, you just push
(26:36):
up on the basket. You can tell instantly whether it's
dry to wet. It's a good way to monitor. And
then when you take it down again for a basket
at home, I use the screwdriver method. I just poke
some holes. Yeah, in that soil surface. It makes a
big difference.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
That's a good easy thing to do. I do want
to say briefly, though, Scott, about Tuberspegonia's beautiful, but they
can be pretty tricky to grow because they are tuberous
as the name suggests, and that big old tuber in
there is very sensitive to poor drainage and watering. If
it gets too wet, it will start to rot. So
it's a plant that needs a lot of water. But
(27:16):
also if it gets too much water, it can rot
really easily. So as gorgeous and tempting as they are,
they can be a little bit tricky.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Maybe try some fibrous pogonias instead of tuberous pagonias and
that may work better.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
And same with like all these beautiful like angel wing pogonias,
you know, bonfire and on all of that a great choice.
So also the other thing is you might maybe the
garden or the area is not as shady as you
think it is for the plants, because sometimes, especially when
we're dealing with locations close to the house, the house
bounces a lot of light back into the plants and
(27:52):
it can actually make the spot less shady than you
might assume. So if you're getting something specific, Scott, send
us a picture so we know what you're dealing with
and can help you specifically. But I would say, whenever
anything's going wrong, take it down, get to the root
of the problem, and then once you resolved it, then
it can go back up.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Many times, people in that situation will default to Boston ferns.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Oh yeah, can't go wrong with the Boston fern. It's
a classic.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Suzanne writes, Hello, love the show. I'm a fellow Michigander.
Have been listening for the past couple of years. It's
therapy in my car. I love the comedian Jim Gaffigan.
He asked this past weekend, is there a recovery program
for gardening? He did good, quite, yes, he did so.
I'm in six B southeast side. These roses were planted
(28:40):
in the house I moved into four years ago, learning
about them, started caring for them, attempting, pruning, fertilizing. I
believe I did everything right in terms of pruning and fertilizing.
They seem to be doing great. Last week with no
spots on the foliage. I turned my back for one second.
This week, I'm noticing a good spots on the leaves
(29:02):
Larva looking things. Hell.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Yes, so what you are experiencing, Suzanne, is definitely common
for rose growers in late spring. Everything's going along just fine,
and there seems to be this point that they reach
where they're well known tendency to attract certain pests explodes.
Now aphids. I wouldn't really worry about. You know, I
(29:25):
have definitely seen bad aphis on roses where it will
cause the buds to actually weep. But you know, their
roses are pretty sturdy. They're easy to like wipe the
aphids off of rinse the aphis off, and they really
don't cause that much trouble except kind of their stickiness
and just general grossness. The other thing that you're seeing
is something that if people aren't already seeing it, they
(29:46):
will be very soon, and it's confusing pests. It is
the rose slug. And I find this one so fascinating
because it basically causes two different types of damage when
it so it's called a rose lug. It's like a sawfly.
So it's a little larvae and they're clear. So they
(30:07):
start eating the rose foliage and they turn the exact
shade of your rose foliage. And when they're in this
really small, tiny larval state, so after the mother softly
laser eggs on the plant, when they're still in that
really tiny state, their little jaws are too small and
too weak to actually get through the entire leaf surface
(30:28):
of the plant, so they can only chew through the
top of the leaf. They can't go all the way
through because they're just so little, and it makes us
window like damage, this very specific window like damage. And
then as they start to age a little bit more,
then they can actually get all the way through and
they make these kind of meandering sort of sea shape.
(30:51):
I don't want to call them. I guess channels is
the thing, because they go all the way through and
they don't eat the leaf ribs, so you see these
weird kind of meandering channel in that. And it's all
the same insect, so it's not like it's a separate thing.
It's all the same one. Now, the easiest time to
spot these little guys is early in the morning when
they're still moving, kind of start just starting to feed,
(31:13):
and you have to look on the underside of the leaf.
And the first couple times that you look for one,
it's going to be tricky. They're very hard to pick out.
But after a couple of times you'll start to pick
them out and I just smash them, you know, I
smash as many as I see. It's a fairly useful
control method if you're not overly squeamish and have a
little bit of time on your hands, because that's what
(31:34):
gardening is about is just being out there with your
plants and checking them out. The other thing you can
do if your roses are a disease resistant or continuous
blooming landscape rose, then what you can do is go
ahead and just give them a light trim. Because these
rose slugs stick on the top most folly and so
they don't go way down deep onto the other folaginals.
(31:56):
You have a very serious infestation. If you just give
it a light trim. I know it's going to be
a little bit of a heartbreak. You're probably trimming off
flower buds, but not to worry. That will get rid
of all of the slugs on your plants. Give the
plant a chance to recover well. The rose slug is like, hey,
no new growth here for me to lay my eggs on.
I'm gonna go find a rose it does have new growth,
(32:18):
and then by the time your plant actually leaves out again,
they've moved on.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
It's great advice, and I would feed it at the
same time. When you do that print.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Definitely good advice. Make sure that you give it that
little extra boost of energy to help it recover from
that pruning. But that is the best, easiest, non toxic
way to manage rose slugs because yeah, they can get
pretty bad, but I don't know. I find them fascinating
a slug fest anyway. Thank you so much for your questions,
and if you have a question for us, remember you
(32:48):
can reach us at Gardening Simplified on air dot com.
We're going to take a break. When we come back,
we're picking up our conversation about big plants. You won't
want to miss it, so stay tuned. Thanks for listening
to the Gardening Simplified Podcast, brought to you by Proven
Winner's Color Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs and
(33:08):
evergreens are trialed and tested by experts with your success
in mind. Learn more at Proven Winners Color Choice dot com.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. Today for branching news,
we continue talking about big impact plants and I did
have to mention to you stay see this story that
I saw in the news. Talk about big in your
front yard. A Norwegian man managed to sleep through an
enormous container ship running aground on his front lawn. Johann Hellberg,
(33:40):
who lives in Norway, was woken by his neighbor on
Thursday morning and asked if he had noticed a boat outside.
TV two Norway reported when he looked out his door,
he saw a four hundred and forty three foot container
ship parked.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
In his front ear Oh yikes, mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
We'll give you the link in show notes and here
on YouTube. But yes, a container ship ran aground in
his front yard. He slept right through.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Well that's not very ornamental.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Yes, you are so right talking about large impact plants
and maybe tropical on a budget. How about castor beans?
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Oh? I love them, I mean boom.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Can you know the ones I've planted have gotten twelve
to fifteen feet in one season. I had some planted
next to popcorn plant.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Both of those really going for that tropical.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Yeah, and once the weather gets hot, it's like wow.
Other big impact plants, ligular area, the rocket and I
like big green tractor. It's also known as tractor seat,
big foliage that looks like a tractor seat.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
Yeah, tractor seat is what they call it in the South.
With the first time I was on some tour with
some Southerners, they said something about and I was like, what,
I like tractor seat. That's that plant. I was like,
that is so funny.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Fun to grow. I have one of my plant, yep
rod Jersey. If you've got rich humisy consistently moist soils
in part shade. That plant was named after our honors
Rear Admiral John Rogers, a distinguished American naval officer who
(35:30):
commanded a expedition in the mid eighteen hundreds and the
first species of this genus was discovered. You look at
other plants we mentioned elephant ear, Your allocacious odora was
one that I loved getting into the garden center. It
made a real impact. Always have difficulty pronouncing this one,
(35:55):
but I think I got it. Simysifuga.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Oh yeah, that was a very cool plant.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Yeah, did I get that right? Did?
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Yeah, there's a cool one called chocoholic. Some people call
it snakeroot plant or bugbane in reference to the old
differous insect repellent properties of the plant. They look like
giant a stillby plants.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Yes, these are all plants that Rick just listed that
need moist soil. So if you have shade and you
have moist soil, great choices. There's a lot of plants
like this. I feel like that are good for moist shade.
You know that have the big boffo foliage if you
have if you live in a warm climate and you
have wet soil, you can also grow gunnera.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Oh, I was just gonna bring that right.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Don't you love gunnara?
Speaker 1 (36:40):
It's so jealous some areas, like I think in England,
they're trying to get you to not right the plant.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Because it's so invasive.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
There, huge foliage. I remember being in Vancouver Queen Elizabeth Park, huge,
you know, and everybody wants to get their picture taken time, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
The first one that I saw in real life, I
had to have my picture taken in front of Yes,
that's right, but definitely not hardy for us here in Michigan.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
It makes for a great selfie in social media. Joe
Pie Weed and we had a lavender show that we
did a few weeks ago. Go back and visit it.
But Stacey, we talked about phenomenal lavender. That's you know again,
it's all relative. But when it comes to lavender, talk
about a big plant. Of course. I love grasses, so
(37:30):
the giant misscanthus. I like the ravenna grass or arianthus.
North Carolina State University calls it hardy pampas grass, But
boy does that thing get big in one season.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
It is very cool to see those grasses that get
so big and you just you know, one of the
things that I think is so fascinating when I'm looking
at these plants and this is like, I don't know,
such a weird thing to think, but I kind of
can't help it as I just think about the number
of cells they had to produce to get that big,
so many cells.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
And how fast it goes.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Yes, it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
I know. My mind works the same way with steria.
What about wisteria. Here's a plant that you got to
show whose boss? You know. You think about some of
these vines, like trumpet vine or wisteria, I guess if
you have the room, if you have the support, well,
more power to you. Some people would say I would
never plant a trumpet what an invasive. Yeah, I understand,
(38:25):
but in some areas, especially if you're willing to neglect
the plant or get tough with it, like rit pruning,
which is what I recommend for wisteria. Obviously, get very big,
grow very quickly.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Yeah, if you have a spot where you can just
kind of let it go to a trumpet vine, you
will never have more hummingbirds in your entire life. It's
worth it. They do need, they do need their space
or some aggressive management. But for that reason, I really
do wish I could have one, but I don't think
my neighbors would appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
How about bears breeches canthus, I mean that, wow, interesting flowers.
Some people will say, hey, don't plant it almost impossible
to eradicate out of a planting bed. But when you're
talking about bold thistle like foliage, bears breeches is well,
it's a It's an architectural presence, is what it is.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Yes, And you know, people think of a canthus as
a warm climate plant, and the one that is most
often depicted at the in the Grecian columns is actually
a warm climate canthus. But there are hardy ones that
you can find. They're not usually around in garden centers,
but if you are so inclined, you can definitely grow
a certain one in cold climates and enjoy it. You
(39:45):
might need to find someone who already has one to
give you some plants, but they are prickly, but they're
very cool.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Sitting in my office the other day, looking out the
window and watching the beautiful Baltimore orioles who were feasting
on the orange pieces outside of my office on a feeder,
and they're so colorful. But it caused me to think
about how much I love also the yellow finches, especially
in spring, and how bright they are. And then doing
(40:14):
a little bit of research, it was strongly recommended that
cup plant or sylphium is something you might want a
plant if you like finches. What's been your.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Oh gosh experience in late summer, it is the finch
hot spot of my entire neighborhood. So they love, love,
love the seeds, and these plants do set so much seed,
and so they're also your right hand man there in
managing this plant, which can spread aggressively from seed because
they're eating so many of them. But between the fact
(40:45):
that they produce so much seed that the goldfinches love
the cup, so the foliage actually surrounds the big, thick,
square stem and makes kind of a cup like structure
that will hold rain or irrigation water. So between having
that water and all of those seeds, they just they
mob it, they mobbit. My neighbor says, she just loves
(41:05):
to sit there with her binoculars and just watch the
finches just have a field day on my Sofia.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
When would you say your plant is in prime?
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Uh, probably about the last two weeks of July.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
Okay, which is ideal because at that time you start
getting some of the globe thistle mm hmm. And the
finches breed later in the year or not and spring,
and so yeah, that's that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
And plus my neighbors have finch feeders. So between the
three things, you know, there they are. They are coming
out in drugs and it is a lot of fun
to watch. And that's a plant too that you know,
it starts from nothing and then you know by the
time July rolls around, it's sent feet tall.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Yeah. A plant that I always enjoyed in the Michigan
State University Garden was the Rudbeckias, the tall cone flower.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
Yeah, Maxima, Yeah, I love that one with a big
blue fold. Such a cool plant.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Yeah, that's a great plant. Also to consider, for years
I've grown Helianthus like lemon queen. They can just get
strikingly large. Just a great plant again if you're looking
for that quick size. And I have to mention Stacy
that even though this isn't an herbaceous plant or a
(42:18):
plant grown from seed. Oh, by the way, just popped
into my head. Also, I've got to mention the hyacinth
bean again. If you're on a budget, you want tropical,
you want fast, you want size, a great plant to
put in the ground for size, But when it comes
to size in the landscape, I just feel you cannot
(42:40):
beat viburnums. I love viburnums, don't you.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
I do. I really do like viburnums. I don't have
a lot of them, but I do love them as
a foliage plant because sometimes, you know, viburnums are considered derresistent,
but they do very often eat the flowers, so they
leave the plants alone. So you gotta be if you
have dear, you've got to grow a viburnum that you
can appreciate for its foliage, because you probably are not
(43:05):
going to be able to enjoy the flowers at least
that's been my experience exactly.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
And then of course I love the bloomerang lilacs, the
miss Kim lilacs, because boy, they helped me get control
in my landscape. Because those old French lilacs, yes, they're
something else and they're fragrant, but boy, I've seen some
big ones in my dear Oh.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
They do. They can get quite large because they have
a suckering habit, so they kind of keep colonizing an area.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Yeah, we'd love to hear about your favorite big plants.
The list could go on and on, and maybe we'll
do a future show again on more big plants, but
certainly a fun thing to talk about. Go Big or
Go Home. Thank you Stacy, thank you Rick, Thanks Adriana,
and thanks most of all to you for watching us
on YouTube, listening to the podcast, listening to us on radio.
(43:52):
Have a great week.
Broadcasting from Studio A Here at proven Winners, Color Joy Shrubs.
It's time for the Gardening Simplified Show with Stacy Hrvella,
me Rick Weist, and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson.
Today we talk about big plants. What a great topic.
Go big or go home, big shots, the big picture,
(00:23):
speak softly and carry a big stick, too big for
one's breeches. You get the idea. Ever, put a landscape
plant in the ground and it gets much bigger than
you expected, or an dissipated.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Uh yes, because I live in a fantasy world where
I can plant whatever I want and ignore the spacing.
So yes, that has happened to me many times.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
And I believe you are not alone. I think about
the movie Big with Tom Hanks. Loved that movie, and
you know he wishes that he was big, and then
he visits what was it? I put it down here Zoltar,
the fortune teller machine, the antique fortune teller machine, and
(01:08):
suddenly he gets what he wished for. What a great movie.
But big landscape plants, it's all relative. Of course, we
can talk about big trees, but this is about big
landscape plants with big characteristics and size, something that's out
of the routine, so to speak. Now, it's not a
definitive list. This is just a conversation because Stacy, I
(01:31):
think you and I could probably do three four, five
six shows on big plants.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Because I love them. I am going to come right
out and say, yeah, we're not talking about like, you know,
the giant sequoias out in California, which are obviously extremely
amazing and impressive, but like their tree, you know, they're gigantic.
For me, what this show is about are those plants
that basically go from nothing in spring where there's nothing
(01:56):
above ground, and the next thing you know, by the
time summer rolls around, they're five six, seven, ten feet tall.
And watching that process of something going from nothing to
just this massive plant, it just never gets old from me.
I absolutely love it. My garden is full of these
types of plants, and yeah, the more I can get,
(02:17):
the better I agree.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
And no garden is too small for a large leafed plant.
The key is knowing how, where and when to use it,
all of which depends on the impression that you want
to make. But you can punctuate. You can make an
impression with big plants. I mean I think off the
top of my head. Stacey, we've talked about El Nino
(02:41):
desert orchid.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Sample definitely a great example.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
The cup plant that you love, and we should talk
about that today callicanthus sweet shrub. Any of those types
of plants in a shady spot, A hosta is a
great example. You have the Shadowland Empress woh Sta hybrid,
you have shadow Land Gigantisaurus Hasta hybrid, and of course, Stacey,
(03:07):
the old standard summon substance.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, I love those hostas. Now. Of course I don't
have them because I have deer and very little shade
and I don't water, and that's how you're going to
get the truly impressive results on those is. Yes, plenty
of moisture. But boy do I love seeing a well
grown giant hosta. Just fills me with envy.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, it's fantastic. It's like they're saying, stop here, look
at me. It's great. And then you can take it
to the next level. Plant in mass for impact, where
space is not constrained. You take some of these dramatic
plants and then plant them in mass I think of
the airport here in West Michigan in the entrance where
(03:49):
they have a viburnum placatum double file and they get
so large and when they bloom and they're in the
ent entrance in a drift.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
I've never knowniced that. I guess I've never flown out
in late spring, but I will have to make some
arrangements and see this legendary planting. Yeah, I mean, I
think that a lot of people think that big plants
are bad because they don't have space. But the fact is,
I think that big plants are extremely useful in low
(04:21):
maintenance gardening because if you plant one very large plant
and you cite it, well, it's basically no work. Sure,
you know, it's like you can just transform an area
of your yard from something that you have to mow
or trim or whatever and just plant something large and
it kind of just takes care of itself. It makes
(04:41):
a bigger impression. And you know, I think that in
many ways, big plants are getting harder to find. There
is a prevailing assumption in the horticulture industry right now
that people want smaller plants, and it is true that
people very often have smaller yards, but that doesn't mean
is not place for big plants. And you know, a
(05:03):
well chosen big plant can make all the difference, especially
in the small yard.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Exactly. It can be explosive. But you know what, again,
big is relative. You can find big in something like bulbs.
You look at bulbs. I was always excited in spring
when the big elephant ear bulbs would come in and
then you look, you know, there's big as softballs, and
you think, wow, the potential that lies in this plant
(05:29):
or alium gigantium, or the fritile areas or whatever it
may be. I shared with Adriana a picture of met
at Koekenhoff trying to fill my big European shoes for
YouTube listeners and viewers. But I'm always on the lookout
for something bigger, better, more unusual. I'm a fan of
(05:50):
plants with big, tropical showy leaves, so you know I
love canas colocacia bananas. I mean, you take something like
Mussa bajou, which is the hardy Japanese fiber banana. Even
though in the north and I'm in Zone six B,
it dies back to the ground if you're able to
(06:11):
keep it alive. The amount of growth, like you said
at the outset, Stacey, is quite inspiring that you get
in one season have.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
You been able to successfully elul Oh, that's cool. How
old is yours? Then?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Well, I had one for numerous years until I moved,
and now this spring I just planted one, so I'm
gonna try again.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
So what's your secret to overwintering this? Just keeping it dry?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Okay, Soltz, you've got a mulch. The plant needs a
fair amount of water during the growing season in order
to produce that growth. But for winter good I'm talking
mounded mulch.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Okay, yeah, big. You know, make sure that that that
rise them under there is well buried exactly, And then
of course you can't risk uncovering it too late, because
then you could earth plant right exactly. But it's worth
it to have a hardy banana exactly.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
One of my favorite big plants in the landscape is rhododendrons,
and I think part of the reason for that is
because the root system is small proportionately to the top
of the plant. And I went out yesterday shot a
couple pictures for YouTube viewers of just some neighbors who
have gigantic rhododendrons. Well, again, we live on the lake
(07:29):
shore here in West Michigan, and the conditions allow us
to grow rhododendrons that need moisture and yet need good drainage.
If they sit in water, they're not going to do well.
And then you think about rhododendron maximum or great laurel
or wild rhododendron. You see a lot of that in
(07:50):
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These things get absolutely huge.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Yeah, rhododendron can be very You know the one that
goes that meme that goes around about the This is
the one hundred year old rhododendron with a lady who
planted it. So she apparently planted it as an infant.
But it's a good example of how of the truly
epic proportions rhododendron can reach.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah, if the conditions are right, you bet rhododendri Rhododendron
Dell is a great landscape showcasing all the rhododendrons at
Arnold's Arboretum. And I went arnold Arboretum and I went
there this past year. Four hundred and forty six rhododendrons
(08:35):
in that collection. I think about full speed a hedge
and arbor vitie that gets very, very tall and yet
in the garden center. I see a lot of people,
Stacey who opt for Thuya placata, which is the green
giant or great Western cedar because of deer pressure.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Right, so green giant is actually a hybrid between Placata
and Standiscia. Is im a Asian species. But green Giant
lives up to its name. It is a big it's tall,
but it's also very broad at the base, so it's
really it's good for privacy hedging if you have a
lot of ground space. Otherwise, something like full Speed Hedge
or north Pole from proven Winners are great choices because
(09:16):
they take up less ground real estate but can still
give you the privacy. Do you have to space them
a little bit more closely, of course to make up
for that. But green Giant is a household name, but
it is definitely not for every yard. But it's cool,
all right.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
I'll give you a big plant, Limerick. And by the way,
we're going to continue to talk about big plants in
segment for it will also be interesting to see Stacey's
plant on trial that is chosen this week as we
talk about big plants. Here's my limb rick. I need
a plant colossal, not something dainty or docile, something downright
(09:53):
large that shows it's in charge, as big as a
dinosaur fossil. I want a plant that's big, a leafy, robust,
large fig. A plant that's substantial and really consequential, not
a wimpy, modest twig. To big plants, I'm deferential that
fill my lot residential. Nothing that is passive. Make it
(10:14):
really massive with foliage, substantial, something that is enormous. Tell us,
please inform us of a plant with impact that isn't compact.
It's got to be ginormous.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
We'll see what kind of impactful plant Stacey shares with us. Next.
In Plants on trial here on the Gardening Simplified.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
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white container your local garden center or learn more at
(11:00):
proven Winner's Color Choice dot com. Greetings gardening friends, and
welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. We're talking about
one of my all time favorite topics as well as
plants to put in the garden, and that is big plants.
I mean, I like small plants. Let's like, not pretend
that's not true. I have tons and tons of small plants.
(11:22):
I have tiny little seedum's, tiny little supervivum, and I
love those as well. But there is just something to
me that is so inspiring about something like smarific hibiscus,
which you know, comes spring, not a thing to be
found in the ground, no signs of life whatsoever. And
then you know, late May, couple little tiny shoots start
(11:42):
to poke up and you're like, okay, and then you know,
by July you've got a five foot tall plant covered
in flowers, and you're just like, how did that happen?
Speaker 1 (11:52):
It's exciting, it's explosive. Not only a big plant, big flowers,
big flowers.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, so I love that. I also love, you know,
any number of native plants. Like one of my favorites
that I have is Agastaki nepatoides. So this is the
green hissip and nepatoides means it looks like catnap, which
it kind of does, except that it gets to be
eight feet tall and it puts on these amazing candelabra
type branches and again, I just love seeing that go
(12:21):
from like where where even is that plant? To just
this massive presence in the landscape. It never it never
gets old for me. And you know, when it comes
to shrubs, of course, there's lots of big shrubs. If
we were just talking about plants that reach epic proportion
as well, I could still go on all day. But
there the shrub version of this ability to go from
(12:42):
virtually nothing to just a massive in bloom plant I
think is best epitomized by butterfly bush.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Now, especially older varieties of butterfly bush. As I said,
the industry is largely under the operating under the belief
that people want smaller plants, and there's definitely been a
tendency to breed smaller and smaller butterfly bush compared to
back in the day, when you know, good luck finding
a butterfly bush it's under six feet. Now it's more
like good luck finding a butterfly bush that's over six
(13:12):
feet anymore. And I think there's still a place for that.
But no matter what size butterfly bush you have, they
all share this ability to kind of come out of
winter looking like they're dead, nearly dead. It's one of
the plants that I think people are most likely to
give up on because they just look so ghastly, you know,
(13:33):
in late winter, early spring, and next thing you know,
they're growing and you think, okay, well, I guess it
were covered from that winter damage, but it's not going
to flower. And then like a week later it's covered
in flowers. I mean, it's amazing, blamo blamo exactly. So
today's plan on trial is one of my favorite of
our butterfly bush and that is Miss Violet. Oh my gosh,
(13:57):
this is a plant that you know, I like Budi.
I am definitely choosy about what I put in my garden,
but my neighborhood a Miss Violet, and that made me
want a Miss Violet because it was so pretty that
I just love the deep purple flowers sow. The Miss
series of butterfly bush are developed to be about four
(14:18):
to five feet tall and wide and to have kind
of a more elegant habit than your average budlia. So
some butterfly bushes can have like a really uh, let's
just say habit is not their strong suit, especially some
of those older varieties where these really do have like
kind of an elegant, vaselike habit and that four to
five foot you know, size is nothing to sneeze that
(14:39):
that's still quite an appreciable size, but much more versatile
than some of those older ones that would you know,
just get really really huge.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yeah, and I'd love that Miss series. It was Adriana
who got me excited about Miss Molly. Put it in
my landscape.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Love that that's our favorite plant in the whole proven
winner's line. Miss Molly is her number one pick. Now,
I I have seen the Miss series of butterfly bush
undergo this exact same phenomenon that I'm talking about in
my own garden. So at my previous home, I had
planted a Miss Molly butterfly bush. So this is all
from the same breeding series. A breeder named doctor Dennis
(15:14):
Warner out of North Carolina State University. He is now retired,
but he was really really passionate about butterfly bush and
he devoted the latter part of his career to developing
non invasive butterfly bushes because at that point, in certain
milder climates, butterfly bush was starting to spread by seed
sure it was getting banned, and he really did not
(15:35):
want to see that happen. So he devoted his resources
into the Low and Behold series. So some of the
earlier Low and Behold butterfly bush, which of course are
are low, small growing butterfly bushes, and my favorite the
Miss series. So I planted a Miss Molly. It was full. Now,
I generally do not recommend that you plant butterfly bush
in full. So now that we're here in late spring
(15:57):
early summer, especially if you're in a cold clam and
you're thinking about adding a butterfly bush to your garden,
now is the time to do it. You want to
make sure that it has a nice long season ahead
to develop a good root system to help it come
back from you know, any damage that it's going to
get in winter. So you know, but I work in
the industry, so I get free plants. And when you
get free plants, you don't just you know, you plant them.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
And I worked in the garden center industry, and if
you get bargain bin plants in October, you plant them
exactly and hope for the best.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Exactly, can't beat the price. So I planted this Miss Mollie,
and you know, it looked great at that fall, and
then come the following spring, other butterfly bushes that are
planted near it coming back without a problem. I'm like,
all right, cool, and this Miss Mollie is showing not
a sign of life, not a single sign of life
now again. And I do have pretty good conditions, but
(16:49):
there's a lot of different things that could happen. So,
you know, I kept waiting because I know that butterfly
bush are always late to emerge, and the colder or
harsher your winter is the harder the slower they are
to come back from. That so especially true for people
in USBA Zone five and six. So I'm waiting. Still nothing,
still nothing. Finally, the second weekend in June rolls around
(17:10):
and I think that's it. This thing is not coming back.
I'm going to just pull it out. So I lean over,
bend over to pull it out with my bare hands,
because this is something you can do when you have
very sandy soil. It's really quite a fun benefit. Not everything,
but some things. So I reach down to pull it
out and I see just this tiny little shoot coming
(17:32):
out of the ground, and I thought, all right, all right,
we'll give it a whirl. We'll see what you can
do from this tiny, little, you know, one inch shoot
and I am not even joking. Three weeks later the
thing was fully grown and in bloom.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I mean it was insane. It was absolutely amazing and
plants just you know, it's one of those plants that
just has this ability to, I guess, summon the extensive
resources in its roots to come back from even a
really really harsh winter, and it's just so amazing to
see that kind of comeback.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Yeah, it's true. I have a Missviolet. Two years ago
we had a very mild winter, hardly any die back.
This past winter, Stacey mine pretty much had. I had
die back to the ground, but it's really recovering quickly.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
That's the crazy thing is they do recover quickly. And
all butterfly bush, especially in colder climates or if you
have clay soil and you get cold winters, that is
their death knell. They hate that. They will definitely be
sat back, if not die. But the thing is, yes,
you do have to have faith with these plants because
they can come back in such an amazing way. So
(18:38):
a couple more tips for success, whether you're growing today's
plan on trial Miss Violet with its fabulous purple flowers
or any butterfly bush. Again, plant it sooner than later,
especially if you are in a cold climate or you
are planting it in less than ideal conditions. So that
would be like clay soil, poorly drained soils. You don't
want to put it in any soil of its wet.
It will not make it. You can plant them in
(19:01):
clay soil, but they definitely need a longer time to
get established. Because it's not even so much winter that
will take out a butterfly bush. It's being cold and wet.
So really the danger times are kind of that late
fall where the ground hasn't frozen yet, it's not cold
enough to actually like snow or freeze, but we're getting
(19:21):
a lot of rain that's terrible for it. And then
the same thing happens on the other end of the
season in early spring, when you know we're kind of
past the worst of the cold, but we get a
lot of rain and the soils cold and wet. They
absolutely hate that, so plant early, plants high. If you
have a drainage issue, make sure this you're putting it
so that's a little bit above the soil surface rather
(19:42):
than even with the soil surface and make sure you
prune these things. So this is so important. Butterfly bush
is one of those plants that you definitely want to
prune to make sure it stays nice and compact, maintains
that really nice habit and flowers from top to bottom,
because that amazing ability to regrow that we were just
(20:03):
discussing also means that if a butterfly bush is not trimmed,
it's just going to keep going up and up and
up and up and get really tall, really lanky, look
super weird, and then you don't even get to enjoy
the flowers.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Prune hard and it helps stimulate blooming lass it does,
and it's just yeah, it's important.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
And if you don't know where to prune it, the
best thing to do is to wait until it starts
to grow, because then the plant is going to tell
you exactly where it is alive. You can cut back
to just above there, and then all the energy that
the plant has will grow into those you know, remaining
shoots or buds, and the plant will start to grow
and again and bloom so fast you will not even
(20:43):
believe it's possible. I wouldn't have believed it if I
saw it myself. So a fascinating plant to have great
summer color, NonStop flowers. You know, that's one of the
things I loved about seeing the one in my neighbor's yard.
Just that purple, that deep true purple, looks so good
with all of summer's colors, all the reds, all the yellows,
all that kind of stuff I have in my garden.
(21:04):
And of course it attracts butterflies.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah, the butterflies exactly a magnet for and hummingbirds.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
So a great plant with unique color and a plant
that will, I think inspire you, whether it survives winter
without any damage, or for those winters where it might
get a little damage but will redeem itself shortly. So
you can find it at your local garden center. If
you don't know where your local garden center is, visit
proven Winter's Color Choice dot com. We've got a list
(21:30):
of retailers for you right there. We're going to take
a little break. When we come back, we're opening up
the mailbanks. If these stay tuned at proven Winter's Color
Choice Shrubs, we know that a better landscape starts with
a better shrub. Our team of experts tests and evaluates
(21:50):
all of our flowering shrubs and evergreens for eight to
ten years to ensure they outperform what's already on the market.
For easycare, reliable, beautiful shrubs to scentuate your home and
express your personal style, look for Proven Winners shrubs in
the distinctive white container at your local garden center or
learn more at Proven Winners color choice dot com. Greetings
(22:12):
gardening friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show,
where it's time for us to help you with your
garden questions, conundrums, and quandaries. And I'll bet they are
happening in spades right now. You know, it was a
slow start here in Michigan, but we got those couple
of warm days and man, everything has just exploded. There
(22:33):
is so much going on, most of it good, but
perhaps some of it bad, confusing, not sure what to do,
and that's where we come in. So you can reach
us at Gardening Simplified on air dot com and we'll
be happy to take a look at your question if
you do need an answer right away. We do want
you to get the help that you need because we
only have time for about three questions and sometimes not
(22:53):
even that. So you can also reach us at Proven Winners,
color choice dot com and get an answer for your
question from a professional horticulturist who actually cares about your success.
So we do want to make sure that we are
helping you out in a timely manner, So don't hesitate
to reach out to us other ways if we can't
get to you on this show. Who do we have
this week?
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Stacy Scott writes to us, hanging baskets. Our front porch
is covered heavy shade, and we struggle keeping hanging baskets
looking good beyond a few weeks. This goes for flowers
and plants that are supposed to be better in the shade. Example,
given two Berus pogonias, what are we doing wrong right?
Speaker 2 (23:32):
So? Well, first of all, I think two bris pogonias
kind of need their own little exemption carved out of
what we're saying. We did recently do a whole show
on hanging baskets where we gave a lot of advice.
But I know now probably a lot of people who
is since that show actually probably have hanging baskets in
their yard at this point and are maybe wondering what
(23:53):
to do. So I do want to say and Ricky
talked about this in that episode hanging Basket. There are
usually the soil less media in them is typically a
peat base media and peat moss will become hydrophobic, which
is to say it becomes very difficult to rewet if
it gets dry and you in the garden center, most
(24:16):
hanging baskets are on drip, so they're constantly getting like
a low supply of water and that prevents the soil
from drying out once it gets to your house. If
that soil service is exposed because it's still young and
hasn't filled in fully or whatever, and it dries out,
it becomes very very hard to rewet that. So what
happens is you're sitting there watering, the water's flowing out
(24:38):
the bottom and you're patting yourself on the back that
you need did a great job, but you actually have
not wet any of the roots whatsoever. So it's something
you need to be really careful of. I would say,
if your hanging basket isn't doing well, take it down.
You're probably not going to be able to solve any
hanging basket issues from the ground when it is up
in the air hanging wherever you have place because you
(25:00):
can't get a good look at it, and that's the
only way you're going to know it's almost certainly a
water issue. You know, very rarely is this going to
be any kind of disease. And if it is a disease,
then it's a disease that was probably caused by too
much water rather than something that was like actually wrong
with the plant. So take it down if it has
if it's too dry, and you'll be able to tell
it when you take it down because they'll feel really light.
(25:22):
It's kind of you know, it's a I think a
skill you develop, but once you've experimented with it, you
know pretty well. So take it down if it's very dry,
dunk it in water, so don't you're not going to
leave it in standing water. But that will help to
fully rewet the entire volume of soil rather than just
you know, dribbling a bit of water from the top.
(25:45):
So you can treat it just like you would anything
else and use that bottom watering technique to fully saturate
it and that will help a lot in terms of
actually keeping it healthy.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Now, so sorry ahead, there's plenty of wonderful plants to
grow in the shape I agree Stacey that soil or
soillest mix can become hydrophobic. Combined with that the roots
tend to mass on the surface also, so yes, the
water that you think you're applying is hitting the surface
(26:15):
heading over to the sides of the basket. If it's
dried out. At some point that soil has contracted from
the side of the basket and so that water is
just simply running down the side and out the bottom.
I agree with taking them down. In the garden center,
you're dealing with thousands of hanging baskets. The way we
do it is as you walk along, you just push
(26:36):
up on the basket. You can tell instantly whether it's
dry to wet. It's a good way to monitor. And
then when you take it down again for a basket
at home, I use the screwdriver method. I just poke
some holes. Yeah, in that soil surface. It makes a
big difference.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
That's a good easy thing to do. I do want
to say briefly, though, Scott, about Tuberspegonia's beautiful, but they
can be pretty tricky to grow because they are tuberous
as the name suggests, and that big old tuber in
there is very sensitive to poor drainage and watering. If
it gets too wet, it will start to rot. So
it's a plant that needs a lot of water. But
(27:16):
also if it gets too much water, it can rot
really easily. So as gorgeous and tempting as they are,
they can be a little bit tricky.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Maybe try some fibrous pogonias instead of tuberous pagonias and
that may work better.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
And same with like all these beautiful like angel wing pogonias,
you know, bonfire and on all of that a great choice.
So also the other thing is you might maybe the
garden or the area is not as shady as you
think it is for the plants, because sometimes, especially when
we're dealing with locations close to the house, the house
bounces a lot of light back into the plants and
(27:52):
it can actually make the spot less shady than you
might assume. So if you're getting something specific, Scott, send
us a picture so we know what you're dealing with
and can help you specifically. But I would say, whenever
anything's going wrong, take it down, get to the root
of the problem, and then once you resolved it, then
it can go back up.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Many times, people in that situation will default to Boston ferns.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Oh yeah, can't go wrong with the Boston fern. It's
a classic.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Suzanne writes, Hello, love the show. I'm a fellow Michigander.
Have been listening for the past couple of years. It's
therapy in my car. I love the comedian Jim Gaffigan.
He asked this past weekend, is there a recovery program
for gardening? He did good, quite, yes, he did so.
I'm in six B southeast side. These roses were planted
(28:40):
in the house I moved into four years ago, learning
about them, started caring for them, attempting, pruning, fertilizing. I
believe I did everything right in terms of pruning and fertilizing.
They seem to be doing great. Last week with no
spots on the foliage. I turned my back for one second.
This week, I'm noticing a good spots on the leaves
(29:02):
Larva looking things. Hell.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Yes, so what you are experiencing, Suzanne, is definitely common
for rose growers in late spring. Everything's going along just fine,
and there seems to be this point that they reach
where they're well known tendency to attract certain pests explodes.
Now aphids. I wouldn't really worry about. You know, I
(29:25):
have definitely seen bad aphis on roses where it will
cause the buds to actually weep. But you know, their
roses are pretty sturdy. They're easy to like wipe the
aphids off of rinse the aphis off, and they really
don't cause that much trouble except kind of their stickiness
and just general grossness. The other thing that you're seeing
is something that if people aren't already seeing it, they
(29:46):
will be very soon, and it's confusing pests. It is
the rose slug. And I find this one so fascinating
because it basically causes two different types of damage when
it so it's called a rose lug. It's like a sawfly.
So it's a little larvae and they're clear. So they
(30:07):
start eating the rose foliage and they turn the exact
shade of your rose foliage. And when they're in this
really small, tiny larval state, so after the mother softly
laser eggs on the plant, when they're still in that
really tiny state, their little jaws are too small and
too weak to actually get through the entire leaf surface
(30:28):
of the plant, so they can only chew through the
top of the leaf. They can't go all the way
through because they're just so little, and it makes us
window like damage, this very specific window like damage. And
then as they start to age a little bit more,
then they can actually get all the way through and
they make these kind of meandering sort of sea shape.
(30:51):
I don't want to call them. I guess channels is
the thing, because they go all the way through and
they don't eat the leaf ribs, so you see these
weird kind of meandering channel in that. And it's all
the same insect, so it's not like it's a separate thing.
It's all the same one. Now, the easiest time to
spot these little guys is early in the morning when
they're still moving, kind of start just starting to feed,
(31:13):
and you have to look on the underside of the leaf.
And the first couple times that you look for one,
it's going to be tricky. They're very hard to pick out.
But after a couple of times you'll start to pick
them out and I just smash them, you know, I
smash as many as I see. It's a fairly useful
control method if you're not overly squeamish and have a
little bit of time on your hands, because that's what
(31:34):
gardening is about is just being out there with your
plants and checking them out. The other thing you can
do if your roses are a disease resistant or continuous
blooming landscape rose, then what you can do is go
ahead and just give them a light trim. Because these
rose slugs stick on the top most folly and so
they don't go way down deep onto the other folaginals.
(31:56):
You have a very serious infestation. If you just give
it a light trim. I know it's going to be
a little bit of a heartbreak. You're probably trimming off
flower buds, but not to worry. That will get rid
of all of the slugs on your plants. Give the
plant a chance to recover well. The rose slug is like, hey,
no new growth here for me to lay my eggs on.
I'm gonna go find a rose it does have new growth,
(32:18):
and then by the time your plant actually leaves out again,
they've moved on.
Speaker 1 (32:22):
It's great advice, and I would feed it at the
same time. When you do that print.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Definitely good advice. Make sure that you give it that
little extra boost of energy to help it recover from
that pruning. But that is the best, easiest, non toxic
way to manage rose slugs because yeah, they can get
pretty bad, but I don't know. I find them fascinating
a slug fest anyway. Thank you so much for your questions,
and if you have a question for us, remember you
(32:48):
can reach us at Gardening Simplified on air dot com.
We're going to take a break. When we come back,
we're picking up our conversation about big plants. You won't
want to miss it, so stay tuned. Thanks for listening
to the Gardening Simplified Podcast, brought to you by Proven
Winner's Color Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs and
(33:08):
evergreens are trialed and tested by experts with your success
in mind. Learn more at Proven Winners Color Choice dot com.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. Today for branching news,
we continue talking about big impact plants and I did
have to mention to you stay see this story that
I saw in the news. Talk about big in your
front yard. A Norwegian man managed to sleep through an
enormous container ship running aground on his front lawn. Johann Hellberg,
(33:40):
who lives in Norway, was woken by his neighbor on
Thursday morning and asked if he had noticed a boat outside.
TV two Norway reported when he looked out his door,
he saw a four hundred and forty three foot container
ship parked.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
In his front ear Oh yikes, mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
We'll give you the link in show notes and here
on YouTube. But yes, a container ship ran aground in
his front yard. He slept right through.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Well that's not very ornamental.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Yes, you are so right talking about large impact plants
and maybe tropical on a budget. How about castor beans?
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Oh? I love them, I mean boom.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Can you know the ones I've planted have gotten twelve
to fifteen feet in one season. I had some planted
next to popcorn plant.
Speaker 2 (34:33):
Both of those really going for that tropical.
Speaker 1 (34:36):
Yeah, and once the weather gets hot, it's like wow.
Other big impact plants, ligular area, the rocket and I
like big green tractor. It's also known as tractor seat,
big foliage that looks like a tractor seat.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
Yeah, tractor seat is what they call it in the South.
With the first time I was on some tour with
some Southerners, they said something about and I was like, what,
I like tractor seat. That's that plant. I was like,
that is so funny.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Fun to grow. I have one of my plant, yep
rod Jersey. If you've got rich humisy consistently moist soils
in part shade. That plant was named after our honors
Rear Admiral John Rogers, a distinguished American naval officer who
(35:30):
commanded a expedition in the mid eighteen hundreds and the
first species of this genus was discovered. You look at
other plants we mentioned elephant ear, Your allocacious odora was
one that I loved getting into the garden center. It
made a real impact. Always have difficulty pronouncing this one,
(35:55):
but I think I got it. Simysifuga.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Oh yeah, that was a very cool plant.
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Yeah, did I get that right? Did?
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Yeah, there's a cool one called chocoholic. Some people call
it snakeroot plant or bugbane in reference to the old
differous insect repellent properties of the plant. They look like
giant a stillby plants.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Yes, these are all plants that Rick just listed that
need moist soil. So if you have shade and you
have moist soil, great choices. There's a lot of plants
like this. I feel like that are good for moist shade.
You know that have the big boffo foliage if you
have if you live in a warm climate and you
have wet soil, you can also grow gunnera.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Oh, I was just gonna bring that right.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Don't you love gunnara?
Speaker 1 (36:40):
It's so jealous some areas, like I think in England,
they're trying to get you to not right the plant.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Because it's so invasive.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
There, huge foliage. I remember being in Vancouver Queen Elizabeth Park, huge,
you know, and everybody wants to get their picture taken time, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
The first one that I saw in real life, I
had to have my picture taken in front of Yes,
that's right, but definitely not hardy for us here in Michigan.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
It makes for a great selfie in social media. Joe
Pie Weed and we had a lavender show that we
did a few weeks ago. Go back and visit it.
But Stacey, we talked about phenomenal lavender. That's you know again,
it's all relative. But when it comes to lavender, talk
about a big plant. Of course. I love grasses, so
(37:30):
the giant misscanthus. I like the ravenna grass or arianthus.
North Carolina State University calls it hardy pampas grass, But
boy does that thing get big in one season.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
It is very cool to see those grasses that get
so big and you just you know, one of the
things that I think is so fascinating when I'm looking
at these plants and this is like, I don't know,
such a weird thing to think, but I kind of
can't help it as I just think about the number
of cells they had to produce to get that big,
so many cells.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
And how fast it goes.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
Yes, it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
I know. My mind works the same way with steria.
What about wisteria. Here's a plant that you got to
show whose boss? You know. You think about some of
these vines, like trumpet vine or wisteria, I guess if
you have the room, if you have the support, well,
more power to you. Some people would say I would
never plant a trumpet what an invasive. Yeah, I understand,
(38:25):
but in some areas, especially if you're willing to neglect
the plant or get tough with it, like rit pruning,
which is what I recommend for wisteria. Obviously, get very big,
grow very quickly.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Yeah, if you have a spot where you can just
kind of let it go to a trumpet vine, you
will never have more hummingbirds in your entire life. It's
worth it. They do need, they do need their space
or some aggressive management. But for that reason, I really
do wish I could have one, but I don't think
my neighbors would appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
How about bears breeches canthus, I mean that, wow, interesting flowers.
Some people will say, hey, don't plant it almost impossible
to eradicate out of a planting bed. But when you're
talking about bold thistle like foliage, bears breeches is well,
it's a It's an architectural presence, is what it is.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Yes, And you know, people think of a canthus as
a warm climate plant, and the one that is most
often depicted at the in the Grecian columns is actually
a warm climate canthus. But there are hardy ones that
you can find. They're not usually around in garden centers,
but if you are so inclined, you can definitely grow
a certain one in cold climates and enjoy it. You
(39:45):
might need to find someone who already has one to
give you some plants, but they are prickly, but they're
very cool.
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Sitting in my office the other day, looking out the
window and watching the beautiful Baltimore orioles who were feasting
on the orange pieces outside of my office on a feeder,
and they're so colorful. But it caused me to think
about how much I love also the yellow finches, especially
in spring, and how bright they are. And then doing
(40:14):
a little bit of research, it was strongly recommended that
cup plant or sylphium is something you might want a
plant if you like finches. What's been your.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Oh gosh experience in late summer, it is the finch
hot spot of my entire neighborhood. So they love, love,
love the seeds, and these plants do set so much seed,
and so they're also your right hand man there in
managing this plant, which can spread aggressively from seed because
they're eating so many of them. But between the fact
(40:45):
that they produce so much seed that the goldfinches love
the cup, so the foliage actually surrounds the big, thick,
square stem and makes kind of a cup like structure
that will hold rain or irrigation water. So between having
that water and all of those seeds, they just they
mob it, they mobbit. My neighbor says, she just loves
(41:05):
to sit there with her binoculars and just watch the
finches just have a field day on my Sofia.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
When would you say your plant is in prime?
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Uh, probably about the last two weeks of July.
Speaker 1 (41:16):
Okay, which is ideal because at that time you start
getting some of the globe thistle mm hmm. And the
finches breed later in the year or not and spring,
and so yeah, that's that's pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (41:29):
And plus my neighbors have finch feeders. So between the
three things, you know, there they are. They are coming
out in drugs and it is a lot of fun
to watch. And that's a plant too that you know,
it starts from nothing and then you know by the
time July rolls around, it's sent feet tall.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Yeah. A plant that I always enjoyed in the Michigan
State University Garden was the Rudbeckias, the tall cone flower.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
Yeah, Maxima, Yeah, I love that one with a big
blue fold. Such a cool plant.
Speaker 1 (41:56):
Yeah, that's a great plant. Also to consider, for years
I've grown Helianthus like lemon queen. They can just get
strikingly large. Just a great plant again if you're looking
for that quick size. And I have to mention Stacy
that even though this isn't an herbaceous plant or a
(42:18):
plant grown from seed. Oh, by the way, just popped
into my head. Also, I've got to mention the hyacinth
bean again. If you're on a budget, you want tropical,
you want fast, you want size, a great plant to
put in the ground for size, But when it comes
to size in the landscape, I just feel you cannot
(42:40):
beat viburnums. I love viburnums, don't you.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
I do. I really do like viburnums. I don't have
a lot of them, but I do love them as
a foliage plant because sometimes, you know, viburnums are considered derresistent,
but they do very often eat the flowers, so they
leave the plants alone. So you gotta be if you
have dear, you've got to grow a viburnum that you
can appreciate for its foliage, because you probably are not
(43:05):
going to be able to enjoy the flowers at least
that's been my experience exactly.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
And then of course I love the bloomerang lilacs, the
miss Kim lilacs, because boy, they helped me get control
in my landscape. Because those old French lilacs, yes, they're
something else and they're fragrant, but boy, I've seen some
big ones in my dear Oh.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
They do. They can get quite large because they have
a suckering habit, so they kind of keep colonizing an area.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Yeah, we'd love to hear about your favorite big plants.
The list could go on and on, and maybe we'll
do a future show again on more big plants, but
certainly a fun thing to talk about. Go Big or
Go Home. Thank you Stacy, thank you Rick, Thanks Adriana,
and thanks most of all to you for watching us
on YouTube, listening to the podcast, listening to us on radio.
(43:52):
Have a great week.
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