May 9, 2026 • 39 mins
Horticulturist and landscape designer Teresa Watkins hosts Better Lawns and Gardens, Florida’s most popular gardening radio show. She’s joined by Southern Living’s Corrina Stellitano Andrews to talk about new Encore Azalea varieties, introduces the “Dirty Word of the Day” (Family), and takes listener landscaping and gardening questions.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Good morning, Welcome back to the second hour of Better
Lawns and Gardens from the Summit.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Responsible Solutions Studios.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's Talking Entertainment Network.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
We discuss gardening here. We love gardening.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
I want to shout out to all the mothers and
grandmothers out there and wish them a happy Mother's Day.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Happy Mother's Day again, Lizzie to you, happy you too.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Thank you for taking care of the board and everything here.
We would just not be able to do anything without Lizzie.
So the southeast, sixty percent of the southeast is an
extreme drought. Okay, there is a tiny sliver on South
Florida just north of Miami which is only abnormally dry,
so not extreme, abnormally dry.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
But we're going to be getting more rain this week.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
So take advantage of that and make sure that you're
not overwatering when we get enough rain.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Also too, let's do the dirty word of the day.
And now it's time for the dirty Word of the
Day on Better Lawns and Gardens with Teresa Watkins.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
And today's dirty word of the Day comes from Plant Words,
a book of two hundred and fifty Curious Words for
plant lovers by It's been published by the Royal Botanical
Gardens that Q and the authors are Emma Wayland and
Joe Risholm and so. Family a taxamic a taxonomic rank
(01:39):
below order and above genus plant families group genera that
shares common characteristics. Families can therefore be made up of
quite a variety of different plants, but many families are
still recognizable by distinctive features, particularly in flower form. Families
are referred to by names ending typically in aca okay,
(02:03):
which comes from the Latin meaning resembling. Examples include aster Eraca,
which is the daisy family, Rosa ca, which is the
rose family, Era ca which is the aeroid family, and
Erica ca, which is the palm family.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
So the APG four.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
System, which I'm going to tell you what it is
in just a second, currently recognizes four hundred and fifty
two vascular plant families, while this number is constantly being
updated and debated. APG four is the fourth iteration of
a modern mostly molecule based system for classifying flowering plants,
(02:49):
which are called angiosperms, which was a former dirty word
of the day. So the APG four is called the
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group four system is an internationally developed classification system.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
For flowering plants.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
It groups angiosforms into orders and families using molecular phylogenetic
data supported by morphological and nontomical evidence. So this is
a DNA It groups them through DNA sequencing and genetic methods,
(03:30):
so that we're thirty. Word of the day is family
and it is a group of grouping of plants that
have significant characteristics together share.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
That's very interesting. Yes, so family for Mother's Day one.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Triple eight four five five two ninety sixty seven is
our phone number. You can give us a call at
the bottom of the half hour. We do have a
wonderful a person coming on. Her name is Karina sten
Alanto Andrews, and she is going to be talking to
us about the brand new en Corazalias, which I'm very
(04:09):
excited about and the colors are just incredible.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So we're gonna be coming up with that.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
If you would like to know more about our garden tours,
you can go to art and Bloomgardentours dot com. And
if you'd like to get the newsletter, you can go
to www dot she Dash Consulting dot com. She dashed
Consulting dot com and sign up for the free newsletter
(04:35):
that will be coming out this week. So Mother's Day,
if you're out there, I wish you a happy Mother's Day.
Grandmother's You're welcome to call after our interview and give
us any gardening memories that you have of your mother
and grandmother in the garden. We'd love to hear that,
(04:56):
and we would love to just have your memories and
just the thinking about that we have. This month of May,
we get an average of three and a half inches
of rain. We almost got it last night, so we've
been getting a little bit of rain this month and
that's good.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
We're gonna be getting more rain next week.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
You want to make sure that you are keeping up
on your watering as your drinking water when you're outside.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
That's very important.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I was out yesterday and after about forty five minutes
an hour, I could feel that I needed to start
drinking water, start to get that dizzy.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
That's bad. That's a bad sign. It is a bad sign.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So you want to make sure you're wearing a hat,
using sunscreen, and drinking water too as well. Also to
the number one triple eight four five five two nine
sixty seven, or you can text two three six eight zero. So, now, Lizzie,
you talked a little bit about what you're doing in
your garden, but what are you doing? You just bought
(05:56):
some beautiful ros.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Some knockout roses, and some drift roses.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yes, so I have a whole like area along our
one brick wall facing the south, and I just nothing's
ever been there, and so I decided that, you know,
I'm going to put those there. I'd already put our
points set us and they're growing, thank you Jesus, they're actually growing.
But I was like, you know what, I really I
like these flowers roses. I need another spot to put them.
(06:24):
And so yeah, so the drift roads are like a
peach and an orange color. The bread you can get
me every time with either like a yellow peach or
an orange.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
You got me every time.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
They are gorgeous and they're very easy to take care of.
So I'm so glad you're doing well on that. That's wonderful.
We're going to be back with more of better lawns
and gardens this Saturday morning.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
This is where you are.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
I'm Teresa Watkins, and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I'm Teresa Watkins. Mother's Day is tomorrow. If you still
need a gift or you and your mom loves flowers.
My next guest has some of the most romantic, beautiful
flowering shrubs for any landscape or garden. This time of
the year, companies announced their new plants, and when I
heard of these new varieties, I wanted to have her
on right away. Karina Steletano Andrews helps develop plants for
(07:43):
Southern Living Plant Collection. She is a garden expert who
translates emerging outdoor living trends into stunning and resilient landscapes.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
She joins us this morning. Good morning, Karina, how are you.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Good morning. I'm excited to be talking with you.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
You have a wonderful background and wonderful position at Southern Living.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Tell us about yourself.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
Oh yes, I'm really lucky. So I live down the
Gulf Coast of Alabama, very near Mobile Bay, and I
work with Southern Living Plant Collection, which means I get
to work with all parts of the industry, but most
exciting with new plant breeders. So I get to see
all the new plants that are coming out, and then
what I do is I talk about those plants so
(08:34):
that we can all have success with them.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
That is wonderful. I love that. That's so exciting to
see new plants come out.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
So you work with Encore ausalias and they have taken
the garden world by storm.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
They just are.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Wonderful, wonderful shrubs. So what makes them such a standout
in landscapes.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Well, you know, a lot of us are familiar with
azaleas as an iconic lands skate plant, you know, something
that we've grown up with and trust. But on Core
azalias were bred in the late nineties to bloom in
more than one season. So so they take you know,
traditional varieties and an inventor, Buddy Lee, crossed those with
(09:19):
a summer blooming azalia. So uh so you have azlias
that now bloom in the spring and then they take
a break in the heat of the summer and then
they put on more buds and start blooming in the
summer into the fall, and and a lot of warm
climates all the way through to first frost.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
So what kind of zone, what zones do they grow?
In and what kind of conditions do they need?
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Well, so, uh, they are hardy. And you know, in
terms of USDA zones to from zones six A all
the way up to nine and ten. So that's going
to be all the way down into Florida, across the
southeast and Atlantic and then up the west coast. And
(10:04):
they really like which is different than a traditional azalia
on core azalea is like a full sun for best blooms,
So that's going to be like four to six hours
for best blooming, and then an afternoon a break from
the afternoon sun is really helpful in hotter climates.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Yeah, I'm so thrilled with this because this gives you
more options for azaleas in those partial shade and full
sun conditions in the morning. And they thurvive. I just
they do so well on my client's landscapes. They make
me look good, so I really do. I really enjoy them.
So now they come in stunning colors. I can't believe
(10:45):
the colors encore. Autumn bell is one of my favorites.
So tell us a little bit about the color range
that's available.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Well, that's the neat thing there's you know at this point.
So buddy lee is so prolific as a plant in winter.
And so there's more than thirty five varieties. So there's
a you know, a size and a habit and a
color for like all of our landscape escape designs and
our home colors. So they come in whites and reds
and purples and pinks and bicolor. So you mentioned Autumn Bell,
(11:16):
which is one of those bicolor varieties. So so that's neat.
It kind of gets this kind of design or flare.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
It does, and it has more it has more petals.
It's like a double azalea on top, you know, on
that color range.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
That's what's neat is you know, because they because there's
so much breeding going on. It's uh, you can have
double and semi double and single blooms. So there's there's
really and it's an encourzolia that matches what you've grown
up with or or or a neat new look that
you haven't seen before. You can tell I'm really excited about.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Oh, I I know you are.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
When I when I heard about it, I just said
I have to call Karina. And so so the size
formosas can get large eight to ten feet you know,
tall and wide. What size do the encore zales get
to and what kind of landscape size is can they
can they be used in?
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Right, So we divide them into compact and the intermediate sizes.
And so you're going to look at those compact varieties
to be really good on your home foundation or in containers,
and they're going to go anywhere from three to four
and a half feet but really kind of grow in
(12:33):
that mound and compact habit. And then we have intermediate
varieties that might be work well for hedges or privacy
or just a really nice, you know, big shrub, but
not like those huge like you mentioned the traditional avilias
that used to have to kind of pull out with
a car if you wanted to get rid of them.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
That's that's right.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
And even then when you cut them all the way
down to the ground and they've been in the ground
for thirty years, which some of them you know, can
grow that, uh, then you do need a car to
get them out to attach it to your bumper. So
what kind of maintenance do they need we're talking about
compact and intermediate, what kind of fertilizing and pruning is needed?
Speaker 4 (13:13):
Well, so you're gonna want to prune them after the
spring bloom. If you wait and later, you might take
a risk of pruning off the buds that are going
to give you that summer and fall bloom. So after
they wind down at that first spring blooming phase, you're
going to give them a prune. But you know, I
find azalias you can go in and just kind of
(13:34):
selectively prune for uh, for you know, those sprays that
you don't the shape that you want to just control
a little so you don't have to do a hard pruning.
You can if you have one of those azilias that
you've had for a really long time. We have all
kinds of instructions on renewal pruning, so you can really
cut them back and let them flesh out again, and
(13:56):
then you're gonna feed them in the spring as well.
You don't want to feed after August or fertilize after
August because you might get some of that fresh new
growth that could be hurt by an early winter frost.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Well that's that's great to know, because you know, people
don't exactly know when to fertilize, and so just you
would say in the springtime early spring, and then another
time in the fall.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
No, So you're well, yes, the spring is exactly right.
You want to feed after that spring bloom as well,
or in the springtime in general, but you definitely don't
want to after August, after all, the way end of
the summer, and that gives them a you know, a
nice feeding season, but then you're not pushing new growth
(14:46):
when the winter TIMPs can come on. So August is
a good line to say, I'm not gonna I'm not
going to fertilize after August.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Okay, definitely, I thing you can do.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Oh, I'm sorry. The other thing you can do to
give them a really good head start is mulching because
on core azilias have, like well, azilias in general have
roots that grow close to the surface. So if you
give them a nice couple inches of mulch, that helps,
you know, give them a little protection from the heat
of the sun and holds that moisture in.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Oh. Excellent, excellent.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
So you have announced new encore varieties, So tell us
about what you have introduced this year.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
Yes, Autumn kiss is our newest Encore azelia. And you
know I talked about all those different colors and and
you mentioned, uh, your favorite bell a bicolor. A lot
of the bicolor blooms and they kind of have a
rich center of color and then you know, maybe some
white pattern around it. Autumn Kiss is a reverse pattern.
(15:46):
It's such a neat, unique bloom color that I haven't
seen before. And so it's it's it has a pink
outline around the edge and then and then white center
and then and then pink again in the center, kind
of like a little like a kiss, like lips and
so on. Kiss grows three to four feet, nice mounding
(16:07):
growth habit, and you know, it keeps its leaves all year,
Like on Corzilias are ever green, so they're gonna keep
green leaves all year even when they're not in bloom.
But we're we're excited about this really unique color pattern
that I think everybody will find kind of new and exciting.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Well, your website is so great at showcasing the colors
and varieties, So Krena, what website? Where where would they
go to see these varieties?
Speaker 4 (16:38):
OnCore azalia dot com or at your local garden center.
You can find them at garden centers all across the
southeast and mid Atlantic and West Coast that's what.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Well, so do you have favorites?
Speaker 4 (16:51):
You know, I honestly at whichever one is in bloom.
After all these years of working with azaleas, it's still
I'm still just stunned by their beauty.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
That's wonderful. So where can we find them to buy?
Speaker 4 (17:08):
So you can actually buy online at encore Zelia dot
com or at any of your local garden centers.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Yeah, they should ask for it.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
That's what I'm always telling people is if you want
to see some of these great plants, you need to
ask them to bring them in, you know, so that
they know that you'll buy them.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
And so what was the website.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Again, encore Azalea dot com.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
That is wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Karina for
joining me this morning. I have to have you on
again and talk about azaleas and some other of the
Southern Living the Southern Living plant collection, I have to say,
it just thrills me.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
And when I.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Go in and see all the different varieties of plants,
I use them often in my landscape designs and I
just think they're wonderful.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Buddy Lee is just a.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Great plant inventor and he's bringing us a lot of
good good plants that do well here in Florida, and
they are wonderful.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
So thank you so much, Queena for joining me this morning.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
You're welcome. Okay and so okay, I gotta say so.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Went on the website is the Encore Azaleas dot Com. Okay,
my favorite, because you know, I'm just that person. I
love the autumn starburst and I love the autumn twist.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yes, i mean, just look at it. Do you see
how many color varieties there are.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
There are so many varieties, and they are all gory.
I'm not pink person, but holy cheese and crackers. I'm
looking at some of these that are pink, and I'm like,
and they take full sun.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
That's the amazing thing about it is, these are azaleas
that can handle full sun, you know, morning of Florida
six hours. You know, maybe some afternoon shade if you're
down a little bit further south. But these will grow
very well here in Florida, and they do well and
they bloom multiple times.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
That's the thing is.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Also, if I've always had an area where it's like, okay,
forget about it. Put in Azalia's there's no way it's
all full sundright, but holy cheese and crackers. This is
a game changer. It is game changer, and and.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
They're very reasonable priced and they do just do very well.
Now that some of these the issues, uh, you know,
pest issues. I haven't seen a lot uh in my
client's landscapes, and I haven't seen so I'm.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Very pleased with this variety. So that is a Southern
Living plant collection.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Go onto their website and look at it, and then
you can also see encore Azaleas dot com. Thank you
for to Corina uh Andrews for coming on today. I
just certainly do appreciate it. We're gonna take more of
your phone calls right after the break. One triple eight,
four five, five, two nine sixty seven. This Saturday morning,
you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
I'm Teresa Watkins.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
This is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network. A big thank
you to Carina Andrews with Southern Living Plant Collection and
plant Development. So the on Cornzalees are just gorgeous, so
(20:15):
check them out on cornzalia dot com.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Let's go to our.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Phones if you'd like to give us a gardening question.
One Triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero like
Collett and winter Haven did. So we're gonna be talking
right now about that. So let's go to Pinky and
Port Orange. Pinky, did you get a lot of rain
last night?
Speaker 5 (20:41):
Yes?
Speaker 6 (20:41):
Yes, thank you, thank you, thank you God.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Yes, we did wonderful. How can I help you?
Speaker 5 (20:47):
Okay?
Speaker 6 (20:47):
I have two unknown varieties and good to talk to you, Teresa.
Thanks for taking my calls.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Oh, you're welcome.
Speaker 6 (20:54):
Two unknown varieties of roses that I had in the
ground last year or last summer, and they just kept
getting rust and so I pulled them out and I
put them in pots. They did beautifully through the fall
and so forth. One isn't a five gallon terracotta once
in a ten gallon plastic? Well now they're requiring sometimes
watering twice a day. Yes, and I'm leaving for a
(21:16):
month in June. I want to put them back in
the ground. Can I do it now? Or do I
have to wait till the fall?
Speaker 1 (21:24):
I would wait till the fall. But here's what you
can do if you do.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
You have a bathtub or a shower area in your house.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Bathtub, Yeah, I would take them, and what kind of
the plastic pots the clay pot if you wanted to
put them into like one in each bathroom that you have,
and just fill it up with water just about I
would say six to eight inches.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
They will be fine while you're gone.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
Theow great.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
Okay, okay, so.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
If you will, you know, they will bill that basketball.
But you can leave them and just leave the water
in the in the bathtub about six inches and they'll.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Be fine when you're gone.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
And when you come back then you can you know,
take care of them and then plant them in the fall.
Speaker 6 (22:12):
Oh. Perfect, And that bathroom gets bright light.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
So wonderful. Perfect, that will be perfect.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
One quick comment, one quick comment. Everybody should have a
mulberry tree. My girl has been producing for three weeks.
I have over ten pounds of smallberries.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Oh, oh my goodness, how wonderful. That is great. Every
mulberry is. Do you get a lot of birds?
Speaker 6 (22:32):
Yeah, but there's plenty for them and plenty for me.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Wonderful. Oh that's great.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
My whole backyard is teeming with birds. I have woodpeckers,
I have I have cardinals, I have the blue jays,
I have the humming birds. I have everything. Because my
backyard's a jungle.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Oh that's wonderful. It sounds delightful. Thank you so much
for calling Pinky. Enjoy your trip.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
Thank you, Bye bye, bye bye.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Let's go to Bill in Orlando. Good morning, Bill, How
can I help you?
Speaker 7 (23:00):
Good morning? There is a question for your advice on
transplanting and Italian cypress into a larger pot. What medium
should be used?
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I would just use a just a regular organic potting soil,
I mean, because Italian cypress don't need to have really
wet soils.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
They like it to be dry on the dry side,
like Italy.
Speaker 7 (23:22):
How about chips and things like that.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
I would put you know, some mult around the top
of it, but you don't need to put chips inside
the planter.
Speaker 7 (23:31):
Okay, I've got another question for you, sir, what is
the preference for the grass? We've replaced ours twice?
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Why did you replace it twice?
Speaker 7 (23:41):
It browned out, got a fungus a soon and it
just didn't just didn't stand up. And we do have
one area too that's quite shaded in the back, so
I know there's probably a different variety for that. But
your thoughts on the new varieties that I see there?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Well, I use the Emerald and have great success with it,
but Zeyser should be able to take some shade. So
there there's probably an issue with your area. So have
you had a soil test?
Speaker 7 (24:14):
Hey what, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
A soil test of your I would get a soil
test just to determine it.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
How often does it get watered?
Speaker 5 (24:23):
Once a week?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Once a week? Okay?
Speaker 1 (24:25):
And with the fall, with the winter, is going to
go ahead and turn brown anyway?
Speaker 2 (24:30):
And it hasn't It hasn't greened up yet.
Speaker 7 (24:34):
Well it's gone.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
You know.
Speaker 7 (24:36):
We're in the process of replacing it. So that's why
I would like to get suggestions.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Yeah, so I like the Emerald, and there's a couple
of new varieties out I can't think of in my mind,
but I'm going to tell you in just a few minutes.
I'll go to a break and I'll look at the
one that I'm using on several client yards, and I'll
let you know, just hang with me.
Speaker 7 (24:59):
Is one of leave Palisades is another? And I saw
one one lf Yeah, something like that.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
I would say that the Palisades is fine, and it
does well here in central Florida. And there's also the
Citra that would be. That would be fine too. That's
the one that we recommend.
Speaker 7 (25:21):
Okay, all right, I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Let us know how you do.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Make sure that when you're watering your new lawn that
you're not over watering it. Okay, So they'll tell you,
they'll tell you to water it every day for thirty
days or sixty days in some cases, don't do that, Okay.
You want to water it two times a day for
the first week, then once a day, I'm sorry, two
times a day for the first week, then once every
(25:47):
two days the second week, once every three days the
third week, and then by the fourth week you're on
that schedule of twice a week watering.
Speaker 5 (25:55):
Okay.
Speaker 7 (25:56):
Let me ask you also the soil preparations. Should there
be any amend's or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
I don't think so. I think you know, depending on
your soil test.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
But I think you know, our grass here in Florida,
Saint Augustina and Soysa do well with the sandy soils.
And so do you have any shade trees around You
said you had some shady areas.
Speaker 7 (26:17):
Yeah, there's a huge oak in our neighbor's area and
it overreaches shade.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
In the back.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Well, I will tell you that those oak leaves that
have been there coming for years, you probably have really
good soil anyway, so I wouldn't I wouldn't have to
add any.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Organic amendments to it. Just make sure you got good.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Contact, Okay, So make sure they push it down, they
roll it for you.
Speaker 7 (26:41):
Gotcha, Okay, thank you so much, Thank you, Bill.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
You know, the grass doesn't need to have really really
I just want to say, really organic and lots of
material in it. It will it will thrive in areas
that have you know, just a regular music soils that
has a little bit of earthworms in it. Full sun
(27:07):
is the most important thing, and getting the water to
get it established is the second most important thing.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Well, that's kind of reassuring.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah, I mean, we don't really have to go out
and overboard on the organic amendments unless we've had a
soil test that tells you that you need to.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
And the soil tests can be invaluable.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
That you you know what to fertilize with and how
to take care of it.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
So that's the most important thing. It's Saturday morning, you're
listening to better lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
You're very welcome. I have a little situation here. I'd
like to ask you about it Hibiscus radicals. I was
told it was be the October rose, but when I
start to look it up, Biscus radical.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Welcome back to Better Loads and Gardens.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
If you have a gardening question one triple eight four
five five two nine sixty seven. Just another word to
Bill and Orlando about the zeuscha. My preference is Emerald,
but their new variety, Citrus oi is it's been bred
for disease resistance, high disease resistance.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
So if you've had fungal.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Issues with your Zeusa before, go ahead and check out
citriz oi. So that's a really good question. Thank you
so much for asking it. Let's go to Jerry in
Citrus County. Good morning, Jerry.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
How are you?
Speaker 5 (28:48):
Oh fine? Thank you, Teresa, how are you?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
I am doing good. Thank you so much for colling.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
You're very welcome. I have a little situation here. I'd
like to ask you about Hibiscus radicus. I was told
it was could be the October rose, but when I
started to look it up. Hibiscus radicus didn't seem exactly
the same as the october rose, but they listed as
the monarch rose mellow mellow. H yeah, on there, and
(29:20):
are there separate varieties of that that look similar? Mine
has the dark red or almost purple flower. It's an
annual and it produces a lot of seedlings.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Huh.
Speaker 5 (29:35):
Okay, and it has leaves that some people claim as marijuana.
It's definitely not marijuana because I make tea out of it,
right flowers?
Speaker 1 (29:45):
So there, yeah, okay, So you want to know what
it is. That's the roselle r O s E l
l E. And it is a burgund roselle r O
s A roselle r O s E l l e.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Oh, it is a roselle. It's not an annual. It's
a shrub.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Oh and it has the uh uh deep low leaves, yes, yes, oh.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
And you can't make a tea out of it.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
So, but but they're all all the high biscus are
in the mallow family, okay, And so the roselle is
a hibiscus, okay, so all all, yeah, So so the roselle,
which is the high biscus, and I don't know the
Latin name for it. I'm sorry, but it's roselle and
it is in the mallow family, and you can call
(30:44):
it a high biscus.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Hibiscus is the common name for it.
Speaker 5 (30:47):
Okay. And do they both have the green leaves and uh?
And roselle I think has some red stem.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Right, it has a red stem.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
But they can also have burgundy leaves too as well,
depending on the variety.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
There are varieties of the roselle.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yes, you could have a green you know. They're variations,
so they.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
That's what's going on. Yes, Oh, there's variations of the roselle. Right, oh, oh, okay.
Is there anywhere that they list them what the variations
are or anything?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
So so let me I don't know.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Let me just hold on just a second and let
me look that up, Jerry, and if you listen, I'll
tell you.
Speaker 5 (31:26):
Okay, yeah, oh, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Hold on, let me just quot hold on, yes, you.
Speaker 5 (31:31):
Straighten me, yeah, you straighten me out there, thank you.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
So there are varieties that are green and red, but
let me just see for the name, let's see. And
they're also called they can be substituted for cranberries too
as well. So it's a sabdiffa and there are different
variations of it. But they're they're not giving me the
individual names, so let me just see. Uh yeah, no,
(31:55):
they're just giving me the global world names on it.
So the varieties I do not know. But there is
a green variety and there is a burgundy variety.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
Oh okay, so that's what I have going on then,
And you say it's it's perennial.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
It's a shrub. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (32:12):
Oh, mine dies back well.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Because it's a tropical plant.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
So every time it's going to get too cold, especially
this year with the low temperatures we had, it.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Will not get back.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
But it came back and they do recede, so you
might have some popping up.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Here and there.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
I got one plant. Can you about one hundred seedlings?
Speaker 1 (32:31):
There?
Speaker 2 (32:31):
You go?
Speaker 5 (32:33):
You know it really reproduces, which is what I need
to make tea.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
You know, right, the cranberry rosel tea.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
Yes, yeah. Do you use the flower or the klyx?
Speaker 2 (32:43):
You use the klyx, but you can use the flowers.
Speaker 5 (32:46):
They're both edible, yes, yes, so just one the flowers
not as strong as the klyx, right or something? Right? Oh?
Is the kalyx bright red in all the cases.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
All cases is bright red.
Speaker 5 (32:58):
Oh okay, now I know what to look for. Thank you,
you really straightened me out on this one.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
You're welcome, Jerry. I love when you call. Thank you
so much for listening to better lads and gardens the
out Jerry. That's great. I love Jerry, and so uh.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
I will tell you there's so many beautiful flowers and
shrubs and vines in bloom right now. Guardenias are in bloom.
They look amazing, they smell tremendous. The Confederate jasmine is
blooming right now and is just wonderful. The fragrances at
night night blooming jasmine is blooming right now. So if
you love fragrances, there are a number of different flowers
(33:38):
and shrubs that you can have in your yard that
create fragrance. And even the budlias smell great when you
plant them in your yard. I love budli as tract butterflies.
They are great. And so just so you know, budley
is in some locations up north. Some regions of up
North can be considered invasive. But the new varieties that
(34:01):
you have on the market that are in the nurseries
are sterile, so you're not going to.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Have that issue here.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
We don't have that issue here with budlius here, but
up north they do. And there are new varieties that
will not take it out one triple eight four five, five,
two nine sixty seven, or you can text two three
six eight zero and we would love to hear from you.
We want to wish everyone a happy Mother's Day. And
(34:28):
talking about mothers, Klett and winter Haven said, mothers spread
like crazy, and yes they do all right, so they
they do very very well here. What can you be
planting this time of the month. It's really there are
just so many beautiful flowers and shrubs. This is a
great month to get planted, to plant in your garden.
(34:50):
Butterfly plants coliuses. Now, the wonderful thing about coliuses. There
are varieties that can take full sun, and there are
varieties that take shape, and when they start to grow,
you can just cut them off and keep them at
a set height. And whatever you cut off from a colius,
you can plant in the ground or plant in a
(35:12):
pot and it will root. Okay, you can root it
in soil, you can root it in water. And so
what I like to do is when they start to
go to flour. That's when I cut off about six
inches to eight inches and let them put them in
soil in a pot and produce more and they and
(35:33):
that's the way you can get a whole bunch. You
never have to buy coliuses again. Yeah, because I love
all the colors. I love the henna colors. I love
the deep burgundy. I love the ones that have the
burgundy and chartruse color together, so they're quite striking and they.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Do very well in the yard.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
I visited a yard this week that I was really
impressed with, and she has so many orchids hanging in
her trees. I mean she had to have at least
thirty five orchids to more than that. I stopped counting
at around thirty. And her orchids doing beautiful, beautiful outdoors,
(36:11):
and she has them hanging from all the trees in
full sun.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
I'm jealous.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
Yeah, I was.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Shocked that this was a They were in the tree
and the tree had to be cut down because of
the wintertime, so she still has the trunks and the
tree standing there and her orchids were doing fine in
full sun.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
I was just shocked. I don't know how she's doing
it good for her. Yeah, I was surprised. Awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
So you know, Mother nature is always always impressing me,
and that's fine. But guardianias, if your guardiania is turning yellow,
there's a couple of different reasons for that. And that
turning yellow is called clorosis. And clorosis can be the
cause or it can be caused by for watering or underwatering.
(37:02):
It can be caused by disease or insect isssues. But
it can also be uh caused by overfertilizing or underfertilizing.
And then the other thing is if your guardena is
not getting enough fertilizer and it's going to produce flowers,
it's going to put all its energy into producing flowers
(37:22):
and may the leaves may turn chlorotic. You also want
to check the pH. Guardenas do very well at five
point five five to five point five, and so if
you're on the coast, if you're on a beach area,
if you get salt spray, your guardenias may not do
so well because you know, anything over seven, a pH
(37:45):
of seven is going to cause them to decline. So
you might want to look for something else that will
do well there. Uh and so uh you know five
point five five to five point five pH.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Is what's needed for gardenias.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
But they do very well here in Florida in full
sun or in shade, so you can have a nice
hedge of them. I have seen guardina hedges as as
large as tall as ten foot high and filled with
hundreds of flowers and they don't do anything to them.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
So that's how important the soil is. If it's good
as ccenic soil there near oak trees.
Speaker 5 (38:22):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
And you've got good organic soil with a lot of
organic and material in it, leaves and composts alia or
your guardinias are going to do very well.
Speaker 4 (38:33):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
So thank you very much Lizzie for being here on
Mother's Day.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Oh, thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Happy Mother's Day to you, Happy Mother's Day to everyone
out there, all of our listeners.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
We do love hearing from you. We do appreciate it. Big.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Thank you to Corina Andrews with Plant Development Southern Living
plant Collection on corazalias dot com.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
Check them out.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
You won't believe all the beautiful colors of flower hours
and you can order them from your nurseries or online.
If it's Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins, and this is Florida's talk and entertainment
network
Good morning, Welcome back to the second hour of Better
Lawns and Gardens from the Summit.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Responsible Solutions Studios.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's Talking Entertainment Network.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
We discuss gardening here. We love gardening.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
I want to shout out to all the mothers and
grandmothers out there and wish them a happy Mother's Day.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Happy Mother's Day again, Lizzie to you, happy you too.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Thank you for taking care of the board and everything here.
We would just not be able to do anything without Lizzie.
So the southeast, sixty percent of the southeast is an
extreme drought. Okay, there is a tiny sliver on South
Florida just north of Miami which is only abnormally dry,
so not extreme, abnormally dry.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
But we're going to be getting more rain this week.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
So take advantage of that and make sure that you're
not overwatering when we get enough rain.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Also too, let's do the dirty word of the day.
And now it's time for the dirty Word of the
Day on Better Lawns and Gardens with Teresa Watkins.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
And today's dirty word of the Day comes from Plant Words,
a book of two hundred and fifty Curious Words for
plant lovers by It's been published by the Royal Botanical
Gardens that Q and the authors are Emma Wayland and
Joe Risholm and so. Family a taxamic a taxonomic rank
(01:39):
below order and above genus plant families group genera that
shares common characteristics. Families can therefore be made up of
quite a variety of different plants, but many families are
still recognizable by distinctive features, particularly in flower form. Families
are referred to by names ending typically in aca okay,
(02:03):
which comes from the Latin meaning resembling. Examples include aster Eraca,
which is the daisy family, Rosa ca, which is the
rose family, Era ca which is the aeroid family, and
Erica ca, which is the palm family.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
So the APG four.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
System, which I'm going to tell you what it is
in just a second, currently recognizes four hundred and fifty
two vascular plant families, while this number is constantly being
updated and debated. APG four is the fourth iteration of
a modern mostly molecule based system for classifying flowering plants,
(02:49):
which are called angiosperms, which was a former dirty word
of the day. So the APG four is called the
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group four system is an internationally developed classification system.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
For flowering plants.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
It groups angiosforms into orders and families using molecular phylogenetic
data supported by morphological and nontomical evidence. So this is
a DNA It groups them through DNA sequencing and genetic methods,
(03:30):
so that we're thirty. Word of the day is family
and it is a group of grouping of plants that
have significant characteristics together share.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
That's very interesting. Yes, so family for Mother's Day one.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Triple eight four five five two ninety sixty seven is
our phone number. You can give us a call at
the bottom of the half hour. We do have a
wonderful a person coming on. Her name is Karina sten
Alanto Andrews, and she is going to be talking to
us about the brand new en Corazalias, which I'm very
(04:09):
excited about and the colors are just incredible.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
So we're gonna be coming up with that.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
If you would like to know more about our garden tours,
you can go to art and Bloomgardentours dot com. And
if you'd like to get the newsletter, you can go
to www dot she Dash Consulting dot com. She dashed
Consulting dot com and sign up for the free newsletter
(04:35):
that will be coming out this week. So Mother's Day,
if you're out there, I wish you a happy Mother's Day.
Grandmother's You're welcome to call after our interview and give
us any gardening memories that you have of your mother
and grandmother in the garden. We'd love to hear that,
(04:56):
and we would love to just have your memories and
just the thinking about that we have. This month of May,
we get an average of three and a half inches
of rain. We almost got it last night, so we've
been getting a little bit of rain this month and
that's good.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
We're gonna be getting more rain next week.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
You want to make sure that you are keeping up
on your watering as your drinking water when you're outside.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
That's very important.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
I was out yesterday and after about forty five minutes
an hour, I could feel that I needed to start
drinking water, start to get that dizzy.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
That's bad. That's a bad sign. It is a bad sign.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
So you want to make sure you're wearing a hat,
using sunscreen, and drinking water too as well. Also to
the number one triple eight four five five two nine
sixty seven, or you can text two three six eight zero. So, now, Lizzie,
you talked a little bit about what you're doing in
your garden, but what are you doing? You just bought
(05:56):
some beautiful ros.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Some knockout roses, and some drift roses.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yes, so I have a whole like area along our
one brick wall facing the south, and I just nothing's
ever been there, and so I decided that, you know,
I'm going to put those there. I'd already put our
points set us and they're growing, thank you Jesus, they're actually growing.
But I was like, you know what, I really I
like these flowers roses. I need another spot to put them.
(06:24):
And so yeah, so the drift roads are like a
peach and an orange color. The bread you can get
me every time with either like a yellow peach or
an orange.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
You got me every time.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
They are gorgeous and they're very easy to take care of.
So I'm so glad you're doing well on that. That's wonderful.
We're going to be back with more of better lawns
and gardens this Saturday morning.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
This is where you are.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
I'm Teresa Watkins, and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I'm Teresa Watkins. Mother's Day is tomorrow. If you still
need a gift or you and your mom loves flowers.
My next guest has some of the most romantic, beautiful
flowering shrubs for any landscape or garden. This time of
the year, companies announced their new plants, and when I
heard of these new varieties, I wanted to have her
on right away. Karina Steletano Andrews helps develop plants for
(07:43):
Southern Living Plant Collection. She is a garden expert who
translates emerging outdoor living trends into stunning and resilient landscapes.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
She joins us this morning. Good morning, Karina, how are you.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Good morning. I'm excited to be talking with you.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
You have a wonderful background and wonderful position at Southern Living.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Tell us about yourself.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
Oh yes, I'm really lucky. So I live down the
Gulf Coast of Alabama, very near Mobile Bay, and I
work with Southern Living Plant Collection, which means I get
to work with all parts of the industry, but most
exciting with new plant breeders. So I get to see
all the new plants that are coming out, and then
what I do is I talk about those plants so
(08:34):
that we can all have success with them.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
That is wonderful. I love that. That's so exciting to
see new plants come out.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
So you work with Encore ausalias and they have taken
the garden world by storm.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
They just are.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Wonderful, wonderful shrubs. So what makes them such a standout
in landscapes.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Well, you know, a lot of us are familiar with
azaleas as an iconic lands skate plant, you know, something
that we've grown up with and trust. But on Core
azalias were bred in the late nineties to bloom in
more than one season. So so they take you know,
traditional varieties and an inventor, Buddy Lee, crossed those with
(09:19):
a summer blooming azalia. So uh so you have azlias
that now bloom in the spring and then they take
a break in the heat of the summer and then
they put on more buds and start blooming in the
summer into the fall, and and a lot of warm
climates all the way through to first frost.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
So what kind of zone, what zones do they grow?
In and what kind of conditions do they need?
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Well, so, uh, they are hardy. And you know, in
terms of USDA zones to from zones six A all
the way up to nine and ten. So that's going
to be all the way down into Florida, across the
southeast and Atlantic and then up the west coast. And
(10:04):
they really like which is different than a traditional azalia
on core azalea is like a full sun for best blooms,
So that's going to be like four to six hours
for best blooming, and then an afternoon a break from
the afternoon sun is really helpful in hotter climates.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Yeah, I'm so thrilled with this because this gives you
more options for azaleas in those partial shade and full
sun conditions in the morning. And they thurvive. I just
they do so well on my client's landscapes. They make
me look good, so I really do. I really enjoy them.
So now they come in stunning colors. I can't believe
(10:45):
the colors encore. Autumn bell is one of my favorites.
So tell us a little bit about the color range
that's available.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Well, that's the neat thing there's you know at this point.
So buddy lee is so prolific as a plant in winter.
And so there's more than thirty five varieties. So there's
a you know, a size and a habit and a
color for like all of our landscape escape designs and
our home colors. So they come in whites and reds
and purples and pinks and bicolor. So you mentioned Autumn Bell,
(11:16):
which is one of those bicolor varieties. So so that's neat.
It kind of gets this kind of design or flare.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
It does, and it has more it has more petals.
It's like a double azalea on top, you know, on
that color range.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
That's what's neat is you know, because they because there's
so much breeding going on. It's uh, you can have
double and semi double and single blooms. So there's there's
really and it's an encourzolia that matches what you've grown
up with or or or a neat new look that
you haven't seen before. You can tell I'm really excited about.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Oh, I I know you are.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
When I when I heard about it, I just said
I have to call Karina. And so so the size
formosas can get large eight to ten feet you know,
tall and wide. What size do the encore zales get
to and what kind of landscape size is can they
can they be used in?
Speaker 4 (12:12):
Right, So we divide them into compact and the intermediate sizes.
And so you're going to look at those compact varieties
to be really good on your home foundation or in containers,
and they're going to go anywhere from three to four
and a half feet but really kind of grow in
(12:33):
that mound and compact habit. And then we have intermediate
varieties that might be work well for hedges or privacy
or just a really nice, you know, big shrub, but
not like those huge like you mentioned the traditional avilias
that used to have to kind of pull out with
a car if you wanted to get rid of them.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
That's that's right.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
And even then when you cut them all the way
down to the ground and they've been in the ground
for thirty years, which some of them you know, can
grow that, uh, then you do need a car to
get them out to attach it to your bumper. So
what kind of maintenance do they need we're talking about
compact and intermediate, what kind of fertilizing and pruning is needed?
Speaker 4 (13:13):
Well, so you're gonna want to prune them after the
spring bloom. If you wait and later, you might take
a risk of pruning off the buds that are going
to give you that summer and fall bloom. So after
they wind down at that first spring blooming phase, you're
going to give them a prune. But you know, I
find azalias you can go in and just kind of
(13:34):
selectively prune for uh, for you know, those sprays that
you don't the shape that you want to just control
a little so you don't have to do a hard pruning.
You can if you have one of those azilias that
you've had for a really long time. We have all
kinds of instructions on renewal pruning, so you can really
cut them back and let them flesh out again, and
(13:56):
then you're gonna feed them in the spring as well.
You don't want to feed after August or fertilize after
August because you might get some of that fresh new
growth that could be hurt by an early winter frost.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Well that's that's great to know, because you know, people
don't exactly know when to fertilize, and so just you
would say in the springtime early spring, and then another
time in the fall.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
No, So you're well, yes, the spring is exactly right.
You want to feed after that spring bloom as well,
or in the springtime in general, but you definitely don't
want to after August, after all, the way end of
the summer, and that gives them a you know, a
nice feeding season, but then you're not pushing new growth
(14:46):
when the winter TIMPs can come on. So August is
a good line to say, I'm not gonna I'm not
going to fertilize after August.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Okay, definitely, I thing you can do.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Oh, I'm sorry. The other thing you can do to
give them a really good head start is mulching because
on core azilias have, like well, azilias in general have
roots that grow close to the surface. So if you
give them a nice couple inches of mulch, that helps,
you know, give them a little protection from the heat
of the sun and holds that moisture in.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
Oh. Excellent, excellent.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
So you have announced new encore varieties, So tell us
about what you have introduced this year.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
Yes, Autumn kiss is our newest Encore azelia. And you
know I talked about all those different colors and and
you mentioned, uh, your favorite bell a bicolor. A lot
of the bicolor blooms and they kind of have a
rich center of color and then you know, maybe some
white pattern around it. Autumn Kiss is a reverse pattern.
(15:46):
It's such a neat, unique bloom color that I haven't
seen before. And so it's it's it has a pink
outline around the edge and then and then white center
and then and then pink again in the center, kind
of like a little like a kiss, like lips and
so on. Kiss grows three to four feet, nice mounding
(16:07):
growth habit, and you know, it keeps its leaves all year,
Like on Corzilias are ever green, so they're gonna keep
green leaves all year even when they're not in bloom.
But we're we're excited about this really unique color pattern
that I think everybody will find kind of new and exciting.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
That's wonderful.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Well, your website is so great at showcasing the colors
and varieties, So Krena, what website? Where where would they
go to see these varieties?
Speaker 4 (16:38):
OnCore azalia dot com or at your local garden center.
You can find them at garden centers all across the
southeast and mid Atlantic and West Coast that's what.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Well, so do you have favorites?
Speaker 4 (16:51):
You know, I honestly at whichever one is in bloom.
After all these years of working with azaleas, it's still
I'm still just stunned by their beauty.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
That's wonderful. So where can we find them to buy?
Speaker 4 (17:08):
So you can actually buy online at encore Zelia dot
com or at any of your local garden centers.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Yeah, they should ask for it.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
That's what I'm always telling people is if you want
to see some of these great plants, you need to
ask them to bring them in, you know, so that
they know that you'll buy them.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
And so what was the website.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Again, encore Azalea dot com.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
That is wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Karina for
joining me this morning. I have to have you on
again and talk about azaleas and some other of the
Southern Living the Southern Living plant collection, I have to say,
it just thrills me.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
And when I.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Go in and see all the different varieties of plants,
I use them often in my landscape designs and I
just think they're wonderful.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
Buddy Lee is just a.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Great plant inventor and he's bringing us a lot of
good good plants that do well here in Florida, and
they are wonderful.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
So thank you so much, Queena for joining me this morning.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
You're welcome. Okay and so okay, I gotta say so.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Went on the website is the Encore Azaleas dot Com. Okay,
my favorite, because you know, I'm just that person. I
love the autumn starburst and I love the autumn twist.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yes, i mean, just look at it. Do you see
how many color varieties there are.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
There are so many varieties, and they are all gory.
I'm not pink person, but holy cheese and crackers. I'm
looking at some of these that are pink, and I'm like,
and they take full sun.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
That's the amazing thing about it is, these are azaleas
that can handle full sun, you know, morning of Florida
six hours. You know, maybe some afternoon shade if you're
down a little bit further south. But these will grow
very well here in Florida, and they do well and
they bloom multiple times.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
That's the thing is.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Also, if I've always had an area where it's like, okay,
forget about it. Put in Azalia's there's no way it's
all full sundright, but holy cheese and crackers. This is
a game changer. It is game changer, and and.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
They're very reasonable priced and they do just do very well.
Now that some of these the issues, uh, you know,
pest issues. I haven't seen a lot uh in my
client's landscapes, and I haven't seen so I'm.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Very pleased with this variety. So that is a Southern
Living plant collection.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
Go onto their website and look at it, and then
you can also see encore Azaleas dot com. Thank you
for to Corina uh Andrews for coming on today. I
just certainly do appreciate it. We're gonna take more of
your phone calls right after the break. One triple eight,
four five, five, two nine sixty seven. This Saturday morning,
you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
I'm Teresa Watkins.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
This is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network. A big thank
you to Carina Andrews with Southern Living Plant Collection and
plant Development. So the on Cornzalees are just gorgeous, so
(20:15):
check them out on cornzalia dot com.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Let's go to our.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Phones if you'd like to give us a gardening question.
One Triple eight four five five two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero like
Collett and winter Haven did. So we're gonna be talking
right now about that. So let's go to Pinky and
Port Orange. Pinky, did you get a lot of rain
last night?
Speaker 5 (20:41):
Yes?
Speaker 6 (20:41):
Yes, thank you, thank you, thank you God.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Yes, we did wonderful. How can I help you?
Speaker 5 (20:47):
Okay?
Speaker 6 (20:47):
I have two unknown varieties and good to talk to you, Teresa.
Thanks for taking my calls.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Oh, you're welcome.
Speaker 6 (20:54):
Two unknown varieties of roses that I had in the
ground last year or last summer, and they just kept
getting rust and so I pulled them out and I
put them in pots. They did beautifully through the fall
and so forth. One isn't a five gallon terracotta once
in a ten gallon plastic? Well now they're requiring sometimes
watering twice a day. Yes, and I'm leaving for a
(21:16):
month in June. I want to put them back in
the ground. Can I do it now? Or do I
have to wait till the fall?
Speaker 1 (21:24):
I would wait till the fall. But here's what you
can do if you do.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
You have a bathtub or a shower area in your house.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Bathtub, Yeah, I would take them, and what kind of
the plastic pots the clay pot if you wanted to
put them into like one in each bathroom that you have,
and just fill it up with water just about I
would say six to eight inches.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
They will be fine while you're gone.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
Theow great.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
Okay, okay, so.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
If you will, you know, they will bill that basketball.
But you can leave them and just leave the water
in the in the bathtub about six inches and they'll.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Be fine when you're gone.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
And when you come back then you can you know,
take care of them and then plant them in the fall.
Speaker 6 (22:12):
Oh. Perfect, And that bathroom gets bright light.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
So wonderful. Perfect, that will be perfect.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
One quick comment, one quick comment. Everybody should have a
mulberry tree. My girl has been producing for three weeks.
I have over ten pounds of smallberries.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Oh, oh my goodness, how wonderful. That is great. Every
mulberry is. Do you get a lot of birds?
Speaker 6 (22:32):
Yeah, but there's plenty for them and plenty for me.
Speaker 2 (22:35):
Wonderful. Oh that's great.
Speaker 6 (22:36):
My whole backyard is teeming with birds. I have woodpeckers,
I have I have cardinals, I have the blue jays,
I have the humming birds. I have everything. Because my
backyard's a jungle.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Oh that's wonderful. It sounds delightful. Thank you so much
for calling Pinky. Enjoy your trip.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
Thank you, Bye bye, bye bye.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Let's go to Bill in Orlando. Good morning, Bill, How
can I help you?
Speaker 7 (23:00):
Good morning? There is a question for your advice on
transplanting and Italian cypress into a larger pot. What medium
should be used?
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I would just use a just a regular organic potting soil,
I mean, because Italian cypress don't need to have really
wet soils.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
They like it to be dry on the dry side,
like Italy.
Speaker 7 (23:22):
How about chips and things like that.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
I would put you know, some mult around the top
of it, but you don't need to put chips inside
the planter.
Speaker 7 (23:31):
Okay, I've got another question for you, sir, what is
the preference for the grass? We've replaced ours twice?
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Why did you replace it twice?
Speaker 7 (23:41):
It browned out, got a fungus a soon and it
just didn't just didn't stand up. And we do have
one area too that's quite shaded in the back, so
I know there's probably a different variety for that. But
your thoughts on the new varieties that I see there?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Well, I use the Emerald and have great success with it,
but Zeyser should be able to take some shade. So
there there's probably an issue with your area. So have
you had a soil test?
Speaker 7 (24:14):
Hey what, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
A soil test of your I would get a soil
test just to determine it.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
How often does it get watered?
Speaker 5 (24:23):
Once a week?
Speaker 2 (24:24):
Once a week? Okay?
Speaker 1 (24:25):
And with the fall, with the winter, is going to
go ahead and turn brown anyway?
Speaker 2 (24:30):
And it hasn't It hasn't greened up yet.
Speaker 7 (24:34):
Well it's gone.
Speaker 5 (24:36):
You know.
Speaker 7 (24:36):
We're in the process of replacing it. So that's why
I would like to get suggestions.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Yeah, so I like the Emerald, and there's a couple
of new varieties out I can't think of in my mind,
but I'm going to tell you in just a few minutes.
I'll go to a break and I'll look at the
one that I'm using on several client yards, and I'll
let you know, just hang with me.
Speaker 7 (24:59):
Is one of leave Palisades is another? And I saw
one one lf Yeah, something like that.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
I would say that the Palisades is fine, and it
does well here in central Florida. And there's also the
Citra that would be. That would be fine too. That's
the one that we recommend.
Speaker 7 (25:21):
Okay, all right, I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Let us know how you do.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Make sure that when you're watering your new lawn that
you're not over watering it. Okay, So they'll tell you,
they'll tell you to water it every day for thirty
days or sixty days in some cases, don't do that, Okay.
You want to water it two times a day for
the first week, then once a day, I'm sorry, two
times a day for the first week, then once every
(25:47):
two days the second week, once every three days the
third week, and then by the fourth week you're on
that schedule of twice a week watering.
Speaker 5 (25:55):
Okay.
Speaker 7 (25:56):
Let me ask you also the soil preparations. Should there
be any amend's or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
I don't think so. I think you know, depending on
your soil test.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
But I think you know, our grass here in Florida,
Saint Augustina and Soysa do well with the sandy soils.
And so do you have any shade trees around You
said you had some shady areas.
Speaker 7 (26:17):
Yeah, there's a huge oak in our neighbor's area and
it overreaches shade.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
In the back.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Well, I will tell you that those oak leaves that
have been there coming for years, you probably have really
good soil anyway, so I wouldn't I wouldn't have to
add any.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Organic amendments to it. Just make sure you got good.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Contact, Okay, So make sure they push it down, they
roll it for you.
Speaker 7 (26:41):
Gotcha, Okay, thank you so much, Thank you, Bill.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
You know, the grass doesn't need to have really really
I just want to say, really organic and lots of
material in it. It will it will thrive in areas
that have you know, just a regular music soils that
has a little bit of earthworms in it. Full sun
(27:07):
is the most important thing, and getting the water to
get it established is the second most important thing.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Well, that's kind of reassuring.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah, I mean, we don't really have to go out
and overboard on the organic amendments unless we've had a
soil test that tells you that you need to.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
And the soil tests can be invaluable.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
That you you know what to fertilize with and how
to take care of it.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
So that's the most important thing. It's Saturday morning, you're
listening to better lawns and Gardens.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
You're very welcome. I have a little situation here. I'd
like to ask you about it Hibiscus radicals. I was
told it was be the October rose, but when I
start to look it up, Biscus radical.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Welcome back to Better Loads and Gardens.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
If you have a gardening question one triple eight four
five five two nine sixty seven. Just another word to
Bill and Orlando about the zeuscha. My preference is Emerald,
but their new variety, Citrus oi is it's been bred
for disease resistance, high disease resistance.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
So if you've had fungal.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Issues with your Zeusa before, go ahead and check out
citriz oi. So that's a really good question. Thank you
so much for asking it. Let's go to Jerry in
Citrus County. Good morning, Jerry.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
How are you?
Speaker 5 (28:48):
Oh fine? Thank you, Teresa, how are you?
Speaker 2 (28:51):
I am doing good. Thank you so much for colling.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
You're very welcome. I have a little situation here. I'd
like to ask you about Hibiscus radicus. I was told
it was could be the October rose, but when I
started to look it up. Hibiscus radicus didn't seem exactly
the same as the october rose, but they listed as
the monarch rose mellow mellow. H yeah, on there, and
(29:20):
are there separate varieties of that that look similar? Mine
has the dark red or almost purple flower. It's an
annual and it produces a lot of seedlings.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Huh.
Speaker 5 (29:35):
Okay, and it has leaves that some people claim as marijuana.
It's definitely not marijuana because I make tea out of it,
right flowers?
Speaker 1 (29:45):
So there, yeah, okay, So you want to know what
it is. That's the roselle r O s E l
l E. And it is a burgund roselle r O
s A roselle r O s E l l e.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Oh, it is a roselle. It's not an annual. It's
a shrub.
Speaker 5 (30:11):
Oh and it has the uh uh deep low leaves, yes, yes, oh.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
And you can't make a tea out of it.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
So, but but they're all all the high biscus are
in the mallow family, okay, And so the roselle is
a hibiscus, okay, so all all, yeah, So so the roselle,
which is the high biscus, and I don't know the
Latin name for it. I'm sorry, but it's roselle and
it is in the mallow family, and you can call
(30:44):
it a high biscus.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
Hibiscus is the common name for it.
Speaker 5 (30:47):
Okay. And do they both have the green leaves and uh?
And roselle I think has some red stem.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Right, it has a red stem.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
But they can also have burgundy leaves too as well,
depending on the variety.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
There are varieties of the roselle.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Yes, you could have a green you know. They're variations,
so they.
Speaker 5 (31:05):
That's what's going on. Yes, Oh, there's variations of the roselle. Right, oh, oh, okay.
Is there anywhere that they list them what the variations
are or anything?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
So so let me I don't know.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Let me just hold on just a second and let
me look that up, Jerry, and if you listen, I'll
tell you.
Speaker 5 (31:26):
Okay, yeah, oh, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Hold on, let me just quot hold on, yes, you.
Speaker 5 (31:31):
Straighten me, yeah, you straighten me out there, thank you.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
So there are varieties that are green and red, but
let me just see for the name, let's see. And
they're also called they can be substituted for cranberries too
as well. So it's a sabdiffa and there are different
variations of it. But they're they're not giving me the
individual names, so let me just see. Uh yeah, no,
(31:55):
they're just giving me the global world names on it.
So the varieties I do not know. But there is
a green variety and there is a burgundy variety.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
Oh okay, so that's what I have going on then,
And you say it's it's perennial.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
It's a shrub. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (32:12):
Oh, mine dies back well.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Because it's a tropical plant.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
So every time it's going to get too cold, especially
this year with the low temperatures we had, it.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Will not get back.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
But it came back and they do recede, so you
might have some popping up.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Here and there.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
I got one plant. Can you about one hundred seedlings?
Speaker 1 (32:31):
There?
Speaker 2 (32:31):
You go?
Speaker 5 (32:33):
You know it really reproduces, which is what I need
to make tea.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
You know, right, the cranberry rosel tea.
Speaker 5 (32:39):
Yes, yeah. Do you use the flower or the klyx?
Speaker 2 (32:43):
You use the klyx, but you can use the flowers.
Speaker 5 (32:46):
They're both edible, yes, yes, so just one the flowers
not as strong as the klyx, right or something? Right? Oh?
Is the kalyx bright red in all the cases.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
All cases is bright red.
Speaker 5 (32:58):
Oh okay, now I know what to look for. Thank you,
you really straightened me out on this one.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
You're welcome, Jerry. I love when you call. Thank you
so much for listening to better lads and gardens the
out Jerry. That's great. I love Jerry, and so uh.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
I will tell you there's so many beautiful flowers and
shrubs and vines in bloom right now. Guardenias are in bloom.
They look amazing, they smell tremendous. The Confederate jasmine is
blooming right now and is just wonderful. The fragrances at
night night blooming jasmine is blooming right now. So if
you love fragrances, there are a number of different flowers
(33:38):
and shrubs that you can have in your yard that
create fragrance. And even the budlias smell great when you
plant them in your yard. I love budli as tract butterflies.
They are great. And so just so you know, budley
is in some locations up north. Some regions of up
North can be considered invasive. But the new varieties that
(34:01):
you have on the market that are in the nurseries
are sterile, so you're not going to.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Have that issue here.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
We don't have that issue here with budlius here, but
up north they do. And there are new varieties that
will not take it out one triple eight four five, five,
two nine sixty seven, or you can text two three
six eight zero and we would love to hear from you.
We want to wish everyone a happy Mother's Day. And
(34:28):
talking about mothers, Klett and winter Haven said, mothers spread
like crazy, and yes they do all right, so they
they do very very well here. What can you be
planting this time of the month. It's really there are
just so many beautiful flowers and shrubs. This is a
great month to get planted, to plant in your garden.
(34:50):
Butterfly plants coliuses. Now, the wonderful thing about coliuses. There
are varieties that can take full sun, and there are
varieties that take shape, and when they start to grow,
you can just cut them off and keep them at
a set height. And whatever you cut off from a colius,
you can plant in the ground or plant in a
(35:12):
pot and it will root. Okay, you can root it
in soil, you can root it in water. And so
what I like to do is when they start to
go to flour. That's when I cut off about six
inches to eight inches and let them put them in
soil in a pot and produce more and they and
(35:33):
that's the way you can get a whole bunch. You
never have to buy coliuses again. Yeah, because I love
all the colors. I love the henna colors. I love
the deep burgundy. I love the ones that have the
burgundy and chartruse color together, so they're quite striking and they.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Do very well in the yard.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
I visited a yard this week that I was really
impressed with, and she has so many orchids hanging in
her trees. I mean she had to have at least
thirty five orchids to more than that. I stopped counting
at around thirty. And her orchids doing beautiful, beautiful outdoors,
(36:11):
and she has them hanging from all the trees in
full sun.
Speaker 2 (36:15):
I'm jealous.
Speaker 4 (36:16):
Yeah, I was.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Shocked that this was a They were in the tree
and the tree had to be cut down because of
the wintertime, so she still has the trunks and the
tree standing there and her orchids were doing fine in
full sun.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
I was just shocked. I don't know how she's doing
it good for her. Yeah, I was surprised. Awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
So you know, Mother nature is always always impressing me,
and that's fine. But guardianias, if your guardiania is turning yellow,
there's a couple of different reasons for that. And that
turning yellow is called clorosis. And clorosis can be the
cause or it can be caused by for watering or underwatering.
(37:02):
It can be caused by disease or insect isssues. But
it can also be uh caused by overfertilizing or underfertilizing.
And then the other thing is if your guardena is
not getting enough fertilizer and it's going to produce flowers,
it's going to put all its energy into producing flowers
(37:22):
and may the leaves may turn chlorotic. You also want
to check the pH. Guardenas do very well at five
point five five to five point five, and so if
you're on the coast, if you're on a beach area,
if you get salt spray, your guardenias may not do
so well because you know, anything over seven, a pH
(37:45):
of seven is going to cause them to decline. So
you might want to look for something else that will
do well there. Uh and so uh you know five
point five five to five point five pH.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Is what's needed for gardenias.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
But they do very well here in Florida in full
sun or in shade, so you can have a nice
hedge of them. I have seen guardina hedges as as
large as tall as ten foot high and filled with
hundreds of flowers and they don't do anything to them.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
So that's how important the soil is. If it's good
as ccenic soil there near oak trees.
Speaker 5 (38:22):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (38:23):
And you've got good organic soil with a lot of
organic and material in it, leaves and composts alia or
your guardinias are going to do very well.
Speaker 4 (38:33):
Nice.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
So thank you very much Lizzie for being here on
Mother's Day.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Oh, thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (38:40):
Happy Mother's Day to you, Happy Mother's Day to everyone
out there, all of our listeners.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
We do love hearing from you. We do appreciate it. Big.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Thank you to Corina Andrews with Plant Development Southern Living
plant Collection on corazalias dot com.
Speaker 2 (38:56):
Check them out.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
You won't believe all the beautiful colors of flower hours
and you can order them from your nurseries or online.
If it's Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and Gardens.
I'm Teresa Watkins, and this is Florida's talk and entertainment
network
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Building on the belief that a deeper understanding of the natural world enriches all of our lives, host Steven Rinella brings an in-depth and relevant look at all outdoor topics including hunting, fishing, nature, conservation, and wild foods. Filled with humor, irreverence, and things that will surprise the hell out of you, each episode welcomes a diverse group of guests who add their own expertise to the vast world of the outdoors. Part of The MeatEater Podcast Network.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.