February 7, 2026 • 39 mins
Dirty Word of the Day: Bark
Need a Valentines Gift idea? Dan McParland from the Greater Orlando Orchid Society chats about what to expect at the Orchid Show February 13, 14 and 15 2026.
Teresa answers you questions about: fire bushes, cherry tomato plants, pentas & Palms care.
Need a Valentines Gift idea? Dan McParland from the Greater Orlando Orchid Society chats about what to expect at the Orchid Show February 13, 14 and 15 2026.
Teresa answers you questions about: fire bushes, cherry tomato plants, pentas & Palms care.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
And welcome back to the second hour of Better Lawns
dot Com from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios. I'm your host,
Teresa Watkins. I've got a little bit of a cold today,
please excuse me. And it's just been a great morning.
I know everybody was traumatized this weekend, so we're taking
your phone calls, holding your hands. Your landscape will recover
(00:30):
and we will definitely, definitely see springs soon. So let's
go to 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. And the dirty
word of the day is bark. Nope, not the dog sound,
but bark is the outermost layer of stems and roots
(00:50):
of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines,
and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside the
uscular cambium and is a non technical term. It overlays
the wood and consists of the inner bark and the
outer bark. The inner bark, which is in older stems,
(01:11):
is living tissue and includes the innermost layers. The outer
bark on older stems includes the dead tissue on the
surface of the stems. The outer bark on trees. Excuse me,
which lies external to the living bark, is also called
the rhydodome. Products derived from bark include bark shingle, siding
(01:31):
and wall covering, spices, and other flavorings. Tan bark for tannin, resin, latex, medicines, poisons,
various illusionogenic chemicals, and cork. Bark has been used to
make cloth, cant, canoes, and ropes, and used as a
surface for paintings and map making. A number of plants
(01:52):
are also grown for their attractive or interesting bark colorations
and surface textures. Bark is present only on woody plants,
herbaceous plants, and stems. Going of young plants and stems
of young plants lack bark. So Bark tissue is made
up by weight between ten and twenty percent of woody
(02:14):
vascular plants and consists of biopolymers, tannins, lignin, superberin, and polysaccharides.
Up to forty percent of the bark tissue is made
of lignin, which forms an important part of a plant,
providing structural support by cross linking between different polysaccharides such
as cellulose bark can sustain damage from environmental factors such
(02:39):
as frost, crack, and sun scald, as well as biological
factors such as woodpeckers and boring beetle attacks. Male deer
can cause extensive bark damage during the running season by
rubbing their ant slurts against a tree to remove their velvet.
Bark damage can have several detrimental effects on the plant.
Excuse me so much, I'm so stary. Bark serves as
(03:02):
a physical barrier to disease pressure, especially from fungi. So
it's a removal makes the plant more susceptible to disease.
It's very important than when you have landscapers, they don't
weed whack to remove the grass around a tree bark.
You don't want them whacking into the outer bark area.
Not good. So so let's go to Klet. Good morning, Klet.
(03:26):
How can I help you?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I told Lizzy I wanted to ask you about my
avocado trees that all the leaves are totally black. Yes,
my pineapple plants. I totally did not think about covering them.
That kind of borderline gets some cover from a tree
close by. But I noticed yesterday they're looking a little yellow,
(03:54):
so I'm not sure what's going to happen with them.
And then the other one and my big dad we
covered my staghorn fern, which is huge. It's probably four
feet across, wow, four feet high maybe five seet It
was my mother in law's and we figure it's probably
seventy years old.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I put two sheets around it after it rained, so
they weren't wet, right, But the outside leaves on the staghorn,
a lot of them, it does have some green, but
a lot of them are looking really sad.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Oh, I'm so sorry. So okay, let's start with the avocado.
Depends on how cold it got and how long it
got where you are in winter Haven.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
So we were twenty four twenty four degrees for how long.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You know, I don't know, but it was freezing by
midnight and it was we were told it was going
to be probably eight to ten hours. Yeah, freezing.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
You might have lost it. But we're just gonna have
to wait and see if there's any new growth coming out. Okay,
don't do anything to it right now. Your pineapple plants
they're going to recover too as well. Don't do anything
to them. And your stag horn firm. Just wait a
couple more weeks and then just cut off the brown.
It should be just fine.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Yeah, I feel the same way Collet about our stack
horn firm. It's about the size of a dump truck
and uh so, therefore I had the wind blew off
all of our covering, and we did have a heat
lamp underneath ours because ours is living on an extra
large dog crate because's where it fell about. I don't
know five years ago, but yeah, I was.
Speaker 5 (05:32):
I'm wondering.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
I was wandering the same thing because my husband, that's
his baby, and he's just so he's like, I can't
believe this. He goes if the wind blew off everything,
and will it survive because it's probably dead, and I'm like, no, possibly,
just wait, let's see.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yeah, I think it'll recover.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
It has some little green new fronds on it that
were like I guess protected by the bigger ones around
the outside that I noticed are still green. Right, So
I figure it'll come back, but I think it's gonna
look kind of naked for a while.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
It will, but inside those those big large leaves that
encirculate or encircle the staghorn firm, we'll keep it warm,
it'll be okay.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
And I gave it. I gave it a good drink,
gave it lots of water, okay, And what I what
I usually do for it is give it banana peels. Okay,
But but I was wondering if it's too soon to
start trying to do that again.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
No, because it's got a rot. So you can put
the banana peels in it. It's gonna rot. It'll be fine.
Thank you, kleet. Okay, we're gonna be right back with
Dan McParland with the Orlando Orchid Society Big Valentine's Day event.
You're not gonna want to miss it. Stay tuned. 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.
(07:08):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins.
After several years of cultivating rose plants in their backyard,
Dan McParland and his wife discovered a passion for orchids.
They had long admired these flowers during visits to plant
sales and botanical gardens. Seeking a tropical plant with a
broad spectrum of colors to enjoy indoors. Rather than relying
(07:30):
solely on cut flowers. They found orchids to be the
optimum choice for their preferences. Please welcome Dan McParland to
our studio. Thank you Dan for coming in this morning.
How are you?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I am doing wonderful. Thank you so much Teresa for
having us and for providing all the information to listeners.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Well, this is a great event. I love this because
it is just the perfect, perfect Valentine's Day gift. It's
an event that you can go to with your loved one,
you can go with your family, and so I can't
wait to talk to you about it. So this month,
especially with romance and flowers. What is happening next weekend?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Well, next week we are having our twenty seventh annual
Greater Orlando Orchid Show and Sale. And it's really a
thank you said, a perfect way to celebrate the Valentine's
weekend with Saturday being Valentine itself. And there's so many
different varieties, colors, sizes of these stunning orchids, and it
(08:32):
really can be a wonderful choice and a wonderful way
to bring you your sweetheart friend mom, bring her down
this weekend so that they can even select their own
if they wish.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
I think that's a great idea. Which one do you want? Honey?
I always like that question. And so what is this
year's theme for the Orchid Show?
Speaker 3 (08:52):
This year is Arts and Bloom. Of course we keep
up a Valentine's Day theme and so there's you know
that we're going to have a great it up for
Valentine's Day. It is a family friendly event and you
know we're going to have activities for the kids, bring
your friends. Uh. There are going to be you know,
literally thousands of orchids to choose from, uh that are
(09:13):
going to be available, and uh, you know the nice
thing about coming out is that you know you can
unlike cut flowers which will die very quickly, or chocolates
that are going to just add calories exactly. Is something
that's you know, who that listens to the show does
love plants? And the Orchid will give you, depending on
(09:33):
which one, they can give you a month or so
worth of blooms. And then if you just take a
little bit of care for them, guess what happens next
Valentine's Day. You're going to see those blooms again.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Exactly, and they're really easy. I know, people tell us
all the time. You know, I killed my orchid. I
don't think necessarily they did. I think they threw it
away too soon. And so what do you how do
you take care of an orchid? What kind of care
does it need?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Well, you know, and as she said, so many people
and I said, oh it's done, they throw it out. No, no, no,
no no. Uh. I had started growing roses, which I
believe that's that's a full time chore. And that was
a nice relief for us for orchids. And one of
the first things I was told is like, uh, they
live on neglect. And the biggest problem I think that
people do is they over water them. And when especially
(10:24):
the ones that are sitting in moss. Yes, they just
sit in that moss and the roots, which is their livelihood,
they rude away.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
And those containers don't have holes in them drainage holes.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Oh my goodness. Yes, if you do not have drainage holes,
you definitely had. You know, you're just you're just asking
for problems. But like I said, the main thing, when
it's done, you can once it's all brown, you know,
kind of like what we're talking about with our plants
outside after this breeze. Sure once that once that stem,
(10:58):
that spike is brown, go ahead, can give it a cut.
The other thing is don't put them in too bright
sunlight some of them and when you go to the vendors,
you know, everyone will be able to tell you. Some
of them prefer a little more light, some like mostly
if not all filtered light. So really that's the that's
(11:18):
your two biggest things is overwatering and probably too much.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Light, too much loves. That's the problem right there. So
what are your favorite orchids?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Well, we have two of my favorites are both my
wife and I. We like the catlias. And for those
that aren't really familiar with if you remember back in
the I Want to know fifties through the seventies, all
the girls wanted an orchid on from day and that
was pretty much a cat leia. So they are a
smaller plant, they go more horizontally than going straight up. Again,
(11:55):
hundreds of colors, and they have been hybridized like crazy,
so there is quite a bit of choice. Again, these
guys do well thriving on neglect. You don't put them now.
The other thing is, you know when you do have
the orchest. You do not put them in your typical
potting soil. You're going to put them either in spag
of moss or a just a bark type where it's
(12:20):
not going to be apt to have all of the diseases,
fungus and what have you.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Right, because their roots like the air. Their roots like
the air.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Yes, they love to be crowded, but they also love
the air at the same time. Yes, so I would say,
can't lea's that's a that's also a wonderful. My other one,
it takes a little more care, is called a vanda. Yes,
you're the ones that if you see them there you're
usually hanging. They'll have the kind of the spiky top
(12:52):
where they have leaves coming off either on the right
and on the right end on the left, and they
will have these long roots and the roots just drag
and they require a little more light. And but you
really need to keep those because they are in any
kind of medium whatsoever, You need to give them a
light missing more often there you go vanda's.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
They're deep dark purple freckles. Purple freckles. I love them,
and so yeah, yep, So who is sponsoring the show
and sale.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Well, it is sponsored by the Greater Orlando Orchids Society.
We are a group of folks that well love orchids
and we meet once a month and we have like
many orchid shows and we usually have guests that come
in and talk. It's this is our big event. You know,
it's a little bit of a fundraiser, but for us,
it's also about just getting out the word of how
(13:46):
wonderful orchids are and sharing that love of the orchids
with them.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Exactly. Now, you say it's a little bit of a fundraiser,
but the cost, oh, you can't be the cost of
the tickets. So how much are they and can they
get them.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
At the door and they just get them at the door,
we'll well, we'll have friendly people at the door and
it's just three dollars per person. But it is also
going to be free to any children as well as
any healthcare workers or first responders. Just we don't need
ideas and stuff like that. Just let us know. A
(14:25):
lot of times we do have people here from the
nearby hospital. So when they walk in scrubs, we.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Know there you go.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Exactly, come on in free, yep.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
And a quick question, how would you like pain? So
would you with them have cash or y'all going to
have be able to take credit cards or debit cards
or whatnot?
Speaker 3 (14:42):
We can we only have the ability to take cash,
because this is really you know, we don't we don't
sell orchids per se. All we do is we people
have a membership once a year. But so if you
can bring cash, if you forget your cash, well you
can go in and maybe we'll can well we'll still
make sure that you were able to get in.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
That's great, Thank you so much, sir. So tell us
what we're going to see. What are people going to
be able to do when they get to the orchid show?
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Well, in the gate get to the orchid show, which
is going to be at the Orlando Garden Club, a lovely,
lovely building that's been there for quite a while. And
we're going to have thirteen vendors with a really wide
variety of orchid types, whether there be the vandas like
I talked about, or the katlas, the fail anapsis, which
(15:30):
are the ones that so many times see even at
checkout tanners. But these are going to be of course
better quality ones. But and again multiples of colors, then
go ahead. Oh, and then for the kids, so that
the kids aren't completely bored, we're gonna have a little
scavenger hunt. And if you're able to figure out all
of our little scavenger hunt, we even have some wonderful
(15:52):
coloring books for them, So you know, it's again it's
it's going to be kid friendly. But the other thing is,
besides the fact that we are going to have so
many vendors and so many plants, we're going to have
a lot of knowledgeable people. You can talk to people
that are our vendors love orchids and they love plants,
so they're more than willing to talk to you about them.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
That is so true, and they'll share their experience and
they're not So what are the days and times for
the show next weekend?
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Next weekend it is Friday through Sunday, So that's the thirteenth, fourteenth,
and fifteenth, So.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
At what hours?
Speaker 3 (16:30):
And the hours on Friday and Saturday is going to
be nine to five and on Sunday. We will be
opening again on Sunday, but that time only from eleven
am to three pm.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
And where's the location again?
Speaker 3 (16:46):
The location is going to be at the Orlando Garden
Club at seven ten East Rollin Street, Orlando. It's in
the Lockaven Park, you know, kind of like behind the
Orlando Science Center.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Wonderful, So Dan me go ahead.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I just look for some yellow signs that will be
out there.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Okay, super So, Now if somebody would like to join
your society.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
How would they join your society?
Speaker 3 (17:12):
They would join And we are on Facebook Instagram and
it is the Greater Orlando Orchid Society, and just put
that in you'll find us. Like I said, Facebook, Instagram.
We also have a rather small website again, Greater Orlando
Orchid Society. And then we meet on the third Tuesday
(17:32):
of the month at six point thirty. Would be a
little socializing at pop luck dinner and talk about orchids
and their care and frustrations.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
There you go, and they can even just come to
one meeting to see if they like it.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Oh, absolutely, come on by, you know, we will, we
will feed you, We will make sure that you are
entertained and informed. It's it's again a nice socializing event.
Before we even bought any of our own orchids, we
went to a meeting so we knew and some of
the things, some of the pratfalls, not brass falls, pitfalls
(18:07):
of buying orchids.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
So there you go.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Some pratfalls too, maybe, Okay.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
So that's great, Dan, So again, Hearts and Bloom twenty
seventh Annual Orchid Show next weekend and it's a sale.
Lots of work is on sale. What is the address
to go to?
Speaker 3 (18:25):
It is seven ten East Rollin Street in Orlando. And
there's plenty of free parks. There is free parking there
and I think you enter the parking off of Camden Street.
But yeah, you should be able to google that and
find that in your mats.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Wonderful, Thank you so much. I'll remind everybody next week, Dan,
I'll know there's gonna be a lot much You're welcome.
There's gonna be some people who didn't get a Valentine's
Day gift and he can rush them right over there
and they can pick it out that day.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
Yeah, there's a lot of people who tend to not
forget but kind of wait to the last minute. Well,
this is an excellent opportunity for those who like to
wait to the last minute to just be like, oh, hey,
guess well, we're going to go look at and then
you know, be like you know here, here's your gift.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yes, thank you so much, Dan, I appreciate it so
much and I will be posting that on our Facebook page,
so you'll have plenty to do that. So that is great.
Thank you to Dan McParland. The Greater Orlando Orchid Society.
I've been to their meetings. There are a lot of fun,
great way to meet people and learn about growing orchids.
It's Saturday morning. You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardis.
(19:30):
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
(19:52):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. If you missed
any of the first hour or with the interview, you
can go ahea head and go to Better Lawns dot com.
You can listen to the show. You can go to
iHeart and hear the podcast. I do apologize for my voice.
I'm not sore. My throat's not sore. I just have
a chest cold. But I didn't want to take off
(20:14):
because I wanted I mean, this week was so hard,
I did not want to do a best stuff.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Yes, there's a lot of craziness out here in the weather,
so definitely appreciate you know, struggling through this, but you
are just powering through and doing it.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
We are good and so one triple eight four five five,
two nine sixty seven, or you can text two three
six eight zero. I want to mention this. We are
in a very severe drought for Florida. The southeast Florida,
throughout the entire state is in a severe drought. That
doesn't mean you need to water more. You can only
(20:45):
water once a week and that's all we need to
be watering anyway. So as long as you have an
irrigation system, you can water one time a week and
your landscape's going to be just fine. Just because we're
in a drought doesn't mean you need to water more.
But we also need to be very aware with these
dead plants. If we're throwing them out, you want to
make sure that they are dead. Don't be throwing them
(21:07):
out into conservation areas or onto compost piles or into
the woods, because they may not be dead and if
they're invasive or they could become invasive, they may pick
up with the springtime warm weather and infiltrate the conservation area.
So we don't want to do that. But also too
there is a burn band for Seminole and Orange County
(21:27):
and pretty much throughout the state. There's a burn band
going on right now, so you're not allowed to be
burning anything. No permits are being given, so just be
very aware of your cigarettes and everything because we are
going to have a probably a pretty chaotic weldfire season
this year. Okay, so let's go to Jerry. Jerry, I
(21:49):
thought about you all week long, and I'm so glad
you called. How did you do?
Speaker 6 (21:54):
Oh, it's pretty bad, but I got some things surviving.
I had a lot of tropicals out, so I very
problematic with that. But I'm just waiting to see what happens.
I'm following your advice on the detecting of the cambyan
and so forth. Yes, and I like to ask you
about the key lime. I had planted a lot of
(22:15):
little seedlings a key line are about a foot high.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Uh huh.
Speaker 6 (22:18):
Will they survive?
Speaker 1 (22:20):
I think they will? I mean, what do they look
like right now? What kind of part are they and
how much soil?
Speaker 6 (22:26):
Oh, they're in good soil on there and in the
ground in the ground.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Oh, they're in the ground outside. Yeah, that's a little iffy.
That's a little iffy.
Speaker 6 (22:35):
Okay, I'll just keep an eye on them. Then I
had a few left in the pots yet and I
had them covered, So I'll compare that, okay. And the
other thing you discuss seeds that you that you can
freeze them in that is there certain situations where you
can free seeds.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Or well, you want to make sure that they're dry,
so you can freeze them. But they've got to be dry.
But just you don't even need to freeze them. This
is Florida. So you can just put them in a
like a white envelope and put them in a dry,
cool closet or into your uh an area of your
(23:11):
refrigerator that doesn't get too cold. As long as they
stay nice and cool, they're not going to sprout or Germany.
Speaker 6 (23:17):
Okay. And the other question is the seeds like the circrus.
I save the seeds out of my best cirrus, uh
because I get get some good seedlings that way. Okay,
because you know the greening is really devastating, right you
on you can grow? So they ask fruiting trees, but uh,
can you because those seem to be very sensitive because
they're tropical, they're sensitive to yes, drying out and when
(23:41):
the seed dries out there won Germany, right, right, right.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
But you don't want to You don't want to overwater either,
just want to keep it moist. But I will tell
you that the key limes, they don't really grow in
your area. So you're going to see those freeze back
every year.
Speaker 6 (23:57):
Okay, Okay, that's good because I have I had a
giant one growing about ten feet high and it was
loaded about fifty on it. Wonderful because I had good
weather here, you know, for a decade, that's it. And
I saved a lot of those seeds out of that
one because it seemed to be better than the one
that the neighbor had.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Okay, well, so we're just gonna hope and pray that
we don't have another freeze for ten to twenty years.
Speaker 6 (24:22):
Yes, that's right, I hope so all right. I wish
they'd keep the trees. I think that's what hurt us
the worst here, because the trees and the lakes are
all low gone, and the trees are gone because of development.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yes, well the tree. The development is happening because the
trees died of citrus greening and canker. So it was
kind of like the trees died and so the land
became valuable and they had to sell it.
Speaker 6 (24:45):
Yeah, yeah, so it made quite a change. So anyhow,
thank you for the help and information trees.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
You're welcome much. Thank you for calling in. Jerry, I'm
glad you did. Thank you so much for listening. Appreciate it.
So let's go to our text messages. Jac He says,
on my cherry tomato plants gone, they turn brown. Gone,
cut off at the ground, or pull up and start over.
I'd cut them off at the ground and see what happens,
(25:10):
or you know, leave a few inches. Don't cut them
off directly at the ground, but leave a little bit
of a stem and see if they recover from that.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
JC.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Okay, great question. Tony in Melbourne, she says, let's see here,
wondering what to do with our fire bushes that we're
ten feet tall and now we're all brown. My husband said,
they're still alive. Do we cut to the bottom or
just trim now? Or wait? Also, all are fire spikes,
(25:38):
leaves are all brown. Surprisingly, they have a few flowers, though,
how do we trim them? They're also eight feet high?
Just leave them for a couple of weeks. Excuse me,
just leave them for a couple of weeks, Tony, don't
cut them right now. Okay, next week we'll be back on.
We'll see what the weather's like, and we'll give you
an update then. Also, so your husband doesn't know if
(25:58):
the fire bushes are alive, I think they are. I
think they came through. Okay, they just look really bad.
He scraped the bark at the top of the bush,
not the bottom near the tree. Well, when you're scraping
that little bark area to see the cambium you if
you don't see it green, then go down a few
more inches down the branch and try it again. That's
(26:22):
where you're gonna know how much of it's like. But
just wait because we're still seeing damage from the fire.
So Jay says, good morning, Trees said, good morning. Apologize
for the voice. I live in the Great White North
of Tallahassee and have a question about when and how
I should treat for chamber bitter. I have a mature
(26:43):
centipede lawn. It's my yard's annual nemesis. It certainly is.
You can use a pre emergent, and there's a couple
that are on the market. One is Surge, and then
also too. You can put down let's see serge and
then there's another one here gallery seventy five, Gallery seventy
(27:04):
five and serge our pre emergence to prevent chamber bidder.
So use those chamber bitters. Really prevalent in centipede lawns.
So those are the two on the market that you
can get, and they'll do they'll do the job. Okay, Yes,
I do need a little bit of lemon juice. I'm
gonna take lemonade when I get home. Call that. Thank
(27:25):
you so much. We're gonna be right back with the
last segment one triple eight four five five, two nine
sixty seven, where you can text two three six eight zero.
I'm really okay, guys. Just my voice sounds a little
bit lost there. H If it's Saturday morning, you're listening
to Better Lawns and Gardens from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios.
I'm Teresa Watkins, Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network. Welcome back
(27:56):
to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins. So we
had a text message in the first hour. I didn't
get to good morning, what do we do with pentas?
That didn't make it in the frost. Do we pull
them out or cut them to the ground level so
the roots stay in the ground. Is it okay to
plant new ones? Now? This is traumatic? She lost so
many plants. Thank you well, thank you for listening. I
don't know where you are, so I'm just gonna give
(28:18):
you a general. Your pentas you can cut off down
to the ground. They may recover, but it just may
be a little bit quicker just to plant new new ones.
And so I would try both. I'd plant some new
ones and see how fast your other pentos recovery. They
should recover for you, so that'll be good. One triple
(28:38):
eight four, five, five, two nine six cherry tomatoes?
Speaker 5 (28:42):
What yes to be answer? Jay sees cheat tomatoes.
Speaker 6 (28:45):
I did.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
I was on the phone with somewhere.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Listen, no, no, no, I did answer the cherry tomatoes seeds.
I mean, he can cut them off and let them
re sprout again, So thank you. That's fine.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
He can do that.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
So recommendations for your palm trees. If you had a
palm tree that froze, here's what you need to do.
So at the very top of the palm tree, it
is called the apical tip. That's where the spears. The
new fronds emerge, okay, and you want to make sure
that that didn't rot. It's very likely to susceptibilability to rot. Generally,
(29:20):
pull on it. If you pull it up and it's
green and sturdy, it's going to survive. If it's brown
and mushy, remove and clean out that hollow, okay, and
just pray it's going to survive. You want to apply
a liquid copper fungicide. Follow the label instructions and you
can use it twice at ten day intervals. Spray that
(29:41):
apical butd area into the hollow and spray around the
base of the palm. Then what you want to do
is wait a month before pruning those fronds off. They
need to be completely brown. You do not take off
green fronds. I so so many cabbage palms that have
been pruned incorrectly. It's just a shame. Then you also
(30:03):
can apply an anti transpiration which was dirty word of
the day last week. Anti transpiration spray to the foliage
to reduce water loss will stop by Bone Eye is
a great one. It forms a transparent film on the
plant's foliage, preventing moisture loss and minimizing water during these
periods of stress. But do not fertilizure palms until you
(30:26):
see new growth. All right, So that's how you take
care of your palms. Right now this weekend, just pay
attention to the Super Bowl. Don't look at your landscape.
Nothing to do out there right now.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Yeah, I don't feel like you're alone because you just
drive down the road and you just take a look
left into the right side. I did.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
I took lots of photographs. So the zoysier grass and
the centipede grass on the golf courses, that's all going
to recover. Your grass is going to recover normally. There's
nothing you need to do to it unless you normally
get fungused. But here's the thing. Why do you get fungus?
Because floor has the perfect trifecta. We have the plants
(31:04):
that are susceptible to fungus, we have the humidity, we
have the disease. So if we're going to get it,
it's Florida's where we're going to get it. And so
if you have fungus, you might be overwatering or watering
at the wrong time of the day. This is important.
You don't want your plants being wet longer than five hours,
(31:25):
So starting your irrigation system at two and three in
the morning is going to be more likely to lead
to disease and fungal issues. Okay, so you want to
start watering five six am, then you have till ten
am to complete all your irrigation one time a week,
two times a week in the summer. If you're watering
more than that. And I had a question on the Facebook.
(31:49):
They are watering three times a week. They're citrus fry
three times a week. When is that ever good? That's
never good.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
It wouldn't it be good if it was like a
brand new like you had just planted.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
It then, But then you would do the cycle of
once a day for the first week, once every two
days the second week. You know you can do that,
that's that's fine. But even with these temperatures, you know,
it's better to water longer and less often than to
water short irrigation timers. You know, just doing it for
ten minutes every day, that's not good. You're gonna promote
(32:23):
a short route system that way. So you want to
water longer and you can even in the winter time,
get away with watering once every two weeks. You do
not need to have high water bills. There's no need
for it. Okay, Okay, so you want to make sure
about that. If you'd like to have more information, I'm
gonna get well, I'm gonna lead garden tours again, and
(32:45):
you can go to Art and bloomgardentours dot com. We
are going on the most marvelous revolutionary garden tour where
we're gonna visit sites and locations and gardens that are
two hundred and fifty years old.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Yes, and these are all so gardens that this is
the only time that they are going to be open
for the visitation.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Right and especially during this year the ces Quincentennial for
the two hundred and fifty birthday of the United States.
It's gonna be great. Then we're going to the Best
of English Gardens and the Chelsea Flower Show, both of
these tours I have very few openings left, so they're
coming in and so it just got a few spots left.
Then we're going to the Newport Flower Show in Rhode
(33:26):
Island and Martha's Vineyard and Boston, and then we are
going to the Buffalo, New York, which is one of
my favorite must on your bouquet list. That's b u
c k e t pronounced bouquet list for your garden tours.
You've got to go see that and Canada. Niagara falls
on the Canadian side. Then we're going to France the
(33:49):
Brandywine Valley and then New Orleans in October, which is
going to be a lot of fun.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
Oh, yes, definitely.
Speaker 4 (33:55):
And the thing is is that she does have weight
lists and to get the cost of that, and to
sign up for any wait list or even to sign
up where would they go again, Art.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
And bloomgardentours dot com. And you will need a passport
for some of these, yes, you'll need a passport for
the English and of course the Canadian one and the
French one. Yes, so that will be We're going to
have such a great time small groups. We don't take
large groups, and we just have wonderful, delicious meals, lots
of fun. So also too, if you want my newsletter,
it's coming out this weekend, you can go to she
(34:28):
Dash Consulting dot com and sign up, or just send
me an email and I'll sign you up. I just
need your name and your zip code, and that way
I know what kind of location you're at and so
I don't end your email too as well. Yes, so,
but I don't sell or spam or anything like that.
Speaker 5 (34:45):
So no, definitely.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
And if you're ever in the Polk County Lakeland area,
if you guys are interested in the vegetable gardening for
the spring, well they have Peterson's Nursery has got a
lecture starting at nine point thirty. This more, they do
require the b YOC, which means bring your own chair,
show up early and you can. I'm excited about this
(35:08):
and we want to wish Howie happy birthday.
Speaker 5 (35:10):
Has a happy birth birthday, Howie.
Speaker 4 (35:12):
Yes, and Teresa will be there next month. That's April fourteenth.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
March fourteenth.
Speaker 5 (35:16):
I'm sorry. Oh wow, man, I just totally just dumped March.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Okay, No, we're gonna we're gonna.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
Take the year slowly, okay, okay, yeah, so obviously, so
March fourteenth, Teresa will be there.
Speaker 5 (35:29):
She'll be talking about color your World.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Now that that time for the March fourteenth with Teresa
Watkins won't be until eleven thirty, where normally all of
their lectures start at nine thirty, but it's still b YOC,
so come and see there.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Yeah, I would love that. And they have such great plants.
Hate to say it, but I'm gonna have to buy
more plants. Ah, yes, you know it'll be sad. But
also to the Orchid Show, Hearts and Bloom, the twenty
ninth annual Orchid Show and Sale. It's gonna be February thirteenth,
is the fifteenth, and that is it's going to be
Friday and Saturday nine am to five pm, Sunday eleven
(36:04):
am to three pm. It is going to be great
for children. Children are free, healthcare workers and first responders
are free. But three dollars a weekend every day. So
what a great deal. That's will be a great Valentine's date.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
I'm telling you because there's there's a lot of people
out there, men and women who end up waiting to
the last minute, and this is one of those great
times of the last man. And the weather will be beautiful,
really yeah, and I'll even be able to go to
see this show. But you will also be able to
purchase some order kids. Yes, and they take cash and
it's three dollars to enter.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
So yeah, that's that's an amazing Orlando Garden Club seven
ten East Rollin Street. But orchids are very easy to
grow and I just think people over care for them
and they water them too much and so. But you'll
get all the information you need when you go there.
You can visit all the people. I love the vandas.
I love the orchids that smell like chocolate. What wait,
(37:00):
chocolate they do? No, don't tell Tony, we have yes,
chocolate bit the orc is the smell like chocolate?
Speaker 3 (37:06):
They do?
Speaker 6 (37:07):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (37:07):
They my cheese.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
And is the Mother Nature wonderful?
Speaker 5 (37:10):
She's she's she's she's pretty on point.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Let me tell you so.
Speaker 5 (37:13):
And we want to thank Dana vin Rick Oh coming
on today.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Wonderful. He's just a fountain of information. Yes, and it
can help you with anything that you need in your landscape.
But I love that he has wonderful fruit trees, he
has native trees, he has beautiful canopy trees. And then
also the mulch and the fertilizers you need.
Speaker 5 (37:33):
He will develop soil testing.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Soil testing very important. Everybody should get a soil test.
This is if you haven't started your garden this year,
go ahead and get a soil test.
Speaker 4 (37:43):
Yes, And they go to a quality green specialist over
there in DeLand on.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Three thirty three Michigan Street East Michigan Street and uh
he will be able to help you out. So we
love doing all that we loved. Please when you go
out and buy products, thank you our sponsors for sponsoring
Better Lands and Gardens, That Summit, Responsible Solutions Studios, makers
of mosquito bits and dunks, the best mosquito. You will
(38:10):
never have mosquitos in your plants or your house or
around your house when you use their products. They're all safe, organic,
use it best to use with children and pets. Doesn't
hurt and turkeys, doesn't hurt wildlife at all. It's safe
for the environment because it's an organic product. Yes, and
so it's a great product. And we have black cow.
(38:31):
You can't. I mean, soil needs black cow. Yes, and
so this is the time of the year to do
that to us. Well, thank you so much, Lizzie, Thank
you for helping me get through today. Thank you for
I apologize for my voice.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
No worries.
Speaker 4 (38:44):
But our listeners were awesome. Not only did they give
you some type of like an earthy version of a
help for your.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
They did I've got all this treatment that I'm going
to do. Best listeners, we do. Thank you so much.
But Saturday morning listening to Better Lawns and Gardens from
the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins and this
is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 5 (39:08):
If you miss any of the show, you can go
to better Lawns dot com. That's better Lawns dot com.
And welcome back to the second hour of Better Lawns
dot Com from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios. I'm your host,
Teresa Watkins. I've got a little bit of a cold today,
please excuse me. And it's just been a great morning.
I know everybody was traumatized this weekend, so we're taking
your phone calls, holding your hands. Your landscape will recover
(00:30):
and we will definitely, definitely see springs soon. So let's
go to 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. And the dirty
word of the day is bark. Nope, not the dog sound,
but bark is the outermost layer of stems and roots
(00:50):
of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines,
and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside the
uscular cambium and is a non technical term. It overlays
the wood and consists of the inner bark and the
outer bark. The inner bark, which is in older stems,
(01:11):
is living tissue and includes the innermost layers. The outer
bark on older stems includes the dead tissue on the
surface of the stems. The outer bark on trees. Excuse me,
which lies external to the living bark, is also called
the rhydodome. Products derived from bark include bark shingle, siding
(01:31):
and wall covering, spices, and other flavorings. Tan bark for tannin, resin, latex, medicines, poisons,
various illusionogenic chemicals, and cork. Bark has been used to
make cloth, cant, canoes, and ropes, and used as a
surface for paintings and map making. A number of plants
(01:52):
are also grown for their attractive or interesting bark colorations
and surface textures. Bark is present only on woody plants,
herbaceous plants, and stems. Going of young plants and stems
of young plants lack bark. So Bark tissue is made
up by weight between ten and twenty percent of woody
(02:14):
vascular plants and consists of biopolymers, tannins, lignin, superberin, and polysaccharides.
Up to forty percent of the bark tissue is made
of lignin, which forms an important part of a plant,
providing structural support by cross linking between different polysaccharides such
as cellulose bark can sustain damage from environmental factors such
(02:39):
as frost, crack, and sun scald, as well as biological
factors such as woodpeckers and boring beetle attacks. Male deer
can cause extensive bark damage during the running season by
rubbing their ant slurts against a tree to remove their velvet.
Bark damage can have several detrimental effects on the plant.
Excuse me so much, I'm so stary. Bark serves as
(03:02):
a physical barrier to disease pressure, especially from fungi. So
it's a removal makes the plant more susceptible to disease.
It's very important than when you have landscapers, they don't
weed whack to remove the grass around a tree bark.
You don't want them whacking into the outer bark area.
Not good. So so let's go to Klet. Good morning, Klet.
(03:26):
How can I help you?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
I told Lizzy I wanted to ask you about my
avocado trees that all the leaves are totally black. Yes,
my pineapple plants. I totally did not think about covering them.
That kind of borderline gets some cover from a tree
close by. But I noticed yesterday they're looking a little yellow,
(03:54):
so I'm not sure what's going to happen with them.
And then the other one and my big dad we
covered my staghorn fern, which is huge. It's probably four
feet across, wow, four feet high maybe five seet It
was my mother in law's and we figure it's probably
seventy years old.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I put two sheets around it after it rained, so
they weren't wet, right, But the outside leaves on the staghorn,
a lot of them, it does have some green, but
a lot of them are looking really sad.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Oh, I'm so sorry. So okay, let's start with the avocado.
Depends on how cold it got and how long it
got where you are in winter Haven.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
So we were twenty four twenty four degrees for how long.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
You know, I don't know, but it was freezing by
midnight and it was we were told it was going
to be probably eight to ten hours. Yeah, freezing.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
You might have lost it. But we're just gonna have
to wait and see if there's any new growth coming out. Okay,
don't do anything to it right now. Your pineapple plants
they're going to recover too as well. Don't do anything
to them. And your stag horn firm. Just wait a
couple more weeks and then just cut off the brown.
It should be just fine.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Yeah, I feel the same way Collet about our stack
horn firm. It's about the size of a dump truck
and uh so, therefore I had the wind blew off
all of our covering, and we did have a heat
lamp underneath ours because ours is living on an extra
large dog crate because's where it fell about. I don't
know five years ago, but yeah, I was.
Speaker 5 (05:32):
I'm wondering.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
I was wandering the same thing because my husband, that's
his baby, and he's just so he's like, I can't
believe this. He goes if the wind blew off everything,
and will it survive because it's probably dead, and I'm like, no, possibly,
just wait, let's see.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yeah, I think it'll recover.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
It has some little green new fronds on it that
were like I guess protected by the bigger ones around
the outside that I noticed are still green. Right, So
I figure it'll come back, but I think it's gonna
look kind of naked for a while.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
It will, but inside those those big large leaves that
encirculate or encircle the staghorn firm, we'll keep it warm,
it'll be okay.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
And I gave it. I gave it a good drink,
gave it lots of water, okay, And what I what
I usually do for it is give it banana peels. Okay,
But but I was wondering if it's too soon to
start trying to do that again.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
No, because it's got a rot. So you can put
the banana peels in it. It's gonna rot. It'll be fine.
Thank you, kleet. Okay, we're gonna be right back with
Dan McParland with the Orlando Orchid Society Big Valentine's Day event.
You're not gonna want to miss it. Stay tuned. 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.
(07:08):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins.
After several years of cultivating rose plants in their backyard,
Dan McParland and his wife discovered a passion for orchids.
They had long admired these flowers during visits to plant
sales and botanical gardens. Seeking a tropical plant with a
broad spectrum of colors to enjoy indoors. Rather than relying
(07:30):
solely on cut flowers. They found orchids to be the
optimum choice for their preferences. Please welcome Dan McParland to
our studio. Thank you Dan for coming in this morning.
How are you?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I am doing wonderful. Thank you so much Teresa for
having us and for providing all the information to listeners.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Well, this is a great event. I love this because
it is just the perfect, perfect Valentine's Day gift. It's
an event that you can go to with your loved one,
you can go with your family, and so I can't
wait to talk to you about it. So this month,
especially with romance and flowers. What is happening next weekend?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Well, next week we are having our twenty seventh annual
Greater Orlando Orchid Show and Sale. And it's really a
thank you said, a perfect way to celebrate the Valentine's
weekend with Saturday being Valentine itself. And there's so many
different varieties, colors, sizes of these stunning orchids, and it
(08:32):
really can be a wonderful choice and a wonderful way
to bring you your sweetheart friend mom, bring her down
this weekend so that they can even select their own
if they wish.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
I think that's a great idea. Which one do you want? Honey?
I always like that question. And so what is this
year's theme for the Orchid Show?
Speaker 3 (08:52):
This year is Arts and Bloom. Of course we keep
up a Valentine's Day theme and so there's you know
that we're going to have a great it up for
Valentine's Day. It is a family friendly event and you
know we're going to have activities for the kids, bring
your friends. Uh. There are going to be you know,
literally thousands of orchids to choose from, uh that are
(09:13):
going to be available, and uh, you know the nice
thing about coming out is that you know you can
unlike cut flowers which will die very quickly, or chocolates
that are going to just add calories exactly. Is something
that's you know, who that listens to the show does
love plants? And the Orchid will give you, depending on
(09:33):
which one, they can give you a month or so
worth of blooms. And then if you just take a
little bit of care for them, guess what happens next
Valentine's Day. You're going to see those blooms again.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Exactly, and they're really easy. I know, people tell us
all the time. You know, I killed my orchid. I
don't think necessarily they did. I think they threw it
away too soon. And so what do you how do
you take care of an orchid? What kind of care
does it need?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Well, you know, and as she said, so many people
and I said, oh it's done, they throw it out. No, no, no,
no no. Uh. I had started growing roses, which I
believe that's that's a full time chore. And that was
a nice relief for us for orchids. And one of
the first things I was told is like, uh, they
live on neglect. And the biggest problem I think that
people do is they over water them. And when especially
(10:24):
the ones that are sitting in moss. Yes, they just
sit in that moss and the roots, which is their livelihood,
they rude away.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
And those containers don't have holes in them drainage holes.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Oh my goodness. Yes, if you do not have drainage holes,
you definitely had. You know, you're just you're just asking
for problems. But like I said, the main thing, when
it's done, you can once it's all brown, you know,
kind of like what we're talking about with our plants
outside after this breeze. Sure once that once that stem,
(10:58):
that spike is brown, go ahead, can give it a cut.
The other thing is don't put them in too bright
sunlight some of them and when you go to the vendors,
you know, everyone will be able to tell you. Some
of them prefer a little more light, some like mostly
if not all filtered light. So really that's the that's
(11:18):
your two biggest things is overwatering and probably too much.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Light, too much loves. That's the problem right there. So
what are your favorite orchids?
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Well, we have two of my favorites are both my
wife and I. We like the catlias. And for those
that aren't really familiar with if you remember back in
the I Want to know fifties through the seventies, all
the girls wanted an orchid on from day and that
was pretty much a cat leia. So they are a
smaller plant, they go more horizontally than going straight up. Again,
(11:55):
hundreds of colors, and they have been hybridized like crazy,
so there is quite a bit of choice. Again, these
guys do well thriving on neglect. You don't put them now.
The other thing is, you know when you do have
the orchest. You do not put them in your typical
potting soil. You're going to put them either in spag
of moss or a just a bark type where it's
(12:20):
not going to be apt to have all of the diseases,
fungus and what have you.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Right, because their roots like the air. Their roots like
the air.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Yes, they love to be crowded, but they also love
the air at the same time. Yes, so I would say,
can't lea's that's a that's also a wonderful. My other one,
it takes a little more care, is called a vanda. Yes,
you're the ones that if you see them there you're
usually hanging. They'll have the kind of the spiky top
(12:52):
where they have leaves coming off either on the right
and on the right end on the left, and they
will have these long roots and the roots just drag
and they require a little more light. And but you
really need to keep those because they are in any
kind of medium whatsoever, You need to give them a
light missing more often there you go vanda's.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
They're deep dark purple freckles. Purple freckles. I love them,
and so yeah, yep, So who is sponsoring the show
and sale.
Speaker 3 (13:23):
Well, it is sponsored by the Greater Orlando Orchids Society.
We are a group of folks that well love orchids
and we meet once a month and we have like
many orchid shows and we usually have guests that come
in and talk. It's this is our big event. You know,
it's a little bit of a fundraiser, but for us,
it's also about just getting out the word of how
(13:46):
wonderful orchids are and sharing that love of the orchids
with them.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Exactly. Now, you say it's a little bit of a fundraiser,
but the cost, oh, you can't be the cost of
the tickets. So how much are they and can they
get them.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
At the door and they just get them at the door,
we'll well, we'll have friendly people at the door and
it's just three dollars per person. But it is also
going to be free to any children as well as
any healthcare workers or first responders. Just we don't need
ideas and stuff like that. Just let us know. A
(14:25):
lot of times we do have people here from the
nearby hospital. So when they walk in scrubs, we.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Know there you go.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
Exactly, come on in free, yep.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
And a quick question, how would you like pain? So
would you with them have cash or y'all going to
have be able to take credit cards or debit cards
or whatnot?
Speaker 3 (14:42):
We can we only have the ability to take cash,
because this is really you know, we don't we don't
sell orchids per se. All we do is we people
have a membership once a year. But so if you
can bring cash, if you forget your cash, well you
can go in and maybe we'll can well we'll still
make sure that you were able to get in.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
That's great, Thank you so much, sir. So tell us
what we're going to see. What are people going to
be able to do when they get to the orchid show?
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Well, in the gate get to the orchid show, which
is going to be at the Orlando Garden Club, a lovely,
lovely building that's been there for quite a while. And
we're going to have thirteen vendors with a really wide
variety of orchid types, whether there be the vandas like
I talked about, or the katlas, the fail anapsis, which
(15:30):
are the ones that so many times see even at
checkout tanners. But these are going to be of course
better quality ones. But and again multiples of colors, then
go ahead. Oh, and then for the kids, so that
the kids aren't completely bored, we're gonna have a little
scavenger hunt. And if you're able to figure out all
of our little scavenger hunt, we even have some wonderful
(15:52):
coloring books for them, So you know, it's again it's
it's going to be kid friendly. But the other thing is,
besides the fact that we are going to have so
many vendors and so many plants, we're going to have
a lot of knowledgeable people. You can talk to people
that are our vendors love orchids and they love plants,
so they're more than willing to talk to you about them.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
That is so true, and they'll share their experience and
they're not So what are the days and times for
the show next weekend?
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Next weekend it is Friday through Sunday, So that's the thirteenth, fourteenth,
and fifteenth, So.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
At what hours?
Speaker 3 (16:30):
And the hours on Friday and Saturday is going to
be nine to five and on Sunday. We will be
opening again on Sunday, but that time only from eleven
am to three pm.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
And where's the location again?
Speaker 3 (16:46):
The location is going to be at the Orlando Garden
Club at seven ten East Rollin Street, Orlando. It's in
the Lockaven Park, you know, kind of like behind the
Orlando Science Center.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Wonderful, So Dan me go ahead.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
I just look for some yellow signs that will be
out there.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Okay, super So, Now if somebody would like to join
your society.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
How would they join your society?
Speaker 3 (17:12):
They would join And we are on Facebook Instagram and
it is the Greater Orlando Orchid Society, and just put
that in you'll find us. Like I said, Facebook, Instagram.
We also have a rather small website again, Greater Orlando
Orchid Society. And then we meet on the third Tuesday
(17:32):
of the month at six point thirty. Would be a
little socializing at pop luck dinner and talk about orchids
and their care and frustrations.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
There you go, and they can even just come to
one meeting to see if they like it.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Oh, absolutely, come on by, you know, we will, we
will feed you, We will make sure that you are
entertained and informed. It's it's again a nice socializing event.
Before we even bought any of our own orchids, we
went to a meeting so we knew and some of
the things, some of the pratfalls, not brass falls, pitfalls
(18:07):
of buying orchids.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
So there you go.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
Some pratfalls too, maybe, Okay.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
So that's great, Dan, So again, Hearts and Bloom twenty
seventh Annual Orchid Show next weekend and it's a sale.
Lots of work is on sale. What is the address
to go to?
Speaker 3 (18:25):
It is seven ten East Rollin Street in Orlando. And
there's plenty of free parks. There is free parking there
and I think you enter the parking off of Camden Street.
But yeah, you should be able to google that and
find that in your mats.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Wonderful, Thank you so much. I'll remind everybody next week, Dan,
I'll know there's gonna be a lot much You're welcome.
There's gonna be some people who didn't get a Valentine's
Day gift and he can rush them right over there
and they can pick it out that day.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
Yeah, there's a lot of people who tend to not
forget but kind of wait to the last minute. Well,
this is an excellent opportunity for those who like to
wait to the last minute to just be like, oh, hey,
guess well, we're going to go look at and then
you know, be like you know here, here's your gift.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yes, thank you so much, Dan, I appreciate it so
much and I will be posting that on our Facebook page,
so you'll have plenty to do that. So that is great.
Thank you to Dan McParland. The Greater Orlando Orchid Society.
I've been to their meetings. There are a lot of fun,
great way to meet people and learn about growing orchids.
It's Saturday morning. You're listening to Better Lawns and Gardis.
(19:30):
I'm Teresa Watkins and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
(19:52):
Welcome back to Better Lawns and Gardens. If you missed
any of the first hour or with the interview, you
can go ahea head and go to Better Lawns dot com.
You can listen to the show. You can go to
iHeart and hear the podcast. I do apologize for my voice.
I'm not sore. My throat's not sore. I just have
a chest cold. But I didn't want to take off
(20:14):
because I wanted I mean, this week was so hard,
I did not want to do a best stuff.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Yes, there's a lot of craziness out here in the weather,
so definitely appreciate you know, struggling through this, but you
are just powering through and doing it.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
We are good and so one triple eight four five five,
two nine sixty seven, or you can text two three
six eight zero. I want to mention this. We are
in a very severe drought for Florida. The southeast Florida,
throughout the entire state is in a severe drought. That
doesn't mean you need to water more. You can only
(20:45):
water once a week and that's all we need to
be watering anyway. So as long as you have an
irrigation system, you can water one time a week and
your landscape's going to be just fine. Just because we're
in a drought doesn't mean you need to water more.
But we also need to be very aware with these
dead plants. If we're throwing them out, you want to
make sure that they are dead. Don't be throwing them
(21:07):
out into conservation areas or onto compost piles or into
the woods, because they may not be dead and if
they're invasive or they could become invasive, they may pick
up with the springtime warm weather and infiltrate the conservation area.
So we don't want to do that. But also too
there is a burn band for Seminole and Orange County
(21:27):
and pretty much throughout the state. There's a burn band
going on right now, so you're not allowed to be
burning anything. No permits are being given, so just be
very aware of your cigarettes and everything because we are
going to have a probably a pretty chaotic weldfire season
this year. Okay, so let's go to Jerry. Jerry, I
(21:49):
thought about you all week long, and I'm so glad
you called. How did you do?
Speaker 6 (21:54):
Oh, it's pretty bad, but I got some things surviving.
I had a lot of tropicals out, so I very
problematic with that. But I'm just waiting to see what happens.
I'm following your advice on the detecting of the cambyan
and so forth. Yes, and I like to ask you
about the key lime. I had planted a lot of
(22:15):
little seedlings a key line are about a foot high.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Uh huh.
Speaker 6 (22:18):
Will they survive?
Speaker 1 (22:20):
I think they will? I mean, what do they look
like right now? What kind of part are they and
how much soil?
Speaker 6 (22:26):
Oh, they're in good soil on there and in the
ground in the ground.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Oh, they're in the ground outside. Yeah, that's a little iffy.
That's a little iffy.
Speaker 6 (22:35):
Okay, I'll just keep an eye on them. Then I
had a few left in the pots yet and I
had them covered, So I'll compare that, okay. And the
other thing you discuss seeds that you that you can
freeze them in that is there certain situations where you
can free seeds.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Or well, you want to make sure that they're dry,
so you can freeze them. But they've got to be dry.
But just you don't even need to freeze them. This
is Florida. So you can just put them in a
like a white envelope and put them in a dry,
cool closet or into your uh an area of your
(23:11):
refrigerator that doesn't get too cold. As long as they
stay nice and cool, they're not going to sprout or Germany.
Speaker 6 (23:17):
Okay. And the other question is the seeds like the circrus.
I save the seeds out of my best cirrus, uh
because I get get some good seedlings that way. Okay,
because you know the greening is really devastating, right you
on you can grow? So they ask fruiting trees, but uh,
can you because those seem to be very sensitive because
they're tropical, they're sensitive to yes, drying out and when
(23:41):
the seed dries out there won Germany, right, right, right.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
But you don't want to You don't want to overwater either,
just want to keep it moist. But I will tell
you that the key limes, they don't really grow in
your area. So you're going to see those freeze back
every year.
Speaker 6 (23:57):
Okay, Okay, that's good because I have I had a
giant one growing about ten feet high and it was
loaded about fifty on it. Wonderful because I had good
weather here, you know, for a decade, that's it. And
I saved a lot of those seeds out of that
one because it seemed to be better than the one
that the neighbor had.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
Okay, well, so we're just gonna hope and pray that
we don't have another freeze for ten to twenty years.
Speaker 6 (24:22):
Yes, that's right, I hope so all right. I wish
they'd keep the trees. I think that's what hurt us
the worst here, because the trees and the lakes are
all low gone, and the trees are gone because of development.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yes, well the tree. The development is happening because the
trees died of citrus greening and canker. So it was
kind of like the trees died and so the land
became valuable and they had to sell it.
Speaker 6 (24:45):
Yeah, yeah, so it made quite a change. So anyhow,
thank you for the help and information trees.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
You're welcome much. Thank you for calling in. Jerry, I'm
glad you did. Thank you so much for listening. Appreciate it.
So let's go to our text messages. Jac He says,
on my cherry tomato plants gone, they turn brown. Gone,
cut off at the ground, or pull up and start over.
I'd cut them off at the ground and see what happens,
(25:10):
or you know, leave a few inches. Don't cut them
off directly at the ground, but leave a little bit
of a stem and see if they recover from that.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
JC.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Okay, great question. Tony in Melbourne, she says, let's see here,
wondering what to do with our fire bushes that we're
ten feet tall and now we're all brown. My husband said,
they're still alive. Do we cut to the bottom or
just trim now? Or wait? Also, all are fire spikes,
(25:38):
leaves are all brown. Surprisingly, they have a few flowers, though,
how do we trim them? They're also eight feet high?
Just leave them for a couple of weeks. Excuse me,
just leave them for a couple of weeks, Tony, don't
cut them right now. Okay, next week we'll be back on.
We'll see what the weather's like, and we'll give you
an update then. Also, so your husband doesn't know if
(25:58):
the fire bushes are alive, I think they are. I
think they came through. Okay, they just look really bad.
He scraped the bark at the top of the bush,
not the bottom near the tree. Well, when you're scraping
that little bark area to see the cambium you if
you don't see it green, then go down a few
more inches down the branch and try it again. That's
(26:22):
where you're gonna know how much of it's like. But
just wait because we're still seeing damage from the fire.
So Jay says, good morning, Trees said, good morning. Apologize
for the voice. I live in the Great White North
of Tallahassee and have a question about when and how
I should treat for chamber bitter. I have a mature
(26:43):
centipede lawn. It's my yard's annual nemesis. It certainly is.
You can use a pre emergent, and there's a couple
that are on the market. One is Surge, and then
also too. You can put down let's see serge and
then there's another one here gallery seventy five, Gallery seventy
(27:04):
five and serge our pre emergence to prevent chamber bidder.
So use those chamber bitters. Really prevalent in centipede lawns.
So those are the two on the market that you
can get, and they'll do they'll do the job. Okay, Yes,
I do need a little bit of lemon juice. I'm
gonna take lemonade when I get home. Call that. Thank
(27:25):
you so much. We're gonna be right back with the
last segment one triple eight four five five, two nine
sixty seven, where you can text two three six eight zero.
I'm really okay, guys. Just my voice sounds a little
bit lost there. H If it's Saturday morning, you're listening
to Better Lawns and Gardens from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios.
I'm Teresa Watkins, Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network. Welcome back
(27:56):
to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins. So we
had a text message in the first hour. I didn't
get to good morning, what do we do with pentas?
That didn't make it in the frost. Do we pull
them out or cut them to the ground level so
the roots stay in the ground. Is it okay to
plant new ones? Now? This is traumatic? She lost so
many plants. Thank you well, thank you for listening. I
don't know where you are, so I'm just gonna give
(28:18):
you a general. Your pentas you can cut off down
to the ground. They may recover, but it just may
be a little bit quicker just to plant new new ones.
And so I would try both. I'd plant some new
ones and see how fast your other pentos recovery. They
should recover for you, so that'll be good. One triple
(28:38):
eight four, five, five, two nine six cherry tomatoes?
Speaker 5 (28:42):
What yes to be answer? Jay sees cheat tomatoes.
Speaker 6 (28:45):
I did.
Speaker 5 (28:46):
I was on the phone with somewhere.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
Listen, no, no, no, I did answer the cherry tomatoes seeds.
I mean, he can cut them off and let them
re sprout again, So thank you. That's fine.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
He can do that.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
So recommendations for your palm trees. If you had a
palm tree that froze, here's what you need to do.
So at the very top of the palm tree, it
is called the apical tip. That's where the spears. The
new fronds emerge, okay, and you want to make sure
that that didn't rot. It's very likely to susceptibilability to rot. Generally,
(29:20):
pull on it. If you pull it up and it's
green and sturdy, it's going to survive. If it's brown
and mushy, remove and clean out that hollow, okay, and
just pray it's going to survive. You want to apply
a liquid copper fungicide. Follow the label instructions and you
can use it twice at ten day intervals. Spray that
(29:41):
apical butd area into the hollow and spray around the
base of the palm. Then what you want to do
is wait a month before pruning those fronds off. They
need to be completely brown. You do not take off
green fronds. I so so many cabbage palms that have
been pruned incorrectly. It's just a shame. Then you also
(30:03):
can apply an anti transpiration which was dirty word of
the day last week. Anti transpiration spray to the foliage
to reduce water loss will stop by Bone Eye is
a great one. It forms a transparent film on the
plant's foliage, preventing moisture loss and minimizing water during these
periods of stress. But do not fertilizure palms until you
(30:26):
see new growth. All right, So that's how you take
care of your palms. Right now this weekend, just pay
attention to the Super Bowl. Don't look at your landscape.
Nothing to do out there right now.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
Yeah, I don't feel like you're alone because you just
drive down the road and you just take a look
left into the right side. I did.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
I took lots of photographs. So the zoysier grass and
the centipede grass on the golf courses, that's all going
to recover. Your grass is going to recover normally. There's
nothing you need to do to it unless you normally
get fungused. But here's the thing. Why do you get fungus?
Because floor has the perfect trifecta. We have the plants
(31:04):
that are susceptible to fungus, we have the humidity, we
have the disease. So if we're going to get it,
it's Florida's where we're going to get it. And so
if you have fungus, you might be overwatering or watering
at the wrong time of the day. This is important.
You don't want your plants being wet longer than five hours,
(31:25):
So starting your irrigation system at two and three in
the morning is going to be more likely to lead
to disease and fungal issues. Okay, so you want to
start watering five six am, then you have till ten
am to complete all your irrigation one time a week,
two times a week in the summer. If you're watering
more than that. And I had a question on the Facebook.
(31:49):
They are watering three times a week. They're citrus fry
three times a week. When is that ever good? That's
never good.
Speaker 4 (31:56):
It wouldn't it be good if it was like a
brand new like you had just planted.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
It then, But then you would do the cycle of
once a day for the first week, once every two
days the second week. You know you can do that,
that's that's fine. But even with these temperatures, you know,
it's better to water longer and less often than to
water short irrigation timers. You know, just doing it for
ten minutes every day, that's not good. You're gonna promote
(32:23):
a short route system that way. So you want to
water longer and you can even in the winter time,
get away with watering once every two weeks. You do
not need to have high water bills. There's no need
for it. Okay, Okay, so you want to make sure
about that. If you'd like to have more information, I'm
gonna get well, I'm gonna lead garden tours again, and
(32:45):
you can go to Art and bloomgardentours dot com. We
are going on the most marvelous revolutionary garden tour where
we're gonna visit sites and locations and gardens that are
two hundred and fifty years old.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Yes, and these are all so gardens that this is
the only time that they are going to be open
for the visitation.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Right and especially during this year the ces Quincentennial for
the two hundred and fifty birthday of the United States.
It's gonna be great. Then we're going to the Best
of English Gardens and the Chelsea Flower Show, both of
these tours I have very few openings left, so they're
coming in and so it just got a few spots left.
Then we're going to the Newport Flower Show in Rhode
(33:26):
Island and Martha's Vineyard and Boston, and then we are
going to the Buffalo, New York, which is one of
my favorite must on your bouquet list. That's b u
c k e t pronounced bouquet list for your garden tours.
You've got to go see that and Canada. Niagara falls
on the Canadian side. Then we're going to France the
(33:49):
Brandywine Valley and then New Orleans in October, which is
going to be a lot of fun.
Speaker 5 (33:54):
Oh, yes, definitely.
Speaker 4 (33:55):
And the thing is is that she does have weight
lists and to get the cost of that, and to
sign up for any wait list or even to sign
up where would they go again, Art.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
And bloomgardentours dot com. And you will need a passport
for some of these, yes, you'll need a passport for
the English and of course the Canadian one and the
French one. Yes, so that will be We're going to
have such a great time small groups. We don't take
large groups, and we just have wonderful, delicious meals, lots
of fun. So also too, if you want my newsletter,
it's coming out this weekend, you can go to she
(34:28):
Dash Consulting dot com and sign up, or just send
me an email and I'll sign you up. I just
need your name and your zip code, and that way
I know what kind of location you're at and so
I don't end your email too as well. Yes, so,
but I don't sell or spam or anything like that.
Speaker 5 (34:45):
So no, definitely.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
And if you're ever in the Polk County Lakeland area,
if you guys are interested in the vegetable gardening for
the spring, well they have Peterson's Nursery has got a
lecture starting at nine point thirty. This more, they do
require the b YOC, which means bring your own chair,
show up early and you can. I'm excited about this
(35:08):
and we want to wish Howie happy birthday.
Speaker 5 (35:10):
Has a happy birth birthday, Howie.
Speaker 4 (35:12):
Yes, and Teresa will be there next month. That's April fourteenth.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
March fourteenth.
Speaker 5 (35:16):
I'm sorry. Oh wow, man, I just totally just dumped March.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Okay, No, we're gonna we're gonna.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
Take the year slowly, okay, okay, yeah, so obviously, so
March fourteenth, Teresa will be there.
Speaker 5 (35:29):
She'll be talking about color your World.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Now that that time for the March fourteenth with Teresa
Watkins won't be until eleven thirty, where normally all of
their lectures start at nine thirty, but it's still b YOC,
so come and see there.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Yeah, I would love that. And they have such great plants.
Hate to say it, but I'm gonna have to buy
more plants. Ah, yes, you know it'll be sad. But
also to the Orchid Show, Hearts and Bloom, the twenty
ninth annual Orchid Show and Sale. It's gonna be February thirteenth,
is the fifteenth, and that is it's going to be
Friday and Saturday nine am to five pm, Sunday eleven
(36:04):
am to three pm. It is going to be great
for children. Children are free, healthcare workers and first responders
are free. But three dollars a weekend every day. So
what a great deal. That's will be a great Valentine's date.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
I'm telling you because there's there's a lot of people
out there, men and women who end up waiting to
the last minute, and this is one of those great
times of the last man. And the weather will be beautiful,
really yeah, and I'll even be able to go to
see this show. But you will also be able to
purchase some order kids. Yes, and they take cash and
it's three dollars to enter.
Speaker 1 (36:39):
So yeah, that's that's an amazing Orlando Garden Club seven
ten East Rollin Street. But orchids are very easy to
grow and I just think people over care for them
and they water them too much and so. But you'll
get all the information you need when you go there.
You can visit all the people. I love the vandas.
I love the orchids that smell like chocolate. What wait,
(37:00):
chocolate they do? No, don't tell Tony, we have yes,
chocolate bit the orc is the smell like chocolate?
Speaker 3 (37:06):
They do?
Speaker 6 (37:07):
Oh?
Speaker 5 (37:07):
They my cheese.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
And is the Mother Nature wonderful?
Speaker 5 (37:10):
She's she's she's she's pretty on point.
Speaker 1 (37:12):
Let me tell you so.
Speaker 5 (37:13):
And we want to thank Dana vin Rick Oh coming
on today.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
Wonderful. He's just a fountain of information. Yes, and it
can help you with anything that you need in your landscape.
But I love that he has wonderful fruit trees, he
has native trees, he has beautiful canopy trees. And then
also the mulch and the fertilizers you need.
Speaker 5 (37:33):
He will develop soil testing.
Speaker 1 (37:35):
Soil testing very important. Everybody should get a soil test.
This is if you haven't started your garden this year,
go ahead and get a soil test.
Speaker 4 (37:43):
Yes, And they go to a quality green specialist over
there in DeLand on.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Three thirty three Michigan Street East Michigan Street and uh
he will be able to help you out. So we
love doing all that we loved. Please when you go
out and buy products, thank you our sponsors for sponsoring
Better Lands and Gardens, That Summit, Responsible Solutions Studios, makers
of mosquito bits and dunks, the best mosquito. You will
(38:10):
never have mosquitos in your plants or your house or
around your house when you use their products. They're all safe, organic,
use it best to use with children and pets. Doesn't
hurt and turkeys, doesn't hurt wildlife at all. It's safe
for the environment because it's an organic product. Yes, and
so it's a great product. And we have black cow.
(38:31):
You can't. I mean, soil needs black cow. Yes, and
so this is the time of the year to do
that to us. Well, thank you so much, Lizzie, Thank
you for helping me get through today. Thank you for
I apologize for my voice.
Speaker 3 (38:43):
No worries.
Speaker 4 (38:44):
But our listeners were awesome. Not only did they give
you some type of like an earthy version of a
help for your.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
They did I've got all this treatment that I'm going
to do. Best listeners, we do. Thank you so much.
But Saturday morning listening to Better Lawns and Gardens from
the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins and this
is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network.
Speaker 5 (39:08):
If you miss any of the show, you can go
to better Lawns dot com. That's better Lawns dot com.
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