February 28, 2026 • 39 mins
Quality Green Specialists, Owner Dana Venrick on what people did wrong during the freezes we had with their vegetation causing so much damage. Teresa's Top Five Flowering Shrubs.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Good morning from the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios. Welcome to
Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm your host, Teresa Watkins. Thank
you for joining us this morning. It's raining. We are
having a great morning. We needed it. We got a
lot of rain last night across the state and we're
looking forward to a little bit this morning, but not
too much. It'll just be enough to drizzle in and
(00:32):
that's that's what we need it. It's gonna be great.
Good morning, Lizzie, how are you.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Good morning?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I was so happy.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Okay, like you, whenever you go to festivals or whatnot,
you really don't want rain.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
However, we went to the Strawberry Festival and it was
when we got there about five thirty ish, it it
had already been raining, and then it did like the
whole sprinkle spring and sprig and sprinklesple. And then we
went to go see Jamie Johnson. He only got to
play four songs before we all got kicked out because
of the rain. Because of the rain, yes, but I
didn't care. And I'm not one of those I don't like.
(01:04):
It's not like I don't like to be rained on,
but like I don't like rain. There's like dreariness to it.
But I was so happy for that rain.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
So yes, we really need it, and we're going to
get a little bit more today and then Sunday a
little bit and then dry middle of the week and
then rain again next weekend. So we desperately needed. We're
down about an inch and a half already for the
year across the state. We do have extreme drought conditions.
(01:31):
A burn band is on, yes, and so you want
to pay attention to that. So yesterday, Lizzie, I was
at a nursery and wonderful woman was walking through the
nursery and kind of stopped and we had a little
bit of a conversation. We started talking, and I loved
her spirit. She was just she had a sweet soul,
(01:51):
and she was just walking through the nursery, not to
buy anything, but just to take in the plants and
the flowers, yes, and just enjoy them. So it was
a really wonderful conversation. She's from Detroit, Michigan, and she's
she headed back to Detroit, Michigan yesterday, and so a
big shout out to my new friend from Detroit, Mary
(02:13):
and her instagram is famed by Mary and I love.
She's a new gardener, she doesn't really know what to do,
and so you know, gardening is healing.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Honestly, it really is. And I just was like, h whatever,
But then the more that I did it, I'm like, Okay,
it is.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
It's cathartic. Working in the garden helped me when I
lost my mama. And if you're feeling down or need
some comfort, consider visiting a nursery just to walk through
and enjoy the beauty seeing the new plants. Go to
a garden or a park to walk through, enjoy the
fresh air if you need some comfort, taking the sites
(02:54):
and scents of flowers. It really does help you. For
those of you up north still experiencing snow like Detroit, right,
you know, it's not as easy to get that uplifting
feeling from spring because of the what is it called
winter blues and cabin fever, cabin fever, lack of sunshine.
(03:14):
But you can browse through your garden magazines and plant
catalogs or seed catalogs and you can start envisioning your
spring garden. Planting ahead will lift your spirits and just
thinking about gardening, getting out there getting some fresh air
will do you a World of good. So today is
the Sweetwater Oaks Garden Fair. This is a Sweetwater Oaks
(03:37):
Garden Club. It is going to be at Protegrity Plaza
three sixty I'm sorry, two sixty what Kaiva Springs Road
in Longwood. There's gonna be lots of plant vendors, garden
accessory vendors. We're gonna have lots of speakers. I will
be speaking today on how to create a terrarium and
(03:59):
it's gonna be a really big sized terrarium and I'm
going to give it away. So if you come to
hear my talk, uh and uh, you know well you
have an option chance of winning the terrarium. Lots of
hands on children displays and activities, educational booths. There's going
to be food trucks uh, and floral design demonstrations. So
(04:22):
I'll be speaking at ten o'clock on easy to make terrariums.
And then there's Nate Gabrov is going to be right plant,
right place for the right reasons. Louise Gould is going
to be on Fun with Flowers today, and the Secret
Life of Bees is next with Alan Moore.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I'm really trying my hardest too, because I really want
to I want to have bees, Yes, I really really do.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
They are very very good. So you'll be excited about
the dirty word of the day. Then, oh, okay, you'll
be excited about dirty word of the day. So that
is the Sweetwater Oaks Garden Club garden Fair today. It's
going to be from ten am to five pm. Tomorrow
is gonna be ten am to four It's that Protegrity
Plaza two sixty Wakaiva Springs Road in Longwood. So that's
(05:10):
gonna be nice. So weather wise today, So weather this
week is gonna be above average temperature seventies and eighties,
low's in the mid sixties, great garden weather. More rain
is on the way for next weekend. Like I said,
so you will not need irrigation this week. Watch to
see if it comes on. If it comes on, check
(05:31):
your irrigation shut off device. It may not be working correctly,
So you want to do that. Tampa, You're gonna be
a little cooler. Highs in the seventies, low's in the fifties.
It's gonna be sunny midweek. Rain coming back Thursday through Sunday.
Central Florida sixty percent chance of rain on Sunday highs
in the fifties and low's in the I'm sorry, highs
(05:54):
in the seventies and eighties. Okalla, same thing. You're gonna
see lots of warm temperatu more rain for the East
Coast this week Ormond Beach, Melbourne, East Coast Port, Saint
Lucy and so Mike and Venice. I hope you're getting
a little bit of rain this week, Miami. Rain this week,
the weekend, partly cloudy than midweek, than rain next weekend.
(06:17):
But enjoy it everyone. Spring is our dry season again.
We're down for about two inches for the year already
after two years of a drought, so we're in a
severe drought situation. We do need the rain coming up.
What edibles are available to grow? Dana Venrick, quality green
Specialist Nursery. He's going to be here to give us
(06:37):
a rundown on his native plants and fruit trees how
they're doing. And he's got a great big event coming
up in March, so we want to talk about that.
If it's Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and
Gardens from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins
and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network. Welcome back
(07:09):
to better Lawns and Gardens. I was just talking about
walking through a nursery and how uplifting it is. And
one of those nurseries that here in the area is
Quality Green Specialists. They have an orchid trail, they have
beautiful gardens that you can walk through and just I
mean even going and smelling the dirt. The dirt smells wonderful.
(07:30):
I love it. Data Venrick Good's with us this morning.
He's the owner of Quality Green Specialists. Dana, how did
the nursery do in the winter freeze? We just had, Oh,
good morning, trees, good morning.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
For the most part, it is doing quite well. It's
looking probably better than ever. My sister Luela came up
from winder Haven and she was amazed.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
How do you have so.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Many green and colorful plants after all this cold weather?
I said, well, that's my secret. You know, you and me.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
That's great. So what surprised you most about this winter
storm and the plants?
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Well, I had a lot of surprises I'd like to
talk about. But the most surprising thing, I believe was
the fact that the raised bad garden that we made
like the first December planted. Everything had no protection from
the coal, completely uncovered. You cannot tell there was a
(08:29):
freeze except for the deal that got burned back. And
these are the things in the garden look beautiful, amazing
without any coal protection. We have in their parsally strawberries, kale, onions,
We've got colored green sage onions, carrots, turnips, turnips. Unbelievable, beautiful.
(08:55):
We've got such a big turnip. One of the turnips
is five inch calibred.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
The trees, the major.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
It, Oh my goodness. That's that's great. So these are
cool seasoned vegetables. And can we still be planting them
right now?
Speaker 5 (09:13):
Well?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Absolutely, it's a late spring, and so yes we have starts.
We have all those starts in the four inch and
six inch containers and you can plant them now with
small plants and still have a wonderful harvest of all
types of things like broccoli, cauliflower, barssels, sprouts, squash, lettuce,
(09:38):
your tomatoes and peppers, strawberries even a little late, but
you still have some success there, sure, and onions probably
because we've got some nice onions and six inch containers. Wow.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
So as you're driving through the land and also Orlando Okalla.
Even up in the villages, you see some yards look
extremely well. They didn't have any kind of winter damage,
and the same plants in another yard down the street
did poorly. What would be the reason for that.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Well, it makes a big difference if you maintained the
yard with a good low salt index, fertilizer with good
amounts of potassium and magnesium and sulfake forms. You know that,
you know help impart cold hardiness its strong healthy stems.
(10:33):
And I see it in my neighborhood. You know, I
saw the neighbor running the water all night and I
didn't run the water at all. My lawn is looking
far better than where they were running the water all night.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
You know you're exactly right, because I have a client
that they're pipes, irrigation pipes burst and where it was
spurting out water on the viburnums, which handled the cold
very well. But where the where the water was hitting
the shrub, it formed icicles, and that area is completely
gone and totally brown. And you could see where the
(11:10):
water was hitting it and so and the viburnums did
it well. They weren't even damaged because they can grow
all the way up through you know, Virginia, and so
I was surprised at that.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Well, I was surprised on other things too. I had
several papayas and several mangoes out in the ground exposed
completely to the cold now protection and they survived and
looked like there's no damage. But right next to them
or others they're killed back to the ground. You know,
(11:43):
it's got to be a number of factors, you know,
about nutrition and also about the surrounding plants. How much
buffering or right radiation be given off by the surrounding plants.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Oh, that's a good point. I haven't thought about that
where they was surrounded by plants and trees and kind
of created its own little micro climate.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Yeah, there's gotta be a lot too there. I'd like
to do more research on that.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah. No, I think there's gonna be a lot of
research on plants this year and for the coming years
on this winter freeze. So pink and yellow tababooas are blooming.
They look beautiful. Are they early this year? Did the
winter storm is it creating?
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Probably probably in some areas where it's a little bit
more of a microclimate a little bit warmer earlier, but
here I haven't seen any hint of bloom yet on
the tababoois here. Maybe because it got a little colder,
they're a little bit later.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, I don't know. So what about mangoes. There's a
thirty foot mango tree on our street. Do they have
to cut it back? Are the leaves? What are the
leaves gonna drop?
Speaker 6 (12:52):
Well?
Speaker 3 (12:52):
I think sweeping and cleaning raking leaves for the last
week or so, and this weekend I actually took out
eleven fifty five gallon bags of leaves from my yard
from the big mango tree that's about thirty feet tall.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Soaves dropped already.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yeah, and one of the avocados, believe it or not,
another avocado had no damage. It's green and there was
no damage. So it's so variable sometimes you wonder, you know,
it's just a small difference, and heartiness makes a big difference.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Well, Well, if papayas and mangoes and avocados, will they
fruit this year? Is there still a chance for them
to produce fruit?
Speaker 3 (13:38):
There is a chance if they weren't killed back too much.
All of them generally will sprout out on the trunk
or down near the base. But generally that new growth
is going to take about eighteen months or so, probably
over a year to start producing at least ripe. Okay,
so let's wait a while.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
What type of care do blueberries? My blueberries said? Wonderful?
There was no I mean, they turned brilliant red. But
they look great. But what should we do with blueberries
in march? Well?
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Ours look great too, but they need a little light
application of a blueberry special. We've got a really fine
blueberry special we make ourselves. It's a seven to seven
analysis and it's got good minerals, you know, got some
ammonium form that blueberries take up, as you know, unlike
most plants that take up nitrate form of nitrogen, right,
(14:34):
and so it's got you know, some of the bioavailable
carbon that's so important, and the fuvic acid from the carbon,
and a little bit of a volcanic palmis, you know,
to help impart heartiness, but not too much. It's so
important for to give a little light application right now
because they need it in order to produce those sweet blueberries.
Speaker 7 (14:58):
Blueberries.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Yeah, I'm gonna have to come by and get some
so you will see me this week with the blueberry special.
I've got to come pick, yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
And remove any canes that you know, sort of like
died back during the winter months, okay, and encourage the
others that are healthy to come on out and flower
and fruit and more rigorously.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
So, speaking of pruning and cutting back ornamental grasses, can
they still be cut back right now?
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Yes, it's a late winter and I haven't seen any
hint of new growth yet on those grasses that will
encourage new growth at just the right time here because
of the late frost, the late freeze.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So tell us about the big event you have coming
up in March.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Oh, my gosh. Yes, we have the Florida Wildflower Festival
Florida Wildflower and Garden Festival Laarday, March twenty eighth, downtown
DeLand and in the Athens Theater we're having talks. And
so by the way you're talking, what's your talk going
to be?
Speaker 1 (16:00):
My talk is about the variety of pollinators that you
may not know are in your yard. So I'm going
to be doing a pollinator talk and it's going to
be really cool.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
And I heard you were going wild down there.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
We are pollinator's gone wild all right, it'll be a
lot of fun talk to.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
This should be you know, dueling talks. I'm going to
talk about sustainable gardens should last forever.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
That's wonderful. You know that is so true. You know
you don't have to do a lot of work, or
you know your plants should look good for a long time,
and if it's sustainable. I can't wait to hear it.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
That's the title of my book, and I've got most
of it written, and so in the not too distant future,
I hope that book will be out so everybody can
read it.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
That will be great data. I can't wait to read it,
and you'll have to come on and tell us more
about it. So so data, tell us, tell us where
what do you have going on? What's what's good to
get right now at your nursery?
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Oh my god, we've got such a good selection of
all types of things. We've got orchids that are full
of spikes of bloom. We have pentus sun patients. The
firebush were killed back. But we've got a good selection
of many other things right now. Turnips, collars, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli,
(17:20):
brussels sprout, squash, lettuce, tomato, beef, steak, tomatoes, peppers, parsley,
strawberries that have some strawberries on them, nice tail and onions,
and a wide selection of herbs.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
That's gonna be nice. That'll be great getting them in
the ground for Easter and having a nice, nice dinner
for eas.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
All types of beautiful trees that are for the hardy natives.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
You also have olive trees. You have a lot of
fruiting trees too, don't you.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Yes, indeed, I'm looking forward to a big crop of
olives this year. We pressed oil for the first time
off of our olive trees this year. In fact, I'm
looking at a bottle of olive oil we pressed this
past August.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
How cool is that? That is wonderful. So data tell
us where Quality Green Special Listener three is so everyone
can stop by and plan for the spring event.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Close to Stetson Campus, just northwest of downtown Beautiful Downtown DeLand,
three thirty five West Michigan Avenue. Come visit. We're open
nine to four every day and we look forward to
talking with you and showing you how you can have
a beautiful yard.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Wonderful Danta, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
See you soon, Okay, see you soon.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Bye bye bye. So that's quality Green Specialists in DeLand.
Just going by and walking through is amazing. And they
have a beautiful orchestrail and these temperatures, you're going to
start to see your orches blooming. And Data has all
the right materials and fertilizers and special micro nutrients that
you need to have a beautiful, beautiful, not only beautiful,
(19:00):
but a beautiful garden.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yes, I think between the two of you that you
guys have done very well of explaining what we've done
wrong to have so much damage. I mean, obviously you
know we're gonna have damage because of the freezes. However,
there may be some things that we could, you know,
potentially not do next time.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Exactly. Well, we'll be talking about it throughout the year,
but I'll start to let everybody know right around August
how we need to prepare and we're gonna be back.
We're gonna take your phone calls one triple eight four
five five two nine six seven, or you can text
two three six eight zero. We've got some text messages
already on the way. If it's Saturday morning, you're listening
to Better Lawns and Gardens, I'm Teresa Watkins And this
(19:40):
is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network. Good morning, Welcome back
to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins. I'd love
your gardening questions one triple eight four five five, two
(20:02):
nine six seven, or you can text two three six
eight zero. Just like this gardener in Melbourne very early.
He was here waiting for us, wasn't it Lizzie? And
she says, when should new bulbs be planted? Dahlias and gladiolas.
And she's in Melbourne, Florida, or he is in Melbourne, Florida,
And uh, you can plant them now, go ahead and
(20:24):
plant them now. Dahlia's do lovely year right now. You
can do transplants. Gladiolas. You can plant successional successfully over
the next three to four months. And if you will
plant you know, four to five or six uh gladiola's
bulbs every week, then they will they will bloom in
(20:45):
a succession and you'll have flowers all summer long, and
they will bloom all the way into August and September.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
So like maybe like create like a row in the
front and make sure you market so you know, because
if you're like me, I or went through and put
all my bulbs in, and I'm like, oh, and I'm
going to dig a hole.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
There's something there. Go back to what you were doing,
go back to.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Growing, and then you put a second row, and then
you would plant that and then a third row. So
then it'll be like it, yes point exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Let's go to Ron in Orlando. Good morning, Ron, how
can I help you?
Speaker 8 (21:20):
Good morning?
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Good morning.
Speaker 8 (21:22):
I have four different kinds of tropical plants that really
took a hit with the freeze. Okay, there, I've got
an arica, robellini, Boognvinia, and a splitly philodendro and they
all look dead. Yes, so, and everybody said, don't do
anything for a couple of weeks. That's not a couple
of weeks.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
So and they still looked at and what.
Speaker 8 (21:42):
Do you do about trimming? And are they different from
one plant.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
To the other, nor all your plants need watering on
the same same basis the same amount with this rainfall, though,
you don't need to water this week. Okay, so if
you've got a nice amount of rain, uh even you know,
a quarter of an inch, and then it's going to
rain again next weekend, that's gonna be enough rain. You
don't need to overwater right now, even though we're in
(22:05):
a drought. Overwatering doesn't help the situation. And with all
these plants that have dead leaves and are declining, you
might create more fungal issues with overwatering, so don't do that.
So your palm trees, cut off all the brown fronds.
You can do that. So Eureka palms, if they're completely brown,
(22:27):
cut them off. If they're kind of like half brown
half green, I would leave those because palms need their
fronds to be able to go through photosynthesis and create chlorophyll,
and you get the nutrition they need for to grow
and recover. Your split le philodendron, I would go ahead,
and depending on how big it is, you can cut
(22:50):
it down to the ground or you can just cut
the leaves, the dead leaves off of those trunks. So
just depending on how big it is, you can determine that.
But you know your trunk. If your trunk looks good,
just cut the leaves off. What was the other plant
book villa? Book and villas? Okay, your book and villa
(23:10):
may have taken a hit, so I would just kind
of scrape it. See if you see any new growth.
How big is it?
Speaker 8 (23:19):
Size of a human?
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Size of human? Okay, six foot tall? You know, five
foot tall if you're Lizzie and I four and a
half foot tall. So uh but booga and villas. Yeah,
scrape it, see if it comes back. But you can
cut it down to the ground and it'll recover.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Yeah, Okay, it's all gonna recover.
Speaker 8 (23:40):
It's wonderful news. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
You're welcome. Ron call me back, let me know how
they do. Let's go to Jerry in Citrus County. Good morning, Jerry,
how are you fine?
Speaker 7 (23:52):
Good morning for Risha. I got a question for you
on the last guess you had on there was a
green specialty.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Yes, Dane Vendrick.
Speaker 7 (24:00):
Huh. But then yeah, and the blueberry fertilizer was seven
to seven and the nitrogen was a certain compound or
radical of it. Right, what was that?
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Well, you know that's a special formula he makes, so
it's in a sulfate form. But what you need to
do for your blueberries unless you want to go to
de Land, which is a little bit away from from
Citrus County. So, but what you can do is you
can use an azalea fertilizer or a soil acidifier. Aspoma
(24:33):
has fertilizer for blueberries, especially for blueberries, So if you
get that Aspoma blueberry fertilizer, it will be fine.
Speaker 7 (24:41):
Okay. So I heard her mentioned no nitrate, and that's
probably a good thing to look for.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Then, right, exactly, no nitrates.
Speaker 7 (24:50):
Yeah, you want the other types of nitrogen, yes, exactly.
Thank you, Thank you, Teresa, You're welcome.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Thank you. Bye bye. Let's go to Eileen in Polk City.
Good morning, Eileen. How are you?
Speaker 9 (25:01):
I'm fine? How are you?
Speaker 1 (25:03):
I am great?
Speaker 9 (25:05):
Okay, I need to talk to you about two things. Okay,
but can I tell you about my birthday, Prinsence.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Yes, happy birthday.
Speaker 9 (25:15):
It was on the twenty fourth. It's okay. Bob went
to tractor supply and my old windmill took a hit
and it's all bent. But he went to tractor supply.
He got me a new windmill.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
Oh.
Speaker 9 (25:38):
It has a rooster that has rain boots on it,
and a chick and then there's flowers. Oh, then there's
another chick. And when the wind blows, the rooster starts
going up and down. The windmill starts spinning. It is
(26:05):
a shooting oh.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Oh, if you could take a video and send that
to Lizzie, that would be great. I'd love to see it.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
I will.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Didn't Bob know the trauma you have with roosters? Oh
they're Oh are they back?
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Oh they're back?
Speaker 9 (26:20):
Oh my goodness, Yeah, they're back. And one is running
around the yard all the time.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
You know, you know, is Iileen talking smat because she
knows I told her that our phone lines are cranking
out and she's out here and I'm not even listening.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Oh but Bob got her for her birthday. Oh, a
windmill with a rooster on it that goes up and
down with some chicks.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
And she didn't send me a picture. I know.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
It's so disappointed. She's gonna send you a video of it. Birthday, Aileen.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Oh you you're so welcome there.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
You go, all right, and so your your your big question.
Speaker 9 (26:58):
Caterpillars and grasshoppers.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Okay, lover grasshoppers haven't come out yet. The cold is
gonna probably delay it a little bit, but you can
go and start looking for them. In March, they're going
to be uh hatching and you're gonna start to see
lover grasshoppers. Take care of them immediately when you see them,
and uh, you know, always always kill lover grasshoppers. Thank you, Eileen.
So we're gonna Bobby, hold on, we're gonna get you.
(27:23):
Next one triple eight four five five, two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero. 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.
Speaker 6 (27:59):
Welcome back up Better Lawns and Gardens and now Terresan's
top five and.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
My top five this week is my top five flowering
shrubs that should be used more. Number one the Spireea.
This plant thrives in zones four to nine. Easily adapts
to various environments including poor soil, extreme temperatures, humidity, drought,
and pollution, making spirea care very easy. In addition to
(28:28):
be in low maintenance, Spirea bushes attract butterflies and other
pollinating insects. They're beautiful. Number two banana shrub. Named for
its flowers fruity scent, The banana shrub produces an abundance
of cream colored one inch blossoms edged in crimson that
resemble miniature magnolia's flowers during the spring. Once established, the
(28:49):
plant as highly dropped tolerant and adapts well to a
range of light conditions. Zones eight to ten. Number three
Sweet Spire Henry's garnet. It's a native which exhibits elegant
arching branches and typically attains a heighth to three to
four feet ranging from four to five to six feet wide.
Zones six to ten. Is deciduous and it may be
(29:13):
evergreen all of all year long in South Florida. Number
two Summer Sweet another native which is beautiful. A deciduous
flowering shrub typically found in swamps, wet flat woods, savannahs
and bogs, and lakefronts. If you have moist soil, this
is great for you. It for considerable ecological benefits, providing
resources for wildlife. It has fragrant flowers that bloom spring
(29:36):
through summer and attracts hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.
Zones three to nine. Number one My Grand Duke of Tuscany.
It is a beautiful jasmine. I love it. Evergreen flowering shrub,
valued very highly for its fragrant, double petaled, white blooms
that closely resemble miniature camellias. The flowers are larger than
(29:59):
most jasmine and can trust beautifully against deep green foliage.
Well suited for fragrance oriented gardens, as slow growing and
compact species performs best in warm, humid environments zones nine
to eleven. Those are my top five flowering shrubs that
should be planted more often. Let's go to Bobby in
(30:21):
Palm Bay. Good morning, Bobby, how can I help you?
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Good morning?
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Good morning?
Speaker 4 (30:27):
Well, I did I think rather well through all that cold,
good all the free.
Speaker 5 (30:35):
Ex up.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
My desert rose is.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Yeah, desert roses are native to Africa. They really took
a head.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
I thought they would do a lot better because they
they're from deserts. Yeah, but no, So I've cut them
all back and cinnamon them and I'm gonna see how
they do.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Yeah. I would be just careful about the watering too.
You don't want to get them too mushy. When it
gets winter like this, they tend to hold onto the moisture,
so I would spray it with a fung just side
too as well. Okay, okay, and keep it from getting
a fungus on it. That's a good idea, okay, all right,
(31:14):
And uh, and then it should come out. Give it
lots of plenty of sun and just keep it. Just
watch the water press on it. If it feels soft
and mushy, don't water it.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
Yeah. I cut off most of all the soft mushy.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Okay, good, all right, good, it should recover for you.
Speaker 4 (31:34):
Well, help so because there were some unique ones.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Oh my goodness, I love the really exotic ones. Oh well,
I wish you well. I hope it does very good
for you. Let me know, all right, thank you, thank you, Bobby.
Let's go to Michael in Melbourne. Good morning, Michael. How
can I help you? I'm sorry? Did I take that
one early?
Speaker 2 (31:56):
You're just super excited to chat with Michael from Melbourne.
He you give me a chance. He usually tells me
jokes off air and everything, and he done just took
them up out of my ear and took him on air.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
It's my turn. Good morning, Michael, Good morning.
Speaker 5 (32:08):
Dear, and thank you so much. You know that the
freeze really hit us pretty good. I'm over in Melbourne
Beach and I'm in the middle of the island. But
I have seven mangoes and six avocados, and they range
in height between twelve to maybe eighteen feet and they
were just full of blossoms. This year, I'm thinking, oh boy,
(32:30):
the darm squirrel is going to have a ball this year. Anyway,
I have a real specific question, and I know it
may be sounds silly, but I had stocked up on
a goodbye on some fertilizer, and I have permafrost all
around all my trees, and my trees are all brown.
Do I lay that fertilizer on top of my permafrost?
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Okay?
Speaker 6 (32:53):
So no prost was a joke, Okay.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Okay, I was trying to understand. Okay, you can go ahead.
You can go ahead and fertilize. Now, just give them
a light fertilizing, nothing heavy, okay, especially after this rain,
it'll be really good. And are the leaves starting to drop?
Speaker 5 (33:14):
Not yet, but I sure haven I'm gonna have a
yard full just like everybody else.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Yeah, yeah, you could go ahead and fertilize them that might.
You know, it's going to stimulate them a little bit
and get them to push those leaves new leaves out,
So that'll that'll make the other.
Speaker 6 (33:26):
Stropage, I mean, what a sage? Yes, okay, all knowing
and all seeing, Yes, any any hope for fruit this year.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
I wouldn't count on it, you know, I would want to.
I know, I'm sorry, but I'm just hoping they live. Okay,
So if they live and you're fertilizing them, I would
do it every three months after once the you know,
the warm weather starts. Just do it on a regular basis.
(33:59):
Just the amount. You don't need to overfertilize, but just
the amount recommended on the on the label, and and
and keep your fingers crossed.
Speaker 5 (34:08):
They're like babies and you have brought them up and
they're that big now. And I do fertilize quarterly.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
So okay, good.
Speaker 5 (34:14):
I just wondered whether I was gonna waste a couple
hundred dollars worth of fertilizer by putting on you know what,
they're all dead.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
If they're if they survive, you haven't wasted it. So
it'll it'll really need Thank you, Michael, bye bye. He
is just so sweet.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Oh he's hysterical. Like I said, he cracks me up
every time he calls in.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
So okay, we've got some great text messages coming. So Hi,
Teresa and Lizzie. Oh, Mike checked in. Mike got three
quarters of an inch of rain in Venice and he's
so happy. So that's that's wonderful. I'm so pleased for you. Uh.
He woke up to thunder this morning. I love thunder.
I need too. Oh, I love thunder. Haven't heard any
(34:53):
yet so far. So this is the first time I
caught your show since the big freeze. He's in uh,
palm bay. What's likely to happen with my foxtail, palms,
Christmas palms, hibiscus standards, and fire bush? He said, thank
you in advance. Well, I will tell you what's going
to happen is your foxtail and your Christmas palms. The
fronds are have turned brown already or they will. Okay,
(35:17):
you want to make sure that you're using a fungicide
on the top of your palm trees where the fronds
come out, that apical stem right in the center. You
want to make sure that you put in the fungus
of fungicide on it, the copper fungicide that's going to
prevent it from rotting. Your high biscus standards, this the
(35:38):
top portion of your hibiscuits. Okay. A hibiscuits standard is
one where it has a long trunk and then the
leaves are all in the top in a circular shape
or just a rounded shape at the top, and I
would go ahead and scrape back the cambium. You might
lose the top of it, and it might recover from
the bottom and it just be a regular shrub. It
(35:59):
may not be a standard anymore. But if it did survive,
then go ahead and just trim the dead off of
the top portion and prey, Okay, your fire bush. I
don't know if your fire bush is gonna make it.
Fire bushes really took a hit, they really did, they
really did. And so many of the hedges I don't
know if they're going to come back or not. So
(36:20):
again I would scrape the edge all the dead portions.
You might just want to cut it down to the
ground and see if it recovers from the bottom. We're
just gonna have a lot of hedges that aren't hedges
for a while.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
You are no longer identifying as a hedge.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
I am sorry. And so it's just one of these years.
And again, we don't get these every year, but when
we do, it's devastating, and so I do appreciate that.
So then what can damage bananas? When can damage bananas
be cut back, and what in the world is the
(36:53):
best tool to use?
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Yes, thank you, collect, because I've got those banana trees,
and so I'm just like whenever we had that, oh
we're having another freeze, I was just like, ugh, I
saw that beautiful green leaf coming out and it's like
the size of my arm, and I'm like.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
No, there's another freeze.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Why didn't you stay hidden?
Speaker 1 (37:12):
But what do we need to do? Okay? So yeah,
go ahead and cut all your bananas back down to
the ground. Right now they're going to They're not going
to what's left up upright or what's already there. This
been damaged is not going to be good. So go
ahead and cut them down to the ground. You can
use a serrated knife or a saw and to cut
(37:34):
them down, depending on how thick they are. Oh yeah, okay,
so just use something serrated that will cut through those
fibrous stalks. Okay, collect, Thank you. It's good to hear
from you. Teresa, Hi, Teresa High. What are the four
trunks of my Christmas poem? Has lost all its fronds?
Should I cut that trunk to the ground? Will the
plants survive it all? Only time can tell. I would
(37:58):
not cut it down to the ground yet. Okay, wait
to see if it recovers again. I would use a
copper fund side on the top of all palm trees
to keep them from rotting. And see how it does.
You might be surprised. It might survive if it doesn't,
give it, give it about six weeks, and if it doesn't,
(38:19):
you can always cut it down to the ground out
of your your your whole three palms, you know, so
multiple multi trunk. There you go, I got it out.
I want to thank Dana Venrick for coming on this
morning and inspiring us with all of his wonderful tips
on growing. Go buy and see him a quality green
specialist nursery. Mary, It's great to have you. I'm so
(38:43):
glad I met you. Thank you so much. Enjoy the
spring in Detroit, Michigan. 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.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
You can always recap the show or catch any shows
that you may have missed by going to a Better
Loans dot com.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
That's Better Lanes dot com.
Speaker 7 (39:21):
HM
Good morning from the Summit Responsible Solutions Studios. Welcome to
Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm your host, Teresa Watkins. Thank
you for joining us this morning. It's raining. We are
having a great morning. We needed it. We got a
lot of rain last night across the state and we're
looking forward to a little bit this morning, but not
too much. It'll just be enough to drizzle in and
(00:32):
that's that's what we need it. It's gonna be great.
Good morning, Lizzie, how are you.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Good morning?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I was so happy.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Okay, like you, whenever you go to festivals or whatnot,
you really don't want rain.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
However, we went to the Strawberry Festival and it was
when we got there about five thirty ish, it it
had already been raining, and then it did like the
whole sprinkle spring and sprig and sprinklesple. And then we
went to go see Jamie Johnson. He only got to
play four songs before we all got kicked out because
of the rain. Because of the rain, yes, but I
didn't care. And I'm not one of those I don't like.
(01:04):
It's not like I don't like to be rained on,
but like I don't like rain. There's like dreariness to it.
But I was so happy for that rain.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
So yes, we really need it, and we're going to
get a little bit more today and then Sunday a
little bit and then dry middle of the week and
then rain again next weekend. So we desperately needed. We're
down about an inch and a half already for the
year across the state. We do have extreme drought conditions.
(01:31):
A burn band is on, yes, and so you want
to pay attention to that. So yesterday, Lizzie, I was
at a nursery and wonderful woman was walking through the
nursery and kind of stopped and we had a little
bit of a conversation. We started talking, and I loved
her spirit. She was just she had a sweet soul,
(01:51):
and she was just walking through the nursery, not to
buy anything, but just to take in the plants and
the flowers, yes, and just enjoy them. So it was
a really wonderful conversation. She's from Detroit, Michigan, and she's
she headed back to Detroit, Michigan yesterday, and so a
big shout out to my new friend from Detroit, Mary
(02:13):
and her instagram is famed by Mary and I love.
She's a new gardener, she doesn't really know what to do,
and so you know, gardening is healing.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Honestly, it really is. And I just was like, h whatever,
But then the more that I did it, I'm like, Okay,
it is.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
It's cathartic. Working in the garden helped me when I
lost my mama. And if you're feeling down or need
some comfort, consider visiting a nursery just to walk through
and enjoy the beauty seeing the new plants. Go to
a garden or a park to walk through, enjoy the
fresh air if you need some comfort, taking the sites
(02:54):
and scents of flowers. It really does help you. For
those of you up north still experiencing snow like Detroit, right,
you know, it's not as easy to get that uplifting
feeling from spring because of the what is it called
winter blues and cabin fever, cabin fever, lack of sunshine.
(03:14):
But you can browse through your garden magazines and plant
catalogs or seed catalogs and you can start envisioning your
spring garden. Planting ahead will lift your spirits and just
thinking about gardening, getting out there getting some fresh air
will do you a World of good. So today is
the Sweetwater Oaks Garden Fair. This is a Sweetwater Oaks
(03:37):
Garden Club. It is going to be at Protegrity Plaza
three sixty I'm sorry, two sixty what Kaiva Springs Road
in Longwood. There's gonna be lots of plant vendors, garden
accessory vendors. We're gonna have lots of speakers. I will
be speaking today on how to create a terrarium and
(03:59):
it's gonna be a really big sized terrarium and I'm
going to give it away. So if you come to
hear my talk, uh and uh, you know well you
have an option chance of winning the terrarium. Lots of
hands on children displays and activities, educational booths. There's going
to be food trucks uh, and floral design demonstrations. So
(04:22):
I'll be speaking at ten o'clock on easy to make terrariums.
And then there's Nate Gabrov is going to be right plant,
right place for the right reasons. Louise Gould is going
to be on Fun with Flowers today, and the Secret
Life of Bees is next with Alan Moore.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
I'm really trying my hardest too, because I really want
to I want to have bees, Yes, I really really do.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
They are very very good. So you'll be excited about
the dirty word of the day. Then, oh, okay, you'll
be excited about dirty word of the day. So that
is the Sweetwater Oaks Garden Club garden Fair today. It's
going to be from ten am to five pm. Tomorrow
is gonna be ten am to four It's that Protegrity
Plaza two sixty Wakaiva Springs Road in Longwood. So that's
(05:10):
gonna be nice. So weather wise today, So weather this
week is gonna be above average temperature seventies and eighties,
low's in the mid sixties, great garden weather. More rain
is on the way for next weekend. Like I said,
so you will not need irrigation this week. Watch to
see if it comes on. If it comes on, check
(05:31):
your irrigation shut off device. It may not be working correctly,
So you want to do that. Tampa, You're gonna be
a little cooler. Highs in the seventies, low's in the fifties.
It's gonna be sunny midweek. Rain coming back Thursday through Sunday.
Central Florida sixty percent chance of rain on Sunday highs
in the fifties and low's in the I'm sorry, highs
(05:54):
in the seventies and eighties. Okalla, same thing. You're gonna
see lots of warm temperatu more rain for the East
Coast this week Ormond Beach, Melbourne, East Coast Port, Saint
Lucy and so Mike and Venice. I hope you're getting
a little bit of rain this week, Miami. Rain this week,
the weekend, partly cloudy than midweek, than rain next weekend.
(06:17):
But enjoy it everyone. Spring is our dry season again.
We're down for about two inches for the year already
after two years of a drought, so we're in a
severe drought situation. We do need the rain coming up.
What edibles are available to grow? Dana Venrick, quality green
Specialist Nursery. He's going to be here to give us
(06:37):
a rundown on his native plants and fruit trees how
they're doing. And he's got a great big event coming
up in March, so we want to talk about that.
If it's Saturday morning, you're listening to Better Lawns and
Gardens from the Summit Responsible Solution Studios. I'm Teresa Watkins
and this is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network. Welcome back
(07:09):
to better Lawns and Gardens. I was just talking about
walking through a nursery and how uplifting it is. And
one of those nurseries that here in the area is
Quality Green Specialists. They have an orchid trail, they have
beautiful gardens that you can walk through and just I
mean even going and smelling the dirt. The dirt smells wonderful.
(07:30):
I love it. Data Venrick Good's with us this morning.
He's the owner of Quality Green Specialists. Dana, how did
the nursery do in the winter freeze? We just had, Oh,
good morning, trees, good morning.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
For the most part, it is doing quite well. It's
looking probably better than ever. My sister Luela came up
from winder Haven and she was amazed.
Speaker 4 (07:52):
How do you have so.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Many green and colorful plants after all this cold weather?
I said, well, that's my secret. You know, you and me.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
That's great. So what surprised you most about this winter
storm and the plants?
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Well, I had a lot of surprises I'd like to
talk about. But the most surprising thing, I believe was
the fact that the raised bad garden that we made
like the first December planted. Everything had no protection from
the coal, completely uncovered. You cannot tell there was a
(08:29):
freeze except for the deal that got burned back. And
these are the things in the garden look beautiful, amazing
without any coal protection. We have in their parsally strawberries, kale, onions,
We've got colored green sage onions, carrots, turnips, turnips. Unbelievable, beautiful.
(08:55):
We've got such a big turnip. One of the turnips
is five inch calibred.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
The trees, the major.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
It, Oh my goodness. That's that's great. So these are
cool seasoned vegetables. And can we still be planting them
right now?
Speaker 5 (09:13):
Well?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Absolutely, it's a late spring, and so yes we have starts.
We have all those starts in the four inch and
six inch containers and you can plant them now with
small plants and still have a wonderful harvest of all
types of things like broccoli, cauliflower, barssels, sprouts, squash, lettuce,
(09:38):
your tomatoes and peppers, strawberries even a little late, but
you still have some success there, sure, and onions probably
because we've got some nice onions and six inch containers. Wow.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
So as you're driving through the land and also Orlando Okalla.
Even up in the villages, you see some yards look
extremely well. They didn't have any kind of winter damage,
and the same plants in another yard down the street
did poorly. What would be the reason for that.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
Well, it makes a big difference if you maintained the
yard with a good low salt index, fertilizer with good
amounts of potassium and magnesium and sulfake forms. You know that,
you know help impart cold hardiness its strong healthy stems.
(10:33):
And I see it in my neighborhood. You know, I
saw the neighbor running the water all night and I
didn't run the water at all. My lawn is looking
far better than where they were running the water all night.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
You know you're exactly right, because I have a client
that they're pipes, irrigation pipes burst and where it was
spurting out water on the viburnums, which handled the cold
very well. But where the where the water was hitting
the shrub, it formed icicles, and that area is completely
gone and totally brown. And you could see where the
(11:10):
water was hitting it and so and the viburnums did
it well. They weren't even damaged because they can grow
all the way up through you know, Virginia, and so
I was surprised at that.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
Well, I was surprised on other things too. I had
several papayas and several mangoes out in the ground exposed
completely to the cold now protection and they survived and
looked like there's no damage. But right next to them
or others they're killed back to the ground. You know,
(11:43):
it's got to be a number of factors, you know,
about nutrition and also about the surrounding plants. How much
buffering or right radiation be given off by the surrounding plants.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Oh, that's a good point. I haven't thought about that
where they was surrounded by plants and trees and kind
of created its own little micro climate.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Yeah, there's gotta be a lot too there. I'd like
to do more research on that.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah. No, I think there's gonna be a lot of
research on plants this year and for the coming years
on this winter freeze. So pink and yellow tababooas are blooming.
They look beautiful. Are they early this year? Did the
winter storm is it creating?
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Probably probably in some areas where it's a little bit
more of a microclimate a little bit warmer earlier, but
here I haven't seen any hint of bloom yet on
the tababoois here. Maybe because it got a little colder,
they're a little bit later.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, I don't know. So what about mangoes. There's a
thirty foot mango tree on our street. Do they have
to cut it back? Are the leaves? What are the
leaves gonna drop?
Speaker 6 (12:52):
Well?
Speaker 3 (12:52):
I think sweeping and cleaning raking leaves for the last
week or so, and this weekend I actually took out
eleven fifty five gallon bags of leaves from my yard
from the big mango tree that's about thirty feet tall.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Soaves dropped already.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yeah, and one of the avocados, believe it or not,
another avocado had no damage. It's green and there was
no damage. So it's so variable sometimes you wonder, you know,
it's just a small difference, and heartiness makes a big difference.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Well, Well, if papayas and mangoes and avocados, will they
fruit this year? Is there still a chance for them
to produce fruit?
Speaker 3 (13:38):
There is a chance if they weren't killed back too much.
All of them generally will sprout out on the trunk
or down near the base. But generally that new growth
is going to take about eighteen months or so, probably
over a year to start producing at least ripe. Okay,
so let's wait a while.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
What type of care do blueberries? My blueberries said? Wonderful?
There was no I mean, they turned brilliant red. But
they look great. But what should we do with blueberries
in march? Well?
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Ours look great too, but they need a little light
application of a blueberry special. We've got a really fine
blueberry special we make ourselves. It's a seven to seven
analysis and it's got good minerals, you know, got some
ammonium form that blueberries take up, as you know, unlike
most plants that take up nitrate form of nitrogen, right,
(14:34):
and so it's got you know, some of the bioavailable
carbon that's so important, and the fuvic acid from the carbon,
and a little bit of a volcanic palmis, you know,
to help impart heartiness, but not too much. It's so
important for to give a little light application right now
because they need it in order to produce those sweet blueberries.
Speaker 7 (14:58):
Blueberries.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
Yeah, I'm gonna have to come by and get some
so you will see me this week with the blueberry special.
I've got to come pick, yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
And remove any canes that you know, sort of like
died back during the winter months, okay, and encourage the
others that are healthy to come on out and flower
and fruit and more rigorously.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
So, speaking of pruning and cutting back ornamental grasses, can
they still be cut back right now?
Speaker 4 (15:25):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Yes, it's a late winter and I haven't seen any
hint of new growth yet on those grasses that will
encourage new growth at just the right time here because
of the late frost, the late freeze.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So tell us about the big event you have coming
up in March.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
Oh, my gosh. Yes, we have the Florida Wildflower Festival
Florida Wildflower and Garden Festival Laarday, March twenty eighth, downtown
DeLand and in the Athens Theater we're having talks. And
so by the way you're talking, what's your talk going
to be?
Speaker 1 (16:00):
My talk is about the variety of pollinators that you
may not know are in your yard. So I'm going
to be doing a pollinator talk and it's going to
be really cool.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
And I heard you were going wild down there.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
We are pollinator's gone wild all right, it'll be a
lot of fun talk to.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
This should be you know, dueling talks. I'm going to
talk about sustainable gardens should last forever.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
That's wonderful. You know that is so true. You know
you don't have to do a lot of work, or
you know your plants should look good for a long time,
and if it's sustainable. I can't wait to hear it.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
That's the title of my book, and I've got most
of it written, and so in the not too distant future,
I hope that book will be out so everybody can
read it.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
That will be great data. I can't wait to read it,
and you'll have to come on and tell us more
about it. So so data, tell us, tell us where
what do you have going on? What's what's good to
get right now at your nursery?
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Oh my god, we've got such a good selection of
all types of things. We've got orchids that are full
of spikes of bloom. We have pentus sun patients. The
firebush were killed back. But we've got a good selection
of many other things right now. Turnips, collars, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli,
(17:20):
brussels sprout, squash, lettuce, tomato, beef, steak, tomatoes, peppers, parsley,
strawberries that have some strawberries on them, nice tail and onions,
and a wide selection of herbs.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
That's gonna be nice. That'll be great getting them in
the ground for Easter and having a nice, nice dinner
for eas.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
All types of beautiful trees that are for the hardy natives.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
You also have olive trees. You have a lot of
fruiting trees too, don't you.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Yes, indeed, I'm looking forward to a big crop of
olives this year. We pressed oil for the first time
off of our olive trees this year. In fact, I'm
looking at a bottle of olive oil we pressed this
past August.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
How cool is that? That is wonderful. So data tell
us where Quality Green Special Listener three is so everyone
can stop by and plan for the spring event.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Close to Stetson Campus, just northwest of downtown Beautiful Downtown DeLand,
three thirty five West Michigan Avenue. Come visit. We're open
nine to four every day and we look forward to
talking with you and showing you how you can have
a beautiful yard.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Wonderful Danta, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
See you soon, Okay, see you soon.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Bye bye bye. So that's quality Green Specialists in DeLand.
Just going by and walking through is amazing. And they
have a beautiful orchestrail and these temperatures, you're going to
start to see your orches blooming. And Data has all
the right materials and fertilizers and special micro nutrients that
you need to have a beautiful, beautiful, not only beautiful,
(19:00):
but a beautiful garden.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yes, I think between the two of you that you
guys have done very well of explaining what we've done
wrong to have so much damage. I mean, obviously you
know we're gonna have damage because of the freezes. However,
there may be some things that we could, you know,
potentially not do next time.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Exactly. Well, we'll be talking about it throughout the year,
but I'll start to let everybody know right around August
how we need to prepare and we're gonna be back.
We're gonna take your phone calls one triple eight four
five five two nine six seven, or you can text
two three six eight zero. We've got some text messages
already on the way. If it's Saturday morning, you're listening
to Better Lawns and Gardens, I'm Teresa Watkins And this
(19:40):
is Florida's Talk and Entertainment Network. Good morning, Welcome back
to Better Lawns and Gardens. I'm Teresa Watkins. I'd love
your gardening questions one triple eight four five five, two
(20:02):
nine six seven, or you can text two three six
eight zero. Just like this gardener in Melbourne very early.
He was here waiting for us, wasn't it Lizzie? And
she says, when should new bulbs be planted? Dahlias and gladiolas.
And she's in Melbourne, Florida, or he is in Melbourne, Florida,
And uh, you can plant them now, go ahead and
(20:24):
plant them now. Dahlia's do lovely year right now. You
can do transplants. Gladiolas. You can plant successional successfully over
the next three to four months. And if you will
plant you know, four to five or six uh gladiola's
bulbs every week, then they will they will bloom in
(20:45):
a succession and you'll have flowers all summer long, and
they will bloom all the way into August and September.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
So like maybe like create like a row in the
front and make sure you market so you know, because
if you're like me, I or went through and put
all my bulbs in, and I'm like, oh, and I'm
going to dig a hole.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
There's something there. Go back to what you were doing,
go back to.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Growing, and then you put a second row, and then
you would plant that and then a third row. So
then it'll be like it, yes point exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Let's go to Ron in Orlando. Good morning, Ron, how
can I help you?
Speaker 8 (21:20):
Good morning?
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Good morning.
Speaker 8 (21:22):
I have four different kinds of tropical plants that really
took a hit with the freeze. Okay, there, I've got
an arica, robellini, Boognvinia, and a splitly philodendro and they
all look dead. Yes, so, and everybody said, don't do
anything for a couple of weeks. That's not a couple
of weeks.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
So and they still looked at and what.
Speaker 8 (21:42):
Do you do about trimming? And are they different from
one plant.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
To the other, nor all your plants need watering on
the same same basis the same amount with this rainfall, though,
you don't need to water this week. Okay, so if
you've got a nice amount of rain, uh even you know,
a quarter of an inch, and then it's going to
rain again next weekend, that's gonna be enough rain. You
don't need to overwater right now, even though we're in
(22:05):
a drought. Overwatering doesn't help the situation. And with all
these plants that have dead leaves and are declining, you
might create more fungal issues with overwatering, so don't do that.
So your palm trees, cut off all the brown fronds.
You can do that. So Eureka palms, if they're completely brown,
(22:27):
cut them off. If they're kind of like half brown
half green, I would leave those because palms need their
fronds to be able to go through photosynthesis and create chlorophyll,
and you get the nutrition they need for to grow
and recover. Your split le philodendron, I would go ahead,
and depending on how big it is, you can cut
(22:50):
it down to the ground or you can just cut
the leaves, the dead leaves off of those trunks. So
just depending on how big it is, you can determine that.
But you know your trunk. If your trunk looks good,
just cut the leaves off. What was the other plant
book villa? Book and villas? Okay, your book and villa
(23:10):
may have taken a hit, so I would just kind
of scrape it. See if you see any new growth.
How big is it?
Speaker 8 (23:19):
Size of a human?
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Size of human? Okay, six foot tall? You know, five
foot tall if you're Lizzie and I four and a
half foot tall. So uh but booga and villas. Yeah,
scrape it, see if it comes back. But you can
cut it down to the ground and it'll recover.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
Yeah, Okay, it's all gonna recover.
Speaker 8 (23:40):
It's wonderful news. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
You're welcome. Ron call me back, let me know how
they do. Let's go to Jerry in Citrus County. Good morning, Jerry,
how are you fine?
Speaker 7 (23:52):
Good morning for Risha. I got a question for you
on the last guess you had on there was a
green specialty.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Yes, Dane Vendrick.
Speaker 7 (24:00):
Huh. But then yeah, and the blueberry fertilizer was seven
to seven and the nitrogen was a certain compound or
radical of it. Right, what was that?
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Well, you know that's a special formula he makes, so
it's in a sulfate form. But what you need to
do for your blueberries unless you want to go to
de Land, which is a little bit away from from
Citrus County. So, but what you can do is you
can use an azalea fertilizer or a soil acidifier. Aspoma
(24:33):
has fertilizer for blueberries, especially for blueberries, So if you
get that Aspoma blueberry fertilizer, it will be fine.
Speaker 7 (24:41):
Okay. So I heard her mentioned no nitrate, and that's
probably a good thing to look for.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Then, right, exactly, no nitrates.
Speaker 7 (24:50):
Yeah, you want the other types of nitrogen, yes, exactly.
Thank you, Thank you, Teresa, You're welcome.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Thank you. Bye bye. Let's go to Eileen in Polk City.
Good morning, Eileen. How are you?
Speaker 9 (25:01):
I'm fine? How are you?
Speaker 1 (25:03):
I am great?
Speaker 9 (25:05):
Okay, I need to talk to you about two things. Okay,
but can I tell you about my birthday, Prinsence.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Yes, happy birthday.
Speaker 9 (25:15):
It was on the twenty fourth. It's okay. Bob went
to tractor supply and my old windmill took a hit
and it's all bent. But he went to tractor supply.
He got me a new windmill.
Speaker 3 (25:37):
Oh.
Speaker 9 (25:38):
It has a rooster that has rain boots on it,
and a chick and then there's flowers. Oh, then there's
another chick. And when the wind blows, the rooster starts
going up and down. The windmill starts spinning. It is
(26:05):
a shooting oh.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Oh, if you could take a video and send that
to Lizzie, that would be great. I'd love to see it.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
I will.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Didn't Bob know the trauma you have with roosters? Oh
they're Oh are they back?
Speaker 3 (26:18):
Oh they're back?
Speaker 9 (26:20):
Oh my goodness, Yeah, they're back. And one is running
around the yard all the time.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
You know, you know, is Iileen talking smat because she
knows I told her that our phone lines are cranking
out and she's out here and I'm not even listening.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Oh but Bob got her for her birthday. Oh, a
windmill with a rooster on it that goes up and
down with some chicks.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
And she didn't send me a picture. I know.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
It's so disappointed. She's gonna send you a video of it. Birthday, Aileen.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Oh you you're so welcome there.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
You go, all right, and so your your your big question.
Speaker 9 (26:58):
Caterpillars and grasshoppers.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Okay, lover grasshoppers haven't come out yet. The cold is
gonna probably delay it a little bit, but you can
go and start looking for them. In March, they're going
to be uh hatching and you're gonna start to see
lover grasshoppers. Take care of them immediately when you see them,
and uh, you know, always always kill lover grasshoppers. Thank you, Eileen.
So we're gonna Bobby, hold on, we're gonna get you.
(27:23):
Next one triple eight four five five, two nine sixty seven,
or you can text two three six eight zero. 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.
Speaker 6 (27:59):
Welcome back up Better Lawns and Gardens and now Terresan's
top five and.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
My top five this week is my top five flowering
shrubs that should be used more. Number one the Spireea.
This plant thrives in zones four to nine. Easily adapts
to various environments including poor soil, extreme temperatures, humidity, drought,
and pollution, making spirea care very easy. In addition to
(28:28):
be in low maintenance, Spirea bushes attract butterflies and other
pollinating insects. They're beautiful. Number two banana shrub. Named for
its flowers fruity scent, The banana shrub produces an abundance
of cream colored one inch blossoms edged in crimson that
resemble miniature magnolia's flowers during the spring. Once established, the
(28:49):
plant as highly dropped tolerant and adapts well to a
range of light conditions. Zones eight to ten. Number three
Sweet Spire Henry's garnet. It's a native which exhibits elegant
arching branches and typically attains a heighth to three to
four feet ranging from four to five to six feet wide.
Zones six to ten. Is deciduous and it may be
(29:13):
evergreen all of all year long in South Florida. Number
two Summer Sweet another native which is beautiful. A deciduous
flowering shrub typically found in swamps, wet flat woods, savannahs
and bogs, and lakefronts. If you have moist soil, this
is great for you. It for considerable ecological benefits, providing
resources for wildlife. It has fragrant flowers that bloom spring
(29:36):
through summer and attracts hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.
Zones three to nine. Number one My Grand Duke of Tuscany.
It is a beautiful jasmine. I love it. Evergreen flowering shrub,
valued very highly for its fragrant, double petaled, white blooms
that closely resemble miniature camellias. The flowers are larger than
(29:59):
most jasmine and can trust beautifully against deep green foliage.
Well suited for fragrance oriented gardens, as slow growing and
compact species performs best in warm, humid environments zones nine
to eleven. Those are my top five flowering shrubs that
should be planted more often. Let's go to Bobby in
(30:21):
Palm Bay. Good morning, Bobby, how can I help you?
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Good morning?
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Good morning?
Speaker 4 (30:27):
Well, I did I think rather well through all that cold,
good all the free.
Speaker 5 (30:35):
Ex up.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
My desert rose is.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
Yeah, desert roses are native to Africa. They really took
a head.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
I thought they would do a lot better because they
they're from deserts. Yeah, but no, So I've cut them
all back and cinnamon them and I'm gonna see how
they do.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Yeah. I would be just careful about the watering too.
You don't want to get them too mushy. When it
gets winter like this, they tend to hold onto the moisture,
so I would spray it with a fung just side
too as well. Okay, okay, and keep it from getting
a fungus on it. That's a good idea, okay, all right,
(31:14):
And uh, and then it should come out. Give it
lots of plenty of sun and just keep it. Just
watch the water press on it. If it feels soft
and mushy, don't water it.
Speaker 4 (31:27):
Yeah. I cut off most of all the soft mushy.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Okay, good, all right, good, it should recover for you.
Speaker 4 (31:34):
Well, help so because there were some unique ones.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Oh my goodness, I love the really exotic ones. Oh well,
I wish you well. I hope it does very good
for you. Let me know, all right, thank you, thank you, Bobby.
Let's go to Michael in Melbourne. Good morning, Michael. How
can I help you? I'm sorry? Did I take that
one early?
Speaker 2 (31:56):
You're just super excited to chat with Michael from Melbourne.
He you give me a chance. He usually tells me
jokes off air and everything, and he done just took
them up out of my ear and took him on air.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
It's my turn. Good morning, Michael, Good morning.
Speaker 5 (32:08):
Dear, and thank you so much. You know that the
freeze really hit us pretty good. I'm over in Melbourne
Beach and I'm in the middle of the island. But
I have seven mangoes and six avocados, and they range
in height between twelve to maybe eighteen feet and they
were just full of blossoms. This year, I'm thinking, oh boy,
(32:30):
the darm squirrel is going to have a ball this year. Anyway,
I have a real specific question, and I know it
may be sounds silly, but I had stocked up on
a goodbye on some fertilizer, and I have permafrost all
around all my trees, and my trees are all brown.
Do I lay that fertilizer on top of my permafrost?
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Okay?
Speaker 6 (32:53):
So no prost was a joke, Okay.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Okay, I was trying to understand. Okay, you can go ahead.
You can go ahead and fertilize. Now, just give them
a light fertilizing, nothing heavy, okay, especially after this rain,
it'll be really good. And are the leaves starting to drop?
Speaker 5 (33:14):
Not yet, but I sure haven I'm gonna have a
yard full just like everybody else.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Yeah, yeah, you could go ahead and fertilize them that might.
You know, it's going to stimulate them a little bit
and get them to push those leaves new leaves out,
So that'll that'll make the other.
Speaker 6 (33:26):
Stropage, I mean, what a sage? Yes, okay, all knowing
and all seeing, Yes, any any hope for fruit this year.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
I wouldn't count on it, you know, I would want to.
I know, I'm sorry, but I'm just hoping they live. Okay,
So if they live and you're fertilizing them, I would
do it every three months after once the you know,
the warm weather starts. Just do it on a regular basis.
(33:59):
Just the amount. You don't need to overfertilize, but just
the amount recommended on the on the label, and and
and keep your fingers crossed.
Speaker 5 (34:08):
They're like babies and you have brought them up and
they're that big now. And I do fertilize quarterly.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
So okay, good.
Speaker 5 (34:14):
I just wondered whether I was gonna waste a couple
hundred dollars worth of fertilizer by putting on you know what,
they're all dead.
Speaker 1 (34:20):
If they're if they survive, you haven't wasted it. So
it'll it'll really need Thank you, Michael, bye bye. He
is just so sweet.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Oh he's hysterical. Like I said, he cracks me up
every time he calls in.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
So okay, we've got some great text messages coming. So Hi,
Teresa and Lizzie. Oh, Mike checked in. Mike got three
quarters of an inch of rain in Venice and he's
so happy. So that's that's wonderful. I'm so pleased for you. Uh.
He woke up to thunder this morning. I love thunder.
I need too. Oh, I love thunder. Haven't heard any
(34:53):
yet so far. So this is the first time I
caught your show since the big freeze. He's in uh,
palm bay. What's likely to happen with my foxtail, palms,
Christmas palms, hibiscus standards, and fire bush? He said, thank
you in advance. Well, I will tell you what's going
to happen is your foxtail and your Christmas palms. The
fronds are have turned brown already or they will. Okay,
(35:17):
you want to make sure that you're using a fungicide
on the top of your palm trees where the fronds
come out, that apical stem right in the center. You
want to make sure that you put in the fungus
of fungicide on it, the copper fungicide that's going to
prevent it from rotting. Your high biscus standards, this the
(35:38):
top portion of your hibiscuits. Okay. A hibiscuits standard is
one where it has a long trunk and then the
leaves are all in the top in a circular shape
or just a rounded shape at the top, and I
would go ahead and scrape back the cambium. You might
lose the top of it, and it might recover from
the bottom and it just be a regular shrub. It
(35:59):
may not be a standard anymore. But if it did survive,
then go ahead and just trim the dead off of
the top portion and prey, Okay, your fire bush. I
don't know if your fire bush is gonna make it.
Fire bushes really took a hit, they really did, they
really did. And so many of the hedges I don't
know if they're going to come back or not. So
(36:20):
again I would scrape the edge all the dead portions.
You might just want to cut it down to the
ground and see if it recovers from the bottom. We're
just gonna have a lot of hedges that aren't hedges
for a while.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
You are no longer identifying as a hedge.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
I am sorry. And so it's just one of these years.
And again, we don't get these every year, but when
we do, it's devastating, and so I do appreciate that.
So then what can damage bananas? When can damage bananas
be cut back, and what in the world is the
(36:53):
best tool to use?
Speaker 2 (36:54):
Yes, thank you, collect, because I've got those banana trees,
and so I'm just like whenever we had that, oh
we're having another freeze, I was just like, ugh, I
saw that beautiful green leaf coming out and it's like
the size of my arm, and I'm like.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
No, there's another freeze.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Why didn't you stay hidden?
Speaker 1 (37:12):
But what do we need to do? Okay? So yeah,
go ahead and cut all your bananas back down to
the ground. Right now they're going to They're not going
to what's left up upright or what's already there. This
been damaged is not going to be good. So go
ahead and cut them down to the ground. You can
use a serrated knife or a saw and to cut
(37:34):
them down, depending on how thick they are. Oh yeah, okay,
so just use something serrated that will cut through those
fibrous stalks. Okay, collect, Thank you. It's good to hear
from you. Teresa, Hi, Teresa High. What are the four
trunks of my Christmas poem? Has lost all its fronds?
Should I cut that trunk to the ground? Will the
plants survive it all? Only time can tell. I would
(37:58):
not cut it down to the ground yet. Okay, wait
to see if it recovers again. I would use a
copper fund side on the top of all palm trees
to keep them from rotting. And see how it does.
You might be surprised. It might survive if it doesn't,
give it, give it about six weeks, and if it doesn't,
(38:19):
you can always cut it down to the ground out
of your your your whole three palms, you know, so
multiple multi trunk. There you go, I got it out.
I want to thank Dana Venrick for coming on this
morning and inspiring us with all of his wonderful tips
on growing. Go buy and see him a quality green
specialist nursery. Mary, It's great to have you. I'm so
(38:43):
glad I met you. Thank you so much. Enjoy the
spring in Detroit, Michigan. 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.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
You can always recap the show or catch any shows
that you may have missed by going to a Better
Loans dot com.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
That's Better Lanes dot com.
Speaker 7 (39:21):
HM
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Girlfriends: Trust Me Babe
When a group of women from all over the country realise they all dated the same prolific romance scammer they vow to bring him to justice. In this brand new season of global number 1 hit podcast, The Girlfriends, Anna Sinfield meets a group of funny, feisty, determined women who all had the misfortune of dating a mysterious man named Derek Alldred. Trust Me Babe is a story about the protective forces of gossip, gut instinct, and trusting your besties and the group of women who took matters into their own hands to take down a fraudster when no one else would listen. If you’re affected by any of the themes in this show, our charity partners NO MORE have available resources at https://www.nomore.org. To learn more about romance scams, and to access specialised support, visit https://fightcybercrime.org/ The Girlfriends: Trust Me Babe is produced by Novel for iHeartPodcasts. For more from Novel, visit https://novel.audio/. You can listen to new episodes of The Girlfriends: Trust Me Babe completely ad-free and 1 week early with an iHeart True Crime+ subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “iHeart True Crime+, and subscribe today!