Can't-Miss Plants at the Garden Center this Year

Wondering how to spend your garden budget this season? We've got you covered with our can't-miss plant lists! Plus, helpful tips on pruning and transplanting. Featured shrub: El Niño desert orchid.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Hello, my friends. Coming toyou from Studio A at proven Winners Color
Choice Shrubs. It's time for theGardening Simplified Show with Stacy Hervella Me,
Rick weisst and our engineer and producerAdrianna Robinson. All right, let's imagine
together for a moment. Let's imaginethat last Christmas, you got a five

(00:23):
hundred dollars gift card to a favoritegarden center or greenhouse. You don't want
to spend it on fertilizer, soil, or tools, but rather you want
some can't miss plants. What doyou do? Well, lucky you,
Rick and Stacy are gonna walk alongin the garden center and fill up your

(00:46):
cart for you. Would you dothat? I would love to do that.
Although I have to say what Ialways emphasize to people is my taste
is not their taste. I mean, I'm certainly happy to make recommendations,
but I think, especially when itcomes to like seasonal annual, it's so
important to make that decision for whatyou like. It's good to match your
house, it's good to match yourcontainers. Whatever your feeling the vibe for

(01:07):
the season. You know. Ilike to encourage people to put a personal
stamp on it. But that said, a lot of people like my mother,
love you. Mom. She'll bethe first to admit this. Very
nervous in the garden center. Shedoesn't want to make a bad decision.
She doesn't want to, you know, spend money on something that's not going
to perform like she expects. Andso to her, I really learned,
you know, the importance of reassuringand kind of telling that whole story of

(01:30):
each plant. So yeah, Iwould definitely do that for people. Well
then, so well noted. Let'sgo down the road of can't miss plants
and then you can decide whether ornot it fits your personality. And I
agree with you, Stacy. Somefolks get nervous, not just by the
price tag alone. But boy,is this going to work? Can I

(01:53):
do this? Is this going togrow? So right off the bat,
I'll give you a limerick as itpertains to that, I want a plant
more than alive, and not tojust simply survive. I need some plants
that can't miss that give me horticulturalbliss instead of a dramatic nosedive. Yeah,
give me hardiness with style that willstick around for a while, but

(02:16):
with growth that is scant, it'sgoing to face plant right into my compost
pile. I think a lot ofpeople feel that way, yeah, for
sure. And I think that peopleare willing to shell out some extra money
for something that seems really appealing,but they want to know it's going to
work. They want to know thatwhat they're seeing in the garden center at
that moment is going to look atleast that good or ideally better as the

(02:40):
season goes on. And I thinkthat especially before, when annuals were in,
you know, little tiny six packsand were mostly seed grown, a
lot of things did peter out whenit got really hot or if it was
dry, if conditions were remotely tough. That has really changed a lot.
You know. We talked about thata bit with Adam Moseley in our last
episode about Supertunia's things are being developedto be more robust, but still people

(03:04):
want to know. And that's whyI think a lot of people end up
going back to the same thing thatthey've had success with before rather than trying
new stuff. Yeah, very true, very true. So let's dive into
some of those plants and let metell you two things, two show notes
here. First, first of allof course plants on trial. Our second
segment, Stacey introduces you to aplant every week, and I'm sure that

(03:28):
Stacy has a can't miss plant upyour sleep. I've been saving it for
just the right episode, and todayis it excellent. Another would be that
at our website, Gardeningsimplified on airdot Com, We're going to make sure
that it's in the show notes andpost it elsewhere on the site. Stacy's
list and my list. If hypotheticallywe were to fill a shopping cart for

(03:53):
you, and I have done itmany times for folks who have asked me
to fill their shopping cart. Andit's a lot of fun to spend other
people's more. Oh yeah, muchmore fun than spending your own, all
right. Starting with annuals, letme just quick throw out Truffalo, Pink
Goampfrina Rockin series of Salvia's Verbina,Meteor Shower, Canna Lilies, the TUCNS

(04:16):
series, Coliest, Color Blaze,Euphorbia, Diamond Frost. Many of these
annuals, like you mentioned Stacy,we talked about super Tunia's Last Week or
sun Credible Yellow Sunflower. These plantshave been bred, developed, tested,
trialed to ensure the fact that theyare going to work in your yard.

(04:41):
They're not seed grown. These plantsare guaranteed vigorous, and your results are
going to be good. Yeah,and there's so many unique new choices.
You know. I'm really glad youmentioned the sun Credible sunflower because I think
you know a lot of people havegrown sunflowers, whether it was when they
were a little kid in nursery schoolor you know, as an adult,
a lot of people are familiar withthat plant. The seed you spend all
summer, you get a couple flowersand they're spectacular and you love them.

(05:04):
But Suncredible is a container sized sunflowerthat blooms all summer with sunflower flowers.
Now, of course they're smaller,which can be a good thing if you
enjoy sunflowers and want to enjoy themin a vase because they're at a good
scale. But that is such arevolutionary plant and a lot of people probably
see that and think, oh,sunflowers, I know what those do?
They bloom and then they're done,and then I'm going to be left with

(05:25):
nothing. So a lot of timesit does kind of take rethinking what a
plant can do. Absolutely absolutely,Then we move the cart to the nursery
section. I love going over therewhere we can pick up at last or
oh so easy roses. I gottahave a tough stuff top fun in the

(05:45):
cart. Love that plant, andof course I'll let's dance skyview. Oh
yeah, reblooming Hydrangea, bud Lea's, I love them, Miss Molly,
Miss Pearl, Miss Violet, anyof those. I know their favorites.
Of Adrian, I'll also bud Leeof Pugster, clematis, sweet summer love,
all of these types of plants,Stacey are on my list again.

(06:09):
We're going to put our lists atGardening Simplified on air dot com. And
I would suspect you love going throughthe nursery section. I do. I
love seeing how plants are grown.I love seeing how people respond and what
they're thinking about. And yeah,if I'm in the garden center and people
look like they have questions, I'llbe like, hey, I can help
you. The same here. I'mmore than happy to help. But that's

(06:30):
what gardening people do. They're morethan happy to dole out advice even if
they don't want it. Sometimes I'lljust dole it up. And then the
perennial section, when we get overthere. You know, I'm big into
ornamental grasses because again I feel thatthey are can't miss plants. They are
drought tolerant, they're dear resistant,they're beautiful. You take a panicum like

(06:55):
Niagara Falls or a prairie winds lemonsqueeze fountain grass. It's a pinacetum with
great color. Love it. Amsniaof course is on our list. Alium
serendepudy. That is a plant thatI put it in the absolutely positively can't
miss category. Oh, any ofthose perennial aliums. I can't get enough

(07:18):
of them. They're so beautiful,they look amazing, they're so low maintenance,
they're mostly deer and rabbit resistant.I've had a little bit of rabbit
chewing on my alium's nessens Glockum.I don't know if you know that one.
It's a little sort of rock gardenalium, but I love those every
time you see them. That's aplant that it blooms in July. So
people are going to need to havea little bit of faith when they're in

(07:40):
the garden center and it looks justkind of like a little massive chibes with
round it ends that it's going toturn into something spectacular. And that's when
it's really good to do your researchand have recommendations like this that you can
rely on, even if you can'tvisualize it right there in the garden center
when you're there in early May,that it is going to do something spectacular
eventually. Have Rick Stacey come along. We'll fill your cart for you.

(08:03):
Now, I agree with you,Stacy, sun King Aurelia of course,
the cat's meow and Cat's pajamas nepetasStacy, I'm not sure if you would
agree with me or not, butI had summarific hibiscus on my list.
Oh come on, Rick, whatare you joking me? You know that's
one of my absolute favorite plants.I am crazy about the summerfic hibiscus,

(08:24):
you know, I think, especiallyif you live in a colder climate,
there's not very many things you cangrow that just have such an incredible tropical
look. And in fact, whileI was planning today's plant on Trial and
I was thinking about the summer,thinking about plants, I came up with
a new combination for my garden oh, including today's plant on Trial and summarific
hibiscus. So we'll see if Ifollow through. I look forward to hearing

(08:48):
about that. In that perennial section, I'm going to put a decadence baptizea
on your cart, a Tuscan sunperennial sunflower, your heliopsis, so all
of those types of plants, andof course, if you've got a hot
sunny spot, the rock and roundseed them or rock and low yellow brick
roads seed them. All plants thatare super easy to grow. And then

(09:13):
Stacy, if we have a couplebucks left and we get to the checkout
area, no, not a candybar. I'm gonna get you a packet
of seeds. Hyacinth bean seeds.You know that about me. We're gonna
put those in the ground and they'regonna give us all kinds of can't miss
color this summer and just a reallyunique plant. If you have kids,
it's such a great plant because it'sso colorful and interesting and so easy to

(09:37):
grow from seed. On this topic, we could talk for hours literally,
but lucky you, if you're headingto the garden center or greenhouse, we're
gonna put our lists on our website, Gardeningsimplified on air dot com, so
look for it and you can takethat list with you to the garden Center
Greenhouse. All right, we're gonnafind out what Stacy's can't miss money just

(10:00):
have plant is coming up next inPlants on Trial, Stay tuned. Proven
Winner's Colored Choice Shrubs cares about yoursuccess in the garden. That's why we
trial and test all of our shrubsfor eight to ten years, making sure
they outperform everything else on the market. Look for them and the distinctive white

(10:22):
container at your local garden center.Greeting's gardening friends, and welcome back to
the Gardening Simplified Show, where itis my pleasure to share my all time
new favorite Proven Winner's Color Choice shrubas today's plant on Trial, and that
is El Nino chatalpa. And that'sthe end of the story. Thanks for

(10:46):
joining us today. Hell by theenthusiasm and my voice. Nothing not to
say. No, So that isa mouthful. So first of all,
I am saying el nino just likethe weather pattern and chitulpa see hit a
lpa. And that is a veryfunny word that you might not have heard
of. And the reason for thatit is an intergeneric hybrid, which I

(11:09):
guess I'm just down a roll withthese big hard to understand words today.
Intergeneric means that it is a crossbetween two different genera or genus of plants,
and those two genera that were crossedto form El Nino Chitalpa were Katelpa,
So our own native Ktelpa that yousee, it's not really quite native
this far north, but certainly popularas a landscape and street tree throughout western

(11:33):
Michigan. So our native Katelpa alsoknown as cigar tree, bean tree,
It's probably got some other names thatI don't even know about. And Chalopsis,
which is a plant that a lotof our East Coast listeners might not
be familiar with. It is asouthwestern native so Texas, Arizona, New
Mexico, southern California. It isknown as desert willow. Now these two

(11:54):
genus genera are related. They're inthe same botanical family, the big Nannie,
So this is the same family astrumpet vine. And so tom Raini.
Doctor tom Raini, one of ourplant breeders from North Carolina State University,
worked some magic crossed these two generaof plants Katalpa and Shalopsis, and

(12:15):
came up with El Nino. Sonow you kind of have the groundwork late
and you're wondering, well, whatis so special about it? Well,
the family Stacey, give that tous again. Big NONIACI, Big Nanniecy,
Yeah, big Nanniecy. That's anyway. If these horticultural terms are going
right over your head, just thinkof it this way. Take a desert
willow, a katalpa an orchid,and a snap dragon and they walk into

(12:39):
a bar you finish. That's that'sa very good Yeah, that's a very
very good analogy there. Because itdoes have characteristics of all of that,
and because chetalpa is a mouthful tosay, we have been using the common
name desert orchid to describe it.But let me now tell you why I

(13:00):
of this plant so so very much. I love hydrangeas. I love roses.
I mean, I love the majorityof the plants in the proven Winter's
color choiceline. I mean, Ido personally love them. But you know,
you know how it is. Ihave deer, I have a lot
of sun. I have very drysoil, So a lot of those plants
that I can get really enthusiastic with, you know, with our listeners,

(13:20):
are not plants that I can actuallygrow in my landscape. Between all of
those challenges. Al Nino che talpais not only a fabulous plant, but
it is one that I can anddo grow in my landscape. And I
won't lie. The best part aboutit is the flowers. You know,
it does have other great features.It has very nice foliage and all of
that, but the flowers are thereason to grow this plant. You have

(13:41):
a talent with words describe the flowersto us. So they do have a
bit of a snapdragon the kind ofthing going on. But if you've seen
a cautelpa flower, they have asimilar shape, but they get their majority
of their flower form from the desertwillow parent. So it's a big,
vaguely trumpet shape flower that's really openon the front and has ruffled edges,

(14:03):
and it's just pink. And youknow, I am not a pink person.
I've said this many times on theshow. It's not my favorite color
to use in the garden. ButI will make a heaping exception for El
nino che talpa because it really isthat beautiful. So the pink flowers,
and they bloom all summer. Sothey start for us here in Michigan probably
around like mid to late June,depending on how warm the summer is and

(14:24):
they continue pretty much without stopping untilabout mid to late August, depending on
the weather. So we get agood two solid months of flowers from this
plant. But what I love evenmore than the shape and the color is
the fragrance. And the fragrance youreally have to just smell it to believe
it, because I'm gonna describe itas vanilla and melon, and you're gonna

(14:45):
go what that really is the bestway to describe it, Like fresh vanilla
with fresh ripe melon, like acanalope or honeydew. It's a little bit
hard to describe, but it issuch a beautiful and unique scent and be
because it blooms in the summer andthose hottest, warmest days of summer,
the scent just sort of wafts onthe air. So you know, some

(15:07):
plants that are fragrant, you reallyneed to get in there and get your
nose in there to experience the fragrance. It is not the case with the
Alninyo chitalpa. If you are anywherewithin the vicinity of one of these plants
and it's flowering, you will pickup on that fragrance on the air.
And you know, we have manyepisodes of the Gardening Simplified Show out there.
Watch the YouTube episode where we takethe summer tour. That's where Stacey

(15:31):
introduced me to the plant. Istuck my face in there and wow,
great description. Right, you canstick your face in there and you'll get
even more of it. But it'sa really unique and beautiful smell. And
again, I just think it's allthe better that it blooms in summer,
so you just get that combination ofyou know, like a lilac can be
super fragrant on a warm spring day, but if it were to bloom in

(15:52):
the summer when it's really really verywarm, that's a totally different experience.
So overall, with Nino, whatyou're getting is more or less the flowers
from the desert willow, the Chialopsisparent, and the foliage and hardiness from
the Katelpa parent. So the flowersdo resemble a mix of them both.

(16:14):
But most of the catelpas that wegrow on the East Coast are white with
some kind of dark purply maroon andyellow splotches inside. These are pure pink,
and they get that ruffled edge likethe Chilopsis has, but the foliage,
the foliage on the Chialopsis is verynarrow. That's why it's called desert
willow because it kind of resembles awillow tree, whereas the Kataalpa has those
big, nice, bold heart shapedleaves. So it has those bold,

(16:37):
large heart shaped leaves with these reallyexotic looking flowers of the chetalpa. And
you know, I love that feelingof finding something in the garden that doesn't
look like it should be growing.They're like, whoa, this looks like
it should be you know, fromMiami or something, and it's it just
looks, you know, so exoticand so interesting. But it's actually come

(16:59):
prized about two thirds of North Americanative species. Wow, So that's kind
of an interesting fact about it.So it is hardy. We consider it
hardy to USDA Zone six. Sowe have had no trouble with it overwintering
here in West Michigan and our trialgardens. When we have had a very
very severe winter, we have foundthat it has died back to the ground,

(17:21):
which is not a big deal becauseif this plant never experiences any die
back or is never pruned, it'sgoing to be eventually every bit of fifteen
feet tall. It blooms on thesame year as would Yes, it blooms
on new wood. So even ifit dies back, that's a good point.
Rick. Even if it does dieback from a harsh winter in USDA
Zone six, you don't have toworry. It will still go on to

(17:41):
flower. I would say, ifyou are an adventurous gardener, it might
be worth experimenting with in a protectedspot in USDA Zone five, especially with
the way our winter was this year, you know, milder like that,
because again, if it dies back, is still going to sprout and it's
still going to go on to flower. But I love the height of this
plant because when you have those flowersand they're so unique and they're so fragrant,

(18:03):
and it's ten feet in the air, you know, four feet above
your head, five feet above yourhead, just looking into all of those
dangling flowers, it just gives youthis kind of amazing Alice in Wonderland feeling.
Do you like this plant? Ilove this plant. I do.
I do, And I'm so excitedabout it, and I do have it
in my garden and I get excitedevery time it blooms. I'm grateful it's

(18:25):
growing around the office. I'm gratefulit's in the trial garden. It is
a full sun plant, so anotherthing that's very handy for me. I
have found so far that it isdeer resistant. They haven't touched it,
which is pretty typical for the Catelpa. I can't speak for the chilosis,
but so this checks all the boxes, you know, for me. It
does everything that I need it todo, and it looks really super amazing

(18:47):
while doing it. So if youwant to grow it, definitely it is
a drought It's not just dropped tolerant, but it requires very well drained conditions.
So that Kutelpa parentage, being fromthe East Coast does contribute some resistance
to humidity. But this is nota plant that you're going to be able
to grow in your low spots,you know, or any place where it's

(19:07):
getting regular water. It's really goingto want well drained soil that is dry
the majority of the growing season insummer. So some of course, some
irrigation while it's getting established is alwaysimportant, but once it is, it
really doesn't need very much more,and one in fact prefer it to actually
be on the dry side. Sowe've been hearing from forecasters that el Nino

(19:33):
is going away. We can't blamethings on El Nino anymore, but you
can add an El Nino Chatalpa.Did I pronounce that right? Yeah?
You did? And the family nameagain for me, the Big Nanniac.
I want to learn that. It'sa fun one. Big Naniac sounds like
a ride at the kernel. Sothe al Nino might be going away in
the weather patterns, but this isactually Al Nino Chatalpa's first season in the

(19:57):
market at garden centers, so thisis definitely a campus plant for our listeners
in warm climates. We have beengetting incredible feedback from our university trial partners
in Alabama, in Texas, inArizona about its performance, so it's one
for almost everybody. Sorry for ourcold climate gardeners, we'll get you to
you next time, but please pleasedo check out the YouTube version so you

(20:19):
can see how beautiful this plant is. Check us out at our show notes
Gardening Simplified on air dot com,and be sure you look for at your
local garden center this season when youare going shopping. If you can't find
it, ask if they can bringit in from the grower who supplies them
with proven winner's Color Choice Shrubs.We got to take a little break.
When we come back, we're openingup the garden mail bags, so stay
tuned at proven Winner's color Choice.We've got a shrub for every taste and

(20:49):
every space. Whether you're looking foran easycare rose and unforgettable hydrangea, or
something new and unique, you canbe confident that the shrubs and the white
containers have been trialed and tested foryour success. Look for them at your
local garden center. Greeting's gardening friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified
Show. It's the time of theshow where we answer your gardening questions.

(21:11):
And I'll tell you the closer weget to the gardening season, the more
questions people have. Right Yes,as you go out there in the garden,
you're wondering what happened here, what'sgoing to happen here? Should I
do this? Should I do that? So we're here to help you as
much as we can. You canreach us at help HLP at Gardening Simplified
on air dot com, or justgo to Gardening Simplified on air dot com

(21:32):
and use the contact form to sendus a message. You can also leave
a comment on YouTube Adana will passthose along to us as she reads your
comments. Lots of ways to getin touch with us and get help if
you are having a garden quandary.And we have a couple of quandaries this
week, Yes we do. Michaelsends us some pictures and says, last
year, my mother in law planteda dogwood tree in her landscape. I

(21:53):
finally got some time to go seeit. When I saw it, I
was very skittish to go up toit. My mother in law said,
don't worry, it's all bark andno bite. Oh well done. I
think Michael put that in there justfor you, right, Thank you,
Thank you, Michael. Anyways,the specific variety is a venus flowering dogwood.
Over the rest of the summer andfall, it developed what appears to
be a yellow fungus or moss.So the pictures were taken in early March.

(22:18):
Can you identify Michael's in zone sixA six B, and he's concerned
if it's harmful to the tree.Now we have pictures. Michael was kind
enough to send pictures, so wewill put that in the YouTube version as
well as in our show notes.But you might be able to envision what
Michael is seeing, because this isa common issue, and I want to
first of all say there's absolutely nothingto worry about. Correct. Nature has

(22:40):
just decided to do a little accessorizingfor you. So consider yourself lucky.
So what you have, I can'tidentify it down to a species or anything
like that, but it is verycommon for lichens, especially to grow on
trees. And in a very simplifiedversion, a lichen is a symbiotic organism
that is a combination of a fungusand an algae. And most people they

(23:03):
hear fungus and they hear plant andthey say whoa, whoa, whoa,
that's not cool. But it's totallyfine. And lichens or moss, there's
all sorts of things that can growon trees like this. It primarily happens
in more humid climates, although itwill happen in the desert. I have
seen that, But like anytime there'slike fog or heavy morning dew, those
are the kind of conditions that tendto favor its development. So if you

(23:27):
go to a humid climate. Iknow a couple of years ago, I
was in Charleston, South Carolina,and I found this beautiful twig that was
just totally encrusted with all different speciesof lichens, and so it's not a
problem. It's a totally natural thing. Basically, the tree is just a
structure and the spores have landed onit, and the conditions are right for

(23:48):
it to grow. But it doesn'tharm the bark, It doesn't penetrate into
the vascular system of the tree ina way that would cause any harm.
I personally love the look of atree covered in lichen a lot. Why
it's beautiful, and you know youmentioned symbiotic. I would say it's a

(24:08):
love story. It's a love storybetween a fungus and analgae, that's basically
what it is, and they helpeach other out, they kind of hang
out on the tree. And inthis case with the pictures that Michael sent,
I call it a sunburst lichen.And again that's not the scientific name.
That's just one I made up.But it's beautiful. And you will

(24:30):
often find these on the north side, not necessarily the north side, but
usually the north side of a treeand slow growing trees. So I'm thinking
dogwood, I'm thinking Japanese maple,I'm thinking magnolia. That's where I often
see those lichens. Yeah, andyou do often see them on smooth bark
trees, yes, you know,so rougher bark trees you'll still see them.

(24:51):
If you go in the woods,you'll see some lichen on them,
but this more thick encrusted lichen.Which I say that in the best possible
way, because I love this lettertoo. Now the trick is if you
also love this look, much liketrying to grow moss in your yard.
If it could be there, italready would be there, and trying to
invite it in is difficult. So, like I said, Michael, tell
your mother in law not to worry. To enjoy the tree. It's just

(25:15):
a little extra color to enjoy,especially in winter. And you know,
watch that develop and change. Andlichens also go through these kind of fruiting
periods where they get these really uniquestructures, cup like structures. I think
they're gorgeous. I liken likings.You bet you, they're beautiful. Laura
writes to us, Hi, Staceyand Rick, I love your show.
Thank you very much. It's givenme so much confidence as a beginning gardener.

(25:38):
I was checking on my plants today. To my horror, I found
that my rose bushes covered in purplishblack splotches. Every rose cane is covered
with spots. I panicked and Ialmost shovel pruned my poor rose, but
then remembered that I can reach outfor some guidance should I dig it out
cut the canes back to the groundwhere talking New England Zone six A thank

(26:03):
you very mulch for your own right. So and Laura also set pictures,
so we will put those on theshow notes and in the YouTube video if
you want to see what she's talkingabout. But it's very possible if you
have been out to look at yourroses this season, you're maybe seeing something
similar. And so basically this doesindicate some sort of fungal disease. There

(26:23):
are a number of things it couldbe. It could be as simple as
powdery mildew or protritis, which isa very common disease of roses. It's
just manifesting itself on the stems.There's some other what's known as canker diseases
that get onto rose stems and otherplants. It's not just roses, and
as they progress, they kind ofcreate these openings in the bark that can

(26:47):
leave it exposed to other pests anddiseases. It's just a natural thing that
happens. So Laura, I don'tthink you need to shovel prune it,
which is to say, remove thewhole darn thing, unless you are planning
to remove it anyway. But Iwould try to remove any canes that are
affected the best that you can.You know, if it's seriously going to
disfigure the plant, to try toprune them all out, that's one thing,

(27:08):
but do the best you can.If you leave a couple, you
know, this isn't like the deathknell for this rose, not by a
long shot. You know, it'sgoing to put on fresh new growth.
It's going to be okay. It'svery possible this was related to your wet
winter, but it's also possible thatit's something that developed, you know,
in the south last summer and justis showing up now, or you're just

(27:30):
noticing it now because you're thinking aboutpruning the roses. But I would say
definitely prune, not out the best. You can. Give your rose some
extra TLC this season. A littlefertilizer wouldn't hurt something to help it outgrow
and outpace this. You know,this whatever disease it is. It doesn't
matter too much which specific disease itis, and you can help it grow

(27:51):
more vigorously and outgrow the disease.And it shouldn't really be an issue.
Now. We see black spot onfoliage in some way when it's hot and
humid outside. To see black spoton the canes in winter, whatever it
is caused by, not too unusual. I would again not throw in the
trowel, but rather wait until springwe start to get some growth. Like

(28:15):
Stacy said, fertilize, do somepruning. In many cases the plant will
grow up. Yeah. And Ido want to add, Laura, just
to be perfectly safe. After youprune this plant, wipe your punters down
or dip them in some pure lightsolor whatever disinfectant kind of thing you have
like that. Just wipe them downor dip the whole blade in there,
just to make sure that you're notspreading it to any other plants. And

(28:37):
of course, if you do compost, just discard those canes. Don't send
them to the landfill, or rathernot the landfill, the composting facility.
Send them to the landfill, getthem buried, and get them out of
there. Okay, Susan writes tous. I planted this pearl bush four
years ago, and then I plantedthe moonglow juniper shortly after. Now I
think I put them too close.I love how they look together, but

(29:00):
I'm thinking of transplanting the pearl busha foot or two away from the juniper
to allow more space. So anyadvice on transplanting the pearl bush. I
dug around it a bit last fall. The roots are strong and intact.
I'm not even sure that I cantransplant it. I love the look of
this plant. I don't want toscrew it up. So any ideas,

(29:22):
Yeah, you know, it's it'sa common problem, Susan. And I
feel you because I have often beenquoted as saying life is too short for
proper spacing, because because I likethe way things look close together, and
then yeah, a bumper. Thenin a time you say, oh shoot,
I guess I should have actually paidattention to that. So I feel

(29:44):
you on that, Susan. Sohere's what I would do. I think
that you should try to transplant thepearl bush. But I do think that
you know you've already checked. Theroots are pretty well established. It doesn't
mean it's impossible. It just meansthat probably transplanting this is going to set
it back a bit because you're goingto be removing quite a bit of roots.
So normally my recommendation for transplanting shrubsor perennials is to transplant them when

(30:08):
they're dormant. That way, youknow the plant doesn't have any you know,
foliage to lose water and cause itsstress. But because pearl bush also
known as Execorda, is an earlyspring blooming plant, I would say,
and if you see Susan's pictures whichwe'll have on YouTube and the show notes,
it is covered in flower buds,So Susan I would say, by

(30:29):
all means, enjoy that thing infull bloom over the coming weeks, and
then once that flowering is done,then go ahead and transplant. Now I
think it will absolutely survive the transplantation. It's a very tough, very durable
plant. It's in the rose family. But again, give yourself the chance
to enjoy that flowering and know thatdepending on how severely it gets set back

(30:51):
from the movement or from transplanting,it might be a couple of years till
it flowers again, but it willrecover. It will recover, and when
you do remember that there's going tobe some root loss, so you want
to compensate with some pruning from thetop, so it's not trying to support
the same amount of top growth asit had before, but with much less
root growth. Very well, saidStacy. I've got nothing to add.

(31:15):
I agree with you. If you'regoing to be digging up those roots right
after it's done blooming, don't beafraid to print it back hard. Yeah,
don't be afraid to print it.Keep up on the TLC through the
rest of the season so it's ableto recover. And I would say these
are vigorous enough that within two orthree years you probably won't even notice that
it was actually moved. So again, if you have a question for us,

(31:36):
you can find us at Gardening Simplifiedon air dot com. We're going
to take a little break and we'llbe back in a moment. The Gardening
Simplified Show is brought to you byproven winners Color Choice Shrubs. Our award
winning flowering shrubs and evergreens have beentrialed and tested for your success so you

(31:56):
enjoy more beauty and less work.Look for proven winners, Color t Shrubs
and the distinctive white container at yourlocal garden center. Welcome back to the
Gardening Simplified Show. It's time forour branching news segment and making news today
well an interview. Have been reallylooking forward to this Keelan Blackwell and Hannah

(32:16):
Bottom Blackwell of Chicago Echo House andStacy. When I read their story watch
their YouTube video, it was inspirationalto me, not only as a former
business owner, but as somebody wholoves flowers and plants. What they're doing

(32:36):
in the inner city is fabulous,it really is. And you know,
flowers can change lives, they changemoods, and it's not just the people
that are theirs lives are being changedthrough the Eco House project, but it's
all the people who benefit from allof their work as well, exactly.
So, Hannah and Keelan, welcometo The Gardening Simplified Show. It's an

(32:58):
honor to have you on the showwith us today. Thank you. Yeah,
thanks very v Going forward to it, give us an idea of how
Chicago Echo House first started and howwe got to where we are today.
So how did things start? Whatwas the inspiration behind Chicago Echo House.

(33:20):
Yeah, so Chicaigo House started backin twenty fourteen, and you know,
really it was inspired by our faith, so both our Christians. And I'm
originally from Mason, Wisconsin. Icame here to go to ministry school actually,
and while I was in ministry school, I started tutoring at a local
high school here on the South sideChicago and Englewood. And for me,
like it is really the first timeI came face to face with sort of

(33:43):
hardcore inner city poverty. You know, I kind of grew up in a
very you know, affluent home andshielded from a lot of that. So
you know, when you know Isort of saw just like the state of
the inner city, it really affectedme. You know, I just really
felt like I had a choice eithercontinued to live my life for myself and
for my own comfort, or Icould really decide to you know, take

(34:05):
up my cross and follow him andyou know, lay down my life for
you know, the good people ofthe South Side of Chicago. And you
know, we chose uh or Ichose that route. And you know,
our our our passion is really howcould we really try to develop some sort
of economic engine here because you know, like all the youth that we'd work
with their families, the number onething we would hear is, you know,

(34:29):
we really want jobs. We wantcareers, but specifically community based jobs,
right, And that's really the impetusbehind starting Chicago Eco House and our
mission of using sustainability to alleviate InnerCitypoverty. Yeah, and it's one thing
to hear about unemployment rates, it'sanother thing to live it correct, Yes,

(34:53):
definitely, in order to do that, essentially to give people an idea
of where we're going with this,you're using plants and flowers to create an
opportunity for people to both learn,grow and potentially become employed. Is that

(35:14):
correct. Yeah, absolutely, Sothe idea that we sort of came up,
the reason that we came to Flowerswas we were trying really hard to
connect people with jobs in sustainability,but we were finding that they were just

(35:34):
way too far and like Keilan said, you know, it really seemed pretty
evident that we really needed something thatwas here locally and that would be accessible
to people right here in the community. So there's there. We've just found
that the inner city can be alittle insular, and to be able to

(35:58):
create something right here in the communitywould just be so much easier. It
would have so much easier access.So we looked at what the community had
and there was a lot of vacantland. So you know, the Englewood,
for instance, at its height,had about ninety thousand residents. When
we moved here in twenty fifteen,it was down to thirty thousand, and

(36:19):
I think it's even gone below Keelandright to like twenty three thousand. So
lots of vacant buildings. I thinkour block actually has more vacant buildings on
it than occupied buildings. And thenyou know, once a building is vacant
for too long, it's you know, gets demolished eventually, and now there's
just a space, an empty space, and a lot of the fairyous stuff

(36:43):
happens on you know, vacant lots. Drugs are are hidden, you know,
people have their dogs, lose carsor products on it. So we
thought this vacant land, and wethought, you know, what could we
do with that? And of course, first, you know, tried food,
but we really realized that to createyou know, a true economic viable

(37:08):
opportunity, we needed to have somethingthat would give us just a little more
money out of it than what foodcould produce. And that's when we turned
to flowers, and so once weturned to flowers for that reason, there
was all these other things that cameout of it. So, like you
said in the intro, you know, you feel different around flowers. So

(37:30):
we would see the youth who wouldcome and they would start working on the
flower farm, and you kind offorget you're in the city and they would
start talking about stuff that they hadexperienced. Or we you know, put
these on our farms and people aretrying honey for the first time right here
in Englewood. So you know,there was just so many benefits that came

(37:50):
from that. There's a lot oftoxins in the soil, but as we
know, flowers were immediate soil,and so we are also you know,
we're feeling that that soil and anywherethat we're putting a flower farm where there
used to be a vacant lot.Now it's also benefiting the community. It's
beautifying the space. It's turning whatonce was used for nefarious activity into something

(38:15):
productive and beautiful. We were turningdown spouts from people's homes by our farms
into toads on our farms so thatthe water doesn't run into their backyard and
their basement, and so there wereall these benefits that came out of this
one idea that really we were pursuingfor the benefit of job creation and alleviating

(38:37):
poverty, and we just found thatthere were so many added benefits on top
of it. For sure, youknow, showing that level of care to
a community, to a person individually, and certainly to people within the community,
makes such a huge difference. Andyou say, hey, we care
about this place, and it showsthrough brightly colored flowers. There's no mistaking

(38:59):
these things didn't just up there overnight. I can only imagine what an impact
that had on the community. Yeah, and I think you know, for
early on, we knew that thework we wanted to do, we wanted
it to be personal, and sothe first thing we did was move into
the neighborhood and move right into themiddle of the issues that we knew people

(39:23):
were experiencing, because we felt thatpeople really wouldn't see that we were all
in unless we were all in.And so the very first thing was moving
into the community and not doing thisas some sort of you know, something
at arms length or something you know, living somewhere else and coming in and

(39:45):
doing it, but really making thisour life, and I think that went
a long ways in getting that communitybuy in and for them to really believe
that we did care and we didyou know, the problems that they were
facing were problems we were facing outto and that we really wanted to do
this for the benefit, you know, of of us as a whole.
Now, our neighborhood, our community. Tell us how you're teaching kids and

(40:10):
teens in the process. In otherwords, I see that you're practicing things
we talk about on the show likeIPM or white clover cover cropping, or
solar powered rain water systems, evenchickens and composting. I mean, what
a great educational tool for kids.Yeah. Well, you know, the

(40:35):
heart of this is really to preservelife and all its forms, including not
just human life, but ecological life. So you know, we really wanted
to demonstrate to our youth when youyou know, practice growing and farming in
the way that Mother Nature desires,that it really can help to meet your
material needs. So you know,we basically break up our program into there's

(41:00):
our kay through Rate after school educationprogram where we just more introduce young kids
to floor culture, urban egg andmore just to get them thinking about you
know, the ideal sustainability, theideal of flowers, ideal food. And
then we have our workforce Development program, which is geared more towards sixteen to
twenty four to twenty five year olds, where we're doing more you know,

(41:22):
hands on training to train them tobe flower farmers as well as high end
florists. And in those programs onthe farm side, yeah, they're they're
they're definitely warnings. They're learning integratedpests management, they're learning you know,
composting and you know instead of usingherbicides or synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. You

(41:43):
know, they're they're you know,they're learning about how to use range rainwater
catchment systems and uh, you know, solar panel to generate on site power
so that we can drive irrigation system. So you know, these are all
really cutting edge techniques and technologies thatour youth are being exposed to. And
you know, like sometimes I don'tthink they you know, fully appreciate just

(42:07):
you know, how forward thinking,you know, the practices that they're learning
are. But you know, forthem, this is like it's it's normal.
You know, they don't you know, and they think of farming you
know, they're not thinking of agiant John Deere tractor and you know,
spraying a bunch of pesticides everywhere.Like for them, you know, this
is how how you farm, right, you farm the way Mother nature does

(42:28):
it. And in the flower shop, you know, we like they're they're
they're they're learning the best you know, floral design techniques, right, Like
you know, we're not just sellingflowers in the local community here, like
you know, we're at some ofthe most exclusive venues in Chicago or at
the Field Museum, the McCormick Place, the High at the Hilton, right,
so they're you know, we're doingbig budget weddings. I mean last

(42:50):
year we did a twenty five thousanddollars budget just on the flowers at the
Field Museum. Right. Wow,that's great. That's five times my entire
wedding budget Honeymoon. Oh wow.You know I was going to ask you
about that. The business side ofit. Obviously, we've got to we've

(43:15):
got to fuel this engine to dothis teaching and this work as a five
oh one c three. As amatter of fact, I had heard rumor
that you guys would even take piesto the face in order to raise money.
Is that correct? Yes, Yeah, so in the early days,
So just here listeners can uh,you know, understand our journey. So
we've been at this for about tenyears. We started at zero dollars.

(43:38):
Today we're about two million dollars asan organization. But yeah, like in
the early days when we were starting, you know, we had no We
were trying to think of creative wayto raise money to pay for you know,
our five O one C three filing, and we did this pib in
the face thing where we basically toldour friends and family that you know,
if you donate one hundred dollars,we'll go to a very public place in

(43:59):
Chicago and take a pie in theface. Right, so we'll go to
places like you know, Buckingham Fountainand do a pie in the face there
and that kind of deal. Butyeah, like you know, like are
in terms of like the economics ofour organization, we have a pretty robust
social enterprise model where you know,basically the the floral cells supports the the

(44:21):
staff and the labor piece of ourwork. You know, like this year
we're actually on track to uh,you know, break a million dollars for
the first time. Just in flowercells, which is going to be a
huge milestone for us, and it'syou know, we've really been excited at
you know, just the tracks thatare getting the marketplace, Like people have
really been rallying around Southside Blooms andChock Legal House because they see it as

(44:45):
a viable solution to solving a lotof these problems in a more organic way.
It's like one of the that's likeone of the top feedback that we
get from our clients that they saylike, hey, we love your model
because like it it presents a realend game, Like I can see how
when I purchased flowers from you guys, it's contributing to you know, bringing

(45:06):
these lots back to life and advancingsustainability, helping keeping these kids off the
streets. Like it just makes sense, right. So yeah, we've been
very very fortunate to you know,really enjoy a lot of community buying and
support, which is really made youknow, doing our work a lot easier.
So, you know, talking aboutcommunity support, I'm sure a lot

(45:28):
of our listeners are wondering, likehow can I support this kind of thing?
Are you guys selling your flowers atfarmers' markets? Are they available only
through florists. Do you do afarm stand model? How can people actually
find your flowers? So we offereverything online and this is intentional. So
a lot of businesses rely on foottraffic, they rely on you know,

(45:52):
local people supporting, and we loveour local supporters right here in the neighborhood.
But the truth is Englewood just doesn'thave the the the income to support
the kind of jobs we're trying tocreate. And so if we were only
tapping into our you know, verylocal market, we really wouldn't be able

(46:13):
to provide the kind of jobs andthe kind of change that we're looking for.
So when we decided to go toan online model, it meant that
we could pull in money and resourcesfrom all over the city, especially really
well resourced areas, and bring itback into the community. And so we
deliver our flowers all the way tonorthwest Indiana, all the way up to

(46:35):
the north Shore and in the cityand to the western suburbs. And this
is pulling money in from all ofthose areas, all of those areas to
you know, back to our community. And so our online shop is just
at Southside booms dot com. Wehave several shippable items and We're very excited
because on Mother's Day we are goingto be lying national shipping as well,

(47:01):
and that will really give access topeople in other places who might have heard
about us to support us through purchasingour products uh and purchasing our flowers,
and all of that money you knowas a five O one C three,
one hundred percent of the sale goesback into our program. So that means
more jobs, more offward farms,more vacant lots you know, turned into

(47:23):
productive spaces that benefit pollinators, benefityou know, the land uh and and
also provide you know, a pesticideuh free you know, local option for
people that are looking to really tryto get something that's a little more local,

(47:44):
a little a little more natural andbring bring that into their home.
Said. We're chatting with Hannah BottomBlackwell and Keelan Blackwell of Chicago Echo House.
Let me just real quickly ask youwhat types of flowers you're growing uh
in this sustainable manner? Is therea certain type of flower that you really

(48:04):
focus on? Yeah, So ourmodel of taking over a vacant land and
using an off grid system means thatwe are able to turn any vacant lot
into a productive flower farm. Soa lot of urban farms, they really
depend on a water source, whetherit's a hydrant or installing a water line,

(48:28):
but that really limits where they're ableto set up shop, right because
let's say somebody else has access tothat hydrant. Now there is no way
that you can access that as well. There's a lot of city codes and
laws around that, and so youknow, you would essentially be able to,
you know, be limited in whereyou could set up or a water

(48:49):
line, for instance, can bea fifty to seventy thousand dollars to set
up, which is extremely cost prohibitiveif you're trying to put more money into
really the youth pockets in our case. And so because of this awkward system
that we have, we have beenable to say yes to any vacant space
that has been offered to us tofarm on. And so that also changes

(49:10):
what we grow, but I thinkin a in a really good way because
we are also seeing a lot ofpeople, a lot of our customers are
really interested in natives. They're interestedin perennials, you know, things that
grow here in our climate that willcome back again. And there's an amazing
number of things that you can growthat will come back you know, the

(49:35):
next year, or things that arenative. We also look at things that
are drought tolerance, so that wehave you know, have to use limited
water, have you know, justusing the water that we collect from the
rainy season. And so instead ofjust sort of saying yes, the things

(49:57):
that people might be used to becauseof the current, you know, floral
systems of shipping them from overseas wherethey're being watered, you know, twenty
four to seven. You know,we're really helping people to learn to love
the things that maybe can grow primarilyor can be on natives here. The

(50:17):
other thing that we are offering isa year round, year round tulips through
our bulb forcing. So in thewinter now we're able to grow tulips that
are solar powered and this provides jobsfor our youth year round. We are

(50:39):
able to give our farm team work. But we have just these beautiful tulips
that are coming out right now inthe middle of winter. We have these
double tulips, we have fringe tulips, we have parrot tulips, and then
that will lead into our spring flowers, which we do a lot of different
kinds of lilies and gladiolas. Whenit comes to our field grown flowers,

(51:04):
we love the sunflowers and all thevarieties that those offer. We are doing
a variety of amaranths of different colors. We have a whole farm that's paeonies,
which who doesn't love a peony,right, We're going to be planting
more leatris and thistle, which areyou know, local native native to this

(51:28):
this area of this climate. Andthen just other beautiful things like vinyas that
don't ship well and so you reallyto have a zinya, you have to
buy those locally. We have somenew colors that we're trying this year.
We love the marigolds, you know, for those bright colors. We love
cosmos in our bridal bouquet because they'redainty, and you know, people love

(51:50):
movement now they love texture, youknow. So we're trying to bring you
know, a lot of those differentthings in and all of this can be
grown on our off grade farms.And I just love seeing the bounty that
comes from you know, branching out, trying to be innovative and really showing
what can be done when you kindof take the road less travel. Yeah,

(52:13):
that's fantastic We've been talking to HannahBottom Blackwell and Keilan Blackwell of Chicago
Echo House before we let you gojust real briefly, real quickly here,
I'm gonna start with you, Kielan. I always do this to folks we
interview, give me a favorite flowerof yours. What's your favorite? So,
my favorite flower will definitely be thep and e. I like the

(52:36):
p and e number one because it'srelatively easy to grow, it's a perennial.
It also is a high dollar crop, and also just it just smells
great, Like I just I justlove the smell of it. I love
the colors, the texture of it. So yeah, my personal favorite is
the p andy. That's fantastic.And Hannah, what about you a favorite
flower? So I would have togo with the double tulip if you're not

(53:00):
a fan of tulips. I knowMichigan has a lot of beautiful tulips,
but so tulips, there's just somany beautiful varieties, and the double tulip
is just it's it has such beauty, such amazing smell. So I'd have

(53:20):
to go with That's fantastic. Fantastic, Chicago Echo House, what a great
story. Leave our listeners and ourviewers with your website so that they can
learn more. For folks who wantto support you, yep, you could
just go to Chicago Egohouse dot org. If you want to donate, and
if you want to buy our flowers, go to Southside blooms dot com.

(53:43):
Fantastic, Hannah Keeling, It's whata great story. Yeah, thank you
so much for taking the time toshare your story. That was really really
inspiring. Oh thank you. Yeah, thanks for having us, thanks for
covering it well. I have toconfess when they when I first heard Chicago
Eco House, I didn't know wherethe name came from, But after hearing
their story, I totally get ateverything is built into a beautiful closed end

(54:06):
system, and I think that isthe perfect name for their organization. Thanks
Tequila and Hannah, Thanks to you, Rick, Thanks Adriana, and of
course thanks to all of you somuch for listening. Have a great week.