Hi.

I'm Charlie Nardozzi.

And I'm Mary Engisch.

And you might hear us on All Things Gardening on Vermont Public.

And we'd like to invite you to join us for a livestream video event at a homeowners garden in Vermont.

Join Charlie and Mary as they travel to Norwich, Vermont, to meet Janet Flanders and tour the home garden she's been working on for over 50 years.

Janet, nice to see you again.

Yeah.

My goal over the years has always been to just have bloom the whole season.

So over the years, there's been a blank spot and it's like, okay, I have to find plants that go there and will be blooming now.

Right.

Right.

And I think we can start right here in this garden.

We might as well just dove right into your gardens because you have so many of them.

And I guess you can't not notice this big flopsy, if that's a good word for.

What is that?

Well I call it Dr. Seuss Plant.

But it's a Willow Sunflower.

A willow sunflower.

Because of the leaves.

It makes it a little easier to remember, though.

It does look willowy.

Yeah.

And that'll have a flower, obviously.

It will have little daisies on the top.

Yeah.

Which look very bizarre, but it does bloom and it is attractive once it's got all the lovely gold yellow on top.

Yes.

And is that grown from seed?

I mean or is it a perennial?

It's a perennial.

It's a perennial comes back year after year.

And what's really great about this property, really unique about this property, is that Janet's been here for 53 years.

Yes.

Yeah.

And 53 years.

She has planted literally everything that's here, everything that's here.

The trees and shrubs the perennials, probably many iterations of perennials.

And also she's leaving.

This is kind of her last hurrah.

This is my last hurrah.

Yes.

So we thought it would be a great way to pay tribute to all the great things you've done here in Norwich and all these flowers you've grown.

Well, my grandfather lived in the house across the Meadow same side and gave us this land when we arrived, fresh out of college with no money and to be a Norwich given land was a real gift.

We didn't have to commute or anything.

We had jobs and could live right here and build a house and there was nothing here.

This was a horse meadow, essentially.

Wow.

Yeah.

And I started with a vegetable garden.

Uh huh.

And then the deer were a problem, so I, well see them later.

I have what's called enforcers.

They're attached to the hose.

And they - thats a kind way of saying it - scare the deer with water.

Yeah, right, right.

The woodchucks unfortunately didn't care.

So within about five years, I'd come home midday to pick beans or raspberries, and the woodchucks would just be mowing it down.

Yeah.

So that made me start a little flower garden and then make another little flower garden, and eventually I connected them.

And then I just kept going.

Nice, so there was no big master plan.

No, I wish there had been.

Now that I know what I'm doing, I'd like to lift it all up and start over.

Well, let's go over.

You have some nice examples of different kinds of gardens you can have.

And the one over here is a shade garden underneath a nice crabapple tree.

And as we're going by here, I just want to point out this flower on our left.

And what is that one?

That's a Boltonia Boltonia.

And there are plants that you can cut back mid-June to make them fatter and shorter.

But look it up first, because if you cut something back that doesn't want to be cut back, that's it.

It's over.

You're very unhappy.

So that's much shorter than it would be by about two feet.

Exactly.

So under here, you have some beautiful shade garden plants and maybe talk to us a little bit about the plant selection in here and what things have worked and what things maybe weren't the best choices.

I think I've got this garden down pretty well in terms of what will and will not grow here.

Hostas, if you can get hostas that have yellow or white in them, it just will make everything look lighter and brighter.

Yeah.

Otherwise they just don't show.

Oh, okay.

So it just green and you know, you don't want a garden that's just green.

Mm hmm.

The double bloodroot are two huge batches here.

They don't look like anything now.

But in the spring, one of the earliest bloomers, they look like little peonies, and there are masses of them.

And the leaves are tightly wound around the flower.

And once they open, that's what these big fat leaves are now.

And I see you popped in a few caladiums.

Those are those plants over here that have a little color on their leaves.

And my goal, of course, was to make a real show.

But because of the cooler weather, which I don't mind and so much rain, they're tropical and they're not making a big show yet because it's just been too cold.

Yeah, too cold, too wet for them.

And that's something you have to pull up in the fall if you want to keep them.

If you want to keep them but I have no place to keep them.

I don't have a cellar.

Oh I see.

And I don't have a heated garage or anything so they can't freeze.

I just buy them every year.

And last year they were up much faster.

Oh, okay.

So it's just.

It all depends on the year.

It's an experiment.

Yeah.

Nice.

So you also pop in a few annuals, just to add a little more color like this little begonia you have over here.

Right?

Because I really love the white flowers.

It's called Bossa Nova.

Aha.

And the first frost will wipe it out.

Well yes exactly.

It takes care of that its very sensitive.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

This is really a nice way to show the different textures, different colored leaves in a shade garden.

And it looks really nice in here.

I'm sure different times of year you have different things blooming.

Right, and this is really a spring garden, and particularly when the clematis is out and annuals are great for fillers because once a perennials bloom, some look good forever.

Yeah.

And others brown up and really don't look very nice.

And if I can plant something in front of it, it kind of takes your eye away from.

Exactly.

The very unhappy brown.

Right.

Nice.

Well, let's take a look at some of the other gardens you have here, kind of wander around the back of your house and see what you have over here.

What are your favorite plants and what are your biggest mistakes with plants?

Well, the biggest mistakes are not looking up a plant to find out where it really would be happy growing.

Oh, yeah.

You decide, okay I want that plant here.

It would really look nice and you put it there and it just looks miserable.

And, you know, so I've learned by the second year if it's not looking like it's going to be happy You have to move it.

Yes.

You just have to move it.

Right, right.

Right.

I think that applies to life too.

And things happen also that that you don't get a choice on see how tall these Rudbekias are.

Yeah.

And these are shorter.

They're exactly the same.

Uh huh.

I came out one day earlier in June and they had been completely skeletonized.

This section.

And I caught it quickly so they've rebounded.

Yeah.

But, I mean.

They dwarf the plants for you.

Exactly the plant had to put so much energy in getting more leaves, that it couldn't.

So something was eating these?

I think a caterpillar of something which only needed a couple of days and then probably is somewhere down there to come back next year.

Going thru their pupil form.

Yeah.

But this is quite stunning the way you have this trellis here and then you have the flowers is up against it.

Well the rain comes off the roof, and so especially this year, it'll just take everything down with it.

Itll be lying down, so I had this trellis made and so that can hold everybody up.

Kind of keep everybody vertical.

Yeah.

And this tree that you have here is kind of an interesting story.

Can you tell us a little about it?

This is called a Tamarix.

It is related to a Tamarack.

It is?

Oh really, huh?

It's very brittle and needs to be in a dry place.

It's very happy in Colorado.

It's considered a junk tree, really, there because it kind of takes over.

It's had a hard time with all this rain.

You shouldn't see all this light.

It should just be full of green.

Yeah.

And it is starting to turn pink down here.

Oh right, look at this.

When it is in full bloom, which usually by this time of year it is, but not yet because of rain and no sun, if you stand under it, it's just like [hum] the bees are so happy.

Oh, they really like.

It's a great pollinator tree.

Yes.

It will pink up.

I think it's really trying on the top where it gets more sun.

And it will be nice.

But my eye caught this arch you have over here.

Yes.

And the beautiful plant, the vine that you have growing up there and maybe you could tell us what that is.

Its a Porcelain Vine.

Porcelain Vine.

Ampelopsis real name.

And I really like it because of the variation and the pink stems which are very unusual.

Yeah, really.

It comes from the ground every year.

So you think it's dead and, eventually it does come up.

Uh huh.

Now does it flower as well?

Yeah it does, I could see some little flower.

Yeah it does.

The bees like it.

Heres one.

Yeah but its not showy that it's really for the vine and the variegated leaf.

And to get something going up so it isn't so plain.

Right.

And that's a great tip, you know, having something here, especially because they have this big wall of your shed behind it, you want to have something that's going to kind of pull it together and cover it.

And I think you mentioned to me so you can plant things underneath it.

Exactly the clematis finished but when it was in bloom was a deep blue with red maroon edging and together it makes a big show.

We'll see some other ones here on your property but I love these seed pods.

That's probably one of the big calling cards for Clematis.

So let's go take a look at this island bed you have back here, and you still have some lilies blooming.

Look at that.

Theyre trying.

I mean, everything is kind of late this year, so usually by now, I would guess lilies would have been long gone.

Well, these are later blooming.

So they're almost when they should be.

I lost a lot of the big, tall oriental lilies from the frost.

Oh, okay.

So they'll be back next year, but they just said, that's it, I'm done.

But what's really beautiful about this garden is you have the nicotiana, you have the lilies, you have a number of plants, but you also have brought in some goldenrod, which kind of reflects the meadow around you.

Yes.

And there are some wonderful varieties of goldenrod now that have been hybridized, and one is called fireworks and unfortunately is not in bloom today.

But it looks like fireworks.

It looks like fireworks.

Its really nice to come out and see it.

Giving a show.

Exploding.

Exactly.

Yeah, because it really looks like that.

There's a little crocosmia left in the back.

Oh, the bright red flower.

Yeah.

Okay.

They look like they belong in Hawaii.

And the Angelica Purpurea is in the back with lavender umbels.

Its a lovely plant, reseeds, and so I just dig it up wherever it's put itself and put it back.

And put it back where you want it.

I notice the bees seem to really like it too They love it.

Yeah.

Its a nice pollinator plant.

Is that something you try to incorporate plants that are good for pollinators?

I do.

I will certainly plant something that I love, whether or not it's going to attract bees.

But I have work for hummingbirds and bees to make sure that there is something for them.

Uh huh.

And I've often been picking raspberries in a red jumpsuit, and the hummingbirds think I'm a big flower.

And they come towards me and it's like, oh no, that's not right.

And off they go.

Shes not food.

No big mistake.

Well, impersonating a flower, that's a first right?

Well, let's continue on our tour.

Oh, this contraption, I think, is what you're going to show us.

Oh, yes.

Now you get out of the way.

Okay Im getting out of the way.

This is an enforcer.

This is the enforcer.

This is for the deer.

I come out at night and turn it on.

Right.

This is a deer.

Now watch it won't go off because I want it to.

Maybe you have to run in front of it.

Oh, don't do that.

Oh, it's a motion sensitive sprinkler that's here for the deer.

Okay, maybe you don't look like a deer.

I don't know why it's only doing.

It may have trouble with the battery, so.

Okay, but you have them all around your property?

I have six because you cant garden here with deer.

Right.

It's impossible.

And this really keeps them away.

It does.

I thought I was either going to have a nervous breakdown or quit.

Im glad you did neither.

And I put these in and it seems to work.

It does work.

Well, this is late in the season, but you still have some beautiful a couple examples of beautiful daylilies.

Look at this yellow and burgundy colored one over here.

It is just gorgeous.

And the burgundy colored one over there.

Do you remember the names of any of these?

No, I'm sorry, but I do get them from Shriners.

Shriners?

The Irish people.

The Irish people.

And they just have gorgeous daylilies.

They also have reblooming.

So there is a new stem coming up here.

Oh yeah.

Right.

And I cant remember all the ones, because it's a fairly new bed, which ones rebloom.

But that's a really nice addition you have daylilies you love and they're going to come back.

Right.

And that's a nice thing about these daylilies, especially these newer ones.

They're not only beautiful, they're ruffled, and they're bigger flowers.

Who could possibly even dream that up.

It's so gorgeous.

I know I mean look at what Mother Nature does.

But also they rebloom.

They've bred them so that they keep blooming.

I have some new ones too like that they're still blooming.

They started in July.

They're going through August.

They just keep sending up flower stocks.

And this year, I think probably more than normal because they get enough water.

Usually it's drying out by August and they're saying Ive had enough.

They don't like it dry.

Yeah, exactly.

But you have this beautiful plant.

This is an annual that seeds itself.

It's a Euphorbia called Snow on the Mountain.

And when it first comes up and until about two weeks ago or maybe three weeks, but two weeks, I'm going to say it's just green.

And someone might say, well, why are you growing like green?

You know?

But then it does this beautiful white and it just adds light and air to wherever they are.

Now, this year I have fewer than I'm used to.

They had seeded themselves everywhere, but I think with all the water they just couldn't take it.

Oh right.

Euphorbias tend to be more of a dry soil plant.

Now, someone asked me what kind are my favorite plants and I have a few new ones that I really like.

And one is the Indigoferah, which I got from Plant Delights.

You can see one little pink flower.

Oh right, this one right in here.

It's really a spring bloomer.

Oh.

And it comes up from the ground.

Here, you would chop it back, even though it gets a little woody and let it regenerate every year.

And it just has very pretty foliage.

And it's a spring bloomer, and it's just a beautiful plant.

Well, let's continue around, especially around to the front of the house, because that's a beautiful spot this time of year.

And you do have this magnificent magnolia on your way here as youre walking through.

Which is about twice as tall as anybody else's magnolia.

I'm not sure why but its very happy.

And you planted this I assume.

I did.

And I actually planted it down on the other side and decided it was the wrong place.

Yeah.

And so I dug it up.

It was my size.

Yeah.

Put it here.

Much happier here.

Like it.

50 years later.

Here we go.

And it flowers, right?

Oh, yeah.

This is spring flower.

It flowers mid April.

Oh, early, early.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

A few years ago we had a really early spring.

It was mid-March.

Oh wow.

So this actually was in bloom and just as the frost hit, it was finished.

So it didn't have the leaves out yet.

So it was okay.

Some things really got zapped.

Uh huh, yeah.

Well, you have some really fascinating plants in here.

You were talking about travel and this plant, this beautiful pink flowered plant.

It's really tall is a Hollyhock.

But not your traditional Hollyhock.

No, it's a Turkish Hollyhock.

Turkish Hollyhock.

It seeds itself.

It does not get rust which your - well, it may, but it's not susceptible.

Right.

Right.

It would have to be especially hard year for you to get that.

Yeah.

You have to pull it out because it does really seed easily.

Right.

Is it still a biennial like the other Hollyhocks?

I don't believe so.

Oh, so it seeds itself.

I think it's a short lived perennial.

Short lived perennial.

Five, seven years and then.

Right.

But because it seeds, it doesn't matter.

Right.

So you'll be cutting these plants down and then I'll probably pull out a few to put them back.

Yeah.

Put them back.

Sure.

But you can see it's loaded with flower buds.

And it's it's mostly finished now, but its peak was a couple of weeks ago, really.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And here's another good example, I just noticed this looking down, of this plant support system and its working nicely here.

Yeah, they're a Leatrice and they were going to lie on the ground especially now with all this rain.

They were going to rot.

Oh, okay.

So I picked them up and put them in a ring.

And then you can just adjust this by pulling it up.

Yeah.

Like that.

Oh, that's kind of cool.

And pushing it back down.

Really cool.

I like that system.

And these guys are another one.

It's a Japanese Aster.

Oh, the ones with the bud on them right here?

Yeah.

Yeah, I cut that back at least a foot.

Oh you did.

Because I've learned this the first year I did it.

Because they get tall and leggy and just fall over.

Oh, okay.

Nice.

Well, you do have some things that flower right here, this white flower.

This is an Artemisia.

An Artemisia.

A ghost plant is its other name.

Ghost?

It will be a little whiter, but that's pretty much what it's flower does.

And it's basically just to add to the general soft atmosphere.

Movement and texture.

Yeah.

Ghost, with the idea that it kind of floats around.

And its white.

Yeah.

Nice.

It hasn't scared me yet.

Oh, that's good.

And this lovely plant.

Oh, what happened here?

Its a type of meadow rue.

The rain just comes down so hard.

It's never fallen over before.

And you can see the piece in the back.

It's just a very tall, beautiful plant.

Oh, wow.

And, if I try to straighten it out, it'll break.

Oh, I see.

So youre just letting it flop over here..

I have to let it.

It's lying on top of the Asclepius.

And I'm sorry about that plant, but that's what happens.

Its got the little bee bombs in there that are trying to bloom.

Yeah, this is a great.

Another great pollinator The bees love it, and the hummingbirds love it too.

Do they?

They do.

Oh, sweet.

It's a nice color.

This time of year, you don't often see this kind of deep purple.

Beautiful color.

Its hard to get away from pink and white.

Yes, it is.

You've done a good job, though.

We mentioned earlier about the clematis and the small flowered versions, and you have one in the back here thats a nice example.

Yes, this one is a Betty Corning, and these are later blooms.

So the original when it first comes out in June, I mean, it's been blooming a long time.

They're about double that size.

Oh, okay.

So they're quite big bells.

Yeah.

And it holds for a long time compared to the beautiful big one.

The big one, Henryi, doesn't bloom very well.

And I'm wondering if it may need a little more sun.

Yeah, the crab apple.

It doesn't shade it that much because the sun comes from there.

But still it's never made what I would call a show.

And that's what I want.

That's what you want.

I have a white spring bloomer.

Uh huh.

And it does lots and lots.

And I don't know the name because I thought it was Guernsey Cream, but it's not.

Oh.

I know.

It's hard to keep track of.

I had all white Clematis and I also have one I use as a screensaver that's a multi layered.

Nobody knows what it is.

I know I didn't order it because when it bloomed I said, Oh, I've never seen you before.

Right.

And I would remember that I wanted the special thing.

Yeah, I notice the colors sometimes will shift too, based on how much sun it's getting and how it's shade.

It's getting.

A little deeper.

Especially the light lavender ones can be white or lavender, and they do better in cooler weather.

Right and the weather temperature.

Yeah.

Well, you have a really cool plant over here.

This is one of my favorites.

It's blooming right now.

They're so nice to have.

Tell us about this plant.

These guys are called lycoris, spelled with a y, lycoris magic lily, which is a very apt name because they come up in the spring with tulip like strappy leather leaves, and then the leaves disappear and you forget that you have them.

And then all of a sudden, within a day they can grow a foot, the stem comes up, and within about four or five days you've got blooms and they're just delicate and lovely.

It's magic.

It is.

It's just like magic.

Thats why theyre called Magic Lilies.

And you just have the blooms, no foliage just the stem, the blooms, and then they'll die back.

And then you it all over again next year.

And then they come back next year.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's so sweet.

And you have to remember, they're there because if they're coming up and you step on them, that's it.

They dont put up another stem.

Right, right.

This is a one shot deal.

So it's good to tuck them in somewhere where youre not walking.

Remember where they are and you're not going to walk there at that time of year.

Yeah, right.

And remember yeah, I remember late summer.

Don't walk here.

Put a little sign up.

Exactly.

Now, you have a great story about this really tall plant here that the bees are still enjoying as the sun is setting here and the light level's going down.

Tell us about this one.

So people always are surprised.

That's an Impatiens.

Oh, an Impatiens.

We think of Impatiens as that little bedding plant.

That little low thing that I actually despise.

Anyway.

Sorry, anybody who likes Impatiens.

So Himalayan Balsam is another name.

Yeah.

They're considered invasive because they spit their seed.

I don't know if up here I've got one that I can show.

Okay.

See if we can get in tight there on the seed.

They're kind of like Jewel weed in that.

Yes.

Here's one.

So when I touch this.

Oh, they just spread their seed.

I touched it before it was ready, but if it was doing it on its own, it literally spits.

So every spring, the first thing, starting around April 1st, I'm pulling up babies.

And it's not a problem.

They're really easy.

They come right out.

So this is in the middle of my baptia.

Yeah, because the baptia, this is the old fashioned kind.

It opens up in the middle and there's nothing there.

So it blooms in June.

And these guys start so early that they've gotten a good foothold by the time the baptias has gotten large.

And then you've got a flower where you wouldn't have one otherwise.

But the color, you don't know what color you're going to get.

One year I had all coral, which is the color I want.

Yeah.

They don't come true to seed and I'm not sure what the coral one there are some coral ones down the road, they're more shaded.

So I'm not sure if it's temperature, water, what really determines it.

But every single one in my garden this year is this color which is my least favorite, only because it's too close to the green and doesn't add light.

Right.

Right.

There's a white one, a light pink one and a coral.

Okay.

And the coral is the one I really want.

But I actually would accept the other two too, before this one.

But this is.

This is what you got.

This is what I got.

So if someone at home wanted to grow one of these, what would they look for in a catalogue?

I don't know anyone who sells them.

They're called Himalayan Balsam?

Himalayan Balsam.

So where did you get them then?

My guess is someone gave them to me.

Yeah, okay.

Nice.

Which is surprising because as I said, I'm not going to give them to anybody because they might be mad at me.

Because literally you pull out thousands.

Right.

They spread all over the place.

Wow.

And then, of course, we have lots more flocks over here still blooming.

And more Rebeccias.

And the flock smells so good and it's really nice with the enforcers to have because the deer will come down the driveway and terrace the flocks they really like flocks.

They will rebloom, but not if they come down again.

Oh, okay.

So you have a sprinkler somewhere hidden.

Its near the apple tree that can see.

Oh, the driveway covers the driveway.

When it started I could see like four or five bite offs because they're rough.

I always cut with scissors.

So you don't have that roughness.

And they stopped.

So it must have gone off and scared them.

Oh, it scared them away.

Wow.

Good system.

Because really, the year that made me realize I'm either going to quit gardening cry or both.

They had just not just eaten them once, but twice.

And they can only come back so many times.

Right, right, right.

So we'd like to give you a vase of flowers.

Which of course you arrange because they're all your flowers.

There's a little Lunaria left and this is another plant that not everyone should have because you cannot put it in your garden.

It's False Spyria.

And it has these little tapioca pearls.

Yeah.

And they open and it doesn't last but, you know, a couple of days from now, once they're all open, it starts to brown up pretty quickly.

But it's a bush that's woody and new growth both and it just spreads like crazy.

So I have it down in the meadow and you mow up to it.

And it has these lovely flowers, which bees adore.

But yeah, yeah.

You keep the tame things close to the house and the wild things in the wild areas.

Far away.

Far away.

Yeah.

This has been great.

And we really like to thank you, Janet, for walking us around.

And thank you for watching All Things Gardening Live.

Appreciate it.

This will live on the Vermont Public YouTube channel.

And of course, we'd like to thank Gardeners Supply too, for sponsoring us to do this.

And if you have gardens that you might think would be good to let us know, we'll probably be doing more of these either this year or next.

Bye.