Unknown: Music.

Tinisha Spain: Hello and thanks for joining us for another episode of Mid American gardener.

I'm Tinisha Spain, and I'm joined with my friend Martie, and we are going to be talking about all things plants as usual.

You've got some things, you know?

It's funny, Martie always works in other people's yard.

Unknown: Yes, the Tinisha Spain: retired landscaper, but you never talk about your own yard.

Unknown: These are for me.

These Tinisha Spain: are for you know, I'm so happy.

So tell us what you brought.

And you know, if I'm at home and I'm watching this and I'm wanting to design our bed or design an area, tell us where to put these, and just give us the lowdown.

It's Unknown: hot.

It's hot.

So I brought a variety of shady plants, because if you're gonna work outside, might as well work in the shade.

Fry your brain out there.

So everybody knows about hosta, and I've got this little guy, but he won't be little for long.

This is a this is regal splendor.

It's a sport of variegated sports.

You get a little bit of variegation on these leaves, which it gets broader and more creamy looking as it grows.

Even the smallest leaves have variegation on them.

They all look about the same at this age.

But the thing about cross a regal and its sun regal splendor is they grow like a vase.

They grow like this, and they fountain out like a like a fountain.

Very nice.

So you can see the feet of the plant, which is unusual for this, because usually has to grow like a biscuit.

You know, they just, they grow like a hoops.

All Tinisha Spain: the slugs hang out on they do.

But, yeah, you can never see the stem.

You know, springtime, no.

But Unknown: these are amazing.

Not only do they grow like that, but Tinisha Spain: nice, like, how tall are we talking?

Unknown: This is a giant variety, hosta, and this one had its parent.

They'll get this.

The foliage will get, like, three and a half to four feet tall, and then the scapes of the stems of flower stem is called Escape.

It comes up, you know, like two or three feet taller.

Wow.

This thing is impressive.

You will see it from the street when it's in the backyard now Tinisha Spain: next year, let's say you get this in next year, will you have will it be full size, or does it have to kind of grow into it?

Good Unknown: question.

Thank you.

When you plant perennials, put them in, you water them well, you mulch on and then you water them like once a week until it gets cold, and first they sleep, and then they creep, and then they leap.

So that's right, yeah, little mnemonic we professionals use.

Don't try this at home.

So yeah, this is a this is just going to be a fantastic plant, and it just doesn't look like too much.

But if you read the label, then you'll see how large they get.

So it says right on the back, hummingbirds like them.

This is how they look when they're bigger.

Very nice.

So you can put these, this particular house of variety, in the back of a bed because it's tall and its feet are showing so you can front plant it with other plant.

You can actually, you can actually front these with something like a small shrub, because they're they're that tall.

Wow.

So very nice.

So other other hosta, or other perennials.

The ones I brought here surprise, so I brought some huchera yukara.

We used to be pretty plain, but nowadays they've had just a blast.

Different kinds of cultivars of Ukraine, because huqi used to be a little particular, and it's still a little persnickety, but if you plant it at like the soil level here, and then mulch it pretty good.

That will help, because it grows out from the crown, it dies back, like most perennials do, all the way to the ground.

But look at this color combination.

So this one, this one is carnival coffee bean.

It's got more of a coppery look when it's actually in the ground.

Depending if it gets a little more sun, it'll be a little bit less green, a little more coppery, a little more of a light, pale, peachy orange.

And then the back of the leaf is lavender.

So when it moves, it's very nice.

The light behind these is really nice.

I've got you great expectations.

Great, great expect expectations, so Tinisha Spain: pretty now, will this change, like more sun it gets will it get darker?

Yeah, yes, yeah, Unknown: it will.

I mean, Hugo actually can tolerate sun, but.

They'll tolerate shade too.

Most plants that are classified as shade plants, a fair amount of them prefer shade, but a lot of them will just stand it.

You know, they'll just tolerate it.

And color in shade is really hard to do, yes, like especially splashy color like this.

So this is carnival coffee bean.

This is in the same family of cultivars.

It's this carnival cinnamon stick.

Probably the same people bred these two.

They have some other ones.

There's a watermelon, and I don't know what else.

Tinisha Spain: Just when you think they're similar, you can see the differences there in Unknown: these, yeah, look how much larger This is Citronelle.

Gets a real pale yellowy cast lemon yellowy cast, this really needs a drink.

I'm so sorry, but you live at my house.

It's the rolls the dice and you move your survival Tinisha Spain: of the fittest.

You're Unknown: not kidding, yes, for Tinisha Spain: sure.

Now, do these how do they grow?

Will they grow up?

Will they grow out?

What is there?

Unknown: They'll get a little bit taller than they are now, but they basically form a little, a little hoop skirt, kind of very nice, but plant them closely, because they're not, they're not rampant spreaders.

So and then at the feet of these, or in between them, I would plant these two little ground covers.

This is a juga ajuga.

Comes in green and purple.

And pretty much this one, this one's burgundy glow.

It's my favorite because it's got more white for shade, because light colors in the shade is a good idea.

You can use dark colors and sun, but in shade, it just gets lost.

Sure, sure, you can Tinisha Spain: already tell, yeah, how this is spreading.

That's probably what it does on the part.

Yeah, Unknown: and it roots right there.

You see some roots sticking out in the air, and it's still making roots.

This is lamium.

This is pink pewter.

So it gets little, little pea shaped, kind of flowers on a little stem here at the leaf axles, it'll bloom pink, in addition to being variegated.

And this one gets little blue spikes in the spring, little three or four inch dark bluish purple spikes, and they'll just make a little carpet of color.

They're really nice, nice.

These are both ground covers, but they are not invasive.

Ground covers, just moving around.

We're getting Tinisha Spain: to the trail end of summer, but there's still a lot of time left.

I know people are wondering, is it okay to put these in the ground this late?

Heck?

So tell us how to do that and make sure that they're transplanted and they have a good chance of surviving.

Okay, Unknown: loosen the soil.

Make the make the hole twice as big as the pot.

So half again is why, you know, like from here, here, loosen the bottom, make it shallower.

Is better than too deep.

Too deep, it will it will die, because they'll smother.

So put them in there.

When you, when you pull the plant out of the pot, go like this and mess all the roots up.

Don't really have to plant this now you've disturbed, yeah, I just made a big mess here.

But um, Tinisha Spain: just give them a good time there.

Unknown: Put water them the night before, which is really a good idea.

Then mulch them, like three inches deep, water them again, get the mulch wet, and then water them like once a week after that.

And they should do just fine.

These are pretty hardy guys.

I mean, these are permeals to zone four.

Tinisha Spain: Still a lot of time left, a lot of warm, sunny days.

Unknown: Yeah, it's going to be the ground won't freeze until December.

I mean, and the air might be cold, but the roots still grow.

As long as the the ground isn't frozen.

So if the ground like 4550 degrees, roots are still growing, and that's really the part you think about last month.

Tinisha Spain: Now, you did not mention fertilizer.

So, oh Unknown: no, no, no, I don't fertilize in the fall.

Okay, Tinisha Spain: don't fertilize.

Not even on a transplant.

No, okay, no, no, Unknown: no, especially not on transplant.

If you, if you it's, it's too much, okay.

NOTICE like you don't feed a newborn, you know, a Big Mac, yes, or even the bun I'm hungry, so that's what I see that.

Tinisha Spain: So, you know what we we do adventures on this show.

And so DJ Taylor and I went on this super fun adventure to this place called Fresh press, this paper.

So it's a studio.

It's a paper making studio, and they make this out of plant waste, so see how I brought it back to the sheriff.

Well, no Miscanthus.

This one is Miscanthus.

So anyhow, we are so proud of this show.

So take a look at this segment and enjoy you.

Eric Benson: Hi, my name is Eric Benson.

I'm an associate professor of graphic design here at the School of Art and Design University of Illinois.

And fresh press is a studio I started.

To 12 years ago, and here we make paper by hand out of agricultural waste from the local area.

We don't use trees, that's the big thing.

And instead, we kind of went back in time, right in terms of how people made paper back in the day.

So we're using agriculture.

So we work with the student farm here, and we're getting things like corn, rye, hemp, prairie grass, and we follow a very similar process to commercial paper, making right interesting.

And it's on the back wall here, you can see the whole way it's done.

It's just as we do it by hand, we get the stuff from the field, the harvest, you might want to call it, and we have to chip it down.

Once we chip it, we can cook it, and that makes it, you know, more malleable.

And we can put it in our beater here.

And then we go through the pulling and pressing and drying process.

Tinisha Spain: You okay, so now we're at the third step, which is beating pulp the fibers, and we're here with Meredith and E both studio managers, here.

So tell us a little bit about this step and what we're going to be doing and why it's important in the process.

Okay, so e. ainsley: we've already chipped and cooked this miscanthus, which is a prairie grass and we're going to use a Hollander beater, which macerates the pulp.

Well, it macerates the fiber and turns it into a pulp by using this, it's like a water wheel of blades.

It'll spin around and move the Miscanthus through the machine for about, I think, two hours gets us a really nice paper.

So what it's doing is opening up the fibers they've already been cooked for three hours.

So that opens up the cellulose fibers and allows the papers to adhere to each other.

And this is going to beat them to a pulp.

Literally, yes, literally, that's what's happening here.

Tinisha Spain: Now it's my turn.

I put on my boots, gloves and apron, and gave it a shot.

Let's make some paper you Okay, so we just finished the beading, and now this we're gonna actually pull sheets of paper from this.

e. ainsley: Yes, so you're gonna take a mold and deckle.

You might have heard like fancy paper has a deckled edge.

This is the tool that gives you that deckled edge.

So you'll hold these in your hand and dunk them into the VAT at a 45 degree angle, and then pull it straight up, and you do the little shimmy, kind of like you're panning for yes, but first you want to hog the VAT, so you spread your fingers wide and bring them down to the bottom and shake everything up so that the fibers are evenly suspended.

Tinisha Spain: Now let's see if I can get this one so we're gonna scoop toward me, e. ainsley: yeah, all right, and just dunk it in and pull it right up and give it a little shake as the water drains.

That was good, nice.

Yeah?

All right, Tinisha Spain: after twisting their arms just a little, Taylor and DJ agreed to step in front of the camera to try their hand at paper, making Unknown: nice, I don't know, Tinisha, Nice, that looks really good Tinisha Spain: once you pull your sheet of paper, you can really get creative and make it your own, adding flowers, dyed pulp and even a pattern to give it some edge.

Are people surprised with all that you can do?

e. ainsley: I think so.

I think so.

Yeah, there's always gasps of joy that happen in workshops, because I think that we're missing a lot of this analog being in touch with making and slowing down.

So yeah, this is a moment that can bring us back in touch with that.

I I also think that it's a very accessible art making technique, because you could do it at home with a dumpy blender from Goodwill, or you could do it here with this Hollander beater.

But.

Also, you can approach it and never have done it before and succeed in doing something in just one workshop, or you can add a lot more chemistry and do something very specific.

Tinisha Spain: And now we press you.

Eric, so Eric, you join us again for the final step.

So after you press all the water out, you bring them back here and then tell us what happens.

Eric Benson: So we will take the wet sheets and we will layer them on these blotters and stack them up, and we'll end up putting them into the dry box where there's some fans and that that air, and these cotton blotters will soak the water out, and then you can have the finish.

And Tinisha Spain: that's the finished sheet.

Now how long does that take once it's in the drying box?

How long does it have to stay in there?

Eric Benson: I would say a good average would be like, 12 hours.

Tinisha Spain: How did you What made you want to get into this?

What brought in the farm waste, the agricultural waste?

How did these two ideas come together for you?

Eric Benson: Well, I think it was just living in Illinois, right?

I moved here from Austin, Texas, and how do I adjust to living in the Midwest?

And so driving down the highway, I 57 up to Chicago, right?

You see corn and soybeans and prairie grass, right?

So I just started to embrace the land and that that led me here.

Tinisha Spain: Okay, so this is your studio, right?

E, and I'm looking here at all the paper here.

This looks familiar.

Looks like kind of what we just did.

It is the pulp painting.

And you were talking earlier about how you incorporate a lot of this paper, a lot of these elements, into your own art.

So tell us a little bit more about e. ainsley: that.

Yeah.

So this is the pulp painting technique that we were doing earlier, just with a larger grid.

And then I bring it into these sculptural collages, and I also incorporate.

So this is handmade paper and a little bit of pigmented paper from printmaking.

And these scraps that I find, these are like pieces of graffiti I've peeled off of a building other found objects like rocks.

So I'm really interested in including the found objects with the paper that's also made of all of these other materials.

Tinisha Spain: What is your long term hope for this?

You know?

What do you what's the dream here?

Eric Benson: I'd love to replace tree fiber paper with the type of paper that we're making.

That's a big goal.

But in the meantime, I feel like I'm a community engaged scholar, where I invite the community to the studio and I teach them about land stewardship and papermaking.

You Tinisha Spain: We had so much fun at that studio making paper.

So shout out to the team at fresh press for letting us come by.

Can you believe that these are plant based?

Yes.

And his goal, his goal is to get us away from trees, away from having to use trees at all.

But you can use miscanthus, a grass.

You can use corn, you can use rye.

Yes, oh, thank you.

An enormous blade.

So guess which one's mine?

Can you tell one's mine?

One's DJs and one's tailors?

This Unknown: one's my favorite.

Well, that Tinisha Spain: one's mine.

So, but it was just it was so cool to see this go from a garbage bag full of chipped grass and turn it into paper.

It was neat.

So they cook it, yes, oh, there's a whole process.

Oh, yeah, I've never yeah, there's a whole process.

Ours is neat.

So folks have questions for you, Marty, Unknown: I mean, it is.

I Tinisha Spain: know you're Yeah.

Imagine my surprise when I when we made it all right, we've got three questions for you before we wrap up.

Okay, so Jan Cooper writes in that she has a smoke tree, which I didn't even know what that was until today, she says the leaves are turning brown with spots, and any new growth that comes turns brown.

And so she's wanting to know what is going on with her smoke tree, and can it be saved?

Okay, Unknown: smoke.

Trees are smoked, bushes till they get taller.

So this is a grown up.

I have noticed these.

These a lot like lilacs or viburnum when they attain a certain size.

You'll lose some growth in Tinisha Spain: them because they're just, it's supposed to be a shrub, yeah.

Unknown: And they're actually, it's very upright.

And they are gorgeous.

They come in a lot of different colors, really, purple and golden, really, really pretty.

I'm gonna say the summer was brutal, and the pictures he sent don't look like Japanese beetle damage, but what might have happened to the tips is cicadas.

Oh, depending on where you are, I don't know.

We need Jim Appleby here to tell you.

Jim Appleby, they'll do that because cicadas.

Will go to a large woody plant, typically a tree, but these are very, I mean, these will get to be tenfold, so essentially a small tree, and they go in the tender new shoots, they cut a slit, and they lay their eggs.

So when you're driving around in town.

We're not really in town even, because there wasn't a bunch.

I Tinisha Spain: look for those branches.

Oh yeah, I'm like, cicadas were there?

Yeah, Unknown: down the road, on country road, and you see there's a there's a stand of trees, and all the tips Brown and miserable at you know, that's what happened.

Came out.

Tinisha Spain: Do you think she could save this or think it's a goner?

Sure.

No, Unknown: I would.

I would probably prune it back a little bit.

I mean, like I said, the summer was brutal dry.

I don't know if she waters much.

I don't unless something looks like it's going to croak, I don't water it.

I let it adapt.

But prune out the dead might even reduce it a little, but not dramatically this time of year, okay, but I definitely prune off the dead.

And if it's not mulch, mulch, it, like I said, three or four inches thick, especially a larger plant like that, can take a thicker mulch, all right, put it little hose on it, you know, trickle a pencil sized stream for an hour.

So, yeah, what kind of give it a drink.

Give Tinisha Spain: it a good drink.

All right.

Next, Mary Jane Cleland writes in I'm hoping you can help.

I bought two very small hibiscus plants in the spring.

Planted them, and they got all day sun and daily watering unless it rains.

She has lots of buds forming on the tree, but they do not open.

Okay, so what are your thoughts there?

Even with, even with some pruning, more buds form, but no blooms.

Okay, Unknown: um, I'm gonna say not seeing it, but I'm gonna say that probably there's more water than the plant needs.

I'm gonna say again, mulch so important in the summer, because it evens out, the moisture doesn't go up and down.

It evens it out.

It holds moisture.

Once you water, it holds it in there, and the moisture stays even.

For the plant roots, it doesn't struggle because it's dry and then brown because it's wet, and struggle and back and forth and back and forth.

So I would say once a week deep watering is plenty.

Sometimes, sometimes the buds will mummify.

That's what they call it.

They you see a little color, but they look pitiful.

We're like, they just end up on that.

Yeah, they don't go so keep pruning off the bad ones.

But yeah, it is its first year, which is kind of, I don't know.

I find that a little odd, but I think probably backing off the water to once.

We twice, at the absolute most, if the plants mulched and it's not flagging, if it's not, the leaves aren't drooping, we call them slugging, then don't water it.

It's okay.

Okay, Tinisha Spain: all right, we've got one more question.

Let's see if we can get this one.

This is about the maple tree.

Yes, she is having all sorts of trouble with this maple in her yard.

So you thumbs through the pictures here.

What are you seeing?

Unknown: Well, I what I see is the bark peeling off of this maple at the bottom, and I also see where it was planted, and it's got some roots coming right up close to it, which says to me, possibly the tree was planted with the burlap or the cage still on it, and then the roots will follow the path of least resistance.

And I've planted trees for long, long time.

People say, Oh, the roots will go through that big wire basket.

No, they Tinisha Spain: won't, not.

Unless they have to.

No, they won't.

They will follow the path Unknown: of least resistance.

And that means that the roots don't go out the way they need to.

They stay in a in a ball like that.

And they don't have, they don't have what they need.

Also, I see some landscape fabric, nice, which is not a friend in a lot of cases, you need to, you need to not get that that close to the trunk.

It allows water to go in, but it doesn't allow water to come back out.

And this tree.

Frankly, looks like it might be drowning.

Tinisha Spain: Okay, would you now, quickly, though, is she able to save it, or would you take this one down because she's worried about it falling so Unknown: that bark is peeling pretty bad.

Take it now.

I would probably remove it and plant another one and do do a better job than whoever planted that one.

All right, that's the show, folks.

Tinisha Spain: Thank you so much for watching.

Thank you for coming in and bringing in your shady plants.

You can send us an email to yourgarden@gmail.com if you've got questions, and we will get them right on upcoming show.

Thanks for watching.

We'll see you.