Making It Grow is brought to you in part by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.

Certified South Carolina grown helps consumers identify, find and buy South Carolina products.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 22 varieties of peaches.

Additional funding provided by International Paper and the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance.

♪ opening music ♪ ♪ <Amanda> Good evening, and welcome to Making It Grow.

We're so glad that you can join us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty, a horticulture agent with Clemson Extension, and it's so much fun to come over here and learn from the wonderful people who come down and share their time with us.

Terasa Lott is of course in charge of the Master Gardener Program, and they are really a wonderful outreach group.

<Terasa> They really are and how great that we have two master gardener coordinators with us today.

So, I really have the easy job.

It is our coordinators, and then our actual master gardeners that get out and do the majority of the work.

>> And it's fun because a lot of times they'll just be standing in line somewhere and somebody will be at a nursery or something and they'll say - they'll give him some information about something and sometimes help them make a better choice.

>> Yes.

>> Okay.

Mr. Burtt, you have a lot of counties Charleston, Dorchester and Berkeley, and that's a busy schedule.

>> That is.

Absolutely.

They're quite large counties.

<Amanda> Yes, they are and growing, growing, growing >> Very much, so.

I believe Berkeley's the second or fastest growing county in the state.

>> Gosh, that's just stunning.

Yep.

Air conditioning.

(laughing) That's why all that can happen.

Oh, goodness and Carmen Ketron.

You've got Florence and Darlington, and Florence is such a big city.

>> It is.

It's wide and vast, and it's got lots of plant people.

We call them Pee Dee plant people.

They just love it.

They're just loving growing stuff out there.

<Amanda> You've got a Pee Dee plant professionals group that's been meeting religiously for decades, I believe.

>> Oh, it's something like 15, 20 years of just plant landscapers, nursery men.

They all get together.

They share and just finding out new information and staying up to date so that they can provide their clients the best options possible.

>> Isn't that nice that they want to do that?

It really is.

Sure is, and then we're so happy to have you with us Herrick Brown and you are now the curator of the AC Moore Herbarium at the University of South Carolina, and I just love the fact that all you have to do is put herbarium.org and we go straight to y'all.

<Herrick> Yeah, we were very fortunate to get that URL many years ago.

>> That's pretty exciting.

I mean, South Carolina and here we are at the top of the list - But that's because it's such a great herbarium.

<Herrick> Yeah, we are the largest herbarium in the state, about 130,000 dried pressed plant specimens.

>> Gracious goodness.

That's a lot, and you have to be very careful to keep other insects out of them.

Right?

<Herrick> Right.

We're not very fond of insects in the herbarium.

We try to keep it cold and inhospitable as possible.

<Amanda> There you go.

Very good.

Okay.

Terasa, you're going to start us off with some pleasantries?

<Terasa> I would be happy to start us off with Gardens of The Week, which is our time to look at what you're doing in your yards, gardens, perhaps indoors or even some of the beautiful places you visited in the state.

We begin today with Chris Goodman, who shared his raised bed of cucumbers, green beans, and oregano from Greg Heaton.

He said this is the favorite, his favorite part of the yard that is all shade.

Mark Oldag shared an evening photograph that highlights a narrow space landscaped between two houses.

From Theresa Wright, we have an arbor covered in passionflower, and we finish with Paige Sebring.

She...shared a picture of her grandson and you've heard the old idiom, minding your P's and Q's.

Well, her grandson is minding his P's and Cucs.

<Amanda> Oh, that's too cute.

That is really darling.

<Terasa> Isn't that funny?

(Amanda laughing) >> Thanks everyone, for sharing your photos with us.

It is so much fun.

I encourage all of you to go to our Facebook page and see all the submissions we tend to get, you know 50, 60, 70 or more anytime we put a request out and we can't possibly show all those.

If you are wanting to send us pictures, please do turn that camera sideways and take a landscape photograph.

That way it looks nice and big on the TV screen.

<Amanda> and remind people how easy your email is, if you spell it correctly <Terasa> yes.

So, you're welcome to post on Facebook or send it as a message.

If you'd like to email me just use my full name Terasa t-e-r-A-s-a @clemson.edu.

If you send it to Teresa, as it's normally spelled, that person will get your photos, but will probably not know why you are sending them.

>> I guess you've probably talked with that person.

<Terasa> We have a few times.

She's gotten some invoices that were meant for me.

So she really doesn't want to pay the bills for me, I don't think.

(Amanda laughs) >> I can understand that.

Okay, well, have you got a question for us?

<Terasa> Oh, you know, there are always questions.

This one comes in from Angela, she sent a message to the page and said I like the flowers on fleabane, but will it take over my garden if I leave it alone?

>> Okay, Christopher, what's your thought on this?

<Christopher> So yes, and no.

Fleabane is a - it's a warm season annual, but it is going to decline, kind of once the summer comes around.

If you don't want it to necessarily spread, the best thing to do is to remove the - cut the plant when it's starting to go to seed.

It's kind of tricky, because you want if you want to enjoy the flowers, and let the flowers kind of provide their benefit, you want to let them go for just a little bit, but then you want to cut them before they go to seed, otherwise, it's just going to produce more and more.

That being said by this time of year, I'm probably not as concerned about it spreading, and I'm probably going to try to keep it a little bit more under control next year as it starts to re-emerge.

<Amanda> Okay, well, thank you for that.

That just means a matter of timing.

>> Yes.

>> Okay.

Okay.

Herrick, you give tours, I believe, of the horseshoe.

<Herrick> Correct?

Yeah.

So we, every third Tuesday of the month, we offer a free botany walk on the historic horseshoe.

Anyone's welcome to join and we meet at the steps of McKissick.

Museum at 11 am, and the walk usually lasts about an hour <Amanda> about an hour.

What are some of the things that make the old horseshoe so interesting to walk around on?

<Herrick> Well, there's obviously a lot of history associated with it.

There are a number of tree species that we can talk about, because the grounds crews there have been sort of diversifying the canopy that used to be there, As old trees are taken out, new ones are put in.

So, there's a lot to talk about in terms of just tree diversity, and then there's always other things that are of interest along the way as well.

<Amanda> Okay, <Herrick> It's a very fluid walk, depending on who's there and what questions they have, the conversation changes accordingly.

<Amanda> Well, do you talk a little bit about the history of the horseshoe and how that was where all the classes were at one time and all that?

<Herrick> We do touch on that on occasion?

And again, it just kind of depends on who's asking the questions and what they're interested in knowing about.

<Amanda> Okay, and that's the third >> - Tuesday <Amanda> Tuesday of every month at 11 at the steps to the McKissick.

<Herrick> Correct.

>> Okay.

Okay, well, Terasa, what now?

<Terasa> We have a weed question.

This one comes from Mandy in Sumter.

I have these fluffy weeds in my yard, and she shared a picture.

What are they?

And how do I manage them?

<Amanda> Carmen?

Is this a weed that's easy or difficult to tackle?

>> It's a little bit difficult right now, because that's a beautiful stand of tramp weed in full blown.

It is gorgeous, and a lot of people they sometimes get mistaken for dandelions when they're in there, because it has that beautiful fluffy white seed head kind of coming off, at that point, it is too late.

We're going to have to wait till next season, but luckily, tramp weed is actually a winter annual.

It's a broadleaf winter annual weed, so it will come back, and in warm season turf grasses.

If they wanted to do some type of a chemical control, they could actually spray a post emergent in November and then again in February, and then for everyone in the upstate if you were doing something and if you had the cool season turf grasses, you want to spray in February and March, and we have a lot of suggestions on what type of herbicides that you'd want to spray at HGIC.

They can just look up tramp weed.

We have a whole big table of options for them, but if you wanted to do it in terms of like a cultural control, something a little bit easier, definitely right now when they're mowing their lawn, try to use a bag and bag those seeds so that you're not dispersing them, and then of course, a healthy lawn makes a whole big difference and really can just out compete that tramp weed.

What ends up happening because we've had some dry spells right now, the dry seasons make it really an advantageous time for tramp weed to take over, especially in the bare spots that you have maybe not been paying attention to or kind of ignoring.

I know my dogs have made nice big bare spots around the yard, and that would be the perfect place for tramp weed to take over.

<Amanda> Is there a pre-emergent you can use if people don't want to use?

I mean, that's a lighter footprint, maybe.

<Carmen> Yes, there are some pre-emergents that you can use, and all those can also be found at the HGIC website.

We have a wonderful table of options, both for warm season turf grasses and cool season.

So, it's very important that you know what kind of turf grass you want.

<Amanda> And with the pre-emergent, the timing is going to be different, and I think I always try to remind people that it has to be watered in and you can't just think 15 minutes of your irrigation system is going to do it.

There's a certain amount of water I think that's required to move that down to the to the layer where those seeds are before they even think about germinating.

Right?

>> Yes, and with those pre-emergents, when you think about it, it is like a barrier.

So when those seeds if you put it out too late, and the seeds have already emerged, it's no good.

<Amanda> Or even germinate it.

<Carmen> Exactly, and then they only last for about six weeks, the pre-emergent barrier.

So, if you put it out too early, and it goes down after six weeks, then you've lost it again.

So, it's always important to make sure you get your timing right, like I said, HGIC is the perfect option for all of your summer annual weeds and your winter annual weeds on when to put out your pre-emergent, and some really great varieties that you can try that you can use.

<Amanda> Okay, and since y'all both have multiple counties, and that's a lot, that you're busy, if someone calls the office and y'all are out on a call, people can call HGIC, and I think there's a live person there.

Is that correct?

<Christopher> Yes, absolutely.

They have someone on staff that can answer your questions almost as well as we can or actually better.

<Carmen> - Better, most definitely better, <Amanda> Well they, and when things are happening, they get a lot of calls about it.

They probably just read something about it.

It might be a little easier for them to answer, but of course, it's nice to talk with people in your own area as well.

All right.

Well, Terasa.

<Terasa> This one is a little bit of a mystery, I suppose you could call it from John in Charleston who also shared a photograph.

He said this plant has popped in my garden.

It flowered and it looks like it's producing fruit.

What is it?

Should I keep it and is the fruit edible?

That's a lot of questions.

<Amanda> All right.

Christopher, what do you think?

<Christopher> So this looks like elderberry.

Elderberry is a very common native weed, I think is probably the best way to put it even though it is really a kind of a medicinal fruit tree.

It's an absolutely gorgeous flower when it's blooming kind of in the mid spring, and it pops up just about everywhere you can think of.

The fruit is technically not edible, though it can be processed into syrups, and wines and things like that, but I do not ever recommend eating it or even trying to consume it unless you have done the proper research, but that's definitely elderberry.

>> Well, and I planted it in my backyard, the back 40, so 2 and a half acres.

So, it can go as wild as it wants to because >> It works perfect for the birds.

<Terasa> Our water resources friends too like it for use in stream side buffers.

So, I believe it's one that you can make live stakes from and then use it for buffer purposes or like stream bank restoration.

So maybe in the right place.

<Amanda> Yes, and when you're riding around and see it usually that's a wet area.

Is that what you've noticed Herrick?

<Herrick> - From my experience, yeah, usually associated with small streams and openings like that, <Amanda> - or just a place where the water collects.

Yeah, which occasionally happens if we have enough water.

Well, Terasa, did we have somebody who sent us multiple pictures of their garden and felt pretty good about it?

<Terasa> We do.

Today's spotlight garden is Carollee Grindel from Simpsonville, South Carolina.

Carollee makes use of stone and statues in her landscape as we see with the birdbath in her landscape bed, and also the bed along the fence line.

We get glimpses of different parts of her yard and as we see the area behind and around her porch.

Carollee said the planting is done and now she's just waiting to see her plants grow and flourish, and it appears the festiva maxima peony is doing just that.

Thanks Carollee for giving us a little glimpse into your gardening world.

>> Oh, I had festiva max.

Had several of them, and 10 years ago I would get dozens of blooms every year, and as it's gotten hotter, and I think the plants just have to transpire so much at night.

They don't have the energy to make flowers anymore.

It just breaks my heart.

So I'm glad to see a picture of one because it is quite beautiful.

Well, Herrick, we were going to talk about something that you saw in a neighbor's yard and got excited about and apparently, got them kind of interested too.

Tell your little story to us.

<Herrick> So, about a year ago, I was walking my dogs and I noticed an interesting little flower in my neighbor's lawn, and I pointed it out to him, and I said, Did you know that's a native orchid?

And they said, "No, that's really cool.

"Do you want to make a specimen?"

I said, 'No.

No, you can just leave it.'

So fast forward to this year, and I'm walking my dog again, and noticed that they had recently mowed the lawn, and somehow very carefully mowed around the orchids.

So they're still standing, and I was just so impressed and happy with their extra effort... <Amanda> And of course, the orchid is - <Herrick> It's called Ladies'-Tresses.

It has an interesting inflorescence where the small little white flowers spiral up the stem and for - <Amanda> right where people used to curl their hair.

<Herrick> Exactly.

<Amanda> Don't you think?

<Herrick> Ladies'-Tresses.

Yeah, exactly, and so the scientific name is spiranthes, which literally means spiral flowers.

<Amanda> Isn't that fun?

How widely distributed is this native orchid?

<Herrick> We have about a little over a dozen species in the state.

This is probably one of the most common ones that you'll see in meadows and sometimes slightly wetter areas.

So it's quite possible that you might see it in your lawn too.

>> Well, a lot of people don't realize that we have native orchids.

What are some of the others that some of them that we might be familiar with, and just not actually make that connection?

And then some of the maybe more obscure ones?

<Herrick> Right, well, when we talk about orchids, we always think of like these big showy flowers that are super specialized.

It's one of the biggest plant families in the world, and we actually have a lot of native species here in South Carolina.

Most of ours aren't the kind of epiphytic ones that you would see growing on tree branches from the tropics.

Most of ours are terrestrial, and some of them are quite small and kind of unremarkable, actually.

<Amanda> Oh, get us excited.

<Herrick> A few that come to mind are sort of interesting, like Cranefly Orchid, which you probably actually see the leaves in the wintertime in deciduous forests, and what this plant does is it lies dormant through the hot season, and then it puts out these little leaves that just sit on the surface of the leaf litter, and they're green, and you can always tell because the veins run the length of the leaf.

They're parallel.

<Amanda> - because it's a monocot.

<Herrick> Right, because it's a monocot, and if you flip that leaf over, there's this beautiful, dark, deep purple color to it.

So I don't know what the difference, what the reason is for the different coloration, but what this plant is doing is it's capitalizing on the additional sunlight that's available during winter when the leaves are off the trees, and then later on, once it's got enough energy, it'll send up a flower spike and so sometimes it's hard to tell where the flowers are because they're so small in relation to those leaves.

<Amanda> And then you said there's one that has rattlesnake in it's name, which doesn't seem much like an orchid but <Herrick> Right yeah, so that rattlesnake plant rattlesnake plantain, real interesting little plant.

Again, it's sort of low to the ground, and it'll send up a little spike of white flowers as well, but the neat thing about it is that the rosette of leaves is this deep, almost emerald green with real interesting white veining through it.

So it's quite attractive from a foliage perspective.

>> And then there's one that is epiphytic, and I've seen it growing on a metal aluminum overhang over a doorway.

<Herrick> Right, So yeah, that we have green-fly orchid, which is our only epiphytic species and that means it grows on other plants <Amanda> - Or surfaces <Herrick> or surfaces.

Yeah, basically what it's trying to do is get access to light, and on the metal surface, I imagine there may have been some pooling of water that would have given it a little more access to moisture.

Usually this species is confined to the coastal plain of South Carolina, you don't really see it up in the end of the Piedmont and also usually closely associated with some sort of waterway like a river or lakes and those sorts of things.

The excess humidity - if you see Spanish moss growing there's a good chance you might have some of these orchids growing in the branches as well.

>> Why do you think it's called Green-fly?

<Herrick> You got a good, good question there.

I'm not sure.

Common names - Don't ask me I'm not, <Amanda> - Maybe after seeing the picture somebody will send us their ideas about it.

<Herrick> Sounds good.

<Terasa> It sounds strange we're talking about spiranthes things, because someone just posted a picture wanting to know, they were worried it was Cogongrass, and people, (laughing) and I was like, Oh no, this is a terrestrial orchid.

This is a great find.

So um, yeah, must be just the time of the year, I guess that we would expect to see it.

>> Right.

<Amanda> Isn't that fun?

About the time that you mow the grass.

(laughing) Well, we enjoyed so much having a visit with Holly Beaumier and she is a succulent expert, and what a fun time we had learning about that group of plants.

Well, my guest today is Holly Beaumier from Florence and she has a business called Growing Hobby, and it's all about succulents.

<Holly> That's right, and Amanda, thank you for having me.

>> Oh, I'm just delighted.

I'm already so excited about all of this.

So, first of all, what would be an overall definition of a succulent?

<Holly> Succulents are plants that store water for drought periods.

<Amanda> And so what are some examples?

<Holly> - Your typical cacti are succulents, and also aloe.

Most people are familiar with aloe, and one of the most common especially like through generations passing them along are the hens and chicks.

So, these are really cool because there's a center hen and then the chicks grow around her.

Sometimes you'll see the hen die away so that the chicks have more room to grow.

>> And I've seen an old yard some that were kind of gray and flatter.

You said there are many different types of hens and chicks.

>> There are, there are and I feel like every year there are more different types as they hybridize.

>> And this is unusual in that this one can survive our winters outside, <Holly> Correct.

<Amanda> The others are a little bit cold <Holly> Tender.

<Amanda> About 40 degrees?

>> About 40 I would start bringing in your plants, the succulents.

<Amanda> All right, well, while we're here, should we talk some about these?

<Holly> Sure, sure.

Another typical succulent is the trailing type, string of pearls, string of bananas.

This one is string of dolphins, and I just wanted to bring this along because of the seeds that it puts out.

This is how it will propagate on its own.

You can also just snip and leave the piece out for a couple of days and then stick it in the dirt and you'll have a new plant.

>> - that's one reason that people love these so much.

They're so simple to propagate.

<Holly> Yes, >> Yeah.

<Holly> Yes, (laughing) >> - so are there some in here that have some other interesting features?

<Holly> This Haworthia, it's called Lawyers Tongue or Ox Tongue.

It has these pups growing out, and as soon as those get a little bit of traction with some roots, you can cut those off and propagate from there, and this type of aloe, it's a tiger tooth aloe.

It grows straight up, and it's a type of climbing aloe, and it also puts out pups.

So you can cut out the pups, and you can also just cut it in the middle and let it callus over a little bit, harden up and then just put it straight in the dirt, also.

<Amanda> Is this like an aloe in that you could break it off and use it.

<Holly> This you can <Holly> also use for medicinal purposes.

Yes, <Amanda> Cool.

All right.

- then we've got a teeny little delicate one up here.

<Holly> Yes, that's a string of turtles, and that's something that they came out with.

It's just, it's a type of Peperomia.

It's kind of a pseudo succulent, treated a little bit more like a typical houseplant.

>> So you should there even on people who are doing this and propagating it.

Some of them are protected under a patent for a certain amount of time.

<Holly> Yes, yes.

So I need to make sure that I take care and not pull off a couple of leaves and start a new plant, because that's not my property.

<Amanda> Yeah, no.

That's right.

Yeah, a lot to be aware of, and then let's talk a little bit about the medium that you have them in <Holly> All of the plants that we have at Growing Hobby are put into a mix of potting soil, Coco Coir, which is ground up coconut shells, and a special clay coming out of California.

<Amanda> - that's ...because of the pH that you want?

<Holly> The pH and also for drainage.

>> And so that you said that, while most plants have that little window, you know in the upper fives and sixes, these prefer a very low Ph?

<Holly> 5.5 That's what we're going for.

<Amanda> That's, probably what you find in a lot of South Carolina soils.

Yeah, okay, and then over here - so, these are cacti and cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti.

<Holly> That's correct.

<Amanda> Okay.

All right.

Well, these all look like they might not have - they might have something on him that you wouldn't want to get your fingers.

<Holly> This one right here.

He's Old Man in the Mountain.

He does have thorns, but you can see he also has a beard.

(laughing) They grow hair and and the thorns also in part are to help with shading the plants whenever it gets really sunny.

So, the thorns of course protect it from predators and then it also provides - it also collects dew and cuts down on the wind, evaporating it.

>> Yes - but so There's such thing as too much sun for them?

<Holly> Oh, there is Yeah, in fact many of the plants will keep all of their pores closed during the day.

<Amanda> Oh, <Holly> and then, they will do their photosynthesizing at night.

>> Okay, so, - all of these have this kind of glaucous look to them, for that reason, that sun protection?

<Holly> It is.

It's sun protection.

<Amanda> Gosh, isn't that something?

>> Some look like they are just nice and furry, but those are prickles.

>> Yeah, I was trying them out earlier.

I wouldn't.

You know, sometimes those little prickles are the worst ones.

<Holly> Yeah, yes.

<Amanda> Okay.

Now cacti, I guess, are they?

They wouldn't be quite as easy to propagate maybe as one of these fellows?

<Holly> You'd be surprised.

These guys, you can just cut them in half.

Whoa, and just put the other half in the ground.

This one would callus over at the top, but probably grow too?

>> Uh huh.

Well, isn't that something these are - <Holly> - and these ones like to stay in a grouping.

Their seeds don't travel very far.

They just drop straight down - <Amanda> So, in nature, you'd find them, right?

They're really handsome.

I like that one.

<Holly> These will grow to about 30 feet tall.

<Amanda> Oh, goodness, and they're native to different places in the world?

<Holly> Those would be mountainous.

>> Mountainous?

How interesting because we think of them as, you know, just out in the desert.

>> Yes.

>> So they're really varied in where they grow?

<Holly> And we were just talking about seeds and how far they - how far away they fall.

There is the Haworthia here, and this one is really cool, because it's seed is at the tip of that inflorescence.

So, its goal is to get the seed out as far away from it as it can, and drop those seeds so that those seeds have a chance to live.

>> Now, most of these have low water requirements.

Is that correct?

<Holly> Yes, that is correct.

<Amanda> - and grow in places that are - have a drier soil, <Holly> For the most part.

Yes, yes.

Now these ones prefer to have shade over them.

>> My goodness.

>> Well, and this one, you said has the most interesting thing in the world going on?

What would it look like if you stumbled across it in its native area?

<Holly> You might not even see it, if you were going in its native area, it actually buries itself in the ground.

So all you would see are these tiny little tips up at the top, and these tips have, we call them stained glass windows, and they let the sun in, and, you know, if it only had this much surface for the sun to do its photosynthesis, it would have a hard time, but what it does is it lets all the sun come in and use the inside of the surface of the leaves for photosynthesis, <Amanda> If you were real close to one, you can put your finger up and see that it's somewhat translucent, you can see through - that is just fascinating, and now these are the different ways that times of year that they flower, depending on where they originate.

>> Correct.

>> So this one is really strange.

Let's talk about that.

<Holly> These are actually from South Africa, and normally, any of our house plants, they will have a dormancy period during the winter, but these guys never forget that they're from South Africa, and so I was really lucky to have this, have a flower and this time, normally it would be in the fall, and I have to make sure that during the summer, I don't water them very much because right now they're sleeping.

>> Yes.

Isn't that something.

Just remarkable.

So, now these kind of look like the color of them is, seems like a succulent color.

<Holly> Yes.

<Amanda> Is there a reason that seems so familiar to us?

<Holly> I think that these were probably whenever we thought succulents 10, 15 years ago, these are the ones that we saw in the stores, and they've varied so much now, but these all have a coating.

It's like a wax coating.

It's called farina.

>> I can.

>> Yeah, and it protects from the sun, and all of these have that.

There's a couple of types of sedum and these are echeveria here.

The echeveria and the sedum, they all do very well in propagating by leaves.

So if a leaf were to fall off like this one did, then it grows roots and then it'll grow a plant.

So all you have to do is set it on the soil and it will just grow and you don't even need to water it until the leaf is completely dried up because it has everything it needs in that leaf.

>> Gracious goodness, what incredible plants, and you know, we think of them as being so much full sun, but you're saying that because of where they are, they often there's very little moisture in the soil.

So there's not much going around them.

<Holly> Right, <Amanda> and so they don't get shade from anything nearby.

So that's why they have to come up with these ideas of how to cut down on sun.

<Holly> Exactly.

I feel like every one of them has a different character, and I brought these two, because a lot of times when we buy from the store, they are just like perfect, and you bring them home, and maybe two months later, you're like, What in the world is happening to this and it starts to get a little bit flaky maybe, and typically, I like to leave them as they are.

I want them to do their natural thing, but during the - <Amanda>-and you said the reason that they do this is to get to reach for the sun <Holly> That's correct.

So if they don't have enough sun, particularly during the winter, then they will start to do this, and you'll have this happening in your pots in the spring.

So I was hoping that we could cut this one apart so I can show people what to do whenever they get this look and they don't care for it.

>> Well, let's play doctor.

>> Okay.

(laughing) <Holly> So this echeveria is called topsy turvy, and you can see from the leaves they're kind of turned inside out.

<Amanda> They are.

It's really quite lovely.

<Holly> It really is.

This is one of my favorites.

<Amanda> Wouldn't that make a neat boutonniere?

>> It would.

>> That would be so much fun.

Okay, <Holly> So, this one had grown out and lost.

There were leaves all through here, last summer, and it lost those leaves, and it started to grow additional plants here, and there's one extra little pup growing here.

So what we would do... Do I need to turn this?

<Amanda> I think that's really good.

Still cut it.

<Holly> We're just going to cut it.

This part here will live off of the roots <Amanda> and it will, the stored reserves, loosens from there, I guess.

<Holly> And it will be perfectly fine, and it'll start growing more of these right on the end.

>> Oh, okay, from the cut in.

Right.

Okay, right.

<Holly> And then this little guy, I don't want to disturb him.

So I'm just going to leave some of that stem on there for him, and then cut him, I'm going to let you hold on to him.

Okay, so he will need to sit on the ground for about three or four days for it to callus over, and then you can just stick it in the ground a little bit, and he'll start growing >> Now, is he going to grow from the end here?

Or is this going to continue to grow <Holly> Both.

<Amanda> Both, you'll have.

Okay.

<Holly> and whichever, whichever end you put into the dirt is where the roots are going to grow.

>> Okay.

All righty.

>> - then this is the same, you would leave it on top of the dirt for a little while, and then just place it in, and you have a beautiful looking plant again.

<Amanda> Isn't that something?

Now, you said that you enjoy mixing them at your shop and having different types together?

<Holly> I do I do, but I always try to make sure that I'm doing >> similar cultural requirements.

<Holly> Exactly, exactly.

So a lot of times I do just Haworthia types of arrangements, and there are so many types of Haworthia.

This is my favorite for terrariums close to our areas, and then I'll also take more of this type here and have those in a single type of arrangement.

Of course, cacti would go in a different >> Yeah, and then sometimes you have workshops and you'll do crazy things like I have some old shoes that I have (laughing) Tell me some of the fun things y'all do sometimes when you have workshops, <Holly> We actually invite our customers to bring in their old high heeled shoes, that they can't wear anymore.

We drill holes in the bottom so that it has some sort of drainage, and we make little mini gardens.

So it's just our little.

<Amanda> Yeah, and other things as well.

Yeah, and all of these do have good drainage.

>> Yes.

>> The soil is also very porous.

<Holly> So yes.

<Amanda> Well, I think that they don't need a whole lot of water either, even around wintertime, and not picky about sunlight, don't need a whole lot of fertilizer.

<Holly> Sounds perfect, huh?

(laughing) <Amanda> They sound like my kind of plant.

<Holly> Yes.

<Amanda> So if people want to know and you have your location is where?

<Holly> It's at the Pee Dee State Farmers' Market.

I have a permanent booth there.

<Amanda> All righty, - and if people want to find out more about it, your name again is <Holly> Growing Hobby.

<Holly> We have a Facebook page.

<Amanda> All right.

Okay, and if you just google Growing Hobby in Florence, you can just give me a call.

<Amanda> Okay, and you put pictures there of fun things y'all do as well.

<Holly> Oh, yes, absolutely.

<Amanda> Well, I can tell that you're having a good time with this, and I want to thank you for sharing this fascinating information with our viewers today.

<Holly> Well, thank you.

I appreciate it.

>> We certainly appreciate Holly coming over you and bringing all those wonderful plants and telling us about the ones that are from South Africa and how they don't forget what hemisphere they're from, when it comes to flowering and all of that it was just fascinating, and Terasa, I think that it's nice to learn that the Pee Dee Farmers Market has permanent vendors, if I'm not mistaken.

<Terasa> They do have a few that are staples kind of throughout the year, and then of course, you're going to have more during the height of planting season.

>> Yes, of course.

Well, once again, I have to thank my and my friend Ann Nolty, because she provided flowers for my hat and she has a very, she has a hidden ginger and a cone flower and there's some phlox and there's some spurge, and just you know, a variety of things that made a hat.

I hope that you enjoy it, and I always appreciate the things that she does to help me out, because she has a wonderful cutting garden, and I have almost a non-existent cutting garden, except, but lots of camellias but that doesn't list this time of year does it Terasa?

<Terasa> and no and you don't want to steal your husband's flowers too often, right?

I think you've managed to steal away how you >> Occasionally, I can sneak one out, but I tell you for somebody who seems to be interested in other things, completely absorbed.

There seems to be some kind of connection between my going out at certain times.

I'm going to sneak out or try to close the door quiet, at any rate.

Well, Herrick, y'all have an exhibit that's going on up that at two places on the campus that honors Mark Catesby and give us a little reminder of why Catesby deserves to have exhibits.

<Herrick> All right.

So, 300 years ago this year, he set foot in Charleston and he went on a four year sojourn through Carolina, Florida, Bahama Islands.

<Amanda> Now, he didn't go to the upstate of the Carolinas, did he?

<Herrick> No.

I think the furthest that we know he went in inland is - what was at the time called Fort Moore, which is present day in North Augusta, fortifications there, and his job was to illustrate, collect and describe all the flora and fauna that he saw here, and he sent some specimens back to his benefactors in England, and ultimately, when he returned to England, he embarked on another journey to create a two volume work called the Natural History.

It's two big books, where he illustrated birds and fish and plants and all kinds of things.

<Amanda> He had to learn how to etch because he couldn't afford to send it off to the experts.

<Herrick> He was a very good artist like in terms of watercolors and whatnot, and then he used those to copy and then transfer the images to copper plates that he etched.

So he did all this by himself.

>> then he colored them again, and then they were printed.

>> and once they were printed, so it was just kind of like a black and white outline, he would then color those in, and they were sold on as a subscription basis.

So he would issue like 10 plates at a time until the entire volume was completed, and then the recipients of those issues would bind it all together in a book.

>> And so it's this exhibit is going on through August, I believe.

<Herrick> - Through August.

Yeah, and it's at two locations on USC's campus in Columbia.

One is at the Rare Books and Special Collections wing of the Thomas Cooper Library, and that one's only open from nine to five I think during weekdays.

McKissick Museum is open from nine to sometime in the afternoon on Saturdays.

So, you might have a better chance of seeing that one <Amanda> - and during the week too.

>> - and during the week.

Yes, during the week, but if you can only make it on a weekend.

You can definitely see the one at McKissick.

>> Okay, and so, we have a plate that has Magnolia grandiflora?

<Herrick> Right.

So, one of the most interesting plates to me in Catesby's Natural History is I think it's about plate 60 in Volume Two, where it features a plant exclusively.

Most of the other plates leading up to that feature a animal or plant and some sort of association, but plate 60 was actually etched by a friend George Dionysius Ehret and he was very experienced in doing this sort of copper plate etching.

When you see that plate, it just captures your eye.

The background is all filled in and in black.

Not a single part of the page is left uncolored and it's just quite an image to behold, but it's also a little bit of a trompe l'oei.

It's a trick of the eye, because what is depicted on there is the flowers of this tree, which everybody probably knows very well, <Amanda> A wonderful, flowering southern magnolia.

<Herrick> Right.

Yep.

<Herrick> And fruits with seeds dripping out of out of them at the same time, and this is not something that you would see in nature necessarily because it's like trying to figure out if a chicken came before the egg.

Did the seed come before the flower, but so this kind of tells us, gives us a hint that Catesby and Ehret had time to observe this plant, probably in a garden in England, and observe it across seasons, so they weren't just passing through the countryside, saw it once, and we're able to get all that information on one plate.

<Amanda> Magnolias are interesting, because of their pollination.

Tell us a little bit about that, and I think it has to do, because it's such an old plant to evolve.

<Herrick> Yeah, this is a primitive lineage that apparently or we think, evolved prior to our other more commonly thought of pollinators like bees and butterflies, and so they actually rely on beetles to transfer pollen from one flower to the other.

<Amanda> - I believe that the petals are called tables, because they're a combination of petals and sepals or something.

- I think the beetle goes in before the flower opens it kind of bumbles its way in there.

>> Right.

Yes.

<Amanda> Go bumbling sometimes.

<Herrick> Yeah, exactly.

So you mentioned that term tepals.

That's botanists like to be sort of goofball sometimes when it comes to terminology, and so it's another kind of clue too, that this is an ancient lineage where the sepals that would normally subtend or be below those colorful petals, and the little green parts at the bottom of a rose, if you will, look just like the petals, and since they're not differentiated, we change the word from petals, to t-e-p-a-l-s, petals, tepals.

Anyway, so when a young flower is still just beginning to open, the those tepals are kind of interlocked and protecting the male and female parts of the flower inside, and so it's waiting for a beetle to come from a flower that's already opened and gotten pollen on it, and transfer that to the female parts that are inside and still sort of protected by those tepals.

<Amanda> - Even when you say the male and female structures, they're not typical, and that they're, you know, ones that have a whole lot of pollen on them, and then you've got the female structures too.

This is kind of just - one unit.

<Herrick> Yeah, it's one kind of complicated unit, and usually, you'll see those after the stamens have fallen off.

There's like a scar ring left at the base of this aggregate fruit.

So it's actually a bunch of individual fruits stuck together in what we call an aggregate, and that's another clue that this is sort of an ancient lineage because the structure is not differentiated as much as it is in more modern flowering plants.

>> Christopher, you like to see what animals what parts of our wildlife enjoy interactions of plants, and you said that even though it sounds like this was about came around with the beetle being the main one to take advantage...of the pollen and the nectar, you see a lot of wildlife using magnolias.

<Christopher> Yeah, so the Magnolia the southern magnolia particularly, does seem to be a tree that's very important as far as wildlife, supporting wildlife, the flowers alone, I mean, the number of pollinators whether native bees, bumblebees that go after those flowers, they have really good fragrance, you will see the occasional hummingbird around them.

So there's a lot more than just the beetles, I think.

I think the beetles were the initial ones, but it's obviously other wildlife say, I like this as well, and then of course the fruits are very popular amongst the birds in that nice dense heavy canopy that you get from it.

It's fantastic for supporting a lot of different wildlife as well.

<Amanda> - It's also an easy tree to climb.

I have pictures of my children way - if you leave the limbs coming down It's just a wonderful climbing tree for children, and everybody should have a magnolia grandiflora Thank you for telling us about that.

>> Absolutely.

>> Okay.

Terasa?

<Terasa> We have another sort of mystery.

Jane was out walking in the woods and snapped a photograph of a mass of bubbles on a plant and said, "Can anyone please tell me what these are?"

>> Well Carmen, what do you think's going on here?

>> That is definitely the frothy kind of mass that is enclosing a Spittlebug nymph.

If she wanted to go and touch it, she would have seen that there was a teeny tiny little creamed size insect with little brown head that will end up becoming a really great Spittlebug.

I know I don't see it in the woods as much.

I see it more on centipede grasses and St. Augustine, but what it's doing is it's currently growing into an adult.

It'll finally morph inside of that nice.

It looks like a milkshake looking froth, And what it's doing is it's providing really great human environment for the Spittlebug to grow up, as well as protection because clearly no one wants to touch that.

<Amanda> Well, it seems like it would have used a good bit of energy and moisture to produce all that spittle doesn't it?

<Carmen> - A lot of it they're pulling from the plant, but a lot it's become it's just a natural form for him, but it only lasts for a little bit.

So normally the adults will come.

They'll lay the eggs March, April and then in May, they will actually form that spittlebugs that frothy mass.

So right now in May, I bet a bunch of people are starting to see it, because in June it will emerge as an adult.

<Amanda> Is it a problem?

>> You know, in turfgrass, it is.

It can be and a lot of the times when I see it, I see it in overgrown thatch.

So, they've got really built up thatch, more than is recommended, that's when it can be a problem, and so a lot of people if you want to do a cultural control, make sure to keep your thatch layer at an appropriate height, but also there are a number of insecticides you can use.

<Amanda> If you have a super heavy infestation.

<Carmen> - Super heavy infestation.

>> But, it's a curiosity.

>> It's fun to see, especially out in nature, where it's not hurting anything.

You got to love it.

You love nature.

>> I think you do.

All right, Terasa, what's up next?

<Terasa> All right.

This one comes in from Karen Thomas in Irmo, and there's kind of a long description that goes with it.

So listen carefully.

We live in Irmo, right on the lake, our big cedar trees are dying, we noticed the decline last fall, all the needles turned brown, it seemed like all at once.

We had to cut one down and the second one will come down soon.

She shared a number of pictures of the overall tree and then the one that has been cut down and she's really wanting to know what we can do and said, "Do you think over watering could be a problem?"

<Amanda> Gosh, and it Eastern Red Cedar to me.

It's just - I think you might agree, Christopher.

An incredible tree for wildlife.

<Christopher> Yes, so this is >> Do you have any idea what's going on here?

>> Yes.

So this is the native Juniper species Juniperus virginiana, and this is not one that generally has problems.

That's why it's a very common tree throughout most of the East Coast, but there has been some emerging problems with the Eastern Red Cedar that seems to be a lot in up north in the northeast, but we are starting to see it kind of move its way down.

Now we really don't know what's going on with it, <Amanda> Oh we don't?

<Christopher> No, not really.

There is some disease concern, some botryosphaeria diseases, some phomopsis disease that is present on the declining trees, but <Amanda> What came first?

>> Yeah, what came first the decline or the disease?

- and so there's some research being done right now, but unfortunately, this is kind of a new issue.

And so this is one of those things that I would definitely keep an eye out on the trees and see if we can't send some of those samples off to the lab to get it identified a little bit more closely.

>> Don't we have a lab at Clemson that does that?

>> We sure do.

We have the plant and pest diagnostic clinic, correct.

and that's going to be an excellent place to send off samples in order to kind of better identify what's going on, and I think that's probably the first thing I would do.

>> Tell me how you would prepare the samples and then go from there.

<Christopher> So I would try to get as much material from this tree without obviously taking the entire tree down, and I will try to get a little bit of a live material, as well as dead material.

Yeah, so you want to try to get a little bit of both, and if we can try to get some of the root system as well, obviously, with a mature tree, and this is a mature tree, it's going to be relatively difficult to kind of get a perfect sample from it, but that's where I would just try to get as much as I can into a small container, and of course try to put something in there to keep it fairly moist, at least while it's traveling though.

I'm less concerned about it breaking down, because of the type of tree it is.

<Amanda> At the offices where they take it they may want to call to be sure that there's someone there who can mail it off, and I usually used to try to send them early in the week so they wouldn't sit there over a long hot weekend.

Do you think that's a good idea?

<Christopher> I do think that's a good idea.

Check to make sure that you're not bringing it in at Friday at four o'clock, as the offices are closing and so it's going to sit over the weekend, We do have refrigeration in the offices that can be used to store these samples for a couple days, but the idea is the quicker it gets sent to the lab, the more accurate they're going to be able to actually identify what's going on.

Unfortunately, once plant material starts to break down, you have a lot of other things that come in and start to get rid of whatever was actually causing the problem.

>> Okay, well, that's distressing.

It's a very important tree for wildlife, >> It is.

>> - and interesting because they're male and females, and of course, the female has what's not a berry, but don't tell the cedar waxwings that.

(laughing) But you've got a new instrument at the herbarium which isn't just glue, the right kind of glue for pressing samples and things.

What's going on up there?

<Herrick> Well, we recently got a really cool Leica S-9-I microscope.

<Amanda> A Leica.

I don't know, but that originally that sounds Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching, Cha-Ching.

<Herrick> Right.

I think they typically do stuff for like industry and what not, but the dean's office offered an initiative for purchase of small equipment, and they supported our proposal to use this thing, and so now we've been taking really close up shots of some of the plant specimens that we have there, <Amanda> Preserved specimens, >> Preserved specimens, live specimens before they get preserved so that we can capture some of the diagnostic characters, and I'm kind of excited too, because some of the things that we're capturing on these really high magnified, yeah, high resolution, about 50 times magnification are things like lepidopteron eggs, so we might know which butterflies are visiting these plants based on the images that we're getting out of these things.

<Amanda> Well, y'all must be having fun up there with that.

I mean, y'all have fun all the time.

>> Yeah.

<Amanda> - I know that I say that, because I think you have some people who volunteer there are some things that even somebody like me might be able to do.

<Herrick> Absolutely, Yeah.

So everything from glue and paper to bytes and digits and entering information in our database.

So there's no shortage of work in the herbarium, for sure.

<Amanda> All right.

Well, thank you.

So people could call you if they wanted to come and enjoy finding out about the herbarium.

>> Sure.

>> Yeah.

herbarium.org Isn't that just remarkable?

We have that at the University of South Carolina.

Well, Terasa, I think we have time for a relatively short answer, if we have a question that might prompt that.

<Terasa> Let's try to help Carolyn in Pageland she shared a photograph saying, "This is popping up on the leaves of our pecan trees.

What is this?

Should I be worried?"

>> Okay.

Carmen?

<Carmen> Yes.

So it looks, it looks like the galls of phylloxera, which is basically the blistering that she sees, and very, very succinctly, it is the plant trying to protect the rest of the tissue from this aphid like insects, as well as the aphid like insect making a nice little protective place for it to be safe for its young in the environment.

<Amanda> So it's reproducing within this little boil, like tiny boil.

>> It is and it's eating a little bit of it, too.

It's takes it's little sucking parts, and it's sucking out the juices of its little mouthparts.

So normally, not very, not a big problem.

Some people if you're in a big orchard situation, or you have a bunch of them, and a lot of galling, that might require some insecticide use, but in a home situation, one to four beautiful trees, there, it's normally fine.

A lot of people just scrape up the leaves as they fall in the winter time, and just keep that pecan tree healthy, and so it normally is only on the pecans, and what you ended up doing, just make sure they're fertilized and watered in time of drought.

Right now, it's been pretty hot, kind of drought conditions.

Pecans really do need a fair amount of water.

>> I have some old ones that we don't have central air or anything in our house, which is an old house too, and in past summers, and I guess I'm going to do it this summer, too.

Sometimes I've taken the hose and had it come out pretty slowly, and I take it out kind of halfway to the drip line and put it there and I'll let it run for three or four hours and it's really running slowly, because I've been, Gilbert Mill explained it to us down at the Edisto Rec one time that if you water real slowly, the water tends to move laterally rather than vertically, and most of the roots that are active in taking up water are going to be in the upper part of the soil, aren't they?

>> Yes and further away right at that drip line.

So, you want to go wide as opposed to deep.

So, that's the perfect technique.

<Amanda> Because pecan trees are funny sometimes.

It seems like they drop a limb more likely when it's just kind of a quiet day.

Have you ever felt that way about them?

>> Oh, yes!

We've got a bunch on our property and just randomly.

It's just like oh, okay, we're just going to let you do that.

>> Yeah, I was out getting the mail with my son one time.

He was a little fellow, you know, I was holding him and all of a sudden this pecan just kind of - we just sat there like this and fortunately, nothing bad came of it, but, they're just peculiar.

Okay, well y'all were so grand to come and be with us today.

We just appreciate everyone's input and time and energy, and thank you for joining us at home and we'll see you next week.

♪ closing music ♪ ♪ Making It Grow is brought to you in part by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.

Certified South Carolina grown helps consumers identify, find and buy South Carolina products.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 22 varieties of peaches.

Additional funding provided by International Paper and the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance.