Hello, and thanks for joining us for another episode of Mid American gardener.

I'm your host Tinisha, Spain.

And joining me in the studio today are two of our regular panelists who are here to share all of their knowledge about things green and growing.

So before we get started, we'll have them introduce themselves and tell you a little bit about their specialty.

So Martie, we'll start with you.

Hi, I'm Martie Alanga.

I have landscape for years and years by the seat of my pants.

It was like oh, you're a master gardener know what?

Difference, like Marcus Welby.

So I'm retiring from landscaping, but I still have so much stuff.

In fact, it's so nice today.

I'm gonna go home and plant some more.

So you can talk about that because I still have tulips.

Awesome.

All right, Jen.

Hi, I'm Jennifer Nelson.

I have wear many hats.

I have a website groundedandgrowing.com where I write about gardening.

I also teach at U of I teach HORT 105 vegetable gardening so I kind of cover the gamut of horticultural Wonderful.

Okay, let's start off with a couple of questions I put out on Facebook.

Send us your questions in and we got a couple.

So we'll start with this one from Julie Walters Kingrie.

He wants to know if she should keep a grow light on her umbrella plant during the winter indoors.

I would if she has the space to do so it will help it to keep its growth getting really leggy over the winter.

In my experience, umbrella plants get as large as you want them to be they're a tree in their native habitat.

And as a high school student with an interest in plants I kept repotting my mom's umbrella tree over and over and at its height, I think it took like 40 pounds of potting soil and my dad and I built a cart for it.

And outgrew the house.

So be careful what you wish for because they will get bigger and bigger.

But alight is a good idea.

Otherwise it tends to get kind of real, regularly growth over the winter time.

Gotcha.

Okay.

All right.

And we were we always talk about how affordable lights have become.

You've got some in your kitchen that you stuck under the counter.

I've got a grow light at my desk that's magnetic, you can get in pretty much anywhere for 1015 bucks.

All right.

There's another one from artists Chang who wants to know how to take care of store bought potted poinsettias during the holidays, and as well as afterwards and if you've watched this show, you know Marty adopts the church's poinsettias every year after christmas i 10 tries to keep them alive.

So what's the trick for because you know, everybody tosses them December 26 There I can't they're out there with the wrapping paper and I can't there's the living plants.

Funny the difference between my greenhouse panelists panelist because the greenhouse people are like get rid of it.

You guys are like I love it do so what do you do with them to help them survive you got to remember that they in spite of their flowery look, there, they have a very thick SAP.

So you know if you accidentally break off a leaf, you do it on purpose.

It's really gummy and sappy so that they don't need very much water at all.

Not at all.

You can let them dry completely out until they look like maybe lag a little bit.

And then you know sediment a bigger like in a bucket of water for back down they're good for a month because they don't need that much treating like a succulent, but they need light also.

They don't have to be in a south window but in the winter in Illinois, how to work with matter.

When you start seeing new growth, the blacks are going to fall the red leaves are going to fall because really all they are is leaves but they're not flowers.

They're called Brax because the little yellow guy in the middle is the flower Brax just change color to help attract pollinators.

Okay and like generous about the umbrella plant went to the West Indies one time I saw a tree I thought I should recognize that turned out to be a point setup I'm like there's something familiar about the size of a dog would you say there was like a bench under bench under it in somebody's yard?

I'm like trespass, but what is that thing?

Sort of was a boy said it was so again, in their native habitat are very, very large.

So yeah, just tried to try and do minimal.

What if you want it to bloom again?

If you have a shady place, much like the amaryllis we're going to talk about you can put the poinsettias out in a shady spot in the yard not in full sun that's it's too harsh here.

But just you know when you go by give them a shot.

With the hose, if they're dry or not, they will grow a lot and feel free if they start to grow bigger than you want.

Just cut them back shape them up, because you're planning on bringing them back in, you know, so don't have monsters.

But they're they're pretty, pretty easy maintenance.

Yeah, therefore, we love those kind are nearly mine mine dry up and die in the summer because I'm not in the house at all.

And I don't take them outside either.

So.

And this is my amaryllis, like we're going to discuss here and when was so yeah, I don't know why you call for advice from me?

Because anyway, all right.

So as she alluded to, we're gonna be talking about amaryllis.

This is another one of my faves.

They both brought them in for different reasons.

So Jen, tell us a little bit about yours and the one that's actually alive, and it's somehow alive, despite me, I will tell you that this is a bulb that I bought on clearance after Christmas, and it was marked down from, I think 1299 to like $5, because it is a card, it was in a bag and it started to grow in the bag.

And so I could see where someone maybe didn't want it, but I wanted it because it was still alive.

Like we said, I can't resist can be saved.

Again, if you find stuff like that, after Christmas or close to Christmas that it started to grow in the package.

And it's kind of twisted up and it's not necessarily dead, you might not get the flower that you want this year, but it's certainly not dead yet.

And so take it home.

And so it's been growing in this pot for I don't know how long five years or so.

And I kept saying, oh, I should report that I should report that and then it started you once bulbs get you know enough age on them, they'll start to make a little baby bulb and offset.

And I noticed that and that was enough reason to procrastinate repattern it again, because I wanted to wait for that to get thick enough.

And I was like, you know, it's big enough.

And I don't take mine out in time for Christmas because I figured there's enough going on.

I wait till after Christmas to take mine in from the garage and start watering them.

So I have something that look at after all the Christmas is put away.

But yeah, this is a little beyond needed.

It needs repotting, it's I'm probably going to pot this big guy back in the same pot, but we'll kind of clean up, loosen up the roots and break this baby guy off.

So at this point, I mean is that would you consider that route bound?

Or is that still healthy and in good shape and decent shape?

And I like I think they do a little better a little bit.

rootbound What do you any?

Any potted plant does better with tight shoes?

Yeah, I mean, it's it's too much moisture in that little space because you got to every time you put something Pat in a pot, you make a microclimate.

And you have to remember it can get to it, you know, it's like Oh, it'll grow No, it'll drown is what it'll do.

So I mean, I will loosen up the soil and kind of replace the soil.

It's good.

It's, it could use a refresh, okay.

All right.

So while you're working on teasing those out and and repotting now we're gonna go to Marty's example.

years ago, years ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I went to either Rural King or pharmacy and I found some Amaryllis they were in little boxes, you know, they got their little hole and they'll blow in a blue and there'll be so pretty.

Okay, these were horrible.

They were all hunched over like they it was sad.

It was like they need to go there raise their cage, but what's the Katrin they were still we're still alive.

They're not done yet.

So I brought them home and I put them in small pots like this.

I had a variety of them.

And I'll just take the dirt off of here.

I have repotted these.

And I have make a mess.

We'll have DNA.

That's right.

So we're just gonna have a vacuum Put on your apron and your little frilly okay?

So these are just, they're just I think this is what happens when you neglect an amaryllis.

Now, how do you say this one as Jen said, that one's a baby four or five years old.

This is probably four or five years old.

Okay.

And the bulb in here is fine.

I'm so sorry.

You're really good.

Smith's wife gets paid the big bucks.

Okay.

And be sure to wear the little hat too.

So I don't know why you're showing me and not Jen.

She's got some fun over there.

It's actually like, this is awful.

I mean, it's just really it's still alive.

It is still alive in real life because this is what people are going through at home.

Yeah, five of them.

I had I bought six there were like a buck of throw get in the car.

I will save you.

You will.

Never bloomed none of them.

Have ever bloomed people.

It's It's heartbreaking.

I quit watering these in July.

I'm in my living room.

They're in an east window.

They have plenty of light.

And I stopped watering.

There's nothing else on that table with them.

And I was like, Nope, you don't get any more water because then you'll dry down and I'll be able to start watering you again.

And then I'll have Amaryllis for Christmas.

That was a terrible I tell myself every single year didn't happen.

I like I said, I have repotted them, I that they never need to go on a bigger pot, because this is what they do.

And here we are in December, and they still haven't had any water.

And there's some leaves tipping up here.

I don't know if you can see that.

If you can close up there.

There's some leaves this little green wing, or did you just get a bad set?

Oh, I don't possibility I don't do any of the things for them that I tell you to do.

That's a problem.

Have you tried putting it outside?

You know, I should probably try putting it outside.

Yeah, you told me to do that.

And I did that.

And that following December when I Yeah.

When I woke it back up?

It.

It just needed to be outside in the front.

Yeah.

See?

I know what yeah, she's got the laser.

Cut any of those down the roots.

I'm gonna cut just so I can get it back in the pot easier.

Now, if someone at home because I know I get a little nervous cutting routes.

What's the advice?

How long?

How much do you want to take off?

Take out maybe maybe a third is what I was aiming for.

But I just wanted it to be easier to put it back.

But like Marty said, I don't want it to be like no roots, because then it's going to focus on growing roots more.

I'm pretty sure this one will bloom again, I put it outside in kind of a semi shady area for the summer and basically forget about it.

If I get if I hit it with the holes when I'm watering other stuff great.

Or if the lawn sprinkler heads that great.

But it seems to like it.

And it doesn't involve a ton of work for me.

So I'm okay with that.

So back in the pot.

That one goes.

Yeah, I am thinking, I've got to.

I've got a big tray.

These all fit in.

And I'm going to try setting them outside.

I'm not going to report them this year, just like I've not potted them before.

And yeah, we'll just we'll just come back next.

Give them a list number fertilizer.

Yeah, happens.

Like I said, they don't even I have five of these.

One of them has a leaf on it this long.

It's like, too bad Martie not blooming.

No, then it won't die.

It won't die.

And I'm gonna show you guys a picture to me that I found Well, I didn't find the picture.

I took the picture.

I went to the grocery store, and of course everything.

Everyone's got poinsettias, and cactus and all these lovely holiday plants out.

So I saw this one at the grocery store.

And it was just so simple.

So cute.

I didn't buy it.

I have enough enrollments at home.

But I was wondering if you have one like this, because you can see there's no soil it's not in a pot, and even the tag says waterless amarilla.

So is this a new sort of trendy way to have these and how do you care for them?

To marvel in nature, just just look at that.

I've seen them and the ones that I've seen in catalogs are coated in some sort of wax and they're they're advertised as no need to water them.

And I don't know if they're intending people to just dump it when they're done with it.

But I'm thinking I would try to peel whatever's on the outside off because they're also really expensive.

I've seen were like $40 which was well beyond what I would spend on the amaryllis ones are in high demand.

pine cones, yes.

Plastic berries, you can't get those just anywhere.

Yes, baby your special limited edition plastic berries.

That was the coolest thing but I wondered how if you had to dunk it or spray it but I'm like you I would be taking that apart I would you know trying to figure out how to keep it keep it and absolutely put it in a pot or something.

We were also discussing this before the show and I said I don't even know how they keep it upright so they must have cemented or glued it on that little piece of wood and it is a cute little thing it is but I'm not sure where the roots are going to how you care right because you saw a much Oh yeah, there is Mrs. B like the whole can just kind of busting through All right, next order of business pruning.

So I've shared a couple of times we recently moved to a new new house.

And with that came some beautiful landscaping lots of new plants and flowers and trees and things to explore the spring.

This is one that is in the front yard.

I I just knew that it was a willow I didn't know anything else about it.

But I wanted to find out so it's it's spilling over and it's grabbing the mulch beneath it.

It's kind of hooking itself to the ground.

So I took a few pictures to ask these ladies what I should do when I should do it.

When's a good time?

And then I wanted to show that there was some butting that was set there.

So let's go back.

And please tell me what do we have here?

And what do I need to do?

Because it looks like a mop top.

Yeah, I was sure it was a willow.

If you'd zoomed in a little bit.

You can see that the leaves are willowy.

And then Jen and I were collaborating.

And when she showed this close up picture, I'm like, is that a pussy willow?

Wait a minute, there's cat kins on there.

So I didn't I wasn't I wasn't thinking I was even pretty well, but you see, the trunk is quite large on that thing.

So So you're thinking I have a pussy willow?

I do.

Okay, and I would.

What do you think, Jen?

If I were if it were mine, I would let it bloom in the spring and then I'd probably I think I wouldn't cut it now.

No, no, because you miss all the fun in the springtime.

Oh, darn it.

Oh, the Calkins opening but once they do, then it's that's all it does.

Okay.

So I'm so glad I asked.

Because we always talk about dormant pruning, and I would have went out there and no, it looks like nobody's done much to it in a while.

So probably like I think what Marty's getting at maybe to see what's looking its best and there's probably going to be some dead stuff.

And yeah, in the back you can tell it's a little bit shorter and kind of going through it on the backside.

Can you enlarge that?

And we can see is the green.

Green is not part of it.

Oh, that's something else?

Sneaking.

Maybe I get that out of there and go?

Well, we'll have some adventures in the spring but would you use shears would you use him for your hand pruners?

Okay.

Okay, I would I would limit up with hand printers and try to look make it look as as natural as possible.

I mean, it's Willow.

So it's gonna survive with cockroaches but still nuclear blast.

Yeah, it's fine.

It's gonna root in on the ground at the ground level where that's what I'm saying.

Yeah, you have it's already starting to happen.

So should I leave those even until after spring until it blooms leave the ones that are ground up okay.

You know, if they're rooted pretty firmly you could you could cut them off and you can pull them up but they're definitely oh they're ridiculous Yeah, there they go fast track record.

Do when you do cut it like don't cut it don't bowl cut it yeah don't not the volca No.

Random give it some random is good.

I make it look like stopping by like God pruned it if you tell me where you live.

All right.

Let's steal this.

No, I'm gonna schedule an appointment.

And one more photo I want to share and then we'll go back to the amaryllis so Morty Morty, Marty made a porch pot the last time she was here.

And this is just a gratuitous photo of my front porch.

It's cute to show that pot.

So glad you you re I'm glad you remade it because mine was awful.

It was not in that snowman.

Just a little tidbit is older than I am.

That was my grandparents years.

And so yeah, and I Yeah, so anyway, thanks for making that porch pot.

It's going to good use good.

I love that you had the kids with their handprints?

Yes.

Well, yes.

Okay, Amaryllis back back for the update.

Okay, the grand finale, yes, semi finale.

So when you're putting in amaryllis, it's important that it's not like another bulb where you just bury the whole thing you want to leave about half of it showing I did that you did that?

Good Jack, we can we can refresh the soil I brought the official cat litter bucket, garage.

So I will show tips, professional tips, recyclable cat litter bucket.

Absolutely.

But I'm not quite done with this one.

But I just kind of set the roots in there.

And I'm I will.

When I'm not on television and making a bit I'll make a racket, but I'll tamp it, tamp it down so that the soil gets in there.

She's got her band out, the roots are kind of fanned out in the bottom of the pot.

And so I'll tap it on the table and I'll water it in to make sure the soil kind of settles.

So maybe this one will get a start before before Christmas, just because we're reporting it now.

So you just pulled these out.

Yeah, and you're gonna begin to water them now.

Yeah, okay, because I want to settle the soil and and everything.

Or I can just leave it in the garage and put it off.

I don't know.

I do.

Actually.

I've had Amaryllis in the past that did rebloom and I'm the same way it's like I have so much other stuff happening.

And man before the days start to get longer does Amaryllis lovely in the house because something's happening here in central Illinois and is brown and gray.

And then it's brown, but it's also gray.

Yes.

And it's muddy bear.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So, yeah, having some fun in the house.

It's lovely.

We do have one more question actually about petunias.

I don't know if either you are familiar with them.

But yeah, there's a lot in the question.

And this is from Tony Becker, you may remember him.

We did a special on him.

Yeah.

And his seeds and planting flowers.

His question is, why is there so much information out there that says petunias cannot handle frost or hard freezes?

And in his email he talks about he has evidence to the contrary that they can survive.

So any any insight there about petunias?

Are they?

Are they known as hearty?

Are they known as Oh, they're known as tender tender?

I see here on his question, he says his Snapdragon, and some parts of the tears are shriveling, they're not showing the typical devastating effects of a frost.

And I have found with just cash and I have had snapdragons not only the Not only have I had the snapdragons overwinter the plant itself, but then of course, they dropped seeds as well.

Some things do the the annual, quote, unquote, salvia, the blue salvia, people use a lot.

It's got a great gray green color to the foliage.

And those really beautiful sky blue spikes.

I've had those overwinter and just depends on the microclimate you have.

Okay, so if you have a little nook where things can fit, and they're protected, sometimes stuff comes back, particularly females, I have not had experience with Petunia has been particularly hearty, but most of the times I've planted and more for clients, and they were in a pot above ground.

So I had I noticed this very thing this year, and it's only because I did not yank stuff out of the pot normally, what if I didn't, I didn't plant anything for fall.

And I just the the petunias looked really good, so I just left them and then just stop watering them eventually.

But they were still going until we had some really, really harsh weather for extended period, but they were handling frost at night with no problem.

Interesting.

What what's their what's their situation?

What's there on the side of the garage, so maybe they're getting a little bit of warm air when we go in and out of the garage every day and pottery grounds in pots.

Wow.

But they're fairly big pots.

Okay, so yeah, I don't know.

I wouldn't say it means we can grow Petunia you know, just throw caution to the wind with Oh, yeah.

It was weird, but that doesn't normally I didn't think that was supposed to happen.

Interesting.

Okay.

Well, there you go.

Tony, sometimes interesting things happen.

Let's see.

We've got a question about garlic.

This is from Melissa Mencia.

I grew garlic this year, but some were lost and not picked.

Will they be there next year?

Will the flavor be bitter?

Also, will there be a larger bolt next summer?

So three parts to this question?

Will the garlic come back next year?

Oh, god.

Yeah.

Okay, well, the flavor be bitter since she didn't take it.

Pick it.

I don't know.

I've never I wouldn't never wanted that in the ground.

I wouldn't think it would be but and I don't know how big the bulbs would be because each clove would grow into new to new bulbs.

So they might be kind of stunted because they'd be kind of tight together.

Okay, and the last part is will there be a larger bowl next summer so Can she build on that?

Maybe her dig it up and separate it and move it before but regardless of what you do, Melissa?

The garlic is just a tick behind the willow.

You have one one little clove that you missed and you wanted to dig it all up?

Well, it's happy to wave hi, April or March even though they're amazingly vigorous, vigorous sounds like the Jerusalem artichokes.

Yeah, yes.

The gift that keeps on giving.

They never say die.

Yes, we talked about that in my class.

We talked about putting them in a pot.

Put these in the ground.

Alright, we've got about three minutes left and I just wanted to ask real quick before we end the show.

What you're growing at home anything special pretty besides the amaryllis ama rely anything you're growing at home II just started a tomato in my arrow garden.

We grew the variety patio in the greenhouse this fall with my students and they did really well.

And it was on the advice of the greenhouse staff had been kind of tinkering with them for hydroponics.

We grew them in soil, but then I'm like, Oh, I'm the thing.

I'm going to try one in the AeroGarden just to see the last round of tomatoes.

I kept alive almost two years so I records two and a half I'm trying to push Wow, well that tomatoes and peppers are technically a tender perennial.

So yeah, I tried to they only died because they grew too big for the little like pod and they struggled themselves.

So we're gonna try a patio is a little bigger tomato.

See if I can pull it off.

I had a lemon tree In the house, my mother in law bought it for me for Mother's Day and two fruits on it.

And it dropped on both.

And I was so bummed because I thought if I can get this full size that'll be so and it was under lights and everything but I think it was just there tricky.

It is it is.

So hopefully next year, those will come back.

But I did I had two little lemons on there.

How big is the tree?

It's in like a eight inch pot.

I mean, it's not it's not really small.

Yeah, but yeah, it's young.

Yeah, just mealy bugs will be your mortal enemies.

Probably noted skills than scalpel either, but my dad had a miniature orange tree in the front window of his cabinet shop for years and years when I was like, I don't know where it came from.

But it had a south facing plate glass window.

And to get little oranges on it tasted horrible.

But it was a pretty little thing.

Yeah, just something and it was there was nothing else.

No other plant.

I mean, my dad was amazing gardener but you know the orange tree was his his soul.

Citrus for a and it just did beautifully.

Just beautifully.

There's hope and tree.

Oh yeah, but yours will probably taste good.

Oh, all right, ladies, that's the show.

Thank you so much for watching, and thank you both for coming in and sharing your time and talents.

If you've got question for our panelists, send them in to your garden@gmail.com or you can look us up on socials.

Just search for Mid American gardener and we will see you next time.

Goodnight.