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> ♪ ♪ Well good evening and welcome to Making It Grow.

We're so glad you could join us tonight from our beautiful new studio in Sumter, South Carolina.

I'm Amanda McNulty and I'm a Clemson horticulture agent and I get to be fortunate enough to host this show almost every week of the year and we're a collaboration between S.C.E.T.V.

and Clemson University.

And Terasa Lott is kind enough to join us.

Terasa, it's always wonderful having you with us.

Well, it is me that is the fortunate one to be part of the Making It Grow team.

<Amanda McNulty> And you do a lot for us.

We thank you.

My pleasure.

And we have some great guests tonight.

We've got from South Pleasantburg Nursery, Davis Sanders.

Davis, thank you for making the trip down and I think you've got some beautiful plants you gone share with us later.

Well, as always, thanks for having me.

It's always, it's, it's a real pleasure to come down here and be with you guys again.

<Amanda McNulty> Well, we feel exactly the same way.

We've missed you.

Gosh, it's been almost two years, it seems like.

It's been a long time.

And we're so lucky that up in Abbeville, Adam Gore who is taking time from his PhD work to help us out some.

Thanks Adam.

Yes, ma'am.

Always happy to be here.

<Amanda McNulty> Okay and Christopher Burtt is down there in the low country - Berkeley, Dorchester and Charleston.

Did I get them right?

That was perfect.

Thank you, Amanda.

And I hope that this is not going to be a bad hurricane season for the low country.

It can go on for a long time.

So, let's go to Terasa because she likes to start off instead of with problems that people are having with successes or whimsical things that people have in their gardens.

<Terasa Lott> That is right.

It is time for Gardens of the Week, which is where we take our virtual field trip and look at what's going on in your yards and gardens.

We're starting today with Craig Moody who shared his raised bed of the Jambalaya variety of okra planted with marigolds.

A close up of a peach color daylily was shared by Deborah Moses.

Gwen Corinth highlighted a beautiful and what she says is a fragrant heirloom rose.

Too bad we can't smell that through the television.

Jan Allison showed us the view from her back garage door with the daylily field in the background.

And wrapping up, we have Steve Stevens who shared his backyard flower garden.

So much fun looking all of the submissions on our Facebook page and those that are emailed to me.

Don't be shy about sending them in.

We choose them at random.

One key is to make sure you hold that camera horizontally so your picture takes up lots of room on the television screen.

Amanda, back to you.

<Amanda McNulty> Okay.

Terasa, when people want to ask questions sometimes they'll put 'em on our Facebook page and then oftentimes people email you and the main trick with emailing, emailing you is to spell your name correctly.

So give us, give us some help on getting an email to you please.

Sure.

Just make sure it's T - E - R - A - S - A @CLEMSON.EDU otherwise it will go to someone in a completely different department.

<Amanda McNulty> And I bet they won't be able to help them, will they?

<Terasa Lott> Probably not.

I think the person is in parks, rec and tourism management.

<Amanda McNulty> Well, I don't know.

Maybe a little bit of overlap there.

But anyway I know you do have some questions and is there when you think we should start off with tonight?

<Terasa Lott> Yes.

We are going to start with one from Mary Fulcher in Brunswick County, North Carolina, who asked, "Small sweet gum trees are covering a portion of my yard.

They're coming from my neighbors tree.

Is there something we can do to kill the seedlings?"

<Amanda McNulty> Well one thing is you wouldn't want to hurt your neighbors tree, 'cause, you know, I mean it is a beautiful tree and it's a good tree for wildlife so but they have those little bumble balls and they can be sticky to walk on.

Adam do you have any ideas of what this person can do?

If I'm not mistaken, you have kind of a grove of sweet, sweet gum trees in your yard and they do seed down very easily don't they?

They do.

Are we sure this is coming from North Carolina 'cause this might be coming from my house because I have this exact same issue.

The lucky thing is, is that for these newly sprouting sweet gums, they're very easy to control.

I found that you can easily just go and pick them up.

Now if you do have as I had experienced a large portion, you can get into some herbicide options.

It's dependent on the type of grass you have.

You know, you don't want to just go and grab the first jug of herbicide that you have.

I've found that you can easily treat a young sweet gum tree like you would any other broadleaf weed as long as you're getting it when it's young.

But before they even sprout, what I do in my yard and what I do recommend, just as you don't end up stepping on them and you end up disliking the sweet gum balls even more, is right when they drop in the fall and late winter, if you just go and rake them up, you know, you won't have that sprouting but if they do sprout just control them when they're young you can treat it like any other broadleaf weed.

<Amanda McNulty> Okay and since it's a seedling and not connected to the coming from the roots of the neighbor's tree, you're not gonna be in any, you don't have to be concerned about the herbicide going over there and doing any damage.

<Adam Gore> Right and that that's a very important thing.

You know make sure that it is a new seedling.

If you end up spraying other people's trees then you get into some sticky situations.

One, you don't want to unintentionally harm your neighbors' plants.

So make sure that that it is coming from a seedling.

It'll be obvious.

You know, sweet gum trees, they will put out these waterspouts or or looks like almost new plants coming from neighboring roots.

So, you should just be able to go in easily tug and if it's coming off very easily then you're by dealing with a lot more of these seedlings.

<Amanda McNulty> Okay.

Now Adam, if they got up a little bit more and you ran over, and you cut the grass, do you think that that would probably I I just wonder seedling if you cut the top photosynthetic leaves off it might not re-sprout then, I'm thinking.

<Adam Gore> That'll help sometimes.

They will re-sprout depending on their maturity.

But that is another another good point.

You can't just by mowing control a lot of it, as well.

<Amanda McNulty> All right.

Well thank you so much and I hope that one day you will find a way to to keep some easily slip on shoes when you have to walk onto that part of your grass, your yard because I know in a lot of places you've got some mighty nice soft grass where you can go barefooted, but thanks a lot.

<Adam Gore> Thank you.

<Amanda McNulty> One of the fun things about being back here in the studio as we can have some in life, real live show and tell, Davis.

It all looks pretty alive to me.

<Davis Sanders> Well thanks.

It survived the trip rather nicely I think.

<Amanda McNulty> And what's the common theme that we're going talk about with this group?

Well, you know over the past couple of decades there's been a resurgence in interest in native plants and I thought I would bring a few native plants and maybe a couple of cultivars of native plants to show, show folks that no they don't have to stick with the old Japanese Hollies and English Boxwoods and all the things that you're used to seeing in my home landscape.

<Okay> We'll start with, with this one.

This is one that has become quite popular.

It's a Lindera benzoin also known as Spicebush.

You know we get a lot of publicity about the monarch butterflies and their affinity for milkweeds.

Well this plant is equally important to the to the Spicebush Swallowtail, which is one of the most beautiful native butterflies, has extremely fragrant yellow flowers in early spring just before it leaves out, and then it leaves out into these really nice lush oblong or ovate but leaves and has a little bit of fall color but it's just a very critical plant for the Spicebush Swallowtail.

<Amanda McNulty> Because it's the larval food plant <Yes> and if I'm not mistaken this is a plant which has male plants and female plants and it doesn't really make much difference which one you get because the larva is eating the leaves are not concerned of the flower if it's a male flower female flower.

<That's correct> Okay.

<Davis Sanders> The next one that I have here with the pretty blue green textural leaves is a Fothergilla.

Most people are familiar with the Mount Airy hybrid Fothergilla, which gets fairly big in ranges, has the beautiful little bottlebrush kind of flowers on it.

This is the the original parent species.

This one stays a little bit lower, a little bit more compact.

Doesn't bloom quite as heavily as the mount Mount Airy does but this one retains the fragrance that you completely lose with the Mount Airy.

This one, the blooms smell like honey.

<Like honey!> They certainly do.

It's a very nice fragrance, very pleasant, it's not overpowering and here again like the Mount Airy Fothergilla, this will have really vivid fall colors.

It'll be orange, gold, even red on the same plant before they fade to a uniform red just before the drop off in the fall.

<Amanda McNulty> Well I think that sounds, I'd give up a few flowers for that wonderful fragrance.

<Davis Sanders> That's a beautiful plant.

In the center here I have a couple of native plants.

These are actually the same plant but we are now getting into the realm of species and cultivars.

You know, the species is what grows normally.

We often talk about hybrids, which are crosses between two plants within the same genus but different species and then there cultivars.

Cultivars are plants that retain the genetic makeup of their parent plant, but they have been selectively bred for particular trait or flower form or something like that.

cultivars wouldn't exist without man's interference where hybrids can occur in nature.

This particular one is our native Doghobble Leucothoe fontanesiana.

This one is the species.

You can say it's a really nice lush green plant.

This Is found normally along creek banks, drainage ditches and shady spots because it does require soil and a lot of shade and adequate moisture.

The one on the right of it is a relatively new cultivar.

This particular one, this one is called Scarletta and you can see the vivid colors in the new growth here, the bright red coloration, anytime this plan is actively growing you're going to get this really nice red color or you'll get little little hints of it in the species but in the scarlet a cultivar you're gonna see that red color pretty much all season long.

<Amanda McNulty> And this one gets about how big?

<Davis Sanders> They'll top out about two and a half to three feet with about a four to five foot spread.

<Amanda McNulty> And I think from my experience with them, I think it's called Doghobble because they can be kinda thick.

It's not easy to step through it.

It has multiple stems.

Is that correct?

<Davis Sanders> Multiple stems and it does spread by both stolons and rhizomes so it forms a networking it will actually colonize an entire area if it's given the right grown conditions.

<Amanda McNulty> Which can be just what you need if you've got a a shady place that's a little bit damp.

<exactly> It just fits that's spot perfectly.

<Davis Sanders> Down here on this end we have our native Ninebark, Physocarpus opulifolius.

It's called Ninebark because the bark cracks and fissures and exfoliates peels off exposing all sorts of different layers and colors underneath the outside bark and the native Americans often referred to it in their language as the plant with nine barks and the name stuck.

Also Ninebark is much easier to say than Physocarpus opulifolius <Amanda McNulty> And Davis I have the original in my garden.

One that's probably maybe four or five years old and it's gotten pretty big.

And it bloomed profusely back in the summer and was very attractive to the pollinators.

They weren't, it was showing, they were small flowers.

It wasn't one I'd cut and bring in the house, but it was awfully attractive looking at when it was in flower and it did seem to attract pollinators.

<Davis Sanders> It actually does and if it is an excellent pollinator attractor which brings me to this cultivar.

This one is called Panther because of the dark foliage but you can see the difference in the foliage.

These two plants are approximately the same age.

The species has much larger, nice dark green leaves.

The panther cultivar has almost black leaves and they're much smaller, it's of much, much more compact and dense grown cultivar.

This one also has larger blooms.

The blooms on this will be about the size of a golf ball and they're, they're very showy against the red stems and the burgundy foliage.

The buds start out pink and as plant, as the flowers open up, it becomes more and more white.

This one is also attractive to pollinators because it is good nectar producer.

And this is one plant that I like to use in landscape designs and when a client says I don't think I like that plant because it drops its leaves.

First of all, I explain that most of our native flowering shrubs do drop their leaves as do a lot of other flowering shrubs but I always tell them to let me put this plant in their design and if they don't like it I will personally come and replace the next year at no at no charge and I have yet to replace one.

<Amanda McNulty> Now can it take sun?

<Davis Sanders> They can take some sun.

The further south you go the more shade they need.

I like to site this either on an open northern exposure where there's, there's no overhanging trees and still gets plenty bright reflected light but good morning sun and afternoon shade, it's perfectly happy there, too.

<Amanda McNulty> That's what It like best.

Okay, so how big do you think This cultivars gonna... <Davis Sanders> This one, the literature says four to five feet which means probably five, six, maybe even seven feet without trimming but with little judicious trimming I've seen this plant kept three feet for a number of years.

Always remember to add at least 25 percent what the plant label says because they they give you a seven year maturity for two reasons.

Number one, that's how long the average plant last in the home landscape before it gets yanked out for whatever reason and also on average up until probably the last couple of last year and a half or so people move on average every seven years and so they tell you what this plan is gonna look like when you leave it behind.

<Amanda McNulty> And sometimes new people come and want to do everything all over again <right> which for landscape designers and nurseries is nice.

<Davis Sanders> Yes it is.

Well, this is really been fun especially to learn about some of the ones that in the unimproved state have some special features and then also in the improved state have some special features but they, they all have their place in the ecosystem.

<Davis Sanders> Yes they do.

<Amanda McNulty> Thanks a lot, Davis.

<Davis Sanders> Oh, Thanks, thanks for having me.

<Amanda McNulty> Well Terasa, I know that there's always another question, so which one do you think we should go with now?

<Terasa Lott> we are going to go with one that came in from Facebook from Theresa Wright.

Theresa wrote in and sent a picture, too "I planted my eggplant and my peppers in close proximity to each other and I believe I had some cross pollination between the eggplant and the peppers.

I'm wondering if the eggplant was pollinated by the pepper plant.

What are your thoughts?

<Amanda McNulty> Whoa!

[laughs] Well, I think they are the same family I think.

That would be pretty peculiar.

Christopher, what, what do you think is going on in this situation?

So, thank you, Amanda.

So generally plants do need to be a little bit closer related then peppers and eggplants.

So peppers are actually in the Capsicum genus, whereas eggplants are actually in the Solanum genus and so eggplants are gonna be closer related to tomatoes and potatoes whereas peppers are kinda in a genus on their own.

They are in the same family so you are correct about that, Solanaceae which is the nightshade family.

So generally both peppers and eggplants are actually, they have what's known as perfect flowers.

These flowers have all the, all the parts that are required for pollination and they are also what's known as self compatible which means they can self pollinate.

So one pepper plant will pollinate itself just fine and one eggplant will do the same.

So generally cross pollination is not super common unless you have again similar plants.

So if I have two pepper plants, you will get some cross pollination there, it is very limited, but general you're not gonna get any cross pollination between eggplants and peppers.

<Amanda McNulty> Okay.

So if you had bell peppers and some of those peppers that I don't think there's any reason in the world to plant like those ones that, you know, they can kill you if you get a bite of them.

<Terasa Lott> Ghost pepper.

<Amanda McNulty> The ghost peppers.

Thank you, Terasa.

Is there a danger of the, do you need to separate those in your garden Christopher or do you think it's highly unlikely there's going to be cross pollination and would it make a difference in what you get?

<Christopher Burtt> So while it is unlikely there is a chance though you're not going to get the heat that you want from a ghost pepper which I I do go grown ghost peppers every year mostly because again there are a lot of fun to grown.

But that being said, I almost never have that cross pollination between, kind of those heat levels.

A lot of times you see it a lot closer with say the jalapenos and bell peppers, but the heat gene in the peppers is going to be the dominant gene, so generally it's the bell peppers that'll become hotter and not necessarily the hot peppers that become sweeter.

But you do get some cross pollination.

It is limited, so you're not going to get a bell pepper that is as hot as a ghost pepper, but you might get it to where it almost taste a little bit closer to a jalapeno.

<Amanda McNulty> Now is it being pollinated by a pollinate?

Is the cross pollination happening by wind or by pollinators?

<Christopher Burtt> So that's happening by pollinators.

There's again hundreds of pollinators in the garden and Solanaceaes crops are absolutely ones that require those pollinators and so yes it's going to be exclusively done by pollinators.

Unfortunately there's no wind pollination with peppers or eggplant.

<Amanda McNulty> If you just separate them somewhat, you probably won't have that experience.

What do you do since you grow these ghost peppers?

And then I guess you grow some ones that have some actual use in the kitchen as well.

<Christopher Burtt> [laughs] So, I do grown ghost peppers.

They're not nearly as many as I do for my jalapenos and bell peppers.

My jalapenos, I just grown into separate raised bed so if you have you know, four, five feet, generally that's more than enough.

Generally there's enough pollination within that single bed that I'm not really worried about that cross pollination.

And my ghost peppers, I generally keep them in containers because I'm only doing one or two plants.

They produce more than enough for the year.

Trust me you only need one to really spice up a dish but but yeah generally I don't keep those too close to the other plants.

I usually keep them kind of more in a different part of the yard but usually four to five feet more than enough for the kind of avoid that cross pollination.

<Amanda McNulty> Okay and I think your idea of having a container is great 'cause then you really could have it farther away and not have to worry about getting something that was, that you thought was gonna not be too hot and ruining the whole meal with.

<Christopher Burtt> Absolutely <Amanda McNulty> Well that was really, really interesting.

Thank you so much.

I'm so glad we had that question to ask you.

<Christopher Burtt> Thank you.

<Amanda McNulty> Now that it's safer for us to get back in buildings in and all there's a wonderful place that I got to visit the other day in Columbia called EdVenture, which is made for children but I think adults have just as much fun.

And I sure had a good time and while I was there I visited Robin Harriford and we particularly spent time in the children's garden that they have there and I think you're gonna enjoy being out there as well.

♪ [upbeat music] ♪ ♪ <Amanda McNulty> We're in downtown Columbia and I'm visiting with Robin Harriford and she's the grants manager for EdVenture.

Robin, tell people what EdVenture is.

EdVenture is a children's museum.

We've been here about 20 years.

We have three locations and South Carolina and we work with children from birth to age 10 and inspiring in them the joy of learning.

<Amanda McNulty> And I think most people know it as the place where the giant kid is.

<Robin Harriford> That's right.

Eddie, our big boy.

<Amanda McNulty> He is a Big Boy.

But we are in the garden and I believe it originally started as a butterfly garden.

<Robin Harriford> It was a butterfly garden for a season.

We had a grant and we brought in butterflies from all over the world.

We had to have it sealed so that they couldn't get out and and mess with the native species but it was lovely.

<Amanda McNulty> Well, but now in order to make it more relevant to children's lives and food and sustainability and good eating practices y'all have changed it into a garden.

<Robin Harriford> Right an edible garden lot of it there flowers and some of those are edible, some are not but mainly of vegetables.

We want children to be able to taste things and and to become eaters of fresh food.

<Amanda McNulty> When they first come in you kind of hook them by sense and sensation.

<Robin Harriford> Yeah.

One of the things that we have to do is be very careful that children know what to touch and what not to touch.

So we set up a almost a little gallery of little low circular pots with herbs and and we show them how to be very gentle with their fingers to touch and smell.

<Amanda McNulty> And up with you had some interesting experiences this morning.

<Robin Harriford> This morning we had a young man who came in and said first of all that the spearmint tasted like caramel which was interesting.

He also said that he could not smell anymore.

He was all full of smells.

<Amanda McNulty> All full of smells.

Well they are wonderful smells.

And then you lead them to the vegetables and you've got, you talk about the importance of vegetables in diet and then at times there are ways that the children actually to help harvest vegetables.

Can they sometimes, if there's a cherry tomato, can they sometimes taste?

<Amanda McNulty> Yes.

We don't encourage everyone who comes through the museum to to harvest but we do have children come in and we'll help them.

We have tasting Tuesday classes every other week and we have a local chef, Jessica Carswell from the Food Academy who comes in and helps kids harvest herbs and take them into the cooking lab and design food with them and cook it and eat it.

<Amanda McNulty> And they do that together.

<They do> So they learn about healthy eating right and the fact that food comes from the soil and not necessarily the grocery store.

<Robin Harriford> Exactly, exactly and for some of them it's it's quite a discovery.

<Amanda McNulty> Isn't that remarkable <Yeah> and do they because they participated in it, do you finf that they're willing to taste new thing sometimes?

<Robin Harriford> I do.

We have found that some of the kids who were reluctant saw some of their peers tasting things and then they were willing to do that, yeah.

<Amanda McNulty> sustainability is something the y'all are working on, too.

So let's talk about how that's apart of the garden.

<Robin Harriford> Absolutely.

So we have a funding from Train Locally and they are about sustainability and we're working toward that as well.

We have here rain barrel, we have composting we have verma compost which is worms but we're also going to be moving toward harvesting the sun's power through solar energy and offsetting our cost in the garden and in the museum.

We also are looking at maybe even wind turbines so we're looking for different ways.

Another thing that we did was we got rid of sprinklers that we have had because they were casting water all over and we were watering the driveway and so we ended up getting some soaker hoses and have ways to control.

We have timers so we're controlling what we do and just being really mindful about being sustainable.

<Amanda McNulty> And we still do have of course all these plants are gonna attract pollinators because plants need most plants need pollinators in order to complete their cycle and you've got this passion vine that's the host for the Gulf fritillary so and it's a quite a vigorous vine.

<Robin Harriford> It is, it is.

It's been here for a few years and when we first took over the garden it had laid fallow for about a year with the pandemic and everything and that plan itself we got it back a good bit but it's doing very very well.

<Amanda McNulty> Sometimes you get somebody who says it's hot.

I want to go inside and get inside that giant jungle gym fellow.

Have you got a way to get them to stay just a little bit longer?

A little bit excited about plants?

<Robin Harriford> We do.

Besides letting them touch some of the herbs and smell them we have some carnivores and it's always it I can usually capture a kid if I say do you want to see if a plant that eats bugs and then they, we go over and talk about the really the smart design of those plants.

But another thing that they really love boys and girls club worms and we have three warm composting bins so we can turn that over they can feed the worms.

We bring scraps in but also just turning them over and seeing those worms.

If I haven't captured them then it's time for them to go and find something in the museum to do.

<Amanda McNulty> I believe that the South Carolina Department of agriculture has been a good friend to y'all, as well.

<Robin Harriford> Absolutely.

We are certified South Carolina grown and we are very keen on growing plants that are locally grown, that are locally sourced.

<Amanda McNulty> And I imagine that that means when you need extra things for the kitchen you make certain that you buy those from people who have, who grew them locally if possible.

<Robin Harriford> That's right.

Absolutely.

<Amanda McNulty> Agriculture's our biggest industry and I think EdVenture is just lots and lots of fun.

I'm probably, I'm way over 10, so I probably can't get inside the giant boy, but I sure do want to look around.

<Robin Harriford> Absolutely.

Well thanks for coming.

This was wonderful.

♪ Well I carried on so a bit EdVenture that my sister had her grandchildren down and she took her over one Hammond there and she said she thought they were going to have to try to get a hotel room in the vicinity because he just didn't want to leave.

It was so much fun and he enjoyed the garden and smelling all the wonderful fragrances that Robin has there.

Really a nice place to go with children in your life.

Well again, I was looking for hat stuff and thank goodness.

Mine just seed down and I love him and I have the the ones that have an open center that are good for pollinators that that you know, that aren't just all sterile and then I had Bronze Fennel is just going crazy and also have a native hibiscus in here.

Let's see where he is.

I'm going take him off and show him to you because I had to keep running this great big bee out to keep him, he just wouldn't leave.

And a lot of times in the afternoon when I come out they'll have bees that are sleeping in them and I'll close them up just to kind of tease it and it wakes 'em up and they go [ heavy buzz sound ].

So everybody should have one of those those yard so they can go out and mess with a bee, a big ole bumble bee of some sort on and I don't hurt him we're just enjoying each other because I give him all these wonderful pollinator plants.

And so now we're going to Davis who has another fascinating collection of plants for us.

Well in keeping with the with the native plant theme, we have some beautiful native perennials once again if you cultivars because in a lot of cases the the native perennials just get so big and so expansive with modern subdivision and suburban gardens, it just may not be enough room for something as big as a native hibiscus or are some of the a large grown perennials.

You know most of us are familiar with the red flower with the green foilage, I did bring some some other cultivars of the native lobelia in addition to the common red flower green foilage.

This one is called Black Truffle.

It's very similar to the Queen Victoria Lobelia which a lot of people are familiar with but the foliage is even darker it stays denser and more compact it does bloom a little bit longer.

This one bloom about three to four weeks.

<Amanda McNulty> What color is the bloom gone be?

<Davis Sanders> It's bright red just like all the other of the cardinal flowers.

<That red and purple> It's a really striking combination.

This one also is actually a good plant for bog gardens and string side beds even even water gardens.

We often offer this plant as a as an aquatic plant because it will grow in in shallow water.

<Amanda McNulty> Wow that would be pretty spectacularly.

So it's gonna elongate when it gets its flowers.

<Davis Sanders> Right.

The flower scape will come up about three feet where the foilages will stay around eight to ten inches on the ground so it really jumps out at you once it does bloom.

Right behind it I have another Lobelia.

This one has an unfortunate name of Lobelia siphilitica because at one time it was thought to have curative properties for syphilis but this one is a a blue flowering variety.

Here again is a native and this one goes way back.

Thomas Jefferson actually grew This at Monticello.

<Amanda McNulty> He was so good at keeping notes that we know that I guess.

<Davis Sanders> In fact the first time I ever saw this plant was in the garden shop there.

<Amanda McNulty> How about that.

<Davis Sanders> It's a it's a beautiful plant, very similar culture, will grow in sun to shade the further south you go the more shade it's gonna need, but both of them do need adequate moisture.

<Amanda McNulty> Now in my experience they aren't real long lived plants.

Is that kind of it I mean maybe a couple of years or what would you think?

<Davis Sanders> That's, that's actually typical of a lot of perennials.

Most of the most Lobelias you can expect them to go three to four years a lot of times you can extend that simply by digging them up and divide in rejuvenating them every couple of years.

Okay well you wouldn't be losing anything, would you?

<Davis Sanders> No, not at all.

<Amanda McNulty> Well that is just amazing that queen, that fancy one.

What did you say she was again?

<Davis Sanders> That one's called Black Truffle.

<Amanda McNulty> Black Truffle.

And there is another one similar call Queen Victoria <Yes> What incredible strides.

There used to be there'd the two things you could get.

<Exactly> Now there's just page after page, isn't it?

<Davis Sanders> Well, let's see.

The advent of observant plantsman coupled with tissue culture just all sorts of all sorts of new ways to propagate plants that weren't available 50 years ago.

<Amanda McNulty> Makes it easier and less expensive.

So what are you moving to next?

<Davis Sanders> Okay the next one is somewhat familiar to most of our viewers.

This is a type of Black-Eyed Susan <All right> and we know how aggressive the Black-Eyed Susans can be and how big and sprawly.

Well this one is called Little Goldstar.

It's a super dwarf variety it only gets about eight to ten inches tall and the blooms only come up about three to four inches above that so it makes such this nice little beautiful display of yellow flowers with the the dark centers like Black-Eyed Susans but here again it's it's a very good one for the smaller gardens small space garden.

<Amanda McNulty> And a container too, don't you think with that long bloom periond?

<Davis Sanders> Yeah because they're going to bloom as long as the as the the species and you're probably wondering why this one has no flowers at this time.

These were actually grown in a nursery and in Burnsville, North Carolina so it's up in the mountains and they came down about four weeks, their schedules a little bit behind ours down here but up but it will be equal to show it to the big ones is just not gonna take up as much space.

<Amanda McNulty> Yeah, how about that.

<Davis Sanders> And moving down here while we're on the subject of big versus small everybody's familiar with the Swamp sunflower, yes, it's Helianthus foliose.

This one is another one of the garden monsters that I occasionally refer to.

This one is going to get up by four to five feet and the blooms will will be born on the tips of the those branches by the hundreds.

Here again it's a beautiful pollinator attractor.

Butterflies will shed their wings and crawl on their bellies from Mexico to get to it as one of my friends used to say.

But here again not everybody has a has a large scale wet spot in their yard for something like this.

Well low and behold along comes Low Down.

This is also Willow Leaved or a, I'm sorry, Willow-Leaved Sunflower.

This one was only going to get about 18 inches tall and it'll be equally floriferous covered with those same flowers but here again if you've got a small space that gets full sun and stays damp this is a great plant for it, both from the aesthetic standpoint and the pollinator attracting standpoint.

<Amanda McNulty> Davis we used to sometimes kind of when the Swamp sunflowers, I don't know maybe halfway through the summer or end of June, we would cut them back some and they still had plenty of time to flower but just didn't get as large.

Is that something that you would you think it's okay to do so they don't just get quite so big?

<Davis Sanders> Well I would in years past I would have said yes but now that there's a dwarf variety, why cut something back?

<Amanda McNulty> There's enough to cut back, right?

<Davis Sanders> Yeah.

This plant got big for a reason.

We don't know what that reason was but why interfere with it?

It's like trying to, it's like getting a Doberman puppy in trying to keep the size of a Chihuahua.

That's just not gonna happen.

[ laughs ] <Amanda McNulty> Alright I will I will take that advice and I will consider that there certainly is another one I can have, <Davis Sander> What's our mantra the right plant for the right space.

<Amanda McNulty> There you go.

Well, you certainly, shown us some wonderful ones today.

Thank you so very, very much!

<Davis Sanders> You're welcome and I do have one more.

I have one of our native geraniums.

This is one of the Geranium pratense one of our native geraniums.

this one is called Dark Reiter not rider, R-I-D-E-R, but Reiter, R-E-I-T-E-R.

It's just a dark leaf cultivar of our native geranium it does have those pretty pretty pink Cranesbills flowers but but here again we've got a juxtaposition against dark foilage just like the cardinal flower.

<Amanda McNulty> Yeah, which just causes so much more drama doesn't it?

<Davis Sanders> Um hmm, and it's one that will thrive in sun or shade so it has that extra benefit.

<Amanda McNulty> Well.

Davis, I'm so glad you loaded up the car and brought those things down to us.

It's so much fun to see the things that you pick out and share with us.

I sure do thank you.

<Davis Sanders> Well it's always fun to come down.

Thank you.

<Amanda McNulty> So, Terasa, what's coming up next in our pile of questions?

Next we have an irrigation question.

You know all plans all living things require water.

Alexandra in Due West says how much water should I apply to my lawn and how often?

<Amanda McNulty> Goodness.

Well Adam Gore, I do have a rain gauge which I think is probably the one part of the answer.

Help us out with a little more information about this.

Right so you're exactly right Amanda the the rain gauge plays a role in this because the the answer how much should I water it doesn't matter where it's a lawn or a row crop or a shrub, it's how much water does the plant need and that's how much water you're going to be putting out, whether it's through rainfall or through irrigation.

So for most of our turf grasses in South Carolina, we say that when they are actively growing they require one inch of water per week.

So there is no sure fire answer to how much you should irrigate because it depends on how much rain you get that week.

If you receive an inch of water in rain hopefully you get that over a extended period time.

You don't want one inch an exact you know in an hour but if you get an inch of rain in a week you probably don't need to irrigate that week.

If you get no rain that week you need to put out that inch.

But it's also dependent on your soul texture.

When we are east of Columbia down the Pee Dee region or the Low Country, those sandy soils, the water likes to run out a lot more quickly because of poor spaces are a lot larger between sand particles.

So you should be putting your irrigation to be putting out about one point two five inches a week and that's assuming that you're getting no rainfall that week.

<Amanda McNulty> Now would you do that at one time or would you split it up?

<Adam Gore> Oh no no no.

We definitely want to split up.

With our sandy soils, you would split up between two to three times so yes ma'am so you might be putting out anywhere from a third to half an inch at a time <Okay> and it's based off what you're irrigation system does.

And if I'm not mistaken, Ms. Terasa did a really great video on how to figure out how to do your irrigation.

So I invite people to go look at that if they don't know how much that irrigation system putting out and then adjust your timing based off of that.

So for Low Country, you might be running it three times to get to that one point two five inches whereas if you're in the Upstate where I am with more of our clayey soils, you're going putting out around an inch because that clay will hold the soil moisture a little bit more so you would be watering it twice a week.

<Okay> A lot of people will try to just water ten or fifteen minutes a day and what they're doing is they're keeping that top two inches a little damp so it keeps the roots of our plants right there on those top two inches because, why would the plants grown, why would the roots grow deep, when the water's right there.

So by watering it that 10, 15 minutes every day you make your grasses more susceptible to drought.

So we call it watering it deep and infrequently.

<Okay> So for this person, figure out how much water you're you're irrigation system is putting out and then adjust to be putting out whether you're in that one inch range or one point two five inches.

<Amanda McNulty> Okay and again Adam remind people that timing in the day is also I believe something that you should consider.

Is that correct?

<Adam Gore> Yes ma'am.

There is a better time to irrigate your lawn and it's in the early morning when there's normally dew on the ground because based off of water potential.

In the early morning when humidity is high the plant has its most effective time to take up water.

So, if you'll be putting out then, the plant is really going to be taking up that water there but also it's to decrease the amount of time that the leaves stay wet.

<Okay> The longer that leaves stay wet the more susceptible they are to diseases.

So if you're watering it in the middle of the day or early in the evening, you're lengthening the amount of time those leave stay wet so you're increasing your chance of a fungal infection.

<Amanda McNulty> And nobody wants to have that <Adam Gore> No they don't.

<Amanda McNulty> We have enough of that even when we're doing everything right, we're trying to do everything right.

In South Carolina we just got a lot of humidity and then it does rain at the most inopportune times.

Thank you so much.

That was a really good answer and I learned a lot from you.

<Adam Gore> Thank you.

<Amanda McNulty> Okay well Terasa, I think we've got time for something else.

<Terasa Lott> Well Martha Goforth Blackwell from the Upstate will be happy we have time.

She sent us a message on Facebook with a photo and said, I'm trying to find out what this white fuzz is and how to get rid of it.

It's on different plants in my yard in Upstate South Carolina and they jump off when they're touched.

<Amanda McNulty> Huh.

So we have jumping fuzz.

[ laughs ] Sounds kind of like dandruff or something I don't know.

But let's see what Christopher down there in the Lowcountry thinks.

Christopher, this is a weird-sounding question.

What do you think's happening?

So it may sound weird but that that's what happens in nature.

Yeah, nature can be weird.

So this is actually what's known as flocculants.

It's actually an excretion done by insects and it's a way to actually identify that there's insects present.

So it's a waxy substance that various different insects will produce and a lot of times it's done for various different reasons.

One of the big issues is is we it's kind of hard to see the insect itself which is probably why they do it also helps protect them from any sprays or even any predators.

But chances are this is either a white fly or planthopper which are two different types of insects.

White flies definitely much more common in this area.

Again, it kind of depends.

Unfortunately there's the best control methods for this is really going to be biological.

Let your beneficial insects do most of the work, your lady beetles, your wasps, again there's plenty of things that are going to come through find this as a good snack.

So a lot of times just leaving them be is the best thing to do especially because the damage they're doing is fairly minimal.

That being said if it gets too bad and again that's where scouting the garden consistently comes in, if they do get to bad treatment may be necessary, but generally I'm gonna wait until it cools down so I can use the horticultural oil which is generally going to be fairly safe for most things but it is very effective for the sap sucking insects.

<Amanda McNulty> So they cover themselves with this as a protective device and then when you go in there and and mess with them they jump and and so you see this strange phenomenon occurring.

<Christopher Burtt> That is correct.

They're not the only insects that do that of course.

You'll see the waxy secretions on mealybugs as well as certain types of scale insects.

Again, a lot of it has to do with the kind of that protective covering as well as a protection against predators.

The good thing is is that with white flies and plant hoppers or leaf hoppers, you'll see when you try to touch them they moved so a lot of times that indicates it's not the more serious mealybugs or even scale.

<Amanda McNulty> Okay and as you say, some people might even see it and think it was a fungus and as you always tell us you know find out what it is, because what if you thought it was a fungus and you went there despite a fungicide?

Well that wouldn't do a piece of good and you just be wasting time and and and money so find out what it is before you ever make a decision to treat.

Is that right?

<Christopher Burtt> Yeah, absolutely.

Always.

If you ever don't know, feel free to reach out whether it's to you us with extension or, always figure out identity identify what's going on first before you try to do anything with it.

That's always the worst call I get is, I've already sprayed.

What is going on?

Verses, what is going on and then what can I actually do about it?

So always identify first that's the key.

<Amanda McNulty> Okay.

Yeah I hate it when people bring a snake to the office that they've killed and then want to know what it is and you know and it was a corn snake or a rat snake that was gonna eat rodents and so, you know, so I just say leave that snake alone and go find something else to look at and let it eat some, eat some rats in your yard.

<Absolutely> Thank you, thank you, Christopher.

<Thank you> Davis, I don't know that you left anything up there at South Pleasantburg Nersery.

You brought so many things down to share with us today and on this like an interesting collection.

What's the unifying theme here.

<Davis Sanders> Well, these are all Euphorbias.

Everybody is familiar with at least two Euphorbias.

<Amanda McNulty> Milkweed is one isn't it?

<Davis Sanders> Of course, well it's in the same family but, the actual Euphorbia Genus.

<Okay> Everybody's familiar with <poinsettias> the poinsettia and what's that creepy little weed that gets all in your lawn?

<Spotted spurge> Spotted spurge.

[laughs] Those are your Euphorbias.

One is a very short lived container plant at Christmas time unless you're in a place where you can grown outside and the other is a noxious weed but there also Euphorbias that have incredible decorative and ornamental value and I brought three of those.

The first one here is is called Ascot Rainbow <I can see why> Thrives in full sun, it will eventually get up about 18 inches tall and it does does send up those those funny shaped little flowers, little yellow flowers in the in spring and early summer <but mostly for the color, the beautiful color> yes the new growth is changed and pink and the pink gradually turns to yellow and the green becomes more pronounced.

It is an evergreen so it will persist in the garden year round.

<Amanda McNulty> And I like the texture because if you're grouping things, that linear leaf is going to be a whole different feel, doesn't it?

<Davis Sanders> It'll either be a centerpiece or it can be just as much filler to helps spotlight something else.

It might be dark green and solid.

The one in front of This Is call Myrtle Euphorbia.

Euphorbia myrsinites I believe.

It can spread more as a ground cover although will get a little bit taller.

It'll get about 12 to 15 inches tall and gradually spread and like all Euphorbias it does have the milky sap if it breaks off but roots readily.

<Amanda McNulty> Well now would you use that like in a rock garden?

Where would you think that you might want to use it?

<Davis Sanders> It's ideal for rock gardens because here again it it does not need much water.

most of your Euphorbias, especially the non flowering limited flowering varieties don't need much water.

it does great in containers, it's beautiful in window boxes because here again This angular texture of it the pointed foliage really makes a a nice fall for just about any other protection which might put in your window box.

The third one is sort of a it's it's a little bit different from all the Euphorbias.

This one is Euphorbia robbiae or Robb's Spurge.

The things that sets this one apart is it thrives in deep shade.

<whoa> Most Euphorbias need full sun very few of them will even tolerate part shade but the rods I think it's more than two or three hours a morning or late afternoon sun it will just absolutely burn up.

So this is a really nice alternative ground cover in an area where where it can spread to its a full potential.

It doesn't particularly like our clay soils in the Upstate, but if it can be, if the soil can be amended pretty liberally with organic matter this makes a great deep ground cover for shady spot if you're tired of mondo grass and liriope and some of the other shade loving ground covers.

<Amanda McNulty> How slow is it to spread?

<Davis Sanders> It's relatively slow.

Euphorbias are typically are not very fast growing.

You could probably expect it to to spread maybe six to eight inches a year.

<Amanda McNulty> Okay.

But it is so attractive <Davis Sanders> Yeah, it's beautiful beautiful dark green foliage so you might have inner plant it with some light colored shade loving plants you know some of the some of the Columbines or something like that just to offset that dark foilage a little bit.

Well we've got a few <Amanda McNulty> Well we've got a few minutes, few seconds left so let's do this quickly okay over here one of the biggest most popular plants in last few years has been the tractor seat plant the giant Farfugium.

Not all of them get this big around.

These are, this one this one is just the curly leaf Farfugium.

This one is called Shishi Botan.

It looks almost like parsley, so some people refer to this as the parsley leave leopard plant.

<Amanda McNulty> Okay okay and but we have those yellow flowers <Davis Sanders> They do have the yellow flowers.

They are not as significant as they are in species or with the the areas with which they used to be grouped.

<Amanda McNulty> But interesting texture and foilage.

Okay.

Well, Davis thank you so much for bringing all those down and sharing with us and come back soon.

<I'd love to.

thank you> And good night to all of you at home.

Thank you for being with us 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.

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