Hello, and thanks for joining us for Mid American gardener.

I'm your host Tinisha, Spain.

And joining me in the studio today are two of your faves.

We've got Karen and Ella here, run us through a quick intro as if they don't know who you are.

And then we're gonna jump in and get started.

So Karen, we'll start with you.

Hi, I'm Karen Ruckle.

And I'm a gardener in the Peoria area and I love perennials and houseplants and annuals.

Hello, I'm Ella Maxwell.

And I'm a master gardener and horticulturist and I have a large yard and I like all kinds of plants and can answer lots of different questions.

Excellent.

All right.

I put out a post on Facebook that you guys were coming today and asking you shall receive.

The first one was though, two of my favorite presenters, Kathleen Kilmartin wanted to let you guys know that so let's just jump right in.

So Sandra sward Vandenberg writes, is it too early to cut back?

My Lenten rose, it is coming up.

So what are your thoughts on that?

Oh, well, it was just happened that Karen called me this morning before we left and said, Why don't you bring your Lenten rose, we had looked at some of the questions.

So the foliage of Helleborus orient Tallis will overwinter green.

But as the winter progresses, and with that, you know, arctic blast that we had, it begins to really die back.

And so this foliage will be replaced coming this summer.

But the first thing to bloom with these are the flowers that emerge from the crown of the plant, and darn, the center.

The center kind of opens up like this with the flowers right here in the middle.

And so the best time is, before the flowers really emerges to cut off all these spent dead leaves.

And so you could go through on a nice day now in February or early March, and cut back.

All of this meant foliage.

So when I saw a comment that that on another chat with somebody that they thought you had to trim them back to make them flower, and you're not doing it to make them flower.

You're just cleaning it up and opening it up so that the flowers aren't in amongst kind of this blog drab, kind of missed.

Gotcha.

Okay.

More of a make it yeah, yes.

Okay.

All right.

Next question.

We don't have a name for this one.

But it was sent in via email.

And it says, I would like to plant a juga ground cover around the base of a red maple tree pictures attached.

Do you think it will grow?

Well, there?

Thanks for your help.

So we've got the picture here.

And they want to know if they can grow some a Dukkha there?

The answer is yes, no.

So yes, you can know, it might be a little bit tougher.

With the picture, we don't know how much mulch is around that tree.

And you don't really want to add a lot of mulch at the base of the tree.

But the ajuga certainly might be happy, but it's getting watered enough that it'll stay.

And so I did bring in some ajuga from my yard, and they grow with these little rosettes of the foliage.

And then in spring, the center will flower and then it sends out these little runners.

So all the plants Oh, where did your runner go?

Oh, here it is.

These plants will will send runners and then your new little plant will route off of that.

And they do a very nice vigorous route.

So once you get an established plant, they will take a little bit of drought, but it's getting going.

And then in drier years, you might have to supplement water to keep that patch happy.

And they spread.

They don't grow up.

So we're not going to height wise, what would you say?

I mean, it is a ground Oh flat, just a couple more inches.

Very good.

The Bloom stock will come up on some of the different varieties, maybe five, six inches.

Okay.

And then how long do would you say from planting?

Would you have that vigorous patch that is kind of self sustainable?

Does it take a really long time to establish?

Well, you like most your perennials?

Yeah, it'll take a couple years because that first year you plant them and you're like, oh, they just sit there and then the next year they kind of take little, little bit hold then the next year is when they really go okay, so you gotta be patient.

Gotta be patient.

All right, let's go back to our email question.

There was another one about Kyle wrote in and we touched on this, but we're gonna go for it again.

When can you prune lilac, so lol you were kind enough to go out and grab some?

Yes, well, all right.

So there's several different kinds of lilacs.

There's the old fashioned large lilac that has large flower scapes.

And very scented can get 10 to 12 feet tall, can have Radler large stems, you know couple of inches in diameter and then there's the more drawer forms.

But the one thing about all the lilacs In some of these other plants I'm going to show you is that the buds were formed last year, so that when spring comes, the buds are already there with the flowers.

And so as far as pruning goes, you don't want to prune in early spring before they flower, you wait until after they flower, and then you can do your pruning.

So for example, we have Forsythia, and we look at this more up close, and we can see the buds over it.

And then this would be you know, something that we could talk about forcing.

Or of course, in trees, we have magnolias, and the buds are very evident, the ones that would open into flowers.

We've got a little flowering dogwood here, which didn't really set a lot of flowers this year, I'm going to be kind of disappointed, but they look like these little Turks gaps here.

And then even on our red bud, we can see flower buds all up and down the stem.

So every spring blooming shrub or tree, the flowers have already been formed.

So these kinds of things to prune would wait until after flowering.

And then they wanted to know how would you do that.

So we're going to pretend that this is our gangly lilac.

And I do have a pair of pruners here.

So the first thing we might do is possibly they have what they call renewal pruning, where you're going to take like a third of the plant out, potentially.

So maybe we just take out, cut this, and we take this big tall one out, now we've got a little bit better shaped plant.

And now we can maybe again after flowering, come back, and then just lightly trim it back into more of a rounded shape.

And we're kind of done because we've taken out maybe a third of it, and we've taken out something that's, you know, kind of not in the frame of the reference of the plant.

So folks are concerned with, like you said, gangly plants, but just enjoy the blooms.

Get through that and then trim them up.

Right, even if they're misshapen and kind of crazy.

Let them flower first.

Right, right.

And that's, again, no pruning late in the fall.

This is something we're even late summer, because you can you can prune it later on in the summer, but then you're not going to give enough time for that plant to grow that growth and to form the buds Scotch within the next year.

So So again, experiment, if you do lose the flowers for one season, well, that's okay.

It's better though, to choose the right plant.

Lilacs come in a lot of different sizes now from the old fashioned, really tall ones to some quite dwarfed ones, even.

There's one called Bloomerang that's a rebloomer that will bloom again, sporadically in the fall.

And with the weather my old fashioned lilacs this past year re bloomed.

So I'm going to have less of a flower display this spring because, you know, they, they've already leave, they left out that bud burst open and I'd rather have a wonky lilac with full of blooms, then write one that's been hacked and cut the flowers don't, you know, don't neglect the fact that you have a beautiful lilac with a wonderful scent that you can bring in as a cut flower.

I think so many times we just don't take advantage of the fact that we have beautiful plants and flowers and Let's appreciate them, you know, in our home or as a gift.

You know, take the bouquet to someone there was a teacher at school that always loved lilacs.

So score some cool points with their teacher.

All right, Karen, we're gonna go to you for a tomato question because I know you love tomatoes, Roxanne center writes in how early can we in East Central Illinois start our tomato seeds indoors?

I'm chomping at the bit.

We hear you We understand you.

When can you do that?

What typically you don't want to do what's about six to eight weeks before before frog Yeah.

And last frost.

So we're you know, even though they said that, you know, we're in a new zone, at least for us in the Peoria area.

We're still you know, have dicey weather up until about, you know that Mother's Day in May.

And so it's going back on the calendar and take into account that because if your plant gets too leggy, then you've got more of a hardening off situation out in the garden, because you started it so early and it got so long, but then remember that when if that plant is leggy that you'll want to take off some of those lower leaves and bury it deep when you put it out.

You're kind of at an angle though.

Different ways, if you've got a good good well drained soil, you can dig straight down and put it straight down.

If not, then you can do a little trench, and then do a little stick to hold him up.

So yeah, we're gonna say don't start before the first of March.

Don't start before the end, as a person who has been that eager person to start, Nothing's worse than having to report a 72.

So flat of plants that have outgrown their home and still can't quite go outside yet.

I've been there.

And one of the things to start now if you really are looking to start something would be if you wanted to grow onions, or maybe you wanted to start some parsley, or you know, something, maybe even by the middle of the month, the cool weather cabbages and such, possibly, but tomatoes or warm weather, that it's really better to wait and get a grip then.

Okay, all right.

Let's see, pig man wants to know, how do landscapers managed to kill off weeds under a tree without hurting the tree roots, some trees have a wide area, that's clear.

And she said this is a stumper for her.

So, okay, that gets to school.

Alright.

First off, you can do a really good job with mulch.

And like newspapers, I don't really recommend putting any kind of landscape fabric underneath mulch because it breaks down and becomes soil.

And then you have soil on top of a landscape fabric and you could have some weed problems.

So I'm not sure exactly what idea she has.

But I just wanted to give us a little idea about herbicides.

So herbicides are products that kill green plant material.

And so there's about there's mode of action.

So each chemical has a different kind of mode of action.

And I read that there are seven different kinds of the way that they affect the plant, and the the physiology of the plant and how it's going to die.

But most of the time, when we're talking about chemicals we're talking about either or.

So we have two different kinds of chemicals, something that's pre emergent that we use, maybe before the weed seed would germinate or before the seed would come up, or post emergent after the weed is already there.

So you have to decide how's that going to work?

The pre emergent is the crabgrass control that you might get as a step one in your lawn care program.

And the post emergent is when you're maybe spot spraying some weeds, then we move to here's another one of our two, do they kill on contact?

Or will they move systemically in the plant.

So contact kill is actually kind of burns the foliage.

And it doesn't really move systemic means it's absorbed into the plant.

And it can actually be translocated or moved throughout the vascular system of the plant.

And so this would be something like a roundup.

And again, all of these chemicals have lots of different mode of actions.

And then we also need to know what are they going to kill.

So some of them are non selective, and some of them are selective, meaning that they will kill the broadleaf weed.

So that would be like a weed and feed that you could use in your grass.

Because it's going to kill the dandelions, the broadleaf weeds, but there are other herbicides that will kill grass type weeds that maybe you would want to use in a landscape bed.

And then of course, some of the ones that you need to watch out for, again, are these non selective, they just kill anything that you spray it on?

And then the last thing and I didn't write it down, I should have I was going to is does it have a residual?

Or does it break down in the soil right away?

So what that would mean is that it stays in the soil and continues to provide some type of control or after a couple of days.

If the weed has died and you've removed it, is there anything left?

So each product you have to selectively research to decide?

Is it going to be the one that you want to use and there have been some unfortunate problems have developed with different chemicals.

There was one on the market that they didn't realize was absorbed by tree and shrub roots.

And so it was applied, you know, on the lawn, but under, it killed trees, it killed trees along, you know, in their yard, they had no idea again, you have to choose the right kind of product, research it.

And I know it's overwhelming, but you can you have to follow the label, that's the law.

And that tells you how the product works gives all the environmental information about it.

So for me under trees, you know, some type of cardboard or newspaper and some nice mulch gives you pretty well, something nice for at least a season or more and then maybe have to do the hard work of raking it off and replacing it or fluffing it up to keep it you know, looking nice.

What do you think?

fails?

Don't forget to call your local extension office?

Yes, yes.

Or again, a knowledgeable horticulturist at independent garden center.

Week.

Anything that I don't care?

Well, I just I think also with with that question is, you know, sometimes we don't know, is it?

Is it affecting the tree that they've they've used these chemicals?

And is it maybe there are some effects, but they're not showing it?

And maybe a year of drought?

Those chemicals added that extra little stress that didn't help the tree.

Gotcha.

So lots and lots to study and just make sure you're getting the right product.

The job.

Don't use chemicals if you don't have to.

I mean, they got advice.

Yeah, that's what I go through.

All right, Karen, you've got some unfortunate news about your job.

Yeah, you know, I I'm, you know, fanatic with canas.

And I've got that overwintering down pat.

And I've this don't usually do dahlias, because I've got a heavier soil and digging them out.

They just don't work.

So last year, I did one in a pot, and it was just gorgeous.

It was bouquets of it.

It just was lovely.

So then I got this little bee and tried to think, Oh, I'll try made a different overwintering way because typically, I would just dig up the dahlia tuber and you'd have the tubers and like Ella, we forgot to bring hers and you would just overwinter it as a whole unit and then just replant it that way.

Why this fall did this online course mini course tutorial and you know how to do it and everything and and it went so in depth with Seto the tuba you've got to look for an eye the neck of it and the tuba and you can divide them in the fall and then store them that way.

Oh, I'm all jazzed about this you know I want to 10 plants not one and so I followed all the directions that I did this cute little shoe box and put my label of what the flower was and did the mixture and I think I'll even put cinnamon in here to help with fungus.

And then now I'm we're not even to spring yet and I already know that I didn't make it.

So my shoe box is now you know unfortunately a coffin for a for my dahlias and this beautiful Dahlia.

Now I don't have.

So better luck.

Thanks but but the woman in the mini course did say that typically your first year with doing this division and overwintering.

You know, you may not be successful, so I don't know that I want to try it another year.

But see, they're just like us folks, not everything always makes it even though a lot of the things they they store over winter makes it but this is one of those instances where it just didn't survive.

So now what will you try this again?

You said you don't know you're thinking about it.

I think if if Ella gave me one of hers that she didn't want.

And and I could experiment once again doing the division and looking intently on it for the eye keeping the neck in tact with a tuba.

Yeah, try it again.

Sure.

But how are those candidates looking?

Have you given given them the old check?

No, I have I have not even peeked at them because they're kind of covered with stuff.

So I'd have to move a lot of things to get to them.

I'm sure they're fine, though.

Because like you said, you've got that way they better because I'd be really sad.

All right.

Oh, go ahead.

Go ahead.

No, no, no, I was just gonna say that overwintering things are is a real trick.

I mean, I'm overwintering some things in my garage.

I'm overwintering some things in my basement.

I'm overwintering.

Some things like the dahlias like to be a little warmer than the pole.

So they're upstairs in a closet.

You know, so, yeah, you open my closet, you don't know what you're gonna do.

Who knows what you'll find in there.

Let's see Martha send in a photo.

And we had Phil Nixon on.

A couple of weeks ago, our bug guy and he was talking about wasps and Yellow Jacket.

So Martha sent in a picture wants to know if this.

She said last week you featured an expert on wasps and he did mention yellow jackets.

She wants to know if the picture she sent in is a yellow jacket.

She said there's so much pollen on it, she can't tell.

So let's take a look at that.

And Ella, what are your thoughts, right, of course, when you see any kind of an insect with a whole bunch of pollen on it, a flying insect, it's probably a bee and that happens to be a bumble bee right there.

The one thing about wasps is that they are hairless.

They also have a very constricted body shape.

So it's, they they look considerably different.

And if you just went online and and Googled Wasp and looked at some images, you could certainly tell now they can be striped with yellow and black, like the yellow jacket that kind of mimics some of the coloring of honeybees and, and some bumble bees.

But when you see a bee, she has hairs covering her entire body, actually, her compound eyes have hairs coming out of it, her whole body is covered.

And as she fly, she creates a charge and electrical charge and the pollen is negatively charged.

And so when she lands, actually some of that pollen can just kind of jump on her like static clean, like Yeah, static electricity.

And then of course, she has bees.

And they're usually females, pollen gathering for their young that they're going to either, you know, store in Honeycomb, or in their little ground nests or wherever.

But they have those, and they can just actually, you know, use their little arms to scrape off that and then they have special like little baskets that are kind of woven on.

I think it's the the third lake that they can pack and you see those little pollen patty likes Yeah, and they do have special traps on on hives where they can collect pollen, and some people use pollen.

You know, in for health purposes, you can call and so if you see pollen on an insect, it could be a beetle, but it's not a wasp.

It's more likely to be more likely to be if it's covered in pollen.

Alright, I'll be looking for that.

All right, Karen, you've got a succulent that you brought in.

Yeah, it was this this is I was I was gonna bring this in talk about the use of of a house plant like this in such a small pot and that I was going to take it out of the pot and do a root pruning almost like you'd do a banzai distill, keep it in this small little pot, where you could do cuttings, because this, this little pot I actually have by my fairy house, because you know, you got to have potted plants around your house, and it's out in the full sun.

So I did a succulent, but it's that time of the year that you can find problems with your houseplants, and deep inside here.

I noticed that I've got the beginning of mealy bugs.

So they mealy bugs are common.

But since I don't use chemicals on my house plants just as a precautionary because I have cats I will probably just throw this away because you can use like alcohol rubbing alcohol to try to kill them.

But I've found that over time that it seems like even the little fluffiness you don't know does that have eggs in it?

And then you just keep trying to fight the problem.

So unfortunately, I'm gonna have to find a new plant for going in my pot for next year.

But don't you think this is something small enough that you could really dunk it kind of in maybe like a soapy water solution or something?

So I have a new plant I want to pop.

But I don't I don't think soapy water is going to cut it.

I have never I've never even chemicals I think oh you know I can't take a picture of it.

Oh, shoot.

Well, there's probably more in here.

So anyway, that mealy bugs are a very tough houseplants they are because they are some more gifts down in the cruxes.

It's sometimes it seems like they're even a little bit the top of the soil right by the stems.

They're very hard to control.

And they're very tenacious with how they live on a plant.

Right.

Okay, well, yeah, and it's also observed.

That's one thing to be very cautious when you're at stores looking at houseplants because some of the retailers with how long they hold their inventory.

You You can get a bloom of these.

And so it's actually you're looking down in your house plant before you bring it home from a store and you don't even know it.

So when you're we've got about a minute left when you're looking through the foliage.

What do you look for a white little glimpse, you know, right or stickiness, cuz they, they, they they feed on this sap of the plant or something and actually I had a little wipe here that I was cleaning my pruners with, I went on vacation.

The people, we when we went to a tropical area, the people had some house plants and I noticed that they had mealy bugs.

So I use my little airplane wipes.

And I wiped all their leaves because you could take the girl out of the nurse was the least that I could do for for helping them through.

I don't know the plant the plant seemed to be doing okay, but it did have it either had like a knee a method or a chameleon bugs.

Alright, we're out of time.

It goes so fast.

Thank you so much, guys.

Always a pleasure when you come in.

Thank you so much for watching.

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Good night.