Well, hello, gardeners.

I'm Tinisha, Spain, host of Mid-American gardener.

And as you can tell, we are out of the studio again.

And we have a special guest.

Today we're talking to the one and only Dianne Noland, the former host of this show.

Now, you might not have known this, but this is the 30th anniversary, 30 years of Mid American gardener.

So what better way than to come and chat with Diane and see what you've been up to lately?

We haven't seen you since well, pandemic pretty much.

Yes.

And I think you did a 20.

Well, right after the 25th anniversary when I retired.

So yeah, so it's been a while Glad you're here.

Yeah.

So thank you for having us back.

You're welcome.

So let's take a trip down memory lane.

All right.

I'm 30 years of the show total.

How many years did you host?

I hosted 25 years and a summer 25 in the summer?

Because I was gonna retire at 25.

And they said, Would you stay the summer?

So I always think of it that way and the extra summer.

Right.

And the rest are some Tell me about some memories that you have of the show.

What what was that?

25 years like?

Well, I remember the first show was a little bit uneasy, but oh, yeah, because you were on the very first show.

I was on the very first show.

And Jack Kelly was the host.

And he was just a lot of fun.

And he was trying to you know, but I think because I had been a teacher I was able to just go with the flow.

And, and I I do remember meeting lots of people in horticulture that I might not have known without the show, bringing people with different expertise together.

Yeah.

So that was fun.

And then I remember interviewing to be the host.

There were several of us that interviewed.

And I remember not knowing anything about what I was doing.

I didn't know the cues I didn't know.

And I remember ending early and just smiling.

And it was the longest smile ever because I you cinched it though.

That was it.

I don't know how the rest is history.

Right.

But I have enjoyed it.

And I like the teaching aspect.

And I like the entertainment.

Yes.

aspect with the teaching, education and entertainment.

That's what I always said.

So I have to ask, are you still watching the show?

Yes.

Except if I forget, it's Thursday, or whatever it is on in the area.

But yes, I still watch the show.

Rate.

I like seeing, you know, you have gone with the flow and the different format.

I think it's nice seeing more in depth about some things.

So just trying to keep it different.

Keep it fresh, and it's working.

So good job queue.

So you brought some shirts because this was great.

You know, you've always got the the Mid American gardener Polo.

But she's got some historical throwback, well, this is the oldest shirt I found.

And this was from when I was a panelist and this was the Illinois gardener logo.

And you know, it's all because it says channel 12.

Also I was once we went to Mid American gardener, then we were multiple channels.

So we were this the first one was gray, but I think I just left it at the studio.

I didn't like it.

So we had two or three green ones.

But then my favorite logo that is pretty when it was Illinois gardener is Illinois became the petals of a daisy.

I thought that was so clever like that.

I'm gonna have to talk to DJ about bringing bringing those back.

I don't know how you will my husband said you could have for different parts of the state and the other states you could have different status true because as the pedal that's yeah, I forgot we've got to consider the ANA mass audience.

We've got viewers in North Dakota, you can make these all different states.

We could tell you a long game.

We couldn't have a fat state you'd have to have a have an Illinois, but you could do that.

But I always thought that was a clever one very nice and all the men and women were the same and then we went to two different colors.

Though I always thought the salmon color look good on everyone.

I like the look gloves there on that one the gloves and the trowel.

And it was IG but I went to a gardener and it was a woman's cut, you know, a woman's fit.

And this was a pledge gift 1091 time and my mother looks so good in this color.

She did a pledge gift and she wears and it's just perfect for her coloring.

So speaking of your mom, yeah, we have her to think because in putting this together DJ was looking for some footage of the very first show and found it but there's a story behind it.

So go ahead telling DJ this and Tinisha heard it.

My mother recorded for posterity.

The first show on her VHS recorder and that's the only show that's the only evidence that we have Wow of the first show.

So big save to Irma.

Yes Irma with an era with an eating out and I see she's got the first show.

So do you remember that for So do you remember doing it?

Oh, yes, I remember it.

I remember thinking, wow, this is like, you know how you feel when you're going to be taking a test.

And you think you could have studied a little bit more.

Like, that's how I felt on the first show.

But Jack was personable, and he interacted with each of us with our expertise, because he knew what our expertise was.

And so it was, it was good.

I, and you know what, to this day, I still love interacting with the panelists.

When they get into their element and their expertise.

I just, I'm a fan.

I just sit and bat my eyelashes, because it is just so fascinating to see them in their element.

And they have passion.

Yes.

And really the only issue is to try to corral it into a time that makes sense for a 30 minute show.

Yes.

Because, you know, so they could do this for, you know, a lecture period, but your dad is really great.

Yeah, let's, I'm looking at my watch going, oh, boy, and in my ear, I'm hearing move on.

Wrap it up.

But that would make it fun.

Yes.

And then I like when the panelists would interact.

And people ask questions.

I don't know, I just really liked that interaction.

Even if there's two of you.

You can still interact like that.

Yes, yes.

Yes.

So what have you been up to?

Since the last time we saw you?

Well, I have been gardening, I want to say 24/7.

But I do sleep.

I do eat.

I really enjoyed being able to garden.

And so I'm fully retired.

But I garden I garden at my church and I people stop and see me and I interact with them about gardening or Sure.

But we also do a little we did a little bit of traveling a little bit here and there.

I'm really getting into wildflowers right now.

I'm trying to reclaim some of my woodland edges.

So honeysuckle is not my middle name.

I'm trying to base everybody's on the on a mission to get rid of that.

So I have a purpose for the rest of my life.

There you go.

Never Sleeps 30 I do I love to garden.

Excellent.

Well, last time we were here, we took a tour of your yard and we saw your beautiful flowers in your vegetable garden.

So I would love to go do that again.

If you're up for a tour.

That sounds great.

Great.

Let's do it alright, your irises are absolutely beautiful.

What did they just recently open?

They did.

These are the earliest irises that I have.

And then I tried to get early, middle and late.

Oh, there you go.

So you gotta show through the whole summer.

And it's sort of an heirloom Iris from someone I knew gave me a division and now I think I've got them in four or five places I like repetition around the garden.

But this is an iris next to a really neat Huskers red Penstemon and golden oregano, which is a hearty oregano.

So guess what I like to mix all of the things herbs, flowers, shrubs, perennials, annuals together, no annuals yet.

I haven't done that yet.

But I like to mix it plenty of time.

And I like this because it can double as your ground cover exactly.

I mean, it's you could do so many things with it.

And then sometimes a I'll end up with a strawberry here.

And if you'll notice we've got a fence and the fence does double duty.

It helps hold up my penny.

It's up here.

But it also keeps my vegetable garden from being eaten by four legged, beautiful four legged deer.

So that's why I have it fenced, and really, I don't mind it, the birds land on here and I get to see birds.

Gosh, this is so beautiful.

Another kind of oregano and then the creeping phlox and irises and eventually Black Eyed Susans will be coming along in here.

This is so full and gorgeous.

You can tell that it's just it's been in for a few years and it's got its own thing and it's so lush and pretty.

It got a hair cut in early winter excuse me early.

When did when or becomes spring but anyway yeah got a hair cut so it would have covered the entire bow wow.

So I trimmed it back.

Do you have your vegetables in yet?

I do have some want to go look at Yes well I brought Tanisha into my vegetable garden but there's not all vegetables here.

I do have in this one corner of five and one plum.

And I'm looking forward to getting more plums last year I got a few but this year it it flowered beautifully and I'm hoping to get three or four maybe all five of the five in one club.

I thought that was fun.

I grow herbs in here as well and I have sage next to it.

But I do want you to see My onions, I thought they turned out great last year beautiful, very healthy looking, yes, this is a red one.

And then I have a white one across the way.

And every year, I do crop rotation.

So last year, they would have been on that side, two beds, and then I move them over here.

And so I they've been very well watered this year, I'm really happy to see, you know, because I got them in in March, somehow I was able to plant them in March, and then it was cold all through April.

And they're still doing well.

Now, if you wouldn't mind, put on your teacher hat for us.

Okay, wait a little bit about why you rotate crops and why that's such a good idea.

I do crop rotation because you don't want to get a buildup of insects, you really want to make sure that you have things where they fix nitrogen, which would be the beans, you want to follow those with maybe a root crop.

And so I've used several books to figure out how to do it but you don't want to have the same type of plants follow that type of plant.

So you want to try to do root crops versus you know, beans and peas are a good nitrogen fixing one.

So you I follow the peas with onions, and then the peas move up and they go in where maybe a root crop was that would deplete the soil.

So and I do I try to do it in twos.

So I've got two beds of each along here, but not always do I have one thing in a bed.

And so this is some kohlrabi I've got planting number one is right here and planting two across the way.

But we have a lot of us all three of us really like kohlrabi.

This is a purple one.

It looks sort of like a turnip.

Okay, above the ground.

And it tastes sort of like a radish.

Turnip.

Interesting.

It's like it was raw, or do you cook yours?

We love him wrong.

Yeah, but you can stir fry him.

But I like the purple one.

And then I've got the white one and I got the big Cossack one across here.

turnips are looking really medium green on this side.

But being a floral designer, I like to mix textures.

And so I have the blue green, I have the turnip here.

And in the middle, I've always wanted to plant I've tried to other years, but this is Florence fennel.

And I tried it when I was a Swiss exchange student, they would have it it's kind of an annus ball, but it's really good.

And these are looking great.

Now if you wonder what the bores are, that's just to keep weeds down because I'm a lazy gardener.

But this we love those kinds of tips.

I love it, I will do sometimes you know the black and white pages of newspaper mulch, but I put that down, I also know where the row is, and then I keep weeds down.

My garden is not weed free.

So don't don't focus on any weeds.

I'm sure that that's a sustainable agriculture practice.

Or it just got really hot really fast and I wasn't able to get them out of there.

Now this looks yummy as my combination planting.

I've got some butterhead lettuce along with some leaf lettuce.

And then the middle row is radishes.

And unfortunately, we had the ones most ready yesterday first for our dinner.

And then this is space spinach.

And it's I haven't really picked off of it.

But this is really nice and clean.

So I picked it at this stage all around.

It's gorgeous.

The other planting this is a second planting.

The other planting is really picked to almost nothing.

I've been enjoying that one.

Yes, we have it I have it in with mixed salad greens.

It's really good.

But then I do have more radish, let's see if I'm Oh yeah, it's a little bit small.

This is a sparkler white tip.

And then I've got the red one that's called Rivoli but, and I have Gloriette as well.

But I like to plant those in between and then they're out and then the kohlrabi gets big.

So I've got two rows of corn, you really put a lot of thought into this, between the rotation and the way the beds are set up.

And I think it looks pretty too.

And that's and that part too.

I didn't know you were a floral.

Yes, I taught floral design for 40 years at the University of Illinois, but, but I was always a gardener first.

And teaching about perennials was my first love.

So now we're going to come over to this part.

Well, we do have peas and I think you got a few pictures of the peas.

This doesn't look like anything but this is carrots just coming up.

Oh, gotcha.

And I mean we're taking some lessons on these because my carrots are not looking too hot.

Okay, a few tips on cares are to try to get the bed a little bit raised and loose, you know, try to get loose.

And so then I I just use a hoe and make the row and I have been doing lazy things lately I've been buying carrot seed tapes.

Oh, it has already go because those are small seeds.

You can get pelletized seed and that's easy, but I admit I Hey and do we don't call it lazy we call it easy.

peasy.

I can plan it in 10 minutes versus Yes, yeah.

So I put the seed tape out and then I cover it with just a little bit of soy and then I cover it with old potting mixture, you know, potting soil that because perlite and yes, so it's loose.

I know where the road it doesn't crust up carrots really like it loose.

Yes.

And sometimes you know, it'll just come in so nice and beautiful.

So this is my first planting and this first one is called yah, yah.

How do you decide what seed?

I'd like the name there.

Yeah, but I do have Napoli and Laguna, I have a couple of times and I'm probably this is Bed number two, which is not weeded yet, and hasn't been seated yet either.

So that's the carrot row.

I always put a few if I find lettuce that itself so I tried to put lettuce in.

I've got so many each in.

And then I've got a new kind of romaine lettuce.

That's this one's new to me.

Anyway, this is called Jericho.

Jericho.

I've got romaine, and I've got you can see this spinach.

I've really been picking on it.

And then for the summer I've got swiss chard in the middle.

This one's falling down.

And that's really good to take the leaves off for salads and stir fry.

So I've just done a little bit and then the beds that aren't planted.

This would be this is going to be beans.

Okay.

I tried to cover until I liked that.

I liked that.

It's I learned that from Betty Moser who's a Macon County gardener and they would put that between their rose Yeah, carpeting.

Well, I that's a good hack.

That's a good gardener.

I remembered it always from her and I've been doing it for about 10 years.

And then these are potatoes.

I have a couple strawberries.

So I've done some perennial beds.

And that area will probably be probably be cucumbers.

It's too early for cucumbers.

Yeah.

And then I've got beets in this bed.

Three different kinds.

I thought I had four but I only have three so and look more radishes or radish.

Oh, look like there.

Oh, they do.

Oh, wow.

Okay, now that radish is a little bit farther along and I think what about this guy?

Pick that one?

Yeah, that's Oh, I forgot about this row.

Last night anyway.

But this is Rivoli Archivio Li, but any radish that you like, there you go.

Well, there's this one right next door.

Yeah, go for it.

And I think the one next to it.

Man, this whole row looks pretty good.

I planted this pretty early.

Because beets can go in pretty early.

So there they are.

You know, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of wi ll and continue to celebrate.

Now we've gotten an American gardener with a 30th anniversary.

So it's a very nostalgic year.

I don't know that anyone planned that but it's so organized airy fairy years of Mid American gardener two years and 100 years of WILL that is so great.

Something you learn so much.

Oh my gosh.

It's like I've taken classes.

I mean, I've literally got to spend time with some of the brightest minds in in gardening.

I always enjoyed our directors and they would learn so much I have to mention Henry Radcliffe.

He was like he took a masters course in horticulture because he was the director of the show for 16 years.

He started knowing everything.

Yes, because he heard it just by osmosis.

I mean, I'll rattle off Latin names and certain insects and certain things and it's just like, wow, I've been sitting next to Phil Nixon for five years.

And Henry Suggeski and Jeff Cunningham, they all became really I mean they became very knowledgeable so you can't No way I'm glad we came to this row.

Yes, it's good and those are beats and they're a little bit they're not quite ready yet.

Now the one thing I don't like to do but I'm going to need to do is thin so I might thin it and then use it as in a salad or something there you go.

I try to not have to thin because I feel like I stated my green beans very close.

Can I pluck those out and share and give that to somebody if you can take enough soil to keep it alive?

Okay, it really fast okay.

Yeah, because they like to be direct sewed but if you can, you got to move quick though.

It's not exactly ball and burlap but you're gonna need to take it with soil.

Okay.

So, but anyway, this is fun.

I've got you know, things that are still gonna go in but I try not to have everything ready at the same time because how many different types of strawberries do you have?

I just have the one and if you hadn't honey oil, honey oil if you hadn't I was gonna say I was almost couldn't remember but it will slightly read flower but I like it for the first season.

And there's a few perennials mixed in and my hearty fig that hasn't done anything yet but and I have moms that I will take cuttings when I cut them back and I just plop them in the soil and give them water and then I move those.

So I have a little bit of a propagation bed as well.

This is goals.

This is what they call gardening.

holes.

It's really, it's really fun.

But if before I finished it, I didn't know if I was gonna get anything else.

So trust me, I know the rabbits and the folks at home know last year I complained about the rabbits every show, they ate everything.

They ate my flowers, they mowed down my sunflowers in full beautiful bloom.

So I totally get a sense we have to, I guess we have to garden to share.

Yes, you don't have a choice you don't.

And they get the apples and the pears and the peaches, but I wish I could just have a little lettuce.

Exactly.

Lettuce.

That's all we want.

Just a little lettuce Well, for the 30th anniversary, I wanted to show you a good Mid American gardener plant.

This is called camassia.

It's a little bit warm here today but and not quite open.

But you can see that really nice light blue.

I learned about it's called Wild Coomassie or camassia.

I learned about the use of it this I always call this the Lewis and Clark plant.

Because I learned that it man Damn they had a hard winter when they were going, you know searching and exploring.

And the second year we actually were someone in that tribe.

dug the root is like a potato ie a starchy vegetable.

And they it really helped him to live through that first winter.

Wow.

So Lewis and Clark, this is a native plant.

And it's beautiful.

You can get several sizes, but this is the taller one.

And I just love that blue color.

It opens up sort of Starry, I was just gonna ask what the flowers look like.

The whole thing will be starry, but it's still it's architectural before it opens.

It's a very pretty looking plant.

And I like it with a yellow it's got a yellow yes Barbary, but this is a yellow Carolina loop and and it'll have a yellow spike up to here.

So you know, the green isn't really nice and soothing, but I like it with the yellows and the blues.

More of that floral design coming in.

Right.

So I'm trying to do a little bit of color different color schemes.

It sort of goes with the yellow sun on the Mid American gardener shirts, doesn't it?

So does so these are purple.

So it kind of goes blues into purple eventually.

Do you have questions for your beds.

This one I used to call the tall garden because I had really tall grasses but I moved them.

So now I call it the viburnum shrub.

I burn them Sure, I wonder because you know, we all have the pet names for the for the different beds throughout the yard.

Usually it's an important plant that I only might have one of so I can keep it straight.

So this is a really interesting native plant that is gorgeous.

I think more people should go.

Now this is a fall clematis that decided it wanted to be here.

And so I just took some saplings that I didn't want in my woodland, they were too thick.

And I just did a wreath ring and grapevine.

I just did that just for some support.

And that's use it for support.

You're just full of ideas.

Well, you know, when you're doing everything you can have more time to do it before I would drive.

I mean, we just we all have sitting around and waiting and I thought okay, but you got to use plants that aren't going to self so like don't use Willow or dog was so Gotcha, okay so this garden, I wanted to feature a darker pink or a hot pink and it it really, so it matches the tree behind me.

But first the bleeding heart that's called Old Fashioned bleeding heart.

Beautiful color.

And I do have some tulips that are French outstanding.

The tulips are gorgeous, and and I think I've had them 25 years now there used to be maybe two dozen.

But still, that fringe tulip is crazy like how they're just randomly like loop periods.

Don't like you know standing water so this is a slow pier and so I think that's what made them last so long.

But the tree right here when it's in full flower is that hot pink or dark pink color.

We talked about this tree last time we were here.

Yes.

Tell us the story did.

This is the prairie fire crab apple and Professor Dayton.

Dr. Dayton.

He hybridized this one when I was at the University.

He was there too.

And it was so beautiful.

So I love that tree.

So this tree is 30 years old, just like just like Mid American garden.

Yeah, just like the show.

And it was planted the first week after my son was born.

And so this one is 30 years old.

And then I've got another tree for when he was one and then second tree for when he was two and then we switched to serviceberries we went to A different kind of tree.

And I remember he said, Mom, I asked him what kind of tree he said, I would like an amil anchor.

And I told the nursery people and they said, How old is your son?

I said, He's six, just standard, you know, standard stuff for garden.

This is a 30 year old anniversary Mid American gardener tree.

I think that it's so fitting for where we are right.

And that, interestingly, absolutely.

Well, Diane, I want to say thank you so much for letting us come out.

What do you think about the next 30 years of the show?

I think it's going to be great.

I think you're going to have your, your standard, really good people that are on now.

But I think you're going to add more like you've been doing.

And I just think it's only going to get better because people are interested, they want to learn, and they want to learn for their own garden.

And it's so timely to it is that really is theirs.

If it helped with one thing, it would be gardening and people having houseplants because it just caught fire during that time.

And we're so grateful for all of our new viewers.

And so I'm just so glad that we were able to come out today and kind of take part in this as part of our 100th as part of the 30th of the show.

So thank you for opening your home to us again.

Well Tinisha Keep up the good work.

Thank you so much you're doing and go even more.

Thank you and you enjoy your retirement and we'll have to come back.

This isn't our last fiscal try to work it in.

Yeah.

All right.

Thank you so much.

And thank you for watching.

If you have any questions for our plant experts, you can send us an email to yourgarden@gmail.com or look us up on Facebook, and we will see you next time.

I'm your host Tinisha Spain and good night