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♪ (Making it Grow opening music) ♪ Good evening and welcome to Making It Grow.

We're so glad you could join us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty.

I'm a Clemson horticulture Agent, and our show is a collaborative effort between Clemson University and SCETV and I'm so thrilled tonight that we have two very fine agents - Well, not agents, but Extension members with us tonight.

Dr. Eric Benson.

Eric, you are now a Professor Emeritus, I believe, but your specialty is insects and their relationships with human beings, I believe.

Is that correct?

>> Yes technically I'm a urban entomologist, Amanda, but that means basically I deal with insects that impact man, where they live, work and play.

So pretty much everywhere.

>> Okay, so I guess that even means for somebody like Terasa who's got a house full of dogs and cats, fleas and things like that to probably pop up, too.

Don't they?

>> Oh, absolutely.

deal with flea issues.

Not as much as we used to, but they are still very much around and very prominent in the pet world.

>> Yeah.

They're not much fun when they get in your house.

Are they?

And then we're so fortunate, Christopher Burtt is the - he helps homeowners and home gardeners consumers down in the Low country.

Christopher, how many counties are you trying to keep happy down there?

>> So, as of right now, just three counties.

Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester.

<Amanda> Well, those are kind of big counties that have a lot of people.

I bet your phone rings off the hook.

>> Absolutely >> Of course, it's interesting because Charleston, I guess is aren't parts down there almost zone 9 now?

Parts of that?

>> Getting close to it we considered 8B, but downtown Charleston I've seen plenty of plants that can't grow in zone 8, doing just fine.

({laughing] >> Well, and I don't know what's going to happen when those king tides come in and wash them off.

That might be the only thing that gives them any trouble.

Thank both of you for being with us tonight.

Of course, we couldn't do Making It Grow without Terasa Lott and Terasa is actually, what she's supposed to be doing most of the time is helping the master gardener part stay cohesive and getting through all kinds of things.

Terasa you've had a busy year and I think things are finally happily getting to where some Master Gardeners can get together.

>> They are.

I know a lot of people, I said, did the happy dance when we finally got the word that it was okay to get back to in person activities.

>> Well, I'm delighted for that, but one thing that you do that's outside oriented is that you look on our Facebook page and people send you pictures, and you make a compilation of Gardens of the Week, and they are always, they're either pretty or fun, but always we always enjoy looking at them, so can we see some now, please?

>> That would be my pleasure.

Let's take our virtual field trip, and see what you were doing in your yards and gardens.

We're going to begin with Perry Gaskins, who shared a photograph of his potting shed and garden.

Dr. John Nelson, who's not with us in person today, but sent in a photo, shared a Sago palm, and as you can tell this one happens to be a male.

Ellen Pauly, captured some vibrantly colored lantana in her photograph.

Now, on this one from Autumn Parnell, you need to look very closely for what she said is her sneaky garden visitor.

Do you see it?

There's an alligator, just a statue in her flower bed.

And wrapping up we have Susan Temple, who shared a mass of rudbeckia and she said that it is all volunteer.

So, I haven't had anything volunteer that I really wanted.

So, how exciting to have all those Black-eyed Susans, and not have to have gone to any extra effort to get them there.

Thanks to everyone who shared photos.

Of course they all can't show up on one episode, but you're welcome to view them on our Facebook page.

We do take submissions through my email as well, which is my entire first name at Clemson.edu.

>> And I'll remind people that Terasa spells her name unusually.

I say you can remember it because she's like a ray of sunshine.

So, it's T-E-R-A-S-A.

>> Yes.

Thank you for pointing that out, because there is someone that spells it the traditional T-E-R-E-S-A.

and she is in a completely different department at Clemson, but your photos may not make it to me.

>> Terasa, you get submissions, questions submitted to you through a variety of means, and always have a nice big stack of them for when we do a show.

So, let's start and see what we can get these experts to help us with please.

Sounds good.

From Jim in Folly Beach, the question is what is this leaf spot on roses, and how do I treat it.

>> Aha!

Humidity and roses how about that Christopher.

That's probably right up your alley, I imagine.

What do you think is going on?

And is there something that can be done about it?

>> So, unfortunately it sounds like they have Black spot, which is the bane of most Rose growers throughout the entire world.

It is a common disease, probably, the most common disease on roses, though there is a similar one Cercospora that looks very similar, but the leaf spot is generally smaller and it's not as common, but that being said, Black spot is a unfortunate one and it tends to be very common in the garden.

There are a couple different ways you can control leaf spot.

The key is going to be prevention.

One of the first things you can do is planting resistant cultivars, which unfortunately for roses, there's not a whole lot you can do as far as resistant cultivars go.

There's really only one or two per type, but that being said, even if you plant, a kind of a standard cultivar, you can go through the sanication process, which would mean any leaves that fall onto the ground.

Keep in mind this is a fungus.

This fungus does over winter on foliage that has fallen to the ground.

And so, removing that mulch, removing that foliage, and disposing of it is going to be one of the best ways to kind of prevent it from coming back next year, and of course, pruning is going to be a huge deal.

So, when you go through at the end of winter, really right around the end of February, beginning of March, you're going to go through and prune before the buds break before it starts putting out new growth.

You're going to really prone it pretty significantly.

You're going to make sure you thin it especially.

When you thin it, you're actually taking that out.

Canes in between other canes within the plant.

Opening up that canopy, to allow light and air to penetrate, and as they say, life is the best disinfectant.

It is very true for funguses, as well.

>> And so, after a good growing season, in like, where we are now, a lot of people's roses have really put on a lot of growth, and have gotten a little bit thicker again.

Do you think it's ever good to do a kind of towards the end of the summer, again removing some of the interior foliage to try to help keep that air flow and light so that you can have a really great fall display?

>> Absolutely, especially if you have re-blooming roses.

I don't recommend doing this on older roses, that only bloom once a year, but on re-blooming roses you can go through and do kind of a second pruning process kind of mid summer, early fall.

You don't want to do it too close to fall.

You don't want any new growth coming out close to that first frost, but kind of mid summer, really right about now, I guess would be the beginning of summer though the heat can make us feel otherwise, but going ahead and thinning out those older canes that have started to get some of that disease on there, even if they haven't gotten some of that disease, and opening up and allowing those newer canes to kind of thrive and get a lot of that sunlight and air flow.

Absolutely.

>> Another option would be to move out west.

My son lives in Los Angeles, and I assure you, he is not a gardener, but he moved into a house that has about 20 roses in it, and they have absolutely no problems whatsoever, because they don't have humidity.

So, but they have some other things that are - I think more problematic.

I think I'll just stay right here in South Carolina.

Don't you think?

>> Absolutely, now the Black spot fairy loves rain and it loves humidity.

Unfortunately, we get a lot of both.

>> Okay.

Well, thanks so much.

Terasa do you got something that we can get Eric to help us with please?

>> We always have more questions and we have one on insects.

So, I think that will be right up his alley.

Bernard in Columbia asks, "Do you have any advice on how to manage mosquitoes is in my backyard?

I try to encourage pollinators, so I want to be careful not to use something that will harm them.

<Amanda> Aha!

Well, Eric mosquitoes are the bane of my life.

And I use a lot of DEET, but I know a lot of people feel that they want to call in some of these services.

You see signs for them.

How effective are those treatments and how hard are they on your pollinators?

And how big of an area if you just got a little tiny lot, a quarter acre, is it going to help if your neighbor next door doesn't do that?

>> Yeah.

Those are really good questions and really good concerns, because we definitely want to protect our pollinators, the honey bees, for sure, but all the pollinators, the native bees, the butterflies and other things people don't think about, the beetles and the ants and things that pollinate our plants, and backyard mosquito control, it's been around for quite awhile but really took off with the Zika concerns, if you remember around 2016, and a lot of pest control companies now offer, what we call backyard mosquito programs to control the mosquitoes, and I have to say that I think that they've gotten much better over the last few years, and protecting pollinators is a huge part of most of the training programs that we do.

So, there are ways that you can do mosquito control, and still be mindful, of those pollinators, so obviously you avoid anything that's blooming.

You avoid anything that let's say, maybe caterpillars could be feeding on.

You try to target undersides of bushes, or around houses.

You know the image of the guy, with the fogging machine that sorts of fogs the whole yard is really gone and should be in the past.

Most of the - if they are spraying, it's very sophisticated sprayers with very tiny droplets, basically designed to stick to the undersides of leaves, or stick to the house where the adults are resting.

Of course there's a number of products you can use in standing water, which is a big issue.

So, there's mosquito dunked with BT and BTI It's a larvicide, and then there's a lot the homeowners can do themselves, that you know getting rid of those containers of water, wearing your repellents.

DEET is one of the most common.

Picaridin is another one, and the concern about how far do they go.

Well, there's over 60 species of mosquitoes in South Carolina, and some fly for miles, but the main one that we're concerned about is the Asian tiger mosquito.

It is the most common daytime biter by far, and in a way fortunately for us, it doesn't go very far.

So, probably 300 feet, 400 feet.

So, a football field which is still pretty sizeable, but if you're judicious and you do some of these strategies, you should be able to affect some pretty good control, in your quarter acre plot as you put out or your half acre plot.

I mean, you can't, stop mosquitoes, from coming in from outside.

You're not going to eradicate your property from mosquitoes.

What you're trying to do, is maintain some sort of management level that you can enjoy your backyard, and so can your pollinators.

>> Okay, and I was fortunate enough to get to go to a training, that was for people who were doing that.

Just, I was able to go to get information, and I remember that they said, the first thing they do, is they get the homeowner to walk around the yard, with them, and they do just what you said.

They want to educate the homeowner on what they can do, to avoid having those places where the mosquitoes breed, and so I think that they have gotten all involved, with the integrated pest management, it's not just a sledge hammer anymore.

It's a lot of tools, and I'm glad to hear that they really are, from the way you described it, it sounds like they've made a lot of adaptations to try to make this, as targeted as possible.

Thank you, Eric.

>> Yeah.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

>> Okay.

Well, Terasa, I know that the questions never stop.

So, how about another one.

>> Juanita in Goose Creek asked, "What is this white powder showing up on my plants?"

>> Well, Christopher, this is down in your part of the world.

Is this something that only people near the coast would have?

Or is this a common situation, that applies to plants in other parts of the state, as well?

>> So, this looks to be powdery mildew, which is unfortunately fairly widespread, not just along the coast.

We're are seeing pretty high prevalence of it, here in this area.

Especially due to the rather dry spring that we had.

Powdery mildew is a fungus that unfortunately spreads through the wind.

The spores can spread and pretty much hop on any plant that it likes, but it generally likes really high humidity, but not necessarily a whole lot of rain.

You tend to see it a lot more during fairly dry conditions.

Unfortunately though, we have plenty of humidity to help it along.

>> Is it usually specific, to a plant?

Like, I know that it used to be flocks, and I happen to have some here today.

It used to be that we couldn't have flocks, much in the south or where I live, because they had so many problems.

I think that was with powdery mildew, and so they developed some resistant varieties, but then I know crape myrtles, you said can get it.

Is that the same type, the same species, or genetic material or does it differ some from plant to plant?

>> So, it does differ some, from plant to plant.

Generally, powdery mildew is fairly specific on the species, and it is going to affect it.

It's actually a multitude of different species that cause powdery mildew, that are the pathogens, and generally they're going to be fairly specific that species to that plant.

The problem is powdery mildew is so widespread, that you almost feel like it's transferring from one plant to the other.

Usually, if it's on a plant, something safe like flocks, which you are correct, there are, flocks very much a susceptible species to do powdery mildew.

Generally, that's not going to be the same powdery mildew that affects your crape myrtles.

It is generally going to transfer from plants in the same family.

>> Now, if you have trouble with crape myrtles, is there anything you can do culturally, to try to help not have a bad infestation?

So, similar to what I was talking about with Black spot on roses.

Planting resistant cultivars is usually our first recommendation.

There are quite a few resistant cultivars to powdery mildew, but of course, that being said, if you don't have a resistant cultivar, you are getting powdery mildew.

Sanitation is another thing.

So making sure, at the end of the season when all the leaves have fallen, you want to remove those, remove the mulch, refresh the mulch, and of course dispose of the material, because that's how it over-winters.

that being said, you also want to do a good pruning process.

One of the big things to prune is going to be epicormic shoots, which are the water sprouts that you see, especially around the bottom.

Powdery mildew tends to affect newer, more tender growth than those epicormic shoots, as I mentioned, tend to be very tender.

>> So, if I go out there and I just always have a few little shoots that are coming up, that just seems to be part, of the nature of crape myrtle, and I don't prune mine back.

You know, severely, like some people unfortunately do.

So, just keeping those cut back can be just a simple method, of perhaps, helping to prevent that on the crape myrtles.

>> Absolutely, and of course you can do some thinning, kind of, like I mentioned, with the roses going through and opening up that canopy can be helpful, as well, but usually you want to just keep it from any hosts like the epicormic shoots as I mentioned, any host material that can help bring it around, year after year, and if you're not doing a whole lot of heavy pruning, on the crape myrtle, generally you're not going to see those shoots, as much.

It's usually, you're going to see those shoots, on stressed trees a lot more than you will on healthy.

>> Yeah, I've just see them periodically, but, as you say, fortunately not too much.

Well, thank you so much.

That was helpful to learn about, especially, that it does, it's more likely in high humidity, but not when it's pouring down rain.

Curious!

Thanks Christopher.

>> Absolutely.

>> Terasa, the Gardens of the Week are so popular that sometimes now, we get somebody who's willing to go around and take even more pictures, of their yard, and we have a Yard of the Week, sort of.

Do we got one for this time?

>> We do.

We're calling it our Gardens of the Week Spotlight.

So, let's take a look at the yard of Deidre Kennedy of Mount Pleasant.

She shared a backyard garden harvest in this photo, which is quite a bountiful harvest, I would say.

It looks like pollinators find her yard attractive, as well, with this eastern black swallowtail on echinacea.

I think it's interesting she showed she had some front yard raised garden beds.

Then here we see a peach tree, along a fence line, adorned with some flowers as well, Rosemary lavender and milkweed.

And a pollinator bed with zinnias, dahlias, bird houses and sunflowers.

Thanks Deidre, so much for sharing your yard.

I think everyone might find a little bit of inspiration.

>> Terasa, I think that garden was not only was very attractive to us, but I think beneficials are going to find it pretty attractive too.

What do you think?

>> I would agree.

>> Well, I got up this morning and went out.

There were some things in the garden.

I didn't have to go to my friend Ann Nolte's house, with my hat in my hands hoping to get something for a hat.

I had some zinnias and some hydrangeas, echinacea.

It was just kind of, a little hodgepodge and some flocks.

Thank you, Christopher for reminding me that I've been fortunate enough to plant some, powdery mildew resistant flocks, and I would encourage other people to do that, because flocks sure make a show in the garden.

So, Terasa, I know that we've had some other questions, and this is - here we are kind of towards you know, summer's still with us pretty strongly.

What are some of the other things that are worrying people?

Well, Nayla in Whitmire asked, We've have problems with stink bugs congregating in and around our home in the past.

What can we do to prevent this from happening again?

>> Eric, I think that's one of those imported stink bugs and talk about stinky, and if it would stay in the garden, but it does really tend to come in, and be a huge problem.

Can you talk about that some, and give us some strategy, so that this fall when fall finally comes, maybe we won't have so much trouble, please.

>> Yes, sure.

Even though it's, still in the middle of the summer, it's not too early to talk about - what she's probably talking about is the ground marmorated stink bug, which is an imported pest.

Came in through Allentown, Pennsylvania, around 1998.

We first saw it in South Carolina, in 2011, and it's sort of been working its way down the mid Atlantic.

It's now in Florida, and it's actually been a pretty serious pest, a whole host of ornamental plants, of different fruits, in 2010, it was estimated to do about 37 million dollars worth of damage, mostly to apple trees.

It attacks peaches, grapes, blueberries.

So, it certainly is a pest, but it does come into our homes, unfortunately, in the fall, when it's seeking a place to over-winter.

So, it doesn't do any damage to the structure.

They just simply want to ride out the winter months in a protected void.

And then, in the spring time, they would leave that void, i.e.

maybe your home, and then that's when the males and females mate and females lay their eggs, and the life cycle starts over.

So, it's again, it's not too early to start thinking about, well, if you had a problem in the past try to identify those areas, and maybe there's something you can do.

They really like to come in around door areas, thresholds, around windows.

Don't overlook the chimney.

They will come around chimneys.

They will come down chimneys.

So, any place that you might have - places that are easy access, because what happens is they'll fly to a structure, and a few stink bugs with their stinkiness, will attract more stink bugs, which will attract more stink bugs, and then if they can get in, they will.

So, keeping them out in the first place is important.

You can do some insecticide treatments.

If you are, you might want a professional do it, but you probably want to target cracks and crevices.

So, you don't have to paint large areas, with an insecticide, but try to paint those cracks and crevices where you think they're going to come in, and then if they do come in, and they are a problem, it's best if at all, you can either vacuum them up or some how mechanically remove them.

You don't want to kill a bunch of these things, and have them say die in a wall void, because then you're going to have a stinky mess on your hand.

So, again they don't hurt the structure.

They don't hurt people or pets.

I have had some situations where they've gone into some very sensitive areas like nursing homes, or doctors offices, or even food service establishments, and we don't want insects like that, any insect like that in those areas.

>> So, Eric even though they apparently have an odor about them all the time, and so they attract each other, but it seems to me in my house, if I've gone and tried to pick one up, it just gets a lot worse, and so I've tried to use the vacuum cleaner hose, maybe or something like that.

>> Yes, absolutely.

There's one trick, Amanda.

It's kind of creative, but let's say you don't want to suck them all the way into your vacuum cleaner bags, because if you do, you're going to want to get rid of it, because it's going to be stinky, but at least take an old pair of stockings and people will put that in the neck of the vacuum, and then you vacuum them up and then they go into your old stocking, and then you can pull that out and have a sack of stink bugs, but you can, you know, knot that up and throw it in an outside trash can.

But yeah, they produce that odor.

They always have that odor.

It protects them, from being eaten by other predators, like lizards and birds, but if you disturb them, they can secrete that odor, even more.

They emit it and that's when you really smell it, which you bring up a good point.

They can foul food.

So, just a couple of stink bugs in any kind of food, you know grapes or anything that you're going to eat with a stink bug smell in it is going to be undesirable.

>> Eric, I think I've even read that some vineyards when they've made wine, unfortunately have brought some of those in and lost a whole vat of wine.

I mean, it's really unfortunate that we have those here, and then we have another insect that, I think is kind of, beneficial, in a way, the Asian is it the lady bird beetle, Asian ladybird beetle, but it has some of the same bad aspects?

>> Yeah, the multicolored Asian lady bird beetle.

That's been around, with us, probably since the late 70s, 80s, really prominent in the 90s.

They're still around.

In the summertime, they're a great predator.

They eat a lot of aphids on a tree, especially pecan aphids.

So, they do really good biological control.

Unfortunately, like the brown marmorated stink bug, they're an insect from Asia that in the winter time aggregates in protective areas.

In Asia where they're from they're usually in rocky outcroppings.

Well, if you're in the Low country of South Carolina, the highest thing around might be your house, and so, they will be attracted to a structure, as the weather starts to change, in the fall, starts to get those cool nights, and ladybugs also have an odor, which protects them.

They're not as bad as stink bugs, but you can detect it and a few lady bugs will beget a few more and a few more, and the next thing you'll have a large aggregation, and then just like the stink bugs, they will go in to avoid to spend the winter.

Won't hurt anything, but we don't want them usually in those locations.

They're smelly, and then in the spring time again, they're going to want to come out, mate and lay eggs.

So, I've had some people that will collect the lady bugs and whereas the stink bugs you're probably going to want to kill, or get rid of.

We have Asian ladybird beetles, you could consider keeping them in a container, so people would put it in their garage or a shed or a protected area for the winter time, and then in the spring release them, and hopefully they'll go eat your aphids in your garden.

[laughing] >> Well, I'm glad they're not quite so generally bad as the brown marmorated.

That one really sounds like the terror, but for both, for exclusion, the same practice would be helpful with both of them.

So I guess, I live in an old house, I guess maybe I should try to find a couple of cracks and crevices and just target those.

That will be an ongoing task.

>> Yeah, it's tough in an old house, Amanda.

I understand that, but sometimes there are some real obvious places like peat vents.

I often see people don't have fine mesh over that.

Some soffit vents get ripped.

There may be a developed crack in the chimney, you didn't even know about So, you do what you can and it will be better than doing nothing.

<Amanda> All right.

Thanks a lot.

Kalmia Gardens in Hartsville is one of our favorite places to visit, and if you haven't been there, after listening to Dan Hill, I know it's going to be on your list of things to do.

Today, I'm speaking with Dan Hill.

And Dan is a naturalist.

That's what I think of him mostly, but he also has a fancy title.

He's the assistant director at Kalmia Gardens Dan, for people who don't know about Kalmia Gardens, tell us a little bit about it, and why it's such a special place, please.

>> Sure, Amanda.

Thank you for having me.

Kalmia Gardens is a wonderful place.

We are a public garden.

So, we are free to come and visit.

You can come visit us any day of the year, from dawn to dust.

We're roughly 38 acres.

We have an upland service that is really formal.

The historic art house is located in that upper surface.

The house was built in 1820 by Thomas Hart and then what's really special for this area is we have some typography.

We have an 80 foot bluff, that drops down to Black Creek and as you descend our stairways down the bluff to our boardwalks you enter a floodplain forest, a swamp tupelo forest.

Then, there's wonderful Black Creek that flows through there and that separates us from the Segars-McKinnon Heritage Preserve, which is also open to the public.

So, together both properties the Segars-McKinnon Heritage Preserve, and Kalmia Gardens are as large as Central Park in New York.

<Amanda> My word in heavens.

<Dan> It's a wonderful green space right in the middle of Hartsville.

We're so lucky to have it.

<Amanda> And what makes the water - we call it black water creeks or black water areas and tell people what causes the color of the water, please.

<Dan> I love black water systems.

The black water that we have here in the southeast is from the needles of conifers, mainly cypress tree but there's also some pond pines and different pine trees.

When those needles fall into the water, they decompose and release tannic acid and that tans the water, kind of like the same way that tea turns tan whenever you brew up, a pitcher of tea.

So, the water looks black, but you could scoop a cup of it out and it would be translucent you can see right through it.

<Amanda> So y'all the tupelo is one that like a cypress tree can grow amidst aquatic, I guess, in wet areas I mean, it will have that swollen base Is that right?

<Dan> That buttress.

Yeah.

I really I like swamp trees.

I like big buttresses.

I like how they have that large footprint that helps them.

A swamp is really squishy ground, and it's basically a larger footprint that help them stay stable in that squishy ground adaptation of living in a swamp or a small flood plain in this case <Amanda> So really, y'all have different growing zones that gardeners would pay attention to, because of that bluff if I'm not mistaken, which means a lot of plant diversity.

<Dan> We have a great deal of plant diversity and a great deal of habitats.

In fact, it's a north facing bluff and our soil is just right and that enables our name sake Kalmia latifolia, mountain laurels to grow on that bluff.

<Amanda> Well, let's talk about Kalmia latifolia.

When I was a little girl, we used to turn them upside down and they look like ballet dancers in a beautiful skirt.

They're so much fun.

The flower is so beautiful, because it has I think exploding, I think the - Tell me about those little holes what leaves those little dots that are in them, what the function biological function of those little dots is as far as helping fertilization and all.

>> Oh, they're so much fun.

I show these on my educational tour all the time.

There's little folds in the flower Get my hand up here.

and the stamens are tucked into the flower fold, and when an insect lights on the flower it will fire that little stamen to hit the insect on the back and add a little piece of pollen to the insect to ensure pollination.

And you can pretend you're an insect with a little piece of pine straw and tickle the flower and fire those little stamens, and it's a whole lot of fun.

<Amanda> Projectiles.

Projectiles.

>> Projectile pollen, indeed.

What I really like is so you have the flower upside down as a little ballerina, For me, it's a white tea cup, and when it falls on Black Creek, you have that white tea cup floating on the black water and it reminds me of like something maybe out of an Asian painting.

I mean, it's absolutely wonderful.

It's gorgeous.

<Amanda> Exquisitely beautiful.

Well, I think that's enough about mountain laurel.

Better get on, because there's, as we just said, so much diversity at Kalmia Gardens, and you've got some wonderful pictures.

So, let's talk about some of the pictures that you sent us.

<Dan> Sure.

<Amanda> So I think a little damselfly and tell us the difference in a damselfly and a dragonfly, please.

<Dan> I love them both.

They're both mosquito eaters.

They are our friends.

We should do whatever we can to protect them.

I'll tip my hat to Terasa the larvae live in clean water.

So, let's protect our waters to help our odonate dragonfly, damselfly friends.

But at rest, you can tell the difference between the two insects because at rest the damselfly will hold its wings behind its back, whereas at rest, the dragonfly will hold its wings out to the side.

Behind the back, folded up, a damselfly.

Out to the side at rest, you're a dragonfly.

>> Then of course, a lot of people don't know that we have our own native azaleas, and if I'm not mistaken they're deciduous unlike the Asian ones, the formosas and indicas that we really think of, as azaleas.

So, let's talk about one that is particularly nice, that you sent us a picture of.

>> I love the swamp azalea.

We have several native azaleas at the gardens, and they're all wonderful.

Personally, I wish people we would use them more in the landscape but they are deciduous, but for me I like that winter structure, and form without leaves, and then it pays off in the spring, because you get these magnificent flowers.

They remind me of honeysuckle flowers, which aren't native, but they have that same kind of set up as the honeysuckle flowers, and they're just absolutely showstoppers, beautiful flowers, <Amanda> And many extremely fragrant.

>> Oh, yes, the smell is just so sweet, so wonderful, the smell they have.

It's a light smell, but yet it's really, really sweet.

>> Well, pawpaws are quite interesting, and you said that you always think of Tony Melton singing that song about picking up pawpaws, but tell us a little bit about pawpaws.

When you see one, if you're out in the woods and see one, it's really indistinct looking, it's kind of, there's nothing particular about it until it decides to have pawpaws.

<Dan> Right, I'm always kind of caught by that pollinate leaf structure, but yeah, the fruits are really neat.

It's these big green globs, Like their flowers have these little teeny, red flowers that are actually pollinated by a fly, and they're also the larval food plant for the, and I always mix these up for the zebra swallowtail butterfly.

<Amanda> Are they?

>> Yeah.

It's an important plant for our butterfly population, as well as, for a food source.

It's a great, great food source.

They're absolutely delicious.

Kind of tastes like Tony say, kind of tastes like banana pudding, I enjoy eating it.

>> I've heard it makes delicious ice cream, which I think makes sense.

Don't you?

<Dan> Yeah.

I'd like to try that.

That sounds yummy.

>> We've been told that if you're going to get them, you need to have for best results get them from several different genetic sources.

Don't just go and get them from if your uncle had some property, and had some on the river, don't just get those, but try to be sure that you got different genetic material, and you have a theory about why that flower is that color, I think, perhaps, like meat.

<Dan> Yeah, a lot of the - I noticed personally, though, a lot of the plants, that are pollinated by the Diptera, by the fly family, their flowers tend to be a little stinky, kind of flesh meat colored, and what not.

And it seems to be their strategy, to get flies to come to them, to be meat like.

<Amanda> And very sweet, and delicate, little native flower is the Columbine that we have on this coast, I believe.

Isn't it?

<Dan> The red Columbine.

It's a wonderful little flower.

It's in bloom right now.

They tend to put out a lot of seeds, which I like.

I like for the Columbine to spread just a dainty little red and yellow flower.

I've never seen it, but the director of the Gardens near Ridgeway said she's seen hummingbirds utilizing the flowers, and it's just a great little flower for the landscape.

I highly recommend those.

>> And as a tubular flower, it would make sense that they do that and Dan, I try to remember to take the mulch out from around mine once it's setting seed, so that they'll land on the soil, you know, and so that I'll get that - get that multiplication of them, because they really are lovely and dainty.

>> You're right.

They are very dainty.

That's a good word for them, very dainty.

>> And then sometimes y'all like to have things that are just plain pretty, and I think you've guys sent us some Dianthus.

<Dan> It is some Dianthus that we have in one of our beds, and speaking of the summer sun, this bed actually gets a fair amount of sun, and we've found that this Dianthus, there's a lot of different kinds of Dianthus and this particular one really tolerates the sun.

It blooms all summer long, has a wonderful purple color and it hangs in there in a tough environment.

>> Then y'all have pitcher plants, and I don't know if you have to go way down, walk down the very nice steps y'all have to go down to the bottom of the property, or how you view those.

<Dan> Those pitcher plants are actually at our education center.

I built some beds and have a special mix of just basically sand and peat, that I planted the pitcher plants in.

So yeah, it's you can come to our education center, the Joslin Education Center.

It's on our upper surface, and I have three beds of pitcher plants that are blooming now, and even when they're not in bloom, it's just an interesting plant to look at.

<Amanda> Wonderful.

Pomegranates are just - they're so beautiful, and I like to open them and have them open on the table as decoration sometimes, because they ooze particularly, because of course the wonderful flavoring, the fruit is - the seed is covered with just kind of, see through fruit, flesh, but I just eat the whole thing.

I think that's what most people do.

Don't you?

<Dan> I love pomegranates.

Pomegranates are great and personally when I first started here, I was surprised to see a pomegranate.

I didn't realize they grew so well here.

We have a giant pomegranate on the side of the art house.

Sadly, I've never been able to collect a fruit.

Our guests tend to relieve us of our fruits.

Right?

They beat me to them, but that's fine.

We don't mind sharing, but yeah it's a really pretty plant.

It has really pretty red flowers now in bloom, and it's just a neat addition to the landscape.

I think anytime you can add something edible to the landscape, it makes it pretty unique and special.

<Amanda> I think so too, and you know now with this awful crape myrtle bark scale that we're going to have to start fighting, we're all looking for replacement trees, for street trees.

I've heard that our Fringe tree is a really good candidate for that.

Tell us about our Fringe tree, please.

>> I think so.

I love the Fringe tree and not just because greybeard is in part of it's name.

Yeah, it's a great, great tree.

They're dioecious.

So, you have the male's flowers on one plant, and female's on the other.

The males have showier, heavier flowers but the females will produce fruit.

So, if you want to provide ecosystem services for birds, perhaps plant boots, so you can get some fruits for the female or female fruits for the birds.

And yeah they're great trees.

They're blooming right now.

Just kind of wispy white flowers.

I absolutely love them.

They tolerate drought.

They tolerate, you know, many different soil types.

They're tough enough to be a street tree.

So that says a lot right there.

<Amanda> It does.

And then you've got a beautiful picture of Buckeye and Carya, which is just fun to get.

Yeah.

<Dan> Yeah it's a nice combination.

I like the, of course, red tubular flowers, to me, instantly says hummingbird So I like that, and then at that angle I love that yellow snap of the Carya in the background, and it's doing really, really well.

I haven't seen it run away.

I hear sometimes it can get the Carya can be a little weedy in places, but we have not had a problem with that here.

And together, I just really love that red and yellow combination.

>> We all just, what could we do?

We all have to have a few Japanese maples, because they're so elegant.

<Dan> Oh, for sure.

<Amanda> And I understand y'all have a new pavilion, as well <Dan> Yes.

We have a new observation pavilion that we're really excited about.

A lot of groups came together and helped us get this off the ground.

Like I said, we do have topography here.

We do have that bluff that drops down to Black Creek, but not everyone can make it down our stairs, or make it down that bluff.

So, we built this pavilion, it's kind of cantilevered off the bluff, so our visitors can experience the bluff.

They can experience from the canopy, all the way to the bottom of the bluff, just by sitting there.

And on the bluff, there's a giant mountain laurel, currently in bloom.

It's our namesake.

It's right there.

You can see back to Black Creek, and it's just a wonderful, wonderful spot, right off the parking lot, easy to get to.

<Amanda> And, of course if you do that, you're going to see that magnificent beech tree.

Let's take a minute to talk about that fellow.

<Dan> That is a wonderful beech tree.

At one point in its life, it was a state champion.

I don't think we're there now.

It's in decline, sadly.

It's still producing beech nuts.

I'm doing what I can to try and get some of those nuts to sprout, because I'd love to have that tree's genetics and it's a glorious double trunk old beech tree, and it is just a phenomenal, very special, special tree.

I hope it lasts a long time, but I know one day, eventually all things must fall, and that's too.

Until then, I am going to enjoy it.

I look at it every day, and speak to it.

There's a nice a red headed skink that lives in its crevices and we hang out and just check out the flowers.

>> Well, I want to thank you for all the work that you and Marion, your volunteers and everyone does at Kalmia Gardens.

It is remarkable.

A free public garden of incredible beauty, and diversity.

You make it so much fun, because you're always finding the little things that are happening there that show you how a magnificent large plant really is a whole universe in itself, and thank you for sharing and opening up the eyes of young children to the glories of nature.

>> I'm happy to do it, and I'm very happy to be here with you, and thank you for all that you do.

>> We'll see you soon.

>> All righty.

Take care.

Bye, bye.

>> Hartsville is a lovely community.

You can find lots of great places to eat lunch there.

So, make a trip over to Kalmia Gardens.

They're open almost every day of the year and you will enjoy it.

There's also a wonderful walk as Dan explained going down to that beautiful, beautiful black river.

Terasa, I bet you've got something else that we can get Christopher to help us with.

What's in that stack of questions?

>> Let's see if we can help Melanie from Awendaw.

Melanie says, I love to make pickles, but lately my cucumber plants die before I can get a good harvest.

I see yellow, angled spots on the leaves.

Can you help me?

<Amanda> Oh goodness.

I'm a big cucumber fan too, Christopher, and it used to be that cucumbers were almost like zucchini.

You know you just test so many of them, but I've had terrible, terrible trouble.

What's going on in the world of cucumbers and home gardeners?

<Christopher> So, that very much sounds like Downy mildew, so not to be confused with the previous mention Powdery mildew.

Downy mildew is unfortunately a fairly common disease that affects a lot of cucurbit plants.

So that's going to be plants in the gourd family, that include your cucumbers, your zucchini, your squash, really most of those, and unfortunately it's a pretty rough one.

It's actually fairly difficult to control.

It's actually not a true fungus.

It's a water mold and so it actually does need the moisture from the rain to move around it's spores, but it can move around with weather patterns, and it actually over-winters in southern Florida and moves up the coast, basically through weather patterns, such as storms, just wind events, really just about anything that can travel quite a far distance.

I think upwards to 600 miles in about 48 hours.

So it moves fairly quickly.

Unfortunately, there is a reporting program, so if this is something that it is definitely identified as Downy mildew, there is a couple of ways to report it.

So that we can track it to help out the farmers, and to figure out where is at along our coast.

And kind of what are the spray schedules that farmers need to be adopting.

>> So - the best thing for me as a homeowner is to get an early crop in, and just enjoy them as I can.

Because from what I think, I've been reading that the fungicide or whatever it is that you use, you said it's not really a fungus, but it's a water mold, but the product that controls it is pretty pricey and not really something for - That's more for commercial people.

>> Yes.

So, unfortunately for home gardeners, most of our fungicides that are available for us, aren't going to be labeled, for edible plants.

There are different Downy mildews that affect different plants in the garden, but cucurbit Downey mildew is the most common that we'll see, but you are correct.

Planting early is going to be the best thing that we can do.

This is a disease that tends to appear more closer into the summer, and even into the fall crops.

That's why a lot of times a second crop, of say, squash or zucchini isn't always the best idea, because you start to see the downy mildew, but you're right, planting early is going to be one of the best things that we can do.

There are some fungicides available, but it is going to be very limited, and of course with home gardens, we don't always want to go out, and spray as our first resort.

>> Okay, and I just remind people that South Carolina certified grown, we ought to be supporting our local farmers.

If we can't grow it in our garden, at least find a market where you know that they are getting produce from South Carolina farmers, who are able to take advantage of some of these products that really aren't designed for the homeowners.

So let's, I mean, let's support those farmers.

>> Absolutely, buy local.

>> Terasa, while we got Dr. Benson with us, is there another question that you think he might be able to help us with?

>> I believe this question, from Iris in Pickens is perfect.

Iris says, "Last time I mowed the lawn, "I got stung by yellow jackets.

"What can I do to prevent this "from happening again?"

<Amanda> Whoa!

That is scary, Eric, because when they come out they really come out in numbers.

Tell us a little bit about yellow jackets and why that happens and what we can do, because you got to get out there, and a lot of people feel they have to keep the grass cut.

>> I've had the same experience, and I think most of us have.

There's multiple species of yellow jackets in South Carolina.

Most are ground nesters.

There are some that are not.

They're aerial, but those ground nesters, the ones down in the ground are the ones that often get us, because they hate vibration.

They hate that lawn mower.

So, they're not out to get you, but when you go over them, they feel threatened and they come out and in my opinion, you know, yellow jackets are probably one of the most dangerous insects we have in South Carolina.

They're not the biggest.

They don't have the biggest stinger, but if you have several hundred or even a thousand or more coming out, it's serious.

So, knowing where the yellow jacket nest is key and that's hard to know, until you do something like run them over with the lawn mower, like I've done.

<Amanda> And they chase after you when you jump off and try to run.

<Dr.

Benson> Yeah, they will chase.

They will chase you for a distance.

So - this is one insect, that you do want to run.

Don't stop and play possum.

<Amanda> And they sting multiple times, too?

>> Like a sewing needle, so honey bees are the ones that stings one time and leaves the stinger, and then you need to get that out.

A yellow jacket, like most of the other wasps and hornets, it's more like a sewing needle and they can sting you multiple times injecting venom each time.

So again, can be quite serious my preference personally, if it's a hole in the ground that I know of is to use one of the insecticide dusts that's labeled for it.

Sevin's been around a long time.

I believe that there's some formulations that have yellow jackets on the label.

You should follow all label directions, but generally, sort of in the evening hours when the yellow jackets are back in the nest, you apply the dust down in the hole, maybe a little bit around it mostly down in it, and then you leave it open, and what you want is yellow jackets to come.

Now, it's going to take a few days, probably to get that dust on their bodies but also to carry it down into the nest where the queen is or queens, and you don't know how far down is and they'll be brewed and hopefully eliminate the nest that way and it might take more than one application.

So, this may be an area too, where if you don't feel comfortable doing this, you might want to get a professional, that does this on a regular basis to do the treatment.

>> Because you need to at least wear kind of like a heavy jacket and pants tucked in and some kind of head protection.

I guess, some of them may try to come out, if you are putting that dust down.

>> In the evening if you treat, you're okay, but you made a very good point, Amanda.

I do wear a protective clothing I am covered up.

I wear gloves and I have an old bee veil.

And so I'll put even the bee veil on.

Now, I don't do anything with honey bees I just use it for this sort of situation.

But protect yourself and again make the best treatment you can.

If it's an aerial nest then sometimes these wasps and hornet sprays directed towards the nest are more effective, but again it may not kill it with one treatment.

You might have to do several.

>> Well, I just know that a lot of people have allergies and sometimes if you get a whole lot of stings, it can be life threatening and I want to remind people if they ever have any trouble breathing or start to have a rash on their body, they need to I believe go to the ER pretty quick.

<Dr.

Benson> Absolutely.

>> Okay.

<Dr.

Benson> That's the most important thing they can do.

>> Yeah.

Stay alive, because they're little, but they can cause death.

Well, let's hope that you don't have any of those problems in your yard.

If you do, always call a professional.

They are equipped to do it, and that might just be the best thing to do.

I want to thank you all for joining us tonight.

I want to thank Eric and Christopher so much for being with us.

Terasa always with those wonderful pictures, and y'all keep sending your questions in and we will do our very best to help you here.

We'll be back next week So, good night from Making It Grow ♪ (Making it Grow music) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (Making it Grow music concludes) ♪ 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.