Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina is a cooperative effort among farmers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to help consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

The Boyd Foundation supporting outdoor recreational opportunities, the appreciation of wildlife, educational programs, and enhancing the quality of life in Columbia, South Carolina and the Midlands at large.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

Family owned and operated since 1916.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 40 varieties of peaches.

Additional funding provided by the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance and Boone Hall Farms.

♪ opening music ♪ ♪ <Amanda> Well good evening and welcome to Making It Grow.

We're so glad that you could join us this Tuesday night, coming to you from historic downtown Sumter.

I'm Amanda McNulty.

I'm a Clemson Extension agent.

And this is just continuing agent continuing education on par excellence because we have wonderful people to come on and I get to learn all the time.

We have something really, really fun for you tonight.

We are going to the King George Lavender Farm.

Yes, you can grow lavender in South Carolina.

And then we're going to learn about endangered pheasants with Jay Collins.

So you're gonna enjoy learning about both those topics, both pretty fascinating, and kind of beautiful, too, if you don't mind my saying so.

Of course Terasa Lott is the head of the master gardener program and she has such a big heart and such a great brain, that she also comes over and helps us and we just so appreciate that.

Well thank you, Amanda.

It really is my pleasure to be a part of Team Making It Grow and exciting today to have a master gardener coordinator and a master gardener as part of our panel.

<Amanda> How about that.

And then the master gardener coordinator would be none other than our own dear Stephanie Turner, who's the hort agent up in Greenwood.

And she has a very talented son who did beautiful Ukrainian easter eggs way back when.

<yeah, that's right> I've wondered, having an artist in the family, I think she needs to shift him over towards math and science < laughs > after having an artist husband for 80 years.

But thank you so much for coming.

<Stephanie> Oh, my pleasure to be here.

<Amanda> We're delighted and I think you brought some so I'm gonna let you introduce your special guest.

<Stephanie> Oh, of course.

So with me today is Tom Nelson.

He is a master gardener out of Greenwood County and part of our local organization there and Greenwood the Lakelands Master Gardeners.

<Okay> So, Tom has been a master gardener for a few years now.

<Yes> Yeah.

What prompted you to take the master gardener course, Tom?

Something that I've wanted to do for actually decades.

<Really> When I retired, I had it lined up within the first several months of my leaving full time employment.

So, it's a dream realized, <Amanda> Well,I'm just gon' say you couldn't find a better person to be under, the tutelage of than Stephanie.

<Agreed>.

Yeah, we just think she's such a gem.

And we love it when she comes down.

And we thank you so much for coming today as well.

<My pleasure> Well, Terasa has lots of people who know that her name is T-E-R-A-S-A @ Clemson.edu and they send her pictures or we get them from Facebook.

And, so we usually have people who have a pretty part of their garden that they've sent you some photographs of.

<Terasa> You are correct.

This has become our Gardens of the Week segment where we get to show off what you're doing in your yards, gardens.

Maybe you visited a beautiful place in South Carolina or perhaps are growing some interesting house plants.

So let's take a look.

We begin with Tom and Babs Johnston, who shared a gorgeous passion flower blooming in their yard.

From Linda Nance we have a black beauty tomato plant.

She said this is the first time she had success growing from seeds.

So congratulations, Linda.

From Peggy Markert an assortment of plants including Hibiscus coccineus.

Peggy said there weren't any plants in her backyard when she and her husband moved there four years ago.

So she's had a lot of work to do.

The next photo is a magnificent crape myrtle.

in Clinton, South Carolina.

Ada Ann Freeman shared the photo with me, but she specified that Rhonda Carr is the photographer, but she just couldn't get over.

She said she's never seen a crape myrtle quite like that one.

And then we finish up with David Ohlandt.

Now David's son, Edward heard me mentioning our Carolina Yard Certification Program.

And he told his dad, they just had to do it.

And I love the excitement in his face and commend him on his efforts to be a good steward of our natural resources.

So thanks, everyone, for sharing a little bit of your yard with all of us here at Making It Grow.

<Amanda> Teresa, remind people a little bit about that certification.

It's kind of like a yardstick program.

But it really can make you make a few tweaks to your yard that would make it more in tune with sustaining the environment, I believe, can you talk about it some?

<Terasa> That's right.

So, the goal is to make positive changes to the environmental quality of people's yards, neighborhoods and surrounding waterways.

And we've developed a yardstick by which you can measure.

So you need to take a certain number of actions in your yard.

So one of which is something as easy as taking a soil sample.

Every action earns two inches of credit.

And then you need a total of 36 inches, which is a play on yard, a Carolina yard.

<Amanda> Oh, that's funny.

That's cute.

<Terasa> And so doing things that protect wildlife.

Habitat is one small part.

So people who have a Certified Wildlife Habitat, they would already have, I'm sure a few points to get them started.

But it's very achievable.

And we'll send you a certificate and then the option to invest in some recognition items, if you like.

<Amanda> Isn't that fun?

<Um-hum> I just think it's wonderful.

<Thank you> And I think as we see the challenges that are facing our planet, and sometimes you think one person can't make a difference.

But, if everybody tries to make some small differences, it can because just water quality.

I mean, everybody lives downstream.

And so, it's the funniest thing.

Ya'll taught me that if you gonna wash your car, don't wash it in the driveway.

Wash it on the grass, because that way, the grass will absorb all that soap and whatever else you're putting on it.

And the micro bacteria under the grass can dissolve it.

But if you just put it on the driveway, he's just gonna go whooshing right down the storm drain.

<Terasa> That's right and make its way into our waterways, completely untreated.

Little things like that we all can make a difference.

<Amanda> Okay, well, have we got some questions we can try to answer for someone?

<Terasa> We sure do.

There is never a shortage of questions, and we get them all sorts of ways into our home and garden information center.

They come through email, they come to our Facebook page.

So let's see if we can help Sharon in Greenwood, South Carolina.

Sharon said "I saw this visiting family in Florida.

What is it?"

<Amanda> Huh!

Well, none of us live in Florida.

But Stephanie, you told me you've learned how to use some of these online ID things.

I'm gonna come and take a course with you in that but, you got any idea what it is?

<Stephanie> Oh, yeah.

So Sharon sent this picture in and it's a spreading kind of ground cover and it's a perennial peanut or an ornamental peanut.

It has a yellow flower about yay big.

And it spreads via rhizomes, and it can be used in ornamental settings, which is where she found it, you know, as a ground cover in, you know, an ornamental spot.

But, it can also be used as a forage.

It's, I think it's perennial till about zone eight, but it is not frost tolerant.

So it would be knocked back by the frost.

<Amanda> Well, don't we have a ground nut that's native to our part of...?

<Stephanie> We do and that's a different genus.

So this one, this perennial pina is Arachis.

And that one is Apios.

And that's more of a vining growth habit, as opposed to a ground cover.

It likes kind of like a park shade.

It has a underground... < laughs > And that's actually edible.

Yeah.

It's the name of the ground nut, and then it has a pretty flower as well.

<Amanda> There used to be one and I don't know if it's still there on the dam at Swan Lake.

Sometimes we have floods and things happen, but it was the prettiest thing I've ever seen.

It really was lovely.

So maybe that's, Terasa, maybe we should put that on our list of native things to add to our to our yard.

Teresa's fortunate Eddie, her lovely husband will plant things for her and mine usually stay in a pot until I just have to say, I've got to do something.

< laughs > <Terasa> I may have some in a pot waiting to be planted.

< laughs > <Stephanie> I call it my plant graveyard, right.

The holding area <Amanda> Yeah.

I call it the foundlings.

< laughs > Well, Tom, I think you brought something for show n tell.

<Tom> I did.

Speaking of natives, <yes> this is River Oats, Chasmanthium latifolium.

<Amanda> Hold it still so that we can get a real good picture of it please, sir.

<Tom> Sure.

Talking about planting natives, this is one.

This one came out of my yard and I bought this because having grown up in central Florida, my family vacation on the Gulf Coast.

And this, the seedheads reminded me of the sea oats from my childhood.

<Amanda> Really?

What a nice memory.

<Tom> But the thing about this that is so interesting is that you really get three seasons of interest.

When it first comes out of the ground and breaks dormancy, it is a perennial.

<Amanda> The herbaceous perennial.

<Tom> Herbaceous perennial, yes.

<Amanda> In the wintertime, you wouldn't see it.

<Tom> No.

But it comes out.

And of course, it is beautifully green just without the seed heads.

<Yeah> Then the seed heads form.

And in the fall, in fact, I've got an example.

The seedheads begin to turn, just this beautiful golden color.

Some of these you can see have started that process.

But the entire plant, then turns brown.

And it provides winter interest with the wind blowing these things around.

<Amanda> It'd be pretty in arrangements and things, to cut and bring into the house.

<Tom> It's highly prized as a dried arrangement.

Exactly.

<Amanda> Well, does it?

Does it spread a little aggressively?

Do you have to pay some attention to it or?

<Tom> It spreads both by rhizomes and by seeds?

And so yes, it can be somewhat aggressive.

But that's the nice thing about it is you dig it up and give it away.

< laughs > <Amanda> So it's pretty easy to transplant.

To give to your friends <Tom> Very much so.

I did that with this with the idea that I would give these away either to friends and acquaintances or I would have them for our... <Amanda> Y'all probably have a plant event.

<Tom> We do.

<Amanda> Yeah, where y'all generating funds for your organization.

That's wonderful.

<Tom> This plant might just end up there.

<Amanda> How about that.

Well, thank you.

You know, and people don't realize how important the vegetation that's on the coast, I mean, the coast, it's at that line between where the surf comes and then the sand starts 'cause that can really be very important in stabilizing dunes, I believe.

<Tom> Exactly.

<Yeah> Exactly.

And this plant would prefer moist soil and it thrives in full sun and will persist in shade.

<Okay, great> It's a great naturalizer <Amanda> Well, I appreciate you.

Thanks so much.

<Terasa> It is a host plant for a few of the skippers, <I'm sorry> It's a host plant for a few of the skipper butterflies.

So it has, you know, lots of lots of purposes.

And I find like you mentioned about preferring kind of wet habitat.

It seems to spread more in wet areas.

So I have it in my yard in a non wet area.

<Amanda> Where you don't have to go out there every so often and pull it up.

Or Eddie doesn't have to pull it up.

<Terasa> No, no, I do get out there and do some work.

< laughs > <Stephanie> And I love that you say you leave it into the winter because I think we're too hasty to come in and cut back those herbaceous grasses because they can be really lovely <Beautiful> just standing over, the over the wintertime with the brown and gold tones.

<Tom> And there are some species of birds that will eat the seeds and there's some mammals that, speaking of mammals, it's not a particularly, it's like candy to deer.

< laughs > <Amanda> So that's a good thing it can be a little aggressive at times.

<Yes> Okay.

Theresa, every now and then someone says, I've spent this whole horribly hot summer, laboring in the yard and I want to show you pictures from all over my yard.

Did we get one of those this time?

<Terasa> We sure did.

Today we're going to look at the yard of Libby Breitenbaugh in irmo.

Libby, I hope I pronounced your last name at least close to correctly.

Libby shared with us that she started her backyard butterfly garden in 2016.

And over the past years, it's so lonely transformed not to just be a butterfly garden but also friendly to other wildlife, birds and bees and rabbits and squirrels even.

And that's kind of unusual.

Some people find squirrels to be more of pest but Libby embraces them.

She said my garden consists of perennials and annuals, I have nectar plants and host plants.

I love a beautiful garden, but also want a functional garden.

I'm slowly adding plants that are pollinators and native to South Carolina.

And since doing so, my bee population has tripled in the last three years.

My garden supplies, shelter, food and water for all of its visitors.

So thank you, Libby.

We appreciate all you're doing to have both a beautiful and functional yard.

<Amanda> You know, Terasa, I've got a bowl about this big.

It's pretty, but it's the cat water bowl.

And every now and then I find, I find a bee in it that's gotten in and drown, or used to.

So now I always leave a stick in it.

So that if someone falls in who needs to get out they have a way to get out.

<Terasa> You can put little pebbles on there.

Maybe not appropriate for a cat water dish.

<Amanda> They wouldn't care.

< laughs > If they did, that's just to bad.

< laughs > <Terasa> Somethings will take advantage of it.

<Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

But I mean, I'm just, I think people need to remember that a lot of times, bees, I think sometimes even in the winter, when there's frost or everything's iced up, I've gone out and put a bowl of water on top of my car for birds and things.

Because you know, there are so many creatures who need a source of water although we don't often get time when all of our waters frosted over but just in case.

We have to admit everybody, everybody gets thirsty.

<Terasa> They do.

Everything needs water.

<Amanda> Yep.

And fortunately, I think we've gotten maybe every 10 days a good rain.

And that combined with watering has kind of kept most people's yards alive.

It has been kind of a struggle this summer, hadn't it?

Well, Rob Last who is one of our new members of the Extension Horticulture Team told us about a wonderful place to go and visit down in Barnwell and you are going to have a tremendous time learning about the King George Lavender Farm.

♪ guitar strings ♪ ♪ I'm in Barnwell, South Carolina speaking with Elinor Poole at the King George Lavender Farm.

Elinor, this is quite an unusual experience because I've always been told that she couldn't grow lavender in South Carolina.

<Elinor> Well, that's what they said.

So we accepted the challenge.

<Amanda> You have a fascinating backstory.

Tell us a little bit about it.

<Elinor> For my, where I came from.

So we're from New York, I'll say from the good part of New York, central New York.

We grew up on a chicken farm and a dairy farm, My husband and I.

So we had lots, of lots of farming in our background.

We had a small greenhouse that we grew just things for ourselves and we decided when we came down here that we were going to take that love that we have of horticulture and plants and outside and farming and turn it into our dream.

<Amanda> And you are very fortunate in that you have a job that allows you to work long distance and that because this is a lot to start and rely on and build a business.

<Elinor> Yeah.

So I work for Oracle.

I work there and I spent a lot of time in their horticulture department.

So I started to do some research about Lavender.

Lavender likes the heat.

It's not that's not the problem.

It's the humidity that it struggles with.

<Amanda> Is it a Mediterranean crop?

<Elinor> It is a Mediterranean crop.

But Mediterranean doesn't have again, the humidity so that's the challenge.

So we did work with Clemson University, Rob Last in particular.

He was a great resource for us, helping us decide on you know, will this variety work, looking at the soil samples, looking at the irrigation, the layout of the plants, just to make sure that we could try to combat that humidity issue that we have here.

<Amanda> So I have never seen such a plethora of insects and so varied.

Right now, I think we have mostly bumblebee, <mostly bumblebee> but a lot of other things as well.

We've got a data moth, we've got some wasp.

This is just phenomenal and yet you say that actually, lavender can be self pollinating.

<Elinor> It is self pollinating.

So we don't need the pollinators, but we love that they're coming here and enjoying the crops that we have.

They do last for a short relatively short amount of time about six weeks.

We will be harvesting most of it but we are going to leave a section for our pollinator friends.

<Amanda> And apparently, even plants that are self pollinating, get better yield, better production.

If you have pollinators.

<That's right> And boy do we have pollinators.

And you have a relatively sandy soil here.

<Elinor> We do.

It's actually very sandy, which helps with the, with the drainage.

One of the troubles with lavender is it doesn't like its feet being wet.

So we got lucky that the soil was accommodating for what we wanted to grow.

<Amanda> Well tell me how you harvest it and what you do with things that you do harvest.

<Elinor> So we harvest by hand.

So we use both a hand hedging tool, and we also use sickles so you can grab you know, you can grab hold of the plant in clumps, and then we just sort of sickle it off.

It's really important to do that in a kind of an organized way.

We want to keep that nice shape of our plants so that they produce for us for about 12 years.

We waste nothing on the plant.

We use everything from the stock to use smudge sticks and fire sticks.

And then we also use the flowers for oil.

We distill our own oil here and we use that oil to make soaps and lotions and bug repellents and all kinds of products.

If anyone's into aromatherapy or anything like that, we have that pure lavender oil.

But we also get a secondary product that's called hydrosol and that can be used for skin toners, for sunburns for bug repellent too.

<Really> Yeah.

<Amanda> It has some medicinal properties.

<Elinor> It does.

It's actually it helps with minor scrapes and abrasions as well.

<Amanda> Perfectly lovely.

And the sticks, the smudge sticks you said you've had good luck putting them around you and as insect repellents.

<Elinor> I do, I do.

Yeah, so a lot of people don't know what smudge sticks are, but it's basically just dried stones.

And if you like that, blow it out and let it smoke and you sit it next to you outside, it'll burn for about six hours and it keeps the bugs away naturally.

No DEET.

< laughs > <Amanda> And you make your products available sometimes here at the farm.

<Elinor> So our products are available both here.

We have a country store when we're open for our events and during our U-Pick season which is primarily in June.

And then they're also available at our mercantile in town and online <Amanda> And online.

But, you just aren't leaving any stone unturned because you have an event space.

<Elinor> We do.

So we just finished that, or are in the process of finishing it.

We've got some weddings planned.

We do other events.

We just had a comedy show here.

We're going to be doing a... <Amanda> A comedy show!

<Elinor> We did.

I did.

So we're trying to bring a little bit of entertainment to Barnwell and then we're going to be doing a bluegrass festival in the fall and a pumpkin picking in our lavender patches.

So we have that planned for the fall.

<Amanda> I guess you'll have to import the pumpkins.

<Elinor> That's right.

That's right.

<Amanda> You you figured out how to grow lavender in South Carolina, but I don't think anyone's... <Elinor> I'm gonna leave the pumpkins to the professionals.

<Amanda> I think that's a good idea.

Well, thank you so much.

I'm so happy that y'all made the big trek from New York, down here.

<Elinor> Thank you.

We're really happy to be here <Amanda> And I just want to see the chickens before I leave.

<Elinor> Okay.

< laughs > Very good.

♪ <Amanda> The pollinators there, Terasa, I wish you'd been with us because she loved to see pollinators.

<Terasa> I'm a little jealous.

<Amanda> Yeah, and I've just never seen such an incredible display and we want to thank everyone who made that such a great day for us.

And we enjoyed, also enjoyed seeing Barnwell.

it was a pretty vibrant, vibrant place to be.

And I think they made a real good move coming down there.

Well, I had been, Terasa, noticing, you know, I drive back from Saint Matthews to Sumter and I've been noticing that somewhere there was this giant orange patch of dodder and I couldn't remember quite where it was, but I was thinking of perhaps the other day yesterday I saw it and I turned around and safely when occurred and went back and got off the side of the road.

And it was you know, it's a parasitic plant and the plant upon which it was feeding was pepper vine, which is a native pretty aggressive vine but has good value for wildlife.

Well, so I stepped into the patch to pull this stuff out because it was just covering the whole top of it, and it turns out there was a ditch and I had on a short skirt and my eyeglasses fell off.

And thank the Lord I caught 'em before, if they had gone into the bottom of that ditch through all that pepper vine, you know the dogs eaten up two pairs of my eyeglasses.

< laughs > So anyway, so there I was in Cow Itch covered with Cow Itch <Terasa> Never a dull moment in this life.

<Amanda> And then I had to come to the studio and try to wash off because sometimes, I mean, I don't know why they call it Cow Itch, but apparently sometimes people have a slight reaction to it.

Fortunately, I did not get a slight reaction.

But anyway, the things that, I hope y'all appreciate these hats sometimes because this one was an interesting thing.

So, dodder, y'all this is this the most fascinating plant.

Dodder is, of course, a parasitic plant.

And so the reason it's orange is it doesn't have any chlorophyll in it.

And it comes up from a seed, and it needs to, in just a day or two, the seed has a little bit of you know, nutrients in it.

It has to find something to wrap around and start growing on.

And it has preferences.

It is the volatile organic compounds that the different plants give off.

They're like 50 varieties of species of dodder, or 150, and 15 in the United States, I think, and some of them, like one plant more than another, and so they go on, they did an experiment that I saw on this thing called on P.B.S.

Nature, dodder, if you want to look it up, and they planted a tomato, they had a tomato seedling and a wheat seedling, and they put a little dodder seedling in there.

And it went around in a circle, 360 degrees about six or seven times until it was able to get on to the tomato.

And then once it does that, it loses its connection with the ground completely and is totally parasitic on the plant that it is has haustoria which are like roots that go into the plant.

And that's where it gets all its nutrition.

So it's a little different from mistletoe because mistletoe does photosynthesize, but this one sure doesn't.

Anyway, so it, I just thought it was great fun.

<Tom> How is dodder spelled?

<Amanda> D-O-D-D-E-R, and it used to be, it used to be in the Morning Glory family.

You know, Morning Glory can be a little aggressive too.

But, but now it's in it's, you know, everybody, these botanists just insist on, people like me, who can't remember my own name, or when my children are born and now, they come up with all these new names.

< laughs > Anyway, so, or they put things in different, different categories?

Yeah.

But anyway, if you see some of this, do not take it home.

< laughs > because one plant can make 6000 seeds and they're tiny.

And so, I'm gonna put this back in the garbage bag that I had it in, and I'm gonna put it in the municipal garbage.

So you do not compost dodder, 'cause you do not want this stuff in your yard.

Okay.

And thank you for bringing me something to make it a little more cheerful.

<Absolutely> Yeah.

But anyway.

So Terasa, who, can we help somebody else, maybe?

<Terasa> I think we probably can.

So similar to your dodder being a problem, this is a problem for Lance in McCormick.

Lance said "There's a fluffy white insect on my hackberry.

What is it and do I need to do anything?"

<Amanda> Ah.

You know, hackberry is a wonderful tree for insects generally, but mine a couple of years ago, started getting sooty mold on everything.

So is that, is that related to his question about this?

<Terasa> I bet you it is because, you know, we see sooty mold on on quite a few things.

And it always indicates there's some sap sucking going on.

<Amanda> Yeah.

So what do you think Stephanie?

<Stephanie> Yeah, so there is a commonly found aphid on hackberry tree.

It's a woolly aphid.

And it was introduced from Asia in the 90s Sometime.

<Amanda> So that's why I didn't used to have that problem with my hackberry.

<Stephanie> Yeah, yeah.

And so they really kind of look like little bits of white lint on the tree and you can kind of see them, you know, floating around sometimes.

And then anything below them will then now be covered in that honeydew that then forms that black sooty mold.

<Amanda> Nature hates a vacuum.

< laughs > <Stephanie> Yeah, and so that black mold will take advantage of that, honeydew and they, they don't cause serious damage to the tree.

You can see some discoloration of the leaves from, you know, where the loss of chlorophyll from the sucking.

But it's not going to cause a decline of the tree or in any way shape or form.

But there are natural predators to these aphids that can come in.

<Amanda> I've had people who called and said, I've never had this problem before.

I think it was Hostas that they had some because you know black bears give a nice shade in the summer and they said, My Hostas just turned black.

And we talked and realized that this new, not, I mean, it's an invasive species has come in and that sooty mold.

And explain if you don't mind, I think aphids kind of stick their mouth into the plant tissue, the leaf tissue and then the volume of the plant, you know just the the flow of the nutrients to the plant kind of goes through the aphids and comes out the other end because they can absorb a mole or... <Stephanie> Yeah, it kind of like creates this little pressure that just sucks it through and out the back end.

< laughs > Live from a fire, drinking from a firehose.

Yeah, that's the aphids' existence there, right there.

<Amanda> So they get all they need, but there's still a lot of sugar and carbohydrates left in what they excrete.

Is that correct?

<Stephanie> That's correct.

So that's that honeydew that we talked about.

And so a lot of times we will have people call with, Oh, we've got this black mold, and it's not the plant that the mold is growing on.

It's that sap that is now covered the plant.

it'll look up and see, Well, what's feeding above that area right there.

But yeah, we have a hackberry at the extension office in Greenwood in our rain garden.

It has it right now.

I was looking for some natural predators on the leaves, just this week, and we had some lacewing larva and hoverfly larva on there.

<Amanda> So we should think of them as food for some other things, but at the same time, it is kind of a nuisance if it lands on things.

And one of the things is if you've got a clothesline under it.

<Oh, yeah> You know, I had that happen with the pecan tree and all of a sudden, the children's baby diapers, you know, we're getting all junked up and I think finally, we had to get a drying machine just because it was a certain time of the year when the baby diapers didn't look very clean.

Anyway.

<Stephanie> Yeah, it can be hard to remove that sooty mold off of like, <fabrics and even cars> cars, yeah.

We have a sign underneath our hackberry at the office there so you know, we gotta use... <Amanda> Oh, you gotta go and clean it off.

<Soap and water> Yeah, okay.

Well, Tom, I bet you've got some more fun show n tell for us.

<Tom> I do.

In my yard I have over the years bought Amaryllis bulbs which can be rather expensive and so... <Amanda> But rewarding when they bloom.

<Tom> Very much so.

Very much so.

So I thought to myself, in the last couple of years, I had seen for years, the seed pods come on and I just let them go.

Well, I thought let me try to propagate those and see if I'm successful.

Well I did that.

And here is, this is an example of what it would look like after the first year or after <Growing season> you plant them when they mature the seeds and then this is really the first year.

<Okay> And maybe I should back up and say that before we even get to this stage that what you look for on the amaryllis is for that little three chamber <chamber structure> structure at the top, and you know that your Amaryllis has been pollinated.

Wait for that to turn brownish, and it will open on its own.

Collect the seeds.

They're papery thin, <Amanda> So you kind of pay attention.

And then you can see that it's opening.

You can go out there and kind of have a piece of paper and tap it.

<Tom> Or just even cutting the entire structure off.

<Amanda> My dodder is hopefully not parasitizing < laughs > <Tom> So you collect those seeds and then dry them.

I spread them on a cookie sheet, a rim cookie sheet and left them inside because they're so lightweight, they can easily be blown away.

<Yeah> So after that, after they had dried for a couple of days I put them, and you can do this and really any container I used these little containers.

I've seen some people who have used those plastic containers that you can get in the big box stores.

<Anything> But just lay some soil on the bottom of it.

Put the, there's no real arrangement that you need to do.

Just put the seeds on top of it and then lightly cover with enough soil just to keep them from blowing.

<Wow> And then keep them... <Amanda> Water kinda quietly because you don't want to, <Yes> since they're so light, you don't want to like <Right> have a heavy stream of water and get settled in nicely, <Tom> exactly.

And then after a short period of time, they will germinate and they look like little grasses.

So be sure that if you're on patrol for weaves that you know that these are not ones to be pulled up.

And then after these, this is one that is from last summer.

It overwintered, and I took all the individual plants out of these pots, and then transplanted them to individual pots for them to grow up.

<Yeah> And this is after really only one year.

So this, gardening in general is about persistence.

And this is one of those sorts of things that if you are inclined to like Amaryllis and are willing to persist, it will still take this a couple more years before I get a flower.

<Amanda> And you don't know what color it's going to be.

<Tom> I have no idea where it will be.

And that's part of the fun.

<Yeah> Absolutely.

<Amanda> And a lot of people get Amaryllis, Stephanie, for Christmas presents.

<Oh, yeah> And they think, oh, you know, you know, it's just, it's tender.

And you can't put one that you got for Christmas out in February.

But actually, when they're acclimated to the outdoors, they do fine in South Carolina, completely overwintering.

And I believe that you don't, know most bulbs you, you know, the bulbs this big, so you put that, put it that deep in the soil, but amaryllis, I think you want the top sticking out of the soil a little bit.

Yes, has that been your experience?

<Top 1/3> Yeah, yeah.

And then you know where they are?

<Yes> Yeah.

Okay, lots and lots of fun.

Okay, well, alright, come back in a couple of years and tell us what color it was.

< laughs > Okay.

<Terasa> The anticipation, right?

<Amanda> Yeah.

Okay.

For a long time, we filmed up in Columbia when we were getting a new set and Jay Collins was always helping us in such a nice part of our studio crew.

And it turns out, he has a tremendous interest in exotic birds, and let's learn about some endangered pheasants.

♪ I am John Collins.

I am the president of Carolina's Virginia Pheasant and Waterfowl Society, Director with the Georgia Game Bird Breeders Association, as well as a member with American Pheasant, Waterfowl Society, the World Pheasant Organization, and American Dove Association.

All these groups are focused on propagation and conservation of ornamental pheasants and exotic doves, birds that are all heavily threatened or possibly endangered in their native environment.

Pheasant housing is a little bit different than most poultry housing.

There has to be a top net that not only keeps the pheasants contained, but also protects them from hawks and other predators.

They have to have places to hide, places to feel secure within that housing.

We try to plant a number of our pens.

Some of the pheasants do well with plants.

Others will destroy anything that gets put in their housing, So we're unsuccessful with planting aviaries there.

Keeping pheasants is almost a full time job.

My day starts early in the morning and we make the rounds of all the pens to check on the birds.

Every day birds have to have fresh water, fresh food.

And we check on enrichment in the pens.

We want to make sure there's plenty of enrichment to keep them occupied and give them a sense of shelter and protection.

Again, all these birds are endangered and heavily threatened, and some species we have a little more success than others.

Every day is a learning opportunity.

Birds will teach you something every single day that you interact with them, and a lot of my time out is just observing their characteristics and their behavior and interaction with each other.

Some of the species we keep are a little more pugnacious and better at defending their territory and they keep me on my toes going in to take care of them.

They don't want me in their environment and they do everything they can to run me out.

These are Temminck's tragopan.

Most of the pheasants are from Indochina.

These are Lady Amherst's peasants.

They're some of the oldest peasants kept by agriculture, along with the golden pheasants.

This is a Cheer pheasant.

We're checking eggs in their pen.

(clucking) I first became interested in pheasants as a child.

My grandfather raised pheasants for the sporting side of the hobby.

My job was to feed and to water and to look after birds that were doing poorly, clean up, carry feed, you know all the tasks that we relegate to our children to help us with.

As I grew, I started getting interested in caged birds, but they just didn't have the same allure and the same attraction for me, as the pheasants did, so started keeping ornamental pheasants and just, I fell in love with the beauty and the colors and the diversity of the birds, And as I learned more and more about them I learned about their predicament in the wild.

So I began to focus my efforts more on pure bloodstock and birds that were heavily threatened or possibly extinct.

♪ Getting ready to collect eggs today.

This pen is a Vietnamese pheasant ♪ and it looks like the female has laid an egg.

Getting ready to mark the Edwards egg we just collected.

It'll be cataloged as to the day it was collected, the pen it came from and the species.

All the pheasants here are unique species that are wild occurring.

You can find them in nature, those that are still in existence.

I personally focus fairly heavily on the Edwards pheasants here.

The Vietnamese pheasant was declared extinct and hadn't been a sighting since 2006 in the wild.

♪ We incubate the eggs in an incubation room where most eggs sit in the incubator for about 24 days, some up to about 28 days.

We had a batch of chicks hatch out last night, and we're getting ready to transfer those chicks from the incubator into our brooder.

And they will stay in this brooder for the first week and then transfer to another brooder.

We do the transfer because the brooders are set up at different temperatures.

And as the birds age and get more feathers, they don't need as much heat.

The chicks are fed a special diet to help with their immune system to help combat different diseases that they might be susceptible to.

It also gives us a chance to look at the birds, watch them mature and look for possible signs of birth defects because we're working diligently to keep good blood lines.

So that at some point in the future, they can be repatriated back to their native land and maybe once again seen in the wild like they were at one point.

<Amanda>: I want to thank Jay for his work in trying to keep these endangered species alive and maybe one day conditions will be such that they can be reintroduced into their native habitat.

Tom, can you bring those Amaryllis back up?

I want to ask you a few things about them.

<Sure> Because if you don't mind, maybe you'll kind of dig around and I make I make such a mess that it can be your turn.

Let's see.

Let's see how much they've grown.

Do you need my pencil?

<Tom> I'll just pull this out?

Yeah, I'll just pull them out.

<Amanda> I'm just curious about how big the you know, because an amaryllis bulb eventually gets to be a nice... <Tom> This is not a very, this is again after just a very... <Amanda> It's got a bulb on it, though.

<Tom> It does.

Very short growing season.

<Amanda> Why don't you, if you don't mind put it down own that in such a way that <Hold it up?> Yes, towards the camera please so they can see it.

So we can see it's got, it's nicely rooted and it's beginning to form <I'll move the> a little bulb down there.

<Tom> You can't really, let me turn it sideways so that you can actually see the bulb.

<Amanda> Oh, there we go.

Perfect.

That's wonderful.

<Terasa> Almost looks like a little green onion, doesn't it?

<Yes> <Tom> So between last summer, or just a few months of growing here to a whole year of growth... <Amanda> And let me ask you once, are you going to keep the you're gonna let these stay outside and just <Yes> in a protected spot?

Yes, You're gonna let, you're not gonna bring them in because not because they are fine, <Right> eventually being okay.

Okay, so this one sat outside last year.

<Tom> This was overwintered outdoors.

I did put it into a safe location where it was up against the house so that it wouldn't get too cold.

<Amanda> So if you had a puppy like mine, <laughs> he wouldn't... <Tom> And so I'm really sort of anxious to see how this has grown.

I have not done this to any of my, <New babies> look at all the, look at all the roots.

<Whoa> And look how much this has.

<Wow.

Wow> Look at that!

<Amanda> Look at that!

That's a happy camper!

<Tom> That and this.

<laughs> <That's stunning!> So, I'm really pretty impressed.

Yeah, so that's thanks for giving me the opportunity to look at these bulbs.

<laughs> <Tom> I've been wanting to do that desperately.

<Amanda> A lot of the mixes that are potting soils come with some nutrients in it.

Have you been fertilizing these?

Are you just taking taking it kind of slow?

<Tom> Very good question.

No, I have been fertilizing them with just an all purpose Miracle Grow to be honest with you and just a couple of times during the summer.

<Amanda> Yeah.

Well, because you have to water so anyway.

<Right> Yeah.

<Tom> There you go.

<Amanda> Well, that is, can I see it?

That's really getting to be kinda <Significant> <Amanda> A nice size.

Yeah.

<Tom> But you can see that there's a big difference between the size of that bulb and the ones that you would buy in a garden shop.

So it's got a way to go.

<Amanda>: Yeah, but it's not going to take all your money either.

<No, it's not> think I might just add this to my hat.<laughs> You were so nice about bringing me the River Oats we'll just make this the Tom hat.

How about that?

How's that?

<laughs> <Wild> You know what?

It's been a long summer.

<laughs> Just, you know, charge it up, heatstroke if you want to.

Well thank you and I'm glad that you were pleased to find out, all about it, too.

<Yes> Okay.

Alrighty.

Well, Teresa, Do we have another question that we might be able to help someone with?

<Terasa> We do.

It seems that Darrin in Newberry has some strange looking growth on his Camellia.

He reports it's, the leaves are pale and sort of thick and fleshy.

And he wants to know is that a disease?

<Amanda> Okay.

and I see that a lot on sasanquas.

I'm wondering, and since they're the same, Camellia sasanqua Camellia japonica.

Stephanie, can you enlighten us on this topic, please?

<Stephanie> Yeah.

So there's a leaf gall that forms.

It's a disease that attacks the chameleons and it makes the new growth kind of thick, fleshy, and light and color.

And actually, I have it quite a bit in my own garden.

And so I had actually brought some today <come on> to show off.

And so we'll lay those up there.

And so, you can see maybe, particularly with this one here, how the color of the foliage is unusual.

The stem is kind of thick, the leaves are kind of thick and fleshy.

<Amanda> Put your finger on the one that's the best.

<Stephanie> Yeah, right here.

So the leaves are kind of an off color.

And they're thick, and kind of <Amanda> And it can get a good bit thicker as time goes on.

Is that correct?

<Stephanie> Yes, they can be thicker.

And they will also have you can see the beginnings of the gall here where it's twisted.

And I'll turn this around here and discolored.

You can see that dark color.

<Amanda> And it's, if I'm not mistaken, it's, is it partially, caused by the environment?

And does it come, so some years it's more than other years?

<Stephanie> It's like most fungal diseases that you know, poor airflow, moist conditions kind of thing are favorable for it.

And it's got, it's got this unique setup in its lifecycle where it'll just, the gall will bust and then spores will fall down on the plant to start the next generation.

<Okay> And so when you see this kind of growth, you can come through and proactively snip it off <Okay> so that you prevent it from spreading.

<Amanda> Okay, before <Yeah> matures and releases how many billions of whatever spores.

<Stephanie> Or you're lazy like me, and they didn't notice it until < laughs > you got a good crop of it here.

But yeah, <Amanda> I've seldom thought that it was harmful, particularly what, what's your take on that?

<Stephanie> It's just unattractive.

So you know, it's a matter of, you know, how much work you want to put into keeping, you know, keeping your let's just trim... <Amanda> Well, and also Marie Lann, who's a wonderful Camellia grower, down in Manning.

She and I've talked and she says, you know, Camellias are really trees.

And she said, You know, when we want to keep them in these little bushes that, you know, don't say that she could still see out of the dining room window that's fighting against nature.

And so she trims hers and prunes hers into a tree form.

And she also says, and I don't understand it, that you ought to be able to throw a cat through it.

Now, < laughs > you got that wonderful kitty named Special.

<Stephanie> I would never throw her.

< laughs > <Amanda> If you could, but if you could, perhaps, keep them more open with better airflow, that might reduce the possibility as well.

<Stephanie> Yes.

When you're pruning, do some thinning cuts instead of shearing.

Yeah, your plants and that'll help with that air flow and less fungal diseases.

But this, you know, and it's just, it helps to kind of know what normal looks like sometimes, right?

<Yes> So, here, we got normal and not so normal.

Yeah.

<Amanda> Okay.

Alrighty.

Well, I think we've got about three minutes left, if we get a question that we might be able to, or does anybody have another show n tell they want to talk about?

<Terasa> I think we can squeeze in a question from Gloria.

She says some of my canna leaves are staying rolled up.

What is causing this?

<Amanda> Oh, those canna lilies I mean, there are beautiful but they, I was out pulling a good many up.

They were, they, they're like your River Oats, they sometimes don't know where they're supposed to stay.

Do you have any ideas about this?

<Tom> Well, actually, yes, I've got some canna on my, in my yard and they are being attacked by leaf rollers.

And so there are two different types.

One is the larger canna leaf roller and the other is the lessor canna leaf roller.

And I actually have an example.

<Amanda> So does it roll the leaf up because canna leaves are wide open and... <Tom> Well it rolls them before they unfurl.

<Wow> And if you can see right here, <Yes> there is some silk that the caterpillar uses to seal the leaf.

It is a caterpillar.

And it... <Amanda> Seals the leaf before it gets a chance to unfurl.

<Tom> Right.

And I'm going to attempt to open this up <Wow> and find the little guy.

< laughs> That was not expected.

< laughs > But let's see if... <Amanda> And turn that around so they can see all the frass.

it's obvious that the caterpillar has been in there.

And show it.

<Tom> And if you look right here there is the Caterpillar right there.

<Amanda> That little fellow did all of that.

That is something.

So I think cannas are so vigorous, you can just cut them back below that and they'll come back fine.

<Tom> That's exactly correct.

<Amanda> Okay.

Well, y'all this has just been such a delightful time.

Stephanie, thank you for having not only a special cat, but a special master gardener.

And Terasa thank you as always and I want to thank everyone who was with us tonight and we hope we'll see you next Tuesday right here on Making It Grow.

♪ closing music ♪ ♪ ♪ Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina is a cooperative effort among farmers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture to help consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown, harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

The Boyd Foundation supporting outdoor recreational opportunities, the appreciation of wildlife, educational programs, and enhancing the quality of life in Columbia, South Carolina and the Midlands at large.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina.

Family owned and operated since 1916.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 40 varieties of peaches.

Additional funding provided by the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance and Boone Hall Farms.