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.

♪ (Making it Grow opening music) ♪ ♪ Well, good evening and welcome to Making It Grow.

We're so glad you could join us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty and I'm a Clemson Extension agent, and our show is a collaboration between SCETV and Clemson University.

And Terasa Lott is often over here helping us, but really mainly she supposed to where the master gardener coordinator hat, but we sure thank you for everything you do for us Terasa.

>> It is my pleasure.

Happy to be a part of team Making It Grow.

>> Good.

We're happy to have you as part of our family too, and Andy Cabe, last time we saw you, we saw you through digital means, and now we are practicing the current guidelines.

We're glad to have you here.

I think that instead of having to be outside every single day, hot or cold, you're doing some administrative work, and that gives you a little bit more choice.

>> You can kind of pick and choose which days you want to be outside, but it's sure nice to be back here in person again.

>> Well, we're so glad that you're here.

And then Eric Shealy, you are trying to keep those greenhouses at some kind of semblance of temperature, that you and the plants can survive.

>> That we both can agree on.

[laughs] >> I think it's funny that since we talk about Columbia, they used to say "Famously Hot" and there is a device in greenhouses called the Carolina cooler.

>> Yes, and we have them.

They work.

They work, a little bit.

<Amanda> A little bit.

>> They can't do too much but they work.

>> Humidity is a factor.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah.

Anyway and then Stephanie Turner is in Greenwood and Stephanie, we are so happy that you can help us and I think we are expecting also perhaps a cameo from a special kitty.

[laughs] >> Hi.

We're both here today.

I'm glad we can join you.

<Amanda> Well, I think you played the piano earlier.

If she does that's fine.

We think that it probably will help us win an award if we entered an award and have a piano playing cat on a garden show.

[laughs] Anyway, thanks for joining us remotely.

>> Of course.

<Amanda> It's good to see you from up there in that beautiful city of Greenwood.

Terasa, you I think are going to start us off with something that's cheerful or comical or whimsical and that will be Gardens of the Week.

>> Thanks Amanda.

This has become such a fun part of the show, where we get to see what's going on in your yards and gardens across the state, sometimes leads us out of state, as well.

So, let's take a look.

Starting with Pat Dubose who sent a lovely close up of a lotus flower.

Bill Jackson captured a mantid on lavender.

This was taken in Buncombe County, North Carolina, from Marion Hutton, a colorful mixed border along a sidewalk.

Cindy Welsh shared the Lee County 4-H pollinator garden.

And wrapping up, Pam Rivers submitted a yellow daylily.

This is in the Wingate, North Carolina and she says the daylily was a gift from a friend.

Thanks everyone for sharing your photos.

Remember we can't choose them all.

We just post a random sampling, but you're welcome to visit our Facebook page and take a look at all the submissions.

Don't be shy.

Send us what you're doing in your yard.

>> Thanks.

And Terasa, you are so good about going on Facebook and people also send you things through our email and finding questions.

Let's start with that stack of questions and see if we can't give people some help.

>> Well, chisel away.

Whittle our way down.

This question is from Byron in Goose Creek.

My wife and I always had a summer veggie garden, but we've never tried any of the cool season vegetables.

What can we grow during the winter?

>> Ahh!

Well, Andy, Roland used to say that in South Carolina you can grow something twelve months of the year.

What would your suggestions be?

>> He's absolutely right.

We have such mild winters here, you can kind of do fall crops and do spring crops.

Do second sowings of things.

Eric's very familiar with the second sowing.

Our garden stance was, Eric we want more of these seeds, but we want them two months from now.

So, but it is very convenient, and we like to use a lot of leafy greens in the winter time.

Number one, we like to use them a lot as ornamentals.

They're very attractive, very colorful with the purples, the reds things like that, and you can kind of use them for a dual purpose.

You can use them as something ornamental in your bed and edible if you want to make a little salad, you can start and pick those new tender greens and we do lots of kales, cabbages, mustards, broccoli, lettuce and the list goes on and on, Swiss chard, kohlrabi.

Yeah, so there's lots and lots you can do that serves the dual purpose like I said with both being ornamental - <Amanda> Yes.

<Andy> and edible at the same time >> And I think there's a giant red kale or something in there.

<Andy> There's some big red kales, but there's also a giant red mustard.

>> Okay.

>> It'll get pretty big.

>> I've seen it used as the centerpiece in containers surrounded by pansies and things that flow over the edge.

>> Absolutely, we love using vegetables in containers, especially if you got somewhere where rabbits really like to go.

That's a big problem when we're at the zoo, is rabbits.

The rabbits have a harder time getting a couple of feet up into the container, but you get a good rabbit, you can find a way, [everyone laughs] But for the most part, container gardening is a great way to do things like that, if you've got some kind of ground pests, you can grow some things a little further up in a container.

>> Great idea.

Thank you.

>> I had Bright Light Swiss chard in my front step containers last year, and I absolutely loved it.

It performed really well and like you said, dual purpose.

If I just wanted to go out and grab some to add to dinner, it was right there.

>> How about that?

Yeah and then I think one thing people sometimes don't think of is when those things bolt and have flowers the pollinators really seem to come.

>> Yeah, they love it and like I was saying earlier, you can kind of get two crops a year out of a lot of these things if you plant, something maybe in the beginning of October if you have a mild winter, it's going to start to bolt and that's when your second sowing comes in, and then you could have another crop by March or April.

>> Okay.

Pretty good answer, and I hope that they'll have good luck trying that this year.

What's up next?

>> This call comes in from Laurel in Aiken.

Laurel says I had problems growing radishes in the past where they are pithy.

Why does that happen and can it be prevented?

Stephanie, I love a good radish in my salad and I like to have them just as hors d'oeuvres, sometimes, but it's awful, when they're pithy.

Is there something you can do to avoid that?

Give us some tips on just getting them started and how to grow them please.

>> I'm sure.

Yeah, radishes are actually one of the easiest things to grow and like you said, I adore radishes, but there's so many things that you can do with radishes that people don't even think about.

You can use them in the compound butter.

I don't know if you've ever done that.

You can chop them all up, smoosh it with butter, put it on a crusty bread, and radishes are also if you're not very fond of the heat, they can be sweetened up just by sauteing them in a pan with some butter on the stove.

But to grow them, their very easy from seed, and you can have a harvest in as little as 21 days, and so a lot of times when people are running into pithiness, they are maybe waiting too long to harvest their radish, or they're not keeping the soil evenly moist.

Another thing about radishes is, because it's a root vegetable, you have to be careful about the texture of the soil that you're using and so hard clay soil, will cause those roots to be a little bit distorted or grow in an unusual shape.

You'll get that nice pretty round radish.

So, you do you want to watch that.

That also makes radishes great for container gardening.

So, you can get a potting mix, and you can grow your radishes in a container.

You sow those seeds directly in there, about a quarter of an inch deep.

Then you want to thin them to two to three inches apart, the seedlings, depending on the mature size of the cultivar, the root that you've gotten, and use those thinnings in your salads or your sandwiches.

Pinch them off and enjoy them.

Don't just toss them away, and then within about 21 days you'll have a crop.

Radish is another good one.

They said, they're talking about Riverbanks.

They do multiple sowings, since radishes are quick you can sow every week, and then you'll have plenty of radishes throughout the cool season.

And, of course, radishes do enjoy the cooler weather.

So, you want to start them end of summer into the fall up until a good frost, and they should do good for you.

Another plus for putting them in a container maybe you can put them on a patio or sheltered area and protect them from the frost and kind of extend your radish harvest that way.

>> When I see them in the store, they're already so pretty when they have the tops on them, but if I bring them home, I've noticed if I leave them with the tops on, it seems like the bottom, the radish itself seems to dry out a little bit.

So, I guess even though, it looks so pretty when you harvest them, if you aren't going to use them immediately, should you just go ahead and trim that, so that they won't become desiccated?

>> Yeah.

You could probably keep the tops on for maybe a day or so in the fridge, but you would rather chop them off, so they don't pull that moisture out of the root.

If you use them fresh out of the garden, you can use the tops, as well, if they're looking healthy and clean.

You can saute those in there with your sauteed butter and radishes.

>> Okay.

They come in such pretty colors now.

Don't they?

>> Oh.

yes.

So, you can get a rainbow assortment of colors, pinks, whites, reds.

There's even the Spanish Black Radish where the root is red and the outside is black and the center, of course is white, Then they come in different shapes, as well.

There's icicle types, elongated types, and varying amounts of heat, too.

If you like foods a little bit more spicy then you can choose a spicier cultivar.

>> And, when you said you could use them, people don't often think of it.

We often put them in spaghetti sauce, because we think that it makes it taste earthy, and I don't know, that's just fun how you'll kind of get an idea in your family and all of a sudden, everybody in your family thinks that there's a new tradition of using things.

>> I love it.

<Amanda> Thanks, so much Stephanie.

>> Of course.

>> Well, Eric we're going to instead of going to another question, we're going to talk about a trip that I got to make to come up to see you, thinking about planning.

If anybody has to plan, because y'all have such incredible annuals and color that you got to put out.

So, we came to see - when do you start putting out seeds and cuttings and all these - >> Usually for spring, I'm starting in late January, early February.

Then coming up in fall, I'm going to start in the middle of September.

<Amanda> So seeds are just, you must just have thousands of seeds that you're dealing with.

<Eric> For fall, it's usually just brassicas, that's your collards, kales everything in that vein of leafy greens For spring and summer, it's a lot of variation.

You have a ton of different genuses and different cultivars within the genus, So it's a challenge.

It's more so a challenge in spring than it is in fall.

<Amanda> Do you go places when things are normal, so growers can tell you about new things, because y'all are always to me kind of the cutting edge of having new things growing.

<Eric> We actually do that, but we allow our staff just to look through the catalogs that everybody can access.

They just spend a lot of time looking for that new thing.

It's becoming increasingly rare to find something that just blows your socks off, but we love going to the Trial Gardens at UGA.

I've always enjoyed going down there and seeing what they've got going on, and just paying attention to what does well in different catalogs like perennial plant of the year.

We always pay attention to that.

Sometimes we can grow it and sometimes we can't.

<Amanda> Then we walked into the green house where you have things that are big plants that have to stay in the greenhouse and you had a lot of succulents, and you said that they come from an unusual source.

So, we get a lot of some of our plants that we have to keep come from a U.S. Customs seizure, meaning that they come into the country illegally they're usually seized at the port of Miami.

Miami is a huge port where - <Amanda> Hub for all that.

<Eric> It's a hub for international trade so there's a lot of black market back dealing that can come through there and usually people think about animals, but in this case, it's the plants for us.

So we got a collection of euphorbias.

When people think of Euphorbias they think of that cute little diamond frost that they get at the nursery.

Euphorbia is a massive genus of plants and it includes poinsettias.

So, we got some rare Euphorbias in I have no idea where they came from, but US Customs called us, offered them to us and we took them.

<Amanda> So, it's not that these are invasive, what it is, is people who aren't the kind of nice gardeners that we'd like to think gardeners are, are paying to kind of have smuggled things in, and you said often they're endangered.

<Eric> They are.

>> You're keeping these alive, because it's important >> Yeah it's important to keep them alive and keep them in population, so if they if they ever need to be sent anywhere, we can just send them >> And then the bromeliads were a lot of fun.

<Eric> Oh yeah.

We have a lot of Bromeliad.

<Amanda> They're holding that water.

>> You told me that sometimes they have some surprises.

<Eric> Yeah.

Don't bump them, because they'll turn over and pour water on you and probably a frog or two.

<Amanda> I just think that's so wonderful to think that the frogs are over wintering inside the water in the Bromeliads <Eric> Yeah.

<Amanda> Y'all sure do work hard there to have it look beautiful any time that somebody comes.

<Eric> Thank you.

<Amanda> Thanks a lot.

<Eric> You're very welcome.

<Amanda> Well, Terasa?

<Terasa> How about a question from near my neck of the woods so to speak?

Society Hill.

Mary asks when is the best time to plant spring flowering bulbs?

<Amanda> Andy, y'all have a huge display of bulbs.

I love the fact that there's that one alley that's so crazy and y'all spray paint it and stick it around.

>> Allium schubertii.

Yes.

[Amanda laughs] It gets abou volleyball size.

>> When do you start planting the bulbs for your spring displays?

>> Well, in times like August and September when I might still be like really hot in the afternoon that's a great time to sit inside with a bulb catalog and search through and see what you want to plant for the following spring, but typically with bulbs, you want to wait till the soil temperature cools down...a good bit.

So, our kind of target date depending on the weather is usually sometime, the middle of November.

We'll plant all the way into January too.

We have so many bulbs to plant that sometimes we don't get them all planted immediately.

So, we're still planting in January, sometimes even into February to get a nice display.

<Amanda> They're pretty forgiving too.

<Andy> That's the great thing about bulbs is they are so forgiving.

There's so many great bulbs that are perennials.

Lot's of great daffodils, your smaller tulips, your species tulips are great.

A lot of your Alliums, the flowering onions do really well.

If you pick the right varieties, they're going to come back year after year.

They're going to offset.

Some of them are going to naturalize, make big clumps.

I like bulbs so much, because you put so little work into it, and they give you so much back.

Basically, everybody's like how do you plant a bulb and I technically tell them you're going to plant the bulb two to three times as deep as the bulb is tall.

So, if your bulb's that tall you're going to plant it that deep, but basically in our climate where we don't get deep freezes, you just get your trough, you scrape a little hole, throw the bulb in there, and cover it up with dirt and call it done.

<Amanda> So, you don't - they're always trying to tell you.

"Special bulb food!

"Special bulb food!"

<Andy> If you've got decent soil and at the botanical garden and zoo, we're constantly amending on a yearly basis with compost.

So, we have pretty good soil to start with, so we really don't rely on a lot of fertilizers, in general.

we have good healthy soil to start with, and we rely on compost a lot to give us our nutrients.

So, if you've got a pretty decent garden soil to start with I don't fool with a lot of putting something in the bottom of the hole and top dressing with this or that.

Your bulb will typically tell you what it needs.

If it starts to decline, you've seen daffodils sometimes, maybe it's a nutrient thing or maybe they just need to be divided and every so often they need to be divided, because you've got a clump of a bulb.

They're all competing for that same amount of food So, you kind of got to spread them out sometimes.

>> Okay.

So, with the tulips a lot of people who come to South Carolina don't understand that they generally don't persist here.

Is that?

I'm sure that's - >> Most of your big florist kind of tulips are the ones you think of in these beautiful winter displays.

They're not reliable perennials for us and sometimes they're not even reliable annuals for us.

A lot of it just depends on the temperature and South Carolina temperatures can be so fickle.

You can be 75 or 80 degrees in the winter time one day, and you might be 30 degrees, another day.

So, sometimes you'll see them blooming two inches off the ground.

If you get the year, that it's absolutely perfect, and everything works right, and the temperature works right, we have put together some amazing tulip displays over the years.

>> But, the species tulips generally are a little more reliable for us.

>> They're very reliably hearty.

They'll come back year after year even multiply some.

They are more diminutive in size.

They're not going to be this big, long cut flower stem.

<Amanda> I think a lot of them have some real cool features.

Don't you?

>> I planted them in the lawn before, just had swods of them coming up in the lawn, and it always turned out when it was about time to cut my grass for the first time, in the spring, would be about the time, when it was okay to cut the tulip foliage out.

>> Okay.

That's another thing that I'm glad you mentioned is that with our bulbs - Well, if I plant regular tulips, I just throw them away, because I don't expect but with my daffodils, we don't want to cut the foliage back - >> No, you want to painfully watch them for a while.

Watch them start to turn yellow and brown and when it gets to about the point where you're just ready just to scream, that's usually about the time it's okay to cut them back.

So, that's why we like to enter plant bulbs with other things.

So, as the foliage on the bulb is senescencing in the spring, you've got something like maybe a daylily or something, but a summer bloomer coming up, that bulb is just going to cover up the old foliage of your mold >> Okay, well I think that was a wonderful example of what to do with bulbs and they are just so reliable.

We ride down the side of the road and see old house sites with daffodils and things that are still blooming.

Thanks a lot.

I think that you have maybe one of our other favorite topics going on now.

Don't you?

>> Would you be talking about our Spotlight Garden of the Week?

<Amanda> Yes!

>> Yes, we do.

So, this is a chance to show off one particular garden, a little more in depth than our Gardens of the Week.

Today we are featuring Annette Brown Mishoe of Myrtle Beach Annette shared an assortment of photos with us.

She's included some statues in her garden and one I particularly like is a stone, which she has in a bed that says, One who plants a garden, plants happiness.

Annette created her very own Gertie Gardener as a tribute to Amanda and her hats.

She says Gertie is lovely, just like Amanda.

So, thanks Annette for giving us a little glimpse into your yard.

[laughs] Well, I think it's a remarkable likeness [laughs] <Terasa> Especially the lipstick.

Did you notice the lipstick?

[laughs] >> Well, I do like my lipstick.

[laughs] >> Oh my goodness!

So much fun.

Well, that's sort of like a show and tell.

Many of us like to incorporate larval host plants in our yards, and I thought maybe Stephanie might have some takers to her host plants that she'd be willing to share with our visitors.

>> Stephanie, I know that you have a sharp eye, because you often pointed out things to us.

Do you have some pictures of things that you run into that you've really been excited to find nibbling on your plants >> Why, yes I do.

And I don't know if my eyes are very sharp, because one hitchhiked its way inside my house on a bouquet, I had cut.

I cut some stems of blazing star of the Liatris.

We've talked about it in a previous show.

I brought it in a bouquet.

I was working in my kitchen one day and I noticed on the countertop some little black specks.

Those of us that know caterpillars will recognize that little trail of frass or droppings that you can see underneath caterpillars as they're feeding.

So, I inspected my bouquet more closely and really had a hard time finding these little hitch hikers, because they are camouflaged.

This particular larva is the larva phase of a moth, and it sticks little pieces of the blossom of the plant that it's feeding on, on it's back.

It was just happily eating on my Liatris in my bouquet, When I took those stems outside I found I actually had three of them.

So, I brought them back to my clump of plants so that they can continue on in feeding.

So, you will see some photos of that the little camouflage looper, and that is actually the Wavy-lined Emerald Moth that does that.

When those caterpillars mature that's what those would be.

So, that was my first little share of show and tell.

Then secondly, I was checking on my limelight hydrangeas, the hydrangea paniculata and the blooms were just starting to come out this summer and I noticed something had been feeding on the leaves and so I was looking closely, and it was just about dusk and saw some very fluffy woolly bear caterpillars, some white or actually yellow their common name is the yellow wooly bear caterpillar.

So, to me they appeared more creamy white and very, very fluffy.

They were feeding on the leaves there and that is the Virginia Tiger Moth Larva.

I guess I would just recommend, and just remind everybody that if you have an insect problem try to hand pick your caterpillars first, because you don't understand how many caterpillars are in your garden and in your yard.

You're just not seeing them every day.

You're just not looking closely or maybe you're just missing the time that they're out feeding.

So, keep that in mind when you reach for a pesticide or a treatment.

So, just target it, and only use it as much as appropriate.

>> And usually with these it's not - if you're trying to grow brassica, sometimes you have to use some - take some actual steps to reduce the number, the feeding, but these unusual caterpillars, generally aren't going to eat that much of the plant.

Are they?

>> No.

As a matter of fact, I can't even tell there's been any damage to my hydrangeas or my Liatris at this point.

There's just a few on there.

I'm not even sure if these folks these little caterpillars matured too long this year, because we have a lot of birds in our yard.

So, they may have ended up being bird food, but you never know.

[laughs] <Amanda> All part of nature's plan.

Thanks a lot.

>> Exactly >> Teresa, I think you've got another question for us.

>> This question comes in from Diane in Cayce.

Diane asks, "We are frequent visitors of Riverbanks Zoo and Garden.

How are the sides connected?

Do you grow plants specifically for the animals?

<Amanda> Well, you certainly have a lot of herbivores, - >> Oh, yes!

>> and y'all are doing a lot of plant growing.

Is there some overlap there.

>> So, we don't exclusively provide any whole diet to an animal.

We do supplementation and emergency backup supply.

So, supplementation not a lot of people know that guerrillas will develop a condition called Fibrosing cardiomyopathy, which is a heart condition that can ultimately kill them.

It is a heart condition that all primates can get, even humans.

So, they would rather take care of it with a plant than with giving them another medication or something like that.

So we grow a ginger that is native to Rwanda This is Aframomum melegueta.

It is actually grains of paradise, which is an additive in beer.

Sam Adams Boston lager.

>> That's a good reason to have a beer.

>> It might help your heart.

At the same time, I'm not a doctor.

Don't listen to me, but they eat this, all parts of the plant, >> Really?

>> They rip it out of the ground.

They'll eat the roots, shoots, stems and everything.

>> They like it.

>> They do.

A paper came out several years ago saying that they really do chow down on it, and the gorillas in the wild, the populations that were eating this with regularity didn't really have a problem with the Fibrosing cardiomyopathy <Amanda> So, do you grow it at the river's edge?

Does it grow here?

>> So, it is a tropical plant.

Rwanda is a good bit closer to the equator - <Amanda> It's hard to believe it's warmer, but sometimes - >> Yeah, but it grows in 25 gallon tubs in our greenhouses.

So, that's another thing that I'll grow out for the animals.

<Amanda> So this one you can grow enough to supply that portion.

<Eric> We do, and they eat it regularly, but not with every, not every day.

Yeah so they're getting a supply of it.

Let's just say that.

<Amanda> They really do like it.

>> They love it.

The keepers when we first introduced it, they were actually very surprised that they went to it as fast as they did.

You can crush it in your hands and smell it and it really smells amazing.

It's like a sweet ginger smell.

It doesn't take much.

>> No, it doesn't.

<Eric> Yeah, it's their sweet gingery smell.

>> Have you ever chewed any?

>> I have not.

>> Maybe at the end of the show.

>> Maybe so.

>> Okay, well then I know that you have koalas there and they only eat one thing.

>> Yes, so they only eat this.

Eucalyptus.

So, eucalyptus - there are types that are hearty for us, as many, many people know.

They do not eat those types.

Of course, they have to be fussy and eat types from Australia, So we grow - there's a list of about 10 to 15 of them that they will eat natively in Australia.

We grow two of them on premises as an emergency backup in case our populations in Phoenix and Miami where we ship our eucalyptus from, if they encounter a frost which does happen in Miami, very un-regularly and in Phoenix too, or a natural disaster.

<Amanda> If an air plane couldn't land.

<Eric> Exactly, <Amanda> If we had a hurricane.

<Eric> Exactly.

<Amanda> That you have to have a special greenhouse just in case you need it.

<Eric> It's actually a requirement of us having them.

<Amanda> That's fair.

<Eric> It is.

So, this is the only thing they eat and we have to have it.

So, we do.

we only grow two varieties of it.

It's Eucalyptus robusta and eucalyptus tereticornis.

<Amanda> Alrighty, and it seemed to me that one time that y'all were starting to plant bamboo in some of the parking lots and all, because sometimes that's useful to use in the enclosures.

<Eric> Most animals will get enjoyment out of it.

Birds can use it for perching.

Bamboo has always been used traditionally for years just to make different things, but many animals use it for what we call enrichment.

So it helps them in captivity.

They don't get bored, and they think get to use some of their natural tendencies to tear up stuff.

I would much rather them tear up the shoots of bamboo that we pull out of the parking lot than - <Amanda> What a perfect thing, if it's in the parking lot.

You're getting the visual aspect of it.

>> Exactly.

>> Then if you need to, you can let - it's a toy and a supplement - >> Absolutely.

>> for enjoyment for the animals.

>> Absolutely >> That's really, really cool.

Thank you very much.

>> You're welcome.

>> I appreciate it.

>> As you know, we like to find beautiful places to go and Sean Flynn our producer made a friend on Facebook who wasn't very far away, and we had a wonderful visit to the garden of Parrish Rabon in Camden.

♪ >> I'm in Camden, South Carolina enjoying the beautiful garden of Parrish Rabon in her predominately shade garden and this is a pleasant place to be in the summer.

I'm glad we came to visit you today.

And your garden is very shady, because you have massive oak trees.

>> We do.

I enjoy that.

<Amanda> It really does combine the front and the back too.

So, that you, although the lots not very large, you do get that sense of continuity.

<Parrish> Yes.

<Amanda> You have a favorite flower and I believe having a shady yard gave you ample places to use that flower.

<Parrish> Yes, I love hydrangeas.

I love to cut hydrangeas and share hydrangeas, so.

Yes I plant a few.

<Amanda> Talk a little bit about the front yard.

What was there, kind of the bones of it?

Then, how you've used the hydrangeas there, please.

<Parrish> Well, we did add some white ones there, at the entrance to the drive.

When we moved here there were the camellias, the azaleas, the boxwood hedge, but traditional plants, yeah.

<Amanda> And then as we come around I see tucked away in various places, a lot of containers that seems to be something that you enjoy using.

<Parrish> I do.

<Amanda> Because, the containers are different and they add color in places, and then it gives you some staggered height, as well.

<Parrish> Yes, it does make it feel more like a room I think when you're outdoors to have the containers, and the different heights and colors, and of course you can move it around if the plant's not happy.

You can move it a little more sunny spot if it's in a container <Amanda> Well, I particularly enjoy the one with the four seasons who's kind of tucked back there.

<Parrish> and the azaleas.

<Amanda> Yes.

That's really a sweet one, because I didn't see him, and so it's nice as you're walking to see things that make you pause for a moment and when you pause, you see other things, that you wouldn't have noticed including your front porch which has a few places to sit down, but has a lot of places for plants.

<Parrish> Yes, and I love that.

I love that because I love to share my garden.

That makes me happy, that we stroll through that you see little things we can stop and look at.

<Amanda> Then we come back into the back; and y'all have done a good bit there.

<Parrish> Yes.

<Amanda> With pavers and brick edging.

Tell me about some of the improvements you've made.

<Parrish> Well, just because the lot is sloped and anytime there was a storm, there was a lot of down flow of the rain so the little edgings in the beds, my husband put down the bricks and works in different ways to try to slow down water through there, but also it just gives the good definition for that little pathway of grass, and then we fill the beds with a multi color hydrangeas.

Yeah.

<Amanda> You have some Calla lilies.

<Parrish> Some calla lilies tucked in there.

<Amanda> Then a few other plants that I think you're experimenting with to get a little cover on the privacy fence.

<Parrish> Yeah.

<Amanda> It is mostly again hydrangeas.

<Parrish> Yeah and except, I was looking up in the oak tree, one of the trees and thought goodness gracious, Parrish's husband has to get on a ladder.

<Parrish> Oh yes.

<Amanda> I didn't quite understand from the ground looking up, why those pots were so important, but when you took me up on your porch, I really saw then why they were worth putting your husband on a ladder every year.

They make a nice show from up there.

<Parrish> Yes.

<Amanda> And draw your eye back down towards the backyard.

<Parrish> Yes.

<Amanda> Your porch and you said do I need to clean up or do anything when I was speaking on the phone before I came in, I said, No, we want to see how you live all the time, but you are kind of an experimental gardener.

It looks to me like you want to have things trying things all the time.

>> I do and I guess I'm a little resourceful with just I never want to give up on a plant.

So, I always try to nurse one back to health, but also the cuttings, I've put many things in water, and just watched the roots develop.

So, I make a lot of cuttings and stick them in water up there and re-pot them and hopefully as I can do more and more that I can share more and more plants with other people.

<Amanda> You got seedlings coming up.

You have to start seeds and then transfer them.

One of your porches is almost a potting show.

<Parrish> It is.

It is.

The zinnias were from seeds.

Some of them were looking pretty good.

>> They do.

>> Yeah, yeah.

>> Then you and I are sitting in - we've got some sun here.

You've got a few slightly raised beds and you've really taken advantage of these to get some color back here as well.

<Parrish> the lantana and the daylilies.

Yes.

<Amanda> and besides the containers, you also like to tuck around funky little, are they toad houses?

>> Yes.

I have some little toad houses.

It's only been once, but there was one time that the cutest little toad had taken up residence in one.

<Amanda> That was just the one time that you noticed that he was in there.

I'm sure you have lots of overnight visitors to your toad B and B's.

>> That's true.

<Amanda> Well, Parrish, it really is a lovely garden and I think you're fortunate.

So many people can only work in their yard during part of the day, because it's so full blazing sun.

>> Right.

>> There are many times when you can come out and you told me if you feel a little stressed, you look up into the almost cathedral like feeling that you get in the backyard yard from the beautiful oak boughs.

>> Yes.

>> - and enjoy this wonderful little spot of Eden - >> Oh, thank you yes.

It does.

The canopy almost gives it, back to being a room.

It almost gives it a ceiling like effect and yeah if I ever feel like I need a break from stress or life, I can find it in my garden pretty quickly.

<Amanda> Well, I think that you're very fortunate to have this.

I thank you for sharing it with us.

>> Thank you for coming.

I loved having you.

♪ I really enjoyed my visit with Parrish and she was so happy to have made such a nice shady place for her family to enjoy getting out when there's a hot summer day, and she is really a gardener's gardener.

She has something sitting around and rooting or starting in almost every place.

It was really fun.

She's a gardener's gardener and not somebody who's ready for the garden club to come by, Although her garden is certainly lovely enough that people should go by and see it, and I want to thank her for letting us show it to you.

Well, I felt like Christmas came early because your wonderful co-worker Diane Baker came over and sent you over with some things for me to make a hat.

I didn't have to lie awake in bed worrying about what my hat was going to be.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Diane and so she sent some Eucomis.

Is that how you say it?

>> Eucomis.

>> Pineapple lilies.

>> Then she sent those wonderful red fire engine red Anthuriums.

I think I've got - if I'm having a heart condition, I should just munch on my hat.

>> Munch on your hat.

>> - because that's the plant that the gorillas - >> That's the ginger that they love.

>> The ginger that they love.

Yeah.

Well, that was such - Tell her thank you very much.

I really do appreciate it.

Terasa I think we've just been having some great questions.

What's next on the pile?

>> We'll give this one a try from Earl in Catawba.

Earl says, "I saw the Rocky Shoals Spider Lily "while visiting Lansford Canal State Park.

I understand it's relatively rare.

Are there measures being taken to protect this plant?

>> Well, Andy y'all are at kind of that fall line of the rivers of the water system in South Carolina.

Y'all have some rocky areas there.

Is this?

What do you know about this plant?

>> Well, Lansford Canal is the big, well known population, but there are some populations in both the Broad and Congaree Rivers right in downtown Columbia, usually in May or June, you can ride across the 126 bridge into town.

Cross over the river and look down in there and you'll see little blobs of white blooming and that's the Rocky Shoals Spider Lily growing right there in the middle of the river.

>> My word.

Well, do y'all try to be involved in it in any way in protecting it?

<Andy> Yeah, off and on over the last 20 years or so, we've been involved when we have time, we'll go out to the river and try to collect some seeds and we'll take them back and Eric will propagate them in the greenhouse, and you can look here.

These were a few little seedlings that I think we collected probably a month or so ago.

They were just seeds we collected from the river, and then Eric brought them back to the greenhouse <Amanda> How did you know it was the seed for the spider lily?

<Andy> Just from years of knowing what it looks like.

So, if you can look right here I don't know if we can focus in on it.

This oblong green blob is actually the seed.

<Amanda> Oh!

So it's pretty visible.

>> This is the seed, so it'll look like this on the river.

This is actually the food source for the plant, >> Yes.

>> The plant doesn't start with leaves on it.

It just starts with the seed.

So, it's got to have something to generate the energy to make this foliage and you can kind of see at the bottom here, you can see these roots coming out.

That's the start of a little bulb.

<Amanda> My word.

>> It'll keep feeding off of this seed - <Andy> Feeding off the seed to make a bulb which will then be a perennial part of the plant.

<Andy> The seed is providing the energy for it to make these leaves in order to make the bulb and then some of the bulbs can get the size of a half dollar in diameter.

What we do is we grow these and we use it kind of for multiple purposes.

Number one, it's a great educational tool, because while it is not an endangered species yet, it is a species of concern due to increased usage on the river, the change in water flows for generating electricity.

>> Yeah, because that's pretty different.

>> A lot of fluctuation.

More people are using the river and they see these pretty things bloom in their yards and they'll want to pull the clump out and they'll plant it in their yard.

The populations are dwindling and so we are trying to encourage people not to take these from the river, so we will take them back to Riverbanks and grow them out to sometimes to blooming size plants, and we have done some experimentation with reintroducing them into the river, but I will say it is very difficult to reintroduce a plant into running water and especially if you get a torrential rain the next day or two and all the water is coming down from the upstate into the river and just super high flows can wash things away; but these seeds will drop into the crevices of rocks in the middle of the river.

>> So, therefore Rocky Shoals.

<Andy> They'll nestle themselves in there and the seed can kind of sit there static for a while in between the rocks and then it can send it's foliage up above the water, and it's got this bulb that forms and gets rooted in all the little nooks and crannies.

>> How about that!

Well, with all y'all do, my hat's off to you, literally, >> Thank you.

>> For your concern with the environment I think that one thing is that y'all have told me that there's not a limb that falls at Riverbanks that's taken off site, y'all have used, almost everything is re-purposed - >> We re-purpose quite a bit of it.

If it doesn't go into our compost pile; if it's a good looking stick, Amanda somebody will make something out of it.

Some kind of structure or arbor.

So, we are very resourceful in re-purposing things.

>> Well, Diane Baker when I was out there was actually using some mountain laurel that had one place, one or two of them and died and that twisted gnarly, beautiful texture.

she was using it in a display.

So I do admire how creative y'all are.

>> We definitely have some crafty folks out there.

>> Yeah you do.

Okay.

Well, Terasa, I think we've got time to see what else is coming up in the list of questions.

>> This one is from Libby in Columbia.

I've got a really big aloe that's been outdoors for the summer.

I'd like to repot it before bringing it in for the winter.

Can you provide some how to tips?

>> Aha!

Well, Stephanie since you're sauteing radishes and all that kind of stuff, you probably keep an aloe plant or two around, just because it's a nice thing if you burn your finger.

Would this be a good time to do that How easy is it to separate one?

She can maybe share it with a neighbor if she could.

>> Oh, yeah!

Aloe is a great houseplant and it's one that has special memories for me.

I know lots of people have certain plants that their mom or their grandma always have in their home Aloe's one of those for me.

Always my grandmother, always my mother have aloe plants.

So, if you had a boo boo, you got some aloe gel smooshed on your wound.

Aloe is great.

It will propagate vegetatively and so as your plant gets bigger and more robust, you might notice that there's smaller little plantlets coming along across the base, and those little pups are offshoots can be easily removed when you pot up your aloe plant.

What you want to do is carefully remove the plant from the pot in the container that it's in, and investigate those little pups, sometimes you can just kind of gently pull or wiggle them away.

They'll be separate enough or you may want to take a really sharp knife, if, they're pretty close, or connected to the base, you can take a really sharp knife and slice that little off shoot off, and a lot of times they already have their own little set of roots on the base of it.

And you can take that and let it rest or cure for a day or two, out of the sun, somewhere dry, so that where you sliced it can heal up and dry out, and then you can go head and pot up however many little off shoots you've gotten off the parent plant and pot up the parent plant in some moist soil, but not overly moist and you really want to wait to water it the first time until it gets completely dry.

>>Oh, really.

So, put it in a moist medium, but you don't water it in, then.

>> No.

you just want it to get settled in that new medium.

Let that moisture be absorbed and then after that you can do your first watering when it's dried out.

>> Are they large water users or are they pretty forgiving if you forget about them?

>> They're very forgiving.

That's why they're a house plant that works for me because I'm a neglectful house parent plant parent.

I water mine very sparingly about once a week, maybe once every other week, but very, very sparingly.

I don't water it thoroughly till the water comes out the bottom.

I just give it a little sip and off we go.

>> Okay and what kind of exposure do you have for it in the house?

>> You do want bright light.

You want a good sunny spot.

A good sunny window.

>> Special doesn't go over there and mess with it.

It's okay for house cats.

>> Well, it is a good little scratch for your whisker area, right there.

those little aloe leaves.

She does like that, but no, she doesn't she want the way she chews on any floral bouquet that comes into my home.

Thankfully, I can get away with aloe.

>> Well, I'm glad that she can scratch her cheek.

That's a sweet thing to think of.

Well, thanks a lot for giving us that tip.

We appreciate it.

>> You're welcome.

>> Terasa, I think we've got time for one more question.

What have you got over there?

>> Isabella from Myrtle Beach wants to know; I love using annuals for color in the fall, but it doesn't seem like there are many choices.

What do you recommend besides pansies?

>> Well, pansies are great, and Johnny jump ups, too.

>> They are.

They just look like little smiling faces to me.

>> My mother used to have a little container that was made just to hold pansies, and she'd walk by in the morning and sprinkle their little faces.

It was kind of - I don't know if she was trying to encourage us to be cleaner children or what, because we kind of lived outdoors.

Y'all have so many gorgeous containers and things there I'm sure that you've got some things that we don't think of that would you would approve that would work.

>> Pansies, definitely come in an array of colors, all the pansies and violas.

They serve their purpose but sometimes we look for something that's a little more, for the lack of a better term, 3-D rather than 2-D because the pansies stay down low to the ground.

I mentioned before using - we were talking about using the kales and collards and mustards and all of those various things that we integrate lots of times in our beds and seasonal color and design that gives you a little more height, a little bit of a different texture.

We've also used a good bit in the past few years, Erysimum, that's wallflower.

>> Yeah.

>> That's been a good bloomer, especially in our mild climate.

>> What colors is it?

>> The whole range.

>> Really?

>> Reds to yellows to purples, lavenders, pinks, everything.

<Amanda> Whoa!

>> It's getting popular in even the big box stores to see them now.

>> It's easy to find.

>> Yeah, it is.

>> It's a good It is like the pansy, a little more of the bedding plant size, probably a little bit taller, and we also use getting back to some of the other things we use.

Things like cardoons.

>> Oh, yes!

A cardoon in a single season, they perennialize well for us here, but in a single season, we might use them as a winter annual, because their foliage really comes out with this glaucous silver gray foliage, in the winter as it starts to heat up in summer usually about July, the foliage starts to wither and fade and we just kind of cut it back, >> That's the one, I think it looks like a rooster's tail.

>> Yeah, it's a thistle, artichoke relative, but looking for something big, bold and tropical for the winter, we use cardoons a lot.

They grow pretty quickly.

Eric, maybe you can talk about the grasses we use.

>> Yeah, we don't stick to just flowers.

I think that's one of the most important things to learn is that we mix up.

Flowers are great, but in winter - It is true.

We don't have a ton to offer.

>> I mean we've got shrubs.

We've got our camellias and things.

<Eric> Yes, of course and we are blessed to have something blooming every month of the year in South Carolina, but we pair things like Heucheras with grasses and pansies in a pot and it looks great, because the Heuchera or the coral bells can be any color that you really want, green, red, purple, dark, light.

There's so much breeding.

>> Yeah.

>> We have sedges and grasses that we use, lime green sedges, green sedges.

>> These carex.

>> Carex, all those blue - - >> Blue fescue.

>> Blue fescue.

Blue sedges.

It's like you have the painter's palette, just not in flowers.

>> Yeah.

>> It's just like so mixing texture and color and shade and sun - >> Even like seeding in just regular annual ryegrass.

>> Yeah.

>> We use that in the display sometimes.

We'll just direct seed rye grass and if it's easily gotten to, you can kind of clip it, and keep it maintained, but we try to get creative; and we use - >> What do you use to spill over?

>> We use a lot of perennial ground covers and vines sometimes.

We will use an Asiatic jasmine to spill over some of the more colorful ones there's one called summer in snow, or snow in the summer.

I get confused, but it's just - >> I have seen it.

>> It's just beautiful, because it's not going to lose its color in the winter.

Talking about re-purposing sticks and things from the garden, a can of spray paint goes a long way.

<Eric> We always say that you can do a world of good with a can of spray paint.

[laughs] >> I do sometimes as we talked about that wonderful volleyball sized Allium.

>> Yeah, Allium schubertii.

Just mixing your bulbs in, in these displays helps, as well.

>> Yeah, because you can tuck them down lower as you said, although the recommendation is just that if you tuck it lower, it's okay and you could put something on top of them.

>> It's not all about balancing the height.

>> Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I think to think about using some of the sedges and all, because that's a great texture.

<Eric> Mix your sedges with your mustards and your cabbages and kales and pansies and just throw it all - Let's not forget about snapdragons.

<Amanda> Of course.

Yeah.

Gosh, well I think that certainly that we can do a lot more than just with pansies, can't we?

Well, thank y'all for being with us tonight.

We had a real good time.

We hope to see you right here next week on Making it Grow.

♪ (Making it Grow music) ♪ ♪ ♪ Making it Grow is brought to you in part by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture Certified South Carolina Grown helps consumers identify, find, and buy South Carolina products, Mcleod Farms in Mcbee, South Carolina.

This family farm offers seasonal produce including over 22 varieties of peaches, additional funding provided by International Paper and the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance.