Narrator> Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina.

This cooperative effort among farmers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture helps consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown, harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina, family owned and operated since 1916.

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

Wesley Commons, a full service continuing care retirement community located on more than 150 wooded acres in Greenwood, South Carolina.

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 sure are glad that you can be with us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty, and I'm a Clemson Horticulture Agent.

And my co-host Terasa Lott is now the Midlands District Director.

Boy, you're looking after a lot of people.

Terasa> I have the easy job.

It's all of the Extension agents, the Administrative Assistants, the staff that are really interacting with the public.

They're the ones that have the hard job to do.

Amanda> And, you know, I think extension just kind of draws people who like to be helpful, don't you?

Terasa> It does.

I think most people are, what we call a servant leader.

They're there to help other people.

Amanda> Yeah.

It is.

Sometimes people used to come in our office and they'd be looking for something that didn't have anything to do with us.

And Pat would sit there and say, "now this is how you get there, and blah, blah, blah, blah."

Terasa> That's right.

We're not always the right agency.

It could be any number of different places, but try to connecting them to the resources that they need.

Amanda> Well Rob Last, you are the Commercial Horticulture Agent up in, Lexington and, and y'all, y'all do lots of brassicas.

When you grew up in England, what did y'all eat, that was in the brassica family?

We ate, we ate a lot of, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower.

Yeah.

Amanda> Oh, goodness.

Okay.

Do you like collard greens and turnip greens now?

Rob> Absolutely.

<Okay> It wouldn't be fall without, without collards and turnip greens.

(laughter) Amanda> It really is fun.

Now do you like to put pepper vinegar on yours like I do?

Rob> I've never tried that Amanda.

That sounds interesting- Mary> I've never heard of that either.

<What> Rob> I do like them with bacon.

I'll be honest.

Amanda> I can't believe y'all don't use pepper vinegar.

Well, I'll just have to get some for you and send it to you.

How 'bout that?

Mary Vargo, you're up there at the South Carolina Botanical Garden, Extension and Outreach Garden Manager.

So do you have, volunteers who come sometimes?

<Yeah> Who else do you, run around?

Mary> Yeah.

Our volunteer group is, is incredible.

Yeah.

I have multiple groups coming every week.

One of them, the butterfly garden ladies.

They help me with the butterfly garden.

They help interact with the public, educate them on what plants they might want to plant in their yard.

And then I've got another group at the Hanover House, Hayden Center.

So I've got a lot of them.

And I'm very, very thankful for them because it's large spaces.

And I, could not manage it alone.

So they are, they're the true champions of the garden.

So I'm thankful for them.

Amanda> And I bet they've made lots of friends.

And now they're little groups of people who probably go out to lunch sometimes.

<For sure> Mary> No, we have some luncheons every now and then or it's someone's birthday, so we'll celebrate that.

But great, great group of people.

Amanda> And you said you like to bake cakes, so maybe- <I do> Mary> Yes, I do, any pies, cakes, let me know what you want.

Amanda> next time you come down here, we will expect maybe- Mary> Yeah.

For sure.

Amanda> Okay.

Okay.

Trent Miller.

(laughter) You're the, at the South Carolina Botanical Garden, and you're the Natural Heritage Garden Manager.

And it's so strange, you know, South Carolina has such a broad geographical, you know, I mean, we have such different regions in the state, and y'all have kind of duplicated them up there.

Trent> Yeah, we've done our best.

You know- Amanda> Considering that you're up there at the foothills of the mountains.

Trent> Definitely.

Yeah.

We're lucky with Clemson.

It's a nice little microclimate that we can grow some of the coastal plants as well as, you know, some of the mountain plants as well.

So yeah.

Amanda> Yeah.

So do you sometimes give tours through things so you can kind of explain why these plants grow together in certain areas?

Trent> Yeah, we do offer tours.

Usually group tours, for a little donation to the garden and, Yeah, usually I give, classes and stuff like that, through our, education program and stuff.

Amanda> Oh my goodness.

Trent> We've got a really great education program at the garden.

And, yeah, I teach, "Fall Wildflowers" and "Spring Wildflowers."

So it's kind of an ID class, where we go out and look at whatever is blooming at the time.

Amanda> Y'all have a lot of stuff up there.

Trent> We do, yeah.

Amanda> Isn't that fun?

Gosh, I wish we were closer sometimes.

Don't you Terasa?

Terasa> Me too, yes.

For, selfish purposes.

It would be nice if it was more centrally located.

But I try to take advantage any time I am in the upstate to, to visit the garden.

Amanda> And you can park.

Terasa> Yes.

You don't have to worry, there's plenty of parking.

Amanda> Plenty of parking.

And then we're going to, oh, you're going to so enjoy.

We went to, Ashley Hall for Earth Day.

It was just so much fun.

And then we went to a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful garden that Paul Thompson told us about, Gilda Mitchell's garden.

You're going to have so much fun at both places.

And Terasa, I bet we have some "Gardens of the Week."

Terasa> Yes we're going to have fun looking at those as well.

So the "Gardens of the Week" is your time to shine.

Whenever you can show off what you're doing in your yard or garden, or perhaps you visited a beautiful place.

We begin today with Sue Davis, who shared a close up of an okra flower.

And if you think it looks like a hibiscus, that's because they happen to be in the same family, the Malvaceae family.

From Hartmut Veil, marigolds which he reports were grown from last year's seeds.

And he says they do very well even when we have those hot, dry periods of time.

From Lane McLeod, 'Henry Eilers' cultivar of Rudbeckia subtomentosa, and that was taken at Biltmore.

So our neighbor in the, to the north From Joshua Giordano-Silliman, an array of camellia seed pods.

And in this picture there are seed pods from sasanqua, sinensis, and japonica camellias.

Milton Vidro-Martinez shared a bed of zinnias, and he made a note that he is an amateur gardener, learning from Making It Grow and I just love to see that comment.

Because I'm glad to know, that people like you are watching and we are helping you learn and be able to take that and apply it in your yards and landscapes.

Amanda> And you know, if you plant the zinnias that have an open center, the pollinators will go to them.

Terasa> Yes.

And I love to use zinnias for cut flowers as well to bring a little bit of the outdoors in.

Someone once said, "well, don't you end up bringing in critters that way?"

And sometimes I do.

But that's okay.

They don't eat much.

(laughter) Amanda> Is that all of them?

Terasa> That is.

Amanda> Oh my goodness gracious.

Oh, that's so much fun.

I just sometimes wish they'd go on and on.

Terasa> I usually choose about five.

There are generally more.

So that means you have the opportunity to visit our Facebook page and see all of the additional submissions.

And then don't be shy, when we ask for "Gardens of the Week."

Just post your photos there and who knows, it may appear on air.

Amanda> Great!

Okay, Well I enjoyed those.

Well Terasa, usually people have some questions and you kind of keep track of those.

So what can we start with?

Terasa> Let's begin.

How funny with Amanda in Batesburg, who said I love HGIC fact sheets for growing vegetables.

Me too.

Why have they changed from three regions to two?

That's a great question.

Amanda> Well, gosh, I mean things...

The world is changing, Rob.

What's behind this?

Rob> So there's a really good- a really good answer to this one, the Southeastern Land-grant Universities produce the Southeastern Vegetable Crop Handbook every year.

Which splits the state into two.

They category... the Southeastern Vegetable Handbook splits the state into east and west.

So with the HGIC changes, what we've done is put Coastal counties and Piedmont.

<Oh> Which basically mirrors that east-west split.

Which ties in much more closely with the Vegetable Crop Handbooks for planting dates, cultivar selections, all those sorts of things.

So it's designed to make, to bring in all of the resources that we have and make them, make them standardized across, across each platform that we use.

Amanda> Okay.

So do you think it's going to cause some problems, like planting too late or too early?

Rob> So, if we think about planting date, though Amanda, it's, it's a window and it's a guide range.

<Okay> You know, just because if you look at a range of dates, let's say from April one to May one, doesn't necessarily mean if conditions are right, you can't go earlier or delaying if conditions are wrong will also help- Amanda> 'Cause you always have to kind of, meaning that the weather is not the same everyday of the year- <absolutely> changes all the time from year to year.

Okay, well, thank you so much for telling us that.

Rob> My pleasure.

Amanda> Okay.

Well Mrs. Terasa, Terasa> Next let's move to Mauldin, where Eric said, I would like to attract more butterflies to watch the entire life cycle.

What plants should I include?

Especially, if I want to attract sulphur butterflies and fritillaries?

Amanda> My goodness.

Oh.

So Mary, do certain butterflies prefer certain flowers?

Help us with this question.

Mary> Yeah, for sure.

Well since I'm, now I'm at the botanical garden, I work in the butterfly garden, a lot of the volunteers have been there for years, so they've been educating me quite a bit on, different kind of host plants and what to look for and, different stages of life cycle.

So yeah, you want, you want, of course, your nectar plants and then you want host plants.

So you want to be able to feed the adult butterflies.

They want, they need to drink nectar, they need to have those energy sources.

So, any plants with sort of tubular structures, butterflies use their proboscis to access those nectars.

So things like pineapple sage, that's got a really nice tubular flower.

Lantana, butterflies love lantana.

Lots of other... there's, I think HGIC actually has fact sheets on nectar plants and host plants, but specifically for sulphur and fritillaries, there's a quite a few- Amanda> Now host plants are the ones upon which the larvae- Mary> The caterpillars.

Yes, they'll lay eggs on those host plants and they'll hatch.

And then their young feed on the foliage and that helps develop- Amanda> Sometimes, some of them have a wide range, but some of them are very specific.

<Yes, yes> Mary> So for sulphur butterflies, those you probably see them around this time of year.

Quite an abundance, and their flight is pretty erratic.

Yellow little creatures flittering around everywhere.

I love to see them in the garden.

But they specifically feed on, so if you're looking for host plants, you want to look for plants in the genus either Cassia or Senna.

There...

I think the common names is usually sicklepod.

There's a couple other common names for those, but they're... annuals that will die back down to the ground, but they reseed pretty prolifically in your garden.

But they're really fun to watch the life cycle of the cloudless sulphur specifically.

You'll see them start from little, tiny little babies on the leaf margin, or in the center of the leaf vein, and then they continue to develop and grow.

What's cool about those is that, they'll change colors.

So when they're young and they eat the green foliage, they're green.

But if they start to eat the flowers, the yellow flowers, they actually start to turn sort of a yellow color to them.

So that's a fun one to plant in your yard if you want to observe that.

I'm having to relocate a lot at the garden because there's, they reseed quite a bit, like I said.

And there are some areas where they've just spread a little prolifically.

So I'm moving them to other plants where we can keep an eye on them.

Amanda> Just gives people another place where they can go and see them.

Mary> Yeah, absolutely.

And the fritillaries, if you want to observe that life cycle, passion flower, that's a great plant, great for other pollinators as well.

But it's really fun to see those little orange guys wiggling everywhere and eating everything on the vine.

So that's a good one to plant if you want to observe that life cycle as well.

Amanda> You know, and, Doug Tallamy tells us that, you know, so, most of our birds, feed caterpillars to their young.

And so it's very important that we plant their host plants in our yard.

Mary> Definitely.

I mean, the host plants also provide, chemical compounds to the caterpillars so that they become not very tasty to the birds as well.

So, it's sort of like a defense mechanism as well for them.

Amanda> How about that?

<Yeah> What a complex world.

Mary> It's amazing.

Amanda> Mother nature did a wonderful job.

Okay.

Alrighty Terasa.

Terasa> Oh, so instead of wanting to add things, this person or people are wanting to remove some things.

Edna and Larry Ellis want to know, how do you get rid of dandelions in the lawn?

Amanda> Oh, goodness.

Terasa> And I have really great memories of the silly little things that you, blowing, course if I if I'm blowing on them, I'm just spreading them all over.

Right?

Amanda> And the wind's going to come too.

But it's so much fun for kids to do stuff like that.

"Oh, look what I've got."

<Yeah> Buttercups holding them- Terasa> Oh, yes.

Do you like butter?

Amanda> Do you like butter?

Like, who doesn't like butter?

Well Trent, if somebody, they've got, you know, they don't want these in their yard, but what do you say?

Trent> Well, I am a proponent of a diverse lawn.

I think that's really the best way of, you know, having a home landscape is, like, really trying to support your, the, the local wildlife, your pollinators, and, you know, just be a part of nature and not really try to, mess with it too much.

Amanda> Have just this monoculture turfgrass.

Trent> And and turfgrass is a monoculture.

It requires a lot of resources to be put into it, not just fertilizer and pesticides and stuff, but also like, you know, water and time.

And gas mowing it if you use a gas mower.

And I mean, I guess the, the mowing wouldn't go away if you have the, have the dandelions in there, but reducing the amount of input is really important, I would say.

And just changing, our expectations of what a lawn can be.

To me, it's more of a place to spend time to walk around and enjoy nature.

It doesn't have to be perfect, and having a bit of a tapestry of different plants that kind of grow where they want to, will make them more, make the, make the site more sustainable and more appealing to people and pollinators.

Amanda> Yeah.

And also if people, want to expand, plant shrubs and small trees around the edge of their lawn, then you won't be, the lawn mower wont be blowing things into the street where it might get into our stormwater drains and things.

Trent> Yeah.

Very true.

And also having like a little bit of a, a buffer around your lawn can help reduce weeds that might be spreading in from other places too, if that's important.

But also for weed control, you know, you can go to the HGIC and, or reach out to your local Extension office and see what they recommend.

Amanda> Yeah they'll, they'll tell you... And different grasses have different requirements.

Really, really, really do.

Trent> Definitely.

Terasa> I embrace your philosophy as well.

But I did want to mention that, if, if folks are concerned about weeds, first we absolutely need to identify the weed correctly.

So at this time of the year, I would suspect, people are not seeing the true common dandelion, but one of the dandelion look-alikes.

And so that can be important in terms of the control mechanisms.

Amanda> Thank you.

Yeah.

Very complicated.

(laughter) Terasa> But if we just- Amanda> Let it go.

Terasa> embrace diversity, then.

(laughter) Amanda> Now we're going to Ashley Hall in Charleston, where they had "Plant With a Purpose."

And isn't that a good way to think about, doing our own lawn with a purpose.

You're going to have a good time.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Amanda> We're at Ashley Hall in Charleston, South Carolina, and I'm talking with Allison Bowden.

And we are here for your first annual Earth Day.

What an exciting time to come.

Allison> Ashley Hall is so excited to host an event where we had over 40 vendors and on-campus booths to celebrate plants on Earth Day, really.

And this school has been here since 1909.

We have approximately 700 students and- Amanda> -all female.

Allison> All female.

And today's event involves from two and three year olds all the way up to seniors.

Amanda> And you've also brought in a lot of people from the community, vendors and people with food and with all kinds of activities, and your own people did activities, but you kind of modeled this a little bit on the fact that Charleston just has such a huge horticultural richness.

And I think Plantasia, was one of the things.

Allison> Plantasia.

Charleston Horticultural Society, puts that event on and that was definitely an inspiration to us to kind of model that for, ourselves.

And one thing that's exciting is that we are really trying to educate people on the importance of native plant species.

Amanda> And other people who teach chemistry or math, everybody's trying to find a way to make this nature based learning experience part of their way of processing, teaching.

Allison> I think the cross-curricular aspect is one of the most exciting parts because it's not just limited to science, that we are able to bring in the math department the visual arts, and that we're able to bring in all of these different students that have varied interests.

And there's a lot of diversity in what we offer, because everything from toxicology to sweetgrass basket weaving, we were able to include today in our event.

Amanda> I think you're replacing all the traditional things.

Fortunately, the Live Oaks and Magnolias are native plants, but I think y'all are really trying to switch the campus over to... highlight native plants.

Allison> We are.

We have a digital platform to educate people about our native plants.

Amanda> Oh, so you're bringing in all these modern ways that kids know how to do things as well?

Allison> And reporting data.

And it's really exciting to actually bring that aspect in, so that visitors to campus can see what we're doing and to learn about it.

So it's that, is available to the public.

Amanda> The people who were originally here had some exotic animals, including a bear.

And so you had this bear cave, and you've done something really transformational and very exciting with that.

Allison> Well, and we were able to take what was a bamboo, garden of sorts and really transform it.

It took a lot of work, but it was all student driven.

And so our students were the ones on the cave that were actually planting, identifying and then labeling and recording data and information on these plants.

Amanda> And it's all native plants up there, Allison> All native.

Amanda> Then I think even for the little children, you've got some gardens for them, too.

Allison> We have another native plant garden on the other side of campus, and it actually includes edible natives.

So it's really fun for those students to use all of their senses as they not only learn to recognize those edibles, but also taste them too.

Amanda> I think a lot of the vendors who came in today were, women owned businesses, because you're trying to encourage these kids to have a completely wide mind about what they might want to do, even, either as a first career or perhaps as a second career.

Allison> I'm a scientist, and so it's really important to get women into science and math, and it... We really want them to be able to see the possibilities that there is no limit to what they want to do in this world.

Amanda> Well, I've walked around and some of the things that were going on was so much fun.

The children were doing activities at different stations, even the vendors who came, usually had something for them.

Talk about some of the things that were so exciting.

Allison> So I think, bringing this community from all around Charleston to our campus, it really not only showcased what we're trying to do on our campus, but it also helped these students form connections.

And I think that's really important as they are learning how to be stewards of their environment, they are seeing what that looks like beyond our campus fence.

Amanda> Everywhere you look, there were people who were saying, "Well, this might be the way that you're going to be most excited."

And so your kids can say, "well, that's the one that I really maybe think I'll volunteer for."

Allison> Well, and looking at the connection between plants and environment, too.

So the Marsh Project was here and they're looking at, if you are able to teach these students and educate them to have an appreciation, they're more likely to then protect and conserve our natural resources.

So, actually taking these smaller tidbits, these, why are native plants important?

Not just to the pollinators, though that's important, but also to preserving and protecting, especially in the Lowcountry with a lot of marsh, protecting those areas from things that could potentially threaten them.

Amanda> Well, I think that the educational aspect was very important in connecting people to the wider world and making them understand all of this, but, I declare, the little crafts that they were doing were just charming.

Everybody was having such a marvelous time.

And when I got here, y'all were so kind, somebody had even taken the time to make me a hat, and I wanted to go over in the face painting booth but they told me, I couldn't do that.

(laughs) But, your teachers who were here, were doing just wonderfully creative things and giving things that kids could take home.

And then they were talking to their parents and their grandparents about them.

So it just continues the, the conversation.

I think y'all have made a wonderful start, and I hope that we can come back in the future.

Allison> Absolutely.

We plan to host many more of these, Amanda.

Amanda> Well, congratulations on a bang up first attempt.

Allison> Thank you so much.

(bright music) ♪ (music ends) Amanda> Those children down at Ashley Hall had such a wonderful, wonderful time.

And I even saw my best friend's granddaughter there, she was in the children's garden, wasn't that fun.

It really was a lovely day.

And the kids were so excited.

So where Blue goes to doggy daycare.

There was a field near there, and I stopped.

I said, there's some interesting plants there.

And sure enough, so I have, What's the yellow one, you were telling me?

Trent> Partridge pea.

Amanda> Partridge pea.

And it has interesting leaves.

If you mess with them a little bit, they close right up.

So that's kind of fun.

And then the white one is boneset, and boneset has more pollinators who love it.

It's just a fabulous plant, everyone.

I would hope people would want to have it in their yard because it really does, just attracts so many, such a variety of pollinators.

Hats, hats, hats, and my good friend in Columbia, Raven Favor, sent this to me.

So... (spraying sound) (laughter) So if my hair starts curling up, you know why.

And thank you, Raven.

Okay.

Alrighty.

So, I guess we'll do a few more questions.

Terasa> Let's give it a try.

Garret from Blythewood said, I have a lemon tree.

It has no fruit or flowers, and the leaves are yellowing.

Oh, that sounds pretty sad.

What could be going on?

Well, fortunately, you can get lemons at the grocery store, but.

But people do love to grow things, that's for themselves.

Rob, can you give some suggestions?

Rob> I think so.

Over here, I have some samples that, I brought in and you can see... You've got that yellowing to the leaves, and it's affecting a lot of the plants.

If you look closely, on the actual stems, you'll see what look like tiny scales.

I'm not sure whether we'll be able to pick that up on film, but I did send a picture through, So yeah you... can just see that there's some tiny little scale insects on there.

They're citrus scales, and what they're doing is feeding on the sap of the plants, like many other scale insects will do, so- Amanda> The leaves look really unhappy.

<Yes> Rob> Yeah.

You can see how.

Yeah, if it was nutritional, I would have expected it to be much more confined to the older or newer leaves.

With this being fairly evenly distributed, that immediately points towards the insects.

And citrus scale, the call has become active right about May time, and will continue moving until about the end of July, early August.

And there is soft-bodied scale.

So there are things we can do, both chemically, from a conventional perspective, some of the systemic insecticides used as a drench, with these being Meyer lemons, they're in pots.

Amanda> Is that safe to do, on something that you would then eat?

<Yes> Okay.

Rob> Yeah.

Providing you read the label, adhere to any of those instructions that are on that label.

Label obviously is the law when it's, when it comes to pesticide usage.

There are a few other organic type options which would involve horticultural oil.

However, I wouldn't recommend spraying horticultural oil now.

It's too hot.

It's gonna... typically you want temperatures below 75 Fahrenheit, to, to make that- Amanda> So you've got about two weeks in South Carolina when... Rob> Typically yes- (laughter) Mary> In the springtime?

Rob> You could, but I, I wouldn't recommend it because you run the risk of getting that magnification effects on the water droplets that will cause some scorch as well.

So typically wait for the temperatures to drop below 75 degrees, and you should be, you should be in a much better position.

It's much safer.

Amanda> So, is it you think they'll have to treat every year?

How common is it?

Rob> It is quite a, scales are quite a common feature in the landscape.

What I would also recommend in this situation, because it's in a pot, take a soil test and get that tested.

Because there could be some underlying nutritional issue.

There's weakening the plant and making it more susceptible to scale insect as well.

Amanda> Yeah, because plants that are not healthy are, are more susceptible to getting sick, so to speak.

Mary> An overabundance of nitrogen can sometimes cause- Rob> Absolutely, yeah.

It's that fine balancing act.

Over application can also stress the plants.

So you'll often find that fruit, fruit crops particularly, if you over apply nitrogen you'll get a lot of leaf, but no fruit.

<Oh> So balance and the right amount of nutrition for a healthy plant can really help do dividends for both pest control and for, for yield production as well.

Amanda> Well thank you, 'cause there is a growing interest in growing citrus.

And I think also there's some quarantine zones, aren't there?

Yes there are, certainly when you're looking at nursery stocks, moving citrus is a big no-no, across state lines.

And that's typically for, bacterial diseases like, that cause greening.

Have really decimated the Florida citrus industry and starting to affect other citrus growing regions.

Amanda> So pay attention to those things before you start.

Thank you so much.

All right, Teresa, Terasa> We're moving to Greenville where Eliza said, my beautyberry bush is loaded with berries right now, but the branches are sagging under the weight and I'm worried that they will break.

Should I prune it now or wait?

I don't want to hurt the plant.

Amanda> Goodness, I don't think they're very delicate plants, in my experience, Mary.

But, sometimes they do get a lovely cluster, you know, fruits all up and down the stem.

Mary> Yeah.

No, they can get really, really heavy with fruit, and that certainly can cause breakage on the plant.

But that it's a pretty tough plant, beautyberry.

It, even if it does break off, you probably shouldn't worry about too much of it damaging the plant.

But what I'd recommend is waiting at least until late winter or early spring to prune your beautyberry.

That's because they flower on the new growth, so you don't want to wait till after it's budded out, or shortly after it's flowering to do any sort of pruning, because then you're not going to get any of that, gorgeous berries that we love to see in the landscape.

So I'd recommend, HGIC has an excellent fact sheet on different kind of pruning cuts you can do.

So some thinning cuts, heading cuts.

Something to shape the general, gives the general architecture a little bit more support and take off some weight that you know that, the fruit that will develop might start causing some sagging on the plant.

But one way I, I like to prune my beautyberries if they get really, really large, like maybe they're a little too happy in my landscape is, I'll just rejuvenate prune.

So that means I'll cut about, the shrub about one to two feet from the ground, and they recover really fast.

So I've been able to shape the architecture of the plant a little bit easier than going in and doing all these complex cuts.

<Okay> So in this scenario, it looks like it's a pretty large shrub and probably hasn't had much pruning done to it.

So I'd maybe recommend cutting it down- Amanda> And if you want to use it in arrangements and things, which I've often done in the past, you certainly don't want this long stem with the old stem with no fruits on it, and then they're all on the end.

So I think, I think for I think almost every year you should probably cut it back.

Mary> Definitely.

I mean, it can definitely take it.

It's a tough plant.

So definitely start practicing your pruning on that.

That might be a good one to practice on- Amanda> 'Cause you're not gonna- Mary> Exactly.

Yeah.

It will be okay.

Amanda> It's going to survive.

Mary> Yeah.

Amanda> Well thanks.

That was a good, a good answer.

All right Mrs. Terasa, Terasa> This one is sort of mysterious.

It came from Melissa in Cleveland, South Carolina.

So that's the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area.

I was driving through the mountains, and I saw a tree with a strange pink pine cone looking appendage.

Can you identify it?

And thankfully, we have images to go along with it.

Pink pinecone looking appendage at this time of the year.

Amanda> Good gracious.

Help us out.

Trent> Well, that sounds just like a magnolia fruit.

We actually have more than just one species of magnolia, and one of them that is very common up in the mountains is Magnolia fraseri or Fraser magnolia.

And it does- Amanda> Several are deciduous aren't they?

Trent> So, yes, this one is deciduous, has really large leaves, kind of tropical looking.

And its fruits are these weird little pine cone looking things like, just like on a southern magnolia.

But they are hot pink.

Amanda> Come on.

Hot pink?

Trent> Yes, they are, and they look tropical.

They're really cool.

And that's what that is.

There are multiple other species that are deciduous like that, that do produce really, really cool fruits.

And one of them we're actually, at the garden working to, you know, just try and conserve.

And, we are growing Magnolia pyramidata and stuff, which is a sub...

It used to be considered a subspecies of Fraseri, but now it is its own species.

And that's more, you find that in the coastal plain through Florida, all the way over to Texas.

Amanda> Sometimes y'all have opportunities for people to come and, you've made plants available to people.

Are y'all doing some of these unusual things?

Are you trying to expand that a little bit?

Trent> So these are more for, conservation to keep since, since South Carolina is on the northern end of the range, you know, that that's an important population to conserve, but, they are available in nurseries, so they, they can be gotten, you know, without collecting fruit.

Amanda> But you've got to be sure that you're... they probably wouldn't grow in Saint Matthew's where I am.

It's probably too hot for them.

Trent> Well yeah, so a lot of these magnolias really do prefer really moist soil.

The ones that'll grow in the, in the coastal plain do live in these ravines that are very mountain like.

There's like, mountain laurel and other kinds of, of really cool loving plants.

And, and they're restricted to those areas.

So you got to be choosy.

Mary> Well, we do have plant events at the garden quite a bit.

And there's one coming up in October.

So while Magnolia fraseri probably won't be present at that event, you will find bigleaf magnolia and several other magnolias.

Amanda> Okay.

A way to have different things in your landscape.

Thank you so much.

All right Mrs Terasa.

Terasa> Now we're going to take a look at the private yard of a master gardener, Gilda Mitchell in Lake Wylie, South Carolina.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Amanda> I'm in the beautiful garden of Gilda Mitchell.

On the shores of Lake Wylie in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Gilda> That's right.

Amanda> This really is a garden.

When we came up, I was so thrilled.

I said "there's no turfgrass."

This is all greenery and texture.

Tell me how it evolved to become like this.

Gilda> I just love having zero grass to mow.

It just doesn't make sense to me.

And I didn't have children that needed a lawn to run on.

I have a beach they can run on, and my husband loved that.

That was just, he was all about that.

So that's, where that came from.

And I saw the levels of the property starting from the beach on up the hill.

It was like, okay, this is just screaming for wonderful, fun things.

Amanda> And of course, Paul Thompson, taught you the Master Gardener course when you came here.

Gilda> I'm a groupie.

We're his disciples.

Amanda> He's a pretty special one.

Gilda> Oh, ain't he though.

Amanda> Yeah.

And then, I think you even, your Boxer, which is one of many that you've had.

What is the, what is that puppy's name?

Gilda> His name is Master Gardener Mitchell.

We call him Gardener, and he's- Amanda> He likes to help water the garden.

Gilda> He helps everybody, that's right, a big slobberer.

Yes, my dogs are oh... and I feel so secure with them.

I'm right here with my dogs.

And I've moved here with my ferns that I'd harvested, out of the wild in southeast Texas.

And so then I started every winter, dividing the ferns.

Amanda> And what a perfect habitat for ferns, because really this is mostly a shade garden.

Gilda> Oh, and they're so happy here.

And I irrigate, the whole five acres out of the lake.

So they naturally loved all that.

And as I started developing the garden, and trying to bring other plants in, this is basically right now the garden that deer designed, because they ate every hydrangea, every aucuba.

It was, it was horrible.

So as... those things were taken away from me, I look and I've got these ferns.

I've always got my reliable ferns and, and even, you know, with the hurricane that just came through, they are still they're so up and fat and happy and they're no work.

People look at my garden and they think, how can you keep all this up?

Because the fern beds are no work.

Once they establish and you know, it takes a few years, once they get thick, no weeds come up.

In the winter when they turn brown, we weedeat them.

They mulch themselves.

We start all over in the spring.

And all that time I've been able to tend another part of the garden that is not as needy.

It's not a needy plant.

Amanda> Well, the texture is just so much fun.

You know, elephant ears, bananas... How did the bananas come to be here?

And that beautiful little cathedral that we walked through of bananas.

Gilda> I think growing up in Louisiana, you had to have a banana tree.

I mean, I've always saw banana trees.

And when I first moved here...

I brought bananas, and, they can't live here.

And I can't keep taking them in and out.

So a lot of it was the, textures and the colors, the umbrella palms is it was in the ditches in Louisiana and... so it was just a no-brainer.

You know, I just started putting out because the fern... the deer weren't eating them too.

So I just started putting out things that I loved.

So once I found the Musa, and how can you look at an elephant ear and not smile?

It's just, they make you so happy and next thing you know, I've got almost a five acres... (laughter) and we're not finished yet.

Amanda> No, we're certainly not.

Gilda> No, baby.

We have lots of gardening still to do Amanda> And rice paper plant.

Gilda> The rice paper plants- Amanda> Another incredible texture because we have such, upright bananas.

And then the rice paper plants with those wonderful horizontal- Gilda> You'd think I planned it, but I hate to admit how much of it was, just accidentally worked out that way.

And the rice paper plant, is wonderful for this area and for the way I water and irrigate.

And they gets so big, and make me sneeze a lot, but they're worth it.

And I got them by knocking on a lady's door and saying, "I have some, pottery I made.

Can I have some of your rice paper plant?

And you take my pottery?"

And she was real excited to do that.

And that's where, that's where it started.

And I've done that lots of times.

Is barter.

You know.

Amanda> Oh, pottery is so much fun to pass along plants and, and then it gives you a story with the plant.

Besides the beauty and the texture of the plant.

You have a story.

Gilda> I want a technical name.

I want the back story.

And I'm like that with the Olympics.

I don't care who wins or loses, I just want everybody's back story.

So with my plants, it's and it I think from being a social worker for years I'm used to, I gather information.

And what's important to me is the really cool, the little pearls about getting to know things, so, you know, as I walk my garden, I'm with my daddy, I'm with Marie Helene.

I'm with all these people in my life, that, you know, it brings them to mind.

Part of the specialness of the property for me is the, up the hill where I developed Fiacre, the patron saint of gardening.

That looks like Paul Thompson, despite what he says.

That I developed the area with the intent of a special contained area to have a home for the family ashes.

<Yes> And so there's four adults and nine dogs or ashes, are in this area.

And... the ajuga and things started really growing good up there, it was great.

So it's a special, it's a meditative spot.

And it makes me happy to have Fiacre, especially with my gardening interests up there.

And my husband would love that.

But, you know... and is part of being remembered and- Amanda> And a table, that I think that your father in law- Gilda> My father in law that, oh yeah...

I was trying to keep it all together there.

He was definitely a crafter, despite marbleizing the alligators.

He was.

But yeah, that, that little area that the moss just took over in and I know he's there and, yeah, that was you know... My husband loved that his dad had made these planters and the table and stuff.

So as much as I can.

I like to... keep that kind of thing together.

It's the family tradition.

Amanda> And you do have a moss garden and a shady place near the beach.

Gilda> Yeah, Amanda> And it's perfectly lovely, but there are spots of mosses everywhere.

Gilda> Oh, yeah.

How much fun is it to take your shoes off and put your feet in the moss?

That feels so good on a hot summer day.

Amanda> And I think you found a place where the fairies were- Gilda> Oh yeah.

Amanda> Tell me about what just happened when you lost a tree.

Gilda> Oh I had a huge tree that came down during the hurricane, and, the roots of it totally lifted the path.

And I could see underneath it, that's where the fairies had been hiding all those years.

I'd been trying to find them.

They were up, next to the, moss garden is the driftwood garden.

And, I didn't think they had moved that far up, but it was such an, it's a such a nice place and so special now to walk over that hump, that the storm made, and it...

I am not high maintenance.

It does not take much to make me happy.

Amanda> And the driftwood.

Gilda> Aww, the driftwood is fun, isn't it?

Amanda> It's beautiful.

Gilda> I love it.

Each one a piece of art.

<It is> And it's so much fun to... How many boat rides can you go on?

So I like to go out and have people help me to scout out for driftwood.

We drag it home, and then the next time they visit, they're always really curious about where I put the piece, they have, they relate to it.

Amanda> And you know, I didn't, when I saw them, I didn't even think of them as being placed.

They just seem to be such a natural part of the whole garden, the ambiance that they bring.

Gilda> I Try girl!

(laughter) Amanda> Successfully... Gilda> Doesn't always work out, But I've had 30 years to move stuff around.

Amanda> And you love pottery and have your husband's boathouse.

You never got to put the boat in.

I think you appropriated it, did you?

Gilda> I did, he'd be so glad you said that.

He felt so slighted.

No, when we bought this house, I saw the boathouse and knew it was, I knew where I wanted to go with pottery.

And this was the perfect space...

So he, the boat got, never got moved in.

Amanda> The interior of your beautiful home is filled with art, that both you and fellow craftsman have made.

It's so much fun to see it outside.

Tell me about when the man came to try to read the electric meter.

Gilda> Oh that's great.

One of the first pieces that I did that, I incorporated magnets into hanging.

How how do you hang this pottery?

Was looking at, what's attractive about an electrical meter?

Nothing.

So I've seen what this thing is right here by the door, what I do with it?

So I made the ball of it, the face of a sunflower, and put magnets on the back of the ceramic part, and it just clicks right over the little ball.

And then that started, opened up a whole new world of, this is how I can hang my pottery.

I can do artistic things on a flat surface and then, get it to work and hang on the side of the boathouse and stuff.

Amanda> You do have a few flowering plants, but some of them are not actually plants.

These beautiful calla lilies.

Gilda> I'm so proud of them.

These have been there 15 years and I've had some broken limbs, I know are going to hit them and stuff, but I was really frustrated trying to grow calla lilies.

It didn't work in my shady environment and stuff, so I just showed them.

I made my own.

But yeah, I'm really proud of that.

And I think any of my pottery that I do, 'cause I make the asparagus and the green beans and the carrots, And I've been on a seed thing, making my big interpretation of interesting seeds that I've seen.

That's what I did last winter.

Amanda> I saw some peas in a pod in the house.

Gilda> I made English peas, English peas, I went through... A lot of it is, especially if I'm hand building a project, you've got leftover clay and you don't want to just waste it.

So what can I do with it?

So I make peas and whatever strange little thing comes my way.

Amanda> You do have a small, sunny area, and so you do have a place for pollinators, but it's always kind of a what, well it's lots of salvia because again, the deer are hungry and do come in the yard.

Gilda> Big time.

The pollinators did great out there this year though.

It's like I said, it's very limited sun.

So I've had a lot of sad losses.

But the, different variety of salvia I'm trying to collect are really... And you know, you only have a one shot deal, you know, so it takes several years to get this developed.

So it's four years old and I'm beginning to see some of the old overgrown English garden effect, that I want down there.

But it makes me so happy to sit in my rocking chair and look over there and watch the hummingbirds come by, because they love this.

They're loving the salvia too.

Amanda> The beautiful tree is covered with lichens because they're so close to the water.

The refuge for wildlife, the textures the, a few camellias and things for the winter.

But the winter is when you can do your pottery and then, and then find ways to make that artistic part of you, relate to the artistic part outside.

It's just been a wonderful journey for us to come.

Thank you so, so very much.

Gilda> Don't go, don't go.

Let's stay.

Amanda> We'll come back.

Gilda> Too much fun.

♪ ♪ Amanda> Okay, I think you've got a show and tell for us.

Trent> I do.

These are cacti.

Not the typical kind that one might think.

These are epiphytes.

They grow up in, trees.

They're in tropical rainforest or, well not only rainforest, but tropical areas.

Amanda> Where it's moist?

Trent> Usually where it's moist.

Yeah, or sometimes seasonally dry.

And they use their succulent nature to be able to survive outside of, you know, like growing in the ground.

And this one is the Christmas cactus.

It's a true Christmas cactus- Amanda> Oh, the true one.

<Yes> Trent> The ones that you find in the, in the stores, are not actually the real Christmas cactus.

Those are Thanksgiving cactus.

This one has much, you know, more rounded, margins to the to the cladodes, these little leaf-like stems.

Amanda> And what are the colors?

Trent> And, this one will be just a hot pink.

A little bit more of, a symmetrical flower.

And they bloom all at once in mass, over a shorter period of time than the Thanksgiving cactus.

Amanda> Okay, but it's hard to find that one.

Trent> It is.

I, you have to look for it, you know, through friends, and heirloom collections.

Amanda>I have a...

So if we were, if you gave us a piece to, to take home, how would we go about that?

Trent> Yeah.

So I would generally find a nice little section, not too long.

Amanda> Okay.

Trent> And since they are segmented, I just kind of twist it off.

And I would take that off, let it harden off by just letting it sit out.

Don't put it in, in soil or water just yet so that this- Amanda> Pass that down to Terasa, 'cause she wants one.

Terasa> I have been coveting... a real Christmas cactus.

Amanda> A day or two and then put in the soil.

Trent> Yeah.

Just so that it doesn't, it minimizes rot.

As you propagate it.

Amanda> This is a pitiful looking little thing.

Trent> Yeah.

This is a weird, a weird one.

It's, Rhipsalis albopilosa, I believe, and Amanda> Grows on trees?

Trent> Yeah, it, it grows on trees.

And it, produces tiny little white flowers they're slightly fragrant.

And it'll make little, little, reddish berries.

There are a lot of other cacti that look kind of like this, called mistletoe cacti.

They're easy to find, in nurseries.

Amanda> Well, I want to thank everybody for being with us today.

We had so much fun.

And Terasa, once again, we learned a lot.

Terasa> We sure did.

And I am so excited that I can now have a little piece of Christmas cactus.

Amanda> That's fun.

Well, anyway, thank y'all for being with us too, and we'll see you next week.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Narrator> Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina.

This cooperative effort among farmers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture helps consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown, harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina, family owned and operated since 1916.

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

Wesley Commons, a full service continuing care retirement community located on more than 150 wooded acres in Greenwood, South Carolina.

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