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 22 varieties of peaches.

Additional funding provided by International Paper and the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance.

♪ Well, good evening and welcome to Making It Grow.

We're so glad that you could join us on this Tuesday night.

I'm Amanda McNulty.

I'm a Clemson Horticulture Extension Agent and our show is a collaborative effort between Clemson University and SCETV, and I'm so happy to welcome one of my fellow horticulture agents Jackie Jordan.

Jackie thanks for being with us, and I guess phones are ringing now that we've got this warm weather and everything's budding up.

<Jackie> Oh, definitely!

This warm weather, everybody wants to be outside and be out in their landscape and especially want to fertilize their yard.

<Amanda> Well Jackie, tell me about how we need to divert our husbands if they're lawn fanatics and want to put out the fertilizer too early and when the right time is.

<Jackie> Sure, so for warm season lawns, so that's centipede, St. Augustine, zoysia, and Bermuda grass, you really want to wait until the nighttime temperatures get to the seventies and stay in the seventies.

So usually first or second week of May.

<Amanda> Okay, and so you're really kind of wasting your fertilizer and maybe even it's harming your grass so just sit on your hands, find something else to do.

Okay great, alright!

Terasa Lott, of course, is in charge of the Master Gardener program for the whole state.

That's been busy.

She has been reassuring people that it's going to be okay, that eventually we will be able to go out and get those hours again.

Terasa also does so much work to help us with Making It Grow including sometimes finding some beautiful pictures.

Terasa, did you get some this week to share with us?

We always have photos to share thanks to our wonderful viewers, so let's take a look beginning with Connie Wells, who sent us this bluebird that she said is checking out her real estate on James Island.

A row of daffodils was captured by Ken Cook of Paris Mountain, North Carolina.

Jeanette Atkinson decided she'd bring her daffodils inside and use them to decorate her dining room table, and Marsha Tennant was so excited to share that she asked us last year for advice on what to do with a pitiful tea olive.

We instructed her to prune it hard, and she followed our instructions and says this year it's full of lush flowers and the fragrance is intoxicating.

Marsha, we're glad that we could help you.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your photographs.

We do encourage you to view our Facebook page to see all those that are submitted and when we make a call for Gardens of the Week, don't be shy to put your picture there or email it to me if you have trouble posting to Facebook.

Amanda?

>> Terasa, I think every now and then you're even going to put up some bird pictures because we're hearing about new sightings and more of certain birds coming in at different times.

It seems to be a lot of activity and interest in that.

<Terasa> There is!

So a bluebird looking to perhaps build a nest was our first photo today and we would love to incorporate more birds or even other critters that happened to be visiting your yard and garden.

<Amanda> Okay, thank you.

Well Terasa, since we've got Jackie on, have you seen a question that someone's been posting on Facebook or on other sites that she might be able to help us with?

>> Well, people have vegetable gardening on their minds and would like to know if we can provide any tips for getting an early start.

<Amanda> Okay, well Jackie, we get these nice warm days and everybody wants to go whole hog, but sometimes it's better to wait, so give us some tips on what we can put out early and what we should put out late, what you might want to start in a little pot and transplant.

Help us out here, please.

<Jackie> Sure!

Certain plants like your squash and zucchini need to go out early, so right after your last frost date, you can go ahead and get those in the ground.

In fact, if you start them two weeks early, before your last frost date, you can even put out a bigger plant.

That will get them nice and big before some of those terrible pests like squash vine borers and squash bugs show up.

They're just so hard to fight.

You're almost better just ripping plants out.

<Amanda> Now Jackie, so you can get a little starter pot of some sort - or make a paper little...

I think there are even directions on how to make a paper one.

Do you usually just plant the whole thing, or do you try to take it out of that container when you take it out to the garden?

>> If it's made out of paper, I would leave it in there because the paper will decompose.

Plastic, definitely take it out.

<Amanda> Yeah, okay, alright.

And then, oh gosh, everybody wants to grow tomatoes.

It's so hard to grow tomatoes, but maybe you've got some tips for us on those as well.

<Jackie> Sure!

One of the biggest issues I tend to see in the Midlands with tomatoes, and for the most part across the state, is Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus.

It is a virus that is transmitted by thrips, and thrips are present pretty much year round in the garden.

They feed on winter weeds, things like chickweed, dandelions, and when we get to these warmer nights in spring, those winter weeds start to decline and those thrips are looking for something to feed on, and they'll jump to your tomatoes, your peppers, your eggplant, so if you have to get them out early, you need to protect them.

There are some varieties that are resistant.

Or you can do something called reflective mulch, where you put out a mulch that is silvery.

So you can use aluminum foil if you just have a few plants, put the shiny side up, and what happens is the sunlight hits the shiny side of the aluminum foil, bounces the sunlight back up to the plant, and it makes it so bright that the thrips don't want to feed on your plant.

So instead of going to your tomatoes, they'll go to other weeds in the landscape.

Now, if that doesn't sound appealing, that's not something you want to do, you can also wait until the major flight of thrips is over, and that's usually the first week of May.

Again, those later temperatures.

<Amanda> Now, I've heard sometimes, I believe it's Tony, has talked about actually wrapping a small piece of aluminum foil around the base of the plant that extends on the stem, and then the part of the stem that you plant under the ground as well.

Is there some advantage to that?

While we're setting out the aluminum foil, we might as well use that as well.

<Jackie> Sure!

So there's actually two issues that it can help with.

One is a disease called Southern blight, where this white mycelium will actually attack right at the soil line, and so it'll attack a little below and a little above the soil line and make the plant completely wilt.

The other is cut worms.

They're small insects, they're a caterpillar that's in the ground, and they will actually chew your stems across.

So you'll come after you've plant it the next day, and all your plants are just cut off.

So that'll actually protect against both those pests.

>> Okay, and Jackie, a lot of times when you go to the store, if you get a tomato, it may be like this big and have a lot of leaves on it, and I understand that you can take some of those lower leaves off and actually kind of horizontally bury the plant to get more root development.

Usually we say you've got to plant right at the original area, but I guess tomatoes will send out roots on that part of the stem that you put under the ground and develop a stronger root system a little earlier.

<Jackie> They will, they will.

you can actually take all the way up until the very top leaves and bury it sideways, and like you said, that will create a much stronger plant.

<Amanda> Okay, and then I remember when I was taking vegetables at Clemson Dr. Ogle, who was our vegetable specialist, talked about trying to grow okra in Connecticut and that it was just about a complete failure.

I think okra is one of those plants that really wants a warm soil.

Is that correct?

Do you want to wait until the soil is a little bit warmer before you try your okra seeds?

>> They do.

They like it more in the 70s, so when the temperature is about 75 so that's another crop that's really good to wait until mid-May to plant.

Sweet potatoes as well.

They like it a little bit warmer.

<Amanda> Okay, so also they may like it warmer, but I must admit I'm not sure that I do, but I certainly like the things that grow when it's warm.

[Amanda laughs] Well, Jackie those are really good tips, and then I believe that we have fact sheets about lots and lots of vegetables at HGIC as well, if somebody wants to really delve into it and maybe find some suggested varieties even perhaps.

<Jackie> Yes, and the planting date has all those recommended dates so, those also take into account insects and diseases.

<Amanda> But I imagine, Jackie, just like a lot of things with the changes that we're seeing in our temperatures, you might be able to move those up a little better in the - you're just going to have to kind of make some adjustments as things are happening, because I know it used to be we'd put out the pre-emergent fertilizers in March, and I think now that's been pushed back to February in some cases, so we're kind of in a new learning curve, aren't we?

>> We are, yeah.

>> Well, I guess that keeps us young.

>> Well, the most important thing is, don't go by the calendar so much.

Go by temperatures.

<Amanda> Okay, alright.

Well, thank you so much, and we'll come back a little later and try to pick your brain some more.

We always enjoy going to some of the historic Columbia houses, and Keith Mearns is such a knowledgeable horticulturist and keeps up with new plants, and we had a wonderful visit with him particularly talking about some of those favorites, the Southern azaleas.

♪ (gentle music) ♪ [birds chirping] >> I'm sitting in downtown Columbia listening to the birds sing behind me because I am at Historical Columbia talking to Keith Mearns who's the Director of Grounds, Historic Columbia.

Keith, y'all have a number of properties, but talk about where we are right now.

>> Right now we're at the Hampton-Preston Mansion and Gardens, and this property is one of our two four acre properties on the whole city block, and this particular garden is something we're trying to show from about 1840 to 1860, and the Hamptons were a very wealthy family, one of the wealthiest in the South, and they were plant collectors.

They traveled to Europe and they had access to all the plants you could have at that point, and so this garden is trying to reflect that, and one of our sources for what we plant here is Pomaria Nurseries catalogs.

Pomaria Nurseries was in existence from about the 1830's to the 1870's just up in Newberry County, but they had a location here in Columbia, so we use their catalogs as a base on a couple of visitor accounts to populate these gardens.

We also plant some newer cultivars here too because we believe that the Hamptons would have collected anything they could have.

<Amanda> Indica Azaleas, and which are the ones that people are most likely to be familiar with?

>> Most likely what you see from a Southern Indica would be Formosa, George Tabor or Judge Solomon, and that's your purple, your light pink and your dark pink azaleas.

Those are very vigorous landscape plants.

They do great, but there are a lot of other cultivars less common, a little bit less vigorous, but very interesting and beautiful.

So we've endeavored to bring those here from a couple of choice nurseries.

Those nurseries are located around Mobile, Alabama, as it turns out.

<Amanda> Okay, well, we were looking at some of these, and you say that perhaps they weren't used as much because they're not going to be quite so vigorous and enormous in their growth pattern.

<Keith> That's right.

They're a little bit fickle.

They take a little bit longer to grow in the nurseries, so they tend to be a little bit more expensive.

<Amanda> But they might be more applicable to some of our smaller landscapes, is that what you're thinking?

<Keith> I believe they would.

You really don't have to cut them as much, and you're not going to have to worry about them taking over any part of your yard as quickly.

<Amanda> Let's talk about some of the beautiful cultivars you were showing me this morning.

One of the really neat ones that we have is called Lilacina, and the flowers are about half the size, maybe, of your Formosa, but they're really beautiful light lavender.

<Amanda> And the petals are more separate, I believe.

<Keith> Yes, they're a little bit more narrow, more delicate look.

Another one that's really interesting is called Mardi Gras, and it's sort of similar to the George Tabor, but there's more color in the petals, and it's a little bit deeper red right in the center, and a more spreading plant.

<Amanda> As you would expect, it's full of color.

[speaking in unison] if it's named for Mardi Gras.

<Amanda> Yeah, and how about some of the others?

<Keith> So one of the other ones that's interesting is Cavendish.

<Amanda> Cavendish?

<Keith> Cavendish, and it has some almost orange streaking and some red and white, and that was a little bit later than some of the other antique Indicas.

<Amanda> Is that what they're called?

Antique Indicas.

<Keith> That's right.

<Amanda> So there is You wouldn't have that pattern that we sometimes see when the azaleas are beautiful a week and then they're all gone, because these, if you're careful about selection, you could have an extended bloom period?

<Keith> That's right.

If you choose four or five different cultivars, you're going to have a much longer bloom period.

It's going to be maybe a month instead of just a week or two.

<Amanda> Oh!

I think one of the things that you've done is what we have often seen reflected.

Are you grouping them so that you'll get that wonderful kind of mass of color?

<Keith> Right, so azaleas, I think, many times do better in a mass where you can give them a little bit of space dedicated to them, instead of doing a specimen plant.

<Amanda> And also, you've got these under some trees, and I think azaleas like that.

<Keith> Yes, you know, they can tolerate full sun if you've got really nice good irrigation, but giving them at least half a day of shade, I think they're a little more vigorous, a little more disease resistant.

They prefer that.

<Amanda> Yeah, we're seeing a happier plant.

It's easier too.

It's a healthier plant.

<Keith> That's right.

>> I think it's wonderful that this is happening and I would like to give a shout out to a wonderful patron of Historic Columbia, if you'd like to tell us how this has been made possible.

<Keith> So yes, so this most recent nearly two acre expansion of the garden here at Hampton-Preston was made possible by the Boyd Foundation, which you may know their other work as the Boyd Plaza in front of the Columbia Museum of Art.

They are dedicated to public beautification, and they've been a wonderful partner for us here at Historic Columbia.

<Amanda> Susan Boyd has a wonderfully large heart, and she - <Keith> She does, and a wonderfully lively garden.

<Amanda> She does, and I know it gives her great joy to come and see this.

<Keith> Mm-hmm.

<Amanda> Thank you so much for taking the time to do this, and thank you for, in the middle of Columbia, giving us an oasis where we can come and visit and reflect on the beauty of the South.

>> That's right, and I would add that our gardens are free to the public when we're open, so come see us.

>> Thank you, we will.

The grounds at Historic Columbia are beautiful.

I hope that you'll take advantage of a beautiful day and go up there and watch and see all the hard work that Keith and his volunteers do.

Always my favorite half of the world, always, is when the shoe button Spiraea blooms, because I just think it's such a fabulous hat, and there was also some wonderful forsythia out there, so I just decided to make a wonderful vase shaped hat, because these are the plants you're not supposed to cut back.

Traditionally, you're supposed to go way down low, and so they can have that wonderful fountain-like effect, so if I look like I have a fountain coming out of my head, that is intentional.

Terasa, while we've got Jackie here, I'm thinking that you might have something else that she might be able to share some of her deep and thoughtful information about.

>> We recently received a photograph of a pretty sick looking crape myrtle, asking for a diagnosis.

I believe it was plagued with crape myrtle bark scale, and the photograph also appeared that the tree had been quite severely pruned.

Jackie, do you think you can help us understand what might be going on?

<Jackie> Sure, so crape myrtle bark scale is an insect that is moving into our area.

They've come in on some trees, and have come from nurseries and from areas that have them, and then the insects themselves can balloon on the air to other nearby trees.

They're piercing, sucking insects, so they pierce the sap, the photosynthates, out of the tree, and one of the reasons the tree looks so sad is that they get covered in sooty mold, so they look really dark and sickly.

One of the things that attracts them are crape myrtle trees that are very heavily pruned, what we call "crape murder," so making sure that you don't overly prune your crape myrtle tree will help to hopefully limit them coming to your tree.

They'll find it less attractive.

They tend to congregate where all those pruning cuts are made.

Other things you can do if you haven't, is treat the tree with Dinotefuran.

Dinotefuran is a systemic insecticide, and so that would be put out in April, and it would quickly move through the tree and help to take care of that scale, but they are really difficult to get control of.

Other things that you can do are make sure that you're providing all the cultural care that you can.

Make sure that the tree is mulched well, that it's not being over fertilized, that its watered during times of stress, and as we always stress - organic matter, organic matter, organic matter.

All those things go a long way in promoting the health of the tree.

>> Jackie, thank you for sharing that information, and I want to remind people that at Clemson's HGIC, we have a lengthy fact sheet on this new insect pest, and I would encourage people to read that as well, because the more information you can get about properly applying insecticides, the better job you'll do.

Remember the label is the law.

Terasa, you have a wonderful collection of houseplants, and then sometimes when the weather gets nice, you're going to put some out in the yard as well.

Have you got a fun plant for us this week?

>> I have some plants to talk about.

I enjoy visiting Forest Lake Greenhouses, and it doesn't matter when I go, I can always find something that catches my eye.

In this particular day, I noticed a line called the I'conia begonias by Dummen Orange, and I just couldn't resist capturing them.

The colors were so vibrant, so within the I'conia brand are three different groups of plants.

There's the I'conia Upright, the I'conia, and then the I'conia Portofino.

So let's take a look at a few of these from the Upright line, I have one called Upright Fire, and Amanda, when you think about fire what color would you think?

>> Well, I would think red and orange.

<Terasa> Exactly.

That's where this gets its name, from the fiery orange flowers, and they're offset against the foliage which is really dark, almost a black color, so you get a great contrast there, don't you?

<Terasa> You really do, and it works well in containers.

You know, a lot of times green on plants is more like a Kelly green, so this is very unique and provides that contrast with some other things you might want to include.

I also have three from the I'conia line.

The Miss Montreal, I think, might be my favorite.

It has these creamy double flowers that are edged in pastel yellow and a coral pink.

The Miss Miami has brilliant red orange double flowers with green foliage that's detailed in red, so again, you get that nice contrast.

And then finally, I have a picture of one called Miss Malibu that has bright colored double flowers, and it's said to flower from May through October.

Now, I will caution folks that if this were a milder climate, the begonias could probably do well with some sun as long as they were watered well, but here in South Carolina, I would not call our summer mild at all, so they're probably going to need to have at least afternoon shade.

<Amanda> So, Terasa, this would be a nice plant to put in a container where you might want to sit in the afternoon in the shade, because sometimes these fancier begonias aren't as well adapted to the sunlight and heat as some of the others.

Is that correct?

>> I think that sounds like a perfect application.

If I get a chance to give it a try, I'll be sure to share a picture with all of our viewers.

>> Okay, and we want to thank our friends at Forest Lake Greenhouse for sharing with you when you go by.

They sure are nice, and do remember that we've got a lot of local producers and growers, and it's always nice to go and see and visit and shop with some of the people who are real parts of your community, and they can answer questions sometimes more easily than some of the larger outlets do, so I'm just going to give a plug to them and remind you of that, although I'm going to have to go real soon and get a soaker hose from someplace because I put some plants in, Terasa, that are on a slope, and I've been standing out there trying to keep them well watered, but the water just wants to run down the slope, and that can be a little bit of a problem, but anyway...

I'm going to solve it, just you wait.

The Community Medical Clinic of Kershaw put together a virtual garden tour called Beyond the Garden Gate, and they had very fine videographers and editors who did all the work on this, and they were kind enough to then allow us to share this wonderful group of gardens with you.

<Amanda> And today - Oh gosh, we just have such a marvelous garden to visit that was created by Steve van Horn.

Steve, thank you so much for the time you spent making this beautiful garden and for sharing it with us.

>> Thank you.

>> I asked when I came to your house, because your garden is very traditional and formal rooms in most places if that was what your experiences from childhood were and that was not the case.

<Steve> No that was not the case.

I grew up in a suburban area and fairly nice sized property but not a lot of gardening going on there.

<Amanda> I think you father was kind of like those people who we often talk about, who all they care about is turf grass.

<Steve> That's exactly right.

<Amanda> Although, you have several nice little patches of turf grass that obviously is not your main interest.

So you married a gal who was southern, who had lots of background in southern gardening and y'all came to Camden and at some point you moved into a house where there hadn't been much done in a good while.

That happens with older, people get older and all.

So, you really almost had sort of like a blank slate with a couple of wonderful oak trees.

<Steve> Yeah.

Exactly right, yes.

<Amanda> Let's talk about how you approach landscape in the front yard.

The front yard had some old azaleas which I transplanted to the backyard and replaced those with boxwood and then just over time I put in various shrubs all on the outside border of the property and a few azaleas and some trees, try to give it some on the corner.

So try to give us a little privacy.

<Amanda> And most of them - you put a fence up also, I believe.

<Steve> I'm sorry there was a fence there and then we just it was an old one, so we had to replace that.

And when I came to see you, you were painting, which is just part of wood in the south isn't it.

<Steve> Exactly.

I think you did a wonderful job in that you still can get a view of the house, which is very attractive but you used relatively large shrubs right at the at the front of the house along the street to give you some privacy.

And I just can't imagine anybody who's had more experience at transplanting tree plants than you.

let's talk about your love.

Because you have I mean is kind of serendipitous, because it's not just a border of all the same things because you just didn't run to the nursery and buy 12 plants I don't think.

>> That's right.

You know, transplanting is like is a challenge.

So when you are successful with it, it makes you feel real good.

You save the plant and it's got a new life so to speak.

<Amanda> And you I'm reminded because some of these plants would attain a larger size if allowed to and you make use of mechanical devices safely without getting on ladders, which I admire you for and that's a good thing for us to share with I think anyone is listening to this now getting on a ladder is not a good idea.

No, it's not a good idea.

That's also very challenging.

But the boxwood all throughout the garden boxwood are kind of the grounding feature.

You have them in front of the house as the foundation planting.

Then as we walk, if we're facing the house and walk towards the right, we have kind of a shade garden that's sometimes called Nana's garden.

Kind of a sweet story to that.

<S Yeah well when my mother passed away, my neighbor Nancy Tucker gave us a very nice camellia and planted it in this shady area of the garden where we planted it, there was nothing else and so when I finally had some time I went ahead and used rocks and made a pathway and then filled in some beds with shade loving plants.

Those were ferns and they really turned out to be very nice.

I enjoyed it.

<Amanda> I thought it was particularly beautiful in that there was some although it was a quiet garden for the most part dramatic differences in texture because you have the fern and then you had some pots with very happy white impatiens.

You had some boxwood.

You had some ivy.

Then marvelous use of a softly colored ajuga.

<Steve> Yes, variegated ajuga that really grows multiplies.

It's just unbelievable how good it does.

And I also sort of use the fastia to kind of tie the whole thing together.

It has a good look in the shade >> Which also gives a nice contrast to the area as a deference.

<Steve> Exactly.

<Amanda> A lot of information and stimulus there although it is the overall effect is soothing and I think that Nana can quietly enjoy her well resting place and I think you know then that the variety of camellia as well don't you?

<Steve> I was going to try to research that Amanda and I just don't know yet, exactly.

<Amanda> Well, most everything out, so we'll certainly give you a pass on that.

And then we're going to go back to where y'all park your cars and you use some white small gravel there that's very attractive.

And we go back to the back of the house and I think as we look if we walked out of your back steps and looked over to the left, we see something that you really enjoy which is pergolas and arches and let's talk a little bit about how you made that very effective screening area with the entrance, arched entrance.

>> That was a holly hedge there.

>> Yes >> A holly hedge or American holly.

And that can lend itself to an entrance and it was very easy so drape and tie the branches over the top of the metal arches and filled in beautifully and from then on it was like.

I got one so I need five more of those throughout the entire garden That's been fun.

Let's stay in that little - in the reality, that's probably the largest room in the garden and it has - many of the rooms have the same basic design formula where you have in the center, boxwood sometimes surrounding a feature and sometimes just other plant material.

And in that one, the boxwoods are relatively large and has a good bit of grass and then we go to the edges, which are filled with very traditional plants I believe.

Yeah we have in those beds are camellias and hollies as well as a lot of azaleas.

In the spring time that just puts on a pretty good show.

<Amanda> and you have an area back there, a raised patio or deck I guess you'd call it that you added at some point so that because of the way you've got that arch with the with the screening your family can sit out there and have some privacy even though you're relatively close to the road.

>> That's exactly right.

That works out very well for us.

<Amanda> And as we look even beyond that, we come to another very important screen that I believe separates - gives you privacy from kind of a working area.

Is that correct?

<Steve> That's right.

We put in a 8 foot high fence, glass on top and there's a driveway on the other side of that, which is our other driveway.

- Excuse me - And then on that fence we espaliered white loropetalum.

That has done a beautiful job sort of cover the fence.

It's funny how you will build something and then you can't wait to cover it up.

[laughs] >> And also in that area use bricks.

So there's a great variety of non plant material used, because in Nana's garden we've got these exquisite stones abroad and has topped off with great effort and then where you park you got the white gravel and then we come back in that area we have bricks, wherever we go we have lots of different things to add structure and texture besides just the plant materials.

It only kind of all flows together I don't think I'd want the same material like everywhere in the entire garden, which it works now.

<Amanda> especially because of the repetition of the plant material and then Steve if I'm not mistaken at that point your business requirements were very onerous and you actually took a break.

<Steve> That's right for about anywhere about 8-10 years I neglected the garden.

And one of the largest gardens just got overgrown with pretty much anything you can think of.

As you well know, we can really grow wisteria and Virginia creeper and Smilax really well around here.

<Amanda> All those things - <Steve> So all that took over yaupon and everything.

So I had to go ahead.

I had time and the inclination to completely redo that section of the yard.

And I did that starting about three or four years ago.

<Amanda> But you have a - when you have time to sit down at night I think you during that period and always in your adult life have enjoyed looking at catalogs and magazines and books about English gardens and traditional gardens and absorbing some of the visual images you have there and kind of re-circulating them and applying them to your garden so that when you did get ready and go in and have to kind of clean out this large - made a blank slate, you had many I guess to start with.

And one of the first was of course another structure of beautiful pergola and that's directly looking back from your back steps.

And so let's talk about that lovely pergola and how you try to tie it together some of the other plant material there.

>> Yeah.

I can somewhat copy that pergola from the magazine and I think was actually a garden in Palm Beach, Florida that's very similar to that one and caught my eye.

It's like, you know, I think that would look pretty good in our garden.

I had to re-size it because it did okay and then just had that built and went from there.

It really turned out well.

>> And has a rose on it and then repetition you learn from all of your reading and viewing and just absorbing is important and also because your wife enjoys having things to cut and bring in the house you put out I think 6 pots or maybe 8 with David Austin roses, if I'm not mistaken.

<Steve> That's right.

>> Again, you got this beautiful pergola with the climbing rose and then the beautiful roses also outlining that path and that path ends with - as always you need something to frame the end of the path but you have a nice neighbor on the other side.

So, you have a relatively light plant material used just to screen there, if I'm not mistaken.

>> Yeah that's right.

>> Crepe myrtle >> I've got the crepe myrtle there and then the anise shrubs On the far end, the anise.

They all are doing quite well, starting to grow nice.

<Amanda> Then we can go either direction and if we go off to the left, tell us what we're going to find in that area.

<Steve> That is a circular garden that I really kind of wanted to make it into a butterfly type garden.

It had gotten a little bit too much shade, so it's kind of tricky trying to some things in there but what that basically is raised beds with sort of day lilies and iris and shrubs that we keep trend and I don't want to say it took, very severely to give in some sort of structure along with some hollies.

>> It's kind of a comical, I'm sorry, the boxwoods there are very traditionally boxwood shaped if I'm not mistaken.

Once again, I mean we have missed so many times where we need to thank somebody who said please come over and dig this plant up.

Tell me how you got the 77 day lilies.

<Steve> A gentleman here in Camden who loved bay lilies and he decided that he was having so much trouble with deer that he just decided he didn't want his day lilies any more he asked me, if I wanted them so I dug them all up.

And made sure he didn't want them.

I did dig them up and transplant them into my garden and they've all done beautifully well.

<Amanda> And the iris, I think also were - The iris came from a woman whose dad was a big iris grower and she had in her garden, she called for a course and she gave me a whole lot of them and so I put them in my garden.

So, it's nice to have kind of a little history in the garden, old trends.

<Amanda> And so many of the plants, you have a traditional You have the Indica azaleas and the sasanquas and all and the boxwood, but then you have actual personal stories that, well and then.

Is that the part of the garden where somebody bought a house that had had massive amounts of stone used as a ground cover.

So once again you took your truck over there and loaded it up.

<Steve> A very good friend of mine bought a house in Camden that had a very, very heavy use or stone.

And he decided he didn't need all that stone, so I used it because I really liked the idea of raised beds.

And so I'd go over his house probably over a 30 day period, every weekend and load up my truck and all these stones back in.

Used them all.

[giggles] >> And I bet you could use several tubes of Ben-gay and some aspirin.

[laughs] all those heavy stones, as well.

Y'all had - the previous owners had a shed that was partially for chickens and Lord knows what.

And a shed is just a repository for anything that needs covered isn't it and y'all decided to re-do that so let's talk a little bit about that and then why there's a kind of secret little garden behind it that has some beautiful color in it to inspire the artistic abilities of your wife Liza.

<Steve> The shed was, the house was built in 1938 and there are still folks around that remember playing there.

We had goats, you know, chickens and it was a lot of fun, very much a fun place for a kid to play.

I enjoyed hearing those stories.

But the shed got old.

And it was - >> You said your boys enjoyed playing there.

>> Yeah, my children loved playing in the grandad shed too.

There was an old tree there that they played with.

It was a lot of fun and they built forts and what have you, as kids do.

But as time went on and children grew up the children became older and older so we had to make a decision about what to do about it.

So we went ahead and just completely renovated the shed and added a garage on the other end.

It had to be like a carport and so there's a gardening part and man cave.

But the main part is where my wife used to do her artwork.

And behind that shed led itself to doing a little formal private garden that we fenced in.

And here again about an 8 foot fence and there's a raised bed in there so when look out in the back of the shed, it's very pleasing with boxwood.

<Amanda> In that very small garden, the scale becomes smaller and so you we have moss covered rocks and we have a place where you can use annual color pansies and Johnny jump ups and some geraniums and everything's just on a much smaller scale and it just has a certain intimacy that other parts of the garden with their formal aspect present a different situation.

<Steve> That's exactly right.

<Amanda> Well if we can be a little bit reflective of South Carolina horticultural history, we could speak about the fact that your wife was the niece of a very famous South Carolina horticulturists.

<Steve> Yes She's the niece of Emily Whaley in Charleston and of course has a very and her daughter of course have a beautiful garden in Charleston <Amanda> Yes and you said that Mrs Whaley when she first came to visit and was in the very first garden, the large garden that you had, had a very interesting comment.

>> Yeah.

She I don't think I can quote this exactly right but I think she said, "This is the largest Charleston "garden I've ever seen."

[both laugh] >> That's quite high praise, I think.

>> That's right.

>> And our own very famous Loutrel Briggs Garden.

And like as your wife Liza explained to me, Loutrel Briggs Gardens were not meant to be static and complete, they were to be to evolve and so even though Mr Briggs did the bones and all for Mrs Whaley, he came back together and then even now with Marty there, Marty Whaley Adams the garden still continues as all gardens should to transform a little bit and I think that Marty Whaley Adams, your Liza's cousin actually helped y'all with a color that I think is very successfully used in the garden on your pergola.

The pergola in the shed are painted a kind of a blue color that Marty brought back from France and showed to us said this would literally lend itself to the structures.

And the colors are very nice because it seems it changes color in light, gets a little gray, little green.

And so it really blends in well with all the other horticulture.

<Amanda> Although it would be carrying colors I mean it would be wrong of me at my house where Charlie ever gets any paint on it at all or any attention.

I'm going to get lost and share the name of that color, because I just think it's such a wonderful story.

I'd love to have a little bit of it at my house if you allow me to copy and after all, imitation is the highest form of flattery.

>> That's right.

>> You also then had a large area and it has a very different feel because I think it has herbs, it has some flowers and it's anchored again by some of your favorite plants podocarpus and azalea, again the boxwood.

But let's talk about that because it has a much more relaxed feeling to it.

>> Yeah, that's the newest garden.

It's about 3-4 years old and filled in a pretty large rectangular space, and the pergola in the garden faced Middleton Street.

And it was like I envisioned over time, try to get the right design.

And I think I came up with something ended up being pleasing for me.

All the plant material was pretty traditional.

Anchored with 12 little gems and also with the camellias and the sasanquas and little.

I've got about 12 David Austin roses.

That's all bordered with the green beauty is the one surrounds that, along with some Korean and some evergreen boxwood.

And there's a heavy use of day lilies and semi circles on either side.

along with us plumbago and a lot of other kinds of flowers.

So this is kind of like my really flower garden because I can use the edges of the walkways also as flowers.

>> A good bit of rosemary there and we were enjoying seeing the pollinators on the rosemary and I complimented you on your little gems because they can't so easily be leggy and open.

And you very skillfully have kept them good and tight and compact.

And I would imagine that is quite a bit of work to keep under control.

<Steve> These were fine specimens.

And they were fairly tight to begin with.

>> Yes.

>> but they're fairly easy to control just so long as you keep an eye on and keep it topped out.

And so I would say I really hadn't touched them until about two months ago.

They seem to being just great and so I'll be pruning them again in another week or so.

>> Well, I think you ought to wait a little bit so y'all can use some of them to make some beautiful wreaths and swags for Christmas, because that would be so pretty.

>> We're still getting the white blooms and so I don't want to cut any of those off either, prematurely.

>> With 12 of them you could sacrifice 1 or 2.

You said that you had guidance of several nurseryman over the years that was just invaluable to you and I did not you might want to give a shout - >> I'd love to talk about that.

When we moved here, 1980, I got to meet John Lindsay who had Springdale nursery and he had been in the nursery industry for many years.

He was just a fantastic source of knowledge and he was extremely helpful to me in suggested plants and talking about it showing me books that he had in his shop, which I went and ordered my own.

And so it was just a great experience to know him and to use these plants and I will say that he has a granddaughter that lives around the corner from him.

She was walking by the other day and I was working with some of his old plants that I had bought from him and I said these are your grandfather's plants and she has her new child with her and she was a baby too.

It was a lot of generations there that I think very highly of.

It's a great family.

>> Then there's a nursery now I believe that you - >> It's a nursery here that's called Littlefield Growers.

They've got a good assortment of plants.

They got a lot of material you can also get gravel and rock, and manure.

And he's been very helpful to me.

They've only been in business 4 or 5 years now I guess now.

It's been good.

You do have irrigation on which you use when necessary, but you do something that I think is overlooked by most gardeners.

You had a gigantic cart of manure composted manure that you were getting ready to put out.

So, rather than pushing your plants aggressively with synthetic fertilizers and all you're trying to build your soil texture and use that way to keep your plants nutritionally healthy and also improve your soil and that to me cuts down so much on disease and insect pressure, because you're not trying to push this elaborate, vigorous growth all the time.

>> That's right.

And that's happened by accident I was on vacation at the beach and I picked up the News and Courier and the garden writer whom I can't remember her name now, it was like, it was in August and she said now is the time to start thinking about getting your manure and putting it around your plants.

And I said, 'Hmm.

Now, there's a good idea.'

So, that's when I started doing that and I've been doing that 4 or 5 years now.

>> Manure in August is going to let me lead to a funny way to perhaps end this because of the smell.

Liza let me come inside get a glass of water and thank y'all both for wearing masks and being so careful and socially distancing while we did this.

And I admired her washing machine because I have a top loading washing machine because all my things get so dirty, I have to let them soak in this new fangled front loaders don't soak well, and she said "I love it.

I must tell you.

I kept the old washing machine and dryer in the basement because when Steve comes in from working he's so filthy dirty he has to go down there first and that is his dedicated washing machine.

>> That's where I wash my clothes.

[laughs] >> Which I think shows that you are indeed the hands on gardener who is responsible for such a lovely, lovely creation that reflects your vision and also your hard work.

Thanks.

I thank you and Liza for sharing that with us and for your courtesy and time and touring me through the garden.

>> We certainly enjoyed being with you.

Thank you.

>> Okay.

Bye Bye.

[soft music] I hope you enjoy that segment from Camden, the people who got their gardens all tidied up for the free medical clinic of Kershaw County and have shared them with us.

We have more coming up in the future and we have more Making It Grow coming up in the future.

I hope we'll see you next Tuesday.

Night, Night.

♪ [Making It Grow closing 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.

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