Coming to you from Iconic Studio a here at proven Winter's color Choice Shrubs. It's time for the Gardening Simplified podcast, radio and YouTube show with Stacy Hervella, me, Rick Weist, and our engineer and producer Adrianna Robinson. Well, Stacey, it seems strange to me that we're already at this time of the year winter protection. But it's the time of year where we do have to think about our plants and putting them to bed for winter.
It's true. And you know a lot of people if they think that a plant needs protection for winter, either because they have experienced it getting winter damage or they just think that it needs protection. The fact is that now that plants are almost completely dormant, is the time to do it. Way over September or October when they were actually still actively metabolizing and going into dormancy. Now that they're asleep, now we can talk protection.
Yeah, great point. And you know, as a lifelong gardener, my attention right away steers towards every and winter burn. You know, like human skin, evergreen trees, broad leaf evergreens can struggle to find enough moisture during the winter months. I hate that about winter. I hate dry air and low moisture levels in the air and soil create an arid environment, and that's when we see things like winter burn on things like boxwood or rhododendrons or even your
typical evergreens in the landscape. So going into winter and making sure that they have the proper amount of water, the proper amount of mulch, and in some cases even an anti desconate spray, these are things that have to be on our minds, Stacy, you.
Know it's so true. I think that by and large, many people feel like they need to protect stuff that doesn't actually need protecting. But you said a mouthful with mulch, Because if there is one thing that people should be doing for plant protection, it is malt. And I don't
mean a rubber mulch. I mean a shredded or, if you are lucky and from the south, a beautiful pine straw mulch something over the roots of those plants to keep them insulated, to conserve moisture, and honestly, for the most part, that's all most plants really need, even the evergreens and barn leaf evergreens that you talk about, if they are well watered, going into dormancy, and they have that layer of mulch that can make way more difference than even like a burlap wrapp or an antidessican cat.
Absolutely here here. Thank you very mulch Stacey for saying that, because you're right, and you know, I've found in gardening what really causes problems is not necessarily the intensity of cold or the intensity of heat, but it's when you get abrupt shifts in temperature, whether it's soil temperature or the plants, it can create some real problems. And of course sun scaled frost cracking, that sort of thing in plants.
When we get a sunny January day and then at night it just drops like a brick, that's when you can really get some big problems. And I think it's very important to note here that there is a big difference between a frost and winter. Winter. We're in it for the long term. When we talk about a frost, we're talking about an overnight event. Now in that case, with a frost, sometimes people will resort to a blanket or plastic, But to do that for winter, that makes
no sense whatsoever the weight. But in addition to that, don't use plastic in wrapping your plants, and heaven forbid bubble wrap.
Don't do it.
Don't do that.
Now you can wrap your pots and bubble wrap if you are so inclined. I feel like he needs you. I know. When I was a rooftop gardener, we did that. But do not use plastic to wrap your plants. Your plants will not be happy.
I had an employee and we had a fifty yard roll of bubble wrap, asked me what to do with it. I said, well, just pop it in the corner, and he was over there for four hours popping bubbles. Bad joke, I.
Know, But don't use a bubbles jo, It's just a joke.
Southwest disease. When the sun shines on the bark of a tree and it expands and contracts and then it splits, that becomes a real problem too. And Stacy, I want to ask you this on this topic because for me, I have found that macrophilla hydranges I generally don't see the damage in winter. I see them making it through winter, and then we get in a thaw and a warm up and the buds start to swell and then it gets cold again. That's when I see the damage. Am I right about that or not.
You are right that for a lot of people, the majority of damage on your big leaf for Macrophilla hydranges does occur with spring frost. So it happens all the times us here in Michigan. And this is something that can even happen in milder climates. But you know, those days start getting long, warmer, the plants those gradually start to expand their buds, and then you know, we're not done with frost in April, We're not done with frost
in May. Very often, and when those come along and zap a plant that has already started to expand its green leaves, that bud inside that flower bud is increasingly unprotected. But there is a very simple thing, a very simple way to know if your hydrange of Macrophillo or big leaf Hydrangea is being damaged by winter or spring. And it's simply this. If in spring, when the plant starts to leaf out, all of the growth is coming from the ground and not on the stems, you know it
was winter damage. If you have growth on the stems, you know when spring comes and it starts to grow and you're seeing that emerge on those actual stems, and your plant still doesn't go on to bloom in summer. You either prune it, or someone else prune it, or a deer prune it, or it was those spring freezes. So it's an easy way to tell what the thing is. And the simple fact is that fewer varieties of big leaf Hydrangea, especially the Let's Dance series Let's Stance can
do Let's Dance, Skyview and Let's Dance areba. We're developed to better withstand both the winter cold and the spring frost, but not all Hydrangeas are the same.
So that makes that great way coy and a great rule of green thumb. I like that. Of course, plants will show us defense mechanisms. Rhododendrons will mope, the leaves will fold on themselves, and remember a layer of snow actually helps insulate plants many times. Dry cold is the bigger threat roses, and fall into early winter give them plenty of time to shut down, especially today's day and age landscape roses. They're tough, they can take it, and
they need some time to shut down before winter. So don't go into winter dry. And oh, by the way, when you put on the Christmas lights on shrubs, remember what goes up must come down. That's why putting lights on plants is best when it's really cold and uncomfortable outside. You don't get into all kinds of detail and really wrap them in there. Really good.
That's just I didn't know where you were going with that, but that is a very good point. You're going to be much bigger of a hurry and not do that. Oh, I'm going to wrap it around because then you know, when it is cold you're taking them down, that's when you're going to be likely to cause damage.
Exactly exactly. So here's a limerick on winter protection for plants. In life, there are no guarantees. I try to rely on my expertise, but wow, I am feeling guilt, all snuggled warm under my quilt while my roses outside freeze. My winter protections were textbook in the preparations I undertook. The night before Christmas, it was and frozen. Are my hyghdrained juzz? That's a stretch on that rhyme. I thank you, I can barely stand to look. I'll visit through the snow.
I trudge, give them encouragement, a nudge. Maybe next spring they'll forgive me for forgiveness. I will plea. I sure hope they won't hold a grudge. And you know, you kind of feel that way inside, nice and warm when your plants are out there in the cold and stacey.
It brings up the point that taking a walk through your landscape from time to time in winter, looking for things like deer or rabbit damage, or maybe roots heaving up out of the ground due to frost and thaw, those are important things to do.
Yeah, I mean, who knows what you'll find. Really, all sorts of crazy stuff can happen to winter. But I'll tell you I don't feel very bad for my plants in winter because, as we discussed in our moving in show, most plants they do not want to be in your house. I agree, they will not be happy. You might think that you're extrapolating your feelings and aw, I'm sitting here by the fire and it's cozy and marvelous. The plant
is definitely happier outside. You can, I can promise, even if you want to try it yourself, make a note to try it next year. Bring in a hardy plant, see how it does. Let us know. I mean, that's be discouraging, just saying.
I agree, I agree, And if you have, of course evergreens are broad leaf evergreens. I like the use of anti descants or they're also called anti transpirants, and it's basically just a pine resin spray that puts a coating on the foliage. Because again, if the plant is calling for some water and the roots say, hey, we're out of business the ground is frozen, you can have some real problems with evergreens. It also teaches you how important
microclimates are. Maybe these little coves in these areas around your landscape where you have plants planted. It makes a big difference as a matter of fact, in the Midwest and in the north when the sun is really low in the south in the winter time. But I'll tell you what, some structural protection on the north or east side of the house can provide a lot of benefit to plants. Don't be wrapping them like crazy with fabric. Yes, burlaps, okay,
because it breathes. But remember, Stacy, anytime you wrap a plant, if you do get snow nice, you can cause damage through breakage.
Oh absolutely, you know. I think the last couple of years, as our winters have become kind of warmer. That means the snow is heavier, wetter. The damage that I have seen on plants, it's just like every year it seems like it's getting worse.
Yeah, exactly, So there's all kinds of gimmicks. As a matter of fact, I've thought about for the show coming up with a new segment called gimricks. Okay, I'm kind of thinking about that. Stay tuned for Branching News. I'm going to talk about a holiday plant that's been afflicted by crazy marketing gimricks. But first, plants on trial. Let's see how Stacey ties this together and what plant is on trial this week on The Gardening Simplified Show.
Proven Winter's Color Choice Shrubs cares about your success in the garden. That's why we trial and test all of our shrubs for eight to ten years, making sure they outperform everything else on the market. Look for them and the distinctive white container at your local garden center. Greeting's gardening friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show where we're talking about plant protection. And you might be thinking to yourself, well, gee, thanks a lot. It is
late November. This is not useful. But the fact is that it is useful. We did not just think of this too late to help you. Most people who do protect plants for whatever reason you are protecting your plants, do it too early. And really the key is you want those plants to be completely dormant. Now, you know what.
You were talking a lot about evergreens and broad leaf evergreens, which may potentially need protection, like if you are pushing your heartiness zone, or maybe you planted them in fall, which you know if we don't recommend, but we know that you, like us, can't turn down a good bargain. And sometimes you know, you roll the dice, and so sometimes those things might need protection. Old fashioned roses, grafted roses, remember the old rose colors. How many of those did you say in your career?
Write your phone number on those steigerphone cones because if they get airborne they go zero to sixty like that. Write your phone number or your email as.
Something so that you know. So if you're going to do those types of protection, yes, the plant should be completely dormant. It's easy to tell. With the rose it will lose its foliage. You don't necessarily know, of course, with an evergreen, because it's not going to lose its leaves, but you know, you do want the days to get short enough and cool enough that the plant is just
not in an active growth state anymore. And usually I would say late November at least for us here in the Midwest is a pretty safe time to consider that your plants are more or less dormant. And that's why we're talking about it right now. But overall, the best plant protection strategy, in my humble opinion, is to not
grow plants that need protection. Oh that's smart, I mean, okay, I say this as I don't want to characterize myself as a lazy gardener, but you know, I have realized over the years that whether it's deer or all of the sun in my yard are how dry and sandy my soil is. You know, the joy for me in gardening is not like I have to grow this and
make it look good no matter what. The joy for me in gardening is, you know, experimenting with plants, observing the relationships that they create in the landscape with wildlife and sex birds and all of that, and and just liking the way that it looks. So my personal approach is to not really plant things that need protection, and if I do, I do have a plant that is kind of marginally hardy. Here it is a fig, and you know figs Chicago hardy fig is considered hardy to
like USDA's own six. But as is often the case with things that are considered hardy, it only addresses whether the plant will survive, not whether it will do any of the things that you actually want it to do.
I e. Bear figs if it doesn't have that protection. So, because I do want to avoid protect, you know, having to like install things or work really hard at it, I plan this fig in a little area of my house where two walls come together, and that provides the protection that it needs andcroclimate little micro climate, right, so knock on wood. My fig is getting bigger and producing beautiful and bigger crops every single year. So I love that.
You're taking the Huey Lewis approach, taking what they're given and working for a living.
I guess, so, yeah, that's cool. But you know, I have been visited a gardener once whose garden was on a tour. He was in Oregon, so could obviously grow a ton of really cool stuff. But you know, as is so often the case for gardeners, the grass is always greener. On the other side, he decided he wanted to grow like all these desert plants, and the winters in Oregon are fairly wet. These plants don't like that, and he was building all these cacamami contraptions to protect
his plants over winter. And you know, more power to them. If that is how you want to garden, I fully support it. But overall, I don't want listeners to think that just because we're talking about plant protection, that it means that plant protection is necessary.
Okay, you know what I mean. It makes sense, it does, it's common sense.
I hope it's common sense. But again, the hardiness zone system only tells us how much cold a plant will be able to withstand the maximum cold temperature will be able to withstand and survive, not whether it will actually do well. It doesn't measure how long the cold persists. It doesn't measure if the cold is mixed with snow, has snow coverage, or anything like that. So in some cases we are kind of left to wonder if something
needs protection. And I would say that one of the candidates for protection potentially in your landscape is a broad leaf evergreen. Now broad leaf evergreen, I feel like is one of those terms that Gardner's horticulturists like you and I throw around and just assume that everybody knows what the heck we're talking about. So I'm going to take a moment to tell you what a broad leaf evergreen is, even though I think if you think about it a
second you will figure it out. It is an evergreen with broad leafs, So basically that means not a needle or scale leafed evergreen like a conifer. So pines, spruces, arborvideos are all needle or scale leafed evergreens. They are conifers. A broad leaf evergreen is a plant with regular foliage you would not necessarily know it was evergreen. So we're talking about things like rhododendron, boxwood. Gardenia is another great example. And in fact, the warmer your climates, the more broad
leaf evergreen options you're gonna have. Yes, there's a lot more for the South than there are for us in the north, but that doesn't mean we don't have our options. And if you grow a broad leaf evergreen, no matter where you are at the number one, I'm gonna be two things actually, that you can use to protect your broad leaf evergreen. Number one, plant it as early as possible before the stressful weather sets in. Let it create a nice, big, abundant root system for us before the
cold sets in. If you were in a hot climate, it might be before the heat sets in. You want to give it the longest possible window of establishment before its biggest challenge confronts it. And Number two mulch, mulch, mulch mulch. If you are again going to do one thing to protect your plants every year, it should be a good two to three inch layer of an organic mulchion. When I say organic mulch, I don't mean like organic
vegetables made without pesticides. I mean made of something that's going to decompose, because that's going to nurture the soil. It provides the best environment for root growth and moisture conservation. So that's the key to success with any broad leaf evergreen, including today's plant on trial skybox Japanese holly Ilex Karnata.
Great plant.
It is a great plant, and it's an interesting one because I when I was younger, I had never heard of it or noticed it or anything like that. I mean, I was aware of boxwooden and when I moved to New York City to go to horticulture school Ilex Karnada, Japanese holly was everywhere. It's in all the parks in New York City. It was all around the New York Botanical Garden where I went to school, and I was like, you know, this is like, why aren't we grow a
lot of people don't think that it's very hardy. And I think that as the Internet has kind of blossomed and let people compare notes, more and more people are finding that Japanese holly is hardier than they had expected. And I can say, at least for us around here in West Michigan rarely gets winter damage. Would you have changed? Yeah,
everybody agree. Now, if you live a little more inland, so you get towards Lancing, you're probably going to have more issues than we have out here because we are very often have snowcover when we hit those really really cold temperatures. But Japanese holly is basically almost identical looking to boxwood to the uninitiated, But it is easy to tell. There's one simple trick that you can use to tell the difference. Boxwood has opposite foliage and Japanese holly has
alternate foliage. So if you look and the leaves are directly across from each other, it's a boxwood. If you look and they are staggered, then it's a Japanese holly. And a lot of people prefer the Japanese holly for a couple of reasons. You know, obviously, le boxwood is getting some diseases in some parts of the country. That's a problem. Some people can't stand the smell of boxwood
correct And the thing we won't get into that. But the other thing that's really special about Japanese holly in general, but especially Skybox today's plant on trial, is that they offer you the opportunity to have a unique form. Skybox is a narrow, upright pyramiddle plant.
I was going to say, it's all about the shape.
Yes, absolutely, And most boxwoods, incidentally, that have that shape tend to be a lot less hardy than the rounder hedging boxwoods. They tend to be quite tender. So Japanese holly, like Skybox, is an opportunity for you to have that beautiful, handsome, narrow habits that people love. They love planting it around their front door. They love planting it in containers while still getting a Zone five hardiness, So it's a really
great opportunity there. You talked about Christmas lights. This is a rate plant for lighting with Christmas lights because it does have that nice narrow habit. But again, it is a broad leaf evergreen. So this is a plant that if you live in Michigan or in USDA Zone six, you're gonna want to plant this in spring, give it that nice long window of establishment and keep it mulched so that you're going to maintain that nice, beautiful green foliage.
Would you consider it a front door kind of specimen plant?
I would consider it a front door specimen plant. I think that's how most people want to grow it. Of course that is how I mostly see it, But I also mostly see people's front yards, not their backyards, so it is common to see it. But you know, when people see the shape, I think that's where you know
immediately their brain goes, but you know you do. So one nice thing about that is very often front yards are kind of more protected because the house itself provides some protection, so that can help a lot as well. But really this is a plant that if well sighted and well mulched. It's not going to need any protection. And again planting it in spring and it's just going to look great all your It maintains it's green foliage. It doesn't bronze like box certain boxwood can. So it's
a great boxwood alternative. And I think just one of those plants that has the shape that everybody.
Wants so outstanding. And Stacey, we're talking about Ilex I l e.
X Ilex krona yes, and the krenata refers to believes. They have just the tiniest little crenations on the side, just little sort of indense. You really have to look closely for them. I'm not sure why linee is picked up on that over anything else. A bit less shade tolerant than boxwood and not quite as dear resistant, but a great choice for all of the reasons that we just listed, and you can find them all in our
show notes at Gardeningsimplified on air dot com. You can see more pictures of Skybox than you've seen on our YouTube channel and decide if you're going to add it to your garden next spring. We're gonna take a little break when we come back we're opening up the mailbag, so please stay tuned. At proven winner's color choice, We've
got a shrub for every taste and every space. Whether you're looking for an easy care rose and unforgettable hydrangea, or something new and unique, you can be confident that the shrubs and the white containers have been trialed and tested for your success. Look for them at your local garden center. Greeting's gardening friends, and welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show, where it's our chance to help you
with your gardening problems. And I love that. I really love helping people have those kind of aha moments where you know, I'm not looking to just say, you know, you write me a question and I just say, okay, do this now, go away. No, I want to give you the information that you can use to make better gardening decisions. And that's what I think we both you know, that's why we call it Gardening Simplified.
Absolutely, And it's fun. It's fun to solve problems, and it's fun to have success when when you make adjustments. I enjoy it, never get tired of you know what.
It's fun to be stumped too. Oh, I really love it.
Absolutely I'm stumped all the time.
I'm such about something, stump of a not gardening, usually too much, but you never know. Plans get weirder the more I go on in his career. But if you have a gardening question for us, you can reach us at help HLP at Gardeningsimplified on air dot com, or just go to Gardening Simplified on air dot com. There's a contact. From there you can add attach a photo. You can even ask us a question in the comments on our YouTube video, and Adriana will ask us if
she doesn't know the answer herself. She answers all of those questions, though, So what do we got this week?
Neil writes to us, after planting or transplanting a shrub, should I stomp down the soil? I've read different positions. One you must tighten up the soil for soil integrity, so that the roots have the ability to grab and take the other position is to not stomp as this block's porters preventing water and oxygen flow. Help. I don't know what to do, Neil. Great question. Neil has his thinking cap on, and I like that.
I wonder if he's done a scientific study. Stomped on some and not some on others. But the answer, as you may not be surprised to find out, is somewhere in between. I would not generally recommend stomping the soil.
That is a little bit too much, I think, especially probably for a man in big boots, you could definitely do more damage than you need to do, you know, for walking walk And I have found in my opinion that you know, normally just firming with your hands is going to be more than enough, but you do want to firm it quite well. And to me, it's not so much about giving the roots something to grab onto as it is just holding the plant upright.
Yeah, And I think it's contingent on what's the soil like. Yeah, I mean, if it's a clay soil, you're not going to want to be stomping it. And of course I've often talked about the fact that if you amend a clay soil, you mix fifty to fifty with the amendment and the existing parent soil. So I would agree with
you Stacy gardening with your hands and not necessarily your feet. Now, the reason that this has come along and why Neil is thinking this is, Yeah, if you just dig a hole and you throw a lightweight potting mix in there, and you put the plant in the ground, and it's hot and dry outside, and there's lots of poor space around the roots. Odds are that plant may dry out.
Yeah, definitely. That's a good point too. But you shouldn't do that. You should use your natural soil as much as you come. But you're right about the clay soil. I mean, if you have a heavy clay soil and you're stomping on it, then you're gonna have a lot of clay in the tread of those boots, and that's no one wants that. No one needs extra weight on their boots. I also think it depends.
Now.
I am an adamant do not water the hole when I plant gardener, but there are a lot of people out there who like to water the hole and to water the soil before they plant. And in that case, you do need to be more careful with wet soil, because it is actually easier to destroy the structure of wet soil than it is of you know, dry or reasonably not wet soil. That's why you know gardens and so forth parks ask you to not walk on the grass, especially when it's wet. It just makes it a lot
easier for it to get compacted. So if you are the kind of person who insists on watering the soil in the hole before you plant in it, then I would definitely recommend it taking a more gentle approach. But for most people, I think firming with your hands should be more than enough. It gives you a chance to actually, you know, get in there and make sure it's all tucked in nicely and make any adjustments. And yeah, I think generally speaking of foot is overkilled, so.
You're in for a root awakening. Firm press not stop, please all right? Good? Debbie writes to us, I have a Chinese hibiscus tree that lost all its leaves this summer. It is back beautiful. How do I overwinter this beauty?
Okay? So, now I have not really heard the term Chinese hibiscus for this plant.
I was leaning on you because I have not.
Okay, So I looked it up and well, I just wanted to make sure that I was answering Debbie's question correctly, you know, not answering her question about a plant that she's not actually growing. And the answer was right in front of me all along. It is tropical hibiscus as we normally call it, Hibiscus rosa senensus, and senensus means Chinese and Latin, so that would be why some people would call this a Chinese hibiscus tree.
The tree should not lose its leaves in summer because it's hot and humid in summer and they love that.
No, it shouldn't, but if it gets extremely stressed, it could. You know, you never know, like you so, but this is the same tropical hibiscus that people buy for summer color with a big satellite type of flowers, you know, planted on their patio might be braided. But say you go on vacation or something like that and it dries out, it would very likely lose its leaves. The plant wouldn't necessarily die, but it will respond to that drought stress by dropping all of its leaves.
Well, if you overwinter it indoors, odds are you're going to lose the leaves.
What I'm gonna say to you is, Debbie, I hate to break it to you, but this is not the last time you've seen this. Normally evergreen plant lose its leaves.
What doesn't mean it has to die.
No, it doesn't mean it's dying, it's you know this. So tropical hibiscus like this are lovely plants, and people usually do shell out for them because they cost a bit more than you know, your average summer annual, so you can't blame them for wanting to bring them indoors. But and it is possible to overwinter them indoors. You want to keep them as bright and cool as possible, so they definitely shouldn't be freezing, but they don't want to be hot. They want to be in cool area
with good air circulation. They shouldn't be overwatered, but nor should they dry out. So you kind of have that, have to have that, you know, just right Goldilocks scenario for them. But even if you have that, short of having a conservatory, this is one of those plants it is going to respond to being broad indoors by dropping
some foliage. Absolutely, so don't panic. Just try to get it through this winter and then hopefully you'll be able to put it out next spring once another starts to get nice, and it should hopefully be a lot happier, you.
Know, if you back off on the water. Best case scenario in my opinion, is a brightly lit a window in an unheated bedroom. But who has an unheated bedroom in their house? I guess some people do.
I guess you'd ever know. We can always close the events, you know, and then if you have a guest, you can open them back up and make your guests comfortable.
But again, gonna drop leaves, but you know what, it'll make it. Yeah, and next spring, as the days get longer, you can bring this. It's going to have this phoenix rise from the ashes, and you just have.
To stick with it through it through its awkward phase. Here. Now, Rick, this next question I thought was perfect for you. Laurie is wondering may I still plant grass seed considering how warm this fall has been.
Yeah, that's a great question. Because of the extended season so here in the North or in Michigan, generally we recommend planting grass seed in September. Grass Seed blends will take anywhere between twelve to thirty days to germinate, and then you need some growth and opportunity for the grass to grow before the ground freezes. You can also do something called dormant seeding, where you put down grass seed before winter and then it will germinate next spring, some
of it becomes bird feed. But you know, if you've got an area where you need to seed, I think it's worth trying. But late November highly unusual. That's something we would consider dormant seeding.
Well, so what about in a warmer climate.
In a warmer climate, you probably could. Again, with what we're experiencing as far as the climate is concerned, you're going to have some measure of success. I think ideally September October that's the time to be seeding lawns arguably the best time of the year to be seeding along.
Okay, so it's getting a little bit late now for grass seed. Now, I would say if you have grass seed that you're just trying to get rid of through winter, then I would say go ahead and put it down. If you did that, would you put hay or straw or something over it to kind of help protect some of it from the eaten vibery could do that.
There are also paper mulches that you can purchase that almost make it look like you're hydro seeding, and you'll see contractors doing that also late in the season or along highways. And again, some of that seed is going to end up germinating next spring, some of it's going to wash away, some of it's going to become bird feed. But bear soil is not a natural condition, so you
have to do something. And for many people they don't want to seed in spring because they want to be applying a crab grass control and you can't do that along with seed. So you know, i'd say, especially if you have the seed, I'd take a shot at it.
So don't buy seed right now in an effort of well, you never know, and there's a lot of unscrupulous people out there who will just be like, you know, someone will buy this, so I'm going to just put it out there at full price, and you know it's it's expired or whatever, So don't buy it. But if you have it, you might as well put some out now. Probably don't need to water it unless it's unusual robbery.
I won't have to water it. But you're not going to get that instant what I call grassification, so step back and let nature do its work.
So but it might save you a little time in spring, so it's always worth a try. And you know what the bottom line with things like this is, you always learn something yes. At the very least you learn something that you can apply to decisions in the future, so I feel like it's worth it if it's low cost and low stakes. Thank you so much for your questions. If you have a question, don't forget. You can reach us at Gardening Simplified on air dot com. We're going
to take a little break. When we come back, we've got branching news, so stay tuned. The Gardening Simplified Show is brought to you by proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs. Our award winning flowering shrubs and evergreens have been trialed and tested for your success so you enjoy more beauty and less work. Look for proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs and the distinctive white container at your local garden center.
Welcome back to the Gardening Simplified Show. It's time for branching news. Stacey. I thought today, let's spend a little bit of time talking about a plant that many people will have indoors during the holidays. We miss the garden and we love plants. We know that, and so for many people they'll bring an amarillis into the house or they'll be gifted in amarillis. It's a simple plant to grow and to get flower, you know, get flowers during
the holiday season. But it has a complicated story to it, and it's become more complicated over the years because again, when I first started out in the garden center industry, we would sell bulk amarillis.
Bulbs just out on their own.
Out on their own. You'd reach into a bin you'd picked through these large amarillis bulbs. You'd pick one out, and then it's up to you to pot it and take care of it and decide what to do with it. Then came along these kits that had everything in them so you could grow your amaryllis, and they were conveniently in a colorful box so that you could give it to somebody as a gift. Now, when you take a look at it, Amarillis, in my mind is one of
these plants that's really gone through some crazy marketing. And I've been walking into stores, and of course I'm attuned to this, having sold bulbs my whole life. Now they wax amarillis bulbs, so the amarillis bulb is completely coated in wax in all kinds of different colors. And then when the wax thing worked, they thought, you know, let's add glitter, and then let's add some fake snow, and then we'll press a metal base into the bottom of
the bulb. We call it the basl plate. And they press a metal base in them so that they'll stand up on their own without having to be potted or put into soil. And then the piece to resistant, so to speak, is they'll put a sweater on them.
What's not get out?
They're out there? No, you buy amarillis with sweaters on them?
Oh no, Why are they trying to make it look less like a plant?
Well, that's the thing, you know. They want to make it really, really easy for people. So Dutch innovators produce these wax bulbs and all these colors and ornamental finishes and metallic and glitter and marbled and everything else. And the reason for it is waxed bulbs are viewed as a one time shot, similar to the way people approach point setias. Buy it, enjoy it for a few weeks, chuck.
It in the trash.
Now there's many people like me who don't want to throw the thing out. And can you save a waxed bulb amaryllis? And you can, You're gonna have to peel the wax off. At the end of the season, you're gonna have to be patient. You're gonna have to allow the strap like foliage to grow and treat it as a houseplant. For most people, they're going to think throw
it in the trash because blooming exhausts the bulb. But if it's planted in a pot in soil, once it's done blooming, you can cut off the stalk, leave that strap like foliage on, treat it as a houseplant, and then later on in spring and summer, when it's nice and warm outside, we can bring it outside into a shaded area. Will love the bright light, and you can fertilize it, give it a resting period, and then start
the cycle all over again. But the point is we now market these Amarillis bulbs as though they are a chuck it in the trash plant.
Which is fine. You know, it is okay for people to throw plants away if you want to. It's also okay to keep them if you want to. Both of those are perfectly acceptable ways to deal with a plant
that you have or have been given or whatever. Like, we don't make the rules, but it does kind of upset me that, like, they're trying to make them less plant like, because isn't that the whole point of having an amarillis at Christmas, besides the fact that it aligns with its natural life cycle, that it's this like great source of joy in the darkest time of the year, and the fact that it is a plant is kind
of like what we celebrate about it. And I do love the stories of people who have had amarillis bulbs for you know, decades, as they can last so long. So you know, what would be a good amorillist marketing idea? What's it if they sold it with a little magnet that you could put on your refrigerator that told you everything you need to do next.
Oh, there's a good idea, you know.
Let's like, let's bring the plant back to the amarillis.
Yeah, and split the royalty.
But if you like the wax one, great, go for it. Buy anyone every year. Make yourself happy. It's the darkest time of the year. You need to do things that make you happy. That's fine. But at the same time, I shall forget it's a plant.
If you want an amarillis bulb with a sweater on it, more power to you. So in nineteen forty six, some Dutch growers moved to South Africa Africa and began cultivation there. And now I'm going to really screw things up and gum up the works here, Stacy. We call them amarillis, we give them as gifts as amarillis. They are really not amarillis. Amarillis is a misnomer. Actually, the botanical name is and I have it spelled out here phonetically, so I get it right, and you can test me on this, Stacy,
hippie astrum. Excellent work, thank you. I've got it phonetically spelled out here, but hippie astrum. So the hours we all know as amarillis are technically not amarillis at all, but hippiastrums. So true. Amarillis are temperamental plants. They're temperate plants native to South Africa. One fairly common one would be Amarillis belladonna. Some people are Southern friends who watch and listen to the show call them surprise Lily's. When you know, you get a rain and then all of
a sudden they're blooming. So technically what you're getting are hippie estrums, which are native to South America, not Africa, so you take a look at this nomenclature debate. You talk about taxonomy, genus, genera, genre, however you want to pronounce that genera things botanical naming, an organization, hybridization, sub genreenna just say, it's going to make your head spin. It's crazy. And so the whole point here is this, Uh, what was Linnaeus? Carl Linnaeus? What was his original intent?
Was it for the South African plant or was it for the South American plant which is really technically a hippiastrum and not an amarillis, even though it's being sold to you as an amarillis waxed and in a sweater.
I mean, I'm done. You've pinpointed in a roundabout way the difference between botany and horticulture, which is when we talk about the botany if something, we're talking about these scientific designations and the scientific aspect of it, where the horticultural aspect is simply if you walk in to a garden center and ask for an amarillis, are you leaving with the plant that you went in to get? And if so, then it worked. H But you know, let me tell you something about Linnaeus. His name was not
Carol Linnaeus. It was It was not.
I always call them Carl.
It was not Carl Linnaeus. He gave he latinized his own name. His actual name was Carl von Linnay, and Linaeus was a latinization of his own name that he created to kind of give himself a binomial, like he gave plants and animals.
So, no, wonder people struggle with botanical names and Latin names, and I think I'm going to create a Latin name for myself.
Okay, I look forward to this. We should, you know what, We should come up the Latin name generator on our website and then everyone can generate their own scientific name for themselves.
Let's do it. That's going to be fun. Anyhow. I love amerialists or hippie astrom or whatever you want to call them, but I like to grow them in soil and pots. So I just kind of went on a rant here. I'm really not into those stand on their own waxed sweater.
Yeah, do you have an amoralist you've had for many years? No, you get anyone every year?
So I did for a long period of time. And you're right. Amarillis are similar to Christmas cactus. Or we have some listeners and viewers who have carried over a point settia from year to year and then given it the dark treatment it needs in order for the bracts to color up. And of course fruitcakes too, right, yeah, we passed those along too. So no, but again, there's something about a plant like that, A beautiful plant like that. I want it growing in soil.
I agree, And they are elegant, and I don't personally think that the bulb, despite being brown and flaky, the tracks from the plant in any way at all. I think it's part of the beauty. But you know, we all have different, different approaches, and I'll tell you they would not be selling as many waxed amaryllis as they are if people didn't like them.
You're right about that. And on a final note here, let's get ready for some holiday hot chocolate. Cocoa farmers in Ghana expect a boost in the twenty twenty four five season starting in October after a sharp fall in production this past season contributed to boosting global cocoa prices to record levels. So get ready to enjoy some hot cocoa. The cocoa beans are on an upswing.
All right, good to know and it's good to is the season.
Stacy, thanks so much, fun to do the show with you and Adriana. Thank you so much, and thanks to you for watching on YouTube, listening on radio, and listening to our podcast. Have a great week.