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.

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

We are very, very happy that you can be with us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty, and I am a Clemson horticulture agent.

If you ever want to study something just wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, horticulture is a wonderful thing to study, and I'm still learning stuff!

Terasa Lott, my cohost, and also a Clemson person.

You know, sometimes they have new plants and there are just all these fascinating things we can learn about things from other countries.

It's a lot of fun, isn't it?

> It sure is.

I think we all strive to be lifelong learners.

And speaking of, we recently had a large group from Clemson Extension go to the National Association of County Agricultural Agents out in Denver, some of them being recognized nationally for the work that they do.

And of course, learning and networking and bringing new ideas back to South Carolina.

<Did you get to go?> Unfortunately, I did not.

Amanda> Oh, well, you should have.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Because you are an outstanding employee.

If I may say so.

Terasa> Appreciate that.

Amanda> And also here.

Goodness gracious, what would we do without you?

Terasa> This is so much fun.

Amanda> Yeah, it is kind of fun.

Well, Stephanie Turner is down here from Greenwood.

Y'all have the most wonderful town... everything's there, don't you think?

It's beautiful downtown, too.

> Yes, we have a very vibrant downtown and a wonderful community, and I really enjoy living there.

Amanda> I mean, there are just so many flowers and blooming things.

And then, of course, you got the topiaries.

But, I mean, just all the time.

I think your downtown is amazingly lovely.

Stephanie> Oh, they do.

And you know, the city of Greenwood has a wonderful horticulture staff, which is unusual for a lot of, mid to, you know, large sized towns.

So yeah, they do a great job.

<Okay> Amanda> And then, you also, since you're a Clemson extension agent, you try to instruct "ding-a-lingy" people like our wonderful friend, Tom Nelson.

[laughter] He's one of your terrific master gardeners.

We just love when you come down to visit, Tom.

<Thank you> Your Master Gardener troop is the Lakelands Master Gardeners in the Greenwood.

And that's a big group!

And, I know you just said it's just been the happiest thing you've ever done.

> It is.

It's a great group of people who have coalesced around common interests and that's horticulture.

So, yeah, we have a great time, great group.

Amanda> And do y'all do anything to help with the downtown people at all?

Tom> We do.

We volunteer with the city in various places around the city to, work in city gardens and propagation, even the topiaries that are featured during our Festival of Flowers in June.

So, yeah, we volunteer with the city and also in other places in the area as well.

Amanda> And what a nice way to make even more friends.

Tom> Yes, very much so.

Amanda> So, if you volunteer with the city does that mean you'll never get a parking ticket, maybe?

[laughter] Tom> I haven't tested that yet.

[laughter] Amanda> Well, thank you so much for coming down.

Yeah.

And Brady Badder at Forest Lake Greenhouses, which is over in Florence.

And y'all have been there a good little while, I think.

> Yeah.

Going on 35 years now at this point, I think.

Yeah, late '80s we started.

And I think you just run the gamut of things you have.

Yes.

We try to do a little bit of everything, try to please whoever needs, whatever they need, from natives to annuals to shrubs and cool houseplants, which we'll talk about today.

Amanda> Yeah, cause you do have woody plant material.

<Oh, absolutely> Then you have greenhouse stuff and all kinds of fun things that you're gonna show us today.

<That's right> So are you a jack of all trades, A little bit?

Brady> Yeah, I try to do a little bit of everything at work, for sure.

I can take care of a plant in whatever department.

Amanda> You have to put hanging baskets together, or you could do that too?

Brady> Yeah, we do arrangements, and I do mostly houseplant stuff, but, yeah, we design pots and we design containers for people outside their baskets, whatever they like.

Amanda> Yeah, sometimes people have come on, who seem to specialize at that.

Brady> Oh, yeah, I'm good at houseplant things, our other girls are really good at doing the containers and the colors and all that.

Amanda> Yeah, great.

Well, thank you for taking the time to come.

We really do appreciate it.

And we're going to a friend mine's house, right outside of Saint Matthew's.

Dick and Janet Whetstone and Janet started growing roses, and she got the bug, let me tell you.

And Dick kind of has the fabulous, fun sports car bug a little bit, too.

You could have a really good time going to visit them.

Anyway, so Terasa, I think you've got some Gardens of the Week for us.

Terasa> We sure do.

This is your time to shine.

When we feature your yards and gardens or whatever beautiful photos you submitted, trying to maybe show off your green thumb.

We've been getting such a big response that instead of featuring just a few, we're now creating a montage or an assortment of photos.

So let's take a look at this week's submissions.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ How fun to have both flowers and fruit.

We appreciate you sharing your photos for the benefit of everyone.

Remember, this is just a small sample.

There are many more on our Facebook page.

I hope you'll visit there.

And when you see the call for Gardens of the Week, don't be shy.

Post your photos there and you may just see them on air.

Amanda> And I admire people, who have such stunningly hot weather who can keep things going.

Cause, if you've got a container, you have to water it twice a day sometimes.

Terasa> Yeah, they do.

They dry out really quickly.

Amanda> And you got to figure out maybe to add some more fertilizer cause, you know, you're watering it so much.

It can be... [sighs] a lot.

Yeah and we have people who are dedicated to keeping everything looking pretty, don't we?

Terasa> Yes.

And it's so rewarding, I think, to see the fruits of your labor.

Amanda> Isn't it though.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So sometimes people send in questions, and I bet you've got some for today.

Terasa> We do.

Let's see what awaits us.

We are going to try to help Wayne in Hodges, who is looking for an identification.

Sent along some photos.

"What type of tree is this, and is this a fruit?"

Well, Stephanie, can you help us out on this one?

Stephanie> Yeah.

So Wayne sent in some photos of a sugarberry.

So, Celtis laevigata.

Amanda> Yeah, hackberries are sugarberries.

Stephanie> Yeah, well, hackberry is the other, the occidentalis.

<Oh, okay> Yeah, but it's the same... same type.

The sugarberry has more of a smooth margin leaf than the hackberry.

Amanda> Well, thank you for setting us straight.

Stephanie> And it does have fruit.

Has, like, little droops.

Looks like a tiny little cherry maybe.

But in this case, the photo that Wayne sent actually has a little gall on it.

<Oh, fun!> So it's, you know, an insect that has, you know- Amanda> Made a home for its progeny.

Stephanie> Yeah.

And so it's right on the patio of the leaf and it's, you know, a swollen structure from that insect there, so.

Amanda> I'd always been told that hackberry, and I guess sugarberry too, were just fabulous trees for birds.

Does the sugarberry get the hackberry aphid, too?

That drops that horrible stuff.

Stephanie> I have not noticed, but I would imagine.

They're very closely related.

Amanda> It's just kind of ruined having that wonderful tree in your yard.

Stephanie> Yes, we have a hackberry in the rain garden in front of our office, and it gets them every year and it makes the sooty mold on our signage for the rain garden, so it is frustrating.

But yeah.

And and they do tend to be kind of like, I don't know, weedy plants, you know, because the birds drop the seeds.

Amanda> But, the birds do, I mean, I think it's a good bird tree.

<Yeah, yeah> Yeah.

We want to feed the birds.

<Exactly> Oh, well, always something.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, thanks for helping us out with that.

<Yeah, sure> Okay.

Terasa?

Terasa> We seem to be adorned with some beautiful plants, so perhaps Tom can tell us a little bit about them.

Tom> I'm delighted to tell you about one of my favorite hibiscus.

You probably can look at the leaves themselves and recognize that, but it's the blooms that are so unusual.

This is a cultivar called El Capitolio.

It was named in Cuba.

And El Capitolio refers to the Capitol building, the national capital of Cuba.

And as you can see here, we've got three different colors: red, yellow, and then orange.

But the thing that distinguishes them is the little poodle tail that comes up.

[laughter] A little pom pom that comes out of the end of them.

There are many, many flower forms in hibiscus, and this is one of my absolute favorites.

They're not particularly easy to find.

Amanda> That's what I was gonna ask.

Tom> In fact, it's nice to have a plant nurseryman right here, because one of the things that I wanted to ask is if he encounters, do you, Brady, encounter these?

And if not, why not?

Brady> Yeah, we definitely see a lot of unique varieties of hibiscus.

I have never seen these before.

They're very, <Ooh> Yeah.

super cool.

We'll be looking for sure.

When it comes to availability for hibiscus, we have to be super picky about if we're picking cold hardy ones.

If we're picking not cold hardy ones.

These, unfortunately are not cold hardy here.

<Right> So a little special care through the winter time.

But if these ever become available to us, I'm sure that we will have some.

Tom> And these are tropical hibiscus.

So, if the temperature gets down around 50, they need to be protected.

Amanda> Do you bring them inside or?

Tom> Yes.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

Brady> Yeah, inside with supplemental lighting for sure.

You should get the grow light when they come in.

Tom> And of course these need some pruning, which only encourages more blooms because they bloom on new wood.

Amanda> Well get on it.

Tom> Yeah, they do need it.

Amanda> So, you don't have to let it get too big then.

You can keep it a manageable size.

Tom> You can, they grow naturally to about ten feet tall to eight feet wide.

In, where they naturally grow outdoors.

But yes, you can easily keep these manageable size for pots.

Amanda> Well that's wonderful.

So that you could bring it in.

<Yes> That's terrific.

Gosh, aren't they pretty?

And did you go to a lot of trouble to find these or were you just lucky?

Tom> I bought them online from an online source.

Because I could not find them.

Amanda> How did you happen to come across them?

You just saw a picture one day?

Tom> Well, I'm originally from Central Florida, and my brother has a big red one in his yard.

Normally I get cuttings from him.

<Sibling rivalry> But his froze this last year in the hard freeze.

So he let me down and I couldn't get any cuttings from him.

So I had to resort to buying them.

Which turned out to be good because I didn't have these other two colors.

Amanda> Yes, and they're all so... so now you have to make some cuttings for him, I guess.

<Yes> Good gracious all mighty.

Okay, well thanks so much.

Okay, what you gonna show us, Brady?

Brady> Yeah, I wanted to talk about, like, some low light houseplants that can give you, like, some pops of color and, like, kind of show off with little care and be quite easy inside.

So two, like, foliage plants that I brought with me.

These guys, you have a Dieffenbachia.

And this is a newer variety that we got in the greenhouse that really has a lot of good variegation on the leaf.

Amanda> It's lovely and fun.

It pops doesn't it.

Brady> And it likes to go super dry between waters.

<Does it?> Doesn't care much about light level as long as you're kind of rotating it and giving it some all the way around.

It doesn't need to be repotted often.

Amanda> It would brighten its corner so, don't you think Brady> Absolutely, they get nice and tall over time and then any time it gets a little too tall, you just chop it.

Take that cutting off the top, prop it down into the pot, start it all over and it just keeps on going.

Yeah, easy as could be.

And then kinda the same for this guy.

So this is a marginata.

In my opinion, these are the best house plants that I've ever house planted.

They need very little anything from you.

You wait, at least for mine at home, I wait till I come home and I can just tell that the leaves are a little lower today than they typically are.

And that's when I give it a good soak.

They can live in their pots for a very long time.

They get very tall.

Amanda> How sharp is the point?

Brady> Oh, not at all.

Amanda> Let me see.

Oh, my gracious goodness, cause it looks like it might be kind of... and this little bit of pink on it is... gosh that's pretty.

Brady> We have some yellow ones, some that are more green, some that are more red.

There's a lot of cool varieties.

And they get really tall over time.

They give you, like, a little pompom on the top of the woody stem.

<Do they?> And you can prune them, where you prune them they multiply.

Very good plants to grow in the house.

Amanda> Heavens, gosh.

Well, this one looks great.

Brady> Yeah, I love it.

Amanda> Okay.

And do you have to repot it frequently?

Brady> You want to let them get nice and potbound.

Amanda> Oh you do?

Okay.

Cause this one's got some roots- <Coming out the bottom> And that's fine?

Okay, don't worry about it?

Brady> Not at all.

No, I let my plants get, I like to call it noodle soup.

When you pull it out of the pot, it should be a ball of roots.

And that's your indicator to go up a size.

Amanda> This is a really easy houseplant.

<Very much, yeah.> Gosh, thanks for telling people.

<Of course, yeah.> Okay, all righty.

Fun, fun, fun.

Okay, Terasa.

Terasa> Well, this year is America's 250th celebration.

And Stephanie and I were talking before the show, and I think she has a show and tell that is kind of along that theme.

Amanda> What you got for us, Stephanie?

Stephanie> So, in honor of the 250- Amanda> Not moonshine?

Stephanie> Not moonshine.

[laughter] Later, no I'm kidding.

[laughter] I was reading about, you know, Boston Tea Party.

Amanda> Of course!

Yeah, yeah.

Stephanie> What the colonists did, you know, to take care of their tea needs, after, you know, they were trying to, you know, do without tea from Britain.

Amanda> It'd be like not having any caffeine.

Stephanie> Yes, yes.

And so, of course, they were resourceful and went to their own backyards or native habitats and used all different kinds of plants, right.

And so I guess technically, if you're brewing something with another plant that's not tea, it's really called a "tisane".

Right.

But whatever they made a tea.

Out of just anything that they could find around their house.

And so, this one is a little concoction that has, camomile, and they used fruits and herbs.

This one has apple and rose petals.

<Really?> Yeah, a little bit.

Amanda> So you found some recipes?

Stephanie> This is one I ordered that somebody put together.

Amanda> Okay, because you didn't have all those things.

Stephanie> Yeah, I didn't happen to.

And then I thought, "Okay, if I had to make tea for my yard, what would I do?"

So I went in the backyard and I was like, I have some mint.

<There you go> I would use that.

They also used strawberry leaves and raspberry leaves.

Amanda> Goodness, I didn't know that those fruit leaves had flavor.

Stephanie> Yeah, and they used, you know, wild plants as well, so.

The word loosestrife, its common name ended up being Liberty tea from this period, because they were using it.

And so things like that, barks of different trees and stuff and some of the things that they learned from the indigenous people, you know, that the plants that they were using too.

And so that was their sort of snub of, you know, England, that they could do without that tea.

They could find their own purpose, yeah.

Amanda> Can we pass 'em around?

Stephanie> Yeah, you wanna smell this?

This smells really good.

Brady> I'm interested in the apple.

Oh yeah.

<Oh you could?> Yeah, so, and it's just you know- Amanda> It's actually real pretty sitting like this.

Stephanie> Yeah, it's pretty potpourri, I guess.

Amanda> I mean you could, you know, while you're, you know keeping it around to make tea, you could have it sitting in the kitchen and it would be real pretty.

That's something.

Liberty tea.

Mmm mm mmm.

Gosh.

Stephanie> But yeah, blueberries, any kind of fruit they had they can, you know use as well.

And then some herbs.

Terasa> You have to use what you have, right?

<Exactly> This one has a pleasant fragrance.

I would describe it more as one of along the herbal lines than a traditional like black tea from Britain.

Stephanie> Oh and if they did need the caffeine, you know, they can use the yaupon holly.

Amanda> Oh, I was going to say that I've got to have caffeine.

Stephanie> Gotta have your caffeine, right?

Amanda> Of course!

I'd forgotten.

Yeah, okay.

Well, isn't that just delightful to learn about.

And I'm glad they did that 250 years ago, yeah.

Brady> Does the yaupon holly contain caffeine?

<It does> I had not heard this.

Like in the berries or in the- Stephanie> In the leaves.

the leaves, the leaves.

Yeah, to make teas and- Amanda> Well, and the Native American people used it kind of as a purgative, too.

<Yes, they did.> At certain times of the year.

Drank lots and lots of it.

<That's very cool.> Which we shouldn't do.

Stephanie> Right, that's why it's name is vomitoria.

[laughter] Yeah, yeah.

Terasa> I could be wrong, but I think the yaupon holly is, like, the only caffeine containing native plant.

Stephanie> I've heard that as well.

Amanda> Well, and the Native Americans knew about it.

It's pretty cool isn't it?

Yeah, yeah.

All righty.

Great fun.

Well, Terasa?

Terasa> Let's see I think we have some more questions to answer.

Jeanette in Marion reached out again with a photo, said, "I've noticed a lot of black insects with red-orange markings on my plants and my tool shed.

What are they, and are they friend or foe?

Amanda> In the toolshed?

Goodness.

Tom, do you have any idea what's going on?

Tom> Well, I actually, I do, I'm not an entomologist and I don't play one on the television, but... [laughter] <We'll give you an honorary degree, today.> I have had experience with these boxelder bugs, and it's kind of interesting to see these photographs, because you tend to notice them when all of the sudden their population just explodes.

And they are... you can walk in your yard where there's leaves, they live in the leaves, or the mulch, or wood piles, and you can walk in those and the ground just looks like it is alive.

So it's a little bit alarming when you have to realize that you have these.

I suspect that Jeanette has a maple tree because a boxelder is a species of maple, and the boxelder bugs feed on the seeds and the leaves and the stems of the, the maples, they have piercing, sucking mouthparts and so- Amanda> Can they harm the tree.

Tom> And you know, the question too, was are they friend or foe, and actually, I would say they're neither.

They're just a nuisance.

They don't really hurt healthy maple trees.

So there's no need to take drastic action, when it's cool they'll congregate.

Amanda> I don't know when that was.

[laughter] Tom> No, me either.

But in the fall, they will.

And the way that... I have a maple in my backyard.

And I had a bumper crop of seeds this year, so I have a bumper crop of these boxelder bugs.

Amanda> Because that's what they enjoy?

Tom> Yes.

An easy, nontoxic way to reduce their numbers, this is the very best way to do it, in my opinion, is to take some soapy water, put it in a spray bottle and just spray it on the bugs, not on the plants, but in the mulch or pinestraw.

And that will reduce their number... also on the side of the building.

That will reduce their numbers rapidly, nontoxicly.

As I say, I would not use every day dish soap on plants because those contain enzymes, fragrances, that could ultimately damage the leaves of the plant.

So treat it in the mulch or the wood pile.

Stephanie> You can use insecticidal soap.

Tom> You could do that.

Have to be careful when you spray it.

Amanda> Well, I've just never heard of 'em being a problem before.

<No> I'm glad you... Yeah, cause it is a native- Tom> Yes, they are natives and they're really not a problem.

Amanda> If they crunch under your feet, that's not much fun.

Tom> They can be alarming when you see how many there are.

Amanda> Yeah, okay.

Well, it's nice that she doesn't have to freak out over 'em.

<No, no, not at all.> Okay, good news.

Okay.

Brady, what you got for us now?

Brady> Yeah, we'll stick with, like, low light things that really show off.

I wanted to talk about- Amanda> Talk about show-off.

Brady> So, bromeliads are kind of common.

They've been around for a long time, but we always try to find some unique ones.

Yeah, with different leaves and different colors and stuff.

In nature, these are epiphytes.

So they live attached to a tree trunk or a tree branch.

So they're always in that deep canopy of the tree.

Don't need any direct sun, really good about low light.

Really good about going super dry, not needing a lot of maintenance.

But they really show off.

Amanda> And they'll give you that kind of result?

Oh, wow!

Brady> And they multiply, so once one is done, and this is kind of a big misconception, a lot of people think once this starts to brown, you cut this off, and throw away the plant because the plant died.

That's definitely not the case.

It makes babies around the bottom, that they call pups.

Amanda> Oh, so the one that has the foliage, I mean, the flower coming out does dwindle but it'll have pup.

Brady> That's right.

Yep.

<Come on!> And you keep your foliage alive, don't worry about the flower because all the new babies are going to flower.

And then you'll have multiples that do it all at the same time.

Amanda> And this one even has a beautiful leaf.

Brady> Yeah, the leaf on this one is stunning.

<Gosh!> Oh yeah.

So another one, like the last ones we talked about that are just super easy, really do a lot of showing off with not a lot of effort wonderful in the house.

Amanda> And obviously don't need a whole lot of light cause they're up in the trees.

<Not at all.> Gosh, that's the prettiest thing I've ever seen.

If you like to cut a flower and put it on the table- Brady> These hold very, very well, <Do they?> same as, like, like birds of paradise flowers, those really thick, they just hold their water for a long time.

So they hold in vases for a long time.

But these are really sought after in the vase community from what I understand.

Amanda> Gosh, I mean, this can't go wrong with that.

Brady> They're really good.

Tom> Don't turn your back, they might disappear.

[laughter] <Very pretty, I like them a lot.> Amanda> So is this one going to open a little bit more?

Brady> Yeah, so the actual flowers are, like, inside of these petals.

So you will get little poofs that come out of these sometimes.

And you can also get seed pods off of these if they get pollinated.

The way they are you would have to hand pollinate them most likely if you were doing it.

Amanda> I think I'll just come and visit you.

[laughter] I'll let you do all that.

Okay, alright.

Well, thank you.

I've had fun going and getting, all kinds of wonderful things that a great vegetable shop has.

And heirloom tomatoes are hard... well tomatoes are hard to grow, to tell you the truth now.

But these heirloom tomatoes are really hard to grow.

And these are pretty normal looking as heirloom tomatoes go, sometimes they're really funky looking.

But anyway, they are just absolutely to die for.

They are so tasty.

Tasty, tasty.

Whether you like whatever kind of mayonnaise you want, a tomato sandwich made with these.

And Terasa, as I understand, they're hard to grow.

They're rootstocks or kind of "bleh."

But you can now get them grafted onto other rootstocks that are a lot more vigorous, wouldn't that be fun.

So that you might have some success with them.

And... [laughter] [chewing sound] I mean, this is the bomb.

Stephanie> Is that the Cherokee purple?

Amanda> Isn't it just gorgeous?

Terasa> My only complaint is I saw three of them, and I was like, "one, two..." [laughter] Now there's only two.

[laughter] Amanda> I'll clean this one up and slice it off, but they really are just... Anyway, so if you know someone who goes to the trouble... you know, they're expensive, but, I mean, you know, it's summertime.

It's a tomato sandwich.

I mean, life is, you know, short and it should be enjoyed to the utmost.

And, so I would suggest that everybody go and find one if they can.

Okay?

Now we're going to go and visit some friends, Janet and Dick Whetstone, at their home near Saint Matthew's, where Janet grows lots and lots and lots of roses.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Amanda> I'm in my home county of Calhoun County, halfway between Saint Matthews and Fort Motte, where my good friend Janet Whetstone lives.

And she is a rose aficionado.

We are just thrilled to be out here on the sandy soil.

You've made and just created this fabulous rose garden.

> Well, thank you.

I appreciate you coming to see.

We've had an unusual year with the drought and the happenings with the weather, but we keep going on.

Amanda> I love the story.

You were no longer married and Dick, your husband, who's a friend of mine, had lost his wife.

And when y'all finally got together, you said that, he said it made him sad to drive down the driveway.

It's a long driveway, I will say.

And so you said I need to do something to make this a happier place.

Janet> Yeah.

I wanted him to come across that pond and see everything bright and beautiful and a place where he'd want to be happy.

And that's how I started one shovelful at a time.

[Amanda laughs] It was a pleasure to start planting roses down here, because the soil was not like where you had been.

Janet> No!

We are hard clay in the upstate.

And when I got here, I stuck my shovel in the soil and found that it came back up and I thought I'd hit gold.

And then I started collecting every kind of compost and manure I could find.

I have a manure field.

Amanda> You really do.

And at first you just did roses, I believe kind of the typical way, where you'd have to spray and do this and that.

Tell me how that scenario went.

Janet> Well, a lot of people get so upset when they lose one rose and I've lost 52 in a bed, in this garden three times.

And I just pull 'em up, throw 'em out and try another kind.

Roses are bred for disease resistance now.

It's not like the old roses.

We used to have Peace and some of the old ones like Noisette.

And these have disease resistance built in.

And so most anybody can grow 'em and without sprayin'.

<Whoa!> So, we are a no spray garden.

And that has helped the balance of the beneficial insects which prey on the not so good ones.

But once you start spraying and alternating chemicals, that balance is disturbed.

Amanda> And I think the impetus for doing that was that Dick was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and stunningly, has been, for five years he's survived.

We are just thrilled, but you didn't want to be using all those chemicals around him.

Janet> Certainly did not.

And it was for the better because I was... I wanted these roses sprayed every 5 to 7 days.

Amanda> And now, it's just kind of nature.

<That's right> But you do keep them very, very healthy because as you said, y'all have all this compost, Dick goes and gets horse compost... Oh, I mean, horse poop.

I mean, cleaning out stalls.

<rabbit> Yeah.

Janet> Horse, rabbit, we go to the gin and we get the compost from the gin.

Using everything locally has been a big help.

When you know how to manage what goes together.

ChipDrop is a wonderful thing the community offers.

All you do sign up and they'll bring you arborist material.

And that's got all the microbes and things that you need that are active, rather than buying things in a bag where everything's dead in that bag.

Amanda> And Dick has all this equipment that he knows how to use.

So he can literally compost.

I mean, you know, it's just fun to see those huge piles out there that he manages until they're completely composted.

And then you can just top dress, I suppose.

Janet> I love a man with a backhoe.

He can really work.

[laughter] And he doesn't get mad at me when I dig up the well line or the electric line or anything else.

Amanda> And, you even use overhead irrigation, but time it so things have time to dry.

And as you said, you have selected roses that have resistance to some of the things that used to make it such a nightmare to grow.

Janet> Yeah, I tell people, don't fall for a pretty face.

You look that rose up and see if she's worth coming into your garden.

You look up her ratings, her history and everything about her, and there's even a list of what people say about how she reacted in their gardens.

Amanda> I know that pruning is important because, even with this disease resistant roses, you want good airflow, I believe.

And so every spring, I think is a big pruning for you.

And then kind of along and along?

Janet> Yes.

It's ongoing all through the year.

Once your roses, once you've cut those canes.

Your work just begins.

And then as they grow, you want to prune them to get your best blooms.

Because when you cut that stimulates that cane.

And rather than producing the seeds, it would if you didn't pick it off, it will go therefore into another rose so you don't lose, you know, your blooms that way.

Amanda> And interestingly, you said you try to pick things out that are more cold hardy than people might think we are here.

And what's your reasoning about that?

Janet> Well, we have such fickle weather in South Carolina and I choose a rose that will bloom and do well in like zone six through our zone in zone eight, because we have sudden drops in temperature and sometimes it lasts for days.

And that's when there is a lot of rose loss.

So be careful who you choose to grace your garden.

The pick is everything.

Amanda> Let's talk about a few favorites that you have.

Janet> Oh, I'd say the Queen of the garden is Miss Pinkie.

Miss pinkie is the showboat.

She blooms first.

She blooms one of the longest.

And when I post her picture, everybody wants to come see Miss Pinkie.

And she came from Roses Unlimited.

And then I love my Hurricane Katrina rose, which is Peggy Martin.

And that's a beauty that has a long, long time of bloom, too.

Amanda> And what's the story behind that one?

Janet> Oh, Peggy Martin is named for Mrs.

Peggy Martin, who had her in a garden in Louisiana.

<Yes> And with the Hurricane Katrina, this rose was... debris was dumped on her, and she was under saltwater for two weeks.

<No> And lo and behold, when the waters receded, Miss Peggy Martin was blooming and well.

<Woah!> And so she is a phenomenon.

And has her own Facebook site with millions of viewers, and everybody's wantin' to know how they can get a Peggy Martin.

And she's so easy to root.

Amanda> And she's kind of got a big, wonderful vibrant- Janet> She'd climb over the house if she could.

You have to watch her.

[Amanda laughs] But I like the theme roses.

I have a Cherokee rose, and that's the one my husband swears has a vendetta against him.

[laughter] She's got long hooked thorns, but she's beautiful when she blooms.

Amanda> But she's always catching Dixie.

Janet> Yeah.

I love the history behind roses.

The Cherokee Rose is one that depicts the Trail of Tears from the Cherokee Indians.

And this area is part of the Trail of Tears, so I had to have her in my garden for that reason.

Amanda> Janet, I love this because this is something that you do for your own self-gratification.

I think you do it because you love to share the beauty of these roses.

And do they bring joy to people when you take them to 'em?

Janet> They love it when they see me walking down their sidewalk and I'm carrying a big bouquet in front of my face.

They get so excited.

And they think, "for me, for me?"

And it just brings joy to people.

And that's what it's all about.

That's what all the hard work is about.

Amanda> And it can be for birthdays or sad times or just anything, I think.

Janet> Anybody that needs a smile.

Amanda> Aw, that's just lovely.

And, you know, I've known Dick for a long, long time, and he has his own interest, although he helps you a lot.

And I think he collects some kind of old cars or some little thing.

Janet> He does, he does.

He let me know he was going to go visit a museum in North Carolina, and he came back with a big surprise.

Well, before I go, I want to go over and have Dick show me those cars.

Janet> Oh, I hope you will.

I know he's glad to show them off.

Amanda> And who is this?

Janet> This is sweet Doby.

<Hey, sweet Doby> He's a rescue and the love and joy of our hearts.

Amanda> Aw.

Well, you've got a big heart yourself.

And thanks for sharing all the things you've done with this us, today.

Janet> Privileged to share the love of roses with you Amanda.

♪ ♪ Amanda> Well, you never know what you're going to see when you go to the country.

And so here I'm talking to my friend Dick Whetstone.

After all the stuff he does with roses and I... These cars are just amazing.

I would think everybody on a farm would just have some old beat up truck.

There may be one- > We got some of those too.

Amanda> But tell me about these cars.

This is just delightful.

Dick> Well, this green one, when I met my first wife, who died 25 years ago, she had a red one that was a piece of junk, and it finally died.

It left us somewhere, and we just left it there.

And I always wanted one.

Well, they quit making these in about 1976.

And we found this one in Myrtle Beach, this one is 52 years old right now, and it had 19,000 miles on it.

And today it's got 31,000 miles.

Never been driven in the rain.

And I kept it just because this was her car and I enjoyed it, I wanted a convertible and we kept it.

Amanda> It's just, it's so much fun too.

This is just a great, great, great car.

And then after you survived the cancer, you went up to look at a car in North Carolina.

And where did that end up?

It ended up right there, the red one.

I went up to a museum of cars, of corvettes in Raleigh, North Carolina, and I been wantin' one since I was about 12 years old.

Amanda> Oh, this was the car everybody wanted back then.

Dick> And this one is 61 years old.

And, I said, well, after five years surviving advanced pancreatic cancer, when several hospitals told me to go home and get on hospice, I had four moths to live, after I made five years and cancer free, I bought my first Corvette.

And this is a 1965.

Amanda> Isn't that just the most happy thing in the world?

Dick> When you get this old and once you've been through health issues, you enjoy the life that you have left.

Amanda> Well, I just think it's terrific.

And that you're having so much fun with it.

And during the Purple Martin parades, everybody in Saint Matthews gets to enjoy it, too.

Dick> They got to see it.

My son and his fiancee was in the Corvette.

And Janet and I were in this little green car.

We were going behind them, picking up the parts that fell off.

[laughter] Amanda> Well, thanks Dick, everything out here is just... It's been a glorious day visiting.

Dick> It has, I have enjoyed so much having you and your crew, we had a lot of fun.

Amanda> Yeah, I'm lucky.

♪ ♪ ♪ Janet kept apologizing for her garden.

She said, "Oh it's not at its peak."

I said, "I think there are plenty of roses here."

And we also got to ride a little bit in Dick's cars.

And that was a lot of fun, too.

We should all get a sports car.

Yeah, let's put it on a list, Terasa.

Terasa> Sounds good to me.

<A Making It Grow sports car.> It's not good for carrying around a lot of flowers, but we could get another vehicle for that.

[laughter] Amanda> Anyway, so, I was looking for hat stuff and Ann Nolte gave me some Althea, which closes up at night.

But the colors are so pretty.

I just think they're beautiful.

And it's the same family as cotton, the Malvaceae.

And that's the same family that these are in, so, what a fun thing to know.

And that we just kind of serendipitously, all came up with that today, because I didn't know you were bringing these.

Terasa> That really did work out.

And you don't, you have the cotton fiber, but of course, the flower, if we were able to see it, <Looks so similar> you can definitely tell, okra as well, in your home garden.

Really, it helps you put those relationships together.

So, you know, we're talking about the study of botany and that's one of the things you can start to identify plant families by certain similarities.

Amanda> Yes, yes, yes.

And okra, we just, you know, little okra, and we, you know, and if you don't think you like okra because you think it's "goosely," when you cut the okra pod, cut it... don't cut it into the pod.

Cut the cap off so that the pod itself is still sealed.

And then, I like to just steam mine, and then it doesn't get what some people object to.

Terasa> Mucilaginous is that the- <Slimy?> Yeah.

We like to grill ours, and it's not slimy at all that way.

Stephanie> I like them roasted in the oven.

Amanda> And do you cut... Do you cut the top off like I do?

I either do it whole or I slice them long ways <Do you?> and roast on them in the oven.

Amanda> Okay, it's pretty delicious.

Yeah yeah, yeah.

And halfway through the summer Terasa, remember Zack says he cuts his back.

Terasa> Yes, ratoon, is that the word?

<Yeah> Amanda> What's the word?

Terasa> Ratooning.

Amanda> And then, I mean, it's just amazing because then he gets I mean, you know, I have to take a stepladder out to get okra at some point in the summer, and then you get lots of stalks with lots more okra, all at an easy to pick height.

So, I thought that was great that he shared that with us.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well well, well, Goodness.

Where are we now, Terasa?

We have more questions?

Terasa> That's a great question, let's see.

We have a question from Claire in Greenwood, and we've been on kind of an identification theme.

So again, we've got a photo and Claire said, "What is this little gray moth hanging out on the branches of my shrub?"

Amanda> Okay.

Well, will you be an entomologist?

[laughter] Stephanie> Like Tom, I'm entomologist either, but, you know, plants and insects.

[indiscernible] Intimate relationships, right?

[laughter] So, it does.

I can see how it does look like a moth in this picture, because it does have a lot of wing to it, and it's a gray color, but it's actually a planthopper.

Amanda> Uh huh, tell us about planthoppers.

Stephanie> Yeah, planthoppers are a piercing, sucking insect.

And so this particular one may be, you know, feeding from the stems or the leaves of the shrub.

A lot of times, planthoppers, you'll see what they call like, "burn damage" on the leaves.

And so they're usually feeding from underneath the leaf.

And the top of the leaf will either look stippled or yellowed, and sometimes even, like, the sides of the leaves will kind of curl in and start to brown a little bit.

Amanda> And don't they often inject a little bit of saliva, something to make it easier too?

Stephanie> To make it run out faster?

This one, I'm not sure on that species if it does that or if they all do.

But again, I'm not an entomologist, but.

Amanda> Do you think she needs to do anything about it?

Stephanie> I wouldn't unless, you know, I try to do the, what, three foot rule.

You know, if you can step back three feet from the shrub and you're not noticing any decline or damage, then you know it's not time to do any control on that for sure.

Amanda> You're not on the garden tour.

And even if you were, you know, there are too many things to look at, nobody's going to go getting out their loop and examining things up close, I don't think.

Stephanie> And it's all part of the, you know, life cycle of everything that's out there.

Some bird might enjoy that meal later, you know?

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

That's right.

yeah.

I mean, insects are so important for birds aren't they?

Stephanie> That's true.

And you know, we don't need to just have a completely sterile environment in our yard.

That's not the goal.

Amanda> Okay, well, I think you've got something pretty.

Let's talk about it.

Brady> Some more colorful things you can do in, like, a more medium, low light.

So most people have seen orchids before.

This is a Phaleanopsis orchid.

People put a lot of weight on these and they think they're hard to care for, but they're actually, in my opinion, one of the easiest houseplants to care for.

There's been a big misconception in the world about using ice cubes when you water them and stuff like that.

That's definitely not the way you want to go about it.

Amanda> Hold still, so it doesn't jiggle around so they can get a good picture of it, thank you.

The roots tell you when they want to be watered and then when you do water- <They do?> You wait for them all to not be green beans anymore.

You want them to be gray and chalky looking.

Amanda> But if it's not in a clear container, you can't see that.

Is there some on the top that you can kind of see the upper part of?

Brady> You should always put them in a clear container, or into a container that has holes all around the side.

So even when you see, like your basic terracotta that has the random holes cut out of the side, that's for orchids.

Amanda> Come on!

Does that one has some holes in it?

Brady> It has holes in the bottom so your water can drain.

Just being able to visually see the roots- <That's important?> -that's how your tell is of, when they want water.

Amanda> I've been doing this kind of stuff for a long time and I've never heard that.

Brady> Yeah.

It's all they tell you when they speak to you.

Amanda> Oh, isn't that amazing?

Brady> You should always be fertilizing them.

They can bloom a couple times a year if you're feeding them properly.

Amanda> And how would you go about doing that?

Brady> So I like using a container that's a little deeper than this when I water.

You just mix up your gallon of water with your fertilizer, I like- Amanda> I don't think you need gallon for that one plant.

Brady> Probably not the whole gallon, but you can always leave that set- <Just leave it.

Yeah, yeah.> Any you water that you catch in your container afterwards, pour it right back in your container.

Use it again the next time.

The fertilizer is not used up.

Just wanna make sure you're soaking through the bark that it's planted in so that it'll hold that moisture for a while.

Amanda> Because the medium needs to be very, very coarse, right?

Brady> Very coarse, yeah.

A lot of times they come planted in bark, I recommend as soon as it's done blooming, you either bring it to me or your own time, like remove all of that moss and replace it with a bark.

Amanda> Oh, oh, oh.

Oh it comes that way?

Brady> Yes.

And the moss I almost exclusively see, cause root rot.

Amanda> All right.

Well, thank you so very much.

Yeah.

Okay, Terasa?

Terasa> I'm having envy over the, You know, I'm an orchid lover.

Amanda> Terasa loves orchids!

Terasa> Tom said this, it might disappear.

Tom> We can work something out.

[laughter] Terasa> Alright, let's try to help Suzanne in Aiken.

She said, "Can you help me identify a plant that looks like a clump of grass, but it has tiny, blue, star-shaped flowers with yellow centers?"

Amanda> Okay.

Well, Tom help us out here.

Tom> That is one of the most beautiful little plants called, common name, blue-eyed grass.

And it's not really a grass.

If you look more closely at it- Amanda> It's a flower.

Amanda> Well, I mean, a beautiful flower I mean, grasses have flowers too, but anyway.

Tom> But if you look closely at the leaves, you could recognize it as an iris.

Now, it doesn't have a typical iris flower, obviously, but they are just gorgeous.

And readily... spread in woodland situations as a border or in this case, in pots which can be brought indoors.

Would make a great little table setting when they're blooming.

Amanda> And there are several different species.

<Yes> And I found one, one time Terasa, in the median of the road here in Sumter, you know, but, isn't that crazy?

Terasa> Yes, you just never know.

I think they're being increasingly available.

Especially folks who are focusing on native.

We obtained some at a Master Gardener plant event.

Amanda> And I think it's Sisyrinchium?

Something like that, yeah.

Which is fun to say too.

And I don't know who gave it the name blue-eyed grass because if you look at it, it's yellow down there far enough.

So somebody didn't bend over and look closely enough.

But that is the name.

Tom> There are also some plants with white ones and yellow as well.

So they're just gorgeous little plants.

Amanda> It'd be kind of a fun thing to collect, don't you think?

<Yes> I mean, to have an area of your yard that was planted with this.

Tom> Exactly.

Easy to care for.

Amanda> Maybe start thinking about those, yeah.

Do you have any in your yard?

Tom> I have not got any in the yard.

No, I just admire them when other people have them.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

Let them do the work.

Tom> Yes, absolutely.

[laughter] Amanda> Okay, thank you.

What you going to show us next?

Brady> Yeah so, sticking with orchids, this is pretty exciting, I think.

So this is a- <I'm not excited yet.> This is a vanilla bean orchid <Oh!> So this would flower, you have to mature it for a few years, but it can flower for you.

Produces a very gorgeous orchid flower.

You pollinate that by hand, and that produces a seed pod, which is what we use to make vanilla and vanilla essence.

It contains the most vanillin, which is the flavor compound than any other plant in the world.

Amanda> Oh, there's some others that also?

Brady> Yeah.

Vanillin is a compound that can be found in other places for sure, but it's the most potent in the seed pods of your vanilla orchids.

Amanda> Have you ever gotten a seed pod?

Brady> No, I've had this one in the store for a year and a half.

So you have to mature them to three years.

I've cut and propped this one a few times.

And then we have, regular green ones too that are not variegated, that are a little hardier, it seems.

But yeah.

So you could grow this mature in your house with a good grow light and a proper humidity and, produce your own vanilla pods, which I think is super cool.

Amanda> Yeah.

Yeah, that's fun.

Vanilla extract, somebody said they, make their own out of the pods because it's gotten kind of expensive.

Brady> Yeah, and you can buy pods in bulk now.

And produce your own extract.

Terasa> I wonder how you pollinate it, though.

Brady> So it's a whole thing.

But, you know, a Q-Tip, you go in and you, and then you go to the second flower and you have to, like, remove a piece back and go in and it's a time consuming thing.

But that's why vanilla is so expensive.

All vanilla that is produced is hand pollinated.

Amanda> Woah!

Good heavens.

Brady> And this is only native, I think, to Madagascar.

Amanda> Gracious.

So no wonder it costs a lot.

Brady> Exactly, yeah.

Terasa> Is it pretty vigorous grow?

Brady> Yeah, it grows very quickly.

So a lot of your vines in nature are, you know, they're weeds.

So that's why, like your pothos and your monstera and all that stuff do really well in the house.

Same for this guy.

It's very easy care, likes it a little more moist than some of your other aroids.

So we never let the soil go hard dry.

We keep it moist all the time.

But other than that, it's wonderful.

And it'll climb on to any moss pole or any coco pole.

Amanda> Okay!

Well, come back and we'll get one and Terasa's a marvelous baker.

So we'll give her one, and she can bake something.

<That's right> Terasa> It might take a while to make the vanilla and then bake with it.

[laughter] Amanda> Okay.

Terasa, you know, Edward never got rid of anything.

In his grandmother's house, they never got rid of anything.

And so when we were finally, after people who lived there for well over 100 years, went over there when they were taking the house apart, and Edward came home with this and I said, I mean, this thing... you tell 'em.

Brady> A good five pounds.

Amanda> It's heavy!

Yeah, it's real heavy.

I guess it's aluminum.

Anyway, and what it is, is a lemon or orange squeezer.

How crazy is this?

I mean, this thing is stunningly complicated.

You could look at this part in here.

I mean, it's just got this incredible mechanism, this all oiled and everything.

The top has got these grippers on it, and then it's got this which has holes in it, so that the juice can come out and it's collected down here, in this thing.

You know, and... I mean, thank goodness somebody came up with that glass one.

Tom> It has a nice little pour spout on the side.

Amanda> Isn't this the craziest thing.

Yeah, it's got a poor spout!

I mean, who ever thought this up was an incredible designer, I think.

Terasa> Well, I can't believe you didn't bring an orange or something so we could actually see it work.

Brady> There's a half eaten tomato.

[laughter] Amanda> I mean, look at that thing.

Brady> It's very... they don't make it like this anymore, you know?

And you can adjust the height and everything.

<Oh, you can?> Yeah, that's what this looks like.

Amanda> Oh my word, in heavens.

Terasa> It reminds me very much of, we had an apple peeler and corer that we would use if you were making apple pie or something, that you didn't have to peel everything by hand.

It was metal and kind of heavy duty.

Amanda> This is pretty heavy duty.

Oh, and I think it's got something written on the bottom.

Hold on.

"Juice-O-Mat."

Juice-O-Mat, like, you know, like the things at the state fair.

Yeah, Juice-O-Mat, it's patented and everything.

Terasa> It was very durable, evidently.

Amanda> The Rival Manufacturing Company from Kansas City, Missouri.

Okay, okay, okay.

Thank y'all all so much for coming.

And thank you at home for being with us, too.

So come and join us next week.

Night night.

♪ ♪ 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.