Transcript
Brett: Welcome, welcome. as one of the very first, one of the very first
Jessica : Hello.
Brett: The voicemails I ever received in extension started with... Welcome, welcome. It was a great one. I still think about that person a lot.
Plant People: Wait, somebody called you and left you a voice message?
Brett: Called me left me a voicemail.
Plant People: and what
Brett: He said Welcome, welcome. this is and then he said his name and then he spelled his name out like if it would be like welcome welcome This is... bre Brett Wolf. B.
Brett: are... eat like it was and it was a long game
Jessica : That's great.
Plant People: If that happened today, I'd be like, this is AI and I'm deleting it immediately.
Brett: This was back this is back when we were a proper culture.
Plant People: This.
Jessica : I had a great missed call once. This person left me a long voicemail asking the most like ridiculous questions like that you get in extension and went on. This whole rant. and then just hung up It was my brother.
Jessica : Who did it? And he intentionally did it and did like all the things that we get wild calls about.
Brett: o
Jessica : He put them all in one message, but nobody else in the office knew that was my brother.
Brett: That is really good.
Jessica : So then I was like, oh my goodness, I've got this phone call. From this guy listen to what he left me and I played it and every I wish I could have filmed everybody's faces in the office because they were all just shocked and i was like yeah
Brett: And no and nobody knew nobody knew until later?
Jessica : They didn't know until after I told them after they were just like.
Brett: Ugh.
Jessica : The range of emotions of just like, oh, my gosh, how are you going to handle this to like, how are you like?
Brett: That's...
Plant People: What?
Jessica : pissed off like how you gonna handle it right so
Plant People: How dare he?
Jessica : How dare he say those things?
Brett: I recently had a very positive. plant interaction. File it under PPI. Positive plant interaction.
Plant People: No more acronyms. We're dying over here
Jessica : I can't keep up with them all.
Brett: Okay.
Jessica : I don't have a chief.
Plant People: Alphabet soup.
Brett: It's okay, but I spelled it okay -ay. How about that?
Plant People: Yeah, okay, okay, okay
Brett: Perfect. Um. So... I, many moons ago, it's about bonsai, but... It's not really about bonsai. It's about plant propagation.
Plant People: Don't worry, nobody drop off. We promise it's not an episode of Just Bone Time.
Brett: to ever Stay with me here. So i went to the I went to this lecture that my club put on a number like a year or two ago. There's this guy who lives in Virginia who came and he's like, I would call one of he was like in the cadre of like some of the OG.
Brett: bonsai people in the united states so like got started in the 80s when it was just magazines coming out of japan that were terribly translated and causing the fractured knowledge landscape that we now have in american bonsai where everyone's like do this no do the opposite of that and yada yada anyway so he was part of that og contingent has been doing it for a long time
Plant People: sir
Brett: But he did this talk. focus on pines. And then he says at the end, like. you know Something that I've i kind of like have become known for is that I i cultivate these these pines. They're called... Zuisho, Z -U -I -S -H -O.
Brett: White Pines. So they are. Kind of aesthetically similar to like an eastern white pine like we would see.
Plant People: mm -hmm
Brett: um More similar to a Japanese white pine, but they have little teeny tiny needles. And that's cool because in a bonsai, you want small, small leaves, but.
Plant People: Right.
Brett: What's really cool. is They... will though difficultly. propagate from cuttings.
Plant People: What?
Brett: As pine trees.
Jessica : oh
Brett: ah Yeah. And if you're thinking to yourself, Cool.
Plant People: ah Kind of a big deal.
Brett: You all have talked about cuttings. Well, pine trees don't generally propagate from cuttings. It's very, very difficult, if and impossible if not impossible.
Plant People: if
Brett: These ones are very difficult to do. anyway so He does that and he's like, if you are if you want to, you can get on the waiting list. It's like four years long or something. But every year I send out a call to the people on the waiting list and I answer them in order of who does it and whatever.
Brett: And so I got the email. about three three weeks ago
Plant People: ah
Brett: And of course I like respond within three minutes of receiving it.
Plant People: Yes, give it to me.
Jessica : Yeah.
Brett: I was like, I'll take the biggest one that you have.
Plant People: All of them.
Brett: I don't care. Like, whatever. If you got all you have is a smaller one, that's okay, too. Radio silence. He says nothing.
Plant People: You're like, oh god, should I email again?
Brett: The other day... ah my wife Annie was like, I did. You got a bonsai today. And I was like, no, I didn't. I didn't order any bonsai.
Plant People: What?
Jessica : It just showed up.
Brett: Just showed up. He like wanted, I sent him a check. in the mail.
Plant People: uh -huh
Brett: Uh, very old school he sent me ah just an invoice you know i didn't prepay i didn't have a shop app or shop a whatever app to track it.
Plant People: Solid.
Brett: I didn't have the false hope of a shipping label created.
Plant People: Old school.
Brett: And I thought that they actually shipped it.
Plant People: Oh, yeah.
Brett: No, I didn't even know it was coming at all. It was literally like, if you want it. Great, let me know. I sent him, yes, I want it. Heard nothing else until it just showed up.
Plant People: with an invoice.
Brett: with an invoice.
Jessica : wow
Brett: payable by check or friends and family Venmo.
Plant People: ah
Brett: And so.
Plant People: I listen.
Brett: now And it's like...
Jessica : you You're so happy.
Brett: It's is little this little tiny thing. It may make it, it may not. um We'll see. But they grow super slow. so like
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: i'll probably It'll probably be like...
Plant People: But is is it already rooted?
Brett: It's rooted. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah, it's it's been and it's been rooted for like ah a year or two
Plant People: Okay, okay, okay
Plant People: Okay.
Brett: um So he roots them from like a tiny little like a single candle like floret or whatever you would call it
Plant People: Mmm. Mm hmm.
Brett: And this one has... two or three sets of internodes now that it's grown. Um, And this is one of his big ones.
Plant People: ah
Brett: And it's like. Tiny.
Jessica : Aww.
Brett: But that my hopeful, my hopeful, my hope is that I can Maybe. Turn this one into a mother plant and play play around with propagation because the odds of me getting this tree to the size of.
Plant People: Mm hmm. Mhm.
Brett: actual bonsai in my lifetime is probably not great. Um... Which is fair.
Plant People: But getting it big enough for it to take cuttings from is.
Brett: but getting it big enough for someone else to do. And also he's the only one and he's old. He's like the only person that I can find in the United States who is propagating this. um And for at least for sale.
Jessica : wow
Brett: So.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: um Maybe we'll enroll one of our future guests. uh sherry enroll the pod squad We'll all take a, take a. roll the dice on prop trying to propagate some zoetia white pine.
Plant People: Yeah, Sherry, who we'll have on in a couple episodes, would be the only person I would trust to that. I love me some good propagation, but... um I if I'm the one propagating them I have more luck when I get rooted cuttings like if they're just like freshly rooted cuttings I tend to I don't know why but I tend to kill them i know It's very unfortunate when I've spent a lot of money. Like if they're.
Plant People: Like normal rooted plugs. It's good. But if they're just like barely rooted. I i just shock them too much somehow.
Brett: Yeah. I have... I have a theory about this.
Plant People: Okay.
Brett: I have a theory about this because generally speaking, when I grow trees from cutting or seed.
Plant People: I wanna hear it.
Brett: Those are the ones that tend to survive longer term. Even after they're established, the ones that go down and I'm like, I have literally no idea what just happened.
Plant People: Mm -hmm. Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: are almost always not the things that I started.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Brett: And my theory is that there is like a variety, especially starting from seed, you have this like variety of genotypical material in those seeds because seeds don't.
Plant People: Mhm.
Brett: don't aren't true to type exactly. And even with the cuttings. that like there's something about Like I am selecting for the type of environment that I create.
Brett: you know I may be a slightly wetter waterer.
Plant People: Mmm.
Brett: than you are.
Plant People: Right, right, right
Brett: And so in the process of doing that, I'm basically, and so when you root them, the ones that would die under the care that you give them regularly.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: Die.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: And the ones that survive survive.
Plant People: Yeah. Yeah.
Brett: Whereas if you're taking in cuttings, it could be that all of them.
Plant People: I'm my own little microclimate.
Brett: Yeah. but I mean, it' for real.
Jessica : Right.
Brett: and And I think that that like that's in bonsai, that's really common for people to talk about, like.
Plant People: What is this?
Brett: Basically, how how dry do you let it get before you water is like... a matter of art.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: Anyway, so but I was so the idea I i got out an ah envelope.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: and i printed out a letter that i wrote just a short note and i got a stamp and i wrote a check and I dropped it in the mail.
Plant People: i love sending letters yes
Brett: Yeah, I've also been shooting photography on film So I'm like fully living in 1990.
Plant People: So old school.
Brett: I'm living in the ah send a self -addressed stamped envelope to Nickelodeon in order to. enter in something or whatever.
Jessica : gets slimed.
Brett: they get slimed yeah now you can get now you can get slimed on the internet it's just i you i don't want to you know i like the I like the vintage analog.
Plant People: People pay for that. I don't know.
Brett: That's right.
Plant People: That's something we don't talk about on on this podcast particularly.
Brett: That's right.
Jessica : yes
Brett: What are you talking about? Anyway, so that was a fun.
Plant People: You know, that the...
Brett: A fun rare plant propagation story.
Plant People: Aw, that is fun.
Jessica : That is.
Brett: And we're going to talk about less rare plant, but still fun.
Jessica : It's cool.
Brett: propagation of sorts or at least It's kind of a... divisive topic, would you say?
Plant People: A little bit defensive. Now I'm not going to be able to say it.
Brett: You couldn't have said it better myself. Yeah.
Plant People: You know, I'm really known for my speech um
Jessica : I'm not even gonna attempt it.
Brett: yeah
Plant People: I was like divisive, decisive, but all the words. is Yes, division is ah what we're talking about because it is the time of year to be doing.
Plant People: division on some of your perennials if you want to if you need to if you just have a hankering to have some more plants uh now is a really good time to do it for a lot and it's funny i've been getting People who ah love me.
Plant People: probably more than I deserve have been like, I have plants, would you like some? And because they've been dividing like crazy, which is why I'm like, oh. this would be a good topic because everybody is interested in doing this.
Plant People: And I'm also digging up and moving. It's another good time to be moving perennials. If you planted something recent in the past couple of years and you're like, wow, it really hates it here.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Plant People: Or I really hate it here. Now is a good time to be doing that.
Brett: So... in case someone I'm speaking for our future audience. Someone is binging this down the road and they're not listening to it as it releases in real time.
Plant People: Hmm.
Brett: When you say now is the time to divide.
Plant People: Yes.
Brett: What's that typical?
Plant People: and
Brett: timeline. especially if they're driving, don't look at your phone to see.
Plant People: Fall.
Brett: the date the date.
Jessica : Yeah.
Brett: We're going to tell you right now.
Plant People: Yes, we're going to tell you right now. Fall is usually for most plants, and and I will say fall for warmer. um climates, which we're in. Kentucky is zone like 6B7, depending on where in Kentucky you are. so um I would say zone six or below, you can divide in the fall. If you're colder than that, then spring might be a better time for you to do some of this. What do you think, Jess?
Jessica : I would agree. I would think, um and also kind of go by. The like flower time, when you think about that, like if things are flowering.
Plant People: and
Jessica : In the fall, maybe you wait to divide them in the spring.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : um
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : you know, But definitely the... um
Plant People: Spring bloomers.
Jessica : Fall is the right time for us. for it's a little We stay a little warmer right now.
Plant People: and when you start getting moisture so it's like the plants can kind of settle in
Jessica : Yes. Kind of goes with like the tree planting schedule.
Plant People: Yeah, yeah.
Jessica : week.
Plant People: And then a lot of the plants we're going to talk about are going dormant. So you're dividing them when they're... not requiring a lot of energy. um They're already starting to maybe lose their leaves or start to turn yellow or something along those lines.
Plant People: And so then you can divide them. at that point and they're usually pretty fine and types of things the one that i've get Three separate people have given me Iris this year, and I am just...
Plant People: So flattered by that. um I'm like, it's the year of the iris for me. And they're trying to give me more.
Brett: What a...
Plant People: And I'm like, well. I haven't planted the ones you gave me.
Brett: what a What a love line. Perfect love language for you.
Plant People: i I do feel very, very, very loved. And some of them have no names. Some of them are coming from locations that are very special to me. So that's pretty special.
Plant People: um
Brett: So not to not to be a... whatever do you feel pressure when you receive stuff like that
Plant People: like to make it live.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: No.
Brett: it Spoken like a truly seasoned plant person.
Plant People: No, is. I only have one plant that I felt a lot of pressure and it was this enormous lemon tree that I have that was like 20 some years old and is given to me.
Brett: Right, I remember, yeah.
Plant People: And I was like, as long as I don't kill it in the first year, that was kind of like my.
Jessica : Right.
Brett: And that's that's the one that...
Plant People: if If it dies after that.
Brett: That's the one you have subsequently made lemon bars and lemon.
Plant People: Mhm. Limoncello.
Brett: uh cello and other You just won't let us forget about all of your success with that lemon tree.
Plant People: various
Brett: So I'm glad to hear it worked out.
Plant People: lemon things it only has like a couple lemons so far this year though so it might not be the year of the lemon it's the year of the iris though so um but yeah no in general i'm just kind of like i mean if it does I'm a live or die gardener though, so.
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : I've only had one pressure with that, and that was with – Peony, peony, however you choose to call it.
Brett: So.
Jessica : from my grandparents' house. that i was like but but it was i think the pressure was added not only because it was special but
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : I transplanted it at the completely wrong time of the year because I had to, right?
Brett: Yes.
Plant People: It's like July.
Jessica : It was like the house is selling. This is your chance. And it was, it was like June.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : And so I was like every day.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : Be like. Are you live? Are you alive?
Plant People: Please be alive.
Jessica : Do you need some more water, please? So, you know, the next spring, that was the one area I was watching to see if there was anything happening.
Plant People: but
Jessica : um So that added pressure to that one, but everything else kind of the same. Well. Hopefully it survives.
Plant People: Good luck. And you just like wave as you like water it in.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: You're like. Good luck. See you when I see you.
Jessica : See you in the spring.
Brett: i've all I've already made peace with that Zui Shou Pine that I was talking about. like It is both alive and dead in my mind.
Plant People: Hmm.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: And so. What happens happens. um I'm going to do my best. but you know. Who knows?
Plant People: let Let this be for for our new gardeners and new plant lovers who may be listening. um Let this be a lesson. it will get better and if you kill things welcome to the club it means you're a real horticulturist um because
Jessica : And then you can get new plants.
Plant People: Yes, and then you get new plant i'll never get over that we've talked about it before that meme of loki and they're like um new gardener so upset about plant dying and then it's like this uh loki meme and he's like yes well Anyways, or yes, very sad. Anyways.
Brett: Yeah. And and let let me be clear, we're we're trying our best to make it work, but there are just things that happen and you just, you start, you you like.
Plant People: And that is. Yes. Yes.
Jessica : Things happen.
Plant People: Just...
Brett: the first time that you do everything quote -unquote right and something dies your heart breaks the next time you're like, okay.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: this is ah This is a collaborative dance between me. the the plant and the environment.
Plant People: Mother Nature. Yeah.
Brett: ah And sometimes the dance goes south. So anyway, Iris.
Plant People: sometimes you pay a lot for it and you're like wow this is this is really bad but anyways yes um iris if you have iris and you have so iris are one of the ones okay so maybe we should start reasons why you divide might divide your plants one they're overcrowded so if you've noticed that maybe your peony or your irises these are like two that i see a lot will
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: Just slowly stop really blooming and you can't figure out why. There's a couple reasons you can look into, but one could be overcrowding. The other one is that, you know, you just don't like where it is anymore. Maybe it's just not doing as well as it should. So you're going to move it to better sunlight or...
Plant People: better water or whatever. And then the third is like, I just have a lot and I want more. And you want to be the person who gives someone else some pretty iris and makes their day. So there's, those are kind of the biggest reasons I think to divide or move your plants.
Plant People: um
Brett: And one thing one thing I always thought about with this and other things too, and then eventually start. thinking it But like, I was just like. In nature, no one goes and divides the thing.
Plant People: Hmm.
Brett: Like, what's the deal with that?
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Brett: And like, there's multiple things. One is it's like a backup plan, you know, in case one of them rots or something like that. Part of it, though, is we're trying to get it to do something that it doesn't necessarily... want to do in the same way that a tomato plant doesn't really want to produce a giant, big, juicy tomato.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: We've bred it to do that. It wants a tiny little thing that can produce a lot of seeds.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: It's a similar kind of thing. And so like I was always kind of like,
Plant People: No.
Brett: what the heck why why would you plant this thing if you have to go in and divide it like it's cool that you can but that you kind of like have to if you want it to be big and have its own
Plant People: Yeah.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Brett: its own space to get
Plant People: Yeah, it's it's like, ah that's a really good point. So like you're not going to find a lot of the iris that you're go you know you see that you can buy as an everyday person. Those aren't like...
Plant People: that exact type is not out in the wild somewhere and yeah you know what i mean like the or they spread so differently they spread by like a tiny seed and so yes they're in that spot for 50 years because they started as a seed versus we're putting entire plants in that could be 10 years old already you know so there's um
Brett: Right.
Jessica : hu
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: there's kind of that aspect that's a really good point and brett because it's like why they don't do that in nature well yeah because none of the half the plants we plant these days aren't found in in wild nature
Brett: right Exactly. But it was always just the lingering question in my mind that I was afraid to ask. And now I'm not afraid because you guys are so nice to me.
Plant People: Yeah. Aww.
Jessica : yeah
Plant People: No, that's great. It's a great question. But yes, if you've got, um let's see. o to iris peony what else are big ones to divide um in the fall Jess.
Jessica : Uh...
Plant People: that people like to have.
Jessica : People like to share. uh Daylilies, I know are one of them.
Plant People: Mmm.
Jessica : They're like one of the easiest ones.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : If you're ever in doubt, you're like, I can't do this. If you have daylilies, practice.
Plant People: I might kill this day, Lily.
Jessica : practice on the day lily you won't kill it Okay, that'll build your confidence.
Plant People: You won't. Yeah, you won't you won't kill them. Iris are kind of the same. You really.
Jessica : Iris are the same.
Plant People: You won't.
Jessica : They're really easy to... you know The thin out.
Plant People: You can have like little little nubs of those the the rhizomes that are like right on the surface of the soil.
Jessica : Yes.
Plant People: you need just like a It's kind of like a potato. You'll need a little nub with a little bit of green.
Jessica : huh
Plant People: If you're not sure what an eye looks like, just look for a little bit of green.
Jessica : Right.
Plant People: And that's all you need. You just go from there. A little.
Jessica : I know people like to share like coneflowers, rutabecchia, right?
Plant People: nu Mmm. Mhm.
Jessica : The black -eyed seasons that are really, they'll they'll take over.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : they will They will spread themselves.
Plant People: Yaro? Yaro's an easy one.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: The split too.
Jessica : arrows.
Plant People: Anything that would kind of spread that spreads fairly easily, like if you just kind of as you're observing your garden, you're observing things just like kind of clump up and get bigger pretty quickly.
Jessica : Um,
Plant People: That's a really good indication that it's something that's easily easy to divide and or move.
Jessica : yeah
Plant People: And what we're most.
Brett: Johnson grass.
Plant People: yeah Huh?
Jessica : Yes. Yes.
Plant People: Johnson grass.
Brett: Johnson grass.
Jessica : Johnson grass.
Plant People: Jot some grasses. Peak, peak.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: If you can't grow Johnson grass, we need to have other discussions about.
Jessica : um
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : Tell us your ways if you can't grow Johnson grass.
Brett: Right?
Plant People: Right. Like I'm going to need to know what you're doing exactly because. um
Jessica : Also think of this like...
Brett: Don't plant Johnson grass. That was just a joke.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: that was just
Jessica : Yeah.
Brett: Sorry.
Plant People: Please. And if you really want some, I'll, I have it. You can come get it.
Brett: Disclaimer.
Jessica : Have lots of it. like even like um
Brett: What about like a, oh, sorry.
Jessica : Oh. I was going to say, you were talking about clumping things that made me think of like cat mint that we see, but then also like catnip in my life for some reason.
Plant People: Mmm. Mm hmm. Mm -hmm.
Jessica : The multiple places I've lived, my mother -in -law has always like just taken a shovel and chopped some catnip right in half and gave me a clump to plant um out in the yard.
Plant People: Yep. yep
Jessica : So like other, you know, it doesn't have to be really restricted to just those flowering perennials. Like there's some other things that can be.
Plant People: Mm -hmm.
Jessica : divided up this time of year. and spread around.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : Go ahead Brett.
Brett: i I have... planted. Um... I'm trying to remember now when I did it, but like I've ordered Beirut. tubers and um Uh...
Brett: rhizomes and things.
Plant People: cors
Brett: bulbs, corms, and tubers. ah Like, ah so like ah Asclepius, so, like... um Uh... No queen.
Plant People: I'll go eat.
Jessica : Mm -hmm.
Brett: stuff. I'm trying to remember when I planted those. It might have been when it was warmer.
Plant People: spring probably if they if you ordered them they probably would have came in spring yeah yeah
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
Brett: Yeah. I was just trying to think of like. If that was a...
Plant People: Yeah, the problem with milkweed and there's like a handful of things that we grow around here that have.
Brett: divisible thing. or
Plant People: a really deep root system. So milkweed is a good example of it.
Brett: yeah
Plant People: It's like, um I don't think it's a true taproot, but that's a terminology that people I think can kind of relate to.
Brett: Mm hmm.
Jessica : Right.
Plant People: um It does not like to be disturbed.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: um She's a little bit of a diva and she does not want to be moved. And she does not want those roots chopped up versus other stuff.
Brett: Period.
Plant People: You know, you can quite literally take a shovel into the middle of the plant and just dig out a chunk of it. Asclepias milkweed is usually not one of them.
Jessica : Right.
Plant People: So collect those seeds and plant some.
Jessica : Plant them in the fall.
Plant People: for
Jessica : So they have their cold period to go through and make sure you mark where you planted them so you know where they're coming up in the spring.
Plant People: Yes. Yep.
Plant People: Yeah. Don't weed this out. Right. Exactly.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: But that one I would stay away from trying to think of some other stuff that maybe. isn't ideal um to come up. We'll talk about woody plants um on that episode with Sherry, who's our...
Plant People: or resident expert on woody shrub cutting. So right now we're just talking about what we think of as like herbaceous stuff. So that stuff that maybe dies all the way back to the ground in the wintertime.
Jessica : Yeah.
Jessica : One that I already kind of said, I like. Kind of think about like time of year of flowering when things are best transplanted.
Plant People: yeah
Jessica : So even though I've already said that, like thinking of like asters. Right.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : Like ideally, maybe you would. divide them up in the spring when they first start coming up.
Plant People: Mhm.
Jessica : However, I had one that was already, it needs to be in a spot where it gets more sunlight.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : And it was already kind of going down and I was cleaning up some beds in preparation for frost. So I don't have just a bunch of melted plants in about a week.
Plant People: You're so smart.
Jessica : Um, And.
Brett: that that that is ah That is the planning ahead thing we talked about on a previous episode.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: Present Jess being kind to future Jess.
Jessica : Yeah, I have to collect some coleus, right?
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Because we got to save all the coleus.
Plant People: Very true.
Jessica : And I'm also going to have melted coleus in a few weeks.
Plant People: And it is gross.
Jessica : Um, Right. But this Aster that didn't do great.
Brett: Oh yeah.
Jessica : I was like kind of cleaning up cleaning it up, and when I was pulling on the stems, they just popped out.
Brett: Just smelt it.
Jessica : And they had little little like little plantlets coming on.
Plant People: er
Plant People: this
Jessica : So I was like, oh. It's not really technically the right time of year, but here we go. We got it. And I just took it over to another side of my yard where it'll get full sunlight and planted it and made sure to water. And we'll see if I remember one that I put it there in the spring.
Plant People: yeah
Jessica : And.
Brett: Yeah. Yeah.
Jessica : But so like you can unintentionally.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : you know move things just as you are cleaning up.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Some of them are that simple that they will pull apart and you can just plop them in a new, a new spot.
Plant People: Mm -hmm. Yeah.
Jessica : So.
Plant People: Yeah, there's ah some mums, like the perennial mums that are like that too, where they bloom you know in fall. But a lot of times if it if the ground doesn't freeze, like if we have a really warm you know fall, early winter.
Plant People: After they do bloom you can actually transplant them as long as the grounds not frozen um because they have so much growth little little baby growth that comes up and kind of like stays, a lot of time they'll stay like green and just sort of like really low to the ground all winter.
Plant People: And yeah, they can be transplanted. Those moms, um there's a couple things like that. Moms, asters. um Is a good one. Oh, I remember one that's hard to transplant not because you can't it'll transplant just fine But like, good luck.
Plant People: You need, you know, a backhoe to get them out is Baptisia. Have you ever tried to dig out an established Baptisia? Yeah, get you a backhoe because they stay in there.
Jessica : No.
Brett: That's ah like... False indigo.
Plant People: Yes, false indigo, come usually in purple, but yeah.
Brett: and for the for the common namers.
Plant People: Yeah, yellow, white. um all kinds of colors now but uh yeah yeah good luck with that one
Jessica : Yeah, I have lots of them.
Brett: Yeah. We have all, we have three colors of baptismal bank.
Plant People: Yeah, it does divide. You can divide it. But again, it's going to be those roots are huge.
Brett: It gets... One of them gets crazy tall for some reason and it kind of stresses me out.
Plant People: Yeah. ah
Brett: It's like so wispy, but it's like stood up all summer
Jessica : It's a plant plant confession.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : I've planted that three times and it has struggled. in my yard.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: oh really
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Hmm.
Jessica : And i've like always I'm like, what am I doing wrong? Like.
Plant People: You're you're giving it too much love. I think they just want they're a prairie plant
Jessica : I guess so I just... It just stuck it out there in the yard.
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : um Something.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: Yeah, it's a dry dry and like beating down sun. And it's like.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Brett: Okay.
Plant People: thriving.
Jessica : Okay.
Plant People: living for life, living this best life.
Jessica : Uh. doing a lot of daffodil classes right now in preparation for a potential daffodil show in the spring so we've talked a lot about dividing uh daffodils right and that like this time of year it's kind of like Well...
Brett: Hmm.
Plant People: o
Brett: o
Plant People: Mmm. That's a great one.
Jessica : where are they? Or like, maybe if you have a plan, like in a fence row or certain areas, you can go out there and, you know, dig them up. and divide them and spread them around that way if you kind of know the location but then we've also talked about kind of going back to that spring Once that foliage starts to die back and it starts to turn brown.
Jessica : That's the time for some of those bulbs that we plant now in the fall. that you can go ahead and divide them. In the spring, but you just got to wait until that. it starts to die back because i know that's a lot easier because you know some people have
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : those spread all around their yard. And it's like a surprise, unless you know a good established patch of them.
Plant People: Mhm.
Jessica : It's kind of a surprise of where they're going to pop up.
Plant People: Oh! Yeah, that's what...
Jessica : Right. Right?
Plant People: Sorry.
Jessica : so um
Plant People: ah
Jessica : Like I have a good I had three that I waited too late to put in the ground last year. Three left. I kept thinking I was hitting rocks, but it was really good. The ground was frozen. And ah yeah, so I then.
Plant People: but Oh, yeah, Jess.
Jessica : um
Brett: We call those water rocks.
Jessica : just yeah planted them in a flower bed so i kind of know where they are So I might dig in that area to find them to put them out in the yard.
Brett: Tell me... Tell me more about this daffodil show.
Jessica : Oh, we're gonna attempt to do... An official, non -official... daffodil show uh for it's kind of a spring gathering little
Brett: Who's we?
Jessica : We as in... myself and other community members in Mercer County who are interested.
Brett: So you are you acting as a as a... daffodilist or are you acting as the county agent?
Jessica : I'm acting as the county agent who also loves daffodils a lot.
Brett: Okay.
Brett: Hybrid.
Plant People: I want to be a daffodilist.
Brett: That's really cool.
Jessica : So. So.
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : We're giving out. Daffodil bulbs, if they arrive. they were supposed to They were supposed to ship the last week of September.
Brett: m
Jessica : They're not here.
Plant People: and
Jessica : um But from five different divisions of daffodils. So people can enter. In those divisions.
Plant People: Got like your. bubbles and your butterflies and all of that.
Jessica : Yeah.
Brett: Oh, division the word division kind of threw me off because I was like.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: I thought it was like five ceremonial divisions that had happened in the community.
Jessica : Right.
Brett: No, turns out five category divisions.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Brett: Wow.
Plant People: I also.
Brett: And and what are those? What are those?
Plant People: Thought that.
Brett: Sorry. I'm sorry.
Jessica : Oh. There's like... trumpets and large cup small cup uh butterfly double like it's all based on the different shapes of the flowers and then it gets broken down even further into the different color divisions which at one point can get extremely overwhelming because it's like based on
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Brett: wow
Plant People: mm -hmm
Brett: wow
Jessica : The pedals. to the cup so like a flower could be a
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : A Y. W. Y, which means that pedal is yellow, white, yellow. And then it'll have like. the cup colors be completely different so it can be A whole lot of cake.
Jessica : You could get really, when I was trying to order some very quickly, you could get overwhelmed and confused about.
Plant People: overwhelmed. I just go, this is pretty and this is pretty.
Brett: How ah how intense like is there ah the people who are involved so far?
Jessica : Yes, yeah
Brett: Is there a gradient of intensity about it?
Jessica : So. We have, I will, I i so i said it. that this is going to be a laid back event. for this first time.
Brett: Okay.
Plant People: ah Upfront.
Jessica : Okay.
Brett: You lost me.
Jessica : I was, I was, I was afraid.
Plant People: This is chill.
Jessica : that we're gonna have everything's gonna be laid back
Plant People: Brett was about to hyper fixate on daffodils for like the next six months.
Brett: i was like well i just want to see it i'm not going to participate look i'm
Jessica : Now... I'll... Well, let's... well There is a show in. ah Wincha in Clark County.
Brett: Okay.
Jessica : That they have an official daffodil show. And the ladies who went and viewed that one told me how intensive it was. They said everyone there was extremely nice and welcoming because everyone who was involved wants everybody to be involved with growing daffodils.
Brett: Yeah, i yeah.
Plant People: Love that.
Jessica : um But you could make it.
Brett: Also true of cults.
Jessica : You can make it very intense if you'd like. ah that I kind of laid the law down. at the beginning. I'm like, this is going to be a laid back thing.
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : We're not going to have official judges.
Brett: This isn't a Dahlia event. Everybody calm down.
Plant People: and really chill.
Jessica : That's right. We're going to have a good time.
Plant People: Everybody chill.
Jessica : And everyone's going to be happy when they see daffodils because they make you happy.
Brett: Well, so...
Plant People: Like daffodils because daffodils are happy. Yes.
Jessica : They're happy.
Plant People: Love it.
Brett: You mentioned daffodils. And when I think of daffodils, I think of them as the kind of second in the big three spring flower, like landscape flower things.
Plant People: Mmm.
Brett: I think of crocus and then I think of tulips.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: okay
Brett: Do they factor in here at all?
Plant People: Crocus can be divided by just these little tiny bulblets and so you just kind of dig up a clump and
Brett: Bublet.
Plant People: Pull off the boblets.
Brett: Bulblet.
Jessica : I didn't know about Crocus, which I feel like I should have. down. that I've Planted a bunch of the mix.
Plant People: Hmm.
Jessica : bags of them and they all like It's like, duh, they're different. They're different species, the different colors. Right. And so they have different bloom times.
Plant People: Mm -hmm.
Brett: hu
Plant People: Mhm.
Jessica : So I kept waiting, you know, thinking like, why am I not getting this mask display?
Plant People: Why are all the white ones not coming up?
Jessica : Right. ray Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : And then, but it worked out nicely because I had them all spread out for a much longer period.
Brett: watching
Plant People: Fun fact.
Jessica : merging.
Plant People: There is a type of...
Brett: Watching Crocus is...
Plant People: crip
Brett: Sorry, well i have mine's dumb. Yours is going to be good, so you go ahead.
Plant People: Oh, my mine's just a fun fact that... um The like. crocus is where we and and not every crocus remember their species as jessica said
Brett: Not all crocuses.
Plant People: Not all crocuses are croci.
Brett: Rambit.
Plant People: uh that's where saffron comes from is a type of crocus so for Fun fact that people might not know.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Yes. And you can grow saffron in Kentucky. um it if you haven't can put it that species i believe likes it slightly warmer if i remember correctly so you just kind of have to have it but some people have grown it in crates um in like potting mix and then harvested their own saffron which is very tedious as one can imagine so Fun fact.
Brett: i Can I tack on a fun fact? It's not really relevant, but it's one that I think you all will appreciate.
Plant People: Yeah.
Plant People: ah
Brett: Did you know? that the persimmon tree is in the same genus as Ebony.
Plant People: oh
Brett: Yeah, it's called it's sometimes called White Ebony.
Plant People: I feel like I heard that, but I... Hmm.
Brett: Like as in the the African dark black.
Plant People: Even... Yeah.
Brett: Oily hardwood species used for use for...
Plant People: same genus
Brett: fingerboards for guitars and keys on pianos.
Plant People: Is it just not as highly... uh as what is it highly sought after because it's
Brett: i think it doesn't I think it doesn't thicken up as much.
Plant People: Oh.
Brett: Uh... like So it's not really like. you could get like a tiny little bit but the some of the Ebony trees can get kind of, anyway, that's this complete sidetrack. What about tulips? What about tulips?
Plant People: Um... Yeah. So, I mean. In theory, that's how tulips... we get tulip bulbs right because people and usually in holland and that general area are growing tulips and they grow them in a way where over time one tulip you know they form little bulblets and they form multiple big tulips and then those are planted and gotten bigger and bigger. And then eventually we get the big tulips that we're used to. um It is not recommended.
Plant People: For here. our weather and soils are not what Holland's weather and soils are. There's a reason they're so um popular. uh grown over there but Yeah, I don't know.
Plant People: People have mixed feelings about tulips and I think it's been their personal experience. Like you can talk to one person in Kentucky that's like, oh, I've had the same tulip patch bloom every year for the past 20 years.
Jessica : Right.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: But like. We, as the scientists who are recommending, you know, consistency, right, is the name of the game. um We usually tell people that they do not survive the winter or the plant, the bulb might survive, but it might not produce a bloom for several more years.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: So that's kind of a way to think about it.
Brett: That's been my experience my experience with tulips has been my experience since the age of 18 with my hair um
Plant People: No. Yeah.
Brett: Some of it comes back. Not reliably. and less every year.
Plant People: Bread.
Jessica : That's great.
Plant People: Jeff's kiss. That that one.
Brett: but I mean, you could still it's it becomes an homage to hair or an homage to a tulip patch across time.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : That was good.
Plant People: Right.
Brett: And there are some stragglers that for some reason they are just bulletproof and they will.
Plant People: well
Brett: Be here till the end. So. Yeah. That's been the case for us too.
Plant People: i'm I'm really impressed by that one. i'm and um I feel like that's almost like the name of the episode there, um even though...
Jessica : Good one.
Brett: Yeah. Ugh.
Plant People: Even though we're talking about division. um
Brett: Yeah. division and loss.
Plant People: People are gonna be like, I don't actually know what this episode is about.
Jessica : Yeah what is this one even about?
Plant People: um Well, and let's...
Jessica : I have to say one more thing about bulbs real quick.
Plant People: Yes.
Jessica : If you are getting ready to plant bulbs for the fall.
Plant People: Bulbs.
Jessica : Just invest in the tiny auger that goes on the drill. If you're going to play it multiple. Game changer.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Right.
Brett: Another tip for augering.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: uh, Hold on to that thing.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: ah because two two things can happen.
Jessica : yeah
Brett: One, the the drill is stronger than... other like your wrist or whatever and it will like whip and it can either tweak your wrist which is what sometimes happens to me when i when i don't respect the tool or it like spins and cracks you Ideally in the knee, not in the face, but.
Plant People: Yes.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Mm hmm. Is this?
Plant People: And. decap Yep.
Brett: I've hit myself in... pretty much every appendage with a drill auger thing. But I agree with you, Jess.
Plant People: Mhm.
Brett: It's so nice to just.
Plant People: Mm hmm. i dig i have like a little trench i'll do like a tren a little trench and put them all in the trench you just
Brett: And yeah.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: pop up the soil and um but i'm i'm doing like thousands when i do that so it's a little
Brett: Okay, flicks. We get it.
Plant People: I'm just saying if there are people out there who want to have thousands of daffodils, I recommend a trench. Okay.
Jessica : I'm just slowly trying to naturalize a hillside.
Brett: Totally.
Plant People: That's all I'm saying.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: But back to division.
Jessica : Yes.
Brett: Mm -hmm.
Plant People: Let's talk about the actual physical. act of dividing a lot Most of the plants that we've talked about, now they're like different forms, right? Like an iris has sort of these rhizomes, not sort of, has these rhizomes that grow on the surface and then the roots are down in the soil. You got peonies, which are sort of this tuberous clump that's underground. And then you have something else like...
Plant People: I don't know, Aster or M. echinacea or rudbeckia that have this like clump that forms green growth on top. All roots. underneath nothing.
Plant People: Nothing bulky under there. so You can pretty much divide.
Brett: Not much junk in that trunk.
Plant People: No, not a ton of junk in the trunk. um or as she's She's whimsy. All right.
Brett: Yeah, look.
Plant People: um
Brett: It takes all kinds.
Plant People: You can pretty much divide all of these, even though they're very different structures. And I rarely would say this, but... Pretty much the same way, which is just a shovel.
Plant People: Right to the noggin. like um yeah so the find the center of of the plant the center of the crown this is
Plant People: more important with peonies because you need to get a part of that crown in each division um with iris and with like echinacea or something like that it's less important because it's there's a lot more crowns to deal with with peonies you really just have kind of that one main area where those leaves are coming up from and you just take a shovel and you can just literally go right into the middle and then
Plant People: dig and pop up around it like you're cutting it in half uh if you if you just like got a lot of rage that day this is a great activity for you um
Jessica : mm -hmm
Plant People: Highly recommend you'll get a lot done, but usually a really good rule
Brett: Is that hypothetical or is that from experience?
Plant People: I'm... The people know. The people know the answer.
Brett: Hypothetically.
Plant People: um The. A good rule of thumb is like, I don't like to cut back even like, for example, peonies right now, right? Have all dead foliage.
Plant People: I won't, if I'm going to divide, I'll wait to cut that back because it's easy to see.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: where that crown is so um if the if there is a leaf on it then you got piece of crown if there's a leaf coming up out of that then that is a piece of crown and that's just like a You don't have to guesstimate if you got a piece of it. um If you've got some leaves, you're you're in good shape. And with iris.
Plant People: All of that is much more visible, so it makes life a little bit easier. And you can divide these up again as long as there's at least one leaf per section. that's plenty and you can divide those up um you can start on the outskirts so some people If you have really old peonies, like when I worked in Boyle County, there was a lot of really old historic homes.
Plant People: that had peonies that had been there for 50 years and uh so the things are you know like six foot wide and you can actually come from the outside and just start like hacking off chunks of it from the outside and and it'll refresh that way.
Plant People: irish you can do the same thing those things spread like crazy so um You can start from the outside and work your way in. Or if you've got a smaller plant and you just want to divide it in half or in thirds, you can do that. So it's a lot easier. and less scary than it seems because it's like you're like you're telling me what you're going to take a giant shovel and just cut my plant in half and like Indeed I am.
Plant People: that is that is my recommendation to you
Brett: Well, and in some cases, like you're it's produced multiple tubers or multiple crowns.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Brett: And so like. Even if you accidentally chop one of them in half, you've still got more than you started with on that original one.
Jessica : hu
Plant People: Right.
Brett: Um, and And to your point, circling back earlier, to you were saying some stuff has had, had not what we were just talking about, but other plants have deeper roots. Like how deep. Do you have to go to make sure you're getting the whole crown?
Plant People: Yeah, usually the crown is kind of right at the surface level. So it's either right, it depends on the type of plant, either right above the surface or sometimes right below the surface. Like um if we're talking about peonies where they're starting to... Uh,
Plant People: They'll pop up in the spring. Those little pink buds will come off.
Brett: uh -huh
Plant People: um So there that crown is sort of right below the surface versus like... an echinacea or cone like cone flower and stuff that's actually right above the surface uh so as long as you're in that area and then you'll want to get a chunk of the root system.
Plant People: And so with its peonies, that one's a little harder because you got this big mass of stuff. But I would say don't stress. If you have some of those break in half, um they're fine.
Brett: Yeah. Definitely not.
Plant People: They're fine.
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: um i have
Jessica : I think. but
Plant People: Yeah, i have I don't sometimes want to dig a big enough hole for the root mass that I have, and so I will cut the root mass down and cut those tubers in half just so I don't have to dig a bigger hole.
Plant People: So don't stress too much about that.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : I was going to say about like. So once you have dug them. Like depending on if you're just moving them in your own yard. easy peasy right you already know like maybe where you're going to put them and you can plant them you know transplant them right away but if you're going to share them with friends you know some things are a little hardier that we can abuse and they might sit out and dry out a little bit and still be fine
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : But then there's...
Plant People: Iris.
Jessica : yeah there's things like to avoid doing like you may like put them in a bucket with a little bit of water and keep the you know the area moist you know keep the roots moist or something like that but like
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: Good point.
Jessica : putting things in buckets of water. to like sit in for you know um somebody actually has just dug some peonies and brought them to the office here for a co -worker and they had dug them like this last week and i've left them in a bucket of water because i thought they were like oh that'll be good and i was just like oh no no no and the person was very
Brett: o
Plant People: Ooh.
Plant People: There's still roots that still breathe.
Jessica : Right.
Plant People: yeah
Jessica : And so I have dumped the water.
Brett: oh Let's hope these were Lotus. lot lotus ah
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Right.
Plant People: Yes.
Jessica : And it was like...
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : you know, the person had Yeah.
Plant People: An inch of water. Yeah. is good.
Jessica : They had good intentions.
Plant People: like
Jessica : And I was just like, oh, you did?
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: Right.
Brett: Moist, moist not wet.
Jessica : You did? You you you filled them with water?
Plant People: Mhm.
Jessica : Okay.
Plant People: Oh you did, didn't you?
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: um Another good thing, if you've got a lot of newspaper ah laying around, you can kind of shred that newspaper up and into just some strips and wet the newspaper down. So it's like there's still air pockets in there for the roots, but it's keeping the root roots more moist. um That's the way they ship a lot of bare root plants is in wet newspaper. So that's if you're like, wow, it's going to be like two weeks. Sometimes it's more before you're going to plant something or get it somewhere. That's a really good option um is to just put some.
Plant People: get some wet newspaper on it and then there's just more room for error because uh again unless it's iris uh because they are currently sitting in an an Amazon box on my porch steps for the past two weeks.
Plant People: Thanks.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: And they're going to remain there.
Brett: Ends up looking like this like dried out cigar at the end.
Plant People: You know?
Brett: Like, oh.
Plant People: i let I let them get rained on.
Brett: And they do fine.
Plant People: I was like, they're not in a bucket. They're in they're in a box. So I just let them get rained on.
Brett: It's breathable.
Plant People: They're fine. like
Brett: So I have a question. and a comment The comment hinges on the question.
Plant People: Love it. Okay.
Brett: Uh... How often? Are you dividing things? Or maybe more like... How do you know when you should versus shouldn't?
Jessica : We've talked a lot about Iris. So like. for For them, like at my parents' house, I was like, huh. Looks like you got a big hole in the center of your irises there.
Plant People: as
Jessica : And then I walk over and they're all layered on top of each other. And it's like, oh, time to thin those out, right?
Brett: from
Jessica : And I guess it just depends on like your. your landscape right like i have a cat mint plant that i love but it has become massive and it's like starting to smother other things out.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : So I could probably divide that up.
Plant People: I want some.
Jessica : Yeah, you can have some. You know... I think that's when it comes to it. we're like Black -eyed Susan hops around and it can take over. Not saying that things have become weedy.
Jessica : Right. But just.
Brett: No, I... fully understand what you're saying.
Jessica : But like when they like start to, you know.
Plant People: sometimes though
Brett: Yeah. It may not be a traditional weed and it may have a pretty flower, but holy moly, there is some stuff in ours that I'm like.
Jessica : Right.
Plant People: they They misbehave.
Brett: Too much.
Plant People: Sometimes you'd have to like put them...
Jessica : Right.
Brett: So. so i guess what i'm getting at is it doesn't it doesn't it's not like you if you have iris you have to divide them every year nor probably are you dividing them every year
Jessica : They're really happy.
Plant People: Keep going.
Plant People: No.
Jessica : No.
Jessica : No.
Brett: So if if if you have if you have like ideal conditions for growing iris and they are just popping off and reproducing like crazy, maybe.
Plant People: No, like...
Brett: But like generally you're you're evaluating is what I'm getting at. And if if I were a noob, which I kind of am.
Plant People: Yeah. Mhm.
Brett: How would you? The hole in the middle, the little fairy circle of... ah
Plant People: Yeah, I think that's a great, peonies are a good example of that too.
Jessica : one
Plant People: you Like there still is plant there, but that my area might not bloom or might not have a lot of green, um even, you know, leaves that come up.
Jessica : yeah
Plant People: So that's a really, honestly, most of the plants we talked about, that is like. The. like to sit like decider right there as if you just suddenly have this empty space and there's just plant all around it that seems to be doing really well, it's time to divide it. That's like.
Plant People: your asters your moms your peonies um that's a really good uh identifier and like it'll so It'll also, before it gets to that point, it'll stop blooming as much.
Plant People: too so if you just notice that you're like you know it used to just bloom all the way through may and now it stops blooming within a week uh that could be why too is it's just smothering itself um
Jessica : Mm -hmm.
Plant People: That way.
Brett: It doesn't have enough enough resources to put into the bloom to prioritize them.
Plant People: Yeah. Yeah. But I would say like. If you plant something, I wouldn't. Unless you want to move it or divide it to a for a friend, if you're just thinking like... I don't want to touch it until it has to be touched. Like I wouldn't even glance at it until at least year five.
Plant People: And depending on what it is, it could be year 10. Like don't. stressed about oh i can't plant perennials because they're too much work like no
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : ah Those are easy.
Plant People: some Some of these plants, it's like 20 years before you ever have to do anything.
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : Right.
Plant People: or
Jessica : We're like.
Plant People: to them so
Jessica : You know, it's just like you plant in one location because you're like you're excited and it's the springtime and you're and it's before like the sun, like we've had daylight savings and all that and the sun moves and all that kind of stuff.
Plant People: Mhm.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : And you're like, this is a great location. And then as you go through the summer, you're like, oh, this is a terrible location.
Plant People: This is a terrible location.
Brett: Oh, poor poor little Iris is getting blasted by the sun.
Plant People: Oh no.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: man
Jessica : Yeah, right. um
Plant People: That's me.
Jessica : That happens a lot.
Plant People: I do that to at least one plant every year, even though I know where the sun goes.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: And I'm just i'm just like, sacrifices have to be made.
Jessica : Right.
Jessica : Right.
Brett: Yeah, but I think the the thing is that... to my point earlier, like it doesn't happen in nature. Like this seems like ah it. It, it... It's not a thing where this is something that has to be done every year.
Plant People: Mhm.
Brett: like other some other plants that are more finicky and
Jessica : Hey.
Brett: The other thing I would say is... When use. when you divide them and then you replant that new that new tube or whatever that new thing back That first year in particular,
Brett: it Is going to feel so tiny compared to maybe what you had thought of, like thought of before often, often that's the case, especially if you're dividing it pretty, you know, pretty intensely.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Brett: And so like giving it a year. or to to really fill back in to to like feel like, Oh, okay.
Plant People: To recoup.
Brett: This is where it's like starting to peak and look really nice. But it's a weird thing when you're used to this, like. fairy circle of like all of these things just going it's like a shrub you know and then you're like oh one but it's blooming really nice uh it's just a different different kind of feel
Plant People: enormous,
Plant People: but it's an extra big, beautiful flower.
Jessica : And that's also...
Brett: Yes.
Jessica : Yeah. And that's also something to think about too. When you divide things and move them, they might not bloom. that first year again so like don't think Oh, I divided this and...
Jessica : oh I ruined it.
Plant People: um Yeah.
Jessica : It's not going to bloom.
Brett: we We care about it blooming much more than the plant does.
Jessica : Right.
Plant People: Mhm.
Jessica : it It needs that time to get established.
Brett: It wants that photosynthesis, baby.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: It's got to get those roots back up too and make sure you're watering it pretty well but if it's an established plant you you don't have to baby it quite as much as a new plant yeah yeah which is nice but
Jessica : It'll be fine.
Jessica : Perennials should be easy.
Plant People: um Well.
Jessica : At least I think they are.
Brett: despite this Despite the division,
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: I think we came together in the end.
Plant People: i was like he's pausing for dramatic effect Yes.
Jessica : Charmatic.
Plant People: If you guys have questions on dividing plans, if you can divide something, ah i I would first tell you, you know what? Contact your county agent because they're smart and they're going to help you.
Plant People: If you're in Kentucky, contact your county agent. If you're out of Kentucky, contact. the closest one because every state is different and i'm not exactly sure what to tell you but if you can't find them or you have a very very specific question about irises because i have a lot right now feel free to shoot us an email hortculturepodcast at gmail .com you can also follow us on instagram you can send us a message on there
Plant People: at Hort Culture Podcast. And we will be happy to help you ah with all of your plant dividing questions because it is fun. And that is currently things that Jessica and I, and maybe Brett are even doing and probably Ray, wherever he is.
Plant People: um dividing his plants so we hope that helped please leave us a review if you enjoyed this episode and leave us a review with what you are going to divide at home because you listen to this episode and give us five stars it does help people find us and we do really appreciate it but We thank you so much for being here today, and we hope you'll join us next time.
Plant People: Have a great one.
