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Plants For Winter Interest
79 Plays1 month ago
In this episode of Hort Culture, we discuss plants that bring life to winter landscapes. Our discussion highlights plants that not only withstand the chill but also add a splash of color and texture during the colder months. From the vibrant berries of holly to the sturdy evergreens that stand tall against the snow, we explore how these plants can transform a dormant garden into a winter wonderland. Tune in to discover how to create a year-round garden that brims with beauty, even in the heart of winter.
Perennials with Winter Interest
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Transcript
Provocative Plants and Bird Mugs
00:00:17
Alexis
Hey, friends. How's everybody doing today?
00:00:20
atack2010
Good, good, good.
00:00:20
Brett
I'm doing all right.
00:00:21
Jessica
Good.
00:00:22
Alexis
Yeah?
00:00:22
Jessica
How are you?
00:00:23
Alexis
um Good, because I'm looking at my inappropriate plant mug right now. um So it's full of, so it has plant ah drawings all over it, as you know I would have.
00:00:28
Brett
Hmm.
00:00:28
Jessica
Ooh.
00:00:29
atack2010
Is it like inappropriate?
00:00:36
Alexis
But they're all they all have very ah inappropriate names ah to plant.
00:00:42
Jessica
But like, you know, pro they're also the real names, right?
00:00:44
Alexis
They're real. or they They are real.
00:00:47
Jessica
Right?
00:00:47
Alexis
like If you look up this name, ah so as an example, the one in the bottom bottom of the mug is family jewels milkweed.
00:00:56
Brett
Mm.
00:00:56
Alexis
so um Also known as hairy balls milkweed.
00:00:56
atack2010
Mm hmm.
00:00:56
Jessica
Ah.
00:00:57
atack2010
Yeah.
00:00:59
Alexis
It is a real thing.
00:00:59
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:00:59
Brett
Ah.
00:00:59
atack2010
OK, OK.
00:01:00
Alexis
ah Also shagbark hickory, ah nipple warts, knobweed, sickie willy.
00:01:03
Brett
Mm.
00:01:03
atack2010
You.
00:01:07
Jessica
Nice.
00:01:07
Brett
Mm.
00:01:08
atack2010
me per
00:01:10
Alexis
These are all legitimate plant names.
00:01:11
atack2010
Provocative plant names, that needs to be that sounds like an episode. Somebody put that in the notes.
00:01:15
Jessica
They also sell provocative like bird mugs.
00:01:16
Brett
Mm.
00:01:20
Jessica
So, you know, if you're looking, if you're already planning for Christmas and you have a birder in your life, they sell those and they say like, yeah, like blue footed boobies.
00:01:20
Alexis
ah hu
00:01:20
atack2010
Yes, I've seen those.
00:01:23
Alexis
Yes.
00:01:26
Alexis
Who has a sense of humor? Or maybe not.
00:01:28
atack2010
Yes.
00:01:29
Jessica
And you know, that's the only one I.
00:01:31
Alexis
Has a picture of the bird on it.
00:01:31
atack2010
I have seen this shirt with all the bird names on it.
00:01:32
Jessica
Yeah.
00:01:33
atack2010
I've seen that shirt and it's pretty cool. And then it features like, yeah, yeah, it's good stuff.
00:01:35
Jessica
Inappropriate birds.
00:01:37
Brett
Just don't send, don't, without consent, don't send statement picks.
00:01:42
atack2010
Yes, or a pistol for that matter. Yeah.
00:01:48
Alexis
Yeah, I like that.
Winter Plant Interest and Landscaping Ideas
00:01:49
Alexis
I feel like that should be like ah the Horticulture Club's next ah shirt ah should be that.
00:01:53
Brett
It touches a lot of bases, you know, consent, consent is a good message no matter what.
00:01:55
Alexis
Don't send unsolicited payment picks.
00:01:55
atack2010
Just like a big Asiatic Lily. just Yes.
00:02:00
Alexis
Yeah, always, always, absolutely.
00:02:03
atack2010
Provocative plant names.
00:02:03
Alexis
Although that's going to change a lot for um the when you have to send those types of things because you have a botany class. so
00:02:11
Jessica
Right.
00:02:11
Brett
That's true.
00:02:11
atack2010
Or once the keyword, you know, filter at the university, you know, kicks out some of these names because it's like you're sending inappropriate material and we're like, no, we're not. It's a plant name. What?
00:02:21
Alexis
It's literally a plant name.
00:02:22
atack2010
What?
00:02:22
Alexis
Here's the Latin.
00:02:23
atack2010
Or we're talking about birding or whatever, Jessica. Yes.
00:02:26
Jessica
Whatever we're talking about.
00:02:27
atack2010
Yes, whatever we talk about from time to time, which we tend to do.
00:02:29
Alexis
Well, you know what we are talking about.
00:02:30
Brett
This level, this level of stir crazy, uh, thought and whatever else reminds, it reminds me of the way that I get in the middle of winter time, Alexis, how about you?
00:02:35
atack2010
Fever dream.
00:02:39
Alexis
Yeah.
00:02:41
Alexis
Yeah. it but It reminds me of all the ah beautiful plants we can have in the wintertime, actually, which is.
00:02:41
atack2010
Softball.
00:02:45
Brett
Hmm. Yes. Yes.
00:02:47
atack2010
You mean plants on the outside in the wintertime that are beautiful still?
00:02:49
Jessica
Plants that can provide some interest
00:02:50
Alexis
Yeah.
00:02:51
atack2010
Yeah.
00:02:52
Brett
Well, we think of them as beautiful inside and outright, but I guess if you're a a shallow guy.
00:02:52
Alexis
some poor
00:02:53
atack2010
Yes.
00:02:55
atack2010
Okay. Well, um maybe we can talk meristems if you want to, whatever.
00:03:00
Alexis
Yeah, we really time for another houseplant episode.
00:03:04
Brett
Wow.
00:03:05
Alexis
Maybe maybe we'll do one of those, bring on somebody who's who's a good at that other than Jessica and I.
00:03:06
Brett
wow
00:03:12
Alexis
So although although there's not very many of them because, you know. We're pretty great, but but yeah, so ah winter interest plants.
00:03:16
Jessica
That's true.
00:03:21
Alexis
I love talking about these because it's sort of part of that four season landscaping and, you know, or if you're a commercial producer, you you also could call yourself a stick farmer and some of these cases, which people legitimately do ah call themselves stick farmers.
00:03:37
Alexis
But if you're, whether you're landscaping or, you know, maybe you're doing some commercial horticulture, floriculture production. This is a good episode to maybe check out if you're kind of wanting to expand your season and or expand your visual impacts outside. So does
Evergreens and Alternatives for Winter Landscapes
00:03:57
Alexis
anybody have any like favorites that they like?
00:04:00
Brett
ah Before we I don't mean to offend but stick farmer it sounds that sounds Australian to me like an Australian person would like come up with that or say that Yeah, well a lot of cool they say a lot of cool stuff so they would check out
00:04:00
atack2010
I.
00:04:08
Alexis
they They might have. I don't know. That's just what goes around on the interwebs. People will say like, I'm a stick farmer.
00:04:14
atack2010
and Let's call it structural farming, maybe. yeah For winter interest, the all the plant needs. Now, I am serious. You say, well, what's some of your favorite plants? You know, when I was working in the landscape industry, I had one of the older architects there.
00:04:27
atack2010
I'm not a landscape architect, but he would help me out. And it was actually an architect that loved plants, which is awesome.
00:04:32
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:04:32
atack2010
But he said, you know, sometimes all it takes in the landscape is not cutting down something like an ornamental grass. That is not invasive. I'll qualify that, something like one of the You know sages or whatever, ah but he said sometimes all it takes for winter interest is structure You know something that'll capture leaves or snow or have some kind of presence in there and that may not even be color, but just something and But now commercially, when I started out, I was in commercial landscaping before I came to Extension for a time. And, you know, I was one of those that was guilty of, you know, we started out with the base planting of things like holly and Texas and junipers. You know, you had to have evergreens ever so, you know, when you're working with commercial landscapes or bigger home landscapes, you would lay out your base plants first, meaning
00:05:21
Alexis
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
00:05:21
atack2010
typically evergreens that would have a presence in the wintertime.
00:05:24
atack2010
We started with that, and I was guilty of just focusing too much on evergreens, but there's, I guess guys, there's like so many more plants there was then, and there's even more now with cultivars and interesting ah things along those lines.
00:05:34
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:05:39
atack2010
there's There's a lot more plants other than just evergreens that provide winter interest now, I guess. ah We were just talking about that before the show got started, and and there's a bunch, there's a bunch.
00:05:48
Brett
Well, I got a non evergreen that I like.
00:05:49
Jessica
What's that?
00:05:50
Alexis
h
00:05:51
atack2010
Fire away, man.
00:05:51
Alexis
and
00:05:51
atack2010
I want to hear about it. and Oh, there they are some of my absolute favorite.
00:05:52
Brett
Uh, I like, uh, we have a couple of witch hazels.
00:05:56
Alexis
Yes, one of my faves.
00:05:56
Jessica
Nice.
00:05:59
atack2010
And there's just not like there's a lot of different kinds in there. The cultivars of the witch hazels.
00:06:03
Brett
There are cultivars as well as a couple of different, like even different species.
00:06:04
atack2010
It's they're so fascinating.
00:06:10
Brett
So there's, uh, the him.
00:06:10
atack2010
Yeah. Mm hmm.
00:06:12
Alexis
Fall and spring or late winter and fall blooming.
00:06:14
Brett
Yeah.
00:06:15
atack2010
Yeah.
00:06:15
Brett
There's a Hema, Hema melis virginiana. And then the other one is the Ozark. I can't remember the species, but the traditional one that we think of is which hazel is the Virginian, I believe. And so, ah yeah, they flower at different times, but the thing that's cool about the traditional witch hazel is that it flowers in the winter time, late, but I guess, early, early spring, late winter.
00:06:25
atack2010
Yeah.
00:06:36
Brett
And it has these little curly kind of yellow flowers on it. I found some caddy did.
00:06:43
Alexis
They're like neat. Yeah. They're so cool.
00:06:45
Brett
Yeah.
00:06:45
Alexis
They're bright. They're just calling them yellow seems like a understatement.
00:06:50
atack2010
Well, there's all the cool ones that have the red at the base that are but actually a lot more showing.
00:06:50
Brett
Mmm, yes.
00:06:55
atack2010
I forget. yeah That's not Arnold's promise. That's one of the other witch hazels that are really cool, but they have a lot more red at the base so that you can actually, they have more of a presence. I mean, in addition to that really, really nice yellow color.
00:07:09
Alexis
Yeah.
00:07:09
Jessica
Speaking of like red and yellow, like the red twig dogwoods or the yellow twig ones, there's like, you know, if you're listening kind of locally in Danville, I know when I drive through Danville, there's somebody who has them like as a hedge of yellow twig dogwoods that really like pop out in the winter. I myself have
Appreciating Winter Structures: Trees and Bonsai
00:07:28
Jessica
planted the red ones before, and if they are happy, they will.
00:07:33
Jessica
Explode which was fine because I planted them to cover my ugly shed where I used to live at But they give you that nice pop of color in the winter Right Yeah
00:07:34
Alexis
Yeah.
00:07:42
Alexis
Those are your stick farmers. And for those of you, you can be so right.
00:07:45
Brett
So that's like, the it's like a, it loses all its leaves, but you're saying like the bark and the twigging and stuff has like a lot of color.
00:07:49
Alexis
Right. Right. So like a lot of people have seen them because they're used a lot in Christmas decorations or holiday decorations. And so you'll see them with the evergreen. So if you've ever seen these like sticks that almost look like they've been painted red or kind of like a bright yellow color, that's that is something natural and it's all winter.
00:08:08
Alexis
It's they have it all season, but the leaves covered up for the most part. And it does bloom. Like when people think about dogwoods or they think about trees and blooms, but it's it's
00:08:14
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:08:17
Jessica
It's much smaller flower. Oh, wait.
00:08:19
Alexis
Yeah, and it's a shrub so you can plant it.
00:08:21
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:08:23
Alexis
There's a little bit of flexibility there where you plant it, but yeah.
00:08:25
Brett
Well, so part of what I'm hearing here is that we maybe reframe some of our thoughts about beauty and things that we notice to include the structure of deciduous trees once they've lost their, lost their leaves.
00:08:37
Brett
And I'll i'll say, I know we're always all thinking about bonsai pretty much all the time, but
00:08:41
Alexis
and Always.
00:08:42
Jessica
All the time.
00:08:44
Brett
in in Japan and the United States too. it's It's actually traditional that a lot of times the deciduous trees, so the trees that lose their leaves, things like the maples and hornbeams and others, are actually exhibited like in competition in the winter when they don't have leaves so that you can observe, because the really beautiful part of it is the twigging and the part that's like the most
00:08:58
Alexis
Dormancy. The structure.
00:09:05
Jessica
That makes sense.
00:09:06
atack2010
I think of like all the contorted plants, is that kind of the like the unique structure to plant something like that, Brad?
00:09:11
Brett
Yeah, but but also, like so without going too far down the rabbit hole, the part part of part of the magic of of making a a miniature tree look like a small version of a giant tree
00:09:16
Alexis
Don't get him started, God.
00:09:23
Brett
is to have the internode length, the space between one set of leaves and the next to be really, really short. And that's this whole practice and yada, yada, yada. You can't see that when there's cover it when it's covered in leaves, but you can see it. You can see that structure. If you see a really highly ramified plant without leaf, it's a really powerful, beautiful thing. and I find myself looking at regular trees, like ah when they're out of leaf, you know, in dormancy, like against a blue winter sky to be this really beautiful.
00:09:50
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:09:53
Brett
It almost has like a like go veins of the body, like arteries and or roots or fractals or some sort of, I don't know, sacred geometry or something.
00:10:05
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah. I think, and you know, there's trees that you think of like something like the river birch that we're all you know pretty familiar with.
00:10:12
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:10:12
Alexis
And a lot of what's beautiful about it is really the bark. And so, ah you know, just kind of thinking of plants from more of a perspective of it doesn't necessarily have to be green all the time.
00:10:24
Alexis
That is kind of nice and we'll, we can talk about some of those as well. um some different options, but I think there's a lot of magic to winter, especially like if you're lucky enough to get some snow.
00:10:35
Alexis
I mean, a red twig dogwood popping against snow is just ah chef's kiss.
00:10:39
Jessica
So pretty.
00:10:39
Alexis
Yeah.
00:10:40
Jessica
Yeah.
00:10:40
Alexis
Yeah. It's gorgeous. Um, yeah.
00:10:42
Jessica
Or just, if you're lucky to get snow at all, just how the snow blows up against the trees, right?
00:10:45
Alexis
to Um, the branches.
00:10:46
Jessica
And lands on them.
00:10:46
Brett
Mm hmm.
00:10:47
Jessica
ah Yeah.
00:10:49
Alexis
Yeah, that is pretty, pretty cool.
00:10:49
Jessica
So cool.
00:10:50
Brett
I remember the walking through the arboretum and you know, this isn't always awesome. Sometimes trees lose lose limbs as a result, but they had a bit of a big ice storm and had several ice storms across time and walking through the arboretum here on campus and seeing all those trees with this like magical like glass covering looking thing.
00:10:58
Alexis
Nice, yeah.
00:11:08
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:11:08
Jessica
so
00:11:10
Brett
And yeah, I love I love the
00:11:13
Alexis
As long as it's light, yeah, we don't want anything to have a, we don't want breaking trees, but yeah, there's like that, a little sheen and it's just like really sparkly and, uh, can make those really cold days a little bit better when you're like, I just need it to end.
00:11:27
Alexis
Especially, you know, in February when you're like, when is it over?
00:11:27
Brett
yeah
00:11:30
Brett
Yeah To be clear I didn't cause the ice storm I just wanted to put that out there Yeah, well not yet Alexis have you shared a winter interest plant?
00:11:30
Jessica
Yeah.
00:11:34
Alexis
I mean, we all thought you were powerful enough for that. So father winter.
00:11:38
Jessica
Not yet.
00:11:43
Alexis
No, I think ah
Winterberry Holly and Gendered Plant Pollination
00:11:45
Alexis
one that i I have so many that I love and have planted a bunch of them at my house for both commercial and just landscape reasons. ah But one that I think a lot of people don't know about is ah beauty berry.
00:12:00
Alexis
We have a native beauty berry to Kentucky and you know different areas in the United States.
00:12:01
Brett
Mmm.
00:12:06
Alexis
We also have an oriental one. Both are fine. I know a lot of times when we talk about um plants that have come over from Asia, usually ah they can be very invasive. This one is not the case.
00:12:16
Alexis
It's a little bit more showy, but we do have a native one for those of you who just start really into that. um And it is purple, which I feel like, and it's like a bright pink purple.
00:12:26
Jessica
Very, yeah, very bright.
00:12:28
Alexis
um Yeah, it's, ah and they're oriental, I think is, in my experience, a little bit more pinky versus the, um it's like a red purple versus the, American, and it could be just my soil, but it tends to be be a little bit more blue-purple. But I feel like that's not a color we see ah that time of year. And man, so the the plant will lose all of its leaves. It's just kind of a pretty simple plant. It would be great as like a backdrop ah to something else because it's just green. It's overall really healthy, really hardy.
00:12:59
Alexis
And so it's just something simple you don't pay a ton of attention to until it starts to get berries on it in the fall. And those berries will hang on in these really big clusters ah for a good portion of winter.
00:13:09
Jessica
Their placement's kind of unique, right?
00:13:12
Alexis
yeah Yeah, it's like all down the branch and there's these big clusters that kind of so encircle the branch with these little little baby berries.
00:13:12
Jessica
Wouldn't you say?
00:13:21
Alexis
And man, when you've got ice hanging off of those or snow or something that purple just really ah Pops against kind of a blank landscape. It's pretty pretty spectacular. So ah That's that's a fun one. It's great. You know pollinators all that good stuff Yeah
00:13:38
Brett
When you say it, like, would you describe it as having some beauty, like the bear the berries having...
00:13:41
Alexis
It's a beauty berry. It's a, and it's a calicarpa, by the way, I feel like ah where possible, we'll throw some Latin at you, but a lot of these names can get kind of, are very similar, intertwined, things like that. So a beauty berry I'm talking about as calicarpa is the genus there. And like I said, there's an Americana, and then there's an Oriental version.
00:14:02
Alexis
as well, and it comes in, it's a lot more, it's a lot harder to find, but it does also have a white berry version and a like a ah peachy orange berry version.
00:14:12
Alexis
So I think the peachy orange is one of the more difficult ones to find. It is a native and is not um propagated very often. And then the white one is also something really cool when it gets berries on it in the fall.
00:14:26
Alexis
So just, you know, fun fact, keeping it updated.
00:14:28
Brett
You know what they say? Call it calicarpedium.
00:14:32
Alexis
See you.
00:14:33
atack2010
Seize the plants.
00:14:35
Alexis
Seize the beauty.
00:14:37
Jessica
So also talking about a plant with berries, you know, a lot of people think winter interests, they think like evergreen, right?
00:14:37
atack2010
Seize the beauty.
00:14:37
Brett
Berries. By berries. ah the berries
00:14:44
Jessica
And so far we haven't talked really anything about evergreen, but one you may think is nevergreen, but it's not is winterberry Holly, right?
00:14:47
Brett
Hmm.
00:14:52
atack2010
a
00:14:52
Jessica
That's the correct name with that one. It's a Holly, but it is deciduous and it has a variety of different, um, well, I guess maybe just two colors of berries, right?
00:15:03
Jessica
The, the bread.
00:15:03
Alexis
Yeah, there's like different shades within red and different shades in the gold, but yeah, there's there's two version of Yeah,
00:15:06
atack2010
Yeah.
00:15:06
Jessica
Yeah.
00:15:09
Jessica
it It has nice fall color as well, right? And we're making that up and and um loses those leaves and then we'll retain those berries um and a good one for, you know, just that winter color and then a lot of like birds, I believe, feed on it as well.
00:15:26
Alexis
yeah yeah it is a
00:15:26
atack2010
I like the though the plants that have the wildlife aspect too, yeah.
00:15:28
Alexis
ah Yeah, it is a native as well. It's ilex verticillata. Actually, mine have, we're recording this in September and I notice late August, so I don't know if it has to do with the drought or what, but um
00:15:39
Jessica
Oh
00:15:43
Alexis
We, ah mine all have like colored fully colored up berries already and like still have plenty of leaves.
00:15:46
Jessica
wow.
00:15:48
Alexis
So it is pretty early, usually mid September to late September. And then they keep those berries and they eventually lose their leaves. And then you kind of have this just bush. It's very bright. And the gold and the red are both pretty.
00:16:00
Alexis
The one thing to mention, and sorry, Jessica, you're probably going to mention this, but if you're going to get ah one of these winterberry hollies, you have to have two. And so you have to have a male and a female.
00:16:09
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:16:11
Alexis
ah And the male will just be a green plant that has some nice fall color, but it's nothing really spectacular. The female is, of course, the one that has berries and you need them to pollinate.
00:16:21
Alexis
And just like something like apples or pawpaws, not every winterberry pollinates every every cultivar. So make sure you're kind of, if you're going to go get one, um you're getting ones that can pollinate each other. So there's, for example, they and they usually may have named them something pretty similar. So for example, there's one called like Mrs. Poppins, and then there's a Mr. Poppins, which, ah you know, will flower at the same time. And so you get that cross pollination happening.
00:16:51
Alexis
because they don't always paul ah they don't always flower. But you only need like one ah male that you can and to several females. And it really just needs to be within like 25 feet. So you can kind of just like tuck it in wherever.
00:17:03
Alexis
ah But just kind of like a little little tidbit there for you. If you're not getting any berries, you you might need a pollinator.
00:17:07
Jessica
If you're not getting any berries, that might be the reason why.
00:17:11
Alexis
so
00:17:11
Brett
Classic when Barry met Holly story.
00:17:15
Alexis
He's on one today, guys.
00:17:16
Jessica
He is. Yeah.
00:17:17
Brett
Or, yeah, thank you.
00:17:17
Jessica
ah yeah
00:17:17
atack2010
is this weather has got him feeling it today.
00:17:20
Brett
Are we still, are we still, you so that was all about Winter Barry, right?
00:17:20
atack2010
I love it.
00:17:23
Alexis
Mm hmm. Yeah.
00:17:24
Brett
Yeah, yeah, I really like that too. I did' i didn't know that about the two plant thing.
00:17:26
Alexis
Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah. mrs um And there's like they'll have like Gold Bell and like they usually have like a Mr. Gold Bell or something like that. ah
00:17:35
Brett
So this sounds like I set up for a joke and it's actually not.
00:17:38
Alexis
it's It does sound like this joke, but it is not.
00:17:38
Brett
How, how do,
00:17:40
Alexis
This is real life.
00:17:41
Brett
How do they, how do they tell the difference between the the the male and the female? Like you have to let it grow for a little, like a little bit before you know.
00:17:50
Alexis
Um, I ah think a lot of these are, um, propagated from cuttings. So if you're cutting, taking a cutting from a male, um, but yeah, like to, if you're, if you're experimenting with, you know, color and the people who are breeding these plants, yes, they'll, they'll wait for it to flower, uh, get old enough to flower and that's how they can tell the difference.
00:17:55
Brett
Oh, I got you.
00:18:08
Alexis
So. um it's that's why things That's why a lot of woody plants are so expensive because it takes so many years to get these cultivars to even a point where you're like, is this something? It's like five years down the road and you have no idea if it's worth your time yet.
00:18:23
Brett
Yeah, it's kind of wild to open the the trees that you see small trees and stuff you see in the garden center sometimes and these things are like They're like some of them like 20 years old especially especially the like the dwarf stock stuff or like this, you know smaller stuff and They're selling it, you know, you you think oh man, that's really expensive.
00:18:33
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:18:41
Brett
You know, it's
Evergreens in Kentucky Climates
00:18:42
Brett
like 200 bucks or something But then you're like this was started in 2004, and you're only selling it for $200 or something, you know, whatever, $300.
00:18:49
Alexis
yeah
00:18:50
Jessica
Right.
00:18:53
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:18:55
Brett
It's just, it's just a wild, it's a wild value proposition thought. This is a side, this is a side note from, um, yeah.
00:19:04
Alexis
He's getting in the weeds, folks, but we like i mean like weeds here at Mortvulture.
00:19:05
Brett
I, I have developed more of, I've developed more of an appreciation for Junipers over time and they're, yeah.
00:19:06
atack2010
No pun intended.
00:19:11
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:19:12
atack2010
Yeah, that that's a huge group of plants, yeah.
00:19:13
Alexis
I love Jeepers.
00:19:15
atack2010
I mean, that's they cover a lot of ground junipers, too. No pun intended.
00:19:18
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:19:19
Alexis
But also pun intended.
00:19:21
atack2010
Yeah, very much punny.
00:19:21
Jessica
Yeah.
00:19:22
atack2010
Yeah.
00:19:23
Alexis
Which ah junipers are you big fans of, Brett?
00:19:23
Brett
It was pun intentional. Pun intentional. How's that?
00:19:27
Alexis
What junipers are you a big fan of? Like anyone in particular?
00:19:30
Brett
Oh.
00:19:31
Alexis
What, what gal strikes your, uh, strikes your fancy?
00:19:32
atack2010
The bonsai junipers.
00:19:35
Brett
Well, I like i like the Procombans junipers with like kind of a more of a growing along the ground habit kind of deal.
00:19:45
Brett
um I like ah these several different ah varietals of of Juniperus chinensis with these different types of foliage. That this is that is big in bonsai and like Japanese gardens and stuff. Junipers are an important part of that.
00:20:04
Brett
um
00:20:07
Brett
I mean, i I actually kind of like Eastern Red Cedar.
00:20:11
Alexis
I love Eastern Red Cedar.
00:20:12
Brett
I know it's...
00:20:12
atack2010
Oh yeah, it's fun.
00:20:13
Alexis
I think it's lovely.
00:20:13
Brett
yeah
00:20:13
Jessica
just like you like when that you can find like a really large tree. And sometimes it makes me second-guess and like, is that an Eastern Red Cedar?
00:20:19
Brett
Yeah.
00:20:20
Jessica
Because we're so used to seeing them small and shrubby you know or in fence lines.
00:20:21
atack2010
Yeah, they get huge. Yeah.
00:20:24
Jessica
And so when you see an actually like huge one, they're pretty pretty cool.
00:20:30
atack2010
Yeah.
00:20:30
Brett
Yeah, so and so for those you know following along at home, the eastern red cedar is actually not a cedar, but a juniper.
00:20:31
atack2010
I like those.
00:20:37
Alexis
Juniperus, not cedrus.
00:20:38
Brett
um Yeah.
00:20:40
atack2010
It's one of the few evergreeny type things that do well in our state. Zone six and seven are transitional zones because in Kentucky, ah we are a tough state for evergreens.
00:20:51
atack2010
I mean, ah li we have a few more options when it comes to the the smaller plant materials, but as far as trees go, we're a tough state for evergreen trees here in Kentucky.
00:21:00
Alexis
I had one of our ah tree specialist extension specialists, Dr. Fountain, one time was giving a talk and and he was talking about um Colorado blue spruce and everybody you know everybody loves them, right? In Kentucky, everybody wants a Colorado blue spruce and they are, they're very beautiful plants, but ah he said, so ah why do we think Colorado blue spruce doesn't do well? And everybody's like, oh, I don't know. I mean, it's disease, it's blah, blah. And he goes, well,
00:21:25
Alexis
ah They're from Colorado, and that's a very big difference between Colorado and ah you know Kentucky. and so like it's i we We say this every time we talk about plants, it's like go back to where that plant is you know native to and are where you're growing it.
00:21:44
Alexis
Is that going to be similar enough? ah Probably not.
00:21:47
Brett
Now, hold on.
00:21:47
Jessica
Right.
00:21:48
Brett
Colorado potato beetles seem to get along just fine here, so...
00:21:51
Jessica
oh
00:21:52
Alexis
Yeah, but are they actually from Colorado?
00:21:54
Jessica
Are they I'm not sure.
00:21:55
Brett
I did th- We don't have a passport system in the United States, Alexis. It's free travel year, okay?
00:21:59
atack2010
free roam strictly free roam
00:21:59
Alexis
yeah
00:22:02
Alexis
Well, ah you talking about Juniper's reminds me I, you know, I have a love hate relationship with evergreens for some reason. And i I feel like sometimes it goes back to this thought process of I love when nature goes to sleep.
00:22:17
Alexis
And it's kind of this reminder for me to take a rest as well. And then I see this evergreen out here pulling double duty. And I'm like, what the hell, man, go to bed. But, uh,
00:22:27
Jessica
Take some time off.
00:22:27
Brett
now and now it's just it's just a more subtle slumber alexis you know yeah it's not as dramatic maybe that's it's it's a low it's a low drama it's a chill it's a chill situation you know
00:22:28
atack2010
Just never, never shutting down.
00:22:32
Alexis
it it It is, you're right, you're right.
00:22:33
atack2010
It's a slowing down, not a stopping. Yeah.
00:22:38
Alexis
um Maybe I'm just too dramatic, I'm a deciduous tree at heart.
00:22:38
atack2010
Maybe.
00:22:43
atack2010
Their their philosophy is ah you had a shirt one time at a juniper, believe it or not, it said, what was it? It was um entit no is consistency over intensity. And I love that.
00:22:52
Alexis
Oh, yeah.
00:22:53
atack2010
I love it. You know, it was some kind of evergreen on the back. I don't know. It was funny. It was an arboretum shirt.
00:22:56
Alexis
That could be a I feel like that could be a personality test question or something like that.
00:23:02
Jessica
Mmhmm.
00:23:02
Alexis
It's like, what kind of.
00:23:03
atack2010
um they I don't know that I'm either. I'm not real consistent. And most of the time I don't have a lot of intensity over the duration. So it's tough.
00:23:09
Alexis
Yeah.
00:23:09
Brett
I think that is something though that i've I've noticed more so since I got into the Doing the perennial stuff in the backyard and doing the bonsai and stuff like that. I've had an increased appreciation for conifers and and stuff like that because I I
00:23:20
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:23:20
atack2010
Absolutely. Yeah. I love them.
00:23:22
Brett
They're a huge part of that practice, but something that's really interesting to pay attention to. I think it's a good thing you pointed it out and I was obviously just just teasing, but the evergreens, they do have a winter phase and you if if you pay attention, they they have a different color.
00:23:31
Alexis
ah
00:23:34
Alexis
That
00:23:38
Brett
They'll change from that kind of like, depending on the species, that vibrant kind of bright green or dark green that yeah, that like I am photosynthesizing at max right now to this either like more of a dark
00:23:44
Alexis
juicy color.
00:23:46
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:23:52
Alexis
I'm matted almost.
00:23:52
Jessica
I'm dull.
00:23:53
Brett
faded kind of color almost a purplish in some cases and there are some cultivars for specifically for winter interests and this is in the morning landscape where they'll they'll take on this crazy yellow in the winter you know though like there's a hinoki cypress that's like a bright yellow oh sorry yeah go for it go for it
00:23:56
atack2010
Yeah, they can sell all of them.
00:24:06
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:24:07
Alexis
Mm hmm. That's exactly what I was going to talk about. Kamis Zipper is but also you beautiful lead in there. So yeah, Kamis the hanoki soap. No, no, no. I want to stop you. The the hanoki is fascinating to me. Like the big and if you're like, what are you talking about? One of them is like the big golden mop. A lot of people are familiar with.
00:24:29
Alexis
Which can be really cool, but it comes in like lots of cool shapes and colorings. And you're right, like they're they are beautiful. Those are the only evergreens I have at my house. They're like the ones with the gold.
00:24:39
atack2010
The classic gold mops, those have been like top 10 landscape.
00:24:42
Alexis
I like the wavy ones.
00:24:43
atack2010
Oh yeah, yeah, those are cool. There's a lot of variations among those, but gold mops are one of those that just is used in almost ah in a formula in landscapes and foundation plantings.
00:24:52
Alexis
And Jessica remind me the the reason some of those ah evergreens get sort of that almost more matted and you know, maybe they change a little bit of a coloring, but specifically talking about kind of that matte color, they they lay down like more of like a waxy layer, right?
00:25:08
Alexis
Like as the seasons change, is that
Hellebores, Ferns, and Nature's Mulching
00:25:10
Alexis
for a lot of plants?
00:25:11
Jessica
Right. I think like they're trying not, they're trying to prevent like water loss. Right.
00:25:14
Alexis
the Drying, yeah, the drying.
00:25:15
atack2010
Desecration, yeah, it is.
00:25:15
Jessica
Because, because even though they're still like, most people are shocked to know like, Oh, it's green. So it's actively growing, but it's really not, like you said, it's like kind of in its resting state and plants can dry out real quickly in the winter.
00:25:32
Jessica
Like we don't think about that.
00:25:32
Alexis
Testication.
00:25:32
atack2010
Evergreen struggle.
00:25:34
Jessica
So.
00:25:35
Alexis
We saw so many die like what two years ago?
00:25:37
Jessica
Yes.
00:25:38
Alexis
We had no snow cover and just the horrible winds and really cold temps and they just sucked life out of everybody's boxwoods and ah even some of our really hardy us cedars and stuff like that.
00:25:39
Jessica
What? the Everybody's boxwoods.
00:25:47
Jessica
h
00:25:50
Alexis
It's pretty wild.
00:25:51
Jessica
yeah everybody Everybody wanted to replace their boxwoods that year.
00:25:56
atack2010
Yeah.
00:25:57
Jessica
ah
00:25:58
Alexis
Yeah, your broad leaves are the worst.
00:25:59
atack2010
It's tough.
00:26:01
Alexis
um Well, I was going to say, yeah, go ahead, Jessica.
00:26:02
atack2010
I'm trying to think, what are what have we not covered, Alexis?
00:26:05
Jessica
i
00:26:05
atack2010
A lot. i mean we've not there's ah There's so many plants.
00:26:06
Jessica
Yeah, I was, I was going to say like flowers wise, right? Like other, like, like something that pops in my mind that always brings me joy in like January, sometimes or February, or little crocuses popping up all out, out of, yeah, through the snow or, you know, when you see them in mass plantings or just a few scattered here and there, it's always really cute and really
00:26:20
Alexis
Through the snow.
00:26:22
atack2010
Yeah.
00:26:28
atack2010
Oh, yeah.
00:26:33
Jessica
you know, a sign a spring even when they pop up through the snow, right?
00:26:34
Alexis
Yeah, hopeful, yeah.
00:26:36
atack2010
Yeah, yeah, Harbinger's.
00:26:37
Jessica
um Something that I also have thought about that I will let Alexis deep dive on is hellebores.
00:26:43
atack2010
Mm hmm.
00:26:44
Alexis
Yeah, good.
00:26:45
Jessica
I mean,
00:26:47
Alexis
There's so many. And ah if you are like me and you have like a little bit of a gothic emo soul, there is a black hellebore. And it's probably one of the most black, like kind of true, when you think of the coloring, black flowers I have ever seen.
00:27:01
Alexis
I mean, there are others out there, but like it is going to be the blackest of black, which is super cool. And they are you know evergreen. So you do have like this green these green plants.
00:27:12
Alexis
and You know, they're not particularly showy, but they do have some you know kind of rough and tough foliage, but then in January or February, and there's different cultivars that bloom at different times.
00:27:22
Alexis
but You can get some really early ones that are like late January, early February, at least for our area of the state that'll pop up in these bright red or pink or like lime green colors.
00:27:34
Alexis
And they just kind of really pop that time of year because you're not used to seeing it and you'll look out like your window and you're like, oh, suddenly there's just something really bright in the landscape after doom and gloom of winter.
00:27:42
atack2010
There it is.
00:27:43
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:27:46
Alexis
And they're, they're pretty spectacular and they're, you know, predominantly shade. They like to be partially shaded. So. And they're just really hardy plants. And there's just there's tons out there. There's doubles. There's ones that are really upward facing versus some of them kind of nod their heads and they're just like cute little bells that hang over. But there's some spectacular breeding that has ah happened in the hellebore world.
00:28:12
Alexis
And just some really fun colors and yeah, talk about like a hope that that brings you like, just like the crocus. There's just something really special when the first hellebores bloom and you're like, okay. It's just like the little pit stop and winner that you're like, I'm going to get through this.
00:28:25
Alexis
It's going to be all right. We're going to get there.
00:28:27
atack2010
the end is nigh in a good way yeah days are getting longer i like uh along those same lines you said rough and tumble like foliage i'm i'm thinking like i know it's an unsung hero for me but i grew up kind of in the hills but christmas ferns i love the theme of like you you know all the the ferns that that that pop through i mean they don't hold up under a lot of snow but like ah there's nothing
00:28:28
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:28:28
Alexis
The, the seasonal depression will fade. so Yeah.
00:28:43
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:28:50
atack2010
that I love more than you know ah a grouping of those in a lot snow.
00:28:51
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:28:55
atack2010
And you see all that green
Planning Gardens for Winter Wildlife
00:28:56
atack2010
foliage just kind of on the ground. I mean, yeah, we know more. It seems like I hear a lot more demand for like things like corbelles, things like that. But I love Christmas ferns. I love the caraxes, all of the sedges.
00:29:08
atack2010
I'm a big fan of those. and And I've landscaped some with just to give structure, a horizontal structure, is like even and our natives, like big and little bluestem and even switchgrass.
00:29:17
Alexis
Mm-hm.
00:29:18
atack2010
I use all of those as an alternative to some of the more invasive ah grasses and I've used clumps of those but I love all of those and I don't hear as much about those and they're not super showy they just have a little bit of presence and some in some cases there's just the structure like in the native grasses but I don't know why I love the Christmas ferns not Christmas cactus but Christmas ferns I really like those and I just don't hear those mentioned a whole lot for winter interest but they're a good one they're a really good one
00:29:30
Alexis
Mm-hm.
00:29:47
Brett
And this isn't, this is not the the plans themselves, but it's just a comment that there is something kind of cool for us. So we do, we have a mix of some woody perennials, but a lot of like herbaceous perennials that die all the way back to the ground every year.
00:30:03
Brett
And there is something really crazy about the negative space that is left. And we do like a lot of hardscaping in and around those things. So like, uh, rocks and.
00:30:12
atack2010
Oh yeah.
00:30:16
Brett
maybe like different concrete figures or beds, you know, just different kinds of paths or stuff like that. And the the inversion, like if you take a picture of it from like July when everything's at peak and then take a look at it in winter, there's something really beautiful about that inversion and the idea that like all this stuff sprung up from like, from just all below ground, you know, mass.
00:30:37
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:30:40
Alexis
Yeah.
00:30:41
Brett
to all this vegetation and then goes back to it. This is like waxing and waning waves kind of thing.
00:30:43
Alexis
Cycle.
00:30:46
atack2010
I do love the hardscaping in that aspect, Brett.
00:30:47
Brett
That's really cool.
00:30:49
atack2010
i'm ah I'm a fan of that too. And I love like little things that are revealed when things go away, like a big bed of like big blue hostas or something. And then that goes away and you, you know, you show these super cool river rocks or small statuary or something like that.
00:31:03
atack2010
Yeah, I've always liked that. And if it's intentional. You can have like curvilinear design around edging or something that you can just reveal some really cool features and just be beautiful um and kind of understated.
00:31:15
atack2010
Yeah, so I get it. I get it. I do like that.
00:31:17
Brett
It's, it's also kind of an expression of our own house, a mix of aesthetics within our household with regard to plants. Cause any sort of like maximalist, like biomass is just like this jungle.
00:31:25
Alexis
actually Heh heh heh.
00:31:29
Brett
It's like creeping or creeping closer and going to like swallow you up.
00:31:29
atack2010
Greenage.
00:31:32
Brett
And mine's more of a little bit more of a angular, uh, architectural minimalism.
00:31:37
atack2010
Celebrating the rest period.
00:31:39
Brett
Yeah, exactly. So I, so I'm only allowed out there in the winter is what I'm trying to say.
00:31:40
atack2010
I like it.
00:31:40
Jessica
Yeah.
00:31:43
Brett
I can go out there and sit out there as much as I want.
00:31:44
atack2010
She puts you outside. Brett, it's your winter period.
00:31:46
Jessica
yeah
00:31:46
Brett
Yeah.
00:31:47
atack2010
Go outside and sit in a monk sit among the rocks, Brett.
00:31:49
Jessica
Yeah.
00:31:49
Brett
Ooh, it's looking, yeah, it's looking great out there.
00:31:49
atack2010
and
00:31:50
Alexis
should
00:31:51
Brett
It's February. It's looking pretty good. and Just get your lawn chair.
00:31:55
Alexis
The bald boy likes minimalism.
00:31:56
Jessica
um yeah Ray mentioned earlier about um wildlife, right?
00:31:59
Brett
That's correct.
00:32:03
Jessica
So like leaving winter interest for wildlife.
00:32:03
atack2010
Mm-hmm.
00:32:05
Jessica
So there's that great debate, right? With like, so I say I have some purple coneflower, some echinacea right out of my flower bed.
00:32:12
atack2010
I like the cone flowers and winter. Yeah.
00:32:13
Jessica
Do I leave those up for the birds to come to eat?
00:32:16
atack2010
Mm hmm. Yes.
00:32:17
Jessica
Or do I want to cut them down, you know, and clean out my garden at the end of the year, right?
00:32:19
Alexis
and
00:32:21
Jessica
Do do they have disease?
00:32:22
atack2010
Yeah.
00:32:22
Jessica
Do I need to remove those out, right? Or do you want to leave them up? But I think there's like quite a few different things you can just like leave up from your perennials that wildlife enjoy if that's your thing um all winter some of you may but be wanting to deter wildlife from your yard and not bring them in but right yeah
00:32:30
atack2010
Yeah.
00:32:39
Alexis
yeah Like keep them away from my tulips.
00:32:45
Alexis
Or, you know, have that that section a little further away and keep them focused in there and away from your tulips.
00:32:49
atack2010
Yeah.
00:32:50
Alexis
So, you know.
00:32:51
Brett
Trap crop.
00:32:51
atack2010
Provide food and cover.
00:32:52
Alexis
Yeah, a little trap-cropping there.
00:32:52
atack2010
Yeah. Away from the house. Yeah.
00:32:55
Alexis
i ah that's That's my excuse in the winter when I'm just like too tired to deal with anything anymore.
00:32:55
atack2010
as
00:33:01
Alexis
I'm just like, I'm leaving it for the birds. like I'm leaving it for the pollinators. Have you all seen that meme? that's like They talk about, like oh, I'm leaving these you know these weeds or this milkweed for the pollinators.
00:33:10
atack2010
That's my pollinator garden.
00:33:12
Alexis
And then the the person goes inside and like, ah all these dirty dishes are for the pollinators.
00:33:18
atack2010
Yes.
00:33:18
Alexis
Pile of laundry, pollinators.
00:33:18
Jessica
awesome
00:33:20
Jessica
I am such a great person right now.
00:33:21
Brett
Just leave it for the pollinators.
00:33:23
Jessica
I'm doing such good work.
00:33:24
Alexis
This is pollinators. Yeah, so it can be a good reason to like leave stuff up ah in your garden, but ah just a cut.
00:33:32
Brett
Yeah, we generally, we generally leave stuff in place for the most part over the winter.
00:33:35
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:33:36
Brett
And at some point in like, you know, late winter, early spring, this is what we do, at least, uh, uh, Annie will go out, you know, in that, uh, stir crazy cabin fever of winter and.
00:33:37
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:33:48
Alexis
Mmhmm.
00:33:49
Brett
just kind of stomp all the stocks down once through the first couple of warm days and just kind of leave them in places of mulch so we can see where other stuff's coming up. But is that what you all do?
00:33:59
Brett
You all mostly leave stuff. We've also, at at some point we've cut them and bundled them and just like left them in the in the field, in our yard um as well.
00:34:01
atack2010
Or can, yeah.
00:34:10
Brett
But you know, the older we get, the less we do that.
00:34:14
atack2010
There's a lot to be said about leaving them in place.
00:34:14
Brett
more
00:34:16
atack2010
I mean, like you said, it's it's definitely habitat and cover ah for wildlife. So I know that's not always desirable if you're in a ah more formal setting because those tend to be ah trap areas for like leave, blowing leaves and things like that.
00:34:31
atack2010
But they also, on the flip side of that, when they trap leaves, they self mulch a lot better. When we have these really hard cold snaps, they provide additional insulation.
00:34:36
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:34:37
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:34:39
atack2010
So nature has a plan if you just let it work, folks.
00:34:43
Brett
Yeah.
00:34:43
atack2010
Yeah, so.
00:34:43
Brett
And there's some, some stems that stems and other pine material where like insects will lay eggs and overwinter in them and totally.
00:34:43
Alexis
Yeah.
00:34:48
Jessica
Yeah, all native bees will make little houses in there.
00:34:49
atack2010
Bumblebees and things are, yeah.
00:34:54
Brett
And that, and that was the main reason we initially kept them out there was just like, okay, we don't want to, we've left our babies inside this thing and okay.
00:35:01
Alexis
Please leave our babies alone.
00:35:01
Brett
Well off to the land, off to the, you know, off to the yard waste thing. Um, but yeah, no, that was all I was just thinking about the little babies.
00:35:06
atack2010
ah though Do we miss? oh Yeah, ah go ahead, Brett. Yeah. I was going to say, did we miss Ninebark? The baby bees.
00:35:13
Jessica
The bee babies.
00:35:14
atack2010
We're not going to recover from baby bees, baby baby native bees. But Ninebark, did we already talk about that?
00:35:18
Alexis
Mm-mm.
00:35:19
atack2010
Did I miss that? Like all the Ninebarks?
00:35:20
Jessica
No, we didn't.
00:35:21
atack2010
That is one of mine that, I mean, it's super popular. I mean, it's been around, but it's one of mine that I really enjoy in the wintertime is Ninebark. um
00:35:29
Alexis
one of One of my favorites we haven't mentioned yet that for landscaping is Harry Louder's walking stick. you know i turned about the The contorted um hey corkscrew hazel, contorted Philbert is also another name for it.
00:35:45
atack2010
Mm hmm. Yes.
00:35:46
Alexis
um God, Philbert, he's so contorted.
00:35:46
Brett
Yeah, consorted Filbert.
00:35:47
atack2010
Yeah.
00:35:47
Brett
I like that.
00:35:49
atack2010
I mean, like Philbert, he's all yeah.
00:35:51
Brett
Filbert.
00:35:51
Alexis
I
00:35:51
atack2010
Wisted
Seasonal Reflections and Personal Lifestyles
00:35:52
Alexis
love that plant.
00:35:52
atack2010
Philbert.
00:35:53
Alexis
Like I love the leaves on it. I mean, it's so like quirky. And then I love when the catkins, um you know, they're there' just kind of this mellow yellow color and they like dangle off of these really weird contorted sticks.
00:36:07
Alexis
If you're really into kind of like winter decorating, they're really great to like cut and you can stick them in like a porch planer or in a wreath or something um like that. But it's such a cool plant.
00:36:18
Alexis
And I almost bought one. I guess it was last year and, uh, but it was sold already. There was like only one and I was like, I don't even care how much this cost. It's coming home with me.
00:36:28
Alexis
It was so cute and it was already sold. And I was like, no.
00:36:31
atack2010
Lexus, have you seen the sumac that sort of like that to the tiger's eye or whatever?
00:36:34
Alexis
Uh-uh.
00:36:35
Brett
Whoa, no, I haven't seen that.
00:36:35
Alexis
Uh-uh.
00:36:36
atack2010
It's a contorted version of sumac.
00:36:37
Jessica
Hmm.
00:36:37
atack2010
Look that up. um I don't know if I'm making that up, but it's the it's the ah it's I can't remember the cultivar, but ah I think it's I think it's tiger eye.
00:36:39
Brett
What?
00:36:39
Alexis
Okay.
00:36:41
Brett
That would be very funny because it's just a complete invention.
00:36:43
Alexis
Oh yeah. Cut leaf, Staghorn, Sumac.
00:36:47
atack2010
Look up tiger eye sumac, but.
00:36:48
Alexis
Yeah. Tiger eyes, cut leaf.
00:36:49
Brett
And it's contorted?
00:36:51
atack2010
It's not contorted, but it has an interesting branching. It's a more twisted than it's not exactly contorted like.
00:36:57
Alexis
Roost hyphina is the the Latin and it like it gets nice.
00:36:59
atack2010
Mm hmm.
00:37:02
Brett
Oh, I have, I have, I have RooSiphon that I started.
00:37:05
atack2010
Oh, very cool.
00:37:05
Brett
from seed.
00:37:06
Alexis
Yes.
00:37:07
Jessica
Oh, fancy.
00:37:08
Brett
I was going to maybe turn it into a bonsai, but I don't know if it's going to comply. So if it doesn't, maybe we can plant it, plant it somewhere with the hazs of money that has more so more space.
00:37:12
Alexis
Oh, that's pretty. That's a pretty plant.
00:37:17
atack2010
But it is, it's and it's one that I've kind of wanted, but I've only seen it a couple of times in arboretum, uh, and it was in, you know, more Northern states.
00:37:20
Jessica
Here's pretty.
00:37:22
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:37:25
atack2010
So it's would be adapted for Kentucky, but I've seen an arboretum up North and really liked it.
00:37:29
Brett
Well, if you want it, Ray, I think I'm going to bring it to you.
00:37:30
atack2010
Really a cool plant, but tiger eye.
00:37:35
atack2010
Oh man, that would be, yeah yeah you grew you've grown that from like baby, baby? Like seed you said?
00:37:40
Brett
From seed, yeah.
00:37:41
atack2010
Yeah, man. Those are cool plants, super cool. But in in the winter time, they really show off.
00:37:44
Alexis
what
00:37:47
Alexis
Speaking of um things I found at a nursery, because sometimes you have a bad day and you go to a greenhouse or a nursery and and you buy yourself a plant.
00:37:54
Jessica
doesn' it Doesn't everybody do that?
00:37:56
Alexis
Everybody does that, right?
00:37:56
Jessica
like That's how we cope.
00:37:56
atack2010
Then you just have a better day from that point forward, yeah.
00:37:58
Alexis
um That's how Jessica and I do our like, i when I come home, if I come home with a potted plant and I just like sit it in a window sill, Tyler's like, are my husband, he's like, are you okay?
00:38:10
Alexis
I'm like, no, I bought myself this plant.
00:38:11
Jessica
that's how That's how I got another lemon tree, y'all.
00:38:17
Alexis
but ah one that I found two of they were on sale because they you know are kind of starting to go dormant and nobody knows what they look like is flowering quince and man again another one that's like when you're in the depths of winter and you're you know like are we ever gonna get through this quit flowering quince starts to bloom and it is just
00:38:26
Jessica
ooh
00:38:32
atack2010
Good one.
00:38:37
Alexis
really something special. And it spreads really nice. There's a bunch of different cultivars out there. There's some now that are like a really um pretty peachy coral, but kind of traditionally most, if you know about quince, you might be thinking of the kind of deep red, like ruby red color.
00:38:54
Alexis
and they're really lovely, but there's like some yellows, there's this new peachy version, that's the one I got to of ah angle two I got two, and there's also white, and so there's just something, and they bloom all up and down that stem, so there's no leaves, it blooms all up and down the stem, and it's just like this huge patch and bloom in, you know, February, and they're pretty pretty spectacular. So if you're if you're looking for more stuff to add winter interest in,
00:39:21
Alexis
ah You know you can go from berries to blooms to just like pretty sticks and there's no kind of wrong way to do it and I don't know man that just gets me through winter.
00:39:35
Brett
So, Brooke, I mean, how, how, this is a little bit of an aside, how would you rank your, the seasons according to how much you love them? Is winter your least favorite?
00:39:47
Alexis
No, I think the debt of summer is like my worst least favorite, but I'm learning to adapt. um
00:39:52
Brett
Is that the case? Would that be the case even if you, you weren't growing stuff?
00:39:58
Alexis
I don't know. I don't like being so hot. I'm also trapped inside. To me, it's maybe if I lived all around water or someplace like that where I could cool off a little bit easier.
00:40:09
Alexis
But if I don't want to go outside in the dead of winter because it's too cold and I don't want to go outside in the dead of summer because it's too hot, those, to me, are very synonymous with each other. I don't know.
00:40:20
Brett
Or real symmetry, if you will.
00:40:21
Alexis
Ask me again in January how I feel. Right now, we're coming off a heat wave. And I'm like, ugh.
00:40:27
Jessica
Yeah, it's hard because each season has its own unique things, right?
00:40:32
Alexis
they're all important you know and the older you get i think the more you value each one of them like as you know as a kid i think winter was fun because you were always like sled riding and then in my like 20s and you know late teens it was like i don't like the snow because i can't go do anything and now i'm starting to get to the point where i'm like okay it's time to rest i can sit on my couch and like crochet my blanket and you know there's nothing else i have to be doing and that's
00:40:34
Jessica
Yeah.
00:41:01
atack2010
That's when you enjoy the rainy season, yeah.
00:41:02
Alexis
It's a very special time.
00:41:04
Jessica
That's, yeah.
00:41:05
atack2010
You begin to enjoy that.
00:41:06
Alexis
I don't know, rain is like just reminds me of mud.
00:41:10
atack2010
Y'all on the farm, absolutely, yeah.
00:41:10
Alexis
Although right now I would kill for some mud.
00:41:10
Jessica
Sometimes winter just reminds me of that, but I'm coming from a, we also have livestock, right?
00:41:17
atack2010
Oh, yeah.
00:41:18
Jessica
So no matter how cold and muddy, cause you get into mud season, right?
00:41:23
Alexis
who
00:41:24
Jessica
You gotta go out, you gotta go out and feed things, you know?
00:41:24
atack2010
That's when I want it to be cold enough to freeze the ground, yeah.
00:41:27
Alexis
Yeah, yeah.
00:41:28
atack2010
I want the ground to be frozen because when it unthaws,
00:41:28
Jessica
So yes, you want the ground to be frozen.
00:41:31
atack2010
There is no bottom, yeah.
00:41:33
Jessica
Yeah.
00:41:33
Alexis
It's the bottom, right through the center of the earth.
00:41:34
atack2010
There's no bottom. Yes, just you just keep sinking. You're like, oh, oh, I could just keep sinking. so And then you lose your boot sometimes in the mud. so yeah yeah It happens, it happens.
00:41:43
Jessica
Yep, you do.
00:41:48
atack2010
We have talked about all the plants, and I feel like we're just scratching the surface on these winter interest plants.
00:41:53
Jessica
There's probably quite a few we've left off.
00:41:54
atack2010
um but it but it yeah Oh, there is. i mean like
00:41:58
Jessica
Yeah.
00:41:59
atack2010
I mean, we we did not um to our credit, we did not once mention, I don't think, ornamental cabbage.
00:42:05
Alexis
It's because we all know the stank that comes with that when it freezes.
00:42:05
atack2010
Or kale, or, yeah, the crucifers once they start to go down.
00:42:07
Jessica
Mm-hmm.
00:42:10
Brett
ae in In a vegetable garden or in a garden or a agricultural operation or whatever, garlic is, I mean, it's not winter interest per se, but it's something green, you know, there's something green that's like mad, it's like kind of this magical thing rising out of the ground and cover crop fields in the winter can be really, really beautiful.
00:42:21
atack2010
Winter presence.
00:42:23
Jessica
or like it's out there.
00:42:23
atack2010
It is winter presence.
00:42:29
Alexis
e They are really, really pretty.
00:42:30
atack2010
ah yeah
00:42:33
Brett
um Like if you have like a a stand of like say wheat or rye or something like that, with maybe some vetch that's grown up on it.
00:42:38
Jessica
Bright green.
00:42:39
atack2010
ah
00:42:42
Brett
It's just a really cool, it's it's a much more attractive aesthetic than like a just completely bare ground that has like hen bit and like stuff that's just sort of growing up.
00:42:54
Brett
And I don't know.
00:42:56
atack2010
Oh, yeah.
00:42:56
Brett
So that, I mean, that, that to me is like another example of a looking, just trying to find a beauty in that winter.
00:43:01
Alexis
Mmhmm.
00:43:02
Brett
ah winter side of the seasonal coin.
00:43:04
Alexis
Mmhmm. So if you're a winter hater, maybe grab some ah some of these plants we've talked about or you know some something else that strikes your fancy and and throw that in the landscape and you know you'll get to appreciate it in the winter time and maybe that'll that'll get you through and you'll be less of a a winter hater in that way.
00:43:23
atack2010
I think you'll be a less of a winter hater. I mean, it's like the devil's in the details for winter plantings because you have to look for like specific cultivars that have been developed or bred with winter in mind.
00:43:36
atack2010
Like a mere choke cherry and a plant like that that you're like, ah, choke cherry.
00:43:36
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:43:40
atack2010
But then you have these ones with this beautiful bark. But it seems like you have to
00:43:44
Alexis
Paperbark maple.
00:43:45
atack2010
dig one level deeper. ah Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's so many good examples where you're like, oh, if I burn them, but you start to dig down there and you're like, oh, weather rod, it's amazing.
00:43:56
atack2010
And I mean, you you just have to dig a little bit deeper and do a little bit more research for these these plants that have winter interest.
00:44:01
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:44:03
atack2010
ah To me, that you just takes a little bit more research, but that's that's part of the fun in it.
00:44:08
Alexis
Well worth it.
00:44:09
atack2010
Yeah, absolutely. But there's so
Embracing Winter's Beauty and Presence
00:44:11
atack2010
many great colors out there to explore and all that. But the structure and the shape and I think about plants like sycamore that I take, I completely just ignore all all year long.
00:44:21
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:44:22
atack2010
But in the wintertime, they are so beautiful.
00:44:24
Alexis
They're like ghosts.
00:44:25
Jessica
Well, just some of the oak trees, like retaining leaves, you know, like yeah other plants like that.
00:44:25
Brett
Oh yeah.
00:44:25
atack2010
And I always notice them.
00:44:28
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:44:29
atack2010
Oh, yeah, yeah, true. Yeah, true.
00:44:32
Alexis
The beat I told you told you guys this before but like, one more time, a beach tree in the middle of winter in the, ah like, growing in the woods here is the the coolest thing because they retain their leaves so long and their leaves turn this like
00:44:40
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:44:47
Alexis
uh yellow gold color and then so it's like the dead of winter no leaves anywhere and you look through and there's just these little beach trees and they're usually kind of small and at least in our our types of woods that have been logged and stuff um so they're kind of small and they're just i they look like little ghosts to me they're like spooky but in like a really fun way
00:45:07
atack2010
They've got a kind of a white bark and they're really striking with the the the colors.
00:45:09
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:45:09
Alexis
Yeah, they're, they're not like a sycamore, but they're, they're definitely, they pop.
00:45:13
atack2010
No.
00:45:14
Jessica
Like light gray kind of.
00:45:14
Alexis
And so you're just, yeah, you'll just be like looking, you know, you're driving down the road, everything's gray and boring and you're on the highway and you look over and there's just like these little ghosts just out in the, in the woods.
00:45:15
atack2010
Lighter. Lighter. Yes.
00:45:25
Alexis
And I'm like, Oh, look at them little beach trees.
00:45:26
atack2010
You can pick them out in the wintertime. Yeah.
00:45:28
Alexis
Um, yeah.
00:45:29
Brett
Hard to beach.
00:45:30
atack2010
Hard to beach.
00:45:31
Jessica
ah
00:45:32
Alexis
Hard to beach man. Hard to beach. Uh, cool. Well, any more last scene for people who might want to, uh, incorporate some winter interests. Any last seen kind of thoughts for that?
00:45:45
Alexis
No? Seen none. We will move on. No. ah We hope you guys.
00:45:49
Brett
and i think I think for me, you know, there are the things that are Yes, you plant them specifically for the winter interest. But the thing that I've just been hearing coming out over and over again is being a little more present.
00:46:03
Brett
A lot of times people who are plant people are so keyed up for spring, summer, fall, and like full color and all those cool things that are great. But there is so much happening.
00:46:14
Brett
it's it's not ah It's not like winter is this static dead thing that we're told that it is.
00:46:15
Alexis
Mmhmm. Yeah.
00:46:20
Brett
There's actually a lot of stuff happening. And so part of it is as much
00:46:22
atack2010
Yeah.
00:46:24
Brett
appreciating the beauty of winter and and winter interest as it is you planning for it, but in some cases you're replanting.
00:46:25
Alexis
Mmhmm.
00:46:29
atack2010
I read a really good article on that, Brett. It's perfect. That's a perfect comment. And I just read it today as I was looking over the topic. And the article was like, a I don't know if it was a letter to the editor or it was in a trade magazine. I forget. But it was, I reject winter interest in plants and landscapes. And I was like, what?
00:46:48
atack2010
and got to reading that, it's exactly what you said.
00:46:49
Alexis
What?
00:46:50
atack2010
And it talked about why should we pick out winter specifically as needing to have interest because it's a beautiful time also. But it's exactly what you just said, Brett. That's perfect. Yeah.
00:47:01
Alexis
Appreciating the beauty. Look at us. She's really throwing some philosophy in. It is hort culture after all. So um the best of plants and all the feelings they give us. So I felt like a little bit of like a nighttime radio DJ at that time right then I was like,
00:47:18
Alexis
really quiet and talking about it.
00:47:22
Brett
and The best laid plants do grow well, I don't know.
00:47:22
Alexis
Anyways.
00:47:23
atack2010
Delilah.
00:47:30
Alexis
um There's something there. Let's workshop that a little bit more. Awesome, guys. Well, thanks for joining us today. ah Leave us a review. Tell us what plant you liked or what is your favorite winter plant? We'd love to know more about that and you can share ah with us what maybe some of your favorites are. Or if you are like, I'm driving and I couldn't write down any of these cultivars youve you all have been talking about, feel free to shoot us a message on Instagram at Hort Culture Podcast. You can also shoot us an email.
00:48:00
Alexis
and that is in the show notes and we will get back to you with some of that info. I was gonna say Jessica and I probably both have PowerPoints we can send you as a PDF and so you can go through the whole thing if you want to and see all all that kinds of stuff ah so ah you can have a little bit of winter interest and winter fun you know or you know just appreciate and maybe you'll notice some of the things ah in your landscape that are already there and kind of be present in that moment like Brett said so
00:48:10
Jessica
Mm hmm.
00:48:28
Alexis
I think that's a great idea, but we hope that as we grow this podcast, you will continue to grow with us and they will join us next time. Have a great one.