Transcript
Alexis: Hey, friends. How's everybody doing today?
atack2010: Good, good, good.
Brett: I'm doing all right.
Jessica : Good.
Alexis: Yeah?
Jessica : How are you?
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.
Brett: Hmm.
Jessica : Ooh.
atack2010: Is it like inappropriate?
Alexis: But they're all they all have very ah inappropriate names ah to plant.
Jessica : But like, you know, pro they're also the real names, right?
Alexis: They're real. or they They are real.
Jessica : Right?
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.
Brett: Mm.
atack2010: Mm hmm.
Alexis: so um Also known as hairy balls milkweed.
Jessica : Ah.
atack2010: Yeah.
Alexis: It is a real thing.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Brett: Ah.
atack2010: OK, OK.
Alexis: ah Also shagbark hickory, ah nipple warts, knobweed, sickie willy.
Brett: Mm.
atack2010: You.
Jessica : Nice.
Brett: Mm.
atack2010: me per
Alexis: These are all legitimate plant names.
atack2010: Provocative plant names, that needs to be that sounds like an episode. Somebody put that in the notes.
Jessica : They also sell provocative like bird mugs.
Brett: Mm.
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.
Alexis: ah hu
atack2010: Yes, I've seen those.
Alexis: Yes.
Alexis: Who has a sense of humor? Or maybe not.
atack2010: Yes.
Jessica : And you know, that's the only one I.
Alexis: Has a picture of the bird on it.
atack2010: I have seen this shirt with all the bird names on it.
Jessica : Yeah.
atack2010: I've seen that shirt and it's pretty cool. And then it features like, yeah, yeah, it's good stuff.
Jessica : Inappropriate birds.
Brett: Just don't send, don't, without consent, don't send statement picks.
atack2010: Yes, or a pistol for that matter. Yeah.
Alexis: Yeah, I like that. I feel like that should be like ah the Horticulture Club's next ah shirt ah should be that.
Brett: It touches a lot of bases, you know, consent, consent is a good message no matter what.
Alexis: Don't send unsolicited payment picks.
atack2010: Just like a big Asiatic Lily. just Yes.
Alexis: Yeah, always, always, absolutely.
atack2010: Provocative plant names.
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
Jessica : Right.
Brett: That's true.
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?
Alexis: It's literally a plant name.
atack2010: What?
Alexis: Here's the Latin.
atack2010: Or we're talking about birding or whatever, Jessica. Yes.
Jessica : Whatever we're talking about.
atack2010: Yes, whatever we talk about from time to time, which we tend to do.
Alexis: Well, you know what we are talking about.
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?
atack2010: Fever dream.
Alexis: Yeah.
atack2010: Softball.
Alexis: Yeah. it but It reminds me of all the ah beautiful plants we can have in the wintertime, actually, which is.
Brett: Hmm. Yes. Yes.
atack2010: You mean plants on the outside in the wintertime that are beautiful still?
Jessica : Plants that can provide some interest
Alexis: Yeah.
atack2010: Yeah.
Brett: Well, we think of them as beautiful inside and outright, but I guess if you're a a shallow guy.
Alexis: some poor
atack2010: Yes.
atack2010: Okay. Well, um maybe we can talk meristems if you want to, whatever.
Alexis: Yeah, we really time for another houseplant episode.
Brett: Wow.
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.
Brett: wow
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.
Jessica : That's true.
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.
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 anybody have any like favorites that they like?
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
atack2010: I.
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.
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.
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.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
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
atack2010: typically evergreens that would have a presence in the wintertime.
Alexis: Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
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.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
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.
Brett: Well, I got a non evergreen that I like.
Jessica : What's that?
Alexis: h
atack2010: Fire away, man.
Alexis: and
atack2010: I want to hear about it. and Oh, there they are some of my absolute favorite.
Brett: Uh, I like, uh, we have a couple of witch hazels.
Alexis: Yes, one of my faves.
Jessica : Nice.
atack2010: And there's just not like there's a lot of different kinds in there. The cultivars of the witch hazels.
Brett: There are cultivars as well as a couple of different, like even different species.
atack2010: It's they're so fascinating.
Brett: So there's, uh, the him.
atack2010: Yeah. Mm hmm.
Alexis: Fall and spring or late winter and fall blooming.
Brett: Yeah.
atack2010: Yeah.
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.
atack2010: Yeah.
Brett: And it has these little curly kind of yellow flowers on it. I found some caddy did.
Alexis: They're like neat. Yeah. They're so cool.
Brett: Yeah.
Alexis: They're bright. They're just calling them yellow seems like a understatement.
atack2010: Well, there's all the cool ones that have the red at the base that are but actually a lot more showing.
Brett: Mmm, yes.
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.
Alexis: Yeah.
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 planted the red ones before, and if they are happy, they will.
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
Alexis: Yeah.
Alexis: Those are your stick farmers. And for those of you, you can be so right.
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.
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.
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
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Jessica : It's much smaller flower. Oh, wait.
Alexis: Yeah, and it's a shrub so you can plant it.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Alexis: There's a little bit of flexibility there where you plant it, but yeah.
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.
Brett: And I'll i'll say, I know we're always all thinking about bonsai pretty much all the time, but
Alexis: and Always.
Jessica : All the time.
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
Alexis: Dormancy. The structure.
Jessica : That makes sense.
atack2010: I think of like all the contorted plants, is that kind of the like the unique structure to plant something like that, Brad?
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
Alexis: Don't get him started, God.
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.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
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.
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.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
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.
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.
Alexis: I mean, a red twig dogwood popping against snow is just ah chef's kiss.
Jessica : So pretty.
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
Alexis: Yeah. It's gorgeous. Um, yeah.
Jessica : Or just, if you're lucky to get snow at all, just how the snow blows up against the trees, right?
Alexis: to Um, the branches.
Jessica : And lands on them.
Brett: Mm hmm.
Jessica : ah Yeah.
Alexis: Yeah, that is pretty, pretty cool.
Jessica : So cool.
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.
Alexis: Nice, yeah.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
Jessica : so
Brett: And yeah, I love I love the
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.
Alexis: Especially, you know, in February when you're like, when is it over?
Brett: yeah
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?
Jessica : Yeah.
Alexis: I mean, we all thought you were powerful enough for that. So father winter.
Jessica : Not yet.
Alexis: No, I think ah 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.
Alexis: We have a native beauty berry to Kentucky and you know different areas in the United States.
Brett: Mmm.
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.
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.
Jessica : Very, yeah, very bright.
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.
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.
Jessica : Their placement's kind of unique, right?
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.
Jessica : Wouldn't you say?
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
Brett: When you say it, like, would you describe it as having some beauty, like the bear the berries having...
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.
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.
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.
Alexis: So just, you know, fun fact, keeping it updated.
Brett: You know what they say? Call it calicarpedium.
Alexis: See you.
atack2010: Seize the plants.
Alexis: Seize the beauty.
Jessica : So also talking about a plant with berries, you know, a lot of people think winter interests, they think like evergreen, right?
atack2010: Seize the beauty.
Brett: Berries. By berries. ah the berries
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?
Brett: Hmm.
atack2010: a
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?
Jessica : The, the bread.
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,
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
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.
Alexis: yeah yeah it is a
atack2010: I like the though the plants that have the wildlife aspect too, yeah.
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
Jessica : Oh
Alexis: We, ah mine all have like colored fully colored up berries already and like still have plenty of leaves.
Jessica : wow.
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.
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.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jessica : If you're not getting any berries, that might be the reason why.
Alexis: so
Brett: Classic when Barry met Holly story.
Alexis: He's on one today, guys.
Jessica : He is. Yeah.
Brett: Or, yeah, thank you.
atack2010: is this weather has got him feeling it today.
Jessica : ah yeah
Brett: Are we still, are we still, you so that was all about Winter Barry, right?
atack2010: I love it.
Alexis: Mm hmm. Yeah.
Brett: Yeah, yeah, I really like that too. I did' i didn't know that about the two plant thing.
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
Brett: So this sounds like I set up for a joke and it's actually not.
Alexis: it's It does sound like this joke, but it is not.
Brett: How, how do,
Alexis: This is real life.
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.
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.
Brett: Oh, I got you.
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.
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.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Brett: You know, it's 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.
Alexis: yeah
Jessica : Right.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
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.
Alexis: He's getting in the weeds, folks, but we like i mean like weeds here at Mortvulture.
Brett: I, I have developed more of, I've developed more of an appreciation for Junipers over time and they're, yeah.
atack2010: No pun intended.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
atack2010: Yeah, that that's a huge group of plants, yeah.
Alexis: I love Jeepers.
atack2010: I mean, that's they cover a lot of ground junipers, too. No pun intended.
Brett: Mm -hmm.
Alexis: But also pun intended.
atack2010: Yeah, very much punny.
Jessica : Yeah.
atack2010: Yeah.
Alexis: Which ah junipers are you big fans of, Brett?
Brett: It was pun intentional. Pun intentional. How's that?
Alexis: What junipers are you a big fan of? Like anyone in particular?
Brett: Oh.
Alexis: What, what gal strikes your, uh, strikes your fancy?
atack2010: The bonsai junipers.
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.
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.
Brett: um
Brett: I mean, i I actually kind of like Eastern Red Cedar.
Alexis: I love Eastern Red Cedar.
Brett: I know it's...
atack2010: Oh yeah, it's fun.
Alexis: I think it's lovely.
Brett: yeah
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?
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : Because we're so used to seeing them small and shrubby you know or in fence lines.
atack2010: Yeah, they get huge. Yeah.
Jessica : And so when you see an actually like huge one, they're pretty pretty cool.
atack2010: Yeah.
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.
atack2010: I like those.
Alexis: Juniperus, not cedrus.
Brett: um Yeah.
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.
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.
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,
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.
Alexis: Is that going to be similar enough? ah Probably not.
Brett: Now, hold on.
Jessica : Right.
Brett: Colorado potato beetles seem to get along just fine here, so...
Jessica : oh
Alexis: Yeah, but are they actually from Colorado?
Jessica : Are they I'm not sure.
Brett: I did th - We don't have a passport system in the United States, Alexis. It's free travel year, okay?
atack2010: free roam strictly free roam
Alexis: yeah
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.
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,
Jessica : Take some time off.
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
atack2010: Just never, never shutting down.
Alexis: it it It is, you're right, you're right.
atack2010: It's a slowing down, not a stopping. Yeah.
Alexis: um Maybe I'm just too dramatic, I'm a deciduous tree at heart.
atack2010: Maybe.
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.
Alexis: Oh, yeah.
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.
Alexis: That could be a I feel like that could be a personality test question or something like that.
Jessica : Mmhmm.
Alexis: It's like, what kind of.
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.
Alexis: Yeah.
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
Alexis: Mm hmm.
atack2010: Absolutely. Yeah. I love them.
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.
Alexis: ah
Alexis: That
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
Alexis: juicy color.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Alexis: I'm matted almost.
Jessica : I'm dull.
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
atack2010: Yeah, they can sell all of them.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
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.
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.
atack2010: The classic gold mops, those have been like top 10 landscape.
Alexis: I like the wavy ones.
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.
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?
Alexis: Like as the seasons change, is that for a lot of plants?
Jessica : Right. I think like they're trying not, they're trying to prevent like water loss. Right.
Alexis: the Drying, yeah, the drying.
atack2010: Desecration, yeah, it is.
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.
Jessica : Like we don't think about that.
Alexis: Testication.
atack2010: Evergreen struggle.
Jessica : So.
Alexis: We saw so many die like what two years ago?
Jessica : Yes.
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.
Jessica : What? the Everybody's boxwoods.
Jessica : h
Alexis: It's pretty wild.
Jessica : yeah everybody Everybody wanted to replace their boxwoods that year.
atack2010: Yeah.
Jessica : ah
Alexis: Yeah, your broad leaves are the worst.
atack2010: It's tough.
Alexis: um Well, I was going to say, yeah, go ahead, Jessica.
atack2010: I'm trying to think, what are what have we not covered, Alexis?
Jessica : i
atack2010: A lot. i mean we've not there's ah There's so many plants.
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
Alexis: Through the snow.
atack2010: Yeah.
atack2010: Oh, yeah.
Jessica : you know, a sign a spring even when they pop up through the snow, right?
Alexis: Yeah, hopeful, yeah.
atack2010: Yeah, yeah, Harbinger's.
Jessica : um Something that I also have thought about that I will let Alexis deep dive on is hellebores.
atack2010: Mm hmm.
Alexis: Yeah, good.
Jessica : I mean,
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
atack2010: There it is.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
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.
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.
Alexis: It's going to be all right. We're going to get there.
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
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Alexis: The, the seasonal depression will fade. so Yeah.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
atack2010: that I love more than you know ah a grouping of those in a lot snow.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
atack2010: And you see all that green 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.
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.
Alexis: Mm -hm.
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
Alexis: Mm -hm.
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.
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.
atack2010: Oh yeah.
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.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Alexis: Yeah.
Brett: to all this vegetation and then goes back to it. This is like waxing and waning waves kind of thing.
Alexis: Cycle.
atack2010: I do love the hardscaping in that aspect, Brett.
Brett: That's really cool.
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.
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.
atack2010: Yeah, so I get it. I get it. I do like that.
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.
Alexis: actually Heh heh heh.
Brett: It's like creeping or creeping closer and going to like swallow you up.
atack2010: Greenage.
Brett: And mine's more of a little bit more of a angular, uh, architectural minimalism.
atack2010: Celebrating the rest period.
Brett: Yeah, exactly. So I, so I'm only allowed out there in the winter is what I'm trying to say.
atack2010: I like it.
Jessica : Yeah.
Brett: I can go out there and sit out there as much as I want.
atack2010: She puts you outside. Brett, it's your winter period.
Jessica : yeah
Brett: Yeah.
atack2010: Go outside and sit in a monk sit among the rocks, Brett.
Jessica : Yeah.
Brett: Ooh, it's looking, yeah, it's looking great out there.
atack2010: and
Alexis: should
Brett: It's February. It's looking pretty good. and Just get your lawn chair.
Alexis: The bald boy likes minimalism.
Jessica : um yeah Ray mentioned earlier about um wildlife, right?
Brett: That's correct.
Jessica : So like leaving winter interest for wildlife.
atack2010: Mm -hmm.
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.
atack2010: I like the cone flowers and winter. Yeah.
Jessica : Do I leave those up for the birds to come to eat?
atack2010: Mm hmm. Yes.
Jessica : Or do I want to cut them down, you know, and clean out my garden at the end of the year, right?
Alexis: and
Jessica : Do do they have disease?
atack2010: Yeah.
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
atack2010: Yeah.
Alexis: yeah Like keep them away from my tulips.
Alexis: Or, you know, have that that section a little further away and keep them focused in there and away from your tulips.
atack2010: Yeah.
Alexis: So, you know.
Brett: Trap crop.
atack2010: Provide food and cover.
Alexis: Yeah, a little trap -cropping there.
atack2010: Yeah. Away from the house. Yeah.
Alexis: i ah that's That's my excuse in the winter when I'm just like too tired to deal with anything anymore.
atack2010: as
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.
atack2010: That's my pollinator garden.
Alexis: And then the the person goes inside and like, ah all these dirty dishes are for the pollinators.
atack2010: Yes.
Alexis: Pile of laundry, pollinators.
Jessica : awesome
Jessica : I am such a great person right now.
Brett: Just leave it for the pollinators.
Jessica : I'm doing such good work.
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.
Brett: Yeah, we generally, we generally leave stuff in place for the most part over the winter.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
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.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Alexis: Mmhmm.
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?
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.
atack2010: Or can, yeah.
Brett: But you know, the older we get, the less we do that.
atack2010: There's a lot to be said about leaving them in place.
Brett: more
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.
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.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
atack2010: So nature has a plan if you just let it work, folks.
Brett: Yeah.
atack2010: Yeah, so.
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.
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah, all native bees will make little houses in there.
atack2010: Bumblebees and things are, yeah.
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.
Alexis: Please leave our babies alone.
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.
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.
Jessica : The bee babies.
atack2010: We're not going to recover from baby bees, baby baby native bees. But Ninebark, did we already talk about that?
Alexis: Mm -mm.
atack2010: Did I miss that? Like all the Ninebarks?
Jessica : No, we didn't.
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
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.
atack2010: Mm hmm. Yes.
Alexis: um God, Philbert, he's so contorted.
Brett: Yeah, consorted Filbert.
atack2010: Yeah.
Brett: I like that.
atack2010: I mean, like Philbert, he's all yeah.
Brett: Filbert.
Alexis: I love that plant.
atack2010: Wisted Philbert.
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.
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.
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.
Alexis: It was so cute and it was already sold. And I was like, no.
atack2010: Lexus, have you seen the sumac that sort of like that to the tiger's eye or whatever?
Alexis: Uh -uh.
Brett: Whoa, no, I haven't seen that.
Alexis: Uh -uh.
atack2010: It's a contorted version of sumac.
Jessica : Hmm.
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.
Brett: What?
Alexis: Okay.
Brett: That would be very funny because it's just a complete invention.
Alexis: Oh yeah. Cut leaf, Staghorn, Sumac.
atack2010: Look up tiger eye sumac, but.
Alexis: Yeah. Tiger eyes, cut leaf.
Brett: And it's contorted?
atack2010: It's not contorted, but it has an interesting branching. It's a more twisted than it's not exactly contorted like.
Alexis: Roost hyphina is the the Latin and it like it gets nice.
atack2010: Mm hmm.
Brett: Oh, I have, I have, I have RooSiphon that I started.
atack2010: Oh, very cool.
Brett: from seed.
Alexis: Yes.
Jessica : Oh, fancy.
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.
Alexis: Oh, that's pretty. That's a pretty plant.
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.
Jessica : Here's pretty.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
atack2010: So it's would be adapted for Kentucky, but I've seen an arboretum up North and really liked it.
Brett: Well, if you want it, Ray, I think I'm going to bring it to you.
atack2010: Really a cool plant, but tiger eye.
atack2010: Oh man, that would be, yeah yeah you grew you've grown that from like baby, baby? Like seed you said?
Brett: From seed, yeah.
atack2010: Yeah, man. Those are cool plants, super cool. But in in the winter time, they really show off.
Alexis: what
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.
Jessica : doesn' it Doesn't everybody do that?
Alexis: Everybody does that, right?
Jessica : like That's how we cope.
atack2010: Then you just have a better day from that point forward, yeah.
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?
Alexis: I'm like, no, I bought myself this plant.
Jessica : that's how That's how I got another lemon tree, y 'all.
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
Jessica : ooh
atack2010: Good one.
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.
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,
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.
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?
Alexis: No, I think the debt of summer is like my worst least favorite, but I'm learning to adapt. um
Brett: Is that the case? Would that be the case even if you, you weren't growing stuff?
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.
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.
Brett: Or real symmetry, if you will.
Alexis: Ask me again in January how I feel. Right now, we're coming off a heat wave. And I'm like, ugh.
Jessica : Yeah, it's hard because each season has its own unique things, right?
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
Jessica : Yeah.
atack2010: That's when you enjoy the rainy season, yeah.
Alexis: It's a very special time.
Jessica : That's, yeah.
atack2010: You begin to enjoy that.
Alexis: I don't know, rain is like just reminds me of mud.
atack2010: Y 'all on the farm, absolutely, yeah.
Alexis: Although right now I would kill for some mud.
Jessica : Sometimes winter just reminds me of that, but I'm coming from a, we also have livestock, right?
atack2010: Oh, yeah.
Jessica : So no matter how cold and muddy, cause you get into mud season, right?
Alexis: who
Jessica : You gotta go out, you gotta go out and feed things, you know?
atack2010: That's when I want it to be cold enough to freeze the ground, yeah.
Alexis: Yeah, yeah.
atack2010: I want the ground to be frozen because when it unthaws,
Jessica : So yes, you want the ground to be frozen.
atack2010: There is no bottom, yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
Alexis: It's the bottom, right through the center of the earth.
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.
Jessica : Yep, you do.
atack2010: We have talked about all the plants, and I feel like we're just scratching the surface on these winter interest plants.
Jessica : There's probably quite a few we've left off.
atack2010: um but it but it yeah Oh, there is. i mean like
Jessica : Yeah.
atack2010: I mean, we we did not um to our credit, we did not once mention, I don't think, ornamental cabbage.
Alexis: It's because we all know the stank that comes with that when it freezes.
atack2010: Or kale, or, yeah, the crucifers once they start to go down.
Jessica : Mm -hmm.
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.
atack2010: Winter presence.
Jessica : or like it's out there.
atack2010: It is winter presence.
Alexis: e They are really, really pretty.
atack2010: ah yeah
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.
Jessica : Bright green.
atack2010: ah
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.
Brett: And I don't know.
atack2010: Oh, yeah.
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.
Alexis: Mmhmm.
Brett: ah winter side of the seasonal coin.
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.
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.
atack2010: Like a mere choke cherry and a plant like that that you're like, ah, choke cherry.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
atack2010: But then you have these ones with this beautiful bark. But it seems like you have to
Alexis: Paperbark maple.
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.
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.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
atack2010: ah To me, that you just takes a little bit more research, but that's that's part of the fun in it.
Alexis: Well worth it.
atack2010: Yeah, absolutely. But there's so 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.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
atack2010: But in the wintertime, they are so beautiful.
Alexis: They're like ghosts.
Jessica : Well, just some of the oak trees, like retaining leaves, you know, like yeah other plants like that.
Brett: Oh yeah.
atack2010: And I always notice them.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
atack2010: Oh, yeah, yeah, true. Yeah, true.
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
Jessica : Mm hmm.
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
atack2010: They've got a kind of a white bark and they're really striking with the the the colors.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Alexis: Yeah, they're, they're not like a sycamore, but they're, they're definitely, they pop.
atack2010: No.
Jessica : Like light gray kind of.
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.
atack2010: Lighter. Lighter. Yes.
Alexis: And I'm like, Oh, look at them little beach trees.
atack2010: You can pick them out in the wintertime. Yeah.
Alexis: Um, yeah.
Brett: Hard to beach.
atack2010: Hard to beach.
Jessica : ah
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?
Alexis: No? Seen none. We will move on. No. ah We hope you guys.
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.
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.
Brett: it's it's not ah It's not like winter is this static dead thing that we're told that it is.
Alexis: Mmhmm. Yeah.
Brett: There's actually a lot of stuff happening. And so part of it is as much
atack2010: Yeah.
Brett: appreciating the beauty of winter and and winter interest as it is you planning for it, but in some cases you're replanting.
Alexis: Mmhmm.
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?
atack2010: and got to reading that, it's exactly what you said.
Alexis: What?
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.
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,
Alexis: really quiet and talking about it.
Brett: and The best laid plants do grow well, I don't know.
Alexis: Anyways.
atack2010: Delilah.
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.
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
Jessica : Mm hmm.
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.
