Transcript
Plant People: Welcome again, constant listeners. This once again is not Alexis this week. This is Ray filling in for one of our constant show host. Alexis and Brett are off doing big things again this week.
Plant People: So it's the Jessica and Ray show currently with, yeah it is with another Hort Short, a short form kind of podcast show for the holidays.
Jessica : It's, yeah, the Jessica and Ray show.
Plant People: So what do we got going on this week, Jessica?
Jessica : All right. All right. Well, you know, we're in into December now, so I think we should start to get a little festive.
Plant People: It is.
Jessica : So I have thought of a question for us to start off today.
Plant People: Oh yes. Oh, man, you do have a question.
Jessica : I do have a question to start off.
Plant People: OK.
Jessica : What is your favorite holiday movie? Like what's the one that you like, of all things, you have to watch.
Plant People: Oh, there.
Jessica : I think I have two maybe that I always have to watch, but you go ahead. Tell me, tell me which is the ones.
Plant People: I was watching one today. It's actually a cartoon, but I mean, there's a first of all, there's a bunch. So this yeah this makes me anxious trimming.
Jessica : You're like, I have a big list.
Plant People: that I do have a big list, but Frosty the Snowman, I watch. I was watching it today during our, you know, doing some stuff.
Jessica : Aww. Yeah?
Plant People: Yeah, I was watching Frosty the Snowman, but there there's so many good ones to choose from. But I think that's one of my earliest memories is watching that as a kid. And and there was a ah point in there that made me very interested.
Plant People: It was the greenhouse. And I believe there was poinsettias in the greenhouse.
Jessica : Yes.
Plant People: And I mean, that that had an early horticultural influence on me.
Jessica : No, you say that. Yeah.
Plant People: I was like, whoa, they're growing, they're growing plants and frosting.
Jessica : Oh, look at you. That's all connecting.
Plant People: It's cold. How are they doing that? I remember thinking this as like, I don't know, eight or nine year old. I remember frosty distinctively. So I'm going to have to go with the OG frosty. So I know, I know that you've got probably a list too.
Jessica : Oh man, you had like a really good answer.
Plant People: So yeah are you just going to pick one?
Jessica : Oh, I guess I'll have to like just try to narrow it down.
Plant People: Your favorite? Yeah.
Jessica : I really love, I always have to watch when I'm wrapping Christmas gifts on a fire department night. So I'm like home alone so I can wrap everyone's Christmas gifts.
Plant People: Oh yeah.
Jessica : A white Christmas and really so good.
Plant People: Oh gosh. You know, and that is, and you know, I didn't start with Jennifer and I didn't start watching that movie until about four or five years ago. We did not know about that movie.
Plant People: We watched it once and we watched it that first year, like four times. And now we watch it every year since. I mean, love that movie.
Jessica : But I, I, I think the one that like, I always have to make a point to watch and there's so many, like you said, right? Like so many great ones, but I, I love Christmas vacation.
Plant People: Yes, there is.
Jessica : It makes me laugh every time, but it can always make me laugh the whole.
Plant People: Oh. It's gotta be my top. Were you part of the group that during and like ah an office staff, you guys drew, wait a minute.
Jessica : Yep. Yep.
Plant People: I'm painting a picture for you since we don't have video podcast listeners. Jessica's office, we had like, you know, Hey, dr your office does a Christmas theme. We come to office staff. They're trying to make, you know, Christmas staff fun, as fun as it can be for a work meeting.
Plant People: But Jessica's office does this thing with a Christmas vacation. Jessica, I'll let you describe it. Cause it was pretty perfect.
Jessica : We, so the the theme that year was like to dress up as a holiday movie of some sort. And my office is all female and we dressed up as characters from Christmas vacation.
Jessica : So I was Clark Griswold and I had like the vest and like so I had a whole big ball of really tangled up Christmas lights.
Plant People: The whole thing.
Jessica : Um, we had, of course we had, oh, I can't think of the aunt's name now, but the aunt who comes, who brings the cat.
Plant People: Oh, I can't either with a hat.
Jessica : So like, we had a Christmas, we had a package that had a toy in it that shook and it sounded like a cat. We made jello, jello mold with cat food in it. We had um Cousin Eddie, yeah, one of my co -workers dressed as Cousin of Eddie.
Plant People: Eddie was there. Oh, so perfect. Cousin Eddie, I still laugh about that.
Jessica : She wore a housecoat, yeah, the housecoat.
Plant People: Yes, still laugh about that.
Jessica : But we did the whole, we tried to like, you know, do every character in the movie for that competition. We went, we went hard for it, so.
Plant People: that That is one that I probably watch every year. I mean, it's a funny movie, but it hits me a little different now ah that I have a son. It hits me way different now when Clark's in the attic and he's watching the old family movies.
Jessica : Oh, yeah.
Plant People: I'm like, it hits different people. It really, I was like, whoa, this is, this is a little different now for me, but he's, won but it's such a great movie. So many classic lines in that movie.
Jessica : It is from like the dinner scene on like you could just watch that part and it's just funny.
Plant People: It is, it's great.
Plant People: Yes, it's I mean the hits just keep coming with that but yeah, there's so many I mean I like some of the non -traditional ones like what for Christmases or the holiday or you know ones love actually there's some that some people wouldn't consider like a traditional traditional Christmas music but or or or Movie, but yeah, there's there's so many great Christmas shows out there No, yeah
Jessica : So good.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Jessica : Yeah, I didn't even mention like Grinch and Rudolph and all of those too. so
Plant People: There's just, basically, I just try to rotate through and watch as many as I can.
Jessica : ah
Plant People: They're always going on in the background at the house, absolutely.
Jessica : ah Speaking of these, you know we see Christmas trees and all of them at that time of year, horticultural, crop, wreaths.
Plant People: Oh gosh, yeah.
Jessica : Ray and I were just talking about how we have wreath making classes coming up ah for the holidays, poinsettias, all sorts of things. and Another popular holiday plant is it gets labeled as the holiday cactus, or you might call it the Christmas cactus or the Thanksgiving cactus.
Jessica : And there's even an Easter cactus, which I think a lot of people are very surprised to see or hear about that there's an Easter one as well.
Plant People: Different plants? Are they different plants? Is that what we're talking about?
Jessica : They're all the same. They're all holiday cactuses, but just different kind of like varieties of them, there different types.
Plant People: Yeah. Gotcha. They are slightly different then.
Jessica : oh
Plant People: Yeah, they're not exactly the same.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah, well, most of the time when you're purchasing a holiday cactus, you're really getting a Thanksgiving cactus.
Plant People: Mm -hmm.
Jessica : So, um but they just get marketed that way. And then especially if you're getting one that's red, later on, that may get, you know, has red flowers, might get labeled as a Christmas cactus, but The Christmas cactus and the Thanksgiving cactus and the Easter cactus all have different shaped leafs, right? So they're like cousins of each other, um but there is a difference between the three. But most of the time what you're going to see at the stores that are easy to get are those Thanksgiving cactuses that just get labeled now as like holiday cactus ah because they're probably one of the more reliable ones to get to bloom again.
Plant People: What's the natural bloom period if you don't like take special care?
Jessica : and
Plant People: what's their When do they, on average, bloom, roughly?
Jessica : So yeah so any yeah, anywhere between like Thanksgiving and through Christmas.
Plant People: I mean, Thanksgiving cactus. You said Thanksgiving. OK.
Jessica : um there yeah they're one of the They're a short day plant, as we say, so they are buds and it's flowering and initiated by like those longer nights.
Plant People: Somewhere's in there. Yeah. Yeah. Mm hmm.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : ah However, it can be initiated by temperature fluctuation and that is what I depend on because I do not have time to take these plants, you know, and give them like so many hours of bright light during the day and then cover them up for so many hours of darkness.
Jessica : And then remember to pull them out at the right time.
Plant People: I messed mine up with supplemental light.
Jessica : Right. and
Plant People: I remember messing mine up. This explains a lot, Jessica, cause I'm not, uh, you know, ive grown these type of ah cactus a lot, but I but put grow lots at 12 hours on everything. And I think I was messing mine up to be honest.
Jessica : h Yeah, a little too much.
Plant People: This explains a lot what you're saying. Yeah. So you, and what do you have yours? You said temperature fluctuation. Where do you like have yours?
Jessica : So I just i just have mine near a window. They like bright indirect light because these, cats when we say cactuses, they are a cactus, but they're actually from Brazil.
Plant People: Mm.
Jessica : um That's where they grow naturally. They're like in more mountainous, a jungle area. So they get a lot of filtered light, a lot of bright indirect light. um They like, more there's more, they like more moisture than we think a regular cactus does.
Jessica : So they like to be watered on a more regular basis, as long as they have really good drainage, because they are ah plants that are, epi I'd always say this wrong, empathetic plants.
Plant People: Mm hmm. Yeah.
Jessica : How do you say that?
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : Like kind of like an orchid where they kind of hang on.
Plant People: Like the epiphytic or ah yeah, like I have a tough ah trouble saying that kind of like an amaryllis then kind of they're from Brazil and they love water, but it's a catch 22.
Jessica : Yeah, yeah.
Jessica : Where they, yeah.
Plant People: They really like water, but they love to be well -drained as well.
Jessica : Yes, because they can they can rot very quickly, those guys.
Plant People: Yeah. Yeah, so it's kind of that kind of deal.
Jessica : but Both of these plants, yeah. So um they you know they like that bright indirect light. They don't want a lot of direct light. But where they're in the mountain areas, they get those cooler temperatures to initiate bud formation.
Jessica : So it doesn't get cold there, right? So it's not going to survive outside, depending where you're listening from in the winter.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : um But that temperature change, that'll initiate buds on your your holiday cactus as well to get them to bloom. um One of the biggest problems most people talk to me about, they're like, well, I had buds and then they all fell off.
Jessica : Like what happened, right?
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Well, the biggest culprit to that is just probably, well, we say stress or, you know, not watering enough or temperature change, like bringing it into a really hot house and having those buds change.
Jessica : But at mine at home are just next to a window where they get that bright and direct light and that temperature change just naturally.
Plant People: I was going to say, thank get ah they get a temperature change from the window, too. I bet a little bit, don't they?
Jessica : no Yeah.
Plant People: A little bit.
Jessica : And that, so I currently have a bunch of them that are blooming now.
Plant People: Awesome. Yeah.
Jessica : And the other cool thing about these is where they could be like kind of like fair family heirloom plants.
Plant People: Mm -hmm.
Jessica : So I have one currently that is a piece of my great grandmother's.
Plant People: Oh, wow.
Jessica : That she had so my grandma still has it and then she gave me a piece. They're very easy to propagate um there's all these very you can read online and a different extension pubs very specific steps of like Cutting them doing rooting hormones, you know all these things or you can stick them in a base of water and then you know, give them yeah give them know some bright light and they will they will root and you can repot them and They root pretty easy.
Plant People: And they'll rue, okay.
Plant People: So they root pretty easy then, Christmas cactus, okay, or cactus, these kind of little cactus.
Jessica : Yeah. um Yeah, these type of cactuses do. ah So pretty easy to get um to rebloom. Now, the Easter one that I mentioned, I of all places had never seen one at like a commercial greenhouse, any place like that.
Jessica : I walk into Walmart. And there they are, just in an aisle in Walmart one day. And of course, yeah.
Plant People: Just randomly.
Jessica : So of course, what do I do? I call Alexis and I say, you won't believe what's here. There are Easter cactuses here. How many do you want? Right? So, um, she wanted all of them.
Plant People: And so she wanted all of them. She's like, give me a hug.
Jessica : And then I, I bought the rest and, but they do. They flower, their flower looks a little more different than their regular Thanksgiving, holiday, Christmas ones.
Jessica : their Their flower looks, I would say, more like a traditional cactus flower or more that daisy shape.
Plant People: Mm -hmm same color or was it a different color?
Jessica : And they, um so far I can only found, the one I have is light pink.
Plant People: Do you remember?
Plant People: Gotcha. Yeah, I've seen those before
Jessica : versus there's been a lot of breeding done with the other ones. So you have like the red, white, pink, um I have a yellow, orange one that I found, ah which is kind of cool because you really don't see that yellow, orange, ah more purple, purple colors.
Plant People: yeah no, I haven't
Jessica : um But the Easter one, it blooms in the spring around Easter. and it has more of those traditional cactus flowers. But just like these guys, like I think a lot of times people get like, oh, how am I gonna get the bloom again?
Jessica : But that temperature change ah does it naturally.
Plant People: Like does it naturally?
Jessica : And sometimes I'll have um bloom like in the summer and stuff. And I think it's just like with the air conditioning kicking on, won't be as big as or full blooms as we have like this time of year, but um you'll get oh a bloom here and there every once in a while from them.
Plant People: So that that dark that dark period and then combination with the cool that. And I'm sure if you wanted to like scientifically manipulate that, you could hone that down. But it sounds like for you, you've got a winning combination naturally with how you just have them there in the window.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: And it seems like this is, you know, the holiday cactus. I was talking to somebody and they've had one of these like, and it's huge, was like a 60 year old cactus. So, I mean, the thing was massive.
Plant People: And I've seen pictures of ones over 75 years old. And I didn't, just didn't realize these things could be this old. It was amazing.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: that they live like a long, long time. If you have just a great environment and you're they're well taken care of and cared for, yeah, that's um awesome.
Jessica : Yeah, they, like I said, they really appreciate like well -drained soil. So they like to be watered just like your regular houseplants do. ah They're going to appreciate some regular fertilizer, like a complete fertilizer.
Jessica : You might want to hold off on fertilizing once we get into you um like September or so and cut back on it and because that's going to help your buds stay on there and stuff longer.
Plant People: Yeah. Yeah.
Jessica : But then you know you can start fertilizing it. And they're not one that needs to be repotted every year. you know you can go like four to five years and most of times they don't need to be repotted unless you know they're getting too big for the pot right so or yeah or if you notice they're starting to like um shrivel or other signs of kind of stress on them they don't really need to have um be repotted that often so they're pretty easy and a lot of people also have success with
Plant People: Yeah, just kind of root bound or whatever.
Jessica : moving them outside during the summer, like on a shady porch.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : So they're getting some of that bright, maybe they get some direct sun in the morning, but then they're going to be like shaded the rest of the afternoon and leaving them out there for those natural cooling temperatures.
Plant People: the
Jessica : And then like bringing them in, like they'll already start to set buds and then bringing them in before those real cold temperatures get, and then they're good to go for flowering.
Plant People: These things are sounding a lot to me like amaryllis or
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: uh, uh, hapestrium, I guess we call a lot of plants, amaryllis, but the hapestriums, which are what we call, you know, that you'll find in your local box store, uh, we call amaryllis, but the hapestriums are just like that. You know, they, they like that kind of soil, like a cactus mix soil. That's got a little bit more sand, well -drained.
Plant People: ah You know, it's the the day length that initiates certain growth patterns with them. They sound, but then again, they're from the same, roughly the same area and they grow in the same area.
Jessica : yeah
Plant People: So, and they like, they they like morning sun, afternoon shade, they like bright indirect sunlight. So, and that's one that I saw. in our local local store ah here in bourbon county today that was absolutely beautiful it was an hapestrium it was of course labeled as an amaryllis which is fine but it was one that they were forcing to bloom for christmas but it was a double bloom one absolutely gorgeous and i hadn't noticed that before and and it's one of those you mentioned that you had did like family plants like a holiday cactus in your family Well, in my family, it would be a Barbados Lily, which is an Apistrium plant.
Jessica : Oh.
Jessica : huh
Plant People: But that's been in my wife's side of the family for years.
Jessica : Oh, that's cool.
Plant People: But I'm starting to notice those. Yeah, it's one of the orange ones. That's really cool. And we give it to everybody. So and one of these days, Jessica, I'm just going to bring you some because everybody gets some.
Jessica : Oh, I'll take it.
Plant People: i love
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: I love growing those things, but it's amazing. ah Plants over the holidays are just so much fun. I mean, and and you've you've talked about like one of the most common things we get questions on.
Plant People: It seems like people just work and work to get these holiday cactus to bloom at a certain time. But it sounds like from what you're saying, just let nature be nature and kind of dictate the temperature and day length and sort of takes care of itself.
Jessica : Yep.
Plant People: um
Jessica : Yeah, they take care. They're a lot easier than I think people think. Like I always talk about like, okay, you won't be real technical. Here's all the steps.
Plant People: Yes.
Jessica : And then at the end of it, I go, or you can just let, you know, nature do its thing with the temperature change and you'll probably get some buzz.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : And it, you know, it's growers, more commercial growers who are her wanting these things to bloom exactly at Thanksgiving, exactly at Christmas.
Plant People: Yes. and They really control it, don't they? Yeah, they really...
Jessica : Yeah. They're controlling it.
Plant People: And the amaryllis growers do that, too. It's eight weeks of dark cycle, and then it's six to eight weeks after you bring them out of an eight -week dark cycle. They bloom, and that's how they it's very controlled.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Plant People: And if you want to do that, that's fine. But you know naturally, ah a lot of these plants will bloom you know at their given time when you just let kind of nature take its course, sounds like.
Jessica : Yeah, I've the one amaryllis that I like tried to overwinter once before it ended up just becoming like an Easter amaryllis and that was fine.
Plant People: Oh, yeah.
Jessica : it Like it was so delayed.
Plant People: And they'll, they'll bloom at, they'll, they'll bloom at odd times.
Jessica : It finally blooms. Yeah.
Plant People: And when you bring them out, they're going to bloom usually eight weeks later. When you bring them out and pot them, they're going to bloom eight weeks later. It's just what they do.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Uh, but, uh, you know, now you've got me thinking about like all the plants around the holidays. And, you know, if you're like me, you know, a lot of horticulture agents here in Kentucky, like we have wreath making workshops and I love that.
Plant People: That's a very festive time. And i there's nothing more than I love. than the pine smell during the wreath making workshop with all the resins going down.
Jessica : Mhm.
Plant People: I don't like the stickiness when i'm yes I'm using something that's very aromatic like a white pine and my gloves are sticking together and I'm having a real bad time.
Jessica : Right.
Jessica : Yep.
Plant People: But it's almost all worth it for this the smell of a natural wreath. That's something that that we do every year. It's a lot of fun. That's more greenery than a plant because obviously we've harvested that.
Plant People: Uh, but I don't have a natural Christmas tree anymore. That's like an admission of guilt for me.
Jessica : Oh.
Plant People: So I'm going to tell you that and hoping nobody tracks me down, but you guys do like the natural Christmas tree or anything, Jessica.
Jessica : We do. My husband always had one like growing up, so we we do one for sure.
Plant People: Do you? Okay. Yeah.
Jessica : My boys get pretty pretty excited about it. um
Plant People: Do they, do you keep them out or drink in the water?
Jessica : there always Yeah, well, my biggest issue was like my cat used to get in the water.
Plant People: Like the pets and everything?
Jessica : She just like water and would like play in it.
Plant People: Oh yeah. yeah
Jessica : But um but otherwise, like, you know, as long as you don't let it get too hot, and you make sure to water, and you don't need to do any of those mixtures, like you'll hear about sometimes where people like put like bleach and stuff in their water, you know what I mean?
Plant People: Yeah. Yeah.
Plant People: Oh yeah. Yeah.
Jessica : um Just make sure that you you know give it a fresh cut and give it plenty of water, and it'll last you the whole holiday season. Now, only one time we had to like throw our tree out really quickly.
Jessica : And I thought at first, I was like, man, this is a sappy tree. Okay. And I was like, there's like sap on my plate, on my presence. And like, what is going on? It's like, stick to my floor.
Plant People: Uh -huh.
Jessica : So we make it through Christmas. And then I'm like, why? This should not be the sap anymore. And then I get in there. giant conifer aphids.
Plant People: Oh.
Jessica : It was filled with giant conifer aphids that, and when you like, if you all look those up afterwards, you see where people think they have Christmas trees that are infested with ticks, because these aphids are so big that people think they're ticks.
Plant People: So they were just causing that rain of sap down.
Plant People: And of course, you being an entomologist would know that right off and be like, oh, I have conifer aphids.
Jessica : So that was
Jessica : Yeah. And of course I like took pictures of it to write an article about later, but, um, I had to like wash most of my Christmas ornaments cause they were sticky.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : And that's like one of the only times that are like fresh tree did not last us the full season because we were like, well, this has to go. Um, and yeah, we have to get this out of the house, but luckily, you know, they only feed on conifers.
Plant People: Not going to work.
Jessica : So I didn't have to worry about them jumping to any of my house plants, but
Plant People: Yeah, so.
Jessica : um Sometimes there can be surprises in your live trees.
Plant People: ah We used to cut like cedar trees, which by the way, don't make the best Christmas trees because they're flimsy.
Jessica : A little pokey.
Plant People: They're pokey the and the the limb the the limbs just are very pliable and you hook an ornament to them. But we used to have a lot of cedars on the farm I grew up on. we Us boys love going out, we'd cut a cedar tree.
Plant People: But we had lots of surprises. We would bring that in, there would be a little spiders waking up everywhere.
Jessica : and know
Plant People: So it'd be locust pods trying to hatch, like all this craziness we would bring in, but lots of wildlife in those trees when you bring in a, ah but cedar trees are kind of dense and there's like all kinds of critters coming out of that.
Jessica : Yeah?
Plant People: But now we were just cutting those just out in the woods, you know, kind of in its natural form. And and we used to love to do that with my older brother and I when we were younger, we would do that.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: But now once again, cedar trees, at least the ones that were untrammed, uncapped, You know, they, they just didn't make that, but my mother put up with us and she would let us put up those tree and look like a Charlie Brown tree.
Plant People: Cause it'd be all droopy. One ornament would just wreck the tree then.
Jessica : Oh.
Plant People: So we had all these heavy ornaments on the end of the limbs and they would be drooping down. But I'm trying to think it usually, if you go to a Christmas tree farmer or cut your own in a Christmas tree farm, they grow, I guess, Jessica, what specific species that are more suitable for hanging ornaments and things like that.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah. The thing that I always heard was like, you know, the Fraser fir is the Cadillac of Christmas trees.
Plant People: Yeah, like ah it's the premier Christmas tree.
Jessica : Yeah. And, and they're definitely hard to grow here in Kentucky.
Plant People: Yes.
Jessica : Like they don't, they don't like our environment so much versus like North Carolina.
Plant People: Mm hmm. Yeah.
Jessica : You see them everywhere because it was very happy to grow there.
Plant People: Yeah, we've we said it before, folks. Kentucky is challenging for any kind of evergreen. We're not north. We're not south. We're in what's called a transition zone, which means we get the best and worst of both north and south. And evergreens don't like that because typically you see evergreens farther south or farther north.
Plant People: and they're adapted to both North and South, but not in between.
Jessica : Not not here.
Plant People: We're we're not the best state, but I mean, there we do have Christmas tree farms in Kentucky, but boy, you have to be, I'm i'm going to pick up greenery tomorrow for my wreath workshop.
Jessica : We do.
Plant People: So there are farms out there that have microclimates or they found species that work well for their operation.
Jessica : Yeah, certain varieties that work better and, um, and are i still able to grow them.
Plant People: So yeah.
Jessica : And so you're able to go, it just might not be that, you know, Frazier for, but still, all still different options.
Plant People: Yes.
Jessica : So you can go and out and cut your own tree and get by, you know, help a local farmer out and, um, you know, still have that fresh cut tree.
Plant People: Yeah.
Plant People: I love the smell of that. and I do remember that when we used to do a natural tree, we would always like now we're guilty of like first week of November, we're putting up a tree, which currently is an artificial tree.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: um But when we used to have natural trees, we would wait just a little bit longer. Because I know the the colder gets the lower the humidity goes in your home and that you know Makes your tree dry out and certain species of trees just start dropping needles like crazy Especially if you didn't cut it yourself and it may have been cut two or three weeks before that and packaged up and made ready for you If it wasn't a local Christmas tree farm, I mean, and so there's a lot of factors there but I do remember us waiting just a little bit longer if we had a real Christmas tree and to try to make sure that the trees were, you know, would stay fresh all the way through Christmas.
Plant People: Not all the needles would drop off, ah but that's all considerations ah that that we had to make for um those real Christmas trees. But you said there's no special additives or anything needed typically when, yeah, yeah,
Jessica : No, yeah, just making sure that you like you know consistently water them.
Plant People: yeah
Jessica : Right. And you'll know, you'll know, because like you stay consistent with it at first and all, cause I know like my mom would say, Oh, but you know, you'd have to get down there and move presence and try to water.
Plant People: yeah, yeah.
Jessica : But if you stay consistent with that first week or so, you'll notice like the amount of water they start to uptake slows down.
Plant People: Yeah, yeah.
Jessica : Right. So you're not really having to water as much if you, you know, give them plenty at the beginning.
Plant People: Yeah, they slowly start to plug up and they just don't suck up as much, do they?
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Well, I'm trying to think of some of the other things that just scream Christmas.
Jessica : So.
Plant People: I'm thinking, we mentioned Poinsettias right at the beginning of the show.
Jessica : Oh, yeah, that's a big one.
Plant People: And then, yeah, Poinsettias are a big one. um Any comments on that? Do you guys have, keep those around the house during Christmas or during the holidays?
Jessica : Um, I usually always get my like one 99 cent one to put around the house.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Um, that's the one that, you know, if you want a challenge to try to get it to what you shouldn't say, rebloom, because like, you know, the, the color is actually the leaves, the brass of the plant.
Plant People: Yeah.
Plant People: Oh, gosh. Yeah.
Plant People: Yes.
Jessica : And then like the actual flower on a point that are those little tiny yellow things.
Plant People: Little biddies.
Jessica : um But they're another one of those short day plants that you actually do.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : You can't cheat with the with the cool temperatures.
Plant People: No, they're kind of specific, aren't they?
Jessica : They're kind of specific and I do know people like one of my 4 -H agent here at the office, um she had a poinsettia that was huge and she took it outside and planted it in her yard every year and and then it dug it up and brought it in and where I think it got enough of that natural cooling and stuff and she it would not completely turn red but some of it would every year.
Plant People: Oh, wow.
Plant People: That is dedication.
Plant People: That's still amazing that she was able to keep, like I've never kept a poinsettia, you know, like year after year. That's just something I've never done.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Amaryllis all the time. I do that. I keep him year round, but never, I've never tried that with a poinsettia.
Jessica : I have about points that are currently and it's kind of like a science experiment I've been doing kind of unintentionally.
Plant People: yeah Like a mad sounds experiment, yeah.
Jessica : Yeah, it just it kept doing fine. And so I have it in the same container and it's just sitting by a window and it has put on so much growth. And so I just keep watering and I'm like, well, we'll see what it does.
Jessica : I don't think it'll change color. I will be shocked if it does, but um we'll see what happens with it. but Poinsettias are like if you ever look into the history of them are pretty cool to look up to see what like the original poinsettia looked like because it has the tiniest little leaves or bracts, right?
Jessica : So it doesn't look anything like what we see today um because they're originally from like Mexico and I believe it was
Plant People: yeah
Jessica : I think it was John Poinsett, his last name was Poinsett, who first saw them growing as shrubs yeah as ambassador to Mexico and then brought them back to the United States and obviously named him Poinsett as after his last name, but for himself.
Plant People: Oh, himself, of course, yes.
Jessica : and But you can look up those first, that variety of like what he saw growing naturally as shrubs and they like what we think of the flowers, but the bracts, the leaves are extremely thin.
Jessica : and and very small um compared to what we have now and like the variety of colors that we have now. Now, just keep in mind those blue ones and so those glitter ones, you know they're not but're not natural.
Plant People: Oh, yeah.
Plant People: They might have a little help, is that what you're saying? Yeah, and maybe some of the cream ones. Yeah, and some of the pinkish ones and definitely the red one.
Jessica : yeah yeah yes
Plant People: But like all the glitter, that's not natural, is it?
Jessica : And there's like, yeah, and there's like, um, there's some cool ones, like a variety called like peppermint, I think. And it's like a red and white speckled one.
Plant People: Yeah, like a variegated, almost like a variegated one.
Jessica : Um, yeah, so there's lots of cool ones that they've done, you know, breeding over the years.
Plant People: no Do you have to worry about like kids and pets around those? I hear that a lot every year.
Jessica : That's, that's a huge question every year. So like, um, I think they would have to eat like a like 40 pound or so child would have to eat like at least 50 leaves or something to be, to get like sick.
Plant People: Okay.
Jessica : And I don't know why they would keep eating them. Cause there's that latex inside those leaves that would instantly.
Plant People: It's almost like a defensive mechanism that makes you have very, what, unpalatable.
Jessica : Yeah. not unpalatable, right?
Plant People: Is that a good way to? Yeah, there you go.
Jessica : It's is so the same thing with your pets too. um I think it all, I read it at one point, it goes back to like a single case of like where a child ate some poinsettia leaves and went to the hospital and was sick, but there might've been like other things happening too, but the takeaway was the child ate some poinsettia leaves and so then they instantly got labeled as a toxic plant.
Jessica : Now they are a toxic plant because they have the latex in them, but there are other houseplants that we are around all the time or plants out in our yard that are way worse than a poinsettia.
Plant People: Yeah. Yes.
Plant People: yeah Yeah.
Jessica : So you would have to eat quite a few leaves yeah to have some adverse effects in.
Plant People: Like a lot, yeah. what In Kentucky when we're moving in, it's not uncommon for people to move in plants for the winter time that they have on the outside that they're going to overwinter and grow and protect through the winter before they move out next spring. I always encourage people that as they're doing that, especially if you have inquisitive pets like cats love to go and just sometimes chew on things.
Jessica : True.
Plant People: you know, maybe your dog does too, or your toddler. But any of these things I encourage people to look up, check the toxicity, especially if it's something new that maybe a pet or a child may want to explore more so than they normally would, they're not used to.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Plant People: So all of a sudden there's something pretty and colorful there. So that's why I always encourage people just to, you know, look this up. And if you can't find the information, call your local extension office if you're here in Kentucky, there's one.
Plant People: in every single county, but but call to check of, you know, some of the plants like amaryllis, you know, it's on the toxicity list. A lot of our indoor plants are, but if you want to know more about the nature of the toxicity, ah you know, call your local extension office because sometimes pets will explore.
Jessica : yeah
Plant People: If it's something new, they're curious too. They'll go up and maybe nibble on things that they normally wouldn't nibble on. So it's good to check.
Jessica : you
Plant People: If you don't know, kind of check it out. Check it out.
Jessica : Yeah, it's a good point.
Plant People: um Yeah, then the the because in our house, I know there's lots of greenery from, I mean, there might be boxwood floating around, there might be cedar, there could be, I don't know, you mentioned what Norfolk pine, that's one that I guess a lot of people, I don't don't have a lot of experience with those, but is that something you guys work with in the winter too, ah during the holidays, Norfolk's?
Jessica : hu
Jessica : That's, yes. So they're, they're sold as like little Christmas trees, like as alternative Christmas trees.
Plant People: Yeah, Charlie Brown trees.
Jessica : And sometimes I have glitter on them as well.
Plant People: What is it with glitter and Christmas?
Jessica : I don't know.
Plant People: Maybe it's a magical time. It just enhances everything.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Okay.
Jessica : But they are ah they're a pretty cool, like they naturally are giant trees, like big trees.
Plant People: Yes. a
Jessica : And they really naturally are near the ocean. So they like a lot of humidity. um They like a sandy soil, right? So they need good drainage, but lots of water at the same time, right?
Jessica : When you think about their environment.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : um And they can make a great houseplant. However, they need like a lot of bright light, I believe. um And the biggest culprit for their decline is we have them inside in the winter when the humidity is not high, and the tips of them will start turning brown, and slowly that that gets them every every time.
Plant People: Yes. Yeah.
Jessica : So they almost get treated just like a little temporary plant, just like, you know, the poinsettia, I think most people are just like, I have this poinsettia for the season and when it's done, I toss it, right?
Plant People: They considered an annual, a holiday annual that they they just do away.
Jessica : Yeah, it's a holiday annual.
Plant People: Yeah, that they just toss.
Jessica : I have seen some people have Norfolk Island pines that have like done really well and have, you know, if you find the right spot for them, right?
Plant People: Wow.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Like if they're getting the, if you find a happy spot for them, um Yeah, they can, they can grow pretty well and be a nice size, like little tree in your house. Um, but they're, they're a little challenging, but they're definitely sold a lot this time of year as like little small Christmas trees.
Plant People: I see them and I wonder about, I guess that that does make sense. I see them around this time of year and I've always wondered because I never did have those growing up or haven't done a lot of programming on those, but I always see them this time of year and that does make sense.
Jessica : hu
Plant People: It's kind of like a little, they're greenery for the season.
Jessica : Yeah. And they're really soft too.
Plant People: Yeah. Yeah, they're they're not really pokey like a cedar, yeah.
Jessica : So they're not like, yeah, they're not pokey. Yeah.
Plant People: Like a spruce or a cedar, which, you know, can get you. But yeah, they're they're kind of friendly as far as that goes, as far as the feel of them.
Jessica : Yeah. Yeah.
Plant People: So ah yeah, now that now that we started talking about this, I'm like, oh yeah, greenery for the holidays, plants for the holidays, even though it's typically colder in Kentucky, it is colder in Kentucky, around the the Christmas season.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: um But yeah, greenery is a big part of it, you know, when I think more and more about it growing up and knowing that, but the plants and everything, ah even though it's cold outside on the inside, there's usually these plants that we have, you know, even things like mistletoe, which it still cracks me up that mistletoe has got this romantic notion from a parasite.
Jessica : Right?
Plant People: I'm not going to make any relationship comments on that. But yeah, did do you guys have a mistletoe hanging somewhere, as Jessica?
Jessica : No, we don't.
Plant People: I haven't for a long time. Yeah, we we do not.
Jessica : We don't.
Plant People: Now there's a tree outside of our deck and I look at it, but it's too far up in there, but I see mistletoe growing in that tree.
Jessica : But I know like, yes.
Jessica : That's what I was going to say.
Plant People: but's
Jessica : like I know a tree in my parents' cattle field, and it was an old walnut tree, and there is mistletoe growing on that. because it you find it like You find it a lot of times on isolated trees more.
Jessica : I mean, you can find it mixed with other trees too, but because birds around from the bear trees and stuff.
Plant People: Yeah. Yeah. that's how they spread out or spread around I guess birds primarily.
Jessica : Like you said, it's a it's a parasite to the tree.
Plant People: yeah.
Jessica : um But we use it as a sign of love, all right?
Plant People: yeah Yeah, I don't know what the, I'm sure there's some interesting, interesting history on that. I've not looked it up in a while, but yeah, we're one of those things, but it's a, that's another example of a traditional holiday plant that, uh, you know, you're just trying to bring some festiveness and some life back in.
Jessica : Mm -hmm.
Plant People: And I guess historically when things were kind of dreary outside, people would have this, uh, you know, greener on the inside to sort of liven up things, I suppose.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah, so plants for the holidays.
Jessica : oh Yeah. Lots of options.
Plant People: There really is. The more we talked about it, the more I started thinking about things. At first, I was like, oh, yeah. And then I was like, oh, yeah.
Jessica : We did.
Plant People: And then, oh, yeah.
Jessica : Yeah. We didn't even get into like, like, uh, people do, they force like paper whites.
Plant People: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Jessica : Like, yeah. Like, uh, they force them sometimes for the holiday stuff. And even though I think they're quite smelly, right? They stink, right?
Plant People: thank That's one I never grew.
Jessica : Don't they?
Plant People: No, no.
Jessica : Yeah, so, but yeah, um lots of other ones we're probably not even, we're not even thinking of um that get marketed as holiday ones.
Plant People: I've never involved myself in.
Plant People: Oh, yeah yeah.
Jessica : So.
Plant People: Yeah, I tend to move in. Like I said, I've got pots of amaryllis. Currently, everywhere is I have like the it's called St. Francis Ivy, but it's just some sort of miniature ivy. What else do I have sitting under Grolos?
Plant People: Now, pothos, I have, I don't know, some snake plants. I'm i'm just kind of curly leaf jade. That's one I've been growing here lately.
Jessica : um
Plant People: I've been having a lot of fun with that, but I have to bring it in. It did fantastic with ah Afternoon, you know, indirect sun, done really good.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Christmas cactuses, I haven't had one of those in a while, but yeah, what what do you have growing else besides the plant with plants we've talked about? Like any other plants hiding in the windowsills?
Jessica : Yeah, I have, um, yeah, I have some Shamrock that's going.
Plant People: Oh yeah, that's a good one.
Jessica : Um, I have a fiddly fig that's really taken off and is happy.
Plant People: Oh fun, fun. Figs are fun.
Jessica : Um, I'm trying to think what else I have a caliphia plant that I absolutely love.
Plant People: Mm -hmm.
Jessica : It's a rattlesnake caliphia.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : So like the other side is purple and then the top is like, a light green with dark green spots.
Plant People: Yeah, really pretty.
Jessica : And I have found a spot for it, which I will never move it from that spot ever. And I'm going to knock on wood because it is very happy, happy there. And I know sometimes they can be a little finicky, so I will, I shall never move it because it is very happy where it's at.
Plant People: It's like the, you know, and yeah, it's, they're in the perfect spot.
Jessica : Yeah, it likes where it is.
Plant People: Like they get just the right amount of light with the angle or the location and they're happy with the temperature.
Jessica : Mm -hmm.
Plant People: When I find one of the, it's funny, I do that with my, um, the Barbados lilies that I have. I found the perfect spot on the front porch. It's perfect. I mean, and we almost lost the plant, uh, like mealy bugs a few years ago, but then.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: This one spot on my porch is perfect for it. So now I'm kind of superstitious. I take it back to the exact same spot every year and it's gotten huge.
Jessica : Oh, yeah.
Plant People: I think I got 50 starts off of it this year, almost 50.
Jessica : That's awesome.
Plant People: It was 40 some odd starts that I taught a classroom out of one container.
Jessica : That's awesome.
Plant People: But yeah, I'm like, OK, it's doing well. I'm not going to mess with it. So and I'm exactly the same way when you find those good locations.
Jessica : um My son had a like a moment um this past week because you know we hadn't had like a really hard frost or freeze here yet um and he picked out yeah he picked out a coleus plant this past summer and it was like one of those it was like green and purple like funky ones and yeah and so like it got huge and now it's finally like succumbing to just natural and he's just like but I don't understand can't we bring it inside and and we did bring like ah a piece broke off and we stuck it in a vase of water and it is good growing above our sink so I'm like we have a piece for next year but he like wants to bring this giant thing inside yeah oh yeah um but a lemon tree I do you have a lemon tree inside so yeah
Plant People: No, we've got Bloom still. Mm -hmm. That was that monster coleus, wasn't it? Big one? It was a big one, yeah.
Plant People: Mm -hmm.
Plant People: He wants he wants that impact of that giant plant. Yeah.
Plant People: Oh, you do. So you you've got a lot of fun things on the inside just in front of like windows.
Jessica : Yes.
Plant People: Do you like grow lots or anything?
Jessica : Just in front of windows, I'm fortunate enough, I live in a an older farmhouse that was built in the 1800s, and it has like the really big, large windows.
Plant People: Oh, yeah, big tall windows.
Jessica : and so Once we moved there, my plants all got really significantly there much happier much much happier compared to where we used to live, just being around the windows and getting a lot of really bright and direct light.
Plant People: like a mini greenhouse. Yeah.
Jessica : so um So yeah, so got lots of things to keep going through the winter.
Plant People: Lance and it's for the holidays and I'm sure we probably missed a bunch and if the listeners if you as listeners out there have any suggestions for us that you would like for us to cover this winter maybe they're not plants necessarily associated with holidays but just plants that you would like to see us cover yeah we're always kind of open for suggestions on this show but anything else Jessica that you can think of before we wrap it up today we don't have Alexis to lead us out with all of our standard
Jessica : Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah, i I know all of our, yeah, that's like, we've been trying to think of like all the things that we need to say to remind you all of.
Plant People: you know a exit yeah yeah yeah yeah absolutely if you're in a yeah
Jessica : ah But I think that's it. I think, you know, just enjoy the holidays. Go out and get you a holiday plant. Gift one to someone you know who likes plants.
Plant People: And they they they do make great gifts. And like I said, I noticed those absolutely stunning double bloom, Hepaestrium amaryllises at a local store totally. And I'm tempted to go back and buy some of those.
Plant People: The double bloom ones look more like roses than they do amaryllis.
Jessica : Oh, that's really cool.
Plant People: Yeah they're gonna make a really good gift so and they were at a really good price so that's a great idea Jessica get someone in the gift of plants and it'll be the gift that keeps giving cuz they'll come back to you either when they're dead or they need advice to keep it growing so yeah you're and that's a good way to keep a relationship going with your friends and stay close is give them plants and they will come and maybe tell you about their experiences with those plants.
Jessica : Yep. Right. Exactly.
Jessica : Yes, or maybe they'll propagate it. And you know, it's the gift that keeps on giving that way too. And they can just keep sharing, so.
Plant People: Yep. It's kind of like the bread. I forget the bread friendship bread that you kind of take and you start and you get some and then you, what, Jessica, pass it on down.
Jessica : Yep.
Plant People: Yeah, I love, and that's what I do with plants. Somebody gives me some, I'll grow those up to the point where I then can divide and give those to other people or propagate them somehow. So yeah. Yeah. Well, thanks, Jessica.
Plant People: Great discussion today on holiday plants.
Jessica : Yeah, thanks, Ray.
Plant People: And we thank you, ah those of you that are listening today. And if you're listening over the holidays, happy holidays. And we look forward to you joining us again. they were Lexus and Brett will be back with us and they may do a couple of holiday short segments So kind of be watching for those but we look forward to you joining us the next time We will include some show notes on the topics today along with our contact information and ah Instagram page So if you need any enough information just look in the show notes, but thank you also very much and we will see you next time. Thank you
Jessica : Thanks.
