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♪

Well, hello and welcome to
Making it Grow.

We're so glad you could join us
on this Tuesday night.

Things are different but
we are really working

hard all the crew here
in Sumter to bring you

shows and we so
appreciate our agents out

in the field. Everyone's
you know we're nobody's

back in the office but
everybody's being so

kind in helping us and we
really appreciate that.

I'm Amanda McNulty and
I've worked with

Clemson Extension and get to
learn from all these

super bright agents who
come and share their

expertise with us.
And I'm gonna

to start with Zack Snipes who's
down there at the Coastal Rec

down in Charleston doing fruit
and vegetable work, particularly

to try to help our
growers down there.

I'm wondering if that's
somebody who

is a specialist who's been
trained to sniff out

certain diseases in tomatoes,
that your holding Zack.

Yeah. Disease sniffing dog,
I think is going to be the new

vegetable specialist. But
yeah, I'm out in the field two

to three days a week with
growers and doing research.

The other day, I
got my new, with this whole

COVID thing, I got my new co-
worker here. So she keeps

me entertained.
And what is her name?

Lexi. Lexi. Well, Hey
Lexi. She looks mighty

sweet. And she looks like
she's got - She is a good

choice for now because
she doesn't look

like she's the
kind of dog that

needs a hair cut very
frequently. Oh no.

Well, thanks Zack. Now
we're gonna go over the

Beaufort where my friend
Laura Lee Rose is and

Laura Lee has affinity for
flowers. She loves.

And is an expert
on all sorts of native flowers.

And then sometimes she just
gives them the things that

are pure tea beautiful. So what
I got for us Laura Lee?

Well, I've got my
blush rose here, which

is not very fragrant but it
does have beautiful open

centers and lots of pollen
for my bee friends.

And then I've got a
variety of salvia here

called purple majesty.
Which is very florific and

also they're tubular flowers
that are good for your

pollinator friends.
So that's a variety of

salvia that's
relatively new and you would

recommend that we try to
find one? Yeah I think it

four years of indigo spires for
a long time and indigo spires

while it's a beautiful plant
it doesn't have the spring

purple color. (laughs)
That is pretty.

And I've got some red
honeysuckle. I don't know

if you can see that or not.
And that's our native

honeysuckle, Laura Lee?
...honeysuckle. Probably

Alabama Crimson. Although,
it was grown by one of our

master gardeners who been a
great propagator of honeysuckle.

Well, that's wonderful and
if you've got - (laughs)

And I'm gonna
next time we finally get

to see each other, I'll
get you to share that

cultivar of honeysuckle
because some of them tend

to get powdered mildew and I
have that problem with mine.

I bet yours is being selective,
not to have so much trouble

with that. I never have seen
that on here. That's wonderful.

Okay. Well, Terasa Lott is
stationed in Darlington now.

And she still has an
affinity for all things

related to caring for
the water quality of our

state as we all should. But,
now she's taken on the

responsibility for being
the master gardener

coordinator. And she also
is kind enough to help us out at

Making It Grow. Terasa I hope
things are

going well over there and
Darlington is just

puttering along as usual.
Things are going well.

Although, slow in terms of
hoping to re-open our

doors to the public one day.

But, still remind everyone
that all the services

extension really are
still available just through the

use of different methods or
using technology, so our

phones will still ring.
We can receive emails.

Sometimes we can use
technology like Skype or

ZOOM to do a virtual visit to
someone's yard. So we are

still here and still
working for you.

Terasa are there ways to get
soil test results, still?

There are definitely.
So, people can mail the

samples directly to the
agricultural service lab.

There are instructions on
the #*X

service lab website.
I'll be sure to

post those on our
Facebook page. So, really

just everything that you could
normally do is still available

now. Well good and one
thing that we love that you

normally do for us is to
share some photographs

that our viewers send in.
I think you said you

have kinda a special treat for
today. We do. This is a little

bit different spin on our
gardens of the week

because it's just one
singular garden. And that is

of Dennis Gordon, Dennis
is the step dad to

Sean Flynn, our Producer/
Director for Making It

Grow. So, let's take a look
at his Sean described it

as his patio garden.
So we have a few photos

submitted by his wife Cindy.
We have to give her

credit for being the
photographer. And you'll

see we have a few garden
beds he shares and

some close up photographs
as well. So it appears

that Dennis is quite the
gardener. I'm going to

interrupt you for just a
minute and say

that Sean's mother has about
the sweetest disposition of

anybody I know. And
that's probably why

he can put up with me. So
hats off to you

Cindy for raising such a
fine young man who

occasionally rolls his
eyes, but it is

very patient and tolerant
with me. I didn't mean to

interrupt you, I just
think she

should have a special shout out.
Definitely.

It's always good to give
her a shout out. So it was

really fun to see Dennis'
photographs. And I think

it might have inspired me.
We've been talking

about adding some extra
vegetable beds to our

backyard area. So this
might just give me that

push I need to get going.
Or perhaps I should

say that my husband needs,
because I'm lucky he does

most of the physical
labor for the ideas that

I want to put into place.
I think you're very

fortunate to be.
Alright well thank you

so much for sharing this
with us Terasa

and thank you Dennis for
submitting in to us and

doing all that wonderful
work around y'all's house.

Teresa, people can post
questions on Facebook and

and often you ask
questions even during the

Tuesday nights, when the
show is streaming live on

Facebook. And you have
some is the one that

Laura Lee could start out
with helping us with tonight.

There sure is. So,
composting is a way that

we can turn our trash
into treasure is what I

like to say. Things that we
might normally send to the

landfill, we can
use them to our benefit and

our gardens and
landscapes. So one of

our viewers asked about
vermi compost. So a special

type of composting where we put
worms into action. So Laura Lee

can you give our viewer some
tips on what is it? How do we

get started. Tips and things to
avoid. We have a co-worker

in the Florence office who's
been vermi composting right

in the office beside hers. Worm
composting is a very interesting

hobby. And I know some people
might want to even

take it further but you can
order the worm. You can order

lots of supplies online.
There are many avenues

for doing that. You
do know there are

worms are red wigglers.
They are tropical worms.

So they don't want to be too
hot. They don't

want to be too cold. So, indoors
is really a good place

to have em. I've got em,

at my house, I've got em out on
the front porch.

But, they're very well shaded by
a big tree. The main thing to

avoid, you don't want use
meat or dairy or as some

people would even say
not too much citrus for

the worms and then

one of the tips that I
heard a few weeks ago,

was that you should
just feed them once a week.

Lift up the leg
and the herd that's

there hasn't been eaten up but
you don't want to be

overfeeding em. Then
you can have trouble with our

whole supply larva and
other things that you don't

really want.
But the bedding is just as

simple as maybe the
shredded paper from your office,

the newspaper as you can
clear out newspaper

and that's about it.

weird, worms and things.
Sometimes I have a bin.

And Laura Lee, what do you
do with

what you get?
That's right. So the compost

that you - the
worms are top feeders.

They are going to the top.

So you can actually take some
of your bottom trays

or you can separate worms
out by hand, and take the

compost, you can make compost
tea of it

by just putting it in a
bucket and watering your

plants with that compost tea.
And you can use the compost

as you would any compost
around your plants, house

plants, vegetables what have
you. Right. Well, Laura Lee,

Thank you and that sounds like
something if your

children would be a fun
thing to start doing this

summer because - Right. It's
a great classroom activity

for young children or
really anybody.

Thank you so much. Thanks
for telling us all about

worms that was fun. Okay.
Alrighty.

Terasa,
I think we've got a

vegetable expert here.
You've got something Zack

might be able to shed
some light on please?

Indeed, I do. You know this
person sounded very

desperate. He said the
deer are eating my plants

in the gardens faster
than the poor plants can

grow. Help!, with an
exclamation point.

Deer can be a tremendous
problem, very healthy appetite.

Zack, what can be done?
Well, so what I would

recommend is put up
some sort of fence.

Then you go to Laura
Lee's house

and get you some worms. And then
you go

fishing and not worry about it.
What we've done at

Clemson and what a lot of
small farms are doing

that I work on, is
that they have a small

garden or area that's
blocked off

for a garden area. You can
put up some fencing and

like the hog kennel
type fencing that's

eight or ten feet high.
You could put that

up but it's very expensive
to put it up. So an

alternate what we've done, and
it's worked really

is poly-tape.
And you can buy it at

your big box stores or
you know any farm and

garden stores. And typically
it's an inch to an inch and a

half plastic. Fence tape
is typically used on horse

pastures but it's impregnated
with metal. And so if you put

two of those fences up and
put one on the outside

and you want to put a
strand up about

18 inches or two foot. And
then you offset the second fence

and you want to put a strand
up about three foot

and then another one up at
about ten or

twelve feet tall. And then
you're going to hook that

up to an electric solar charger.
You're gonna put

electricity on the fence.
And what it does is it

really messes with the deer's
depth perception. They could

easily step over the fence
and then go under

the second one. But they
don't have really

good depth perception because
they're herbivores and they

aren't sure how tall and wide
the fence is and it flickers

in the wind. So typically, they
won't go up to the fence

to try to jump over it.
If they do up to the fence

then they're given a
little shock, which

doesn't hurt them. It just
scares them and keeps them out.

Anyone using this, I highly

recommended that you put the
fence up before you start

working the ground to plant your
garden. Once deer have

established a feeding behavior,
once they know you have some

you know succulent
strawberries or

blueberries or whatever
in there. They're going to

continue on that feeding pattern
no matter what you do.

So, put it up before the deer
starts feeding.

Well, that's fascinating. I
have a kind of old

fashioned electric fence where
we've got these

poles that we stepped and put
in the ground and had two

wires on. It's been a
little bit of trouble

to tell you the truth.
But it has been very

effective, But this sounds
a lot easier to me to use.

And the solar panel
just sounds wonderful.

I had to have somebody come
and run a long line out.

So, this is really,
really fascinating. Thank

you so much Zack for telling us
about that. Yes ma'am.

There's a fact sheet on the HGIC
website on how to

establish the fence and
the cost and all

that sort of thing. So,
that's a really good

resource for anybody that
has a dedicated garden area.

and wants to put
up a deer fence.

So what's the name again
that we would

search for to look for Clemson
HGIC. Yes, ma'am. You can

just type in, once you get
to the website type in

deer management or if you
wanted to get

specific, you can type in two
tiered fencing system for deer

management. Okay. Thank you
so much. The last

time we can be
we have a very

interesting conversation with
our entomologist and

specialist Dr JC

Chong and he was talking
about the very complex

topic of neonicotinoids and
the words in information

he found out in his research.
And he's gonna continue

sharing some information with us
now. So let's go over to the

to the Florence Pee Dee Rec
and talk to Dr. JC Chong.

I'm speaking today with David JC
Chong.

JC is a professor and
extension specialist.

His field is entomology
and his home base is the

Pee Dee Rec over in Florence.
JC thank you for

talking with me today.
Well, great talking to you

again Amanda.
And we spoke earlier

about
a really hot topic. I know

master gardeners and
people are just the

public in general
got really excited about

the pesticides that come
under the label of

neonicotinoids because of
an improper use of them

that killed a lot of bees
that are one time

and so everybody got all
excited about it.

Again, our job is to use
science to make decisions.

And so that's what we're
coming to you.

Earlier we talked about
the fascinating research

you and other
research facilities did

and how much the
plants that we go to the

store in the Spring when we
get excited about you

know the ornamental the
ornamentals and herbaceous

perennials that we put
out, how many of those

were attracted to
pollinators and had

neonicotinoids. And
people can find that

if they go to the earlier
podcast. But that's a

smaller use compared to
other uses of neonicotinoids.

So let's talk about
how it's used

in other parts of the
agricultural industry.

Maybe beginning with
just our field crops

perhaps. Sure. Neonicotinoids
what is one of the major

product every year when
you inspect site that

we use in agriculture.
And just about any kind

of product that you're
seeing out there doesn't

matter it's soybean
or cotton or corn.

Some of them has been
treated with

neonicotinoids. So the
treatment for neonicotinoids

in a field crop
would take the form of

either spraying directly
on the plant itself to kill

the insects that are feeding
on them or they can be

seep coated on the
seep is in the

ground so that when the
seedlings are germinating

there's already insecticide
around it to protect it from

insects that are in the soil.
It might be feeding on them.

And does it also
gives the little seedling

itself some protection
from insects that

are in the air?
Sure and some of them

because neonicotinoids
are a standing insecticide.

So if you have a
little bit of

seed coating on the outside,
the active ingredient can

also be absorbed by the
root of the seedling

and bring it up to the
leaves or protect them

from some of the
early seedling pests.

JC depending upon what part of
the country you're in,

your soil types
can even be a factor.

There may or may not be
a threat to your

seeds from soil wire
worms and things like that.

But I believe that
most of the product, most

of the seats are just
created because - is

it just easier I mean
it's so hard to stop

you're assembly line and
clean them. So even if you

don't need it in a particular
area, are you

likely to receive
seed that has been

coated?
Yes. It's pretty likely

that your seed will be
either coated with

a insecticide or fungicide.

So like you said a lot of
time it's the assembly line.

It's a lot easier
for them to go and do it

for everybody doesn't matter
where they settle in the seed

to actually stop that assembly
line and say okay, 'We are

producing seed now let's stop.'
We don't need the

coating. Let's not do the
coating. That usually doesn't

happen.
So and you said

that's just I mean the tonnages
is large,

the amount.
Absolutely, so the seed

coating itself,
about ten years ago.

We were using about two
million kilos of neonicotinoids.

just on coating seed.
And that's a

huge amount of insecticide.
Now since it's water

soluble, do they worry
about it being in the

water supply.
There's always the risk

of them being in the
water supply but the

amount of insecticide on the
seed coating side is pretty

minute but that's not a
whole lot of chemical in

there directly. And
also a lot of time they will

also stay in the soil a lot
better than just

penetrating fluidly.
Oh good. So they're not

horribly soluble I mean
they're going to tend

to stay there. They
are pretty

soluble but you can
stay in the soil. Okay

but it is a

improvement
in some ways over some of

the previous products
that were available, even

though it has its own set
of problems, it has less

toxicity in certain ways
than former products that

were used. Is that correct?
Absolutely and in fact

neonicotinoids was developed
to really get

around the high
toxicity issues of the

nicotine or the high organic
phosphate insecticide.

So if you just compare the
amount of the insecticide being

used to 50 years ago. What we
are now using is much

less than what were using
50 years ago.

So, that's definitely a benefit
of using something new.

So those are causes to be
glad that we have these

new products coming on
but people

seem to be so worried. The
the pollinator situation

seems to be so much in
people's minds and

because of that one
terrible incident,

people worried that it's
gonna work add onto the

problem. I always sort
of joke when I get

to follow an essay. The
neonicotinoids isn't an

insecticide and pollinators
are an insecticide.

When you put
one and one together

of course, that's something bad
is going to happen.

So, neonicotinoids have
inherent danger or risks to the

pollinator. There's no doubt
about that. So, you

actually avoid that kind of
danger when you can be thinking

another way that people can
use that product more

safely and more
effectively so we can

actually avoid that kind of
risk. So we can control the pest

while not hurting our
pollinators, I can say.

And that has to do with

sometimes timing.
It has a lot to do with

timing and where you use
it and how you use it.

For example, when the
when the flowers are

blooming and your pollinators
are actually visiting flowers,

that is not a good time to be
using neonicotinoids or in fact

any insecticide at all because
when you apply an

insecticide to a flower and
the pollinators, you'll be

getting in contact with the
pollinator, you will

kill the pollinator. Yes. And
even if the pollinators are

there if the rest
stay on the flower

itself and the pollinators
walk by getting

contact with it, it can
still be impacted.

Americans certainly do
love their lawns and

we know that if we really
wanted to help

pollinators, we ought to
reduce the size of our

lawn and put in a pollinator
garden. And then some

people are doing that. Terasa
Lott, who works

with us he's been he's
been doing that and

enjoying the results
because she sees such

wonderful things. But I
think the turf industry

itself also has found
that the neonicotinoids

have been affected in one
of their pests in treating

one of their pests. Right.
So the neonicotinoids has

been used in the turf industry
for treatment of

white rut quite a bit.
And but there's basically

one of the number one
product is that

neonicotinoids. And some of
the study has been shown

over the years that application
of neonicotinoids

can profoundly
change the ecosystem in

the enterprise. Wow! And
so well but

using neonicotinoids when
you have a pest that's

difficult to control
neonicotinoids is your only

options then there's
not a whole of other

things that you can do about it.
Luckily, there are

more new products that
are coming out that

are just as safe for pollinators
and other animals as well.

And are just as effective as
them. Oh good.

Yeah definitely safer and
just as effective.

And so that's one reason
we want our professional

applicators to take
advantage of trainings so

that they're aware of
their options and

can shift. Absolutely.

I'll definitely recommend that
and you know folks like

me do a lot of research
in that arena.

So we could definitely share
that information with you.

What is good, what is the
effective and what's safe.

You said that and although
sometimes it's not

possible for a
professional company

that's coming in to make
a treatment to have a lot

of laxity in timing. But
you said it for instance

if you had some clover
that was blooming and

you were going to make
this application which I

guess is a liquid
application to turf,

they could even - there's
some cultural practices

that could minimize the
risk. Is that correct?

Right. Some of the studies
conducted in

Kentucky basically
show that if you have

clover flowering, and you apply
a new neonicotinoids insecticide

to the clover much of the
insecticide

will end up in the nectar.
And you might have impact

on the population. But if you
mow the clover before you make

the applications then you can
actually reduce

a lot of that risk
just by reducing the

amount of active
ingredient actually ending

up in the nectar.

So there are things that
just being aware of

look how things work and
how they move in the

plant and trying to put
that whole picture

together can help us all
to do a better job when

we do find that we need
to make an application.

Sometimes. And that
that's probably the major

point you have there,
which is well, knowledge

is really the key to the
success. We are

concerned with pollinators
and we know a lot of

things that we can do to
make it kind of

help and detriment to their
pollinator population.

We need to know what those are
how we can actually use them.

The EPA does go back and
make reviews and

sometimes they make
changes in labeling or

what's allowed. Is that
correct? That's correct.

And EPA does conduct
registration review of

different chemicals. It doesn't
matter if it's insecticide

or fungicide or herbicide
every few years. And what

they would do is
basically during the

review process they're
putting all the new

information. and then
they're gonna look at the

early information and that
the new information and

then make a decision as
far as, is these

products even safe, based
on our current state of

knowledge and whether
we'll allow it to renew again.

You said that recently
there have been some

reductions in the amount
you could use in certain

situations and so that's
why once again, you

should always read the
label because if

I've been putting out
something for five

or ten years, I might just have
a way that I mix it but

that may no longer be
legal and I could still

get control and using
less product. But I

need to read a label
because the label is the

law and it protects the
environment and also

the applicators. And
people who live in the homes.

Absolutely. And one thing I
would add to that

is you want to read the
label of the product that

you're using right now.
Because the labels do

change, the amount that
you apply change, the

name can change, the active
ingredient can also change.

And for example, I'll
give an example

Grub X, is a homeowner product
for white grub control, years

the active
ingredient is actually

one of the neonicotinoids.
And recently the active

ingredient was actually
changing another product

that's not even a neonicotinoid.
That product is just as

effective as neonicotinoids
that's due to pollinators.

So, because of that change
in the product, you're

basically reducing risk
on the pollinator. But it also

entailed quite a bit of
changes in the label language.

How much you apply, and things
like that. So, even

if the product is the
same name, you need to

read the label very
carefully, just to make sure

that the active
ingredients and

all the other information
necessary. So if you have a bag

of 20 year old products in your
shed

and get it out that's a
different story, but we don't

want to use that.
It's not worth the wait.

And fortunately our
State Department of

Agriculture does
circulate the state

having times when you can
bring pesticides

for safe disposal. And that's
something people should

keep in mind as well. You
don't just put it in the

trash and send them to
the landfill. No if it goes in

the landfill it probably
goes into the water somewhere.

It's a
complicated subject and I

wanna to thank you for
taking the time to shed

some light on this today.
And doing what you

people do research and
then and then getting

that information to the
people. Because we do want

to make our decisions
based on science and not

on hysteria. Thank you
very much JC. Thank you, Amanda.

I do wanna thank Dr. John for
sharing information with us.

He often is
traveling the country.

He is considered such an
expert on these issues and

although I'm sorry for
the reason that he is not

traveling, I really
appreciate his

knowledge and his sharing the
time to share that with

all of us. Teresa, have
we got some more questions

from some of our viewers?

We do. The next question is
about a pest

that always seems to find
my feet and ankles, one

day I will learn to wear
more appropriate shoes

outside. At least that's
what my husband tells me

so our viewer says,
they are experiencing

red imported fire ants
in the vegetable garden

and compost pile and they'll
like to know how to

safely manage them. Laura Lee
it was so

discouraging. You
and I can remember when

we can play outside
freely in South Carolina

and not have to worry
about that. It was

a great shock to me. But there
are some things that we

can do that are safe for
the environment I believe

and safe for us and
fortunately not safe for

the fire ants. So, give us
help here please.

Ants are going to be in
places that are undisturbed.

So if there's nothing in

your garden for
a little while, the ants

usually will come. There
fortunately is a very good

fact sheet on
control of fire ants in

gardens.
The same order would apply

your compost pile because
we're not, you don't want to

put in harmful chemicals in
your compost pile but we

can bait around the
garden and use baits around

our
the compost pile and

if we're using baits in the
lawn too that also help

with the your farm with the
control of the fire ants.

There are some
biological controls that

are available, spinoside
and some of those products,

but what I want to
we caution people about

is not to use acetate or Sevin
or Ortho

unless it's

specified
on the label. The label is

the law. You've got to follow
the label. Be sure that

you're controlling things
in an environmental friendly

manner and we're not harming
the beneficial insects.

Basically, read the fact sheet,
read the label, I always

tell put your glasses on when
you go

to the store. And before
you even start to apply

any kind of chemical, read the
label first, so that you know

what it can and can't do.

Laura Lee people
sometimes they're sad

because they put out of
bait and that's a

wonderful product because
it controls all the in

the fire ants even the ones
you don't know about. But,

it doesn't have a very
long lasting time or so

they need to know that
this is something

that will have to be repeated if
I'm not mistaken. Repeated and

then also you want to
that's where the label

directions come in handy too.
In fact, we don't want

to put it down until
24 hours and then the

bait can be ineffective.
Thank you very much.

Well, let's hope that we'll have
a fire ant as close to

fire ant free. We can't
eliminate fire ants

but we can try to manage them.
And let me caution all of you

that if you have a reaction
that is it anyway more

than localized, you need
to

if you have the
slightest bit of trouble

or start having welts,
you have to go to the

emergency room immediately. And
if it's more than localized

but not that severe,
you need to speak with an

allergist and be safe
because sadly there have

been challenges from
people who are super

sensitive to these
insects. And the next time

you're exposed, it could
be worse than the first.

So, even though
their tiny do

give them credit for
being something that you have to

pay attention to

and perhaps make some

adjustments in your life.
Down in Lake City, they've

made a lot of adjustments to
turn that community

into one of the most
beautiful places

in the world and just such an
incredible variety of

plant material that they use and
it was an old movie theatre

there and
they left the marquee

kind of everything up and
left the open space and it's

called the Theatre Park.
And Bradley

Roberts gave us a
wonderful tour. I felt

like I was sitting there
and watching a movie

on beautiful plants.

We're in downtown Lake
City, South Carolina and

I'm talking with Bradley
Roberts, a horticulturist

with Moore Farmers
Botanical Garden. And y'all

don't just take care
of the garden, y'all bring

your expertise
downtown. That's right,

Amanda we manage about
18 acres of

cultivated garden space
downtown. And I'm gonna

say that although many
cities have beautiful

downtown plantings y'all's
have a completely

distinct look. Well, it
does have a distinct look

we have the you know
fortune of being

supported by a local
botanical garden. Yes.

So, we have access to a
lot of different types

of plant material. And here we
are in a situation that's

replicated in many older
cities in the south where

we had a building that I
think had

been abandoned, That's
right! But

y'all have made
something so special.

Well thank you. This used
to be that

theatre in downtown Lake City
that was abandoned.

And we created this lovely
green space here.

And what are some of the
things you've done

to let people know that this
isn't just an

abandoned space but now a
welcoming venue and intimate

place for us a little break
from the busy downtown

restaurant city? That's
right. Well, we have a

few different features out
near the front

of the facade of the space. We
have seasonal planting

containers that we have
out on the sidewalk

and invite people in. And we
so have some vines some

evergreen vines that kind
of poke through out onto

the street. You know to
kind of let people

know that there are is a green
space here. I think it's so much

fun to see them growing through
the windows. Yeah. They're

kinda peeking out at you. You
said it kind of

gives you a little sense of
abandonment. But when you

come in what a remarkably
inviting and orderly but

still full place you've
created. Yeah I think so

too. There's a you know a
kind of a hodge podge

a mix of different plant
material from woodys to

perennials. And then all
the vines on the walls

here that really kind of
soften the space and

it does kind of
give it that sense

of abandonment you're talking
about. And you got several vines

and one in particular,
I was not familiar with.

It's just beautiful. It's
millettia. Millettia purple

flowering evergreen vine.
So it stays green all

Winter long. And not
invasive. Not invasive at

all. It doesn't over seed.
It has a nice full lush,

green color all year. And
that's important because

this is the sunny side
and to think that here

we are on a hot day and
it's still vividly green.

Yeah it doesn't show any
signs at burn it all.

Then going down a little
bit, our wonderful

campsis. That's right.
Campsis radicans. This

one's a yellow flowering
variety. You normally see

the red flowering, but this
one's yellow. It's beautiful.

It's gorgeous. And then you
got a mix of things. You've got

some begonias and even
some roses out there. We've got

some climbing roses here to
continue to give that

vining effect and soften
some of the hardscape.

Then we've got some drift
roses in the landscape here too.

Because in the Summer
they'll still give

you great color? That's right
and they just keep blooming.

So let's talk a
little bit when we come

in you've got a beautiful
fountain, but in this old

building gives a
wonderful contrast.

It's very modern. It is very
modern. It's a modern look

but it kind of matches
the modern look

of the pavers that are in this
space. So it's kind of a nice

mix between old and new. And a
lovely little native

wildflower right in front of it.
That White top sedge. Yes.

Yeah, it's gorgeous we
love it and flanked by

that fabulous upright.
Those papyrus yeah.

They really match a water
feature. You know they're just

meant to be next to the water.
So it's a good match,

too, to have it
anchoring or flanking

that fountain. You've got a
cultivar of magnolia that's

very beautiful. Yeah it's more
of an upright growing

variety. It's called Alta. Of
our regular magnolia.

The southern
evergreen magnolia.

It's called Alta. And it
grows more

fastigate or upright. So it's
good for this smaller space.

Yeah so it can still
represent the southern

magnolia but not have to
take up space. Yeah which it

could easily. And
really take over the

whole space.
One thing that just

surprises me so much is
the use of conifers. This

is a hot harsh environment.
Yeah. Tell me what

you've chosen. Full sun
most of the day, but we

have selected a few
varieties to do well in

the southeast.
Chamaecyparis obtusa

Confucius we have in full
sun. It's got great gold color,

doesn't burn in the sun.
And we've also got a

variety of our native
eastern red cedar it's

called Brodie. Juniperus
Virginiana Brodie.

Takes the full sun, full
heat of the Summer. The color

seems to be more vivid and it
seems to be more compact.

It's more compact and more
upright. And a great place for

wildlife in the Winter for
birds. Yeah. Absolutely!

They create little homes in
nests in the interior of those

trees. And then we've got some
grasses in the front of

that building and then at
the back you've

got a wonderful planting of the
grass. Yeah. It's one of our

native panicums, switch grass.
It's called cloud nine.

And right now it's just
exploding. It creates a great

screen from the parking lot in
the back. And then on the other

side we got a little more
shade and you've got some

wonderful things that
perform well there. Yeah

we've got some variegated
varieties of cast iron

plant. We've got some
Dasylirion. We have some

bamboos. There's a nice
mix of shade material.

Instead of just sitting
under an umbrella, we've

got a wonderful canopy
over us. Yeah I know.

It really it matches
the kind of modern feel

of the pavers and the
fountain.

And it's something
different aside from just

planting a larger shade
tree. Well, and I think it's

fun in a city where
you've got beautiful old

structures to incorporate
and kind of give it a little

Ying and Yang of
contemporary with old. I agree

it gives it a kind of a fresh
look. Something that's

kind of inviting or intriguing.
Y'all have a lot of

great places to eat in
Lake City and we've got a

sculpture of it that
seems to made to

represent spoons and
forks. Yeah, but like

flowers. You know, but
you're right. There are a

lot of great places to
eat but is an interesting

interpretation and it's

quite colorful. It's beautiful.
Another fun thing that

you got is since this was
a theatre, you've

got a theatre marquee out
front. I know we do. It kind

of makes you feel like
you're in a big city or

something like that. Well
and you know what for

small town, Lake City,
South Carolina is kind of

like the big city because
of the diversity and the

wonderful variety of stores and
places to stay, places to eat,

museum's, all kind of cultural
features. If people want to know

more about what's
happening in Lake City

or at Moore Farms Botanical
Garden, how do they do that?

You can visit our website

It's moorefarmsbg.org.

And there's
information there about

events and happenings at
the garden

and special events
in downtown Lake City.

Thank you for spending
the time with us today.

Thank you for having me.

I want to thank all of our
friends

down in Lake
City. Everyone has been

always cooperative with
particularly, our need

in their Bradley Roberts. We
hope that if y'all have a Sunday

afternoon and want to take a
drive there, drive down to

Lake City and look at the
beautiful street plantings and

the plantings around the
building. Terasa,

it's still that vegetable
to grow time of year I

bet somebody
wants to get some

information that Zack might
be able to lead them in the

right direction.
You are correct, Amanda

that we have a first time
vegetable gardener, who

would like some advice.
He and his friends have

started gardening. They said it
feels like it rather expensive

because the seeds seem to be pre
packaged. So looking for

advice on kind of the
start up materials needed

for a garden so that he and his
friends each plant two or

three things and then
share the harvest.

Okay. So, they I guess
they're trying to maybe

grow some transplants and
don't need 50 of them,

but would like to share them.
How do you

get started and what you need
to do that, Zack?

Yeah so what I tell
people

is really is form a group or
network of friends. I

think master gardener is
a great place to start

if you have some extra time on
your hands just a network of

people who are
really into the same

thing and kind of
have the same gardening

fun I guess. But when you
start swapping plants

with people, you know you
can really get into some

of the weirder, you know.
odd and end varieties because as

Terasa said, you know
when you start looking

at these seed catalogs
and ordering online, you might

pay four or five dollars
for 25 seeds of

a tomato. And you know
you might just want one

or two of those tomatoes,
if you're starting your

own plants. So having
friends in the community

where you can grow some
of these are types tomatoes.

I can grow these peppers,
and then you can kind of

swap transplants as a
really good way to go.

I know all my friends
at extension, we every

time we see each other we
trade plants.

This year has been particularly
hard with the virus.

I haven't added as many plants
swaps as normal.

But that's a good procedure,
if you're wanting to

start your own plants, I know
a lot of times big box

stores and local hardware
stores, you're kind of

stuck with the varieties
they have there.

Some of those are pretty
good varieties actually

If you kind of want
to get off the beaten

path and grow more
heirloom type plants and

whatnot. You know ordering
online seed catalogs is a good

idea but you can
start a lot of plants in

your home well just a
fluorescent light,

shop once almost a lot of
people buying those many

greenhouses are just hate
those things. You were talking

about fire ants earlier.
That is a wonderful place for

fire ants. and a lot of times
they're not temperature

regulated. I'm not a big fan
of those.

What you can do
is you can build a little

stand and then you can go
to our store get a light

house, just regular
fluorescent bulbs and get

some seed starting mix
and some trays. And what

you're gonna do is you're
gonna do, the lights are

typically they'll have a
chain with them, if not

you can buy a little chain.
You're gonna take a

fluorescent light and you're
gonna put it right on top

of the plant, over the
soil with your seed

starter in it. As the plants
grow, you're just gonna

keep it above them, maybe an
inch or so.

What this does, is it keeps
the plant stocky and

keeps them growing
towards the light versus put

them in a window sill
where they

tend to stretching and get
leggy. You may never really

good strong healthy plant. Let
me stop you could just a

minute. I have two questions.
Is a seed starting mix

different from potting
soil? Absolutely.

Absolutely so potting
soils typically are

heavier. And they're gonna
have slowly produced

fertilizers in them and they
stay wetter. So you'll

get a lot of damping
off or a lot of

seedling diseases do if you use
potting soil because it

stays that wet. All right.
The seed starting mixes

typically there a lot
lighter. There's a lot

more and then they don't
have the starter

fertilizer. You're not gonna get

as many of those users
because the pathogens are not

gonna stick around
because he's not as wet.

So that is that is a huge
factor in growing strong

open transplant. And then,
the fluorescent light

isn't going to get hot to
the touch who's not

gonna burn is that why we're
using the fluorescent

lights? Correct! Correct! And
you know they're cheap.

You can pick them up anywhere.
But the key is keeping

it right above the plant,

not touching the plant.
But right above the plant.

Yeah right above the plant.
If the plant grows, move the

light. When the plants reach/\
two or three true

leaf stage, what I like
to do is put a best

fan or house fan on em and
it kind of gets

wiggle on them. What that'll do
is it really toughens

them up and gets them ready to
go outside to plant.

Okay so that that's a key
and then the last two

is the start taking them
outside when you get

closer to planting them.
Take them outside for a few

hours and then bring it
back in.

You increase that time spending
outside and

this is called hardening off. So
once you harden off those

plants, set them in a
garden, they're gonna grow

like crazy. So that's kind
of like in the old days

before you realized that
you should not be

any kind of sun tan at all,
people would start off

slowly getting the tan and then
staying a bit longer.

Is that right correct?
Correct. Same thought process

Okay. But the fan you
just want to

have it moving very slightly.
You don't want to dry them out

or anything, just very
gentle fan. Correct.

Correct. You
just to kind of move like

this way a little bit.
What it's

gonna do is put a lot of
carbohydrates and sugars

and things they're making in
the stem or trunk of a plant.

And the stem is a little woody
be almost like a little

twig. That's when you
know the plants ready

to go out in the field.
All righty. Thank you so

much. Greenwood, South Carolina

has beautiful gardens all
over town. One that's

a favorite was a

pollinator garden. And
they also use that as a

research station. Rusty
Wilson is a citizen

scientist. And he's going
to explain how he

documents and takes lots
are numerical factors about,

gets a lot of
numerical data about the

monarchs that they
attract at that garden.

I'm in downtown Greenwood,
South Carolina speaking

with Rusty Wilson who is a
Clemson Master Gardener

and also a citizen
scientist. And we're in a

beautiful and kind of
unusual garden for a

downtown city. Yes ma'am.
This is the Greenwood

County Veterans Center
Pollinator Garden. It's a

pollinator garden because
flowers have been planted

to attract pollinators
such as bees, butterflies

and things of that nature.
It is also been

designated a monarch
waystation because the

monarchs that migrate
between Canada and the

northern part of the
United States will come

through here on their way
to Mexico and back again.

And this is a waystation
for them to stock to

nectar and lay eggs.
And so you plant specific

plants for the eggs
to be laid on, the

larvae to eat, I believe.
Yes, that would

be the milk weed. The
milkweed is planted for

the monarch butterflies
for that reason. And I'm

involved in a citizen
science project

for the monarch larva
monitoring project which

is a citizen science
project sponsored by the

University of Minnesota.
And what I do is I count

all of the milkweed in the
garden.

Yes. And as I'm counting
the milkweed, I'm also

counting all of the
butterflies that I see.

And when I'm counting the
butterflies I'm

talking about all of the stages
of the monarch butterfly

life cycle, after which I
will report that to the

monarch larva monitoring
project lab website. And what

are the stages?
Well, there's the egg.

Yes. The egg
hatches into a larva

also known as a
caterpillar. And that

larva will shed its skin
several times. And each

time it shed its skin,
it's in a different stage.

It's called an instar. It has
five instars in

that larval
stage, after which it will

go. It will pupate,
which means it will

spend a chrysalis,
which will encompass the

the insect. And while it's
pupating, it will

transform into an adult.
When it transforms into

an adult, it will after
about one to two weeks, it

will emerge as an
adult and it will

fly south presumably. And
you say they come through

sporadically, but
basically two times of

the year. The Fall and the
Spring. And so perhaps in

the Spring they're going
from their Winter home

towards the north? Yes. And
then in the Fall,

coming back down. And you
said that there's not a -

we're trying to
figure out where

they're concentrated so that we
can be more mindful of

protecting them. Is that
one of the reasons

to collect this data? And
find out where they are

actually in the country?
Yeah this status is to

help us to
get more knowledge about

the butterfly
distribution and

abundance. And hopefully
with that knowledge, we

can inform and inspire
people to take butterfly

conservation more seriously.
I've asked you if you

had to change your
eyeglass prescription

because you took me
around to show me how

you look for things. And these
are very small. And you

have to look under every
leaf in a long cases.

I'm looking at each leaf. When
a monarch lays its eggs

more often than not, it's
going to lay its

eggs underneath the leaf.
So I'm having to look

underneath the leaves to
find the eggs. Also many

of the larval stages are
going to be

underneath the leaves. The thing
is that's not exclusive,

because I have found some
eggs laid on top and some

larval on top. Well, I
wanna to thank you for a

very time consuming but
important part of the

research that's going to try
to help us understand how

better to keep this
beautiful insect as part

of our natural
surroundings. Thank you.

♪

Rusty Wilson has amazing

knowledge and ability to
spot things.

We were really impressed and
he has been invaluable to

the city chamber in
providing information to

the monarch alliance. Terasa,
we have about two and a half

minutes left is there
something Laura Lee maybe

can help us with in that
amount of time?

I think so. A viewer is having
trouble with her palm

trees saying they just
don't look as healthy as

they used to. She's seen
fertilizer that says

it specially made for
palms. And she wants to know

should she use that.

Laura Lee people package
things up in

lots of different ways.
Is this a good

way to do it or should
we kind of be like those

Clemson Extension people and say
go do a soil test.

There are some nutritional
deficiencies

that affect palm trees. So the

soil test does take the guess
work out but the

symptomatic problems,
you'll see certain called

from frizzle or you'll
see yellowing leaves on the

old or you may see problems
with the new growth.

But the soil test will really
take that guess work out.

- and magnesium and
potassium are all

really important for the growth
of healthy palm trees.

So palm fertilizer is better
than no fertilizer. Okay! So if

that's all you can manage.

But just do
follow the directions and

don't over-fertilize.
Correct!. And I think the same

thing goes with
watering too. People

really should have a rain
gauge. And what do they

think about an inch a
week is about

normal, Laura Lee? - plants with
new transplants you give

a little more but
and using native plants

that are drought tolerant.
And I'm although we know

fall is the best time to
plant, a lot of

people just can't resist
bringing things home now.

And they will have to
supply supplemental

irrigation. And if you
don't have tree bags

Laura Lee, sometimes I've
just gotten a five gallon

buckets and drew a little
hole or two in

the bottom. And then
it may

not be attractive but
it's better than a dead plant.

What do you think?
Yes. Small holes seep out

over time. And then you
know how much water you

actually delivered to the plant.
Well I think I'm gonna

have to stop you there
and say thanks to each

and every one of you for
answering questions and

give information to our
viewers tonight. Thank you

and thank you all for watching.
We'll be with you again

next week. We'll have more
beautiful gardens, more

answers to questions. And
I hope you enjoy the evening.

Night. Night. everybody.

♪

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