Ron Wilson 7/6/2024 Hour 2

Rita and AAA!

Episode Transcript

(00:35):
Our toll free number eight hundred eighttwo three eight two five five. Good
morning. I am Ron Wilson,your personal yard boy, talking about yarding
on this post July fourth weekend,and as I promised, it is time
for Are you early experienced with ourccp cmh Appalachian herbal scholar, maker of
strange postions, and part time witchdoctor doctor. She's an author local TV

(01:00):
cooking, a herbal expert, theoriginal bearfoot gardener, adapto jen herb specialist.
That's what she is, ladies andgentlemen. Her website about eating dot
com Rita made hike and felled.Sit down, Sit down. I know,

(01:22):
I know everybody loves Rita. Well. I always get a wonderful reception
with you. That's your fans.It's nice to live in that fantasy world.
I'll take it. Is it hotin the hiken Felt garden this week?
Yes, it was hot. Wewere certainly very glad to see the

(01:44):
rain corns doing great. Everything isreally growing well. I've just had to
replant, as you know, pumpkins, indian corn, popcorn, squash,
and cucumbers because God's good creatures havefound a buffet in my garden. So
I'll have to get that hose andthat squirting system you gave me a couple

(02:07):
of years ago, so that Iwon't have to plant the third time.
You have to get that motion detectorout, and there's a whole bunch of
them on the market, if anybody'sinterested in what she's talking about. You
hook it up to a hose andyou can do multiple ones. Just to
use one of those multiple adapters,but you just run a host garden hos
to it, turn it on.It doesn't shoot water out until it detects

(02:28):
motion, and then it shoots inthe direction of the motion. And it
really does a nice job on prettymuch all the critters, high school kids,
people cutting through your yard, youknow, all that kind of stuff.
You know, it's a nice surprise, but it does work and it
does a decent job. But youknow, I think the point here is
the fact that you know, youand mister Hikenfeld have been vegetable guarding for

(02:49):
years and years and years, andhere we are after the fourth of July
and you're telling me that you aredoing replantings or succession plantings with corn,
with cucumbers, you said, mmhm, with what else? Uh?
Squash, squash and pump pumpkins.Yeah, just about everything except for tomatoes.

(03:14):
Now my shashito peppers that I'm growingfrom seed almost ready to be put
in the garden. But remember you'vealways told me, mister Wilson, you
can plant July fourth, And asI said many times, we're also anxious
to get that garden going. Butyou know what, I'm going to have
a wonderful harvest if again, ifI can keep God's good creatures from eating

(03:38):
all my harvest. But we don'tfence anything in Frank did fence in the
corn just about with a four footfence. I don't know that that's going
to keep the deer out, Butthe rest of it is open, so
you know, I just manage andI love to see that, you know,
just wide open spaces and I canget the tiller in there. Just

(04:00):
it's okay, I'll take it,you know. I saw and this has
worked. I've seen a couple ofgardeners who had the room to do this,
but they planted a squash or melonor cucumber like a mass planting around
the edge of the garden and plantedthe corn to the middle. And the
roughness of the leaves of the squashor the cucumbers or whatever they had planted

(04:25):
actually helped work as a deterrent forraccoons and other critters getting into the corn.
Well that's interesting, yeah, yeah, yeah, because corns, you
know, it takes so long togrow. So if you have to sacrifice
something, you know, like melonsor squash, I mean, that's doable,

(04:46):
don't you say, I think so. I mean, and it did
work for them. Now, theyhad pretty good sized gardens, and so
they had plenty of room for thoseto you know, really go out,
you know, six or eight feetaway from the corn and and formed this
nice little mound around them. Andthey said, you know, they just
don't the irritation of the leaves goingthrough that to get into the corner and
that, you know, and itworks. So And I know some people

(05:06):
have taken fishing line, twenty poundtest line and put it, you know,
three strings around their garden. Deercan't see it, they bump into
it, and then they get confusedand back up and do all kinds of
things. So that's a possibility too. But that motion detector still is pretty
darn effective. Oh yeah, Andthat way, I mean it's easy too,

(05:27):
you know, as far as toput out, and you don't have
to string any wires or anything.So yeah, we'll be getting that out
too. So but it's all good. It's all good, lots to talk
about. So I'm gonna let youchoose where we start, because you know,
we always get off subject and thenthat's what it's all about. That's
good, that's no good. Well, that means we're old friends. Were

(05:48):
covering two things because I was goingto ask you about critters, so we've
covered that. The second was thesuccession plant things that folks don't realize.
You can continue to plant, youknow, after the first crop is done
or you lost crop, you canstill come back around right now and still
get And I've had some of thosegiant pumpkin growers so that they lost their
entire crop still planting something in Julyand wound up getting a three or four

(06:09):
hundred pound pumpkin. Yeah, andI think too, when you plant a
little bit later, you don't havethat early harvest where you're just overwhelmed.
You know, it gives you alittle more breathing time, so to speak.
So now I'm all for it.I'm okay with it. Talking with
Rita Hikenfeld. Of course, theirwebsite is about eating dot com. Let's
just stay on the garden. We'lltalk about your recipes after the break.

(06:31):
Uh, parilla you grow parilla sheisoor slash parilla? Is that the same
parilla? Like when I'm planting mcguillaparilla the annual for for a color for
the foliage color, Is that thesame parilla? No, but you know
they look a little bit alike.But she show she so like, she's

(06:54):
so fine. That's how I alwaysremember that this culinary parilla is as you
said, I plant them every year. I have green and purple, and
they come up from seeds and it'sa sort of a Mexican southwestern herb.
And when you crush the leaves theysmell like comoon Komen. And now all
the chefs are all over it.Now, not only as a savory green

(07:16):
that you can add to like spinachand such. They're using it raw and
cook because if you've ever tasted itraw, it's got sort of a sharp,
minty, comoon like flavor. Andthen when you cook it, whether
you saute a little bit of oliveoil or butter, or add it to
soups and such, it mellows out. But boy, it has got a

(07:40):
wonderful aroma and really pretty. It'svery pretty, the purple and green and
as I said, very trendy rightnow. And once you plant it,
it will self seed everywhere, sobe aware. Well, and that was
one of the things where the oldgorilla, when Grandma used to plant perilla
as an annual, it was thatits seeded heavily and you once you planted

(08:01):
it, you couldn't get rid ofit. And the newer, the newer
selections when it comes to annuals,are vegetatively propagated, so they aren't you
know, they don't go back toseed and take over the garden. And
that that parilla, but mcgilla isthat's still a tough, durable, can't
beat it. But we are talkingtwo different types of plants here, so
these folks need to remember that thatthat schiso and the slash of the perilla

(08:24):
that Rita is talking about is differentthan the perilla like perilla magilla that you
would be planning in your annual gardens. But it does have that Kuman or
Cuman type aroma to it when youcrush those leaves. And I'm assuming that
you say the flavor too. Yeah, it's a sort of minty and spicy
like it's just wonderful. How aboutspeaking of the Hispanic Herbs and Spices episode

(08:48):
A, Oh my gosh, youknow that, that's another herb that popped
up from seed. It's an annualherb, but again self seeds, like
dial. It popped up everywhere,a lot of it, growing right near
my love age. And it's funnybecause episote is called the worm herb,
and the reason is it does theworm herb, the worm herb because it

(09:13):
prevents or gets rid of like intestinalworms. I'm going way way back as
far as the medicinal uses, butit's used in a lot of traditional Mexican
recipes. Again, and here's thedeal. It helps reduce gas and it
really does jazz up the taste.If you tasted that, it sort of
tastes a little bit like prilla,but more with peppery flavor. So most

(09:37):
of the time chefs are using itnow, like the fresh leaves and the
stems, the younger leaves, becausethe older leaves, boy, they get
a little bitter. But it's reallya pretty little herb. But again,
plant at once and you'll have itforever. It's called episote, and you
will find that it sold with mostlyI mean it's pretty common. You'll see
it mostly garden centers that handle growherbs. I have a nice selection.

(10:01):
You'll find that readily available. Soit is out there. Got about a
minute to go for the break,and I don't know those plants, so
you have to explain it to me. Gypsy wart. Are we allowed to
say that, by the way,are we? Yeah? Uh huh,
politically correct, Yes we are.You know a lot of those old fashioned
herbs have very interesting descriptive names.It's called gypsy wart. It's a perennial

(10:26):
because supposedly the juice of the plantcontained a real black dye and it was
supposedly used by gypsies back in theday to tan their skin. But I
use them medicinally. It's a greatmedicine plant for like anxiety and insomnia,
but again quite invasive, so bevery careful. But it's called gypsy wart,

(10:48):
and it's just something fun to growand genus for those like copis.
Those flowers are right on the stemtoo, right right around the yes,
yeah, yes, right there.You can see them, little white floss
all around the stem. Kind ofan interesting looking plant, but it's called
gypsy wart. And only you wouldcome up with that. Well, you
know me, I'd like to growsome weird things, but they're always useful.

(11:11):
Yes you do. All right,we'll take a quick break. We'll
come back. We'll have more withRita Hikenfeld. Here in the garden with
Ron Wilson, Green Tom or not. Ron can help at one eight hundred
eighty two three talk and they saysin the garden with Ron Wilson. Hey,

(11:43):
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do and men's solutions and ideas.Welcome back here in the garden with Ron

(14:33):
Wilson talking with Reda Nador hiking Feld, our herbal expert. We've been out
in her garden looking around, seeingwhat's going on out there. One last
thing, Comfrey. I am readingmore about Comfrey as a great addition to
as a green manure to till backinto the garden or to add to the
compost pile. And I remember she'sfifteen years ago. Pete Linko, who

(14:54):
is the tomato taste testing king orwhatever here in Ari. I remember when
we used to talk to Pete.He always used that as a green manure.
He always grew it through in thecompost pile, but then tilted.
Then it's the tomato areas, orhe grew tomatoes in that. He thought
that was a real key to hissuccess. Seeing that more and more.
But how do you use comfrey?Well, partly like that, because it

(15:18):
really does start activating the manure pile. And I will take the leaves,
mister Wilson and make like a littlepotion, like a salve. I used
to drink Comfrey tea, but nowthe FDA and those who are experts say

(15:39):
that comfrey can be carcinogenic, andI guess in large amounts that Back again,
back in the day, Comfrey teawas used for just about anything,
especially in the spring after a longwinter. So basically I don't use the
leaves edibly, but I use themmedicinally and again makes a great save for

(16:00):
muscles. And if you go online, Comfrey saba is a big seller,
especially right now with everybody outdoors,so it all depends. But it's an
old fashioned herb that Grammar used togrow, comes up every year, produces
beautiful like pinky small flowers, andit's just a pollinator magnet and that's comfrey.
So yeah, and again be cautioushow you use it. But I

(16:22):
am seeing it more and more justgrown for just that purpose, the pollinator
obviously, but then as a greencrop that you would just till right back
into the soil, or to cutit and put it into the compost pile
and use it that way as well. Many benefits, So keep that one
in mind. Talking with Rita hikenFould. Of course, our website is
about eating dot com. Two recipesthis week that we have in there for

(16:42):
you. One some more is ina jar. The other one is grilled
chicken with Greek oregano marinade. Tellme about this Greek irregular marinade. Well,
you know, if you're growing anykind of a regano, it is
real abundant. So I was trimmingit back and basically, really it's like
some oregano olive oil, some commoonkumenand chili powder blend not just the ground

(17:07):
chili, but the blend a littlesalt and then some garlic and you just
smush all that up in a bowland then you just use that as a
marinade for chicken breast or thighs.Doesn't make a huge amount, but it's
very flavorful, and you know,the oregano has sort of a bit of
peppery flavor and so healthful for you. And you can just marinate that three

(17:30):
or four hours and when you grillit or even pan grill it, it's
just delicious and so easy and agreat way to use that oregano fresh because
most people use the regan o dry, don't you think not many of us
use it fresh. Got a littlebit of a different flavor. But so
again, if you're grown oregano,don't only use it fresh, but lay

(17:52):
some of those or hang up someof those sprigs and dry them for winter's
juice, because dried oregano in thestore is a good qual A brand is
pretty expensive, so you've got it, you can have it all year.
So Greek oregano is one of themost pungent, but if you if you're
growing Italian or the turkeysh or whatever, you can use any of them really.
Oh yeah, even the golden oregano, which the way mine's growing it

(18:17):
sort of mounds up. But yeah, Greek is the gold standard. I
prefer Italian because I liked a littlebit of floral note there. And then
Mexican oregano too is more floral thanGreek. Any of them works. Yeah,
you didn't mention my hot and spicy. Oh my gosh, you know
that is fun. It's too spicy. For me. And it's not only
spicy, it is hot. Andwe have at Natorps. You know,

(18:40):
I love working there in the spring. People if you grow at once,
people are that's the only one theylike to grow. And I know I've
seen you just pluck leaves off andmunch them down. Oh yeah, good
stuff, hot and spicy oregano can'tbeat it. Talking with Rita Hikenfeld about
eating dot com as your website,I had I thought of you. On
the fourth of July. I hadwent and bought some potato salad. I

(19:03):
didn't make it herbal potato salad,which was outstanding a little bit heavy on
the deal, but all kinds ofherbs in it was outstanding. And I
think I've had years that we didthat at a couple of our cooking classes.
But I had blue cheese potato salad. Believable, unbelievable. That sounds
so wonderful. You know who's gotto make up a recipe for it?

(19:26):
You me? But also now becauseoh yeah, cheese dressing. We did
a creamy dressing there. Yes,it would be perfect. Well, we'll
have to experiment with that. Ilove blue cheese too. Oh my gosh,
it is so good. And mywife isn't a big Blue Cheese fan,

(19:47):
but she she liked that. Ithought it was very good. One
last thing that we got it,we're going to go bounce. One of
your biggest, most requested recipes isfor cherry bounce. We talk about it
the holidays come around. Everybody talksabout Rita's cherry bounce and I think you
did peaches one time, which Ithought we're outstanding. But it's almost time
to do that right. Oh yeah, the dark sweet cherries from Michigan are

(20:10):
just starting to hit here where Ilive. So yeah, I'll be probably
sharing that next week because I liketo give people a couple weeks ahead of
time, So Harry Bounce will beon the menu next week. Mister Wilson
sounds good. Redonator Hikenfeld always apleasure about eating dot commerce at website.
Tell mister Hikeingfell. We said alone. Have a great weekend. I will,
and I'll talk to you too.I take care Rita Hikenfeld about eating

(20:34):
dot com Coming up next, Doctortriple a Alan Apple Armitage. Here in
the garden with Ron Wilson. Landscapingmade easier with your personal yard boy.
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Com and Amazon. Welcome back.You're in the garden with Ron Wilson.

(22:51):
As I promised, he is backwith us again. Who is he,
you say? He is a ProfessorEmeritus of horticulture. He is the right
of all kinds of great books,including The Bible of Perennials of Your Baceous
Perennial Plants, fourth Edition. Hisnewest book, Field Guide to Specialty cut
Flowers. Don't forget about his backpocket gardening app. It's the best in

(23:11):
the world, Armity Jab Great GardenPlants. He's traveling the world preaching the
gospel of horticulture and his passion forplants. He's gotten every reward you could
ever imagine. Ladies and gentlemen,we call him the Reverend now Reverend doctor
Alan apple armonage. Well, that'sgood to know, Ron, That is

(23:37):
good to know that things are stillthe same. I mean, I'm so
pleased to hear from you again andto be here. We just got back
from a little travel, so I'mhappy to be home, believe me,
and to believe I still got agarden. Given the fact that it's been
hot at eighties here, dry aspopcorn, it's amazing. Some of these

(23:59):
plants are upper than we are,that's for sure. Well, you know
what I was going to ask you. You know, you're in outside hot
of hot Atlanta, and as youlook at your perennial garden right now,
I mean, what's really standing afteryou're saying, oh my god, I
can't believe you looks so good.Besides your wife, well she's inside,
you know, she knows stupid asI am. No, I tell you

(24:22):
what, I'd add a small garden, so you know it's it's it's nice
and it's quite manageable. But whatlooks good a target are in the perennial
side anyway, The car rex,you know, those false grasses, they
still look beautiful. The hellabores thatI've we've talked about in the spring,
you know, they're flowering as longfinished, but some of the foliage is

(24:44):
still still very very handsome, especiallythe new the new hybrids, and of
course of the native plants that everybodyseems to want and luss after. My
summer flocks are really really hanging inthere. They're really quite beautiful, and
I you know, it's just beentoo hot to have any disease on them.
So there's no mildew and but theythey're very colorful. And so when

(25:07):
I look around, I seal thehowss they're colorful, and the clocks that
are blooming and occasionally a you know, a roles here and there. But
there's this actually them. I'm verypleased. So shows that I don't know
what I'm doing because they're doing itby themselves. Well, you know,
you brought up you brought up sedges, and I think it was what two
years ago that Mount Cuba did alot of research trials with all the sedges

(25:33):
and all and to me, Ithink sedges are again way underused in the
landscape. There's so many great sedgesavailable that will take so many different situations.
Why do you think we don't seesedges used a lot more out there?
I think we're seeing them more,but still not being used and utilized
for the great plants that they are. They you know, they have a

(25:56):
terrible name sedges sedges and I don'tknow it sounds like a wedgiere from but
but you know, sedges are justmany of their natives, as you know,
and they and the breeding of thesethings both the point of view of
the native material that you know quitetruthfully from the garden perspective, isn't as

(26:17):
handsome at times as some of theyou know, the ones from other lands
which have more variegation and more ofthis and more that. But boy or
boy, they work, and Ithink the landscapers have figured this out.
I think the people who are reallylooking for plants you can count on that
you know, have minimal amount ofcare. I think the landscapers have figured

(26:40):
this out that they can put incar acts and particularly as they are asked
for native plants in their design.Then I think character really are But there's
so much as you mentioned, there'sso much beauty in some of these sedges
for the garden. I'm looking ata couple right now, just standing here
and they haven't asked for anything,I haven't give or anything, and they
still shine. So I think we'regetting the wrong just said that name.

(27:07):
I agree with you, So you'regoing to come up with another name for
him because carricks together, carricks Carricksdoesn't carry it either, So it's kind
of you know, it's gotta somethingreally grab you anyway. But they're terrific
flats, they really are. Bythe way, we want to we want
to know is that bird sitting onyour shoulder and I'm sorried. I got
a ton of birds here. Yeah, they're louder than you are right now.

(27:33):
That's not hard. But I bribedthem. I got food everywhere.
You know, they can't fly forhere, at least stopping once. The
cardinals in the blue jays and allthose googolse things you can, you can
well. And you know what,when you talk about gardening, and of
course I always say dinner and ashow to me. If you do the
right gardening and you've got all thosebirds in there, you know they're doing

(27:55):
some past control for you as well. But again that dinner and a show.
What a great thing to have thosebirds in the background. It is,
you know. And I'm not abirder because I you know, I
I love birds and I love themin my garden. But I haven't tramped
through the wild to go see themyet, but I probably will someday.
You know. That's what we doas you get older. But I know

(28:17):
it's good. It's a garden.You have birds in the garden as you
can. You got I've got alot of flowering things that bring in the
bees and the butterflies, and thepollinators and all those school things. But
you know, the blue jays andthe bluebirds and the cardinals and the wrens
and the chickenies, they're just they'rejust having fun here. It's a it's
a real it's fun. It's becauseit's your garden talking with doctor Allan Armitage.
His website is Alan Armitage dot net. All kinds of great information.

(28:41):
Of course, you can find allhis great books there as well, and
probably the best, the best appgardening app you'll ever find, uh,
And it's called the Armity Jap.It's called Great Garden Plants. Fits in
your back pocket right there on yourcell phone, and you get all the
answers you ever need. You won'tneed me once you get his app.
But it's a veril for it's expensive. It's four dollars and ninety nine cents,

(29:03):
ladies and gentlemen, but it's wellworth the five bucks. Well you
know the app. I just redidit and it's you know if you yeah,
I redid it, so it actuallyeven makes more sense, I hope.
And it's easy to use, andit's that five dollars is forever.
It's not I'm charging the five bucksand then you know you got to pay

(29:23):
another fifteen to get the real information. No matter, you know, it's
it's there and it's good, andyou know it's an app. It's like
a weather app. You use itwhen you want to know the weather,
but you know some of the it'sit's it's what it is. It's right
there waiting for you. And I'mvery proud of it and very pleased to
have it out there. I hopepeople take advantage of it. No Armitage
membership, if you needed, that'sa one time deal. Then you're you're
in Hey. You just you've beendoing a lot of the trials. With

(29:47):
the trials and all of that trialgardens. You just sent me some pictures
where you were a little bit uh, you were in Alaska. Still on
my bucket list as far as atrip to my wife, and I've always
wanted it to. But when you'reup there in Alaska and you look at
their gardens up there, obviously alittle bit cooler weather. When you look
at Alaska, you know, areyou seeing the same perennial things that we're

(30:10):
seeing The plants being used up therethat we are being used in Atlanta that
you saw in Quebec. Well,well, you know, yes, and
no, of course they're they're youknow, it's cold up there in the
wintertime and it's a long winter,and so when things, you know get
summer counts. Boy, these thingsjust fly. So there's a ton of
plants, care acts for example,flocks for example, and they're all there,

(30:33):
veronicas and you know some hydrange isnot many, but they're there because
you know, again I was atand I think I showed you and anybody
who was out there traveling, andthey like to go to a place like
Alaska. They always have botanical gardensin many of these places, and Alaska
Botanical Garden and Anchorage it's terrific,and uh, you know it's it's it's

(30:53):
you know, it's not Chicago BotanicalGarden or it's you know, it's not
Longwood. So to speak with,boy, terrific, and the people who
are there are so committed to,you know, making this a you know,
kind of a world class garden.So we saw some terrific frameles and
things you would recognize for sure,but then other things that certainly we can't
grow, I know, you can'tgrow either, like like the Himalayan blue

(31:15):
poppy. I mean, you cantry and grow them here if you like,
but they're probably not gonna make it. But they're they're they're doing great
things there with poppies and things ofthat nature. Interesting, Ye were some
great shots I showed my wife.She said, when are you ever going
to take me there? Like hetook his wife there. Yeah, I
said, I you in trouble rowthat boy, you'd be in trouble.

(31:36):
Well, you got me in trouble, so I appreciate it all right.
Will take a quick break talking withdoctor Alan Armitage. Of course, his
website is Alan Armitage dot net.Got lots more questions for him coming up
after the break. Here in thegarden with Ron Wilson. Landscaping made easier
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a pro. Welcome back. You'rein the garden with Ron Wilson special guest

(33:53):
this morning. The doctor is inthe house, Doctor Allen apple Armitage.
We're not calling him Reverend Alan applearmityes. He's out preaching the gospel of
horticulture and the wonders of plants,and he's with us this morning to give
a little sermon about plants and whyyou should be out planting. So,
you know, right now, aswe start to look in the perennial gardens,

(34:15):
a lot of perennials kind of losingthat big blast they had from the
spring. Now we start looking atdead heading and trying to keep them flowering
and all, that can be avery tough thing to figure out how to
do if you're not familiar with deadheading. Well, first of all,
boy, don't ever call me apreacher, because I'm not very good at

(34:36):
the sermonizing. But I sure dolove to sharing with you know a few
things I know with people, andI suppose dead heading is one of those
things that nobody really understands what we'retalking about. You know, think about
crane and all. But the factis that many of these plants that once
they flower, well, perennials arein par take care. Once they flower,

(34:58):
they may or may not flower again, depending on the how these things
are built. But if you wantto try to get them to flower again,
you simply take off the dead flowerheads, the dead heading part,
and if the flowers, if theplants are going to flower again, then
they they that's the best way toget going. And if they're not going
to flower again, they're going tolook better anyway because they're going to put

(35:22):
the energy into the foliage that remains. And the foliage is still there,
and you want that to look asgreen and healthy as possible. So dead
and dead head, let's face it, a whole dead flower, as pretty
as it was, is not somethingyou're going to kill your mother. So
anyway, get rid of it.And dead heading isn't hurt, does not
hurt the plant whatsoever. That's justnormal, I tell you one. And
I've always had a hard time explainingto people how to do is. One

(35:45):
of my favorite perennials is Becky ShastaDaisy, and dead heading Becky is can
be a little bit difficult sometimes,so it doesn't look like it's kind of
sheared off, and she will reflowerfor you if you do it properly.
Well, it depends how much youknow how and I never want to take
gardening seriously, but if you dothings like, you know, helping Becky

(36:12):
out, then you know it's notit's it's not like it's it's going to
keep you up at night. Solike when a plant like a shastities which
has many stems and many flowering stems, some of those flowers are will be
coming on while others, uh,you know, are are looking pretty sad.
Just get out there if you feellike it, with your with your
little secutors or scissors and take offthose dead flowers. Uh. I mean,

(36:35):
if you cut the whole thing back, you're including some of those flowers
yet to come. I guess youcan do that because more will come,
but you know those are. Itis tougher in that it it's not a
it's not a one stop cutback.You know, you have to do it
over time. But but it makesthe planet look so much better and makes
you feel stronger. You know,look I've done what I've done. It
looks so much better. That's agarden is come on. We have fun

(36:59):
and we try to do it rightif it is such a thing, but
mostly you try to do it tohave fun. And of course if you
ever have questions about that and you'renot sure, all you have to do
is reach in your back pocket,pull out your cell phone and pull up
doctor Armaj's a great garden plants.It'll tell you all about just about anything
you ever wanted to know and moreabout what you're doing out there in the
garden. And again you can findout on his website. It's Alan Arminage

(37:20):
dot net. I thought of youthis week because I got the announcement of
the Association especially cut Flower Growers CutFlowers of the Year, and of course
you have your your latest book outof course of the Field Guide especially Cut
Flowers, which is outstanding. Didyou see the winners for twenty twenty four?
I have not, I have not. I have not who won the

(37:43):
race for the for the fresh cutflower of the year. It's snapdragon apple
blossom, which is is a prettycool snap dragon. I didn't I didn't
know they used these in the cutand arrangements. But it's Jon J raspberrying
what people use. I read that. I kind of say, what,

(38:07):
hey, you know there? Thereis no stopping creativity these days, if
ever was I mean? And peoplewho are listening or are just gardeners and
want to bring flowers in, there'snothing you can't bring in, whether it
be a raspberry or a hell ofbore or a flocks. Here's the deal
with cut flowers for the gardener andactually hurt for anybody. Truth. If

(38:30):
you're going to cut something, tryand cut it in okay, so you
got something happening this evening, tryand cut it in the morning or before
it gets hot. And if youcan cut the stem so it isn't all
that long, a short stem takesup water far more readily than a long
stem. So you know, makea stem short enough that, if possible,

(38:52):
when you cut the stem, putit in warm to hot water,
and then if you can, ifit's not such a long stem, put
it in a refrigerator. So ifyou can do this, so the warm
water goes up quickly and the refrigeratorstops it from leaving the plant. And

(39:12):
so when you bring them out atfour o'clock or whenever you take them to
your neighbor later on or whatever,they are in perfect shape. So I
don't care if it's a raspberry oror what it is. If you can
do that, sometimes we try andcut these stems so long that you know,
your wife divorces you because she opensa fridge and there's flowers falling over
the place. But if it's justyou know, if you can keep your
short enough to put them in thefridge, with your wine. Then you

(39:36):
know, that's a perfect way tokeep cut flowers going. And I love
cutting flowers for my garden. Sothen what you're saying is I should take
my wine bottle out into the gardenwith me when I'm making the cuts and
use that to measure. Well,yeah, that'd be a good idea.
I hadn't thought of that wrong,that szip cup, sip cut. Yeah,

(39:58):
and as you drink your wine,your garden looks so much better.
You know, the boy you drink, the better it looks. So I
knew you'd have a great answer forthat. I knew you would. And
by the way, we are thewoody plant, the woody plant of the
the for cut flowers is brandywine byBurnham I mean, and that that's a

(40:20):
fine choice. And that's not Draggonis a fine choice too. It's not
dragon just to go to. It'slike a zenya. But you know the
their go to plants. They workwith anything. And by Burnhams, you
know you've got foliage. A lotof these plants that we think is cut
flowers are actually even better is cutfoliage because the foliage enhances what's already in
the vase or in the you know, arrangement or whatever. And you've got

(40:43):
fruit as well, and by Burnham, So that's that's that's a good choice.
Yeah, and if the foliage isoutstanding, and no matter when you
cut it, it's gonna give yousome good show. Talking with doctor Allan
Armitage again. His website is AlanArmitage dot net. Uh, don't forget
all his great books, including theHerbaceous Perennial Plants. It's the fourth edition.
It is the bible when it comesto UH learning more about perennials.
Of course, his latest field guideespecially Cut the Flowers by the way.

(41:07):
I just I recommended the UH ofNaked Ladies and Forget Me Nots to a
couple of people last week. Theywere looking for these gifts, I think
for bridesbays or something, and Isaid, oh, you got to get
in these books though, I absolutelylove the books. So and that's that's
one of those easy reads that anytimeI recommend that to somebody, they thanked
me two or three times for thatone because they absolutely love it. Well,

(41:29):
it's fun. It was a funbook to write and a fun book
to read. And the nice thingabout it's a story book, isn't it
a stories of how plants get theirnames. The nice thing about stories is
people enjoy sharing stories. And youknow, once you share a story,
then you left your legacy with thatperson who's going to share it again.
And that's why I did those Thatbook and other books I've done that are

(41:51):
kind of story time there. Theytell a story that I think we all
would like to know and sometimes weshould know, but mostly because yeah,
stories are fun. Let's let's notget too serious here, all right.
So now you're going to be onthe road here I think in another week
or so, back out on theroad again, headed to Columbus, Ohio.
I am. Yeah. There's thatbig show that the horticultural work Cure

(42:16):
Horta culture people put on called Cultivate. It's in Commas, Ohio. It's
next weekend, well, Saturday,Sunday, Monday. Choose ish and I'll
be there for a couple of daysand hope I'll see you or anybody else
who happens to be listening to thisshow or can say hello, I'll be
hanging out and here and there.So I'm giving you a couple of talks.

(42:37):
Even Ron so boy, oh boy, they actually can see that I've
actually exist, so yeah, I'llbe there and it's a great show and
I'm looking forward to it good andwe're looking forward to having there. And
one last question I have for youin your garden is we look out there.
Right before you came on, wehad our herb specialists on Rita Hikenfeld
and I'm just curious. Do yougrow your own herbs? Do I grow

(43:00):
my own? I grow my ownbasil. I roll my things like like
like lavenders and things like that,but I don't have enough space. But
I love them. So the moreI have, the more I get.
And I even throw nepet in there'san herb, so yes, I do
grow something. I agree with thatone too, Doctor Allen Armony's always a
pleasure. His website again Alan armitiesdot net. Have a great weekend,

(43:21):
sir, and we hope to seeyou up in Columbus. It that cultivate
next weekend? All right, takescare everybody, Thanks you, all right,
Doctor Allan Armities Again. His websiteis alan armonies dot net. Is
that app great garden plants, absolutelyoutstanding. Put on your cell phone.
You got lots of answers there foryou. While you're right out in the
Garden. Herbasius Perennial Plants, fourthEdition. Uh, it's the Bible on
perennials. Got to check it out. Field Guide to Specialty Cut Flowers.

(43:44):
You want to grow cut flowers andeverybody's starting to do that. Now,
that's the book for you. That'shis latest. Check them all out.
Alan Armoniest Net coming up next.Phone lines are open for you at eight
hundred and eight two three, eighttwo five five. Here in the Garden
with Ron Wilson. Help for thedo it yourself gardener at one eight hundred
eighty two three talk You're in theGarden with Ron Wilson.