Episode 2610

- [Announcer] On this episode, Troy Marden tours the home landscape of a gardener who appreciates and provides for Mother Nature. Annette Shrader meets a gardener who changed out the entire plant palette in her garden beds so deer no longer linger there. And we'll learn about some unusual herbs you might wanna try. Join us. First, landscaping with native plants brings measurable success.

- [Troy] One of the most beautiful things about spring in Tennessee are all the native wildflowers that exist out in these country places on the little back roads in Tennessee, in places like rural Williamson County where we are now, just outside of Lieber's Fort, Tennessee, is the garden of Sherlene Spicer and you have got all kinds of things here. How long has it been since you've started gardening out here?

- Well about 30 years.

- Wow. As we walk along here, I see all kinds of different things, now obviously there are some non-native plants mixed in with the natives, you've got lots of lint and rose, you've got Solomon seal, and then I see wild columbine and a variety of other things. How do you go about deciding what to add to the garden?

- [Sherlene] The plants kinda do their own thing here, that's why they're such a mix. I plant some things in places and then they spread or I see a spot that I feel like I need some color and so I move some things around. This little area here is a little more native than not with the bluebells and the columbines.

- [Troy] Right, and then I see Christmas fern coming up, which is evergreen so that gives you a little winter interest out of one of our native plants.

- The rhododendrons were probably some of the first things that I had put in this area and then I just started working it down and natives just came, once things were let go, there's a lot of rubecias in there that, they've spread and I love it, they just keep coming.

- And they re-seed themselves, they just keep coming back. You've been really successful with these rhododendrons. Is there a secret that you have?

- One species, rosium elegance is the one plant that I use repeatedly, it's a lavender flower, a little bit like the native cotalvin in the Roan Mountains area and it seems to like this acidic soil that I have here and when these guys are in bloom, they're just covered purple, it's really fun.

- And I notice they're planted kind of at the top of the garden, so they're kind of at the top of the ridge, they've got good drainage.

- They also have good sun.

- And probably people don't realize that good sun is important, not only for rhododendrons but for a lot of our native wildflowers where you see them growing in the wild, they are often growing in kind of clearings in the forest, not under the densest part of the shade. One of the most impressive things that I've seen here in your garden are these little patches of crested iris which are native and we've hit them just on the right day, they're right at their peak, but probably the plant that you have that nobody maybe has ever seen unless they're really wildflower enthusiasts and have gone on some great hikes are these beautiful yellow lady slipper orchids. Are they native to this area?

- Yes, they are.

- [Troy] So they grow naturally on this ridge and you were able to rescue some plants that were in harm's way, I understand, and able to save those, so what a great thing to be able to do, and they certainly look like they're happy here.

- [Sherlene] They do because they have the same kind of organisms. Orchids like this aren't transferable normally. You couldn't dig that from this property and take it to another kind of setting, they have to have the same kinds of material.

- [Troy] In the soil, there's a relationship between all the little bacteria and things that grow in the soil where they like to be and if you take them to another place which is why we always say, never dig them from the wild.

- [Sherlene] Correct, so this was totally a rescue, it's not something that I would encourage by no means.

- Yeah, randomly went out and did.

- Right.

- Yeah. Another of the really special plants you have here that a lot of wildflower enthusiasts in particular really adore is the blue-eyed Mary.

- [Sherlene] I started out with a plant from the Chattanooga Nature Center, at that time, they were called Reflection Writing and they grow a certain amount of these wildflowers and sell them about twice a year. Once you get a plant started, they spread themselves.

- Right, they re-seed.

- Yes they do. And so I just let 'em come up wherever they wanna come up and always each year, I enjoy seeing where they're coming and obviously they're in the path, so we walk around them.

- So in addition to the blue-eyed Mary that re-seeds itself around the garden, you've got this terrific stand of our native columbine.

- Yes, yes.

- And does it attract the hummingbirds early in the spring?

- Absolutely, they show up the day it opens.

- It's amazing how that works and how they know to kind of follow the flowers northward as they migrate.

- [Sherlene] Yes they do. That one actually opened about the first week of April.

- [Troy] And that's usually about the time the ruby-throated hummingbirds start coming through.

- Yes it is.

- Now obviously this recedes itself so is it ever troublesome in the garden?

- Not troublesome when it's in bloom because I do enjoy it very much, but after it blooms, I would prefer to thin it out a little bit so I do try to take it away from the other plants that are underneath.

- Right right. Well I know you have a lot of wildlife out here in the garden so wildlife that is desirable like the birds, what all different kinds of birds do you have?

- [Sherlene] We have wrens and Carolina chickadees that nest in this one particularly. All the different birds have their different places that they really like.

- You have bluebirds?

- [Sherlene] We have bluebirds, they are in another nest down there at this time, very active.

- [Troy] I'm guessing probably lots of hummingbirds also.

- [Sherlene] A lot of hummingbirds, yes, they show about the first week of April.

- So those obviously are critters that you wanted in the garden, I would imagine that there probably are some animals that you don't want to have in the garden also, I can only imagine that there are herds of deer, probably out here.

- We have our own personal herd, you're correct.

- So how do you manage the garden and the deer?

- Well, I tend to, I mix a lot of plants, the hellabores, they don't like, and so I put those in places that I think that will help to keep them away and then I spray with a liquid fence.

- [Troy] You have some really impressive native azaleas here on the property, were they already here?

- [Sherlene] Oh yes, they're totally native.

- [Troy] Yeah, so they're just wild and grow here. A lot of locals call those honeysuckle, but they're really not honeysuckle at all as we know it.

- Correct.

- And certainly not the invasive kind of honeysuckle that everybody's so worried about, this is a native deciduous azalea, rhododendron alabamense is the botanical name. It actually looks like it flowers before the leaves, so they come out on bare stems after the winter and then flowers and then leaves a little bit later. So you really enjoy attracting a lot of birds and butterflies to garden and I know specifically you mentioned hummingbirds, what are some of the best plants that you have that really get the hummingbirds going?

- Lady in red salvia is red and full and it seeds itself. It's a really good one and then I plant pineapple sage for the later fall season.

- Right, because it blooms late.

- Yes. Penstimons, all of the penstimons work really well. Salvias, various salvias.

- Yeah, I've noticed in my garden that it's not even always the red salvias, they'll come to black and blue and warnetica and anything that has that sort of tube shaped flower, even if it's purple. So besides the occasional garden tour where gardens maybe like yours or some other folks are open and people can see wildflowers, what are the other opportunities around middle Tennessee and other areas where folks can go and see these beautiful wildflowers?

- Oh that's a good question, we have the Tennessee Native Plants Society, which leads outings to go and see some of these wildflowers and then Tennessee Trails is in Tennessee all over the state, hikes, they tend to hike faster than the others but I joined them for great wallflower hikes and Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association is a canoe club that we float some of the slower current rivers to see the flowers along the riverbanks and the birds, the migratory species of course are now, the yellow are on the banks there, we see owls and great blue herons and bald eagles and such. The Audubon Society, which I'm very active with, the Cumberland Harpers is the national chapter and we do a lot of outings specifically for wildflowers and birds.

- Okay so there are quite a few opportunities, really, for people to go out, get out in nature a little bit and see some of these beautiful things out where they exist in the wild.

- In the natural, yes, yes.

- Well we've got a little sprinkle coming down on us right here at the end but I wanna say thank you so much for letting us come out and enjoy your beautiful garden, we appreciate it.

- [Sherlene] Well thank you for coming.

- As gardeners, we know our garden is never static. Once, this was over 200 roses, more than 100 hosta, but now it's a beautiful cutting garden. Let's see what happened and why. Now let's talk to the person who transformed this area, Lynne Wallman, it's wonderful to be in your garden this morning, it was refreshed last night with rain and we know that all of the things you think may be over when the sun gets through with their job today, everything will be looking to the sky, that's not a problem, is it?

- Not at all, I loved the rain last night.

- I know, well tell me about your journey.

- We have been besieged by the deer, I have had two sets of twin baby fawns born in my garden this year and last year and so they ate everything, I had 200 varieties of roses and 150 hosta and they're gone so I had to take action and grow something that I knew that would last and provide a wonderful cutting garden for my arrangements.

- Well and you know, I have to tell you that my heart aches for you, 'cause I fight that same battle and we all sort of improvise things that we think are gonna help, so you came up with another plan, you went to all plants that are, they say, deer resistant, and so far that's proven well for you, hasn't it?

- So far, so good.

- Well let's get into some of the plants you've chosen. For instance, this is beautiful, the balsam.

- [Lynne] I love balsam and they do come in several colors, they reseed themselves, actually these are volunteers, just like our state of Tennessee, volunteers, these are from last year, they haven't bloomed just yet but these are gladiolas.

- [Annette] And don't they give nice vertical?

- Yes they do.

- Whether they're blooming or not, we need that.

- And speaking of vertical, boy do I love rudbekia maxima, it's one of my favorite plants, it gives a lot of height to the garden.

- It does, and then when the bloom is gone, what do you do? Do you scatter seeds from that or?

- Well, I think I shall this year, I haven't done it before but I will, I will.

- Well then next to that, you have another verbena down here.

- [Lynne] Yeah, that's verbena bonariensis and it is in the mint family, you can tell by the square stem.

- [Annette] Well and that might explain why perhaps the deer don't like it.

- Yes.

- Plus it has rough foliage and so it's not delicate to their little tongue and nose.

- [Lynne] Exactly, and the same thing is true of the gloriosa daisies over here, they have a fuzzy stem.

- [Annette] Well not to be funny or anything but it's glorious with all of your gloriosa daisies. Now, what is your secret? I know I see lots of variety, how do you handle these?

- [Lynne] Every time I cut a flower for my arrangements, I save the top, the flower, and dry it and then I put some down in October, some seeds, and then again in May.

- [Annette] Okay Lynne, before me I'm holding the example of a hardy hibiscus.

- Mhmm, they are perennials and they're all in bud here, but this is one of the few that I have blooming right now and the deer have not disturbed them so I'm very happy about that, I have 18 varieties, pinks, whites, reds.

- Wow, well now naturally, this is an education process this morning and naturally some of the things you do have in here, they might not bloom 'til fall so we're looking for plant names and identifications, the blooms can come later for people but this is quite interesting, that you have this many and as these progress through the season, they're gonna envelope this whole bed, aren't they?

- [Lynne] They will, and down here I have marigolds, these are garland marigolds and Park Seed has them and their blooms are about four inches wide and they will start blooming in about a month or so. They're wonderful.

- [Annette] I had no idea about the four o'clocks and you know what, they're not blooming but it's four o'clock somewhere.

- I know, it is, and they seem to do very well, the deer have left them alone, I wish they were blooming for you because they are amazing, and then we have these cosmos, now some of these are volunteers but in the front of the garden, those are brand new seeds. I do have a few manarda in this garden too, it's all just sort of, I see it poking out red over there. I gotcha.

- Well I know another plant that I didn't realize was in this deer resistant family are your cannas.

- I love cannas. I buy them from Horn Canna Farm out in Oklahoma and they have a wonderful variety and the deer have left them alone.

- Oh and look at this one, it's even a variegated bloom.

- That one's Cleopatra.

- [Annette] Now, let me ask you about winter harness, do you mulch these or leave them in the ground?

- [Lynne] I left them in the ground this year, I figured, well, once they're there, they're there.

- [Annette] So you don't think you're flirting with danger.

- If I am, I'll buy new ones.

- Good philosophy.

- [Lynne] Yes, don't wanna have too much work at the end of the season.

- [Annette] Okay Lynne, let's walk and talk through this border.

- Okay.

- The tall in the back.

- That's ironweed, has a fabulous purple bloom in the fall.

- I know it does, and it's never, I've never seen it planted on purpose in a garden.

- I like it for my arrangements.

- Yeah and then?

- This is sort of a wild audratem, it's white and it starts blooming in the fall.

- Well and the main thing is, again, we know why we want it. Over in the center you've got another nice plant, the gooseneck loosestrife.

- Yes, and your deer don't eat that.

- They don't eat it. But they can be invasive.

- [Lynne] Your deer are trained better than mine but I didn't care because of that being invasive. Now then, in here, we've come to the point of finalizing this one area and you've got cleomy.

- [Lynne] I just threw those seeds down in there and as you can see, I have a lot of poppy heads, I left them in here to show you that throughout my whole garden, I threw out poppy seeds in the coldest day in February, they came up and bloomed in May and have just finished and I'm collecting the seeds and so I'm pulling those out so that the cleomies and the gloriosa daisies will have a little more room.

- [Annette] Now we're back to your hibiscus.

- [Lynne] Yes, lots of buds on it this year.

- It's really not the end of your garden, but it's the end of my visit with you. And I do, like many gardeners, always they're crying about the wildlife that invades our garden and we just have to be inventive and sometimes, if we can't change them, we'll change ourselves, right?

- Yes, it's a total revival.

- It is, and it's wonderful, and now the sun's gonna come out and dry away the raindrops and everything is beautiful.

- [Lynne] Thank you Annette, thanks for coming.

- [Annette] Thank you.

- Today's a great day because I get to venture into the backyard of a unique garden space that is full of a variety of plants with purpose, everything from medicinals to edibles to berry to vegetables to container plantings, so come on, take a look, and see if you can find something that you could take advantage of in your home and garden. So Michelle, we're standing next to a beautiful crop of stinging nettle that you have here in your garden. Tell me a little bit about the uses of this plant here in your garden and why you like it so much.

- For one thing, right now it's blooming, which they say is at its peak of its prime, and it's a very beautiful plant, you can see it grows very well in Tennessee, you can grow it in containers or in the ground, either way, if you grow it in containers, you'd probably have to bring it inside for the winter. If you touch the edge of the leaves, it has a medicine in it and if you had a sore hand or a sore muscle, you could just touch the muscle to the plant and it would be a very, you would hardly, just a little tiny itchy prick maybe.

- Is that what those little spines are all along?

- That's what the little spines are on the end, if we had a magnifying glass or binoculars, we could really see the little spines on it. And in those spines is the medicine and that helps your muscles relax and feel better.

- Gotcha.

- It's also a wonderful plant to eat, it's loaded with calcium and other nutrients.

- [Matt] And how do you process it to ingest it?

- You could probably just.

- Grind it up, maybe, dry it out?

- You could do that, it'd be better probably to dry it because then you wouldn't get pinched.

- Yep, yep, okay.

- [Michelle] You can dry it, you can make things out of it, salads and things out of it.

- [Matt] Grows in the sun, shade, I see it's kinda growing, it's kind of a mixed-use plant, pretty tough.

- It'll grow in either place, it'll grow in the sun and it'll grow in the shade, not as quickly, but it will still be fine and be healthy in the shade too. But you have to just be aware all the time, you can't just back into it accidentally like a cactus, you don't wanna just bump into it.

- Use caution.

- But it's a beautiful plant and it's really good for you and it's in a lot of dried mixtures and a lot of teas and stuff like that.

- Fantastic.

- You can drink the teas, it's very healthy.

- [Matt] We are standing near another one of your garden favorites, a little bit more unusual, this is the comfrey plant. Tell me a little bit about how you find uses for it in the garden and a little bit about how best to grow it.

- Well it's a pretty agreeable plant, it likes some sun, it will do in part-shade, it's growing in part-shade here now, it will spread, it's a perennial, and that's a good thing, you can use it, it's kinda soft and people have used it as a wound covering, like if you're in the wild and you happen to see comfrey, you can use it like a band-aid and it will soothe your wound. And it has such big leaves, it's such a architectural kind of a plant, very pretty.

- So Michelle, we are standing on your patio right behind your house here and we have a large collection of herbs in raised bed containers, and you were mentioning to me that you have a covering that you use to kinda keep the insects off and one of those herbs that you keep the insects off that you've done well with is this catnip here. Tell me a little bit about how you use catnip and why we should grow it in our own homes.

- [Michelle] Okay, of course we know you have to grow some for your cat but right now it's flowering too and it's beautiful and it has a great aroma, it makes a wonderful tea, you can use it fresh in tea, you could also dry it and it's a very soothing tea, it will help you relax if you want to go to sleep, you know, have it an hour before you go to sleep, and my grandma used it, she said that you make a tea of it and you give it to colicking babies and it relaxes them so that they'll stop crying. And help them relax and sleep also.

- [Matt] That would be handy to have, I'm sure, for a lot of mothers out there.

- Absolutely.

- One of the plants, again, that you have among your beautiful collection of plants on your deck is the stevia plant here that we are talking about, tell me a little bit about your stevia and why you love it so much.

- [Michelle] Probably most people are familiar with seeing it in little packets or sold sorta looking like sugar but this is where that comes from and you can grow a stevia plant, it's not hard, it is very tender, it will not live through a frost, it's an annual, and you can just take the leaves and just nibble on them and it's very sweet.

- Super sweet, very sweet.

- Yeah, very sweet. Sweeter than sugar, they say.

- Without the calories, is that right?

- Yeah, without the calories.

- Well that's kind of a homegrown sweetener.

- Right, and it's a perfect thing, and if you're a diabetic or something like that, maybe that's a possible choice that you might wanna make.

- Mhmm.

- And this is very tall this year, I guess because of the rains we've been having. It's not always so tall.

- And even though it is an annual and doesn't survive our winter times, it's very easy to grow here in the garden, either in a container or out in the ground, is that right?

- That is true.

- [Matt] Very kind of robust plant, usually only need one, kinda really thickens up as you kinda get it in the ground, I've been to a couple stevia plantings that are just, almost become small bushes.

- Nice.

- So I've noticed, Michelle, as your entrance, beginning entrance, it's flanked by a gorgeous, large, healthy elderberry bush, tree, depending on how you wanna use it or limit up, tell me a little bit about your success here with it.

- It is doing very well, it's very happy, it's a perennial, keeps growing, you probably, you can prune it if you needed to keep it contained in a certain space, that would be entirely possible, this is the flower, the flower is beautiful and it has fragrance to it, you probably have a, you can probably test some of the aroma as it goes by you.

- Smells great.

- And then after the little petals fall off, it makes these little beginning of the elderberries, which are green and they'll get much larger and then later in the season, more towards the end of August, September, they start turning purple.

- Darkish, purple berry.

- [Michelle] And they're a purple berry and you'll know when they're ripe because the birds will be eating them and they will be dropping them all over your driveway.

- [Matt] Yep, yep, yep, yep, so make sure you be wise on where you have a plant like this.

- Where you plant it, but the leaf is beautiful, it's leaflets and it's just a very pretty plant, it is a perennial so that's always a bonus, it keeps coming back every year and the blooms are gorgeous, it's not a troublesome plant, it doesn't attract a lot of.

- Right, very easy to grow.

- Easy to grow.

- Covered prolific in the berry set of all these buds all around the whole tree, can be used for juices, syrups.

- Preserves, jelly.

- Help me out, yep.

- Jam, all kinds of things, you could make elderberry wine, woohoo.

- Right, great medicinal purposes, good for digestion.

- It is.

- Boosts the immune system, just has been used for many many many years, just be conscious of it, comes back every year and it also is gonna grow wherever it's planted and very healthy and very minimal pest and diseases are attracted to this plant, so maybe include it in the back of the border or any sun or part-sun area, it's a great native. So Michelle, we are coming to the end of our garden journey here and I can't help but notice you have an abundant, vigorous patch of a sunchoke growing, is that right?

- Exactly, some people know it as Jerusalem artichoke, that's another name but it's a sunchoke and this is a native crop to North America, I believe the Native people used it in their foodage and it's interesting, if you look at it, it has little tiny, has like a furry stem, very furry stem, beautiful leaves, probably related to sunflowers, and this one is like, well, it's a good 5 1/2 feet tall.

- Yeah the whole crop itself looks to be a good six to eight feet wide and five or six feet tall and this is a perennial for you?

- This is a perennial and it will grow even taller and it makes beautiful yellow flowers that are reminiscent of small sunflowers.

- Okay, so it has a little bit of an ornamental value, and then the edible value comes at which part for you?

- The edible value is the roots and they say that folks that are diabetics can eat this and it doesn't give them the boost like sugar does, but it's a easy digestible sweet starch for them.

- Interesting.

- That's one thing, but it's just delicious to eat and it's just beautiful to grow and the flowers are gorgeous and the birds like it, so it's a win-win all around.

- Wow, wow, well you have just such a great collection of unique plants and edibles and medicinals here around your garden, any practical advice for people here at the home that are interested in trying out some things?

- Maybe try out, every year, try something new, add one thing to your garden that you've never tried before and you'll probably like it a whole lot and you'll learn every year, your knowledge and your education about gardening will be increased. So gardening is a wonderful thing to do, it's good for the whole family, and it could be a nice family activity and you'll just be so happy and surprised by all the things you can grow.

- Well thank you so much for showing us your unique collection of plants.

- A pleasure.

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