Episode 3416

- [Narrator] On this "Volunteer Gardener," Annette Shrader tours the garden of a true plant lover, whose gardening experience and expertise shines through in the thoughtful plant combinations, and delightful vignettes that maximize garden space. Then Tammy Algood and a gardening friend share stories of buyer's remorse on particular plant purchases. While these plants were attractive in a nursery pot in the garden center, once in the ground, they continually spread out of control. It's a cautionary tale you'll wanna heed. Stay tuned. The motto of this gardener? I can always make room for another plant.

- Sometimes life calls for us to downsize our gardens. When that happens, this amazing gardener is going to show you what you can do in a limited amount of space. Her goal is to get one of everything. And I think you're gonna be amazed at what she's accomplished. Who can deny that an Annabelle hydrangea is the queen of hydrangeas, isn't she?

- They're beautiful. I love 'em. I have a very difficult exposure here, it's full south. And even though it's a little bit toasty for them, come August, you can see they perform really well here in this full sun. And this is zone eight now, I think we are in Memphis.

- This is Linda Orton, and she is affiliated with the Hydrangea Society that comes and goes. And I've known her to be that expert for years. But today we're in her garden, and I'm standing behind something that I'm amazed also with. Tell me about this.

- That is a daylily called Autumn Minaret. And it's a very tall daylily. And I have a friend who's a big daylily fan, and I reached out to them, and they said, "I have a couple extras I'll gift you." So we were able to arrange for me to have a couple. And these used to be in my back area that didn't get as much sun. But here in the full south exposure, it has shot up. It's at least six feet tall, so...

- [Annette] That was a good friend to have.

- [Linda] I know. I'm very happy with it. We'll see what it looks like.

- When we welcome people into our homes, it's very important, the first impression is what they see. Before they go through your door and you have limited space, but you also have impressed with what you've done right here, just on this wall. Tell me about your choice of plants.

- Well, I'm a big Clematis fan, and so this is called a Starfish. And I have another one in there that blooms early. It's already gone over, and this is a herbaceous Clematis down here, Stand By Me, the purple little elf's hat.

- [Annette] Yes, I love. And that has a very long blooming time.

- [Linda] It does. And if I had cut it, I am very shy pruner, and I've been really preoccupied this year and I normally would cut that back a lot further, feed it, and it would flush out and not be so droopy right now. And some friends gave me, again, some dahlias, and I've never had 'em before, so it's been kind of an experiment. And I have 'em in a pot so that I can, once they go over, I can move them around somewhere else, or put 'em out of sight.

- As we step further into your entrance, into your home and gardens, you've already got a garden, a real garden created right here. So I see all kinds of examples of perennials, annuals. Tell me about your choices here.

- Well, again, this doesn't get as much sun, because it's protected a little bit by my home. But this is the way I go into my home every day. I don't have an area where I can go into my house through my garage, so I kinda made it for me. I wanted to see something pretty that I like to see every day when I come in and out of my house. So I've got a lot of mix of Hellebores and mostly the annuals are in pots.

- Yes.

- So this is a, I have Clematis in pots and,

- Well, and then let's talk about this Japanese maple.

- It's a Ryusen, and it's been out probably 20 some years, but when it came out, it's basically a ground cover. It will grow laterally on across the ground if you don't stake it. And I've got it staked up in a pot.

- And underneath it, you've actually created a small garden right here with perennials.

- [Linda] Yeah.

- [Annette] What have you chosen in here?

- [Linda] That's a stachys, I think, or a stachys.

- [Annette] Yeah, yes.

- [Linda] I never can pronounce it correctly. And then there, that's called a Pink Octopus Campanula.

- [Annette] That is too cute.

- [Linda] Yeah. And that's a perennial. And I didn't have space in the back, so I put it in a pot here. We'll see if it makes it through the winter again. And then the rest are little annuals that I filled in for color contrast.

- [Annette] The Snowflake Hydrangea to me, is a masterful hydrangea. Tell me about that.

- [Linda] That was found actually in someone's front yard down in Alabama by Eddie Aldridge and his father, oh, probably 20, 30 years ago. And it is a sterile form. And so when you cut it, and put it in your bouquets on your table, you don't have that shedding that you would see from a lot of other hydrangreas.

- [Annette] I see what you're saying, but it has triple flakes, doesn't it?

- [Linda] Yes.

- [Annette] It's an amazing..

- [Linda] Yeah, it's like a hose-in-hose, azalea, you would call hose-in-hose, where the flower just keeps coming out in a chain. And when it ages, it turns green, like a pale limey green. It's beautiful. I love it. It's a little hard to propagate and I don't think you see it so much in the trade. Because I don't think it was ever patented.

- I just recently found mine. We have literally stepped into a garden. And let's talk about right here, what you've collected in your container plant, the garden you've created. Tell us about all of this plant material that you've gathered here.

- Well, I'm a big hydrangea fan, as you can tell. And my garden doesn't lend itself to planting macrophyllas in the ground because of the sun. So this north side of my house is a perfect place to put a lot of different hydrangeas in different pots.

- [Annette] Yeah.

- [Linda] And so I just group them up in a collection, basically.

- [Annette] Yes.

- [Linda] Of the different hydrangeas that strike my fancy.

- [Annette] Yes, well, and they seem to live well there. And they don't mind.

- [Linda] They really are happy.

- [Annette] They don't mind being contained, do they?

- [Linda] No, they... Really, I think they do better for me in pots than they have in the ground. I have some in the ground.

- [Annette] Yeah.

- [Linda] If you don't have a lot of shade, you've gotta make use of what you can.

- And you have a goal too.

- That's right. I'm focused on hydrangeas a lot.

- Well, this right here is complete coverage of how you've taken a clematis and other binding materials to put a backdrop on this otherwise wooden wall.

- Yes. It's kind of a sore spot for me, that wall. So I found these trellises and put 'em up and I have about six different clematis growing up in there.

- [Annette] Wow!

- [Linda] They've all grown over, but some bloom really early, and some bloom later.

- [Annette] It's so amazing when you take a big urn and set it off to itself. But then it becomes a statement piece. You've given it a hair. What is that?

- That is a golden oregano.

- Oh!

- And it's just an ornamental oregano. And I like that lime green color in a garden. It kind of sets itself off from the other greens that you see.

- [Annette] Well, don't you think it's a blending color? It might bring together things that otherwise you wouldn't put together.

- [Linda] Well, a cohesive.

- [Annette] Yeah, I think so also.

- [Linda] Yeah.

- In your gardening efforts, Linda, let's start at your top layer up there. The plants that you've put in there. And are you happy with them?

- [Linda] Well, this year, I'm kind of happy with that golden oregano and the, then I have a phlox

- [Annette] I see.

- [Linda] That's a more of a spring blooming phlox. And then this year I bought some Germander, that's supposed to be evergreen, and it's very easy or adaptable to pruning. And so I'm hoping that will fill in and I'll have like a little evergreen hedge up there come wintertime.

- [Annette] I'll testify for you. It absolutely will. I have it, I love it. It's blooming right now purple.

- [Linda] Okay.

- [Annette] Okay, now let's go on down.

- [Linda] Well, I got the lavender there is phenomenal. And in December '22, we had that bad cold drop.

- [Annette] Oh no.

- [Linda] And I lost one of the two I had. I don't know why, three feet apart, one is fabulous. And the other one, I had to replant it. So that's a new plant on the right.

- [Annette] It's not for us to know.

- [Linda] No, it's just, you just keep going.

- [Annette] Yes.

- [Linda] Don't give up.

- [Annette] And nestled beneath that, we come down to the next layer. And I see you have, is that an Oriental lily?

- [Linda] Yes, I bought that last year at a nursery in bloom. A lot of my lilies rot for me because I have a drip irrigation. And that's not conducive to having bulbs. So I bought that in a pot and I cut it back and I left it outside all winter. And lo and behold, it came back.

- [Annette] Well.

- [Linda] So I love it. And it's very pretty. It's that stargazer.

- [Annette] Okay, now then. Moving back towards our left here. You have some azaleas?

- [Linda] Yes, those were here when I bought the home, but they were all scattered like polka dots, up and down in different places. And I just dug them all out and consolidated them more, so they'd be three or four on each side of my angel.

- Well, we are to level three is what I'm gonna call it. But we're not finished.

- Okay.

- [Annette] So you start over here with this magnificent container.

- [Linda] Yeah.

- [Annette] I see a perennial in there, but,

- [Linda] Salvia.

- [Annette] That is a wonderful pop of color. And you have a wonderful little ground cover there.

- [Linda] Chocolate chip Ajuga.

- [Annette] And that's a small one, isn't it?

- [Linda] Yeah.

- [Annette] And then what is your choice of-

- [Linda] Those are called a Tater Tot.

- [Annette] Tater Tot.

- [Linda] Arborvitae. And I got that again at the UT sale.

- [Annette] Well, it's a wonderful additional, and it's low growing, and a nice border plant. And is this Incrediball or is that-

- [Linda] Yes, it's an Incrediball. For me, the Japanese maple was here when I bought the home. And I didn't want to move it, go to the expense of moving it or I just was, it was pretty. And so for me, sometimes I start with what I have to have. I had to have an Annabelle back here. Because in the evening, that white just glows in the dusk.

- [Annette] It is. A moonlight garden.

- [Linda] Yeah. So I put that in there first. And then I just kind of worked around and under everything. And try to contrast my color of my foliage, of my Japanese maple with the limey green.

- [Annette] Yes, this is our understory, where you found more space to plant more plants. And their requirements are a little bit different.

- [Linda] Yes.

- [Annette] Because you have the shade.

- [Linda] Yeah.

- [Annette] So in here, what are just a few of things you've chosen?

- [Linda] Well, this is that Pee Dee Ingot, which is like a Liriope, and, but it's supposed to clump, but I don't know if that is true. But it has that lime green foliage. And I like that little, it's like a little splash of sunshine in the shade.

- [Annette] Yes. And then there's a leaf up next to it. What kind of a-

- [Linda] That is a, some type of a mountain mint. And don't ask me which, I got it from a mail order nursery some years ago, and I've never seen it again offered anywhere. But it has that lemony lime leaf that's a little different shape than the liriope. And then I have this Bigleaf yellowy Hosta.

- [Annette] Yes.

- [Linda] So I was trying to vary my leaf shapes, but keeping the same color family.

- [Annette] Yeah, but you hit on an important point. When I first started gardening, guess where I found my plants? I ordered them.

- [Linda] Yes, yes.

- And we're very fortunate these days, but you've ended up all of this square footage you've got right here by putting some more hydrangea in the ground and even a peony. So all of this is just so cohesive and it definitely works.

- [Linda] Well, it feeds, it satisfies my need for putzing in the garden and having one of everything.

- [Annette] Have you ever set and tried to decide exactly how many plants do I have?

- [Linda] Oh, no.

- [Annette] Number-wise?

- [Linda] No. Years and years ago, I used to try to keep a ledger of what I spent and that, I quit that pretty quick.

- [Annette] What you spent are the plants you have.

- [Linda] I spent, well, both.

- [Annette] Okay.

- What plant I bought, where I bought it, when I bought it, and how much it cost me. And after digging up a few plant tags and dead plants, I kind of quit that. So I just buy whatever I really want.

- [Annette] Before me sits a six foot square garden with a canopy of a crepe myrtle over it.

- [Linda] Yep.

- Without underestimating, maybe 60 plants reside here, and,

- All different ones.

- And the good thing really too, all of these do have the same growing habit.

- That's right.

- And it wouldn't be successful without it. The, shall I say, the first thing you would see coming out would be your this hydrangea. That's this cute little one. What is it?

- [Linda] It's called Munchkin. And it was developed actually in middle Tennessee at the USDA experimental station.

- [Annette] Oh!

- [Linda] So it should do very well for everybody in Tennessee.

- [Annette] Okay. And next to it, we have a plant that has two interests. It has a spiky bloom, but it has spiky pointy leaves. What is this?

- [Linda] A shredded umbrella plant, they call it.

- [Annette] Shredded,

- [Linda] Umbrella.

- [Annette] Umbrella.

- [Linda] Yeah.

- [Annette] Well, and of course, who could deny this should be, could be anywhere in the world. And you made a garden out of a hosta plant because you put another plant. This is a spectacular, is this a Sum And Substance?

- [Linda] Sum And Substance. And because I like to have a lot of plants, you have to do different levels. So I brought it up into a pot so that I could plant under it. Because if it had been in the ground, I would've lost my space, so...

- [Annette] Ground story again, isn't it?

- [Linda] That's right.

- [Annette] And you filled it down here with Solomon's seals that's a different solid color.

- [Linda] Stairway to heaven, I think it's called.

- [Annette] Yes. And this is another beautiful hosta. And you've got foamflowers. And this is a geranium,

- [Linda] Strawberry geranium.

- [Annette] And it's actually a good ground cover.

- [Linda] It is. And it used to be considered always a house plant.

- [Annette] I know. I had it as that. Well, and over in the shady side over here, I see an interesting Solomon's seal that I don't know that I've ever seen this variety. What is-

- [Linda] A friend gave me that. And it's called White Tiger.

- [Annette] White Tiger?

- [Linda] White Tiger.

- [Annette] White Tiger.

- [Linda] White Tiger.

- [Annette] Wow.

- [Linda] Not sure the proper name, but it's that white. If the more sun it gets, the whiter that white is.

- [Annette] Yeah.

- [Linda] It's unusual.

- [Annette] I do see you have success with Maidenhair fern. And you know, not every gardener does.

- [Linda] I'll tell you what I do. Every year I buy Maidenhair fern to keep in the house in a big planter. I like it in my house.

- [Annette] Yeah.

- [Linda] And every year, invariably, I don't water it like it once and it goes, it wilts. So I cut it back and I bring it out here and I put it in the ground. And I have a really high ratio of success. So that's many, many different little three or four inch pots that I bought at the garden center that used to be in my house.

- Well,

- So when you kill 'em in the house, don't think you killed them. Just cut 'em back, put 'em out here and water 'em. And it's like miraculous. They just come up.

- [Annette] What kind of time do you spend in this garden?

- [Linda] I,

- [Annette] Oh gosh.

- [Linda] I don't ever, I hate to say this, I rarely spend any time in the garden sitting, and looking at it. I just spend almost all my time that I'm out here doing something. Either deadheading, trimming it.

- [Annette] Yes.

- [Linda] Just relocating it. I don't think it's doing well in one spot. So I dig it and I put it somewhere else. Or planting new plants. I really don't know. I don't feel like I'm tied to my garden as I did my old home, that was so much bigger. But I love to garden. I like to be outside. And so it's, I call it puttering. so, well it's not really a work.

- That's the best kind of gardening. And you realize that it is joy, just, well, I just wanna make one plant today.

- That's right.

- I don't wanna get all tied up.

- No, no.

- And that is the pleasure of gardening.

- Yeah. I love it.

- And that I don't believe that any garden could ever have too many hydrangeas.

- No.

- I don't believe that any garden can ever be created that won't take our time.

- Oh, it's time consuming. Most of the time you spend sometimes just in your head.

- Oh, I know it.

- Thinking about what you're going to do. Or when you go to a garden center a nursery, you see a plant and all of a sudden you say, that might work.

- Well, I have to say, Linda, that through my knowledge of your works here in horticulture and at the Dixon Gardens, and with the hydrangeas, that your reputation goes before you. And what I enjoy is always seeing your participation and what you do for this community as far as that. And to tell you that I've ever seen a garden like this. Never, ever. And I admire it so much. And it just goes to show the desire is there, and the will is there. And the garden came from you.

- [Linda] Yes, I love it. I love it. And gardening and talking to other people about gardening, there's a lot of my way of make connection of friends and acquaintances and things like that. It brings people together, I think.

- [Annette] Absolutely. It's something that will start a conversation.

- [Linda] That's right.

- [Annette] That will never end.

- [Linda] That's right.

- [Annette] Thank you so very much.

- [Linda] Well, you're welcome. Thank you for coming to the garden.

- Gardeners like control. And when plants get out of control, we have a little buyer's remorse. We are here in Rutherford County, talking to Carol Reese, who is a plant educator. And Carol, this is a plant that you don't like.

- I did like it.

- Yeah.

- To begin with. I liked it a lot. It's a cute plant. It's a beautiful plant.

- [Tammy] And it is?

- [Carol] It holds the soil in place. It's toadflax. It has a lovely little yellow and white flower on it. And as you can see, it's taken over. And I'll be pulling this plant for the rest of my life.

- And we have this problem with so many plants.

- Yes.

- But this one spreads because of the seeds.

- Yes, and mostly the runners. Mostly the runners.

- Well, I've always said, I think this could grow in gravel. And there's other plants that fall into that same category.

- [Carol] Yes.

- [Tammy] So let's talk about those that tend to gravitate to other areas.

- [Carol] Yes ma'am.

- [Tammy] One of the ones I have is lemon balm. What do you-

- [Carol] That's exactly right.

- [Tammy] What do you think about that?

- [Carol] Mint family, there's a small degree of invasiveness in all of the mints, if they're placed in the ground. Lemon balm would probably be the primary one, yes.

- [Tammy] And I cut it all the time. But that doesn't seem to matter.

- [Carol] It's not gonna stop the runners.

- No, it's not. And another one that I don't like, but I love, yeah, I have a, it's one of my hated favorites, is Primrose.

- [Carol] Yes ma'am. Missouri Primrose. The pink ones.

- [Tammy] Yes.

- [Carol] The yellow one's not so bad, but the pink ones, yes.

- I grew up with the pink ones!

- And they're propagating by seed and by runners.

- So is that another plant that you can pull up? Or is it gonna leave its evidence behind?

- It's going to leave its evidence behind. You're gonna be pulling it up multiple times.

- [Tammy] Let's talk about another one that tends to lose control. Crocosmia Lucifer.

- Yes.

- It's beautiful!

- It's beautiful. Lovely arching red tubular flowers. But again, outta control. I have enough to do, without pulling it, pulling it, pulling it.

- And are any of these things that you could put in a pot?

- [Carol] Yes.

- [Tammy] It's just-

- [Carol] As long as they don't propagate extensively by seed.

- [Tammy] And what about mimosas?

- [Carol] Millions of seeds. And it is, it's a pretty tree. It's a beautiful tree. But the seed load transported by birds, and other critters is just huge.

- [Tammy] Talk to me about some others that are also-

- [Carol] Vinca, the periwinkles. The Vinca major or the Vinca minor. Both of them are invasive and they are beautiful. Vinca, historically, Vinca, the miner was planted on graves in the woods. So you knew if you were walking through the woods that somebody might be buried there. The variegated one, which is the major with the corn flower, blue flowers, is just delightful. But once you plant it, you're pulling it and pulling it and pulling it.

- And you know what? I have it in my yard, and it's under a tree, but I have to keep it under the tree, or it will be my yard.

- Or put it in a pot.

- Correct. Correct.

- And make sure that none of the runners or the seeds escape.

- Carol, here's a plant that a lot of people buy, a lot of people plant, a lot of people learn to not like. Tell us about this.

- [Carol] This is wintercreeper. It's in the Euonymus family. It doesn't seem to get any of the diseases that Euonymuses get, which is too bad. It's invasive.

- [Tammy] It's sold as a ground cover.

- [Carol] Yes. And it is a good ground cover. I can see why people are interested in it. It's got year round color, year round interest, evergreen. But it's also invasive. It can grow as large as a hedge.

- [Tammy] And it comes in different types. So you've got variegated, not variegated.

- [Carol] Yes.

- [Tammy] It doesn't discriminate. It likes to go anywhere.

- [Carol] A lot of people that plant this plant, they're not real fond of it after a couple of years.

- Here's another one we don't love to like.

- But look how healthy it is!

- I know!

- Look how well it's doing! Look how much it's spreading!

- And this is what I call ditch lily.

- [Carol] Yes.

- [Tammy] The proper name,

- [Carol] Is Hemerocallis.

- [Tammy] And it just grows and grows and grows and grows.

- [Carol] Yeah.

- [Tammy] It's your common orange see everywhere in the summertime, ditch lily.

- [Carol] Yes.

- [Tammy] And again, you didn't plant this, it just-

- [Carol] No, I did not plant this.

- [Tammy] It just decided to make itself at home right here.

- [Carol] Yes.

- [Tammy] And the same with your garlic chives.

- [Carol] Garlic chives were not planted by me. Something planted them. But I'm not sure what it was.

- You know, I was like you. I was very happy the day that I got my garlic chives.

- Yes.

- I was so excited about it.

- Yes.

- And now, it is the bane of my existence.

- Yes!

- So again, this is something, and Carol, you're saying even in the winter time, when we think the plant is-

- All your perennials will develop roots whenever the soil is not frozen.

- So they're still doing their thing,

- Still doing what they do.

- Even though they may be invisible to your eyes.

- They're dormant except for the roots. That's why you plant woody material in the fall.

- And again, these are things you've gotta dig up.

- Or spray.

- Yeah.

- Dependent upon your inclination.

- Now my garlic chives, as long as they, as long as I don't let 'em bloom,

- Okay.

- They seem to be contained. I cut those, I love the blooms, but I cut 'em off as soon as it starts to bloom.

- And that's another problem. That's an attractive little flower.

- Yeah!

- Looks good in an arrangement.

- I know! And it looks so innocent.

- Yes. Doesn't smell real great, but it looks okay, yeah! It's a nice little flower.

- Well, it's the devil in disguise, other than that. So if we're talking about a plant that perhaps a gardener thinks, "Well that's one of my favorite plants." It's not that we're saying it's a bad plant. We're just saying that this is the growth pattern it tends to have. So if you know that going in,

- [Carol] And you're aware of it, how much work it's going to cause you at the end of your day, yes.

- [Tammy] Yes, so really, they almost do need a little warning label that says caution, think about this.

- Yeah. Right plant, right place.

- Right.

- Do your research.

- Yeah.

- Well.

- Don't just,

- I'm the biggest offender however, so I probably,

- Well we all have been.

- Do as I say, not as I do.

- Trial and error is usually what happens. And we just don't want error to be common.

- [Carol] Yes.

- [Tammy] Right? So think about what you're buying, read the label, and think about where you're placing it.

- [Carol] Yes ma'am.

- So whether it's a pot, or a bed.

- [Carol] Yes, ma'am.

- Thank you, Carol.

- [Carol] Thank you very much.

- Thanks for being our guest.

- Yes. Thank you.

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