(gentle upbeat music) >>A lot of our common nurseries traditionally had traditional landscape plants, most of which are not native to here.

[Peggy] No, most of 'em are from Asia.

>>Right, and so that's what most of us have in our yard.

And so we are now understanding that what we need to have in our yards are more of the native plants because of all this other life that they bring to our garden and provide.

>>In a native space, the soil is different.

So in our spaces we have disturbed soils and certain plants grow in disturbed soils, and certain plants will not grow in those soils.

So learning about your local soils and what grows around you is really helpful.

>>Production funding for "Virginia Home Grown" is made possible by the Mary Roper Davis and Robert Poore Roper Memorial Fund.

And by, (birds chirping) (gentle upbeat music) >>Welcome to "Virginia Home Grown".

It's October and it's glorious in the garden.

I just wish it would rain.

Today we're celebrating the benefits of native plants and talking with landscape designers to learn their approaches to adding more natives to our yards and gardens.

Before we get started, I wanna remind you to send in your questions on our website, vpm.org/vhg.

We'll be answering those a little later.

In the second half of our show, we will visit a garden in Culpeper County and talk with a habitat designer about the importance of understanding microclimates, local soil conditions and native plant ecotypes when selecting plants for your landscape.

But first, I traveled to Rappahannock County to meet Janet Davis of Hill House Native Nursery at a garden she designed to discuss how native plants can meet homeowner needs and wildlife needs while providing a diversity of size and shape and color, bloom time and more.

Let's get going.

>>Natives in the past have been thought of as just like the messy floppy.

You say goldenrod and people go, "Oh!"

You know, like- >>Yes.

>>"Oh, I see that in the field.

I don't want it in my garden."

Not knowing that there's dozens of species of goldenrod that are very garden worthy and very tidy.

>>Yes.

>>And very beautiful.

So, that's what we sort of walked into this saying, "How can we create some structure?

How can we use appropriate all native shrubs?

How can we pair that with some good layering and some perennials?"

And for us, I use a lot of sedges.

>>Yes.

>>Which are grass-like, evergreen grass-like plants.

And so what we said is, "We're gonna use a lot of grasses and sedges here that sort of give you that layer under and around your shrubs in addition to having a lot of blooming."

So, we did a lot more blooming in the back of the house, which is where their back porches and their pool- >>And that's where they hang out.

>>And that's where they hang out.

>>So, they wanna have the flowers around them.

>>We had a little bit of flower here in the front to sort of welcome people with a little bit of color, but nothing too, you know, very simple palette, nothing too wild, and a lot of really nice backdrop of everything here.

>>Mm-hmm.

Yes.

>>And so, that's where we went and just leapt off and did it all.

And everything that we have here is under two years old at this point.

>>So, you were telling me earlier that it's about the layers and it's about the spacing.

You're putting the plants so that they're touching- >>Right.

>>So, that your maintenance is reduced so that they're shading the ground and you're not needing to mulch all the time.

But you're also, rather than thinking of color combinations, you're thinking of the layers of what you're applying.

So, you're putting in the tree, you're putting in the shrubs, but then what are the other layers, you know?

>>Right.

So, when I talk to clients or when I do design, I always say, "We want diversity in the garden."

That's sort of just, oh, that just means a lot of things to a lot of people.

>>Yes.

>>But we approach that and say, "There's three kinds of diversity that I'm really trying to bring into a garden."

And I encourage a homeowner, they can do this at home.

So, you wanna think about altitude or height diversity.

You might have a tree.

Well, you can then bring some shrubs down to that.

And then you step that altitude down a little more.

Maybe some ground cover or some sedges or grasses or some low growing perennials.

Or you create a garden off that and you've got something bigger.

Then you have what we think of as temporal or time diversity.

How can I have something blooming or happening at different times of the year?

So, I might think about what's gonna be my spring interest and what can give me some summer interest and what's gonna have berries- >>In the winter.

>>Or something else that gives us winter interest.

>>Yes.

>>So, you've got time diversity.

And then we think about species diversity, which is what we all think of.

Just lots of different things.

>>Yep.

>>Because there's lots of different insects, bees, wasps, butterflies.

But they're all looking for different kinds of flowers oftentimes.

There are short tongue bees, long tongue bees.

Of course, butterflies have a long proboscis that they're going to nectar on.

So, you need different types of flowers.

So that's part of- >>Different shapes, different colors, different sizes.

>>Right.

>>For a traditional landscape, how would you recommend a homeowner to start infusing native plants into that landscape?

>>Right, because it's a lot easier when you had a clean palette.

>>Yes, exactly.

(chuckles) >>You just walk in and do this.

So, a lot of times when I'm helping people or I'm lecturing or talking to people about that, I'll say, "Well, look at what you have."

And the first thing is you don't wanna do any harm.

So, if you have something that shouldn't be there, it's an invasive, and you've talked about that a lot.

>>Yeah.

>>Maybe those are the things you wanna take out or something that's overgrown.

>>Yes.

>>Something that's been there a long time and you're like- >>Too big.

>>Yeah.

I've prune that all the time.

I'm like, well, maybe that's the thing we wanna immediately just take off.

So, can you replace, that's a place to start.

And then say what native would be great to work in the same space.

Whether it's shades, sun, is it wet, is it dry?

>>Yes.

>>How big do I need that to be?

What can I pair with it that's gonna look good?

Maybe at the front door or wherever you are.

And the other thing I often encourage people to do is connect the dots.

I was at a client yesterday, they had a tree and then a little bit of, you know, shrub with some stuff and then another one and another one.

And I said, "You wanna reduce that lawn and have natives.

You could just connect that into one nice long bed.

And they just went, eureka.

You know?

>>Yeah.

>>And that's, anybody can do that.

>>And you said a key word there, shrubs.

You know, shrubs take up a lot of space.

>>Right.

>>They take up a lot of ground.

>>Right.

>>And most of them do grow up, but the ones that grow out will reduce the maintenance.

'cause people go, >>Absolutely.

>>"Oh my gosh, the maintenance, I don't have time to weed."

>>Absolutely.

>>And it's back to choosing the plants that will cover the ground.

>>Right.

Right.

>>So, that you don't have to weed.

>>So, there's some things like low grow sumac, which is Rhus aromatica.

>>Yes.

>>It's very prostrate, very growing.

>>Yes.

>>So, you can sort of use that as we use that as a ground cover.

>>St.

John's wort, St. John's are very popular one.

>>Yes.

Yes.

>>It gives you some flowers.

Very pretty.

>>And we use sedges a lot of, you know, they're in the grass family, if you will.

And they're mostly evergreen and small, very fine textured.

We've got some over here underneath our inkberry.

>>Yep.

>>Which is a native shrub that we use instead of boxwood.

>>Yes.

>>It sort of gives you that little bit of formal look.

It gives you an evergreen.

And we've surround it.

>>It's very tight and tidy.

>>Tidy.

And so, you can use those very effectively in places you need to be very structured.

Even if you had a townhouse garden.

>>Yeah.

So, there's plants you can use to even substitute these non-native plants.

>>Right, so that's another one.

>>It'll give you the exact same look that you're seeking.

>>Exactly.

>>And do not have the disease or insect pressure problems.

>>Right.

Right.

And what they are bringing into your garden are insects that you wanna see.

>>Yes.

>>Like butterflies, for example.

Or they are host plants for a lot of really interesting bees or wasps.

And before people get afraid of that, almost all of our native bees and wasps, which are not honeybees, those are European, those are mostly solitary.

They're not protecting a brood.

They're not gonna sting you.

In fact, my daughter who's now 19 studying ecology, when she grew up she was like the bee charmer, you know, petting things.

Because if they're happy, they don't really care that you're there.

>>They're so docile.

Yes.

>>Right.

>>Yes.

>>So, they're gonna come to you.

So, that's all things that when you bring in the natives, you get to enjoy that garden in a whole different way.

>>You know, and people need to realize that just because a plant has a few holes in it, it's okay.

>>Yeah.

That plant's a host plant.

>>Yes.

>>The whole point of having natives is that we're bringing insects in and giving 'em a place to live, something to eat.

>>Yes.

>>Place over winter, reproduce, whatever it is.

So, when you look at it up close, yeah, you might see a leaf that's got holes in it.

'cause you're walked up almost with a magnifying glass and you're looking at it.

But if you look at it from here, we're 10, 15 feet away, it's beautiful and it's full of berries.

>>Exactly.

>>You don't see any of that.

>>That viburnum is just as pretty as it could be.

>>I know.

I love that.

Viburnum nudum, brandywine.

>>It's a lovely plant.

>>Beautiful one.

Yeah.

>>Speaking of beautiful plants though, name some of your favorite combinations that you like to put in a garden.

>>Well, one of my favorites is right behind us.

And I have to say it's sort of the coup de grace here 'cause this is their entryway.

And the homeowner, she loves it.

She sends me pictures year round of this practically.

>>Oh.

>>And so, we have red chokeberry, which is Aronia arbutifolia.

It's the straight species.

It's not one of the cultivars.

And underneath it is the pink muhly grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris.

Again, a straight species.

So, I really like to take shrubs.

I like to take thread-leaf sedges or thread-leaf things like Amsonia, blue star.

>>I love Amsonia, blue star.

Yes.

>>Or Threadleaf Coreopsis, tickseed.

Those things are very fine and that sets off the broadleaf- >>Soften, they soften things.

>>They soften things.

You could soften a corner, you can soften a stone wall.

You can soften the big texture of a broadleaf plant that way.

And whether that's a perennial or a shrub with broad leaves, you can then soften that with these other things >>Because the flowers come and go.

>>Right.

>>But the structure of the plant is there all the time.

>>Right.

And the other interesting I thing about flowers coming and going, I wanna say this.

So, we tell everybody how important it is to leave the seed heads.

>>Yes.

>>Those are landing pads for even small birds that over winter, for dragonflies or butterflies later in the year.

Let those stand until you get well into spring.

And then when you cut them off, try to leave somewhere between eight and 16 inches.

Because a lot of those stalks are hollow.

>>Yeah.

>>And a lot of our over wintering insects are pupa or they're some other stage, not the adult.

And they've laid that egg or that pupa has formed in that hollow stem.

And if we cut that off at the ground and run it over here to our compost pile, we've just destroyed next year's insects- >>Yes.

>>That we need.

Those are part of our pollinators.

>>Yes, so we have to understand it's ecosystems.

It's not- >>Right.

>>You know, an ecosystems cross state lines.

(laughs) >>Yes.

Right.

'cause we have a lot of folks becoming very concerned about whether that native is a Virginia native.

And I honor that people define native differently, but we like to remember that insects, birds, all these other creatures that we're building our gardens for, if you will, are not really obeying necessarily those same lines.

So I try to encourage people to think about it in that sort of broader term and think about eco regions.

We like to really broaden that out.

>>I like to say, add more life to our garden.

>>Yes.

And you will.

>>You will.

>>This is how you do it.

For sure.

>>Yes, for sure.

Well, Janet, thank you so much.

I love your enthusiasm.

>>Thank you.

>>And your knowledge.

And I thank you for finding the time to share it with us.

>>Absolutely.

Thanks for inviting me.

>>We think of our landscapes as extensions of our living space, but when native plants are added, that space pivots to being part of the ecosystem too, which is very important.

And now Janet is here with me to show us some plants with winter interest.

But before we get started, remember to send in your gardening questions on our website at vpm.org/vhg, or through Facebook.

Well, Janet, you've got quite an array of plants here.

Some of 'em are evergreen and some of them are not, so.

>>Yep, yep.

>>Tell me about how do we start with this?

>>Well, we've got a lot of things for winter interest that also provide a lot of color and blooms at other times, but we're gonna talk about why they're so important in winter.

And we can't shy away from what's laying down right here in front of us.

>>Yes.

>>This is rattlesnake master, eryngium yuccifolium, and this is the seedheads.

>>Yes.

>>It's a gray-green sort of plant, strappy foliage, very similar to yucca.

But this is what you get all winter long, very upright, three to four feet tall in the garden.

And that just stands there all winter long.

>>And the birds love the light on it.

>>They love the light.

Frost looks beautiful on it.

>>Yes.

>>So you can't go wrong with seedheads.

>>Not at all.

>>So remember that a lot of your good native perennials are gonna have those seedheads.

And to hang onto those all winter, somebody's gonna eat 'em and they're gonna enjoy that.

>>In my world, we keep 'em there till March.

>>There you go.

That's what we do.

So it's hard to resist - >>Yes.

>>our shrub here on the corner because it's so colorful.

I'm sure everybody's thinking what in the world?

Talk about that, please.

>>Yes.

>>This is a dwarf version of our native winter berry, ilex verticillata, This is Red Sprite.

>>Peggy's favorite plant.

>>Your favorite plant.

It's a tidy little shrub.

I know people that grow this in large containers on their patio.

This is a female.

We have male and female.

They're in the holly family.

>>Correct.

>>So you have to have a male somewhere to pollinate up to six females and you'll get the red berries.

It drops its leaves.

You get this all winter.

Your birds are gonna love this as a food source.

>>Yes.

>>Because they're gonna eat this later in winter when there's nothing else left to eat.

>>Absolutely.

Yes.

>>So you get to enjoy it.

Your birds get to enjoy it.

And that's not much better than that in your winter garden.

>>I agree.

>>So when you take a shrub, you think, well, what else can I do?

Because we believe in talking about layers in the garden.

>>Exactly.

>>So I like to put things around it that are gonna gimme year round interest.

And one of my favorites is this alum root, heuchera villosa, autumn broad.

You can see the colors already coming in the leaves.

>>Yes.

>>Here in the fall that's gonna stay all winter long.

>>That's lovely.

>>This doesn't disappear in the ground, like say hostas might.

>>Yes.

>>So it sticks around all winter.

It can be a little bit bigger in the garden.

You can see the seedheads.

It'll have a lot more seedheads as it gets older.

Beautiful pollinator plant in the late fall and then you get this all winter long.

>>Yes.

>>And because that's a broad leaf, I'm gonna hand this over to you, I like to marry that with one of our native sedges, which are evergreen-like grasses.

They're not technically grasses, they're sedges.

Sedges have edges, people know that little saying.

This is a Carex leavenworthii.

It's about the size that you see right here.

There's some similar ones in the state, Carex appalachica, Carex radiata.

>>Yep.

>>All fine-textured.

Evergreen.

Hiding places.

Lots of great cover for our insects and little critters.

>>Yes.

>>And so you can have a fine-textured sedge like this, >>And a perfect lawn substitute.

>>There you go.

Perfect lawn substitute.

It can take mowing, but you never have to do anything to it in the garden.

>>Yeah.

>>Right.

>>Not at all.

>>Here's another sedge.

>>Yes.

>>This is a blue-green color.

This broad leaf.

This is a great liriope substitute.

>>Yes.

Yes.

>>Dry shade.

>>Dry shade.

I love this plant.

>>I get questions a lot.

>>I've got it at my house.

>>Dry shade.

What can I have for dry?

And this is the height.

Cool seedheads in the early, early spring.

Late winter, early spring.

And birds will eat those seedheads.

So it does double duty again, because it's one of our great evergreens, winter interest, and it hosts wildlife.

>>Baby bunnies hid under them last spring.

>>Even better.

I like that.

There you go.

That's a new one.

>>It was.

>>I gotta say the coup de grace.

>>Ah, yes.

>>Right.

Yours and my favorite.

Packera aurea, Golden Ragwort.

This is what it's gonna look like now and all winter.

>>Yep.

>>In the spring, it'll send up flower shoots up to two feet tall.

>>Extra bonus.

>>Extra bonus, the flower.

But this plant does a lot of double duty as a ground cover.

It can recede.

You can see about the height and the size of it now.

But it has two other great characteristics.

One is it grows under walnuts.

Lots of things do not grow under walnuts because of the juglone toxicity.

And more importantly, across the state, it's deer-resistant.

I mean, they just flat out don't eat it.

>>Elevates it high on my list.

>>Elevates it very high.

So we love to use this and it can be combined with all these other things that we talked about.

>>Look at those textures.

>>Yeah.

Shade for most of this.

And even part sun to full sun on the Packera.

>>Yes.

>>So it does a lot of double duty.

>>I'll put that on my side.

>>So if you wanna hold that one, and last but not least, one of our beautiful evergreen ferns here in the state.

This is wood fern, Dryopteris marginalis.

It's a very upright fern.

It's very useful in a garden to get that upright architecture.

And you can use this, again, with some of the things that we've already looked at.

>>Just for the different textures.

>>Just for the textures.

You've got a complete garden - >>Yeah.

>>with like, three or four things.

And if you make one of them sort of your anchor plant, your Golden Ragwort or your sedges, have lots of those, and then you have these upright ferns coming up through it or a burst of red from your shrub, you got a garden and it's pretty simple.

>>And it's December and January and February.

>>And you're loving it.

>>Yes.

>>And your friends wanna know what all you've got planted.

>>Exactly.

>>Yeah.

So we've talked a little bit about these great shade things.

So one other really fun plant I have, we'd really love to talk about this.

On the side here, we've got a twofer in one pot.

At the nursery, this happens.

>>Mind you, this is a nursery plant.

It's very tiny.

>>It's tiny.

So this is inkberry.

It can get up to four or five feet tall.

It gets these lovely blackberries, the female.

Again, this is in the holly family, It looks kind of like a boxwood leaf and we use it like a boxwood.

You can let it be loose, you can prune it tightly.

make it a more formal plant.

Again, evergreen.

>>Yes.

>>And in the pot is another example of how these seedheads become really beautiful in the winter, late fall and going into winter.

This is a beautiful plant at this height, Rhexia virginica, meadowsweet.

And it gets these beautiful pink flowers.

You're probably familiar with it yourself.

>>Yes I am.

Beautiful.

>>And then you get these adorable jugs.

And if you sit around or have time when you're strolling your garden, you look, you'll see little holes in the bottom of these jugs.

And those are insects that sometimes bore in there and spend their winter inside that little jug.

>>So it's a insect condo.

>>Insect condo.

(both laughing) And it's gorgeous.

And you get a little frost or a little snow on this and these little jugs sticking up through the air, and you have this really exciting thing to look at all winter.

So seedheads are really important, and you wanna leave those, like you said, until in the warmer areas, March, in the colder areas, maybe even into early April, before you cut 'em down and let your insect condo be there all year.

>>Exactly.

>>As well as your interest.

>>Janet, this is wonderful information because all of this will add winter interest and add so much to our garden.

>>Yes.

>>So thank you for sharing your enthusiasm and expertise.

>>Absolutely.

Thank you.

>>Yes.

And now we're going to get ready to answer your questions.

But first, Serome Hamlin has tips to share on how you can start small and add native plants to your existing beds.

(gentle upbeat music) >>It has been a very exciting time to be a gardener.

A lot of people are finally starting to realize the joys and benefits of gardening, and along with that, the joys and benefits of native plants.

So in this bed, I'm going to be adding in some native plants that I have picked up.

Later on, I'm going to be planting some more Amsonia in this bed, which is a nice native plant.

Blue blooms early in the season, and beautiful fall color and also Green and Gold, one of my favorite evergreen ground covers makes a nice little mass.

And the pollinators love the nectar from the blooms.

So those are going to be going in a little later.

So in this garden, it's a mix of native and non-natives now, and I have already added some natives, such as this Thuja here and this Little Bluestem.

Now, this is a cultivar Little Bluestem that has variegated leaves called Chameleon.

So in between these, I'm going to plant in a Eupatorium 'Cori.'

I want a nice mass of this Eupatorium 'cause it has this nice light blue bloom and it blooms later in the season.

So the late season pollinators can really take advantage of this.

Now, I have really, really compacted soil here from years of having dogs.

So I will have to add some soil conditioner.

Now, the soil conditioner is really finally grated mulch.

So what happens is as it's in the soil and it breaks down, it takes up the space of the compacted soil or your clay soil and makes it a lot better.

So we're gonna get this guy out of the pot.

Look at these nice roots.

Now, always remember, as you're planting, score the roots.

You don't want them to continue to grow in the pattern that they are in, in the container.

Give those roots a chance to start spreading out into the soil.

Then we'll get them in here, tuck it in nicely, and voila, we have a new plant to take over this section.

Then we have a nice little mass here, and I think this is going to really work out great.

Nice fall color.

And it fits the color scheme that I'm going for.

There's always going to be a native version of a plant that you can use to fit whatever scheme you're going for.

It might take a little research, but we can do it.

We all can go out and get our hands dirty and start adding some native plants to our landscapes, even our existing landscapes.

Just go out and just add some in and you will reap the benefits and so will the ecosystem.

>>Serome and other members of our team are on Facebook now to answer your questions.

You can send them in there or on our website at vpm.org/vhg.

And today we have Amyrose Foll with us in the studio to help answer questions.

And welcome, Amyrose.

So we've got some good ones.

Where can we start?

>>We have really great ones.

So one of the questions that will be very importantly answered by you, because you are an amazing expert on this.

What are some low growing natives that can take shade that I can use around partly under shrubs, those areas in my garden that tend to look bare, which is really a common thing.

>>Really common, yeah.

Yes, don't we all have that problem?

I would say green-and-gold, Chrysogonum virginianum, is one of the best ones.

It's a spreader, so that's a lovely one.

I also like woodland phlox, Phlox divaricata.

>>Oh, it is beautiful.

>>I know, it smells great, it blooms great.

Foamflower, Tiarella cordifolia, is another good spreader.

I have to say, if you want a little bit more evergreen, we talked about a few sedges, but also Waldsteinia fragarioides, that's Appalachian barren strawberry.

People go, "Does it fruit?"

Barren strawberry, no.

It's sort of in the greater family, in the Geum family.

That's a great one.

It sort of creeps along the ground.

I like to think of it as an English ivy replacement, in fact.

So I'd say that was a great one for give you some evergreen.

>>That is very important.

English ivy, nope.

>>No.

Nope.

>>Right, yes.

My wallet also, no.

All these things you're gonna talk about tonight gonna be wrecking- >>Okay, habitat, habitat.

>>Yeah, it's gonna be wrecking heck on me.

So there's a question about spring cutback and when in the spring is it safe to cut back stalks and seed heads?

This person is in zone seven.

What's your response?

>>Which is close to, not far from where I am.

So there's some new research recently and a new publication, or sort of a two-page flyer, if you will, PDF flyer put out by the Virginia Working Landscapes, which is part of the Smithsonian Conservation Biological Institute in Front Royal.

And they're saying if you can wait, if you need to do it in the winter, okay, but if you can at least cut your stalks 12 to 18 inches.

So I like to say 12 to 15, 18, and maybe some taller areas and at least take the top part up, but leave the rest of that stalk.

Your plant will grow up around it.

You're preserving where those insects might be overwintering, but you're sort of neatening up the garden.

So if you do that, you can get away with that in winter.

But it's oftentimes you wanna leave that through the winter so you're looking at something, your seed heads that we mentioned.

So what I would say is in zone seven, you could probably do that late March to early April.

I don't get it done 'cause of my nursery.

I don't get it done till later than that, and everything's fine, so there's no rush.

So that's probably a good time for that area.

>>Yes, I totally understand.

Recently we had the American Farmland Trust come out to the farm, and I told the women that were there, first off, don't feel bad about things you don't get done.

>>Right.

>>That being said, this person wrote in my yard is being shaded by oak trees.

>>Oh, yes.

>>What are some small understory tree, native trees that I could add?

What is your rec- >>Hophornbeam.

>>What is it?

>>Hophornbeam.

>>Oh, yes, perfect.

>>Ostrya virginiana.

It is an upland, a species that grows under oaks.

It can also take full sun, by the way.

And it's great in restricted spots, say, at our public library in Rappahannock.

It's in the little restricted bed in front of the building and it sits there next to the street side, next to the sidewalk.

So that's one of the best ones.

If you have a little bit of higher elevation or you're not in, like, the hotter parts of the state, you could also do Acer pensylvanicum, which is striped maple.

That's another understory tree.

You could do service berry, and if you have mature oaks, it's just gonna be harder to get things planted and established because of the roots that you have there.

But hophornbeam is probably one of the best ones you could grow right off the bat.

>>I agree.

I grew it from many years in hot, hot, dry.

>>And it's different than hornbeam.

You have American hornbeam or ironwood.

That's Carpinus.

So this Ostrya virginiana, hophornbeam.

Leaves are very similar.

>>And the fruits kinda look like hops.

They do, they look like hops.

>>Hence its name.

>>And they're really cool, very attractive.

>>Very attractive.

>>I love that tree.

>>Tough plant.

>>And they're nitrogen fixing, right?

>>I don't think so.

>>Are they not?

I didn't know that.

>>I don't think that one is.

>>I don't think it's that one, no.

>>There's some other things, you know, prickly ash, northern prickly ash, Zanthoxylum.

You know, there's lots of other sort of lesser well-known things.

For various parts of the state, if you pick up your local or regional native plant guide, there's one for Northern Virginia, for the eastern shore, for the northern Piedmont.

A lot of times you'll find the answer to those things specific for your area and you can get more answers for that kind of situation.

And those are free downloads from the Virginia Native Plant Society.

>>Right, and you can, we have 'em linked on our website under resources.

>>So I highly recommend that people get, you can have all of 'em.

They're all good no matter where you are.

There's different information in all of 'em.

But that'll help you get to- >>Easy to remember.

Plant Virginia Natives.

Click on that Plant Virginia Natives and you get- >>And you'll find your area.

>>Bookmark that.

I love education.

A few years ago I was at our Soil and Water Conservation district and I was given a gift of an amazing book.

And the PDF of Virginia natives for the surrounding counties, it was great.

But we have a sweet potato question.

Are you interested in this?

>>Well, I might be.

Yeah, I can try.

(laughs) >>You might be.

So David from Varina asked, I planted my sweet potato slips in early August.

I estimate the 120-day mark will be just before Thanksgiving.

If we get a frost before then, do you recommend taking them out to avoid early damage or can I allow the mild frost to damage the leaves?

Will the potatoes be okay?

Will they affect the size?

What is your opinion?

>>Well, chime in, but I'm- >>Yeah, this is Amyrose's- >>I mean, like, I know, but I'm supposed to just read it.

>>If we have a little bit of frost and it's not, like, killing frost, but it's a little bit of light frost, we let that go, but we get 'em out and you need to cure them, you know?

You need to sort of let those cure.

So if you're gonna let 'em get really cold and frosty, you're starting to do some damage that, 'cause those tubers are not necessarily deep in the ground.

>>Not at all.

>>They're up pretty high.

And so I think you wanna get 'em out of there before you have some real frozen- >>Like, a light frost is fine, like you said.

>>Exactly, yeah.

>>But you don't want that stem to die back into that sweet potato.

>>And if you still have some fresh shoots, by the way, you can eat the fresh shoots.

You can saute- >>Well, you can eat the leaves, too.

>>Yeah, right.

>>They're delicious.

>>So saute all that tender stuff and then get your things out, your potatoes out, your tubers before- >>So for me personally, I felt like you're more of an expert than I am.

But for me personally, the leaves, like, everything above ground is also edible.

And I'm also a lazy farmer.

I'm not gonna lie to you.

I'm not gonna put on airs.

I am a lazy farmer and I'm totally fine with that.

And so all of those things that die back, turmeric, ginger, sweet potatoes, during the early part of the winter, late fall, I mean, I guess winter isn't until December 21st.

>>Yeah, technically.

>>But it's weird to say it like that.

You know, I mean, a lot of them are made sweeter and also I'm lazy about that and as long as they're deep enough it's not gonna hurt that.

And here we are rapidly approaching climate change in Virginia, which is unfortunate because my farm is in the little teeny tiny area that is still zone six.

>>Oh, you're in that bubble.

>>Which makes me mad in the spring, but very grateful in the fall.

>>Right, I'm in the same position.

>>You know.

>>I'd say we're in probably experiencing more climate change rather than getting there.

I think it's starting to show up in areas like your sweet potatoes getting hammered one night when you thought it wasn't gonna be as cold that night.

>>Well, I've got my embedded in straw.

I've got straw.

>>Yeah, it helps, yeah.

>>I've got about four inches of straw on top of mine just to give 'em a little buffer 'cause I can't find a place to cure 'em outside of the ground.

>>Right.

>>They have to go in the basement for the most part.

>>Right.

>>But yes, you can let them go as long as they're buried deep enough in your garden.

Other than that, pull them out and you're good to go until next spring.

>>We have 30 seconds, ladies.

So Janet, name a plant that you didn't mention.

You got seconds.

>>Little bluestem.

>>Little bluestem.

>>I know it was too big to bring it on camera.

Schizachyrium scoparium is little bluestem.

Native throughout the state.

It's useful in full sun, dry, horrible soil.

It's a beautiful structural, upright narrow plant.

I call it the exclamation point of our grasses.

And you put it with all those seed heads in the winter and you have a great garden year round.

>>Perfect.

Thank you.

Well, that's all the time we have right now, but we look forward to answering more of your questions later in this show, so please keep 'em coming.

And Janet, I wanna thank you for joining us and sharing your passion for native plants and your expertise, appreciate it.

>>Thank you.

>>And next, Shana Williams met habitat designer Steph of Green Steeze in Culpeper County to see a native installation packed full of plants which provide food and shelter for local wildlife throughout the year.

The types of plants she chooses takes it even a step further towards sustainability.

So let's take a look.

>>This is black chokeberry and so it has a white flower in the spring.

In the fall, you see we have lots of berries that the birds really like, especially the migrating birds.

And as you can see, the bees are going crazy over them.

There's some mountain mint here.

The pollinators go crazy over that one.

>>I have plenty of that in my garden.

>>Oh yeah, this is a pollinator favorite, and it likes to spread itself about.

>>What are some of these plants right here that are going to seed?

>>Yeah, it looks like some rudbeckias, and I think they've actually planted themselves versus us planted them.

And that happens too in the meadow.

>>So homeowners have to be conscious of the fact that a lot of things that they may initially plant or have been planted, our pollinators are gonna bring in basically and plant some things themselves.

>>Yeah, the seeds come in on birds and stuff, but the same thing can be said for invasive plants, so we have to be conscious of that too.

>>We have some beautiful plants here with the beautiful berries!

>>We have winterberry back there.

If you notice there's three, but only two of them have berries.

Those are the females and the male doesn't have berries.

His job is to pollinate.

>>Beautiful.

They keep their berries all year round?

>>So they do not have berries all year round.

They have kind of an inconspicuous flower in the spring, but in the fall, then they have these beautiful berries and they retain them during the winter time, so that's why they're called winterberry.

And so all of these leaves actually drop down, they're deciduous, and then the berries are left and it's just really gorgeous in the winter.

So kind of imagine this in the winter with snow and nothing but these red berries.

It's a lot of fun.

>>Gorgeous.

>>Yeah, and then we have some goldenrod over here.

>>They seem to really have spread out and taken over!

>>And that's what goldenrod does, so you have to kind of plan for that.

And sometimes you might need to pack up some and give 'em to some friends.

(both laughing) >>That's always good.

>>And so we have milkweed.

The milkweed has already gone to seed, but really important for the monarch butterflies.

There's zizia down there.

That's actually one of my favorite native plants, zizia aurea, because it just can be put in many different places and- >>And I love that we also include some high plants, but some low things that help smother out some of the weeds as well.

>>Yeah, it does help, but definitely weeding is really important in the garden.

Even when you have these really big plants and the smaller plants, it can still be infiltrated by lots of weeds.

>>Wow, look at these!

We have these beautiful asters and they're covered with bees right now.

>>Yeah, they are covered with bees.

This is great for late season pollinators.

>>I saw the witch-hazel over there.

Tell me more about that.

Why did you decide to put that in?

>>So witch-hazels are really great because they can take full sun as well as part sun and they don't get too big, so they're helpful in landscaping because often we're not allowed to put in a big tree.

So when you have an HOA, sometimes your HOA will kind of determine what heights are appropriate and whether or not you can plant a tree.

So that's one you can kind of slide under the radar because it's not gonna get as big.

So we have baptisia over here.

So this is the blue false indigo.

And there's some, like, wild petunia.

There's some columbine that's growing in there, some bee balm, iron weed in the back, penstemon, amsonia.

And this is a Chinese magnolia.

Originally the homeowner wanted to keep this and that's how this whole garden came about, because this one was doing terribly.

So we gave it a community, pruned it up, and now, you know, all the blooms.

This is next year's blooms.

They're popping up and it's doing just fine.

>>As a conservationist, what are you trying to provide for the homeowner, as well as for the wildlife, when you create these habitats?

>>Yeah, so we're really kind of marrying together, y'know, what the homeowners want and need and what the habitat needs.

So we're creating wild spaces in areas that really didn't exist.

If we look around this neighborhood here that we're in, nobody else has a wild garden.

It's mostly Asian plants, European plants, grasses, which are not really providing for habitat.

So the homeowner gets, y'know, the pleasure of kind of coming out and seeing all of these things and watching them in each season as they change and watching the pollinators and the birds interact with it.

And it really brings them a sense of peace and understanding and kind of a feeling of togetherness.

>>[And we're creating this harmonious space, not just for the wildlife, but as well for us to enjoy.

>>Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

>>When they come out here, what various ecosystems would they explore in their garden?

>>Well, that's the thing.

In residential properties, it's more of a microclimate.

You're gonna have some parts of your property that are one way, certain parts of your property that are another way, and so it's really important to learn what's going on around you within the local plant communities.

So in the local plant communities, there's gonna be specific plants that are doing really well in that area and you kind of mimic what you're seeing.

And if you have those conditions, the soils are the same, y'know, the moisture's the same, different things like that, then you can mimic that within your own garden.

>>So the homeowner really has to do some research.

They just can't go to the big box store and just purchase some plants and just plop 'em into the ground.

>>And that's kind of the difference why you don't see a lot of these plants in big box stores.

They don't do well in cultivation sometimes.

And some of them are really soil-specific, pH-specific.

So it really depends on the plant.

So planting for your community is important, so learning about your local soils and what's expected in your local soils and what grows around you is really helpful.

>>So say, for instance, I want to plant some different varieties in my garden.

What would you suggest some of those plants?

Or is it really more important to see what's best for my community and my soil?

>>I think that's more important, and because also you're contributing to the seed bank locally.

So sometimes if you, y'know, have hybrids of something that is more commonly found in your area, then you might be changing that plant by adding that genetics to the area.

>>Okay, so what advice would you give a new homeowner who wants to start transitioning their space and incorporating more native plants?

>>First figure out how much time you have to contribute to this garden, 'cause if you don't have a lot of time, then you want to go for something that's really easy to take care of.

So starting small rather than big is usually better, especially if you haven't had the experience of working with the plants before and you're not sure how much time you will need to kind of devote to it.

>>Start small, perhaps even map it out, think about what we want to actually plant?

>>Yeah, absolutely.

>>Not just rush into it?

>>Yeah, I often say, y'know, your foundation plantings, put those in pen and then pencil in the stuff you want to kind of play with and learn about.

>>Sounds great, Steph.

I know one thing, I'm definitely gonna pay more attention to the native species list, and I suggest that our homeowners do the same thing because often in these box stores, you find tons of native plants, but you also find even more invasive plants, so it's also very important to be mindful of what's out there.

>>Absolutely, all areas typically have a native plant grower that specializes in that local ecotype, so getting to know them and getting their plants is really important.

You're supporting the local community by doing that, but also preserving some of those genetics that are from this area, rather than mixing them from areas that are all over.

Those plants may not be adapted to this area.

>>Steph, thank you for sharing this beautiful oasis that you guys created.

It has been a pleasure learning about the native plants with you.

>>Thank you.

I really appreciate you learning with me.

(no audio) >>Infusing native plants into your existing landscape is a great first step.

Shopping local to source your plant supports our community, both naturally and economically.

You can visit the resources section on our website for help getting started with identifying and planting Virginia plants in your garden.

And Steph is here right now with me.

But before we begin, remember to send in your questions through our website, vpm.org/vhg or through Facebook.

Well, Steph, you've got an equally interesting array of plants here.

This is wonderful.

And I was wondering where, you know, where do we wanna start?

Because you've been speaking about plant communities and different microclimates.

So talk to me, yeah.

>>Yeah, so microclimates.

Exactly, so in landscapes we're gonna have different types of environments.

So some areas it's gonna be more moist, some areas gonna be more dry, some more shady, some sunnier.

So it's hard to kind of take from the native plant communities, which are much larger than our landscapes.

>>Yes.

>>But we borrow the concepts that we see in nature and we put plants together that kind of occur together or occur in similar situations.

>>Excellent plants, so they can actually survive together because they're used to being together.

>>Exactly.

>>Yes.

>>Or they have conditions that are similar enough for them to do so.

>>Yes, yes.

So do you have some, I'll say sunny plants to start with, or dry plants, where we wanna begin?

>>Yeah, so I've sorted them out from the moist to the dry because that's a common thing that we look at, right?

So one of my favorites here, I'm gonna bring over here is, so this is Zizia aurea.

So this is Golden Alexander.

>>Right.

>>And it's, it's one of my favorites because you can use it for so many different purposes, and it's actually very tolerant of some of those climate different changes that we find within the gardens.

So this one is more of a moist loving plant, but it can also handle a bit of drought.

And it's really lovely.

I mean, you can even put this one in your vegetable garden.

'cause it's a great trap crop as well.

>>Yes.

>>But yellow flower in the spring, really, really lovely.

>>How tall does it get though?

>>This one really doesn't, it doesn't get too tall.

Maybe about a foot and a half.

>>Excellent for a garden.

>>Yeah, it's a great border.

>>Yes.

>>And then when it flowers, it's really gorgeous.

>>It is.

And a lot of pollinators come to it.

>>Lots of pollinators.

>>Lots of pollinators.

Well, what's next over this?

>>Yeah, so I have a lot of, I have a lot of fun things.

So this one actually also occurs in a more moist, more moist conditions.

>>Right.

>>This is a pawpaw tree.

>>Yes.

>>A lot of people go crazy over pawpaw's, especially if they're into foraging and edibles.

And this one is actually a cultivar.

So this is the cultivar called Susquehanna.

>>All right.

>>Now if you have a garden where you don't necessarily occur in a moist area, but you want to grow fruit, you can still maintain this one.

And that's why a cultivar might be more acceptable within that scenario.

>>Can you point out the graph for people to see so that they can start to look?

>>So the stock is usually the native stock and then they've grafted on this change.

So this change is for taste and for texture and for less seeds.

>>Excellent.

Well, let's grab another one.

Put that one back please.

Thank you.

Yeah, I've only got so much room.

(both laughing) >>So I like to talk about this one.

This is river birch.

And the reason I like to talk about this is 'cause you see this in landscaping very often.

>>Yes.

>>These trees, you know, they're really gorgeous, so people like to kind of plop them everywhere, but they really want moist conditions.

So it's better to put this kind of at the lower elevation areas of your garden.

And it's gonna be a big full tree, so prepared for that.

>>Yes, and real quickly, as you're swapping it out, if you put it in too dry a situation, the roots will stay up on top of the ground and they won't go down deep.

>>You'll have- >>And then they're a nuisance.

>>A lot of those.

>>Yes.

>>A lot of those up running roots.

Let's see, so this is a high bush blueberry.

And this one actually we don't see occurring very often.

>>No.

>>But this one also really loves moisture.

It can handle a little bit of drought as well.

But the berries are very delicious.

We like them, the birds like them, so it's a fun one to add, but also really wants more on moist side.

>>Rich soil.

Yes.

The same with the next one.

>>Yeah, so elderberry.

Another favorite.

>>Yep.

>>Another favorite because a lot of people like to use them for medicinal purposes, et cetera.

The birds really like it, so this one also wants more of those moist conditions, can grow like kind of on the woodland edge of things, can handle some sun and some shade.

So it's a great addition to the garden.

>>I will say the deer do like that too.

>>Yeah, speaking of deer candy.

>>Ah.

>>So strawberry bush.

So a lot of people call this one Hearts A'busting, I believe.

Very, very pretty.

As you can see.

>>Ah.

>>Winter, winter edge is very gorgeous, but that is a thing, you do have to protect this from the deer.

The deer really like to eat this one.

And often in wild areas.

We're not seeing this occurring as often.

>>No, usually it's protected.

I mean by a tree or a bigger plant or something.

>>Yes, gotta have something around it that's keeping the deer out.

>>Yes.

We got one minute left, Steph.

>>Okay.

>>So what's your favorite?

>>Let's start going into our dry community over here.

And so, oh, yep, so this St. John's wort, really great one.

So this one is kind of more of a shrubby plant, and it's gonna have yellow flowers, very gorgeous.

Can grow and conditions that are not as conducive.

Not as babysat as some of these other plants over here that need more moisture.

>>Some people are using these in parking lots now.

>>Yeah, yeah.

That's it.

>>That's how dry >>It's a good reason it can handle.

>>to use it.

>>And then let's move on to this one.

>>Yeah.

>>Because we're running out of time.

>>So this is an aromatic aster and this one literally is a weed of a plant, but it's gorgeous.

It'll plant itself all over the place and it can handle some drought.

So the pollinators really like this.

>>Oh, love it, and it gives us fall color?

>>Fall color.

Yep.

>>When not many others.

Now this is gonna surprise people.

>>Yes.

>>Because it's gonna go contrary to what they're thinking.

>>Because most ferns we see in moist areas and this one can actually handle some drought.

>>Yeah.

>>So this one we find in kind of rockier conditions and can really be gorgeous in the fall.

And so this one we find just growing as a ground cover in really dry areas, so this is pussytoes.

>>Okay.

Sounds great.

Well Steph, you've brought in quite an arrangement of plants to share and it's just been wonderful to be able to expose people to this, just so many different native plants, so I thank you.

We appreciate you coming.

>>Thank you.

>>Yes.

And next we're going to answer more of your questions.

But first, Dr. Robyn Puffenbarger shares tips for adding an often overlooked type of plant to your native landscape, vines.

(light cheerful music) >>Today we're in Waynesboro at the Moon Garden.

Our hosts built a beautiful native garden around their property, and they've emphasized not only native plants, but native vines, and this is an oftentimes left out aspect of the native plants you could add in.

They have a beautiful pergola that I'm standing under, with the gorgeous vines draping down.

Right next to me is the native honeysuckle.

It has nice green leaves, gorgeous red tubular flowers.

They start blooming in early spring, go all through summer.

They haven't finished even now, in late fall.

They are beginning to set their cute little red berries that are almost waxy red in color.

These flowers will bring your hummingbirds, so our ruby-throated hummingbird will visit them all summer long, and many birds find the berries very attractive as food in late fall and early winter.

Another vine here on the pergola is Virginia Creeper.

This is an excellent choice of vines.

It goes up and grows very nicely, with bright green leaves all summer, then excellent fall foliage, a very, very gorgeous red, that also shows these beautiful deep purple, almost black berries.

The berries are very attractive to birds, and they will eat them and spread the seeds, so you may find Virginia Creeper coming all on its own.

You can use it on a pergola growing up, like a vine, or you can keep it down on the ground as a ground cover.

It makes an excellent ground cover under trees as well.

The last one that they have here on the pergola is this Passion Vine.

This is a gorgeous Virginia native with a purple flower in summer, that looks tropical.

You wouldn't expect it for a native plant in Virginia.

It is a fairly aggressive grower.

In my garden, I'm planning to put it in a place where I can mow around it so it won't escape and go into other places.

In this garden, it's been trained up and over a hoop where you walk into the garden, giving a very dramatic appearance.

Wonderful, wonderful vine to have in your garden.

And the last one they have are Muscadine Grapes.

These are excellent tasting grapes, they come in a beautiful purple and a copper color, and they're just finishing up their fruiting season now.

So a lovely, lovely tasting grape to add to your garden.

This garden also has lots of other natives, including dogwood trees, native cone flowers, red chokecherry, and a number of other plants that are going to be very attractive as they bloom all season for the homeowners to enjoy, providing native cover and habitat for other wildlife and the pollinators.

It's just a wonderful space to be in.

Hope this gives you some ideas for your own native garden back home, and happy gardening.

>>I love my native honeysuckle vine, and it adds an often overlooked vertical element in most landscapes.

To save hours of future maintenance though, I encourage you to do a bit of research before buying, because keeping a 20-foot vine confined to a 10-foot structure is a near impossible task.

It's not gonna happen.

And now we're going to take more of your questions, so go ahead and send some in to vpm.org/vhg.

So let's see what we got here, you know?

Let's start with the Amyrose question that she really likes, 'cause it is such an important point.

It's a very important point.

>>It is.

So you're the expert of course.

And I'm very passionate about this.

Why is it more important?

Who is it that wrote in?

>>Mary.

>>Oh, Mary.

Okay, so Mary wrote in.

Why is it important to plant in the fall versus the spring?

>>Yeah, so in Virginia we change temperatures and soil moisture very quickly.

So it's usually easier to put plants in in the fall than in the spring.

So especially woody plants.

Woody plants can't put on those really fast roots the way herbaceous plants can, so they need extra time to get comfy in the ground.

>>Yes they do.

Excellent question.

'Cause now's the time.

Fall is for planting, so let's do it.

>>And if you've got those woody plants in the fall, don't fertilize them too late in the year.

There's a lot of people that do make that mistake in the first couple years.

They're well-meaning, but don't do that until two years at least.

>>Exactly.

Let it settle, give it time.

So another question we have is disturbed soil sites.

You know, invasive plants just move in and outcompete our natives.

What's with disturbed soil sites?

>>Absolutely.

A lot of native plants don't grow well in disturbed soils, so keeping soils intact is really important.

We do have one that grows really great in disturbed soils.

That's poison ivy.

>>Yes.

(laughs) >>And everybody has a different understanding of whether or not to keep that plant or not to.

But you will find, you know, stilt grass and all these other invaders growing a lot easier in those soils.

But soils that are intact, you're not gonna see all of those invasives popping up.

So if we can encourage, you know, when there's a development to do less soil disturbance, that's better.

>>That is.

That's so hard though.

Do you find when you plow a field out on your farm, do the invasives start to move?

>>So I haven't tilled since 2013.

We do have a tiller, but we only use it when, we use it to rent out to other community gardens and other upstart farms.

We use rotation and prescribed burns, which are very important because not only does it kill eggs and larvae, it also adds potash to the soil.

And then we cover that and then we add animal disruption via goats and turkey and pigs and ducks.

>>Excellent.

>>And everything else in between.

And that's really important because they're doing their duty.

You know, that their black gold that they're imparting upon us, which is really important.

But it's funny because you mentioned, we also have forb areas that we have under conservation, and you mentioned poison ivy, which is really important.

It's not what everyone wants to see, but poison ivy teaches us a lesson, teaches us to be vigilant and to respect the forest around us as well.

But it also is followed usually very quickly by another dapple sunlight lover, which is jewelweed.

And when you're in proximity to the problem, you're in proximity to the cure.

And that's true with humans and in nature, and I feel like that's a really important thing to remember.

>>Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Well, we do have a question from Megan.

Speaking of problems, she's got a rhododendron.

>>I have a problem.

I have a problem, it's okay.

>>Referencing your problem, my dear.

You are far from the problem.

You have so much to share.

But poor Megan here has a rhododendron that barely made it through the drought.

It's survived and now it's turning yellow and the stems are turning yellow and everything's turning yellow.

>>Oh.

>>Yes.

And she's wondering, you know, is this normal?

And the answer is no.

>>[Amyrose And Steph] No.

>>It could be too much water, it could be too much nitrogen.

So many things.

>>Or in this case too little water.

>>Oh, well, yes.

The most beautiful rhododendrons I've ever seen in my life were in Ireland, actually.

And that's a lot of water.

>>That's a lot of water.

>>You know?

>>And I mean honestly, Ireland and Northern Scotland are the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life.

Azaleas and rhododendrons.

>>All that moisture, all that humus.

We are talking about soils.

>>Gorgeous.

Gorgeous.

>>All of that humus, you know?

>>And maybe water is the prescribed thing for that.

>>So speaking of humus and thinking of wonderful soils and such, we have Matt from Midlothian asks, what would be some low-maintenance native plants that he could plant that would give some extra life to his yard?

>>Yeah, so I would say like Christmas fern is a really great one, especially in landscapes 'cause it stays green.

It doesn't spread itself about very much, so you can kind of plant it in places and create borders with it, stuff like that.

A lot of plants that are like Zizia, the one that we talked about earlier.

Zizia is a great plant.

Very, very calm.

It does spread itself a little bit, but that's okay.

You can share a few with a friend if you need to.

But those are kind of like favorites of mine for very low-maintenance plants.

>>So when you say a Christmas fern, is that what I would in, I guess like peasant speak call running cedar?

>>No, so Christmas fern is actually a fern.

>>Okay.

>>Yeah, and it just stays green all year round.

It's also really great for people that are like in apartments and stuff like that and need to use containers instead of being able to plant in the native soil.

It's very well behaved.

It can handle a lot of different conditions.

>>Yes.

Very, very dry shade.

>>I'm not really great with anything other than like the slang for a lot of native species because that's what I grew up with.

And so, you know, I don't know all the Linnaic taxonomy or what the proper names are, so a lot of times I need to ask experts like you.

>>Yeah.

Well, you know, botanical names.

Those are always fun.

>>Yeah.

Real quick, we have seconds left.

How about using golden alexander, Zizia on a slope?

Do you think that would work or not?

>>As long as it's a moist slope because it doesn't really like to be dry.

But it's really a really great plant.

It can fill in beautiful borders, and like on the farm, a really great trap crop.

>>Yeah, really great one, so thank you.

Thank you so much.

Well, we're out of time, Steph, and I just appreciate you being here and I thank you so much for taking the time to fit us in.

>>Thanks.

>>Yes, and Amyrose, thank you for being here and sharing your knowledge and your expertise and your experience.

So we appreciate it.

I wanna thank all of our guests today and thank you for watching.

We hope you've been inspired by the variety of native plants that we have seen today, and that you consider adding some of these to make your landscape more sustainable.

Well, this is our last episode of the season, but there are several ways for you to connect with us until we're back again.

You can sign up for our newsletter at vpm.org/vhg.

The team and I share tips and ideas for your garden there once a month.

Our Facebook page is also full of gardening information, so be sure to visit us there.

You can also look out for the new episodes of Virginia Home Grown Clippings starting next month so you can keep gardening with us through the winter.

I look forward to being with you again soon.

And until then, remember, gardening is for everyone.

We are all growing and learning together.

Happy gardening.

(bright music) (bright music continues) >>Production funding for Virginia Home Grown is made possible by the Mary Roper Davis & Robert Poore Roper Memorial Fund.

And by.

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