Finally, everything clicked. John called me ahead of time so I would know the day (this was suppose to be the last week the show was bounced to Sunday) AND the time the show was scheduled, (it has been an hour earlier and apparently an hour shorter as well)
It was nice not to miss my “window” like last week. Last week I was enjoying the show as I straightened up the house. I would have said I heard most of it, but clearly I missed the critical part about the show ending at 1:00 pm.
All I heard that let me know it was “over” was them signing off at the top of the one o’clock hour. I had just moved my notes and my cup of coffee, to my favorite window and got comfortable, ugh! Oh well, I got a laugh, enjoyed my coffee and the break in my house work and just figured God had a different plan for me that day.
This week, Jennifer Schamber of Greens
cape shared the air waves with John. I was so pleased that she praised him after he mentioned he actually repotted his peace lily. He has talked about this poor suffering plant that has begged for better care for so long that the real peace for me is knowing that he has finally heard what he should do and did it!
The also talked about hosta, care, division timing and sun tolerance. I was glad Jennifer completely agreed that no hosta has been identified as truly sun loving in St. Louis in the middle of August!
I got a kick out of hearing her talk about plant societies and particularly the Hosta Society. Yes, as a past member of more than a few plant groups, and a self admitted “hortiholic”, I at least am aware now that I was over the top in some ways with my gardening. I am blessed to have such great memories and only a few regrets.
The one regret that comes to my mind as I look at the 2012 Hosta of the year, ‘Liberty’ one the decision not to move with me, my 10 year old, so perfect it was featured in the newspaper, my most beautiful Hosta ‘Sagae’, ( the parent of ‘Liberty’). This striking beauty for 2012 has great genes and makes me miss my dear sweet shade garden.
I confess that last year, I stumbled on a small immature ‘Sagae’, which had been set aside to make room for the new and upcoming star hosta, ‘Liberty’. I just couldn’t stand missing my personal favorite hosta any more and purchased the very young ‘Sagae’ for my equally young and tiny shady border garden.
I don’t need, newer/ better. I was happy with my historic relationship with this hosta parentage. Oh, this will be oh so worth the wait! Just looking at all the ‘Liberty’ hosta images on the web has made me even more anxious for spring! (Liberty has the same strong features; I just hope she grows a little faster since so many gardeners seem to be rather impatient these days!)
Finally after wonderful chit chat with Jennifer, John reminded me to mention the plant of the week, the evergreen perennial Polystichum acrostichoides, better known as Christmas Fern. My favorite memory of this plant draws me back to my time working at Missouri Botanical Garden’s Kemper Center where I cared for a large collection of this fern growing under the purple leaf redbud, ‘Forest Pansy’ in the border of the main path / tram stop. (image included here is at White Flower Farm. I was frequently too busy to take as many pictures as I wanted when I worked at the Garden, but I have my memories. If you have some great pics of this planting- feel free to send them to me if you want to share!)
I still remember hesitating to pitch all the pretty greenery I removed in very early spring just to make room for the new spring growth! I don’t remember how much I was able to keep out of the compost pile but some made it all the way to the cart display in the main building. Some plants even after a normal winter have great foliage, too pretty to throw away!
Show LINKS
John Shea, of Collier, Thompson and Shea
Garden Height’s Steffie Littlefield
Ellen Barredo, of Bowood Farms
Greenscape Gardens, Jennifer Schamber
KTRS is doing a three person round robin rotation that will address the part of KTRS’s Inside Out Show’s focus on gardening, landscaping and turf care (basically the “Out” portion of the show.)
John Shea will continue with his team of experts and industry representatives from the home building industry and hardware retail suppliers as the anchor of the Inside Out Show and as professional advisor for the balance of home owner call in questions.
All three of the new Inside Out Show’s garden hosts/ experts are wonderful writers and have featured articles published on a frequent basis in the Gateway Gardener. KTRS’s website will surely be updated with this new hosting information shortly!
God Bless You
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