550 KTRS Inside Out Show November 26th 2011 Plant of the Week Abies fraseri (Fraser fir) AND, Welcome Co-Host #3 Jennifer Schamber

I am so happy that Christmas trees have such a foundational place in the home in this season of celebration! I am also pleased that the past few weeks have been such a blessing for me. I have enjoyed this opportunity to welcome to the Inside Out Show some of the best green thumbs in the St. Louis region! Congrats and blog bow to new Mommy, Jennifer, manager of Greenscape Garden & Gifts!

Certainly for some families, tradition plays an important role as to how much focus the Christmas tree will have both in the house and as part of the holiday festivities.

For some holiday participants, there may be several trees and a whole house decorating bonanza with decorations and greenery in every room. For a few of us it is enough if we have a wreath on the door, or maybe a handcrafted table centerpiece or mantle decor. For a couple of my friends, it becomes an ever evolving, never the same, display that can only be described as an annual activity that is in its own right, an art form!

Here are some links to help you think about the advantages of purchasing a live tree, also some advice on caring for fresh cut greenery in the home and some interesting information about Fraser fir trees, the most popular cut tree choice!

Caring For Your Christmas Tree and Holiday Greenery (I am including a link detailing how to use wiltproof to help your greenery stay fresh looking longer!)

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/other/seasonal/hgic1753.html
http://www.helium.com/items/615314-choosing-and-caring-fo-holiday-greenery
http://www.humeseeds.com/xmastre.htm
http://www.christmastree.org/trees/fraser.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abies_fraseri
http://forestry.about.com/cs/christmastrees1/a/top10_xmastree.htm
http://missourichristmastrees.org


Where to buy locally grown Christmas trees: Members of Missouri’s Christmas Tree Growers Association and map of grower/ suppliers:

http://missourichristmastrees.org/graphics/MCTA2011MembershipRoster.pdf
http://www.christmastreemap.com/farm/MO.html
Why you should buy a real Christmas tree
How to buy and care for a Christmas tree



Here are the links to the new 550 Inside Out Show co-host’s, Steffie, Ellen and Jennifer, their garden center websites and some of their events and holiday information:

Steffie Littlefield

Garden Heights Nursery Open House
Bring Your Holidays to Life
with fresh ideas

Friday, December 2nd
5:00 – 8:00 pm
Wine and Cheese Evening

Saturday and Sunday
December 3rd & 4th
10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Visit Santa from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm

Jennifer Schamber

To Prep Your Pots For the Holidays check out GREAT IDEAS at Greenscape Gardens & Gifts

Ellen Barrado

To experience a warm and wonderful event to launch your holiday season visit Bowood Farms Bonfire & Open House: http://www.bowoodfarms.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/calendar.detail/event_id/152/index.htm:
Holiday Bonfire & Open House
Thursday, December 1
5-8 pm, FREE!

How to tell if your tree is a Fir or a Spruce

To tell spruce and fir trees apart, it helps to know that spruce needles are sharply pointed, square and easy to roll between your fingers. Fir needles, on the other hand, are softer, flat and cannot be rolled between your fingers. Spruce needles are attached to small, stalk-like woody projections. When needles are shed, these projections remain. As a result, the branches of spruce trees feel rough. Fir branches lack these projections, and thus have smooth bark. The color and length of needles are not reliable means of identification; these can vary from tree to tree, depending on cultural conditions and the planting site)

Faith Note:

Themed Christmas trees are so much fun. I have a friend who hangs ornaments that celebrate notable events and trips she has taken each year. Over the years, enjoying her tree with her reconnects her to the amazing journey she has been on and lets me enjoy it with her! It is a way she celebrates the faith life she has as well as her faith!

I have done an ornament exchange for 30 plus years with my best friend who lives out of state. We periodically discuss how much we think of each other when we look at our trees. It is my prayer that each and every ornament reminds her of how much we have in common, most importantly, our faith! I think at some point we have discussed how meaningful it would be to visit each other at Christmas so we can see the trees we have decorated from afar!

This year I was included with the tree trimming process with my friend Lisa and Julie at Oma’s Barn. I made a few new friends and got to share in an unbelievable transformation of the heavily used barn. It has been in the family for years and is a treasure chest of gift items, funiture, antiques and home decor all year long but at this time each year, it is totally transformed with the holiday spirit. Unreconizable to even frequent visitors, it has a new look, with each nook and cranny given a new purpose. It has been beautifully prepared to greet and warm the hearts of all shoppers and lookers.

Dressing it from ceiling to floor, was an absolute blitz of time and effort, but oh now it is bursting with treasures. It has more than I can begin to describe, it must be everyone's dream of new Christmas folly and old Christmas memories. They even included an upside down tree. Perhaps it is a visual for the way our days seem headed. Any way you look at the barn it is bursting with bliss!

Without a doubt each tree was so over the top that I was nearly overwhelmed looking at them. The completeness and the artistic gift God has blessed each of the girls is amazing. Even though I was there when the changes started, it didn't seem possible to do what was to come, I needed to see it to believe it!

The funny thing was, it was a blessing, because somewhere in the process, I was "re"-minded how much this blessed holiday should be a total celebration in my heart. If they can do it with ornaments and decorations, surely I can do it with song and prayer, kindly actions and thoughtful words. Like the old barn, I am praying to be so re-newed!

My prayer of hope this season is that God will find as many ways to use me as Lisa and the girls have found to use an old and well used barn!

Thankful For My Sisters

It is true but impossible to put into words the blessing it is to have sisters. I am more fortunate than some to feel so blessed because of so many people in my life, but it all began with sisters.

I have been blessed at the birth of each of my 4 sisters. They have taught me the most about being a friend. An with those lessons I hope I have shared the blessing with my friends, relatives and an amazing extended family.

So many of you have become an important part of my life. I have some special friends as close as next door and one as far as Denver. I am most thankful that Love has such an amazing reach!

We don't know the future and we can't change the past but Joanne use to try and explain the importance of living in the present and it being God's Present. I can barely grasp much less truly focus on the absolute truth of that important lesson but I will try this minute and say how blessed God has made me to have so very much-love to you! Ma (Re)

550 KTRS Inside Out Show November 19th 2011 Plant of the Week AND, and a belated welcome to Co-Host #2 Steffie Littlefield of Garden Heights Nursery

There may be a chill in the air today but it was warm and friendly yesterday on KTRS’s Inside Out Show’s earlier than normal broadcast from 11-12:30 Saturday. I am still smiling!

Like kids running in a field with outstretched arms, John and Steffie touched the tops of so many green topics that I am lagging and laughing still today! It was exhilarating!

I have heard if you listen closely you can actually hear corn “growing”, I started to wonder during this week’s show if we are growing corn in the studio, have added sound effects or if what I am hearing ( that sounds a little like crunching and whistling noises) is John going through his own “growing” spurt. If he keeps learning at this rate, his green thumb will outgrow the rest of him! I am so proud of him!

One thing is for sure, John Shea, of Collier, Thompson and Shea sounded like he has really enjoyed these recent weeks with his new co-host arrangement. I think he was impressed with Steffie’s quick and completely on target responses to the many garden calls. A worker bee himself, he seemed completely enthralled with Steffie’s energy.

Steffie is a green heart through and through, and shows it in her passion for nursery retail, landscape design, general gardening, vegetable and grape growing and heirloom plant preservation, garden writing and …so much more!

She is like her other two co-hosts; she is very involved professionally and personally with many horticulture projects, activities and endeavors. I am “blog bowing” officially now by adding all these great links (see links below) and apologizing already for whatever I have overlooked!

For me the pleasure is to be so “chat tuned” into the show. I was late calling, but we still had plenty to clamored about as we discussed the many attributes of Redtwig Dogwood as the Plant of The Week.

Cornus sericea better known as Redtwig dogwood has many homescape friendly attributes to appreciate. This shrubby dogwood’s deep red branches are stunning in the landscape in fall and winter. With a few well considered pruning cuts, He is happy to share some of his plentiful ruby colored stems as a festive accent in seasonal arrangements both inside and out!

He is totally a broad shouldered handsome and modestly low care shrub. Strong enough for rain gardens and erosion control, he can also hold onto slippery stream banks. This is a dogwood that thrive where there are periodic wet dry cycles, continuously soggy or even just routine clay soil issues.

My personal favorite attribute of this dogwood is his willingness to contribute to any habitat oriented / butterfly friendly landscape. It seems his real strength is to be able to wear rather lacey looking flowers without looking too delicate. It is pretty amazing that he can look so naturally at ease in such a nurturing role!

LINKS

John Shea, of Collier, Thompson and Shea

Garden Height’s Steffie Littlefield

Ellen Barredo, of Bowood Farms

Greenscape Gardens, Jennifer Schamber

This is the 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!

Faith Note:

Dare to Bare ( and bow)

As the leaves fall, the structure of my friend’s redtwig is laid bare and fully exposed, many of his strengths and weaknesses that have developed over time are obvious to me.

At this time I am grateful for this reminder that naturally this is an imperfect world. I am humbled by what I see in his branches. I can see the damage, blackened dead stubbed tips remaining from hesitant pruning cuts.

There are plenty of dead gray twigs, (a reminder that not all growth is meant to thrive) and some now obviouse without the cloak of leaves, a few random shoots have been rushing in the wrong direction!

With closer inspection, I can see some raw and irritated places where branches have crossed over each other, rubbing, chaffing, wounding each other, equally hurt, equally damaged. But then I see at my feet buried in the leafy rubble with bits and pieces of broken, fallen branches, and his scattered withered with age decaying leaves, a tiny fruit from a neighboring tree-a seed of hope. Oh how I pray I can keep this thought as I ask for God to bless me, each and every day: "Help me “re”-late!"

550 KTRS Inside Out Show October 25th 2011 Plant of the Week AND, Welcome to New Co-Host #1 Ellen Barredo (twitter link) of Bowood Farms

Season’s change, life changes and now the hosting of the Inside Out Show has made some changes. Joining John Shea, of Collier, Thompson and Shea this Sunday was Bowood Farm’s Ellen Barredo, (check this link to see what an idea (l) girl she is for this job) as “co-host of the week”.

Ellen is the first of three female local green industry professionals that will share the show’s “outside” expert position. John will also have Garden Height’s Steffie Littlefield and Greenscape Gardens, Jennifer Schamber

This three person round robin rotation 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.

John Shea excels in all areas of building design, construction and care, so there will be his influence and continuity to carry the show. As before, he introduce the seasonal home care topics and be a representative for the program's many sponsors and advertisers.

With John’s knowledge of new homes and trends, plus all the types of home remodeling options and renovations he has implemented over his many years of experience, he will sure continue to earn his popular pet name as “Mr. Fix-it”.

His house care tips and his timely home upkeep suggestions are second only to his gift for problem solving which he does on air on a weekly basis. I am sure listeners appreciate John's jovial disposition. He finds numerous ways to keep the show energized, even as he sympathizes with callers and their challenging predicaments and issues.

Fair warning girls, his humor is contagious! I expect eventually all of the girls will get a case of silliness from his sometimes unexpected comments. All ready, first week I could hear a few timely giggles from Ellen as John educated / entertained her and his listeners. I hope all of new co-hosts will find my friend John as funny as he is knowledgeable. As a home owner myself, I have found him to be a valuable source of information and a great asset when making my weekly" to do" check list.

The Plant of the Week feature will continue. Ellen and I discussed a cool, “cool season annual alternative” ornamental kale. This is a favorite of mine for container gardening as well as in ground planting for fall! John was out of the loop some but he will catch up! He is sure to learn alot from this crowd!

I have listed a few information links about ornamental kale, the websites of the new co-hosts and the magazine/ resource, Gateway Gardener. All three of the new Inside Out Show’s garden hosts/ experts are wonderful writers and have featured articles published on a frequent basis. KTRS’s website will surely be updated with this new hosting information shortly!

PS Yes, I know Jennifer is soon to deliver her baby so I asked John Shea what the “plan” is for her sub-good news, her dad John Loyet, will hold her slot on the show. Check out this national industry magazine link which featured John, Jennifer and her mom, Sally on the cover! I am so proud of them! Check out their face book link.

Personal Tidbit, my sweetest Holly, mother of my grandbaby has worked for Jennifer for several years. I am so blessed to have her share in my love of my industry. I have had Jennifer her family and her staff in the perimeter of my family life, they have celebrated with me and cried with me.

I have loved watching Holly "grow"with them in so many ways. I am thankful for everyone at Greenscape who has shares in being part of my "extended" family! I so wish Joanne was here too- she would be so excited about Jennifer, the baby and the radio show! What a wonderful job you all are doing!

Here are a few kale plant links!

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/kale.html

http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/plantoftheweek/articles/ornamental_kale.htm

http://gardening.about.com/od/plantprofile1/p/Orn_Cabbage.htm

http://www.finegardening.com/plantguide/brassica-oleracea-ornamental-cabbage.aspx

PSS Not a Bible quote but one that speaks to my heart as a reminder of how far our voices can reach (airwaves to heaven?) and how as close as a whisper is God when I am surrounded by His Creation, God has blessed me!

" I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." ~George Washington Carver

KTRS 550 Inside Out Show Time Out-What To Do

Despite being off air a couple of weeks and the many changes in the" landscape" of the Inside Out Show, I decided there is no lack of tips and information for me to share.

The upcoming changes with the hosting of 550's Inside Out show signal a transition in more than the weather for all of us who care about the "Inside Out " show and its hosts.

Jim McMillian has retired and it is well deserved. I will miss his banter with John and his teasing about my intentions to take his job-ha ha Jim, I didn't take it!

I do wish the best to the trifecta that is coming along side John to take Jim's place. I wonder how good Jim feels knowing it will take three amazing people to take his place.

I have certainly learned that although no one can do the work of another and that change is unavoidable. I wasn't certain at first how we could possibly go on but now that John has made some rather awesome arrangements, I feel an unexpected excitement and pleasure at the thought of "re"-connecting with some of my past and a few of the best of our local "green girls".

Much has changed with me in the past few years. I am sure life has brought many changes to them as well, I look forward to hearing whatever they have to share and hope they enjoy my continued interest in sharing the passion for plants He has given me! In the mean time here is what I recommend doing in the garden:

To Do List: Make AND Do

Start getting in the habit of disconnecting the hose from the hose bib after watering- but KEEP WATERING!

Take notes, start a journal and make an inventory list of the plants in each bed /landscape area and what activities you know you did and ones you maybe should have done sooner- make your calendar for next year accordingly!

Remove at ground level summer annuals. Take cuttings now if you have a sunny window and desire a cost effective spring planting. Do some research for exact methods as propagating easy annuals such as coleus can be fun. This can be an adventure for the experienced gardener who wish to savory that certain plant or for a newbie who wants to develop a green thumb over winter with minimal effort!

For most annuals, make notes in your journal, especially the ones you wish to repeat, (or not) the numbers you used, how well they spread and filled an area. Start a budget now and maybe even draw a simple plan as a reminder as you shop next spring.

As you cut away all the annual material that is visible, also clean around the crowns of neighboring plants, at the base and under shrubs, and remove any weedy vines such as virginia creeper or bind weed that have infiltrated the structure of the trees and shrubs. Use this material for composting or place in pick up bags.

Remember; leave the still intact roots of the annuals in the ground to decompose. This creates natural air and water ways, releases stored energy back into the ground and allows the neighboring foundation plants a chance to revive and restore themselves for a few good weeks without unnecessary competition as they prepare for the dormant season.

This “leave the roots method” also seems to decreases “winter heaving losses” caused by accidental roots disruption from pulling up the neighboring plants. I have noted it also seems to help prepare the ground to become more “expansion friendly”. It seems the spreading and maturing perennials near by benefit from the improved water and air penetration left behind and can fill the empty space in record time.

Doing a “gentle” clean up now keeps me from having a heavy hand later when plants are more challenging to recognize ( as they might even seem gone). Also walking in the garden late in the season can cause damage from stepping on the tender, less protected crowns. (I recommend creating “care paths” all through the garden. I do this so I can reach and take care of the landscape without walking over roots. It helps all year long but as the wind play hide and seek with my paths, too many plants end up at risk!)

I tend to leave the “still green” material on the perennials and all stems on the semi-shrubs such as butterfly bush and caryopteris till early spring.

I even prefer to do minimal pruning on shrubs and trees at this time because it leaves the pruning cuts exposed to winter’s cold and wet for an extended time allowing moisture to cause expansion and giving disease and insects a foothold.

I prefer to do most formative and controlling pruning for any plant including trees and shrubs as a growth phase begins in late winter so that the wounds can take timely advantage of nature’s normal healing process. The plants recover quickly and my hand on method is less evident and most effective! It also gives me something to do when it is too early to be working in the garden.

On occasion, reseeding is desirable and even intentional. If this is the case, clean up the immediate area of the favorite bloomer and then intentionally hand disperse the ripened flower head’s seeds. Keep in mind success can be variable and think about your time and reality.

Occasionally there are factors and limitations that make managing an excess of plants that are popping up every where next spring more headachy than heartwarming. (Personal note-my lesson was learned with Rudbeckias and relearned with asters, eons ago! What was “picture perfect” one fall quickly became a “nook with the look of neglect” the following spring)

Whatever material remains gets a pass for the winter leaving some cover and protection for the wildlife and the soon to be sleeping landscape.

Knowing that all the majority of the excess material and all the most unsightly or questionable foliage has been removed while it was still fairly easy to identify, examine for problems and access for future plans and care gives me a happy heart knowing I have been a good and Godly steward, hopefully worthy of being a conscientious caretaker of His Garden for one more season!

Blessed With Today…

Re

With my thoughts on water and caretaking, it seemed fitting to reflect on our Lord’s personal promise found in Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

He tells me that my pursuit of righteousness will lead me to Him. I have come to know Him through Jesus Christ my Savior, intimately as my companion and Lord. I look forward to my daily Walk with Him in His Garden

KTRS 550 Inside Out Show September 23rd Wind Rain and Sun, oh and Asters!

Weather we like it or not! Ah, the variables we love to talk about!

As long as we are interested in having success in the garden or with our lawns, we have to care at least to some degree! ( ha- was that a temperature joke!)

Take some good advice from my friend Glenn Kraemer- water! (see his blog at http://glenno

nkraemer.blogspot.com/)

And as for asters, (a tricky word for me in the past-and a rather embarrassing moment when I was discussing an aster trial with Chicago Botanical Garden's trial master Richard Hawke that I will always remember-( note to self don't try and talk to fast on this one, got a great laugh that got me pretty far off track-miss you Richard!)

Search his plant evaluation site before you settle on which aster to plant and keep in mind, they do require some upkeep!

5550 KTRS Inside Out Show Saturday September 17th Plant of the Week, The Pansy, Legacy Botanical Garden Walk and the new Truth ’n Turf Blog

I had trouble again narrowing the topic down on the show this week to talking about just one plant that is great for revitalizing the fall garden. Apparently I have the same issue with this blog-multiple topic!

The obvious choice for plants might be mums and asters. I like both and have used them in containers as annuals and in the ground as perennials. In containers they are subject to winter weather and are not likely to survive. In flower beds, the ground will keep the roots warm and with proper care they will establish, and if they are managed, should add color without much extra work but there are a lot more options, especially with pansies!

My years of managing the huge annual test gardens / pansy trials at Missouri Botanical Garden encourages me to “rethink” the possibilities for visual impact with pansies, an annual that thrive in cool fall weather!

Pansies (viola family) are winter hardy! Planting them now will add color for fall, winter, and spring! This is a long season that home owners frequently forget. It isn’t that our winters are long but that we stop gardening way too early!

This is a great time to consider play time options, look for colors that will work now till Christmas and still be looking good with the pastel spring rush of color!

Think this thru! If you are not a mixed it up color buff- try colors like blue, purple and yellow. These are just a few colors that combine well in the fall and the spring. I challenge you to be creative; this is a fun challenge worth taking on!

Don’t forget all that rejuvenating your lawn / turf effort with advice from Glennon Kraemer’s G.R.Robinson’s Truth ‘N Turf blog. This advice will pay off this fall too! Wouldn’t it be nice for the garden / foundation landscape to be just as spectacular as your great looking lawn!

For those also interested in great success with planting for structure and some honest “you can do it”, reality landscaping in Missouri, come walk with me at 3 o’clock, October 8^th as I preview Frisella’s new Legacy Botanical Garden.

Frisella Nursery is a family owned business that has gone the “Next Step Up” with a new botanical garden in the making. As an “ambassador” for my green industry and my sister and my Christian faith who taught me about be still moments, I have been given the humbling honor of introducing the “who’s who” in the Legacy gardens, both in the green world and my world these days!

For me walking through this Legacy Botanical Garden is about, the nursery business’s of family, it’s generational heritage and foundational beliefs, the intricacies of companionship (plants and friends), what’s at stake (friendships that has held us all up in difficult times), landscaping (what it can look like and truly be, in the landscape of our yards and our lives) and what is thriving (growing true, what it means for a plant, relationships, and me).

This is their story, my story, and maybe your story. It is the ongoing story of the cycle of life (people and plants), the survivors (trials of plants and people) gardens and gardeners (young and not so young any more) and cultivating, planting, fruits and reaping the blessings and rewards.

Learning and Sharing about our “growing success” in this Show Me State with my “show me” heart! Hope to see you soon…

…….Re…