Narrator> Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina.

This cooperative effort among farmers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture helps consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown, harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina, family owned and operated since 1916.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 40 varieties of peaches.

Wesley Commons, a full service continuing care retirement community located on more than 150 wooded acres in Greenwood, South Carolina.

Additional funding provided by the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance and Boone Hall Farms.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Amanda McNulty> Well, good evening and welcome to " Making It Grow".

We sure are glad that you can be with us tonight.

I'm Amanda McNulty, and I'm a Clemson horticulture agent.

I used to be stationed in Sumter.

You'll meet my replacement in just a minute.

But now I'm over here having a good time with Terasa Lott, who also is a Clemson person, and, but, thank goodness great Terasa makes everything possible because she's got some sense and you get our questions for us.

Terasa Lott> I do, I'm not sure if everyone would agree with all of that statement that she said, but, happy to be part of " Making It Grow ", utilizing the Facebook page to provide information to you, our viewers, and also try to answer questions when, when they pop up.

And then sometimes they end up appearing on the show for our panelist to answer.

Amanda> And we love having new people to talk to today.

Oh, goodness!

Well, Carmen Ketron, you are not new.

<No, ma'am> But you're.

Yeah.

Carmen Ketron> On my way coming back.

Amanda> Always welcome, always welcome, always welcome.

And you're the Urban Hort agent now down in Georgetown, Horry and Marion.

And, do you like to get to the beach sometimes?

>> I do, I love the beach.

Amanda> Does that little darling like it, too?

Carmen> Oh, yeah.

She loves the beach.

She loves the pond.

We like to fish.

She likes any body of water.

We're working on the swimming.

Amanda> Yeah.

It's pretty important to teach them how to swim.

Carmen> Oh, yeah.

Or at least float.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

Well, there you go.

Make it to the edge.

Carmen> There you go.

(laughter) Amanda> Caroline Oatley you are, we are so happy to meet you.

You're at the Department of Plant Industry, the invasive species program coordinator.

Caroline Oatley> I am, yep.

So I work with Clemson's regulatory services.

<Yes.> We're a different branch.

We're not in the academia side of Clemson, kind of like Extension, but unlike Extension, we regulate instead of like, being educators.

So we're out doing the management side of invasives.

We're you know, going out and taking charges from, like USDA.

They'll say, hey, you got to go out and manage this pest or this pest.

Amanda> What do you do when you manage it?

Caroline> So, we, (laughter) Amanda> I'm trying to manage cockroaches at home, maybe you come do those.

Caroline> So we regulate federally regulated invasive plants, apiary pests in South Carolina.

<Mercy> Caroline> Yes.

Amanda> That's a lot.

>> It's a tall order and we work with the, invasive pests on our state plant pest list.

<Okay> So, Asian longhorned beetle is a great example.

Yellow-Legged Hornets, (indistinct) Amanda> Well, thank you so much for making the trek and being with us today.

Caroline> Thanks for having me.

Amanda> And also Brad, Brad Secraw.

you're the commercial hort agent now in Sumter, Lee and Clarendon.

We are so glad you finally came over here to be with us.

This is a treat.

Brad> Yeah, it's been a minute since, since I started.

So.

Amanda> And you've had an interesting past.

You came here, from where last?

Brad> I was in Oklahoma for ten years.

Doing something similar.

I was a, more of a generalist in Extension with Oklahoma State University.

Amanda>...you said you even had to do livestock, or something?

Brad> I did livestock.

I did horticulture, I did crops.

I did anything related to agriculture, I did it.

I did ponds, I did, yeah.

Amanda> Heavens to Betsy.

So what are the big crops?

They grow out there?

Brad> A lot of wheat, a lot of cattle, <wheat> and pasture.

Amanda> Do they?

Brad> Yeah.

Absolutely.

Amanda> Okay.

Well, it's been different coming here.

Brad> Yeah.

Yeah, a lot more rain, a lot more trees, a lot taller trees, as well.

I, it's been great.

Amanda> Yeah.

We do have some beautiful trees around, don't we?

<We do!> We really do.

Yeah.

Southern magnolias, I think are... what could be more lovely?

Anyway, thanks so much for coming over.

We're going to have some daylilies.

Carmen, you went down to see somebody who grows daylilies.

That's so exciting.

Yeah.

And then, Davis did a program for us on asters and ornamental grasses.

Ornamental grasses are great fun.

And deer don't eat grasses.

So if you're having a problem with deer, you might want to have some ornamental grasses.

I think that makes some sense.

And anyway, and then some of them, I think a few of them even are somewhat salt tolerant.

Is that right Terasa?

Terasa> I think so, lots of diversity- <Yeah, they're> having that happening- and all kind of different situations you might be able to implement them in.

Amanda> Yeah.

Yeah.

Anyway, well okay.

So now we still call them "Gardens of the Week", but it's more of a montage?

Terasa> That's correct.

It became so popular, we received so many photos from our viewers that instead of featuring just a few, a small amount, we wanted to include as many as possible.

So we've created a montage to highlight what you are doing in your yards, gardens, or perhaps in a beautiful space that you have captured.

So let's take a look at this week's additions.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Terasa> That last photo was shared by Kathy Hutcheson, who is an Aiken Master gardener.

And the Aiken Master Gardener group is growing rice and other period plants in the African American Heritage Garden at Redcliffe Plantation, which is a state historic site.

So that's managed by our South Carolina Parks system.

And I just wanted to reiterate that we have so many wonderful places.

So I encourage you to get out and visit all of those parks and historic and natural areas in our state.

They truly are a gem.

And don't forget to submit those "Gardens of The Week".

Whenever you see us make that call on our Facebook page, all you have to do is post your photos in the comments and you never know, they may appear on air.

Amanda> Well, thank you so much and thanks to everybody who said something.

We love to see what people manage to do when we have these hot summers.

Yeah.

They should be commended.

All righty.

Well, do you think we might be able to help somebody Terasa?

Terasa> I hope so.

That's partially why we are here.

We have a question that came in from Tally in Lakeview, who said, I just moved to a rural part of the county and have seen a lot of tractors on the road.

What is the driver etiquette on sharing the road?

That is a great question.

Amanda> Well, I think we should be very polite in every possible way because, I mean, we're in a car, you know, and strapped in and they're on a, on a tractor.

Terasa, I mean, Carmen, what's the thing about that?

Carmen> That's the big problem that we're having right now, especially during harvest season.

There are a lot more tractors out on the roads.

And so a lot of people who are not used to or haven't grown up with tractors on the roads don't know really what to look out for and what the proper, dosey doe is with it.

So one of the big things is always stay far behind them.

Don't go.

Don't roll right up onto the tractor as they make some very serious stops when you go right under.

If you're not paying attention.

So make sure you're giving lots of, lots of space.

And if you do need to overtake them, make sure that you're only overtaking them, on the dotted line, so that they have a passing lane.

A lot of people think that somehow that a double lane, but it's a tractor means you can still go around.

It's still illegal.

You'd never want to do that, because a lot of the times you'll be going around curves and you won't see it.

Additionally, a lot of these tractors are coming out of places that don't have roads.

Yes, or signage.

So make sure that if you are amongst the fields that you are slowing down and you're making sure that you, they might be coming out and turning onto the road at any point.

And that is where many of the collisions happen.

A lot of the times, if they are at a, a field that they know, there is often farm equipment signage, and, and they've gotten really good about having blinking lights when it is a well-traveled area or like a grain bin drop off.

That, so make sure that you're looking out for farm equipment signage, and that you are letting them have plenty of room.

Don't try to come right up on them if you're going in the opposite direction, go off to the side if you can, especially, on those small roads.

You going off to the edge or the shoulder is a lot easier than them having to put wheels into a ditch.

Amanda> Yeah, absolutely.

And they're and they're so heavy too, once they do that.

Lord knows what might happen.

Carmen> Oh yeah.

Some of them are very, very tight and they're just, it's very easy for them to just tip over.

So just be aware and be, be courteous.

And you know, they're feeding us.

So, they're, a smidge more important than us on the road, sometimes.

Amanda> I'm in a heavily agricultural area.

And so, I mean, I'm used to seeing them and, you know, even if you're late, I mean, you do not the people you're going to see can wait, but you are not supposed to endanger anybody.

Carmen> No, no, no, no, because you're enclosed in a safe place with airbags.

I don't know any tractors that have airbags in them.

Amanda> No.

They're in a fragile position.

Well, I'm glad you brought that up, because it is the time that they're out there, <Tis the season> bringing in the crops.

<Yep.> And finally, you know, we got some rain.

And so, there's, thank goodness, there's some crops coming in.

<Yes.> Okay.

We certainly appreciate it.

Well Terasa, there's always somebody who needs some help.

What else is going on in the world?

Terasa> There is.

And I just want to say thanks to Carmen for, you know, highlighting that question, because I travel on 401 between Darlington and Sumter and frequently encounter farm equipment on the road.

And it always makes me nervous when I see vehicles passing them on a double line.

It's not safe for anyone.

And we always want to, to practice safety.

So, sometimes we just have to be patient.

<Yeah> We're going to try to help Catherine, who wrote in from Beaufort and said, "I received a mailer to look for a new invasive species "called Yellow-Legged Hornet, "but I don't know what or where to look or what to do "if I see one?

Can you give me some more information?"

Amanda> Okay.

Well, Caroline, since you're are a invasive species program coordinator, do you know a little bit about this one?

Caroline> I think I know just a smidge.

<Okay.> So we're sending out these mailers as, kind of a thing, Carmen, as a, outreach initiative.

And we're sending these out just to make the public aware of this new invasive.

We're asking to just stay vigilant.

Look for nests along your, maybe your houses, other dwellings, sheds and then when we get later on into the season, you know, spring, early summer, they like to get, you know, closer to the ground.

So they'll be on those dwellings.

But once we hit July and August, we're going to start seeing these bigger nests higher up in pine and oak trees.

<Okay.> And what we're, we're letting people know, but we're also asking for their help in trying to detect Yellow-Legged Hornet nests.

And if you do think you've seen a Yellow-Legged Hornet or nests, you can send in, reports to, our team, and we'll take a look and try to determine if Yellow-Legged Hornet is there?

We have a reporting tool.

So if you go to the back of the mailer, we have a nice QR code, and you can scan that and send your report in to us.

Amanda> Okay.

Terasa> I think you would need a photograph with your submission, right?

Caroline> Yes, yes.

So we're asking for clear photos and, specific locations.

Amanda> But if you, you know, don't know how to do all that, you can just call your local office and ask to report through them.

I would imagine.

Caroline> You could, but we are asking people to report directly.

Amanda> I know, but I'm just saying <Yes.> I mean, you're telling them that, but, you know, I mean, if somebody sees something and they're not sure where, who they were supposed to call, I don't think if you call the office, they going to tell you to go jump in the lake to get away from the Yellow-Legged Hornets.

Caroline> I hope they, I hope they would give, you a little bit more information than that.

Amanda> Okay.

Okay, I think Brad and Carmen would be more than happy to help people.

Carmen> I know we have a lot of people that call in, they're not sure if they found one or not, and we are excited, I would say, to help them get to the online reporting tool, to let them do it.

Sometimes they'll even bring in samples and we'll take the picture for them.

But, it is online, as well, so you can just Google it too and find a lot of really good identifying factors to kind of ID it.

Amanda> Okay.

Well, I'm glad to learn that.

Thank you so much.

Terasa> Next up on the list, we have a question from Fran right here in Sumter who shared a picture.

Apparently, we have a pest on her azaleas, and she would like to know, what is this caterpillar that is eating my azaleas.

Amanda> Goodness.

Well, what's munching a way?

Brad> Well, this little caterpillar is a red-headed azalea leaf caterpillar.

<Yes> They are active August, September time frame.

And the interesting thing about this one was, Fran had been out of town for about a week.

came in, and suddenly she saw all these caterpillars, like, oh, goodness, they just showed up out of nowhere.

And really, before she left, they were probably still there.

She just didn't notice them because they're so small.

Amanda> So teeny.

Brad> They were doing a lot of damage.

Suddenly she showed up and holy cow, it's like they came out of nowhere.

Really easy to handpick these little buggers if you want to get rid of them really, really easy.

Amanda> So even though they have, what, look like hairs and sometimes we warn people not to mess with those unless they've...identified this one, those hairs aren't going to give you, do any damage.

Some of them have little stinging... Brad> No, this isn't that situation.

You can certainly handpick them.

But if there's a lot of them out there, usually they're not that big of a problem, but, you know, they're, they're gonna eat up a lot of azalea leaves.

And so, you can use say, you know, organic or natural control or, synthetic controls.

Spinosad, one of our pyrethroids those work well, too.

Amanda> Okay.

Are they going to... Are they, I've only had them once at my house.

They don't seem to be there all the time.

Brad> No, there are moths... that will lay their eggs this time of year, on the onset.

They tend to actually kind of feed in clusters.

And so that's why they're kind of easy to control just by hand.

Amanda> Oh, yeah.

So you don't have to peek under the leaves- Brad> ...you don't have to search for them, that kind of thing.

They tend to feed, feed in groups.

So.

Amanda> Okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

So are they, if you didn't want to do anything, are they going to probably, they're not going to set the azalea back forever?

I mean, is pretty hardy, right?

Brad> Yeah.

They are generally, but you do want to make sure that you're not allowing them to completely foliate.

And so it just depends on how much pressure you actually have.

<Okay.> You know if there's just a few out there.

Okay, not a big deal, but if you got a lot out there, you may want to do something.

Amanda> Okay.

Well, thank you so much.

Well, Carmen, I think you went to a daylily place.

Tell us what we're going to see.

Carmen> We went to see Mr.

Don Albers down at the beach.

<All righty.> He's been doing, backyard daylily breeding for, I mean, decades.

Let's learn about him.

♪ ♪ ♪ Carmen Ketron> Hello, everybody.

My name is Carmen Ketron.

I am with Clemson Extension.

And today on "Making it Grow", we are in the Burgess community of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

We are right off of 707 at the world famous Don Albers Daylily Farm.

And I've got today, Don Albers.

Mr.

Don, thank you for having us.

Don> Well, thank you for inviting me.

And what you see is a variety of my interest and growing daylilies for 40 years here.

And I've just enjoyed it, and it's my passion.

Carmen> And it, it shows we are amongst the daylilies.

I know lots of people usually come to the beach for the beach, but, lots of people come to you for daylilies.

Don> Well sometimes they come here from all different states, north, south, and they find out that if they go on their web, on the Internet, They say, "Oh, there's daylilies here."

So not only in the evening or the morning, they'll come for the daylilies and then they'll go to the beach.

Carmen> Now see that's a nice combination, I like.

Now, I know you are a native son of Nebraska, and you ended up going to Illinois to make your living, and you got into daylily breeding there, and then you brought this passion down to the beach.

What made you excited to not only grow daylilies, but are you a... you're a breeder and a hybridizer?

Don> Yes, I am.

Carmen> Oh, wonderful.

Don> I not only have named, 25 standard dwarf iris, then the iris got so bad, my mentor says, oh, you got to have daylilies.

So once I had the property where I could have no limits on the amount from here, they're like my passion and it has grown to where I've outgrown my age.

Carmen> Now at peak, how many daylilies were you growing?

Don> In my past, I've had 800 named varieties and that variety is the same all over the world.

And then with all the hybridizing and I probably have 10,000 seedlings, and you only keep one out of every thousand that you may name or introduce.

And I've named 45.

Carmen> Now, can you walk us through the process of actually, crossing a daylily for people who might want to do it at home?

Don> So as they're blooming a normal daylily would have three petals, three sepals, and each one of those has an anther that comes from each one of the petals with a pollen sack stamen on the end with all the pollen.

Now some of the day lilies are sterile, and if you get one with yellow pollen, it's sterile, it's no good.

You get a really gold fluffy.

You take that pollen and that's the father.

So you put that on the others, the one you want to cross and on each one of the pistols, and sometimes I do, in each clump there may be two or three or one, but I want to cross.

And once I put the pollen on it, I have my own little tags made of the Venetian blinds.

The name of the plant that's the mother, goes first, meaning like Anne versus Judith, which may be the father that's what goes on the tag that stays with that plant.

Now, if it does not pollinate, you won't get inside the seed pod.

But if it does, you'll get a seed pod that will grow from a pin point all the way to three quarters of an inch.

It will take about 90 days to mature and it will come out starting brown, and then it's got a three way crack open up.

Once it's cracked, and you can see the black seeds, then you pick it, let the seeds dry for a week in a cup, put it in a little plastic bag in the refrigerator.

And that way it stays in the refrigerator, with moisture and will not germinate until you plant it out and it's your choice.

Some people do it in the greenhouses, so they do faster.

Normally I plant mine in the Fall.

They will come up in August, They will come up and be three inches by August cold.

The ground does not freeze here or anything.

They will come up and then the next, a year later in the fall, each individual plant and every one is tagged as it goes in the ground.

So I know what it is.

Then they're lined out in a row, six inches apart.

with a tag in the ground on an aluminum stake.

The third year they should bloom.

Sometimes the second year some will.

Some will also increase, not only the plants, but increase quicker.

So that's the result of how, a seed becomes a plant.

Carmen> I love that.

Now, for those of us who just want to enjoy the crosses that you have made, how would one come about properly, taking daylilies and putting them in, say, my garden?

Don> Well, the people that come to the garden here, they go through and I tell them put a plastic bag by the ones you like, and we will go through the garden with you.

We will dig their plant a double fan, and we will take the plant and shake the dirt off.

And then, they will take it home and put it in water 2 to 3 days, depending on where, the problems we've had here it's been so dry, with the transformation it's quicker, it will finish blooming.

and sometimes they want plants and they don't know what color it is.

I tell them, if they trust me, but then they will also finish blooming and then they can plant it out wherever they want.

Cut the top of the foliage off because it's going to die anyway.

Carmen> Now my number one question that I always get asked by new gardeners to daylilies is what is the best way to eat them?

Don> We have a fun party thing and people that are not even thinking of this, you can make a daylily casserole, which is an hors d'oeuvre that my wife in the past has made 18 by 18 casserole.

And it's, it's like, you take a spoonful, It's a tasting thing.

And of course, that serves 100 people, and the funniest thing is, people say, "Oh, you can't eat them.

They don't taste good."

In the evening they're going to dry up, fall off anyway.

So you take the petals and the sepals only, put them on your husband or wife's salad, and you know, "What's that?"

Well, try it.

You only, the dark ones are bitter.

You only takes the lighter colored ones.

The fun part is we're going to have a dill dip.

And we picked the buds that we're going to open tomorrow.

And they only get two buds.

They're diuretic.

So you take the bud and dip it and bite it and that's your dill dip.

Carmen> Mr.

Don, I want to thank you for having us out here and teaching us all about daylilies and how we can be backyard breeders, as well.

I know this can't just be on your own.

Do you want to shout out the wonderful people that help you?

Don> Well, I have a lot of people to help me off and on, but I have today, Diane Bevins, who's here, who helped me weed, watches out for me, brings me food and helps me dead head.

And then I also have Anita Langley.

They're all special gardeners, and they do everything to help me.

And they're all collections and they all have some of my daylilies And I'm so thankful.

Carmen> Well, Mr.

Don thank you so much for having us here today.

And we get to see all these wonderful daylilies.

And maybe we go try some dipping some flowers?

Don> That'll be great.

Carmen> Excellent.

♪ ♪ Amanda> Well, Carmen, thank you for going out there.

And the dip really looks fun, doesn't it?

Carmen> Oh, yeah.

Great, great to try it home.

<Yeah.> Multiple uses for daylilies.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

That's great.

Well, hats, hats, hats, Of course.

Hank and Ann, who, you know, rescue me all the time, this is Tibouchina, and it is native to Brazil on some huge limestone cliffs in this weird place.

But they have one that came from Africa in somebody's suitcase.

Don't ask me.

Anyway.

And it's supposed to be hardy just as on 9, but it's been in their yard for, I don't know, ten or so years.

You know, we had a lot of cold weather.

I mean, unusually funny funky weather for South Carolina Anyway.

But, isn't it just the prettiest thing you've ever seen?

And, look at the look at that red interior, Isn't it just gorgeous?

And then the leaves- Brad> Really interesting.

Amanda> Wow!

And they're thick and fuzzy.

Brad> Yeah.

That's really interesting.

Amanda> An interesting, interesting plant.

I don't have to grow it, and but it likes the shade, and so they've got it in a perfect place.

Yeah.

How about that?

Tibouchina I think that's how you would say it, from Brazil.

But this one is via Africa.

Yeah.

Because I guess people like to when they find pretty things, they want to export them.

And because other people want them in their yards too.

Don't you think?

Terasa> Yeah.

I feel like I need to, issue a word of caution that it's, it's not a great idea to take plants from one place and move them somewhere else.

<Yeah, yeah.> Sometimes we end up with invasive species.

We didn't- Amanda> Well, I think this person had to go through customs and everything.

Carmen> That's, that's the best way to do it.

Amanda> Yeah.

Going through customs.

Terasa> Go through the legal channels.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Amanda> Go through the legal...Yeah.

I think that this person knew enough to be wary of that.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well Terasa, what's next?

Terasa> Let's see what we have for our next question.

Looks like Steve from Sumter said, "Can I have a garden "where I previously burned brush?"

Amanda> Goodness.

Well, what do you think?

Brad> I think you absolutely can.

In fact, I've done it.

Amanda> That's nice to know.

Brad> I've done it, actually.

I actually had a 20 by 30 foot garden that was previously a 20 by 30 foot brush pile.

And so that got, all burned up, and I tested the soil.

And that's the main thing you have to worry about is to make sure that, you know, you think about, wood ash and your fireplace, that kind of thing you put out in your garden.

You use it like lime.

Well, same thing here.

And so you have to make sure that you haven't pushed your soil pH too high.

Amanda> Which is just as bad as having it too low.

Brad> Absolutely.

And so as long as you've done a soil test and actually, if it's just a small pile, you know that you have in your garden somewhere, you can just spread that ash around a little bit.

So it's a little more even.

<Okay.> But it's definitely not a, not, not something to really worry about.

Just make sure you're not burning anything except for brush, you know?

Amanda> Not railroad ties or things that have been treated.

Brad> Yes, I...yeah, nothing like that.

<Okay.> Absolutely works.

Amanda> Okay.

And you had, some good produce coming in.

Brad> I absolutely did.

I had a little pumpkin patch there for, for a good long time.

Yep Amanda> That's fun.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well, let's see what's next, Terasa?

Terasa> Next up, we have a question from Jimmy in Aynor who asked "What are some distinguishing characteristics "to help identify Yellow-Legged Hornets?"

Amanda> Okay.

Well, Carmen, how can we look for these guys?

Carmen> So one of the big things is that Caroline and I have been working for the better part of a year to help train, Master gardeners and lay people on how to identify the Yellow-Legged Hornet.

And I still have trouble doing it.

<Gracious.> But the number one thing that always sticks with me is that, the beekeepers are going to be on the front lines of finding the Yellow-Legged Hornet, because of their hawking behavior on, in front of these beehives.

Amanda> And explain what that means and why they're such a threat to the bee industry.

Caroline> I think I'll take the reins on that one.

Amanda> All right.

Caroline> So we're seeing these Yellow-Legged Hornets come in, and what they're doing is they're looking for, a food source somewhere, and they find these honey bees, and this is great for them.

They need the protein that they find in the thorax, and they need the sugary substances that they find in the abdomen.

Carmen> Then they're eating them?

Caroline> They're eating them.

Yeah.

So, when Yellow-Legged Hornets first find a hive, they'll come in.

And what they do is they face away from the honeybees.

And what they're looking for is bees that have left the hive and gone out and pollinated.

So they're looking for these bees that weigh a lot more and are coming back to the hive.

And they have this really distinguishing flight pattern, where they'll fly back and forth, and that's why it's called hawking.

It's because they almost look like a hawk.

And what they'll do is they'll, you know, fly in front of this hive, wait for a honeybee to come, and then they grab a honeybee, Amanda> because they're slower, because they're weighted down with all these <Exactly> sugars or whatever.

Caroline> And I think everybody here knows about, Asian giant hornet that was in Washington.

I like to call that they're like step-sister.

They're in the same genus, but different species.

Those hornets would actually fly into the honeybee hives.

Yellow-Legged Hornets do not do that.

They'll always stay on the outside.

Amanda> But are...what do they, but are they still just as detrimental?

Caroline> Yes.

Yes, absolutely.

So they're going to take those honeybees and then they bring them back to their hive to feed the brood.

Not good.

<Yeah, yeah.> Carmen> So you definitely want to if you have a bee hive, watch out for that hawking behavior.

And that's going to be the first sign that you have the Yellow-Legged Hornets.

The other one, the nests.

Have you ever seen one of these Yellow-Legged Hornet nests?

Amanda> No, but I think we're going to come back in a minute and see one.

How about that?

Yeah.

It'll be, you have to get the, you have to get, you have to do weight lifting before you bring it out.

Carmen> Get the crane out.

Caroline> We're going to have to do some stretches.

Amanda> Okay.

Well, I'm excited to see these nests, but, while y'all are getting that out.

Let's see what Davis Sanders from South Pleasantburg Nursery brought to tell us about.

Amanda> I'm talking to Davis Sanders, who came down from South Pleasantburg Nursery.

And Davis, I think you've got some things that would make Fall a more fun time of the year.

>> Absolutely.

We love the, the colors that these plants bring during that desperate season between the summer and fall seasons.

This one in front of me is, one of the hardy asters.

It's part of the kicking series.

I call them "kicking asters".

This one is called kicking lavender.

It's a very compact grower.

Very profuse bloomer, and doesn't get as big and gangly as some of the species.

<Look at all those flower buds> But, but it does.

It does have a very long bloom season, usually from, from late Sept...or rather, excuse me, late July, all the way up into October and sometimes even November.

Trimming it back a little bit if the blooms start to fade, will, will encourage more blooms.

The one next to you is, also referred to as an aster.

Although it's not a true aster.

This is one of the Stokesias or Stoke's asters.

This particular one is called "Color Wheel" because when it blooms, the bloom opens up as a really pretty, medium violet purple, gradually fades to, more of a lavender before it turns pure white, before the bloom finally drops off.

Amanda> Gosh.

So it's not, it's not just a one day bloomer The blooms going to persist for a few days.

Davis> Right.

The blooms persist for a few days.

And here again it has a long bloom season.

And a lot of times these will bloom in the Spring and Fall.

Amanda> Are they hardy here and are they going to be deciduous?

Davis> They're extremely hardy, depending on the weather, probably in the lower part of the state, they may be more, semi-evergreen, in the upstate, they do, pretty much die back in the winter.

But, who knows what's going to happen with the way our winters are now?

Amanda> I think these would be very nice to, to put a grouping of because they're small and I think you'd notice them and appreciate the flowers more if you did that.

What do you think?

Davis> Exactly.

All of the asters are beautiful, planted in masses.

And you can mix a variety so you get different colors, maybe a little bit different bloom season.

The Stokes asters or Stokesias also make excellent cut flowers.

Amanda> Whoa.

Well, that is too much fun.

Well, thank you so much for bringing them down.

Davis> Well, thanks for having me.

Amanda> Well, as you see, this is a great surprise to me.

And I'm sure to you as well.

This is monstrously big.

Whoa.

I mean, and this is... they made this in one summer.

I mean, this is what they can do.

Caroline> So, this is a Yellow- Legged Hornet's secondary nest.

And it has a whole colony within, and it all starts with one queen making her embryo nest.

in maybe like March, April.

Amanda> So she was mated and over wintered.

She's the only one.

And then.

So she has everything she needs to start up a new colony.

Caroline> Yes.

So, the lifecycle of Yellow-Legged Hornets starts with one over wintering queen.

<All right.

Okay.> And she'll, you know, go out and mate in maybe September, October, November.

And then she hibernates.

And when she wakes up, she immediately is going out to look for a site to build an embryo nest, which is what I have right here in this box.

<All right.> When she first emerges, she's looking for a spot that is going to be able to protect her from the weather.

So she's looking for places close to the ground and close to foraging sites because she's all alone.

She's, she's a single mom that works too hard.

Just like...(indistinct) (laughing) So she's out and she's making this embryo nest.

And, you know, she's foraging, building the nest, defending the nest.

Amanda> So, it might be in a protected spot of some sort?

Caroline> Exactly.

Yep.

And she'll lay eggs in here?

Yes.

And then the first workers will emerge.

And once the first workers emerge, she now has some help.

And she will go off and then build an... excuse me, a primary nest, which is a little bit larger than a cantaloupe, sometimes the size of, like, a basketball.

<Oh.

All right.> And then she's going to be able to lay more eggs.

And that's kind of what she does for the rest of her life cycle.

While more workers emerge, she has more help, and then she can build, a secondary nest.

Amanda> This is a lot bigger than a cantaloupe.

Caroline> This is a lot bigger than a cantaloupe.

<Whoa.

Golly.> So these are the secondary nests that we're finding, we start to find them in like June, but they're a lot smaller.

Amanda> And they're way up in the trees, generally?

Caroline> Yes, ma'am.

So when they get this big, they need to thermo regulate.

So they need to be up really high where they're getting wind and they're close to water, because you can imagine how hot, hot it gets in there.

It's like a sauna.

So we're finding these nests about 70, 80, 90 sometimes 100 feet up in really tall pine trees, really tall oak trees.

Amanda> So tell people what the white areas are please.

Caroline> Yes.

So, if you look at the, kind of broken down piece of this nest, you'll be able to see the combs that are inside.

<Yes.> And these white capped areas are actually cells that the queen first deposited an egg into.

<Yes.> That egg was, turned into a larva and then a pupa.

But what happens is they need to be protected.

So, a cell, which is what we have right here, gets capped with this white pieces.

Amanda> But it has to be fed a little bit.

Caroline> Yes.

So the larva will actually chirp.

They'll, they have mandibles.

So that's on the side... And they'll chirp by clicking them together and say hey, we're hungry.

But, you know, Amanda> And then it gets capped and they can continue their development and then they emerge.

Caroline> Yes.

But these are such big nests.

You're thinking, okay, a few thousand could come out.

How many do you think, if you can give your best guess, about how many things came out of this nests?

Amanda> 5000?

Caroline> There was a study done in France and Spain that said colonies coming out of a secondary nest could be up to the size of 20 to 23,000 individuals.

<Oh my lord.> And that's because they can reuse these cells.

Oh, so we're seeing.

Amanda> That would make sense because it was a lot of work.

Caroline> Exactly.

So we're seeing these cells up here.

And you can kind of see that it's not all flat.

They're not all the same height.

And that's because some of those cells were reused.

And they can be reused up to four times.

Amanda> And so... they're not going to come out in the studio?

Caroline> No, no these are dead.

This is a deregulated nest.

Amanda> Okay.

You've done something to it.

All right.

Thank you so much.

Carmen> And she goes around the state deregulating them.

Caroline> Yes.

Amanda> How much does it weigh?

Caroline> I would say it's about 20 pounds.

Amanda> Okay.

That's a lot, don't you think?

For somebody?

So you have people who climb up in the trees and they have to go up there to treat them because you can't squirt something that high in the air.

Caroline> Right.

So, this is a regulated species.

So we get federal funding to be able to eradicate, Yellow-Legged Hornet.

So we have contract companies and lifts and, certified pesticide, applicators, and they'll go up in these lifts, they spray the nests, they chop it down, and then we put it in a freezer.

And that way everything dies in the nest.

Terasa> You mention the word eradicate.

And so that kind of, there are some species that invasive species that are so widespread that eradication isn't really feasible anymore, but species like this that are relatively new.

That's the goal.

Is that correct?

Caroline> Our goal is eradication, yes.

Amanda> But they've already moved up here from Savannah.

Caroline> Yes.

So, there is a colony, sorry, there's a population that was first detected in early 2023, in Savannah.

And Georgia Department of AG is working to eradicate as well.

We have a population down in the Low Country, but we also had a detection last year in York County.

And just recently, I want to say a little less maybe three weeks ago, a little less than a month ago, North Carolina actually had a detection, in Matthews, North Carolina.

Excuse me, Matthews, North Carolina.

Amanda> Well, Terasa I don't know about eradication.

Is this a normal sized nest for this time of the year?

Caroline> Nest sizes are dependent on the number of incubated hornets in there and colony size.

So basically, the bigger the colony, the bigger the nest will get.

<Okay.> If we don't find these nests until November, December, Yes, they could reach, this big, but we're trying to get them down prior to them getting this big.

Amanda> Okay.

Well... Carmen> That's why it's so important also to be looking up in the trees right now, even if you aren't in the Low Country area, just keep an eye out for these nests because, you might not even see them on your walk unless, you're looking up.

Amanda> The leaves are going to camouflage it to a great extent.

So this...well, we will do our best.

And thank you all for doing your best.

We really appreciate it.

Carmen> Thank you.

Caroline> If you want to stay up to date, you can sign up for "The Hornet Herald".

It's our digital newsletter.

Amanda> Okay.

Well, Well, let's go back to South Pleasantburg Nursery's Davis Sanders and learn about something a little more pleasant.

I'm talking to David Sanders from South Pleasantburg Nursery, up in Greenville and Davis, I think you've got some native ornamental grasses.

Let's learn about them, Davis> Well, we try to promote the native ornamental grasses because, of course, being native, they're not going to be invasive.

They might be a little bit aggressive, but, but it is a native species.

So not only is it going to be well-behaved in the garden, it's going to provide benefits for all types of, of wildlife.

For instance, the one on your right there is, is Northern sea oats or river oats.

Some people call them, it's Chasmanthium latifolium.

Some people often refer to that one as, fish on a line or fish on a pole because of, just the way the sea heads hang.

<Yeah> That's one that, is, it is a native, and it's one of the few, ornamental grasses, that can actually withstand, a little bit of shade.

So, so it's a little more versatile now.

Amanda> It's called Northern sea oats.

I mean, can we have it in South Carolina?

Davis> Oh, yeah.

It's, it's native all up and down the East Coast.

I don't know why it was given the name Northern sea oats, but that's, Amanda> So that's fine.

Davis> And it does, does great in the mountains, too.

So it doesn't have to be near the ocean.

It can be a little bit pesky because those seeds do germinate readily.

But also if you notice them growing in a spot where, where they're not wanted, they're not real, deeply rooted when they're young, you can just pluck it right up out of the ground and, and, either transplant it or put it in your compost pile.

Amanda> And I would imagine there's somebody who enjoys these seeds.

Davis> A lot of finches do, particularly a lot of the ground dwelling rodents, chipmunks and voles and that kind of thing will help, help scatter the seed around what they don't eat.

So it's, it is a, Amanda> Good for wildlife.

Davis> It's excellent for wildlife and, and of course, like all ornamental grasses in the winter time when it's dormant, if you leave the foliage up, you get the sound of the wind blowing through it.

You get a little bit of motion to it.

It adds yet another dimension to the home landscape.

Amanda> And, you know, and the color is even when they're not green it's quite lovely.

Davis> Right, right, right.

This one turns a really nice gold color.

<Okay, okay.> And the other one that I've, brought along this time, is a very special plant.

This is the 2025 perennial plant of the year.

<Come on.> This is, Andropogon Black Hawks.

It's a, it's a relatively new introduction of the native big bluestem, <Yes.> which, we're all familiar with the, broomsedge that grows wild everywhere.

This is a slightly different species, but it is in the Andropogon genus.

It gets this beautiful black, blackish or dark purple color on the stem throughout the growing season.

And like all of the bluestems, this one turns a beautiful scarlet color in the fall, before it goes dormant.

This one also, it's got very interesting seed heads.

The... little seeds are a lot more delicate and not as robust as you would see on, some of the introduced species.

And, this one, this one is particularly, loved by finches because the seeds are small.

And with the flexibility of the stems, a lot of times you'll see the birds actually land on them and push them to the ground.

And peck all the seeds off of them and then fly away.

Another advantage of this one is, the rigid, upright structure that it has is very attractive to dragonflies.

Dragonflies love to, love to perch on vertical surfaces like this.

Amanda> While it's looking for something, to go after to eat.

Davis> Right.

And we know that dragonflies are probably the second biggest predators of mosquitoes after bats.

Amanda> Golly.

So, this sounds like something I need to have in my yard.

Thank you.

Davis> I think everybody needs it in their yard.

Amanda> Wonderful and a native.

Isn't that fun?

<Uh-huh> Amanda> Davis brings fun things for us to learn about and perhaps incorporate in our landscape.

Well, Terasa, anybody else needs some help or advice?

Terasa> Always.

Always questions.

Let's see, we've got Keith, also from Sumter, said, he just relocated from San Antonio and he wants to do a soil test for his lawn.

So kudos for wanting to make sure we've got we know what's in the soil in terms of pH and nutrients, but, "Is there still time to fertilize?"

Is the question.

Amanda> Hmmm.

Well, help us out here.

And I guess for a lawn, it's different from a garden.

I mean, how far down you go and everything.

Let's give him some advice.

>> Well, the main thing that we're kind of worried about right now is making sure that we're not pushing the, the growth of the grass too late into the fall, because if we, fertilize too late, we start encouraging grass growth when we don't want it.

Amanda>...then if we got a cold snap, you damage the lawn.

Brad> It will get damaged.

And so normally for the upstate, we're wanting to do that last, nitrogen application around mid August.

And we can, we can kind of push it to about, the 1st of September along the coast.

So we're kind of in that it's getting a little tight.

Amanda>Could he do the soil test now for the spring?

He absolutely could.

<Okay.> Absolutely could.

Amanda> And to tell us how far down you go and how to actually do it please Brad> Well....for a lawn, you're only, you need to go down just a couple inches, two to three inches And go to a few different places throughout the lawn making sure that it's representative of that area.

What you don't want to do is, you know, treats.

Amanda> (laughs) make a little circle, like this.

Brad> Yeah.

Little circle you don't want to treat, you know, you don't want to have too many different areas in your soil test.

So if you got a flower bed, you want a soil, test them separately from your garden or from your lawn.... So if there's an area that you treat, kind of, uniquely all by itself, test that by itself.

So the front lawn may be different from the back lawn.

So you'd want to soil test those areas separately.

Amanda> Okay.

And, which do you need to have a get a bag before you do it, or can you do it and then carry it down to your Extension office?

Brad> You can certainly just use a Ziploc bag or whatever container you want to bring in, as long as it's clean.

And just bring it in to us, we'll put it into the right bag and, we'll get we'll get it off to Clemson for you.

Amanda> Thank you so very much.

<Absolutely> Terasa?

Terasa> I was thinking, that Caroline has some more information that she might want to share with us about a different pest.

Oh.

So no more Yellow-Legged Hornets.

Amanda> Okay, what are you going to talk about now?

Caroline> Well, we're changing gears.

We're going to be talking about the Cotton Boll Weevil.

Amanda> I thought we'd eradicated the boll weevil.

Caroline> We sure did.

So just because it's eradicated does not mean that we have stopped our monitoring.

Amanda> Ah.

Cause, who the heck knows.

Yeah.

So, for anybody that may not know, we had cotton boll weevil, a long, long time ago.

And within two years, it wiped out, wiped out about 70% of South Carolina's cotton.

So, in 1983, we, started an eradication process.

And the last boll weevil that was found in South Carolina, it was in 1997.

So since then, we have been weevil free.

But we still want to monitor for it since it is such a harmful pest.

We still have, trapping surveys around the state.

Amanda> And I imagine they still maybe have them in Mexico and places like that.

Caroline> Yes.

So, <which is, you know, right here> Exactly.

So I actually just went to a meeting a few months ago, and we still have, you know, some here and there in Texas, In 2025, they had counted, I think they had 81 weevils caught throughout the entire year, which is great.

Texas.

<In Texas> Right on the Mexico... <Sure.> line.

And then so far, since May of this year, we've only caught eight in Texas.

Amanda> That sounds good.

>> So, it's great to say that this is one of South Carolina's success stories, when it comes to eradication and invasive species, we still have our traps up.

And cotton growers get invoiced each year.

And we are excited to announce that we now have an online payment option for them.

Amanda> And I understand that if you want to grow cotton just for fun in your yard, you're supposed to check in with y'all and let you know and they'll tell you what you need to do.

Is that correct?

Yes.

So we have an online form for anybody that would like to grow ornamental cotton.

It's a form that you fill out.

You also have to sign a compliance agreement with us and pay a $40 fee.

And that all has to happen before May 1st of each year.

But, you know, we get everybody going, we're very excited about cotton.

Amanda> That's, that's wonderful.

Yeah.

We are.

Yeah.

Terasa> My father-in-law happened to work, with the boll weevil back when he worked for USDA.

A.P.H.I.S, I believe, is the department he was affiliated with.

So he's, he's passed now, but, what a connection.

Amanda> Whoa, isn't that fun?

Caroline> Small world.

Amanda> Yeah, yeah.

Amanda> And, as I've been told, the banks way back in the day, wouldn't you loan, wouldn't loan you money to plant anything but cotton.

And so the farmers just went broke year after year after year and lost their farms in the South.

So it was pretty wonderful when you finally came up with something we could do about them.

Yes.

Thanks for telling us all about that.

Carmen> Well, that's really good, because I know a lot of people like the Heritage Gardens that we highlighted.

They all want to do that ornamental cotton.

And so it's very important to know the steps you need to take, to be able to display that.

<Yeah.> And.

Yeah.

Amanda> Yeah.

Thanks.

Okay.

Well, Terasa.

Terasa> Let's see if we can answer another question.

We have Landis from Mount Olive that said, while driving down highways, I'm seeing trees, that are turning reddish brown, but only like from the ground up to 20 feet, and everything else is green.

Why would this be?

Amanda> Well Carmen, what's going on with these trees?

Carmen> Right now, into fall, you're going to see a lot of vegetative management along the highways.

And so what it is doing is there is herbicide spraying for the lower half of the highways.

They do, targeted direct spray.

It's for a couple of reasons.

Mostly to keep, any vegetation from getting above on like, power lines and things like that, and growing into the power lines.

A lot of the times, it's also to keep, a lot of the storm water runoff, from getting clogged up because a lot of the times it's encroaching into areas where the storm water is going.

It does not look good.

It actually looks kind of scary a lot of times.

Many people call and think that it's disease, because it, it's just a very weird red color, that I, you can see in the pictures, but, a lot of...you will see it almost every fall, summer into fall where they're doing the highways as part of vegetative management.

And it stops right there because that's where the sprayer stops.

<Oh> Yeah.

And so they, they try very hard not to drift into other areas that go beyond because they still want to keep the area forested.

But it is a vegetative management, from sometimes D.O.T., sometimes from people's properties.

Amanda> Yeah.

That makes sense.

Terasa> I think sometimes, along railroad tracks, as well.

Carmen> Lots of railroad tracks right away is that is that is our management Amanda> Okay.

Yeah.

Amanda> Well, Terasa, we've got about two minutes left.

Is there something real quick?

Terasa> That's a great question.

I don't have anything lined up, but I'm sure we can come up with something to talk about.

Carmen> Did you know that, he actually loves save seeds, to save seeds?

Brad> Oh goodness!

Amanda> Oh goodness!

Carmen> I have, I've been touting his seed saving program for, for so long since I found out about it.

Brad> Well, it's more of a seed collection at the moment.

I do some seed saving, that kind of thing, but, I've been saving, open pollinated varieties of seed of various kinds just based on whims, for probably the past ten years or so.

And it's got, I've got like 300 varieties of open pollinated garden seed and that kind of thing.

It's kind of embarrassing, honestly.

Amanda> You have to keep it in the freezer?

Brad> I keep them in the freezer.

But even then, even in the freezer, they will eventually lose viability.

And so you still have to grow them out periodically.

And so, yeah, every once in a while, you should see the map that I have of when I'm trying to grow them out.

I've got a four feet of this, four feet of that, side by side, trying to evaluate them all and trying to keep notes on everything, that kind of thing.

So yes, I do have quite the, the seed collection.

Amanda> What's something that you particularly have enjoyed... while going out.

Brad> Probably the most fascinating one that I ever grew was a Crook Neck watermelon.

So it's a green watermelon with a, with a, a crook neck like you would like a crook neck squash, except it's a crook neck watermelon.

And so it's got a handle.

And so it's a, it's a little icebox sized watermelon.

Amanda> Very easy to carry.

Brad> And so I've got pictures of it.

I just don't... they're on my phone, but, it's probably the one of the most interesting things I ever grew, and it's just fascinating.

Amanda> That's kind of fun.

Carmen> Is that what people should do if they want to start getting into the seed saving game?

Just pick the funkiest ones and go for it?

Brad> That's what I, that's what I do.

At the same time too, you know, whenever I'm, deciding whether or not to grow something out or when I am growing something out, I always have something that is kind of like a tried and true, like something that always works.

I know it's going to work.

Because it.

<squash> Yeah, yeah, some, some type of squash or even like varieties of squash.

So if I've got a bunch of different varieties of squash that I want to grow out, I always grow something that I know works.

So that if, if, everything else bombs or like this, works.

This doesn't work over here.

You're, you're looking back at the tried and true going, okay, this one's doing fine.

So it's the variety and not something I did.

Amanda> Okay.

So thank you so much.

Well, Thank you all for...oh, it's so much fun to have new people.

This was just a delight.

I wish we had something happier to talk about in your case.

But anyway, and thank you at home for being with us.

I hope that you'll be with us next week.

Night night.

♪ ♪ ♪ Narrator> Making It Grow is brought to you in part by Certified South Carolina.

This cooperative effort among farmers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture helps consumers identify foods and agricultural products that are grown, harvested or raised right here in the Palmetto State.

McLeod Farms in McBee, South Carolina, family owned and operated since 1916.

This family farm offers seasonal produce, including over 40 varieties of peaches.

Wesley Commons, a full service continuing care retirement community located on more than 150 wooded acres in Greenwood, South Carolina.

Additional funding provided by the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation and Farm Bureau Insurance and Boone Hall Farms.

♪