Shade Gardening Seminar - January 9th, 2021

Alright, so good morning everybody. My name is Nikki Munro. I am the Environmental Horticulture Agent and Master Gardener Coordinator here in Indian River County. FYI, our office is located on the second floor of the county administration building, B. So where you go to renew your driver's license and pay property taxes, that is where my office is upstairs.

Shade gardening is fun because you don't get as much sunburn. Well, you don't, right? And a lot of things, a lot of people come into the office and they're like, Nikki, I have all these big old oak trees and I can't grow anything under them. This is just a smidgen of the things that you can put under an oak tree and they will all live in happiness and peace, alright? You can have color. You can have lots and lots of green and an easy time of gardening in the shade. You just have to sometimes change your mind about what belongs out there.

So I'll talk about turf as well because that is, ooh, y'all, turf grass is the biggest concern, right? But then when I find out about it, it's more of, I just want something green. I can do that, right? Something green? We can do. Maybe not a big fine stand of turf, but we can do something green, okay? Alright, so we'll talk about what shade is, especially since we're under it. I'll give you some plant options and then I'll give you four tips for a really great experience, right? That's your summary.

Alright, so shade, when those of us who are people who are studying how to grow plants, we consider shade four or fewer hours of direct sunlight. So it's not that there is not any sunlight, that is considered shade. Another thing that is considered shade is dappled light all day. So if the sun were beating down on us right now, there would be a little bit of screen from the leaves and the branches of this tree and that would be dappled sunlight, right? So it would be sunlight all day, but it wouldn't be direct sunlight all of the time. It would be a little scattered with, like scattered clouds, yes?

Okay, and then there is high shifting shade, which we have in our flat woods where you've got pine trees, where the trees shade one section right now and another section at another point in time. That is called high shifting shade, okay? Why is this important for you all to know? It's important for you to know how you are managing and what kind of shade it is you're going to be managing, alright?

And then there are difficult shade conditions to manage as well, right? So those are areas where it is dense and dark and there is basically no sun. I have a corner that is kind of like that in my yard. I love that spot. The lady palms adore it too, but we're fighting, okay? Sometimes the way that you manage that is by not managing it, like repurpose it, do something completely different with it, and then you'll be like, I'm so glad I compromised with myself and my own steadfast thoughts about this space because now I'm enjoying it more, okay?

So what do I mean by that? Turn it into a seating area. How many times do you get to go outside in the sunshine state and not have the sun blazing down in the middle of your head? Come on. So turn it into a seating area. Mulch it, put a few pavers down, put a nice little bench in there. That can be your outdoor reading nook, alright? So there are ways to manage it, and of course you can pot some things that will manage the denser shade as well. There are ways to manage these conditions, okay?

I saw the cutest thing. The problem with me not having like a screen in the back of me is I can't show you all some of the pictures that I saw, but hopefully my description will help. I saw where one fella in Orange County, he has an area that is basically an enclosed courtyard, it's a U-shaped courtyard, and the two corners that do not receive a lot of sunlight, he put garden art there. Like he is a total rock star. He's got the biggest sunflower made out of scrap metal in one corner, and then he has another, I think it's like a big old sunbeam or a rainbow thing in the other corner, it's amazing looking. Sometimes the best way to fight is not to fight it at all, alright?

But if you intend to fight your dense shade, then be kind to yourself and find the plants that say we don't really require as much light, and a lot of those plants are the plants that you grew up north in your house, that you can keep outdoors here all year round, okay? So if your sunlight is being blocked by some permanent structure like a building, do not think all is lost. You can totally work within that condition, okay?

Sometimes the shade can be difficult because it stays super wet as well, or super dry, then you still have to make sure that you're putting the right plant in the right place if you intend to grow anything there, okay? But until you assess what sort of shade it is that you're working with, and the conditions your plants would be growing in, you cannot adequately make a plan for that space, alright?

And remember that you are here in interesting Florida, right? And accommodate for that. I've had people coming into my office from Pennsylvania asking me what is wrong with their turf. There wasn't anything wrong with their turf. They just had another idea of what it should look like, right? Put yourself to the idea that you are here in wonderful Florida, and things don't have to be that bad, right? But you've got to change your idea as to what it is that you're expecting from here. And then you're not putting yourself through a lot of trouble, alright?

So be very, very careful with areas in your landscape that remain wet, unless it's already a wetland area. That might be indicative of a different kind of problem, okay? And I said that at one of my lectures, and this man emails me and says to me, wouldn't you know it? My septic system. I was like, wow! So be careful about what it is that's keeping a particular part of your landscape wet. But you know, there are some swales that are right there within your tree line, and you really want that to look more presentable. There are plants for that space, alright? There are water loving plants that will do very well in that shade.

We do give plant suggestions at the extension office, the Master Gardeners are really great at it. But if you send us an email with the description of your area and say, look, I just want a better view when I'm sipping my coffee. These are the conditions I'm working with. It's not only shady, but it stays wet. You don't have to do the guesswork all by yourself. The one thing I like about here is that they generally put their plants where the plants belong. And some of them can transition in between different areas as well, so you get a pretty good idea as to what conditions and where plants should be in, alright?

Now, one of the things to note is that, and it doesn't feel that way right now, under the canopy of a tree is warmer than outside the canopy of the tree, right? So that is why a lot of times when people have orchids in their trees and we have a rat, those orchids are not dying. It's because they're under the canopy of the tree and the canopy of the tree acts as a buffer, alright? So you don't have to go and run outside and gather all 50 of your favorite orchids every time our temperatures drop, right? What is good to do is water in that area, alright?

Since we're dealing with cold weather. Good to water in your plants prior to a snap and allow the water to act as a blanket for your plants, okay? It's going to steam up when it needs to for you. Alright, is there anything else on that sheet I needed? No, that's it. Oh, fertilizer cannot replace sunlight, folks. If your plants are unhappy with you, fertilizer should not be your first answer. It can be an answer, but it should not be the first answer. Find out what plant it is that you're growing. Figure out if you're growing it in the right conditions. And then, if all of those things check off, then you say, oh, you must be hungry because I've given you everything else that you need. Then you feed your plant, alright?

And of course, if you all are trying to do new plantings, you do not fertilize them until they're established and they can use the fertilizer, okay? So when you're planting your new things in pots, in the ground, anywhere, you don't give it any fertilizer unless it came in the potting mix if you're using pots, right? You don't give it any fertilizer until it's already ready to thrive on its own. It doesn't have the root system. It's not comfortable enough to sit down at your table and eat. So you don't fertilize until it's time for them to eat, okay?

So, this is a three-gallon pot with lady palms, right? You go and you plant this. You should not feed this if you feed it at all. And that's the other thing. This does not need feeding in Florida. I can attest to that. They're happy in our bare soil. Y'all don't laugh. We have soil here. It's sandy soil, but it is still soil. Lady palms are happy in our sand. They do not want to be fed as much as we think they should be fed, if at all. They will take off and do well. So it depends on the plant that you're growing. The size of the plant when you put it in the ground will determine how long it takes for that plant to be established.

So this plant would be established in about a month or two, depending on how you are managing, okay? If you're watering it correctly, if you're weaning it off of your assistance for watering correctly, it should take about a month or two to get established in its spot. Then if you choose, if you think that you want it to grow a little faster or whatever it is that you think it should be doing, then you will feed it, but not before. And most of the time when you pot things, the soil that you're potting it in already has fertilizer. It does not require fertilizing.

In the size pot, if it is correct for that plant, by the time you have to change the soil out of that pot, you should not really have to add fertilizer to it, unless it's not doing something that you want it to do. So if you want more flowers, then sure, you're going to give it something for it to bloom more during the time that you've got it in the pot, right? But for the most part, most of the time when you're planting things, you should not plant with fertilizer, all right? Because the roots are not, they're not happy with you right now. And they're just not, they're like, look, let me, let me regenerate, let me acclimate myself to this spot, and then I'll feel hungry after a while, all right?

So let's go back to making sure I stay on track here. If you are doing a planting under a tree or anywhere else, or even in a pot, right? And you're giving it some friends, make sure they all have the same requirements, all right? That's a problem that we encounter often. One likes it dry, one likes it wetter, one will win, and then you'll be upset. So make sure that you're not wasting your time and energy and effort. Put things together that want to be together. That is very important, okay?

All right, so let's talk about turf before I forget to talk about turf, even though it's on here. I do those things, all right? Turf grass by nature prefers full sun, all right? It's just, there's nowhere around it, they have a preference for full sun. That does not mean that we human beings have not found some little sprigs here and there that have survived in the shade, and we have cobbled them, and we have trained them to spread out just a little bit more. You are never going to get a thick, dense, rich spread of turf grass here in shade conditions. But there are some turf grass cultivars that will survive. They will tolerate shade conditions.

Now, if you all have heard me give a lecture before you all will know that I like to refer to tolerance as your favorite aggravating three-year-old human being that you'd managed to just still show them that you love them and you appreciate their presence, right? That is called tolerance. It is not, you all are best friends and it's going to be thriving and everything is great. No, it's just going to manage. That is what I'm talking about that grass cultivars do in the shade, all right?

So what types of grass will tolerate shade? From most to least, we've got St. Augustine, Zoysha, Centipede, Bahia, which is our native, right? Seashore Passplum, for those of you on the island, and the bane of many a long aficionados existence, Bermuda. Bermuda is considered a weed here. So what does Bermuda do? It will thrive, right? It will be like, I am here to survive, I will do this for you.

All right, so I said St. Augustine first, and we have engineered many cultivars that will tolerate shade, all right? The most tolerant of that is a variety called Seville. It is not going to give you what you will see on the rolling hills somewhere, okay? That is not what that is going to give you. Even though it is the most tolerant of shade, and then it is not tolerant of your foot traffic, it is not tolerant of any abuse, it is there to be pretty, okay? Seville is not going to be happy if you think it has any other use other than, set me down, and I will pose. That's it. Seville is not going to do anything else for you. So if this is where your dog or grandchildren or anybody else is going to be using that space, that's not the grass for you.

None of them are actually, all of the shade tolerant ones are just here for their good looks, all right? So there is also Del Mar by the sea, so you know, that one is engineered truly for the people who have a little bit more salt in their life. Captiva is beautiful, yes, and then there is one called Bitter Blue, which really does have a blue sheen to it. One of these grasses are going to completely cover the space and look absolutely amazing and fabulous, and may I remind you all, St. Augustine grass is a warm season grass. So at this time of the year, it's going to go to sleep. Even if it's for a few days or a couple of weeks, it's going to go to sleep, all right?

Why am I talking these things down? Because I don't like sending people on fool's errands. There are lots of other things that have a grass-like appearance that you can put under a tree and be very jolly growing, all right? Because that's really what your mind is saying, I want something that looks like grass under that tree, it's going to be very comforting. We only know about grass, so that's what we want, right?

Now if you're going to manage turf in the shade, here are your tips for managing it. Always grow it at its maximum height. All right, so the variety that most people have is the variety that grows well in full sun and that's floor-tam. Four to five inches. Uh-huh. Yes, four to five inches is what that grass was engineered to grow at with health and vigor. And I see the looks on your faces because most mowing services do not have their cutters at that level, right? Four to five inches is pretty tall. And then a lot of HOAs have a requirement that is significantly lower as well. And then they call me because they have to re-saw it. And there's a problem. And I say, yes, you're managing this grass in a way that it is not agreed to manage. This turf was engineered, it was grown. You've gotten your instructions on how to manage it and you've completely declined to do so.

So yes, if you have floor-tam, St. Augustine grass in your landscape, go outside with the ruler sometime and just see where you're growing it at. It is going to be higher. It is going to be more competitive with all of the things that you do not like in your grass. But if you continue to mow it back and cut it off, the crown of grass is where all of its life is. And if you're cutting it shorter than how it's supposed to be, then you're cutting off its head basically. And it's going to eventually say, okay, I can't do this. Every time I get to somewhere where I can start to look decent, you keep chopping me back, right?

So definitely, and especially in the adverse conditions of shade, know what variety of grass it is that you're cultivating and be very careful to keep it at its maximum height. You will be a lot happier, okay? Reduce the amount of fertilizer that you're using there. And that's for two good reasons. One of those reasons is it's not going to use that much fertilizer. It does not have that much sun to use it, right? It requires light that is minimized in order to do these light reactions in its leaves. So if it has less light, it needs less components to manufacture what it needs, okay?

The other reason for that is the fertilizer is not going to sit there unwanted. It is going to go somewhere. We already have issues with too much fertilizer being used. And here's the thing. It's either going to get washed away or something you do not like is going to use it. We have a lot of people calling me right now saying, it's like this fungus just sprung up and overtook the whole of my lawn. Well, you fed it just before your grass went to sleep. Something is going to eat those nutrients. And fungi adore when we think that it is the best thing to feed our grass in the winter time. They just love us. They really do. They appreciate this morgis borgue that was laid out before them. So your plant is not going to use it. That's one reason not to waste your time on over fertilizing your turf. And then the other reason is if the grass is not going to eat it, something else will eventually end up with it, okay?

So do not over fertilize your turf grass. Did I say don't fertilize it at all? No. I said do not over fertilize it, okay? It requires less irrigation under shade, okay? The water is not evaporating as rapidly in the shade as it would in the full sun. It does not, excuse me, it does not have that pressure from the direct sunlight that your other turf grass area would have. So it is not necessary to irrigate that area as frequently or at all in most cases, depending on what turf you put down, okay?

Again, avoid heavy traffic. This, if this is your spot where you have your garden parties or you have your book club meetings, shade tolerant turf grass is not for that area. It will not appreciate your efforts at trampling it on a regular basis, okay? And then manage the weeds, mostly handpick them if you can, because the grass is already not thriving, it's barely surviving in that area. So you hit it with anything that kills a plant, it might take a fence and just go ahead and die with its new best friend, all right? So manage that area a little bit more judiciously than you would manage an area that is truly thriving and can withstand that kind of pressure, okay?

Let's talk about alternative ground covers. Things that will look green that are not grass, all right? And there are lots of them. There is Asiatic Jasmine for the spaces where you're not going to be frequenting anyway, so it doesn't matter that this thing comes all the way up to here. You're not traipsing through it, right? That is wonderful to put under an oak tree. It will be best friends, and it's just going to spread out and be just as jolly as it can be, and you will get something beautiful in a deep, rich, very, very dark green is what Asiatic Jasmine is, and it will be happy, and you can go and just move the pieces that are going a little too far out for you. It's a wonderful plant. Surely I've more bought into it. I don't have any of my own yet, but that's because I don't have enough space, right? But if it's a space that you do not really want to use, yes ma'am?

Okay, so you tried using Asiatic Jasmine while you were living in Gainesville, and it's starting to climb up your bricks, and you're wondering if it will harm your bricks. The roots are going into something in your bricks. Okay. I got it. So that might not be the right place for that plant, all right? I'll bless it, wow, yes. So I would put Asiatic Jasmine out into my yard space. I try not to put things that are going to climb up the walls. I like climbing up my own walls. At least that's what my children tell me, all right? But Asiatic Jasmine is beautiful. It's super lush. It's really green. And once one of two of them gets established, step back. It will do its own thing. You do not need to put like that tree there, that big old oak tree behind you all. I would put maybe six of them down, really well spaced and far away, and give it time. Give it some time. Let it get out and spread its wings and do its thing, and then they won't fight with one another, and then you're not over there fighting in it. You don't want to create more work for yourself, okay?

Consider what the mature size of your plant is going to be, and then plant for that. It is truly something of patience, and if you have very little, put a few pots in there while those things start to expand on out, and then move the pots afterwards. Oh, I always have a plan for something. Let me let you all know. Yes, I always have a plan, all right?

Algerian ivy is another wonderful creeping thing that will take off under your trees, and it'll go up your trees a wee bit. It's not going to harm your trees. They sit around, and they drink beer, and they talk about the weather on a regular basis, okay? That's what Algerian ivy and your trees are going to do, or whatever your shade space happens to be. Again, these creeping, climbing things that I'm telling, I'm recommending to you all, I would not put them near my wall, all right? I don't recommend them for walls. There are some people who love them going up their walls. Me? Not me. All right.

Past iron plant. I met that plant in my landscape when I got my house, and I thought to myself, it sure stays green, and it's just doing its thing. I had a whole 22-year-old fall on top of the stand of it. He got up out of it, and it was like, oh, not a problem. It's still there. It's green, it's in that corner. It's cohabitating with the lady palms. I don't really argue with them too much. I put a few Agapanthus in there just for a little spot of color, and I let the three of them live their best lives. I know how to pick my battles. I have two adult sons. I know how to pick my battles, all right? Plants are not going to be that. These three things are in my corner that gets a lot of shade, and they're all living just fine.

This is ... so, cast iron plant is truly a plant that will not climb up your walls, though, but it's just going to spread all along the ground. If you do not want it all over the whole entire space, do not put it down, because it will do that, okay? And you're going to want to fight with it. Do not fight with plants. Don't start a problem. Do not create a problem for yourself, okay? Nature will win. Okay.

Kunti. And, yes, I've seen and taken pictures of the Itala butterfly caterpillars over on the island side, and people are still finding them in Falzmer, so if you want to strike a blow for the butterflies, Kunti is the way to go. Now, I've seen Kunti in other places where they keep them hacked back. If you intend to plant Kunti, please know it is supposed to be a mound, all right? I have issues with the way we manage the plants that are mounds, because we do this with Plumbago as well. We're turning it into a little rectangular lollipop-looking thing. What's up with that? Kunti is supposed to be a mound, right? It is a green, feathery mound of ... it looks kind of like a palm. As a matter of fact, people will say it's a Kunti palm, no, it's not a palm. It's a cycad, but it can grow to be about this high, right? That's about four feet, ain't it? Yes.

So, it will grow to about four feet high in a big old mound that is about equal size as well. Please think about that when you install Kuntis. I have two in the shade spot in my shade corner in my landscape. They come and they go as they feel like. If I see a few leaves on them, I say hello. If I don't see a few leaves on them, I'm like, okay, you went back to sleep again, wonderful. They will be nice and green and lush and happy in part shade conditions, not full. That's why they come and go in my one corner, right? They will be full and green in part shade conditions. And when you read about them, you will find out that is what they prefer. They'll manage to live in full sun. That's not their favorite lifestyle. Their favorite lifestyle is in part shade or dappled sunlight like we have under this canopy, all right?

Mondo grass is not a grass. It just looks like grass. It's really a variety of lily, right? Now work with me on this. It's got the leafy looking look of grass. It's deep green in color and it grows to about this high and it stays that way. If you threw Mondo grass underneath your oak tree, right? And then you don't even have to mow it. It just looks like grass. Would you not rather that than fighting with poor turf? Mondo grass is not going to be keen on you stepping on it either because it is a variety of lily and it is pretty succulent, okay? So if you're going to use that spot for walk-in, Mondo grass is not for that spot either, okay?

And then there's the everybody's favorite lariope. I use lariope to edge pathways, okay? Lariope will do very, very well under shade conditions, especially if you're using it as the border, right? If you want to pretend that there is some order and that this space here is buried off from this space there, lariope is a good answer. There are varieties that stay short at about six inches and most of them come up to about 12 inches. So you've got the beautiful long leaf blade and then they come up with these little pretty, they look like lavender flowers and then they make little black colored berries on them. They're a lot of fun and they're very, very cold tolerant because they managed to survive when I was living in Alabama outside. But they don't really mind the weather. We mind the weather, but they don't.

And then there's such a thing as swamp fern for those of you who do have the wet component. Swamp fern is a beautiful native plant that comes out and all of the new parts of it comes out with a little blush of a bronze pink color. Yeah, it is gorgeous. It's interesting, right? And then it grows up to be just a regular looking fern fern, but it will take up a space. It will make a nice backdrop for a few other things with color, but it stays nice and green. It will not mind the wet space and it'll keep you happy that you've occupied that area with something other than whatever the ugliness was before. That's going to be good. All right.

Okay, so let's talk about ornamentals, right? My favorite spot in my shade area. I have Carissa, Coleus, Agapanthus, Ground Orchids, Amaryllis, Spider Lilies. I have lots of green in my shade space. My neighbors who were questioning my mental health when I first started working on my yard are not questioning, what is all that green stuff? Like, I have no green stuff under my trees and I'm like, oh, this is wonderful bait. You know, I rubbed my hands together like, come here, you converts. Come to my world. We've got plants over here.

Anyway, so let's talk about some ornamentals and the ways to manage them as well. Yes, because that's important. So there are some perennials for the shade and please remember that lots of things that are annuals further north are perennials here in magnificent Florida. Why is that? Because our growing conditions remain conducive to them being happy. We do not have a killing frost, okay? So there are lots of things that you would have grown as an annual, like Coleus. You would not believe the ways that Coleus thrives all the time in my yard and I have to go kill it. I just go snip a piece off, drop it into the ground and, you know, put in my replacement and pull out the more woody pieces away. It's really easy. It's a lot of fun. Two of my volunteers called it the friendship plant because you just snip a piece and give it to somebody else. Isn't that sweet? I love the way people refer to things.

All right, so perennials for the shade begonias. Notice I have a bunch of begonias up here. I don't have any of the angel wing begonias, oh, no I don't. But that's because I didn't have a chance to grab any, but I have one in a peach color. Somebody who loves me gave me that. It's amazing. It really is. All right, so begonias are a great option, bromeliads. Tell me you wouldn't see this in the shade. You would definitely see this, right? And this, that's color, right? The biggest complaint is I can't get anything green and there's no color. Plenty color is available. It just depends on what the packaging of that color happens to be, right? We've got to readjust our ideas of how that color would be packaged.

My favorite thing about adding color in a shade space, pots. Pots pop in shade spaces if you choose the correct colors. The lighter and brighter your colors are, the more visible they're going to be seen, they're going to be in those shade areas, all right? So when you're thinking about your plants, also think about some pots. You don't have to grow them in pots, but it will be easy, all right? Then there are colladiums. There's some really, really nice bulbs and unfortunately there was no colladium festival this year, well last year. Hopefully we'll open up enough for us to have it this year.

And then there's this really, really gorgeous leafy plant called Persian Shield. I did not see any in the shade house, but it's got this iridescent greenish, purplish leaf to it. It is so gorgeous, like it is really a fantastic plant. When I first saw it, I was working on a little project for a rehab house. And I was like, what do I put in here? Because they had a little courtyard Persian Shield, beautiful, beautiful plant. It's definitely something that you can use for foliage, all right?

And then shrubs, shrubs are a lot of fun. There are a lot of people who have issues with, especially the spaces on your fence line. If you have a southern facing fence line, what are you going to grow on the other end of that? You know? Or if you have a western fence line or the eastern side, the northern side is pretty good because if it's to the north of your landscape, then it's going to get the southern sun. Even that is iffy sometimes too though, because it's to the north of your property. But long story short, there are people who need some options for shrubs, okay?

Jacobinia. I have a volunteer who has the biggest one of them in a pot. I kid you not. And she's just afraid to remove it from the pot now because she didn't realize it was going to be that big. But it is huge. It grows to about five or six feet tall if you're trying to manage it at any level. And it has the cutest sprigs of pink flowers ever. It looks, it is ridiculously sweet. But the flowering, it produces more when it is in part shade, when it is with less light. It is very unhappy in full sun. The leaves burn up. It looks like you have hurt all of its feelings because you did, right? So if you ever want something that looks really, really deep green, and then you've got the bright pops of really, really light pink, it looks like a carnation pink that they come out in. Okay? Now they do have other colors of the flowers, but that's the one that I saw the picture of. It's amazing. All right.

Beauty Berry is a wonderful shrub, okay? It prefers part shade. As a matter of fact, if you tuck it up under your oak trees, it is going to love you forever and ever and ever. And so will the birds that are going to be frequenting your oak tree anyway, all right? So you're going to get a double whammy for planting Beauty Berry because you'll get some of the butterflies that'll come and nectar at your Beauty Berry plant. You'll get the birds that'll come and eat this, the berries once it produces. And you'll have the light green foliage of Beauty Berry is going to brighten up under your shade, okay? And of course, the berries themselves are, they're kind of a mix between lavender and magenta. Like they are bright purple. Like if there is a neon for purple, that would be it. They're that bright. But the whole plant itself is very conspicuous. You are going to see that plant in the shade, okay?

Wild coffee, please do not contemplate using these beans, these berries. The scientific name has nervosa in it for a reason, okay? It will make you sick. Leave the berries for the birds. But wild coffee comes in a shiny leaf form and a satin in a matte leaf form. They are native to Florida. They will thrive in your shade conditions. They make little white flowers and then they produce very bright deep red berries. So talk about a lot of color in your shade conditions. That is another really great plant. And you can find wild coffee and Beauty Berry living in peace and harmony all over into wild areas. You want to, and I do suggest diversifying your hedges and diversifying your little shrubs in your landscape. That's a really great combination.

Alright, coleus, which I mentioned already, can be grown as big as what most people have as shrubs in their landscape, okay? It's really easy. They will take off like wildfire. But they're not aerodynamic, okay? The first few winds will really knock them out and you just pick up a piece or two and put it back down into the ground. So I wouldn't grow coleus as a shrub. I would grow coleus as one of the little ornamentals that I'll keep on rotating in and out of my garden beds and putting into different spaces. Alright, that's how I would grow coleus.

Beauty palms, they will be happy in pots Beauty palms, they will be happy in pots like how you've had to have them up north. And they will be even happier in the ground. They take off, they produce babies in runners, okay? So just letting you know. But the good thing with that is, as one of them becomes too tall and you think that it's not what you want anymore, you just snip that one away and the others that have popped up will take in that space. That's the way that I manage my little lady palms. I do not fight with them. I told y'all already, I'm not ready for those kinds of wars. I have not tried to remove them completely or eradicate them, no. They are there and I have told myself, they're green, they're amazing. What height do I want to remove any of them at? I've determined my height and when any of them get to that height, I go in there and I snip, snip and I keep myself moving. That's what I've done with my lady palms that are in the ground.

In a pot, every time you repot your lady palms, that's when I would call any of them that I think are too many in the pot, okay? That's when I would do it. And that size pot, you're supposed to repot them every year. 12 inches or smaller, you're going to repot your plants. You're going to remove the soil, you're going to change out the soil every year. Every other year for the other ones and if you're really determined, you'll just take half of the soil out and put the other half of the soil in if you really want to be high maintenance about it, okay?

Hosta, yes, really. There is a sun hosta. I've only ever known hostas in Alabama. I know what the cultural requirements are for it. So when I saw a variety of hosta being sold here, I was like, wow, that's amazing. And I found one on my back doorstep a few weeks ago. I'm the master gardener coordinator. Master gardeners drop off things to me all the time. I'm always adopting a plant by default, right? So I now own a sun hosta. Pray for it, y'all, pray for that poor little plant, okay?

And then there are other things that are like hosta alternatives. So there are some varieties of gingers that do well and you'll see the leaves of them that they'll resemble hostas a lot, but they're not a hosta botanically. They have some of them here in the greenhouses, in the shadehouses here. So they'll have the same kind of leaf look. So they'll have the same look, but not the same plant, all right?

And then I talked about my bulbs before. So I have agapanthus, spider lily, amaryllis. I have some real garlic, because I'm that kind of person, real onions. So a lot of plants in the lily family. We'll do well here. Oh, I have crinums. I have some hot pink crinums, y'all. Let me tell you, that was the surprise of the year last year, because, again, I ended up with these plants in my doorstep, right? I go and I put them in. I just know they're crinums. When those things bloomed out, I was like, hallelujah, look at this. Guess whose favorite color was never pink?

Don't you get the horrible crickets in the crinums? No. Oh, you're right. I'm forgetting. Somebody has to tell me. No, I don't get crickets in my crinums. I will admit to you, though, that my crinums are in my backyard, near my hot pink crepe myrtle. Y'all, I cannot make this up. I didn't know what color they were going to be. I just put them over there in that corner, because I thought they needed to be friends. So my crinums are also out there with a few other plants that attract a whole bunch of other insects. I don't think the crickets were very fond of that many other things being around. They tend to like going in the spots where them and only God exist, and they make their music for everybody else like that. They like to be on stage. There is no place in my landscape like that. There is no spot for them. Yes, sir?

How do I grow garlic? I have my raised garden bed, and one of my volunteers had some extra starts, and so she sent me a message on Facebook and said, hey, Nikki, you know that garlic you were interested in? I have so much more than I really needed, so I'm dropping it off to your office, and I threw it into my raised bed along the edges, because they're going to take longer than my other crops to come in, and they're just sitting there. They're just happy as can be. I will be honest with you. I don't know where she got them from. We're members of a lot of the little gardening groups on Facebook, and so it's a way for a lot of people who recently moved down here, and they don't really have any new friends. I joined gardening groups. I am the master gardener coordinator, so that's how I've made friends here, and so I'm pretty sure that somebody in one of these gardening groups said, hey, y'all, I have a ton of this garlic, and I'm not going to use it all, so I'll share. I think that's where she got it from.

I would recommend that if you do join a gardening group, make sure it says Central Florida. That way, people are exchanging things with you that is growing in our region. That's very important, but if you send me an email, I can find out what variety of garlic it was and who we got it from, because it's still not too late to put it in. You're welcome.

All right, there is a Gloriosa Lily. I don't own one of them yet, but there is a really sweet human being who says they're going to share with me. I can't wait. It is really, it goes by its name, it is glorious. It has like this orange and red, and it looks like a big old fireball that's just hanging off the vine. It's amazing, and you can trellis it, and it grows well. It plays well with passion vine and other things like that, and it has zero issues. It will climb up your trees, and then you'll have these little lilies just hanging off your trees. Who doesn't want something other than just oak tree? Isn't that why we hang our orchids and stuff in the oak trees anyway to decorate it a little bit? Gloriosas. Yes.

You're looking at me like, man, you're giving me all kinds of ideas. Let me tell you, this is the mind of a person who y'all should have prayed for my teachers when you all knew, if you all had known them. All right, Spider Lily is a native, and it does have like a spider web form. It has like this radiating white cloud with little things hanging off the ends of it. It looks like a spider in a web. I don't like arachnids, y'all. I have a very famous Facebook post where the remnants of one was on my wall, and my son had to come home and clean it. I don't do them. However, the Spider Lily, it looks like a bunch of white light bulbs underneath my oak trees in my front yard. That was one of the biggest attractions for the neighbors. I love the looky-loos. I do. I gave them something to look at, and the question was, what are those, right?

All right, so most bulbs do well in the shade here. Now, I'm not talking about tulips. Y'all, tulips, no. Those need to stay in your house if you keep your house at 60-some-odd degrees. That's where tulips belong in Florida, okay, and in the grocery store.

Okay, so let's talk about your four tips for the best experience ever. You are ready for your four tips? Here we go. Manage dense root systems because, remember, oak trees have the best root system ever, right? By using small plants, you don't have as big a hole to dig if you're going to put any in the ground at all, okay? That's one thing, and the smaller plants, they usually cost less, and they're still going to grow to their mature size. You just have to have a little bit more patience, and I kind of like going out there and being surprised at, oh my, how big you've gotten, right?

All right, and then use containers. Sometimes we have to admit to ourselves that our knees and back are not what they used to be, okay? We all just need to admit to that and say to ourselves, all right, here we go. I know, I'll just use containers. I put a few containers on the ground here so you all can see. It's no offense to the containers. They don't mind. They're being used. They're going to be happy, okay? Pots and the plants will be an opportunity to add color, all right?

Try not to overfill the pots. The pots do not have to be completely filled up at the time of planting. Remember to accommodate for what the plants will eventually be. That's important, okay? All right, light colored flowers will show best in the shade. The closer to white, so the light pinks, you know, the shell pink here, oh, isn't that gorgeous? Yes, all right?

Make a plan, start small, okay? And the biggest tip of the mall is enjoy yourself. Totally go out there and say, I love myself and the space that I'm in and I intend to do one quarter of the side of this tree even though I know what my whole plan is or I intend to put down my Asiatic Jasmine today and my begonias next week. You do not have to do it all in one shot, okay? Be kind to yourselves. Have a great time shade gardening. I'm going to be drinking lemonade in my shade space when it warms up. But for right now, I'm drinking hot coffee in my shade space.

Oh, and my little recommendation for when you all put seating in your shade spaces, put them on some pavers. That way you don't end up with the rotting or the rusting of your chairs, okay? So they pick up their chairs, but if they didn't pick up their chairs out here, you should put some pavers down to keep them up off of the ground and that way the microbes and other things don't say to themselves, oh, yay, more food. All right, that's it. Thank you all so much.