BOISE, Idaho — For many years and many seasons on 'You Can Grow It', KTVB Garden Master Jim Duthie has covered a huge range of gardening subjects, from growing fruits, flowers and vegetables, to planting trees and identifying native wildflowers.
Duthie gave us tips on how to get rid of wasps, and how to attract essential pollinators like bees and butterflies. He even showed us that some bugs are edible and healthy.
Thursday marks the end of an era, of sorts. With Duthie's retirement at the end of this year, this is his final You Can Grow It feature. So, to mark the occasion, he's showing us some highlights of a few of the fun and special things that he reported on over the last couple of seasons.
It's all about reminding us that no matter what, You Can Grow It.
Succulents:
Are you looking for plants that are beautiful and easy to grow? You may want to try succulents. They come in all kinds of unique and interesting shapes and textures, and they're nearly indestructible.
Indoor Gardening:
There's a huge variety of plants here to bring the outdoors inside, from really big ones, to very small ones. But here's one that doesn't even need to be planted in a pot. It's a tillandsia also known as an air plant.
Carnivorous Plants:
Well, we’ve always heard about Venus fly traps, probably the most well known or famous of the carnivorous plants. What’s so unique about this plant? People like them so much because they’re so active. So all of these other plants are just going to grow, they’re not going to move, but this little guy… when a fly lands on one of these pads, there are little sensors on there, and it will snap shut, trapping it. We're pretending we're a big landing on the trap. Watch how quickly it snaps shut, trapping, and then slowly digesting the insect.
Dahlias:
Dahlias come in an amazing array of colors, shapes, and sizes. There are thousands of different varieties, with new hybrids being developed all the time. Gardeners here in the Treasure Valley love to grow these beautiful blooms.
Scentsy Gardens:
When designing baskets or pottery, the saying that I like to go to is you want a spiller, a filler, and a thriller. So you have a focal point, like the tall canna lilies and striking begonias. Then for something to fill-in, like the bright sun impatiens and the silvery Dusty Miller and then something that cascades down, like these trailing sweet potato vines. A little inspiration for your own patio creation at home.
Terrariums:
Terrariums are a very easy, indoor, kind of low maintenance thing to do and awesome to watch grow. Terrariums can be traditional, or more whimsical, opening a fantasy world of miniature gnomes and fairies. They come in all sizes, some open, some sealed.
Edible Bugs:
When was the last time you ate a bug, at least, that you knew of, and that you really meant to eat? Most of us wouldn’t eat a bug intentionally, but some bugs are very nutritious, and there’s a whole industry out there that makes food products out of bugs.
Wheely Hot Sauce:
Meet Killian McCarty, a Meridian teenager who loves to grow hot peppers. In fact, the hotter the better. Killian even has his own brand of hot sauce, with an unusual name. It's called Killian's Wheely Hot Sauce. Why Wheely Hot Sauce you might ask? "I have wheels on my chair, and it just fits."
Cherries:
Hand-picking millions of pounds of cherries would take forever, but a mechanical harvester makes the process much faster. A cherry shaker gently grasps the trunk of the tree and shakes it for four of five seconds. The cherries fall onto sloping tarps, and into a tank of water, which prevents the soft, ripe cherries from becoming being damaged.
Fabulous Fungi:
There are thousands of varieties of edible mushrooms, some with a very colorful and creative names. Like lion's mane, pearls, blue oysters, pink oysters, and even turkey tail.
Pollinator Garden:
Next to the Garden City Library, on the edge of River Point Park, is a garden bursting with colorful blooms and enchanting scents. It's one of many similar gardens located at various parks throughout the Treasure Valley, all created to attract pollinators, especially our friends, the bees.
Duthie may not be bringing us anymore You Can Grow It features like these, but the You Can Grow It Facebook group is still going to be here. He said he will continue to participate in the online community.
If you're not already, you can be part of the biggest gardening club in Idaho by joining the Facebook page. Just text the word 'GROW' to 208-321-5614, and we will send you a link to join the You Can Grow It group.
Watch more You Can Grow It:
See them all in our YouTube playlist here:
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