Do pumpkins grow well in Iowa?

For the most part, they do.

The only thing that's challenging about pumpkins is that they do have a lot of potential problems.

They have a lot of insect disease and even weeding is hard in pumpkins because of the way that they grow.

And so you do have to kind of do a lot of regular check-ins with your pumpkins and addressing issues as soon as you notice them.

Squash bugs or squash vine borer.

Thankfully, those insects tend to like other types of squashes a little bit more than maybe pumpkins, but they still absolutely can affect pumpkins.

All right, so is this something that you can direct sow? Do you need to start your pumpkin plants early?

What's next on

your list? I think looking at stuff that's a little shorter and smaller, I like the stuff that sits at the end or the edge of the border.

And I feel like, I mean, I kind of like collecting plants a little bit.

So I like these little guys because they can kind of, you know, be tucked here, there and everywhere.

And so one of them that's on my list that I see around, but I don't see in people's landscapes as often is Ozark sundrops.

So this is another name for it is Missouri Evening Primrose.

And this is another prairie native.

What else is on your list, Aaron?

And what kind of environment do clematis thrive in? What, where should you plant 'em?

So they have a reputation of being a little finicky about their location, and in reality, it's probably more accurate to say they're finicky about establishment, and then once they're there and established, they're pretty tough plants.

They grow best in full sun, um, and they will flower best in full sun, but they don't like hot roots basically.

They want a kind of more shaded or cool root zone.

And so we can do this by simply planting, uh, other perennials around the base of clematis.

It's not uncommon for clematis to get a little leggy at the bottom anyway, and so that can help with that.

Mulch of course helps a lot.

Mm-hmm.