Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Everlasting Labels




Wednesday, June 11, 2014

 A beautiful day here on the mountain. Not a cloud in the sky, windless, 46°, birds singing at the house, loons talking at the pond. Just spoke with a friend in Barre, 20 miles away, and it's clouded over there. Last night as I watched the baseball game it was raining in Baltimore and Philly so I expected we might see some much needed rain today. Right now there's no indication here.

There's always talk about what garden labels to use. For years I used a large white plastic cardboard label in our display gardens but then people complained that the gardens looked like cemeteries. I switched to Paw Paw Everlasting Labels, pictured here for the display gardens but I still use the Parker Davis labels to mark all the rows in the growing fields. They make it easier for old eyes to see when I am on the hunt for a daylily to dig. I like this Paw Paw brand because they hold up in heavy snow and they don't corrode like some. I buy the rose markers because they are tall enough to put in front of tall hostas such as Abba Dabba Do or Empress Wu and still be able to see the name. Obviously with something like hostas you have to move the markers forward as the summer progresses and the hostas grow.



For labels I have always used Avery brand laser labels. I have never spent the money on the weatherproof labels as it's not necessary. As example of durability, I put labels into the hosta display garden when I began building it 7 years ago. Three years ago there was a tropical storm and the garden flooded under ten feet of water. Many of the labels--an plants-- were torn out of the ground. Last week a helper found a collection of labels that had floated until caught by a Nugget ninebark and then covered with gravel. They had been underground for over 3 years and all the labels were still in place and readable. The markers were a different story as rolling through the flood had twisted them out of use.

The labels are the peel off type so they are easy to make on the computer. Do not use an ink jet printer as the labels will run when it rains. Some say you just sandpaper the marker face to get them to stay put but that's not needed. Just don't buy the no-name cheap labels because laser or not, I hear they don't work. Avery works!



As a caution to my bad memory, I always "plant" a white plastic plant marker with the plant name written in No. 2 pencil with every plant. Since I do all the planting myself,  I always plant the marker positioned at about 3 o'clock so I know where to look if the other marker is moved. This has never failed me, not even one time when a  kid (g-r-r-r-r-) decided that collecting the tall markers was fun while her mother was walking the display. My only other problem was memory because after that flood, many hostas were torn up and floated away. Those that landed close by included over 35 "blues". Take it from me, blues are not the easiest to identify in that number.

Well, I have to get clicking here. Start the day opening up the business for Gail and then I heave to head for Montpelier for the dentist, then the credit union, the ag supply, and the plumbing supply. I'll be busy. Bet you will too. Come visit soon!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener 
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as my personal page, George Africa. Lots of pictures on each.
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Sunday, June 08, 2014

Dividing Daylilies


Sunday, June 8, 2014

Up early this morning to get some paperwork out of the way and get to the flower farm to get set up for a busy day. Just spent two days getting the shade cloth on the three shade houses. This is a lot of up and down ladder work and is tiring to the hands because bungie cords are used to secure the cloth to the pipe frames. You have to hang onto the ladder and pipe frame, thread the cords through the cloth grommets and then wrap the cords to the pipe. Trouble is it's required every two feet (lots of ladder moving!) and in the end you have to secure the cloth against high winds with rope criss-crossed across the roofs. My friend Michelle helped get it done this year as Michael is a new college graduate and on to a new job, Steve is cutting and delivering firewood like crazy and Gail and Alex have never developed a fondness for anything above the first step of a ladder. 

I continue to dig and divide daylilies that did not get finshed last fall and I have 9 buckets of new daylilies lined up to plant today.  I dug this Citrina altissima a week and a half ago but wanted to mention that this is still a fine time to do the dividing. Although some people think it's too late, there is no bad time with a daylily although most prefer to see them bloom first or divide them early on before they produce buds. I like any of the Citrinas because of the high bud count, vigorous growth rate and nocturnal bloom, and lemon fragrance.

So get out the spade forks or shovels and dig out some clumps ( I dug Alna's Pride yesterday), stretch a little first and then use a sharpe knife or even a sheetrock knife to cut the pieces apart. Some daylilies will come apart with your hands but others need some extra help. If you can't seem to get it, stop by and we'll find something here to let you work on. 

Be well and have a fun Sunday. Lots going on at the flower farm so stop by if you are around.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens (Like us!!) and a personal gardening page, George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Always here to help you grow your green thumb!