First Snow

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Returned home late yesterday, but fully aware that a big storm was coming. It was billed as a possible nor'easter and I knew that this time of year that could mean about anything. One forecaster had the Adirondacks of New York lined up with 12-14 inches of snow and high winds so I decided I'd try one last time to grab a few pictures and enjoy the fall scene.

The list of things to clean up in the gardens before serious snow arrives is quite long and this apparently is not the year to challenge Mother Nature. That reminder was confirmed when Vermont Public Radio mentioned a major storm of over a foot of snow on the same day in 1952. Although quite young, I remember that year well because that was when we were fairly new to Vermont and depended on a vegetable garden for food. Let me leave it that there was just not a lot to go around. Unlike the melting snow, those memories have never left me.

I changed quickly and got Karl the Wonder Dog and the camera and away we went with Karl's nose pointed out the truck window, sniffing and snorting fall smells of interest. We arrived down at Ethan Allen Corners and the view I wanted was perfect, although the rain didn't help the photographer much. The tamaracks are a beautiful yellow right now and they contrast against the rusty browns and yellows of the swamp grass. This valley opens with wildlife this time of year as large game cross back and forth and waterfowl follow the small stream southwest to where it meets the Winooski River. This is an area that makes you want to stop and stare and enjoy.

We turned around and headed back home as I wanted to walk the shade garden again. That garden has been a part of me since I began to build it years ago. It presents a tranquility, a peacefulness that I thrive on. I miss it when I can't find the time to enjoy it.

We made it to the garden bench and I spread out my jacket and sat down. Karl chased a chipmunk that was missing an inch of his tail. Rain fell, but the smell of the leaves on the air was refreshing just the same. In front of me were dozens of hostas, topless and well trimmed. Deer on fall maneuvers had diligently eaten each leaf, flower scape and seed pod, leaving only spiky looking affairs that could have served as models to Dale Chihuly's beautiful glass art. Oh those deer...what an unusual relationship I have with them!

I couldn't sit as long as I wanted. Karl was impatient and I wanted to walk a little more. The power of the granite foundation blocks looked stronger than ever, their color enhanced by the rain. The Christmas Ferns were beautiful and the adjacent groupings of European Ginger contrasted so well with the fallen maple leaves.


As Karl and I walked up out of the sunken garden, the Japanese primroses and the various hellebores were obvious. The wet summer days had set the year's seed crop well and gave last year's new plants a good jump start. Next spring Gail will have a good selection to dig and pot for sales.

We reached the yard and I noticed a crab apple tree shaking with a flock of robins devouring the seeded fruits.For some reason a line from an old Johnny Cash song came back to me, not the song's name, not the whole line, just a piece, hopefully correct, kind of appropriate to the view.

"Did you ever see a robin weep, when leaves begin to die?"

We grabbed the mail out of the box, waved to a passing neighbor and headed for the house. Our brief mission was complete.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where geese are resting for the night, hopeful for clear skies tomorrow.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Drying Hydrangeas

Sunday, October 26, 2008

5:30 PM and the sun already slid over the mountain and the high 50's temperatures that made today so nice are down to 42 already. Two beautiful Sundays in a row have given us an opportunity to scratch off a couple more things from the fall clean up list. My problem was the "us" fell apart after lunch and left me to work on alone. Gail and Alex headed to Studio Place Arts
in Barre to hear a lecture. Stephen Bissette, an instructor and consultant for The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Jct, Vt, was offering Ghosts, Graphic Novels, Manga and Comics: An Introduction to the Medium.

For those who don't know, Alex is our favorite home schooler and one of his pursuits is drawing. His comics always involve our current and past two dogs, Barney, Baker and Karl, and always are drawn in black and white. Humans are absent from Alex's cartoons as the dogs carry out human type conversations with a perspective of dog sense. Anyho-o-o-o-o, in their absense, I finished the afternoon off at the nursery repairing some fence and tightening a couple pieces that had moose stretches.

It's too late here in Vermont for this suggestion but the hydrangea up top here was supposed to be a reminder a couple months back that if you enjoy your hydrangeas in the garden, you can easily enjoy them in the house once they are dried. And the drying part is easy. Pick your hydrangeas early on when they are fresh and perky. Place them in a vase with a couple inches of water. When they have taken in all the water and the vase is dry, the hydrangeas will be dry themselves and they will keep as long as you want. This makes them attractive in dried arrangements or in an arrangement just by themselves. With all the different hydrangeas on the market how, you have a good selection. Currently I am studying them as I want to carry some at our nursery next year, regardless of what the economy is doing. Right now I am gathering info on hardiness so if any of you can recommend zone 4a and 3 hardy hydrangeas, let me know.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the robins are in flocks going nowhere but to the crab apples. Sargent crab apple, Malus 'sargentii', gets my vote. White flowers in spring, dark foliage in summer and small dark red fruit in fall allowing seed-loving birds a place to dine. Right now the robins are using a menu with only one item but they are certainly chowing down!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Making New Beds

Aster 'Alma potschke' still blooming

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Getting late already and I haven't come close to the list of things which have to be accomplished before my head hits the pillow. One of the girls next door just left. 16 years old today and she had printer problems finishing up a school paper. The interruption was brief and it was fine as she's a good kid--but it was an interruption.

After work today Karl the Wonder Dog and I headed to the nursery to pull the water pump for the winter. Next year when I finally get an insulated pump house built, this whole procedure won't be necessary but for this year there is no choice. It's a half horse shallow well pump that sits atop a pressure tank and neither of those would fare well at 25 degrees below zero. The advent of winter strongly suggests precautionary measures when it comes to water pumps and faucets, water lines and irrigation.

We got to the nursery just after 4 and I took Karl for his regular perimeter walk. I really didn't want to spend so much time but he had been cooped up today as Gail and Alex had headed for Burlington before noon. As we returned to the truck, he refused to get back inside and he ran around in circles at top speed challenging with nips and barking sounds of "This is fun, this is fun." Dogs which misbehave bug me and I wasn't in the mood for another walk. Then I remembered he had been by himself until I came home, he does enjoy the smells of autumn and we are really friends.

It took an hour to disconnect the electric, and unplumb and drain everything but that was easy compared to carrying the pump up the clay-slick river bank to the truck. I secured it with some spaghetti straps and then sat in the truck with Karl, having a bottle of water and catching my breath. As I looked across the field, it was instant gratification of what we accomplished this year.

Just last week the new daylily plots had turned yellow and I began tilling them. Since these plots were closer to the river than the 24 I made last year, the tilling was easier as the soil is more loan, less clay. Just the same it took dozens of repetitions to begin to get things in shape. The 30 horse tractor is not a big rig but it plugs along and does a nice job. Although the weather prediction is for 1"-3" of white stuff tonight, I still have time to spread calcium sulphate over all this new work and then re-till one more time before serious snow arrives and accumulates.

Calcium sulphate is the miracle worker for breaking down the clay soil. It is an acid and that means that when the job is done I'll have to balance back to where I want to be, ph-wise. No matter to me as it's good stuff and it works better than anything I have ever seen. I spread by hand so I'll be talking to myself a bunch before that's over, perhaps accompanied by some I pod tunes and thoughts of next year. For right now, good thoughts are sufficient!



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Karl and I passed a sow bear and two cubs on the way home tonight. I'm thinking this was the same family that was here last night which translates to a walking tour of 3-5 miles for them since last night. I don't talk to bears unless I have to and I am pleased to say that none have ever spoken to me.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm A website about our business and how we build thoughts and gardens

As a PS: Give Bernd Heinrich a read if you want to know what bears and other creatures do this time of year. His book, Winter World, The Ingenuity of Animal Survival is great!

Blog Action Day: Poverty 2008

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

If you have been following The Vermont Gardener, you might have noticed a banner on the right side of my page. It sponsors Blog Action Day which this year honors the topic of poverty. Blog Action Day affords interested bloggers the opportunity to share their thoughts on a special day and a special topic. Poverty is an issue we hope did not exist, in America or in the world. Trouble is, this is a tremendous issue that requires our help.

Here in Marshfield, Vermont our small community of 1500 members tries to work together to exist in this difficult world. We have a community center which serves as our library and the office of our village and town government. The center is a meeting place for a number of ongoing activities and it also provides space for our Food Shelf.

Eighty year old Winnie Mundinger is in charge of the Food Shelf which she manages with a smile and an enthusiasm big enough to take on any challenge. Food deliveries arrive on scheduled Saturday mornings and Winnie's volunteer crew arrives to unload the truck and prepare food goods for a waiting line of needy community members.

As if this isn't a big enough challenge, Winnie helps manage and cook for the Senior Meals Program three days a week, she helps schedule a foot clinic for seniors, and offers special activities to keep them mentally fit too! Although the Marshfield Food Shelf is part of our community, members from surrounding communities can obtain services too. With Winnie at the helm, no one is ever overlooked.

Volunteering to help your local food shelf is something you and your family members can do no matter where you live. There are other activities related to social services which you can provide too. I'll always remember a winter day years ago when I found Gail and Alex putting together a food basket. I inquired who it was for and Gail replied "Sam". "Sam?????" I didn't know any Sam. Gail explained that Sam was the little old man who lived down the road in the fallen down home with the rusty car and the little fluffy dog. I usually saw him at the spring by the side of the road filling plastic water jugs as he didn't have running water.

Gail didn't know his name but she thought the winter had been long enough already and with holidays approaching, he needed something, unexpected and unasked for. Gail said she wanted Alex to be a part of the process so he could begin to understand our responsibility to others we don't even know. They finalized the gift with some little doggie treats wrapped in a bow and away they went to meet a person neither knew.

The visit was a great success and Gail said the smile on Sam's face was committed to memory with her and Alex forever. Not too much later, Sam had to move to a nursing facility and then he passed on. But for a brief time, the ray of light brightened the loneliness of poverty and an old man smiled and shared conversation that made for a better day. Each of us can recreate this same scene time and again if we just take the first step. Reread this little story and make a plan. Your reward won't be measured in dollars or cents but it will be immeasurable!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where each member of our community has a gift that needs to be shared.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm


Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty was a huge success! Try http://blogactionday.org
for follow up.

Poppies Friends

Monday, October 6, 2008

It's 34 degrees right now and the temperature is beginning to fall, but not quite as fast as the market did around 11 this morning. The temperature has actually been more predictable for me of late than the stock market.

We pulled the last of the zinnias last night knowing that "the real frost" would be here soon. This was a troublesome project and I had real problems pulling up perfectly beautiful flowers. I relented for a few brief moments and walked to the top of the hill for a 5 gallon bucket for one last bouquet.

Our building looked great surrounded by autumn colors but Gail and I knew that it's not uncommon to see snowflakes now so we busied ourselves with all the garden chores. Two hours later the truck was filled to the roof with spent Benary zinnias and the lone bucket of absolutely beautiful flowers sat in the middle of the garden, a new-found place of respite for every bumble bee in town.
But why the picture of the poppy serving as an intro above? Because we like Oriental Poppies and have finally figured out a thoughtful means of dealing with their spent foliage in July.

Oriental poppies come in many colors now so the orange that I grew up with is now accompanied by ruby and scarlet, pink, salmon, white and red. They all like full sun in Vermont but will take partial sun/shade if the "sun" part prevails more than shade. They are about 30" tall, eye catchers-in-bloom, are resistant to deer and they leave a giant gaping hole in your garden when their bloom time ends and they have to catch their breath for next year.

At last, I propose a possible solution!! Try planting anemones and Oriental lilies such as Uchida two feet or so from each poppy. These two are late bloomers so they will not detract from the poppies but will grow upward above the spent foliage and fill in the holes. If you have ever grown poppies before, you understand this problem without further description.





Anenomes are hardy perennials that grow in full sun to partial shade. Gail has grown Queen Charlotte and Robustissima for us for years now and added A. Pamina this year. The first two have proven themselves hardy in our changing climate. The good part is they are late bloomers with first flowers in mid September and lasting through at least the first three weeks of October.

When you have a need to try to get around the poppy-hole-problem or just want some nice fall colors, give the anenomes a try. They are an interesting flower and help us sell the fact that flowers in Vermont should be blooming in your garden at least through Columbus Day!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Karl the Wonder Dog snores loudly despite the wood stove's heat which is pushing 76 degrees with two doors open. Yes, the challenges of adjusting to seasonal change!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Autumn Colors

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The rain is pounding the roof again tonight as I think back about yesterday afternoon's trip with Alex and Karl the Wonder Dog, looking at foliage from some of our favorite vantage points. Foliage this year has been about a week earlier than usual but as spectacular as I can ever remember. The colors have been so vivid that you don't want to leave one point of view for the next.

Alex and I had dedicated a couple hours to be with Karl and travel around but I was late getting back from work and we had to modify our schedule a little. We headed down to Osmore Pond in hopes of spotting a moose along the way but the trip was mooseless. The pond was as beautiful as ever but quiet this time with no loons to be seen or heard.

We back tracked to the village for some gas and a soda and headed up past the waterfalls and onto the Lanesboro Road. This is a favorite with us--the old Montpelier to Wells River, Vermont Railroad, thrown up in the early 50's and now an excellent place to drive, enjoy the scenery and the wildlife which abounds. We stopped at Marshfield Pond which I photograph several times a

year. This is a small kettle pond surrounded by some great wildflowers in spring and lots of life the rest of the year. The granite head wall on the back is still on my list of things to hike to but I still haven't made it.

We exited the road at the corner of Lanesboro and Ethan Allen Corner and then drove part way up Owl's Head and then home. The foliage was something we didn't want to leave but evening chores beckoned.

The predominant tree in these photos is the maple. There are red maples, sugar maples and some Norway maples but all are colorful. As the leaves of these trees fall around our house, I use the leaf vac to pick them up and shred them for next year's gardens. Maples have a very long root system and they store important minerals in the leaves. In the spring I'll spread an inch or so on all the new gardens at our nursery and begin the process of improving our garden beds, a little at a time.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where day time visitors from around the world will stop and click photos of fall foliage so they can talk about it forever. Vermont is a great state and it always looks better on the return trip. Come visit!

Best autumn wishes,

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm
Vermont Gardens