Daylily Confusion

Friday, June 29, 2012

Just back in with Karl the Wonder Dog for the second time. He was not pleased with the pouring rain the first trip out and is even more irritated with me now as I cut his walk short after half a mile. I have things to do and he just wanted to sniff some more.

Last night's rains have helped the gardens a lot but I expect as the temperatures rise to 90° by tomorrow, the humidity will keep people away from the flower farm. I wish more people would come to join me in my 2012 daylily confusion caused by a mild winter and an early spring. The hot weather during the past couple weeks followed by four days of heavy rain has produced loads of daylily scapes and buds beginning to open early on many plants. We expect the species to come early anyway and Lemon Lollypop is a daylily we sell for school gardens because it blooms long before kids actually get out of school for the summer. But there is Miss Amelia, Bela Lugosi, Charles Johnston (up top here), Golden Chimes, Stella, Nile Crane, Ruby Spider, Jersey Spider, Jen Melon, Beloved Country and many more all opening now. Red Flag and Red Ribbons are putting up nice scapes and many of the daylilies in the open field seem to be ready to bloom in another week. By mid week and July 4th the main field should be colorful but with high heat I'm not sure how long the flowers that typically bloom early will last. I need to get some good pictures today to chronical this year's bloom.

If you're looking for me this weekend it will be a hit or miss thing but Gail and friends will be at the flower farm answering questions and digging and selling plants. I'll be helping friend Michelle spray paint her house in Barre. I am not enamored by the thought of spraying a hundred year old cedar shingle house but it has to happen and the sprayer rental commences at 4 this afternoon. My first stop this morning is the paint store to pick up 8 more gallons of paint and from there I begin taping windows and doors and scraping rouge edges. I'd rather be standing in the hosta display garden all day talking with customers and recommending ways to grow good hostas. Social responsibility prevails!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where my last task of the morning before heading out is to refill the sugar water feeder for the honey bees. A chipmunk apparently never read the 1970's book Sugar Blues and was busy yesterday drinking his/her fill of water, washing footsies and then drinking more. I could not believe such a little animal could drink so much. Keep yourself well hydrated today as the serious heat begins!


George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Rose Campion

Thursday, June 28, 2012

5:30 AM and Karl the Wonder Dog has just returned from his morning walk. He was reluctant to return to the house with me but I think wet fur and a tired sniffer encouraged his return. We both sort of expected to see some big critters of the woods this morning after three days of solid rain but so far the wild animals are slow to get moving. I have never used an alarm clock and they don't either.

The wind is light but strong enough to turn some leaves over. The recent heat and then heavy rains made the trees and shrubs grow quickly and branches hang across woods paths and roads. Occasionally Karl stopped abruptly, his less than perfect eye sight challenging the movement of what he saw and what was actually there.

In the flower farm garden along the Winooski River, the Rose Campion, Lychnis coronaria, (pictured above) started blooming a couple days ago and is drawing attention from those who are not familiar with it. Originally from Europe and documented in Thomas Jefferson's gardens in the 1700's, this silver stemmed and leaved biennial comes in fuchsia, white and pink flowers. We only have grown the fuchsia colored variety and the color surely is an attention getter. I picked a nice bouquet the other day adding Veronica 'Eveline', Penstemon 'Dark Towers', a couple yarrows and a pale yellow wildflower I think is named Cinquefoil. It turned out to be a nice bouquet to look at but fragrance was absent and the penstemon have a "fragrance" that makes a wandering nose pull up short.

I am really proud of the way the hosta display garden (example just below) is maturing despite the fact that a year ago, half of it went down the river in the May floods. I have been busy replanting immature hostas to replace those I lost so half the garden will take another 3-4-5 years to match what is there now. If you can find some time to visit Vermont Flower Farm, ask for directions down the hill to the garden and we'll point the way. If you have mobility issues, give us a "please help" and one of us will give you a ride down in the golf cart. It's really a neat looking garden and I'm really pleased with what the floods spared. The onslaught of weeds that came with the floods is a different story and one of us has to go through the garden each week to hoe out weeds. At least we were spared Japanese knotweed like many riverside gardeners are contending with this year.

The weatherman promises sunshine by noon so I am packing the truck and heading out in a few minutes. Stop and see us if you can.


From the mountain above Peacham Pond where dark sky suggests more rain before the front comes through. The birds are beginning to sing to me and a woodpecker beats on a close-by sugar maple offering a cadence that almost says "get to work, get to work". I'm going, I'm going!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Real Good Hellebores

Monday, June 25, 2012

A most welcomed rain began last night and continues intermittently this morning. It's an even 55° outside now, windless and quiet and the critters of the woods and skies are quiet too, apparently waiting for the storm to pass. We have been asking for rain for weeks now and although we still didn't get what we really need, the amount that has fallen so far has made farmers happy that the parched fields left from recent "first cuttings" have had a drink. Gail says the weather reports look like continued rain for three days. We'll see.

The picture up top here is of some hellebores I purchased from Barry Glick, Sunshine Farm and Gardens several years ago. Although they are going to seed right now, they were beautiful this spring and because of such limited snow cover this past winter, they bloomed earlier and longer than usual. Barry has been hybridzing this plant for many years and his website is worth a look-see for many reasons. He has a special going on now and I am thinking about purchasing another 150 plants to spread among the shade garden at the flower farm. Hellebores do great with sun but I have places were the sun pokes through the maples and box elders and that's where I am thinking for more spring and early summer color.

If you grow different hellebores, send along a note or some pictures so more gardeners can see what a nice plant this is. A bouquet of mixed colors is beautiful and brightens the house for some time.

Time to pack some lunch and head to the farm. Need to start by giving the zinnias a final weeding. Not fun work but it has to happen. If you are out and about today, stop and say hello. Gail and Michael will be there all day today. I'll be in and out.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Dividing Daylilies

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Almost 5:30 AM here on the mountain. It's 62°, windless, 98% humidity with a barometric pressure of 29.59. Vermont is preparing for one of the hottest days on record and The Vermont Gardener is getting ready to head to the flower farm to water the shade houses before it gets any warmer. This is a four hour job if Gail can help and it's something that has to happen. We like to get it done before we open for business but sometimes we get involved in other tasks as well. This morning I have to get some shrubs moved to where worker bee Michael will get them planted as accents to the hosta display garden.

Just up top here is a picture of how we display daylilies at the flower farm as they come into bloom and are ready for sale. We sell potted plants and also dig plants from our growing fields so seeing the actual flower assists with sales. This picture is from last year and daylilies are still a couple weeks out before these colors will prevail. Many daylilies are putting up nice scapes and they would do better with a little rain. By mid July the display gardens will be in bloom and scenes like the next one will be available.

This week we have been digging and dividing daylilies. This is a "must do' sport when you grow and sell daylilies and it really doesn't matter when you do it. Obviously to dig a plant that is just putting up flower scapes means some of those scapes will be lost during the process but by and large we are successful dividing and replanting at any time of the season from early spring on through the time in October when the soil temperature drops below 50°.

We are always amazed at how many people cannot make themselves divide a daylily and many cringe when they see how we do it. We dig up the entire plant with a spade fork or shovel and then use a garden hose to pressure wash as much dirt off the root ball as possible. They we pry apart the roots and separate plants by 1-2-3 fans depending on what we are looking for. If we are dividing a plant for lining out for future sales, we divide down to single fans and then plant them fairly close together in a long row. If we are potting for future sales that we divide to the level appropriate to the pot size. We might put 2 fans in a four quart pot that we want ready for sale in two years knowing that by then it will be 4-5 fans or we might start with 3-4 fans potted and ready for late summer, early fall sales this year.

I tell people to be ruthless with their dividing work because some people really do need a jump start to get on with the process. I have also seen gardeners that even with a thorough orientation and practice in one of our fields tell me they just can't do it as they think they are hurting the plant. So be it, that's why we are here I guess!

Here's a picture of a Darryl Apps daylily name Over There. It's a nice red and like most of his productions, it grows very well. This three fan plant would make any gardener happy next year with plenty of scapes and a nice memory of purchasing it at Vermont Flower Farm.

Guess I better get going here. I can hear loons calling on Peacham Pond and two tractor trailers just went by loaded with wood chips destined for the electric plant in East Ryegate. Some loggers are like The Vermont Gardner--have to get going early! Come visit!!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Here to help you grow your green thumb!

Favorite Old Daylilies

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

A rainy day here on the mountain. I have been fighting with Blogger for half an hour trying to get this blog out and the new format is having a few problems today. Not the only thing with problems. Gail just returned to the house after a walk with Karl the Wonder Dog and her hair looks like she just attended some ceremonial event where confetti was freely tossed. Her hair was covered with spent blossoms from the Miss Kim lilac by the walkway and it probably took me ten minutes to pick out the flowers. Now the kitchen floor is dotted with lavender colors and I have been chastised once again for not trimming down the lilac two years ago. I love starting a day with "warm" comments. Oh well.

As the daylilies begin to show color at the flower farm, web orders come in and we begin digging from the fields as people passing by on Route 2 see something they want in their gardens. Many gardeners enjoy the old fashioned daylilies. These are not anything special color-wise and many are shades of yellow or orange which are the two original species colors from a couple hundred years ago. Many have nice fragrances and some bloom in the evening, not the morning at sunrise. Up top is Hesperus and next down here is Hyperion.

Many of the older daylilies are very strong growers and they provide a jump start to early summer garden blooms. Dumortieri pictured below, is a vigorous grower and with its bronze back it provides real nice contrast. This clump is pictured from the display garden where it is backed up to a granite boulder.


I have always loved Citrina, pictured next. It is a night bloomer, fragrant, 5 feet tall over time, and is now used by more and more hybridizers because of these traits. It is a lighter yellow with a slight ripple to the petals. Very nice!


Bitsy, just above here, is an early bloomer that goes on and on. The dark stems are very nice and it works well in late spring arrangements with Trollius, perennial Bachelor Buttons, peonies, bleeding heart and a couple field-friendly lupines. The daylily blooms might have to be pulled from the arrangement after the second day but their presence is welcome for a while.

Apricot, just below, was the first daylily ever registered back in 1883. It is a neat daylily, a sparkling orange, and upfacing. The upfacing part requires a little more thought--as if you are planting Asiatic lilies, but it sure is nice, very hardy and it has a nice deep green foliage.

Golden Chimes is another small flowered daylily with a bronze back and dark stem. Like Bitsy, it works well in arrangements and this one has a long, dark stem.

I have to get going here as we have crates and crates of daylilies ready to get divided and planted or mailed. The loons are calling from Peacham Pond and remind me I'd rather be on a pond some place right now but work beckons. Despite the rain, stop by the flower farm and say hello if you have a chance today.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
And ready every day to help you grow your green thumb!

Verbena Bonariensis

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Almost 8 PM and it's been a long day at the flower farm. I started the day at 6:30 finishing up leftover tasks from yesterday and ended tonight watering hostas and digging holes for more shade plants in the lower garden. A week less than a year ago, I had just planted about 150 new hostas in the display garden and the floods came along and I lost everything that was newly planted. There is a chance the same thing could happen again but the weather pattern looks a little different this year than last. 

This morning I planted 48 Verbena bonariensis for use as cut flowers in August. I really like this plant but buy in seedlings because it is not that easy to get started. The growers at Clausen's in Colchester have this down pat and  it's a lot easier to trust the job to someone who knows how to do it. I figure it must be a little tricky even for them as the price per plant is higher than for most annuals.

By August this plant is four feet tall in our gardens and loaded with long stemmed flowers. It can actually take quite a severe frost and the leaves don't seem to darken until it really gets nailed. In many states it has been classified as invasive although I have not seen that problem here. There is some seed germination but so little that I am surprised when I find seedlings around the nursery.

I have a lot going on tomorrow and will end the day with a visit from the Granite City Garden Club. They will bring a picnic and tour the grounds. Gail and I will be there so if you're out and about and want to listen in, stop by about 6 PM. Until then, happy gardening!!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where my honey bees are still going in and out. I can see that I'll have to replenish their sugar water in the morning.

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm

On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa

On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Honey Bees Buzz With Happiness

 Saturday, June 2, 2012

4:30 PM and raining cats and dogs as I sit in the shed at the flower farm watching cars stream by and waiting for the close of business. I relieved Gail a couple hours ago so she could get home to supper duties and she had only had three customers all day. Only "real" gardeners stop and break out the umbrellas when it's raining this hard.

Today's heavy rain seemed coincidental as I headed out with bee keeper friend Michelle at 6:15 AM to travel to Westfield, Vermont to Northwoods Apiaries to pick up a hive of honey bees. Oddly it was a year ago this week that I bought my first-ever hive of bees and within 24 hours they were covered by 6-7-8 feet of flood waters in what turned out to be the first of three floods and the biggest disaster ever to hit Vermont. I recovered that hive and the bees lasted until late summer when wax worms that infiltrated the hive during the floods devastated them. Until that point, that hive represented an exercise in strength and persistence that few believed.

I have to admit that I had second thoughts about spending more money on bees but last year's experience was an interesting journey into a natural science I had left back in my youth. A local man named Harold who people called the "bee man" was often called upon to retrieve errant swarms and afterwards he'd always share bee stories with me. I marveled at his little body as he climbed trees and marveled still more at his attire of a dirty old t-shirt and no protective gear at all. I have no idea how many times he was stung but it never bothered him.

I hadn't been to Westfield in some time and our morning trip to Hardwick and then up to Irasburg, over to Lowell and then up to Loop Road, Westfield was fun. One farmer was turning out a herd of freshly milked Holsteins into a new field and Michelle and I commented on how well kept the cows were. Sadly, a vet was working on one cow in the barnyard and this served as a reminded that parts of farming are not happy.

Josh White is the owner of the apiary and a simple hand painted sign at the end of his driveway said it all. "BEES". A small but growing line already existed when we arrived and we fell into queue to converse about our experiences and wait our turn. John moved the forklift back and forth just before our turn as he needed more boxed bees,

Last year Michelle and I travelled to Singing Cedars Apiaries in Benson , Vermont for an entirely different experience. There you popped open brood boxes and checked for bees, the queen, nucs and the like. With Josh,  the work was all done and the 5 frames including a nicely marked queen were ready to go. We were loaded up and on our way home with 4-5000 bees sitting between us on the front seat of the truck, our bee suits still behind the seat, never even put into action in contrast to last year's foray.

Making the transfer from a cardboard box to our hive sounds easy and it is but for some reason these bees got a little testy. When I took the box out of the truck, the box was warm because the bees were a little wound up and humming a tune I was not familiar with. I told Michelle I absolutely had to put on my suit but she said all she needed was a bonnet. She's one of these special bee people who never has a problem.

As I popped the top on the cardboard box, bees exited in mass and I was immediately stung 4 times on gloveless hands. I never wear gloves but these bees were testing me. Even Michelle decided that a pair of gloves made sense until we made the transfers. Things went smoothly from there although I picked up a couple more stings through my pants and she got nailed on the back and on one leg. Within an hour my arthritic hands felt a lot better so I guess the interaction was worth it.

The queen looked fine and had been laying like crazy so more and more bees will be hatching soon. I should have asked what type bees these were as they are slightly larger than the Russian mix I purchased last year.

There are some interesting differences in the behavior of this hive compared to last year's hive but that is common among bees. I still don't know what stirred up such a quiet hive but it could have been the screw gun noise as I made a couple last minute changes to the base I had constructed for the hive. The hive is inside an electric fence but adjacent to the house where I can keep track of it by looking out my office window. A single male phoebe is also spending lots of time there picking up dead bees from the transfer.

I will keep an eye on these bees for a few days now to be sure they have enough food and water as it will rain more this week and food sources are minimal right now. There is a nice bank of blackberries near the hive but I figure the flowers may be spent by the time the rains cease in another day.

If you haven't gotten into bee keeping before, it can be another one of those bottomless pit things but there is a joy involved. Last year I was surprised how watching the direction of the workers leave the hive made me more cognizant of the flower types in bloom at different times of the summer. Gail has offered some encouragement as she knows I am really interested in bees but knowing as she does about the bear population here at the house--three sows and six cubs, she is not as optimistic as I am that the electric fence will do it's job and the hive will be standing come late fall when it's time to prepare it for winter. Regardless of those thoughts, I'm smiling today!

Writing from the nursery office where a flock of adult common mergansers just traveled down the Winooski River. Maybe tomorrow will bring better weather and more customers. Sun will encourage the bees to acclimate to their new surroundings.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Stop by VFF and we'll help you grow your green thumb!