First Real Snow, First Real Cold

Friday, November 30, 2012

A cold morning here on the mountain, 2°, windless, bright with a nice moon reflecting off last night's 5" of fresh snow. This is the first real snow of the season and the coldest night so far. Karl the Wonder Dog took an abbreviated walk this morning and gave me a strange look as we reentered the house. He doesn't like cold  and already I am less impressed too.

The snow started yesterday about 2:30  as I was in the woods trying to finish the brush chipping and get the chipper put away for the season. At times the snow blew at weird angles but it wasn't until after six o'clock that it really began to fall. The mountains are now covered and there's no doubt that the ski industry is already happier than last year when snow flakes were hard to find and the snowmobiling industry really never even started.

An eruption of evening grosbeaks finally appeared yesterday, over a month late from their typical appearances, The Dolgo crab apples that they usually eat are long since gone, as they were food for the robins while they made up their mind where to spend the winter. Robins used to leave by Thanksgiving but last year they were here most of the winter. All the bird visitors seem to be off schedule a little but I expect the snow and cold we feel today will bring them out for us to see.

I now have about 15 piles of wood chips throughout the back woods and along the woods roads and new trails I have been making. These will dehydrate a bit and be ready for spring when I'll use them to mulch the daylilies in the growing fields. At the same time, they will serve as hiding places for woods mice and the nasty voles that never hibernate and always seek out the roots of my favorite shrubs and perennials.

As winter becomes obvious at your house, consider feeding the birds if you have not given that hobby a try yet. We enjoy seeing different birds throughout the winter and don't think winter would be winter without keeping the bird feeders full and trying to capture pictures of birds we have not seen before. Bird food is expensive now with black oil sunflower going for $23 a 40 pound bag and still $19 when on sale. I always use cracked corn on platform feeders and on the ground for the ground feeding birds and I have old onion bags filled with suet for woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches. I never clean up the echinaceas in the fall as the small birds like goldfinches love their seeds. Black thistle seed is expensive now so echinacea is a good substitute.  If you need some help learning more about birds native to your local area, try the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology.

Karl is already asking to go out again and the fire needs another log. Have a great day, watch the slippery roads this morning, and take a good look at your gardens this morning. Another outdoor gardening season has come to an end.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the town snow truck has been by and two log trucks just headed down to pick up a load of saw logs.

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
At VFF we're always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Fall Hydrangeas

Thursday, November 8, 2012 

24.3° here on the mountain with a slight wind that whispers from 3 to 5 mph and back again. It's not as cold as the 15° we felt last night nor the 18° that was predicted for this morning but failed to occur. Karl the Wonder Dog and I hiked up to the old wolf tree this morning looking for wild critters but our time out was critterless. Just the same it was a nice walk and I spotted a maple that was lined with oyster mushrooms that I need to go back and pick soon.

I have been meaning to comment on hydrangeas in Vermont and similar zone 3 and 4 climates. This is a shrub that is growing in popularity and one which has been a good seller at the flower farm. It has also created somewhat of a hassle because many people see the pink and the blue hydrangeas advertised and that's what they are possessed to grow. Most folks don't care what the name of a plant is, they just see the color and visualize it growing in their gardens. Trouble with the pinks and blues in this climate, they are not dependable and I refuse to carry them.

We grow many of the paniculata types and I think Tardiva is actually my favorite because of the shrub and bloom shape. I especially favor one named 'White Moth'. Regardless of the variety, by this time of year the blooms are long past spent and have turned rusty brown and beg to be removed. That's where I need to insert a thought. Many hydrangeas bloom on new wood so cutting back hydrangeas this late in the season can have a negative impact on next summer's blooms. The problem is that cutting spent blooms in late fall leaves the stem cuts to feel the drying winds of late fall and early winter. That affords the potential that the bud material for next year will dehydrate. That translates to fewer blooms on a shrub that you are expecting to display a bounty of blooms from summer through fall. It's better to either wait until spring or do the trimming while it is still warm as soon as the flowers have faded and begun to rust. I had a lady tell me that she never trimmed anything and implied that I didn't know what I was talking about so make your own decision on pruning and my information. I always try to share experiences. What is your experience with your hydrangeas? If you comment, please include your zone.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where rifle deer season starts this Saturday and hunters have begun to scout the area. We have been wearing orange in the woods for a month now to insure that others see us. Not a bad idea!

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!