Just Peonies

 Thursday, May 30, 2013

57.0° here on the mountain, windless, quiet. I have been out twice with Karl the Wonder Dog and he has settled back to sleep for a while. Yesterday's rain has quieted the critters of the woods too and only now do some of the birds start their wake up calls. It will be a great day.

June is when peonies begin to bloom here although in most parts of New England south of here they have already been entertaining people. I heard a report last week of Smouthii, the nice fern leaf peony,  being in bloom for several days already in Morrisville. Smouthii is a dark red and for some reason it is the only peony I know that deer like to munch on.

We sell half a dozen different peonies in pots every year until they are gone although I have quite a nice collection started at the house. Information about peonies seems to differ and when and how to plant creates problems. At the flower farm we plant and divide when we want to but we recommend differently to other gardeners. Potted peonies can be planted anytime but the dividing and replanting chores are best left to late summer on into fall.

Peonies should be planted in a well thought out location, in full sun if possible and in a large hole well amended with compost. They have to be planted not more than 1.5"-2" deep so I recommend the "finger joint rule" meaning keep the root close to the surface and when you have planted it, be sure the top of the root is no deeper than 2 finger joints, i.e., push a finger into the ground and be sure there are only a couple finger joints between soil surface and striking the root .Deeper planted roots make great foliage but bloom is hard to come by.

We have had rain for 12 of the past 13 days and have set a new rain record for the month of May. 8.75". Peonies are big plants so they make good use of water but they require soil that drains. August is the month to watch for rain as mid August is when peonies set buds on their root stocks for the following year. Remind yourself to dump a couple buckets of water on each peony in August and you will be rewarded next year with a much improved bloom count.

Peonies seem to last too short a season for their beauty.  It might sound odd but they have become so popular as a cut flower that they are grown successfully in Alaska and are shipped to our east coast "summertime" well into October. A trick to employ here to make cut peonies last longer is to cut stems when the tight buds  are just showing color and then place them in the bottom of your refrigerator. They will last 30 days there at which time they can be removed,  given a fresh cut and a vase of water. They will begin opening in a day or so. Give it a try!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the first chore today is to give attention to my bee hives. The bees have been making honey like crazy because of the great apple blossom production this year, I am leaving for Maine tomorrow so I want to add to the hive size today so the bees don't swarm in my absence. I have a lot invested this year and want to see the bees still making honey come fall. If the hives get crowded, the bees leave.

Gail and Michael will be at the flower farm for the next week and Alex will be handling chores at the house. Stop by the flower farm and walk down to the hosta display garden if you can. It is exceptional this year!!

Best gardening wishes!

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!

Dealing With Spring Freezes

 Tuesday, May 21, 2013

55.2° now after a noisy night of pounding rain and winds. Things quieted down just after 4:30 this morning and the lighter rain was a welcome change. Karl the Wonder Dog greatly dislikes rain and thunder and he is now settled in beside me snoring away as if it's just another day in Vermont.

We have been busy at Vermont Flower Farm and many things are coming together at the same time. Worker bee Michael finished up his third year at Castleton and started back with us yesterday and Gail was dancing in great glory to have a helper other than me. Michael and I will work together from 9-noon every day for the next couple weeks before I go to Maine and we will get the daylily beds weeded out so we can begin bringing down the last of the daylilies from the house. Still over a hundred-- I think many more--different daylilies left to move, divide and line out for sales. They are 6-7-8 year old clumps so there are a lot of plants.

During the past week we experienced our typical spring freezes. These are scary days when you have no real idea when the wind will stop and how low the temperatures will fall. The freezes always occur after repetitive days of higher than normal temperature. Our experiences have not often been good ones as anything below 28° will freeze new hosta growth back to the ground and make them useless for sale until late July or early August depending on the summer. We say this from experience because covering a couple thousand square feet of pots as well as the 18,000 square foot display area is just not feasible.

So last week when very low temperatures were predicted,  Gail pulled out a quart of a product she purchased a year back and put on the shelf  "Just in case". It is named FreezePruf and it's made by EcoLogic, the same company that manufactures the Liquid Fence that many of you may use for deer and rodent control. Anyway while I was away Gail mixed it up and sprayed everything in the display gardens and all the potted hostas. Then she covered every potted hosta with whatever she could find from shade cloth still available since it's too early to install it on the shade houses, to plastic tarps. 

The first night the temperature at the house was 26° and I had serious worries. The second night was 25° at our friend Jerry's across the road and up the hill so I knew the hosta display garden would be lower than that. Miracle of miracles the FreezePruff worked and the only losses were leaves that the sprayer missed or leaves that had come in direct contact with the tarps. The tarps conducted the cold and froze the leaves in any place that touched.

Now it's been 3-4 days of waiting to see what the real result is as freezing sometimes takes a bit to really show. Regardless of the time, things look very good and at this point I am really pleased with Gail's purchase. I will not know 100% on this for another week but if what I see now continues, I want to research the product a little more. An anti freeze for my truck is understandable but for plants--I'm still learning.

Time moves on here and I have to get to the farm and get working. If you are out and about over the next few days, stop by and visit. Things are looking great and we hope they continue.

Best gardening wishes from the mountain above Peacham Pond where loons are calling.

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
We're always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Diggin' and Dividin'

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Already 6 AM and I am supposed to be at the flower farm watering, digging plants, dividing and repotting. This time of year we are very busy and this year is no exception. We finished with the last of the new plants yesterday but do have two more shipments arriving Thursday and Friday. I don't like to have a lot going on during Mothers Day weekend because people are out and about and usually have lots of questions but freight companies send shipments when trucks are full now so your choice on arrival times is slim to "here it comes".

Gail and I bought in a number of perennials to line out in the gardens  for use as cut flowers and also for direct sale to customers as the plants mature. The stock all looked quite good and should make for more interesting bouquets come July. The caveat is I have to keep things watered well as Mother Nature is not helping well in the east. Up top I have pictured Savlia nemorosa Caradonna, a meadow sage I really like. I have 72 to line out today and have to get some of the two-three year old plants potted.

I planted Aconitum Napellus, a nice monkshood (also very poisonous, so don't eat any!!), Helianthus Lemon Queen, a 5 foot sunflower type and Campanula Border Blue. Blues and pale yellows work well together and these all hold up well when cut. I lined out a row of Achillea Summer Wine. Yes, this is a yarrow but it holds up forever in arrangements and adds a different texture. I planted three sneezeweeds--funny name for Helenium-- for August bloom and I am trying a couple astrantias and an Anchusa Loddon Royalist. Most of these are planted over by the river so if you come visit, ask and we'll point out where so you can see how they are doing.

A fishing boat is bouncing along the road heading to Peacham Pond and Karl the Wonder Dog is all upset with the sound. I ran into summer pond neighbor Chuck yesterday at the recycling center and he reported seeing his first bear of the year. He said it would probably go 350 pounds but if it is the one that I am thinking of, it's actually larger than that. I haven't see the old boar for a couple years but he is a beautiful animal that is quick to bring about a "Wow, look at that one". 

Gotta scoot but would love to have you stop by soon and give me a break from planting, dividing and potting. I think Gail would spare me a few minutes for a chat.

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!