August Peony Reminder

 Monday, August 26, 2013

Raining here this morning---still raining--rained all night. Gail just took Karl the Wonder Dog out for a second walk and I'm surprised they are still out with the rain coming down like this. 57.6°, windless, rain drop quiet!

Just a quick reminder for peony growers. Mid to late August is when peonies set buds on their root stocks. If you want good bloom next season, be sure that your peonies are well watered this month. People seem to have this notion that if they remember rain that it translates to lots of water but water getting to the root stock is another thing. Peonies need a good drenching that provides enough water below the earth surface so they can take in a lot and swell up the buds. Give it a try and you'll be much happier with the results next July.

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If you are interested in adding to your peony collection or want to begin a collection, this is the time to make purchases and get them planted. Remember to dig an over sized hole and amend it well. Planting peonies should consider planting them for a long, long time so get the soil right first. And then--the planting--never plant the root deeper than 1.5"-2" below the surface. Planting lower than that will get you some fine looking foliage but never much in the way of bloom. Get it right the first time!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where I hear a single loon right now. Love 'em!

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

Rudbeckias and Others

 Monday, August 19, 2013

Pink sky over Peacham Pond suggests another nice day for late summer clean up at the flower farm. We are weeding and dividing daylilies at the same time and the weeding part is a real chore this year after all the rain. We were last able to rototill the gardens in late May and for two weeks now that the sun has come out, we are working hard to make up for lost time. Michael started the work before he returned to college so I am in charge now and I take home a truckload of weeds about every night. It's a lot of work because in many places we had trouble getting control of weeds that floated in on the hurricane winds from two years ago.

For several years now I have grown a tall rudbeckia named herbstonne. Before I started shrinking and widening with age, I was 5'10" tall so you can see what herbstonne looks like in comparison. There are places in your garden that you might need some height and this would be the right plant. I does not spread too quickly and it catches attention from afar. Give it a try if you have that need for "vertical".

Here's an image of some of the success we are making along the fence line that is visible from Route 2. This garden runs parallel to Route 2 and over time will be an attention getter by itself. The cleome pretty much self seeded from last year while the other flowers are spreading themselves.This is a collection of Rudbeckia goldsturm, white and purple liatris, white veronicastrum, the herbstonnes,  and three varieties of baptisia. It makes for a nice mix and comes into its own this time of season.

If you are out and about today, stop by the flower farm and say hello. Hundreds of tourists are visiting the Cabot Creamery for the tour and cheese tasting while others are following the trail of vineyards and wine producers that dot Vermont now.You might want to get involved too!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where loons are yelling at me to get to work. I must!.

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!

Hosta Care Reminders

Monday, August 19, 2013

A quiet morning here on the mountain. Another light rain storm passed through during the night but now it is clear, 50.2° and windless. The critters of the woods are out and about now, probably including the bear cub I saw yesterday afternoon.  Folks are heading to work from the pond and I can hear a log truck coming down from Rt 232. Karl the Wonder Dog is sleeping longer than usual and allowing me to write without interruption.

Hostas have always been the number one selling perennial which is a surprise to many. Hosta collectors have the American Hosta Society for guidance and the Hosta Library for reference. But as I meet and sell hostas to customers, I ask what people know about hosta virus and there is little response. The Hosta Library has some good info and pictures about the virus that is important to understand. The most recent on-line newsletter from the society mentions the progress being made to understand the virus. Vice President Rob Mortko had this to report:

"HVX Research Update

We are concluding our two year study at the

University of Minnesota with Dr. Ben Lockhart. The

final study report will be posted later this year. In

the meantime, we have confirmed the transmission

of HVX from virus-infected plant debris remaining

in a planting site. The infection process is slow and

it wasn’t until the second year after planting a clean

hosta in the same location that the virus was

observed and confirmed with a positive test. Please

DO NOT plant another hosta in the same location

after removing an HVX infected hosta."

 

 

This time of year in many parts of the hosta growing world, people are beginning their fall clean up. They might very well be spreading hosta virus to uninfected plants during very routine clean up. Some people mention that they weed whack all their hostas down and then rake the leaves and scapes up for disposal. This method is sure to spread disease.  Replanting a new hosta in the hole where an infected hosta was removed is sure to spread the virus too. I am mentioning this as the last thing you want to do is ruin your collection while trying to keep a good looking garden.

One more cup of coffee for me and I am out the door. I am cleaning up one of the daylily fields which means weeding, digging, dividing and then lining out daylilies that we will need in greater supply for next year. Stop by the flower farm and say hi!

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm

On Facebook as George Africa and also as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens--lots of images!

On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Trillium History--So Good!

 Wednesday, August 7, 2013

A quiet morning on the mountain above Peacham Pond. The sky is rosy pink suggesting rain by nightfall. A zephyr blows from the west, ever so lightly that the maple leaves float up and down but don't make sound. The birds are quiet too for some reason and the bigger animals of the forest, the deer, bear and moose are nowhere to be seen this morning. Karl the Wonder Dog and I had a very nice walk and now back home we wonder how many animals stood motionless and watched us pass. We do not know.

Trilliums in our woods and gardens have long since passed and are in the final stages of forming seed pods.  Trillium erectum up top has big pods and grandiflorum (white), luteum (yellow) and undulatum (pink centered) featured below here all show swelling pods. Trilliums grow easily from seed but the gardener must pay attention to seed pod growth and harvest them before the ants do. Ants are the chief recorded seed dispersal agent of trilliums although I think deer might follow a close second as they probably destroy more trillium populations around the US than disrespectful people do.Trilliums are slow to germinate and take 7 years on average to flower so patience is a requirement.

Occasionally people ask if we sell trilliums. We have sold some but generally do not because they have never been popular enough to warrant the time. I can be convinced to sell some but not right now as we are in the middle of daylily season and things are busy.

Although I cannot share potted trilliums right now, I do want to share a marvelous article written by Cole Burrell. Cole is a great plantsman and I really like his book Perennial Combinations: Stunning Combinations That Make Your Garden Look Fantastic Right From The Start (Rodale Press). I have recommended it to many gardeners and have given it as a gift several times. But the article that I think is so special is one that friend Barry Glick just shared. It's Burrell's Obsession and Exploitation: 

The Cultural History of Trillium. Here it is as a pdf file. http://www.mtcubacenter.org/images/symposium-files/Burrell-Cole.pdf

 

I know you'll like it just as much as you would like a swath of pink centered, last blooming Trillium undulatum pictured here as a closing memory.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where a loon talks loonish in a noisy voice I can hear from here. Have a great gardening day. Stop and see us! The daylilies remain strong and Gail has some nice late bloomers starting.

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

Daylily Deadheading

 Saturday, August 3, 2013

A not-so-nice morning here on the mountain. Rain has resumed and as it pounds on the roof, Karl the Wonder Dog trot-trot-trots from room to room, whimpering with an uncomfortable feeling, perhaps fearing that thunder is soon to come as it did last night. This is a strange storm as it was raining at 3 this morning but by 4 when we went for our first walk, the sky was clearing and stars were visible. I hope it all heads for the coast and we have a good day of sales at the flower farm.

The daylilies have been beautiful this year because of all the rain we received in May and June.Yesterday and Thursday as I dug large daylilies from the field, it was surprising to notice how dry the roots were in the middle of big plants. The field daylilies were planted in 2007 and 2008 so some of those are big plants and they represent what you might see in your own gardens after seevral years--daylilies that need to be split when scape production in the center of the plants begins to decline.Tight center root systems prevent water and nutrients from entering the center portion.

Three weeks back a rep from the Dept of Agriculture came by for an inspection of our place. This is required annually by law and is tied to a nursery license. The Department has always had inspections but just this year changed the licensing format and the fee schedule. I always try to speak with the inspector even though Gail has already done the same thing. This year was no different except that I was busy when he came and said I'd catch up at the end of his tour.

Two insects that are being seen in all sorts of garden situations, vegetable and flower gardens as well this year,  are tarnished plant bugs and rose chafers. Among our fields, we have seen both but the inspector says the numbers are typical. Here are some thoughts first on the TPB.

We raise thousands of daylilies and depend on high bud counts and plenty of bloom to help us sell flowers. People drive by along Route 2 and see our fields and stop to walk and make purchases.To keep things looking as good as possible, we walk the fields every couple days and try to deadhead as many daylilies as possible. Mature plants might have well over 400 blooms during the course of their flower period so it's a challenge to keep up with the work. But I have a more important reason for deadheading and it's related to the Tarnished Plant Bug TPB.

Take a look at the daylily picture up top. It's a beauty named Ruby Spider. At maturity the blooms meet 10" diameters and there are hundreds of blooms on a clump. We have a couple big rows in the lower growing garden if you want to see what mature clumps look like. Take a  close look and you'll notice spots within the red, especially the top left and lower left petals.Those spots are the work of the Tarnished Plant Bugs as they eat away at the petals. Although they like any daylily, they especially like the darker colors so the reds, purples, and dark variations.

TPBs are speedy little characters and they see you when you are coming and they will fly, drop off, or run for cover. If there are old blooms withered and wet, they may try to get inside those. By deadheading. you eliminate a place they lay their eggs and make a bigger problem next year. Some gardeners see deadheading as a real messy task while others find it difficult to enter a garden, even one that is not theirs, and start deadheading. One time a lady started deadheading daylilies Alex had begun crossing and he was one unhappy camper with her "helpful" behavior as hybridizing does not work without certain plant parts. Anyway, my point about tarnished plant bugs is they are a nuisance, do discolor nice daylilies and will not go away by themselves. Deadheading is one approach to minimizing bug populations.

Rose Chafers have grown in numbers as winters have warmed. In my mind I wonder if the increase in grape vines in Vermont both in home gardens and in commercial vineyards and as wild vines has had any impact on numbers because many, many people stopping at the flower farm ask about control. Although literature often mentions grape vines as a favorite food source, they prevail on all sorts of vegetation and currently seem to be more prevalent along the sandier soils along the Champlain Valley and the mid to lower Connecticut River valleys. I'm saying this based on the complaints we receive from  visitors asking for guidance on control measures.

Since TPBs and rose chafers both fly, control becomes somewhat of a challenge. Internet resources are bountiful but I am still looking for an inexpensive organic resource that works. Yesterday I bought a bag of milky spore that will cover 7000 square feet to help with Japanese beetles and I wish there was something that would dispose of these other two. What we really need is a winter with some deep cold cycles.....but then we'd worry about the heating bill. If you have any good solutions, drop me a line.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the sun is trying to push through grey clouds. Temperature is 60.6° and the morning is windless. Come visit us at the flower farm today, count bugs or tour the gardens. The daylilies are wonderful!!

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

Japanese Beetles

Friday, August 2, 2013

Just in from a morning walk with Karl the Wonder Dog. It rained a little during the night and the skunks came by to work on our lawn some more, looking of course for Japanese beetles that are coming to the surface to begin adulthood on the rugosa roses.This is August and in Vermont this is when the biggest hatches occur. I say "hatches" which is really not correct but this is the time when soil temperatures rise and adult beetles emerge from the soil to feed heavily on plants they like. Gail has 5 varieties of rugosa rose we brought from Burlington when we moved here and they are big roses now and the beetles love them. But they like our grape vines and our hollyhocks and in a drier year, the zinnia crop we grow for cut flowers. They also seem to prefer the lighter colored daylilies we have growing in sandy soil when they set up residence  in the fields.

Japanese beetles have been around since about 1914 in America when they are believed to have arrived  mixed in with a shipment if irises. Documentation on when certain insects arrive is always a problem because it's likely that bad insects arrive some time before they are noticed. Asian longhorn beetles, the emerald ash borer and the lily leaf beetle all have varying dates of arrival but unlike people type immigrants there is no clearing house upon their arrival and they seem to get established all too soon. Right now the state of Oregon is waging a giant battle against Japanese beetles because they figure the beetles cost their nursery growers $33 million per year. I suspect the actual figure is higher. The impact of this particular insect is even greater than state by state losses as Cornell University did a study and determined that they are also responsible for 40% of the threatened/endangered plant species in America. This is a little insect that has enormous influence.

Control is always possible but there is coast to coast debate on the best way to slow down the pest. I go with organic as my experience is that organic compounds such as the bacteria known as milky spore really work very well and do nothing to injure or kill other insects such as my honey bees. There are also nematodes that work very well but I think take a little longer to get established than milky spore. Others do not agree with either and feel that more harsh chemicals such as Sevin have to be used so you can visualize the death of the insects and know that you're eliminating the problem. I don't like to get to that point.

The state of Oregon uses traps scented with pheromones but these are a nuisance to me for a variety of reasons. If you do not have a big beetle problem, you will have as the pheromone is so strong that it lures in beetles from as far as 3-4 miles away (University of Vermont study). Seems to me a person would have enough trouble in their own backyard without enlarging the territory they are drawing bugs from. On top of that, what do you do with the bag full of beetles when the trap is full? And finally, here in Vermont as example, we have a big, big, big problem with black bears. They love beetles and while visiting your home they smell the bags of trapped beetles and sit on your lawn ripping open the bags and feasting--hence another mess and another even bigger challenge--how to tell the bears you do not trap beetles any more?

Milky spore is available in garden centers and box stores. It looks like talcum powder when you open the can or bag but the bacteria is really there and it really works. It should be applied to the soil prior to or during a rain so it can get into the soil and then it attaches itself to beetle grubs. Once infected the grubs die and become another source for the bacteria to grow in. It takes some time to establish in your lawns or fields but once established you will see the difference. You'll know you are successful as Spring arrives and signs of moles rototilling your lawns are finally absent. No grubs, no food source for moles either and they move someplace else. Give it some thought, give it a try.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where it just started to rain again. It's 58.8° this morning. I hear a loon calling from the pond suggesting I guess that I get moving. Lots to do at the flower farm. Rain or shine, stop by and say hello. The daylilies are very special right now and I have to say I am really enjoying the opportunity to meet new gardeners from around the world as some report  they are a Facebook friend and others explain where they live. Maine is always very well represented but yesterday three cars were from Michigan. Fun! Interesting!

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

George