Buckets of Daylilies

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

A rainy morning, limited wind, 54.6°. I'm at the office now doing a million things as Gail is away for most of today. I have a couple orders to get out and then have more daylilies to dig for potting. The picture above is the end of 25 buckets of daylilies that we managed to get through on Sunday with the help of worker bee Gail T from Peacham. They are looking good and today's rain will help them bounce back.

Yesterday Alex and I put up another 90 feet of overhead irrigation using Wooblers that I described on Facebook. I went to order some more last night and found out that they are obviously gaining in popularity as the price went from $1.90 to +$5 a piece in a year's time. Plastic too but a worthwhile investment.  A run of 3/4" pipe with all the fittings and to drop the Wobblers 9" instead of several feet is under $60 for the extra materials. Then just a little time on the ladder. The way I have them set offers a 25 foot diameter spray of 20 gallons per minute but if you drop then 6 feet so they are closer to the ground the diameter is 35 feet.  I buy mine from Grifffin Greenhouse Supply.

Spring flowers, both wild and cultivated continue to emerge and bring joy to our gardens. Take some time to get out and see what's blooming!

Writing from Route 2 where traffic heading to work and working (lots of trucks today) is increasing. The rain continues.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener http://thevermontgardener.blogspot.com
Vermont Flower Farm
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Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

When is "Early" really "Early" for Daylilies?

Thursday, May 14, 2015

A bright and beautiful morning here at the flower farm except that the grass is white with a heavy frost, the water is frozen in all the hoses and at the pump and my last Dark Magic coffee cup for the Keurig machine blew up and the cup has grounds floating everywhere when really I wanted a second cup. Things happen!

The past couple weeks have been dry and  beautiful. Some days it was so hot we just gave up by 3 PM as the 85-90 degrees was too much. During those days customers stopped just the same and asked when the daylilies would start blooming. People were clearly tired of the winter and wanted to see garden color. Not yet!

Last summer I took a dry erase board and started on June 1st listing each daylily as it opened. I made it until July 12th when there were so many daylilies opening every day that I didn't have time to keep up. Here's what the board looked like (above pic).

On June 1st a species, Dumortierii opened as did the first daylily ever hybridized and registered. That one is Apricot from 1893. Early on in the season the oranges and yellows are first to bloom because they are either species daylilies or some of the earliest hybrids strong on their use of species. At our place it wasn't until June 21 that the first purple came out--Grape Velvet, with Bela Lugosi, another great purple opening on the 30th of June.

Last year's chart is available at the flower farm and we will do the same thing this year to compare seasons. Ask to see the charts when you stop by.

Writing from the flower farm as Route 2 hums with people heading to work, commercial trucks already on their way to delivery destinations. Today we are planting hydrangeas and daylilies. Stop and say hello if you are in the area.

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm

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On Facebook as George Africa

On Twitter as vtflowerfarm