6 PM Flower Walk

Monday, August 25th, 2008

Didn't return home until 5 PM today. When I stepped out of the truck, it was apparent that September was closer than I hoped for. The wind was stirring just enough that it conflicted with the way the clouds were rolling in and the temperature rose and fell, rose and fell. My layers of two tee shirts and one long sleeved Carhartt shirt came on and off with the temperature until 6 PM when the sun fell behind the mountains and the wind slowed to a whisper.

Gail departed as I arrived at the nursery and Austin arrived shortly afterward with my truck, full of crates of leaves and compost. He is making good progress planting the daylily display garden which is good because Friday is his last day with us so he can return to college. We talked for a few minutes and then I bid him good evening as he and his mufflerless truck headed for Montpelier. I cleaned up a couple projects in the shed and covered the pump for the night. About all I felt like doing was taking some pictures and going home to rest. The tall, pale yellow daylily named 'So Lovely' looked so calm to me, picture-perfect in front of clouds of hydrangeas.


As I started to walk the fields, my attention was drawn away from the daylilies I had come to enjoy and my eyes caught the bright colors of the zinnias. These were planted late but knowing that the seed was from Johnny's in Maine, I had virtually no worry about viability. This is one of the very best seed companies and everything they do is done well.

In the past week, the consecutive days of heat brought out more and more buds and the stems drew skyward so bouquet making became an easy task. A handful of zinnias however, is not the same as a pageful of pictures on a computer monitor. The detail in the centers is worthy of inspection and that's what I continued to do through the Panasonic lens.

I never seem to remember the flower parts but if you click on the pictures, they will enlarge and you'll see what I mean. Insects sometimes appear and sometimes beautiful flowers develop instant defects never seen until enlarged.

I have always bought mixes but bought some individual selections this year. As with most all gardeners I bought more seed than I had time to plant and some will have to wait in the freezer until next year. Until then there is plenty to look at. Here are a few more pictures.




It's quiet here now. I have a busy day in Newport and then return to help celebrate Alex's 16th birthday. It seems impossible that he can be 16 already and that in that time I have become a home school father and an authority of sorts in the ways of autism. Time flies. garden walks are a nice way to end the day.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the mixer is smoothing a birthday cake batter as Karl the Wonder Dog begs for a lick.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Vermont Gardens