Peppery Valentine's Day

Saturday, February 14, 2009

A calm morning here on the mountain. 6.7 degrees on one side of the house, 7.4 on the other. Still cold enough not to forget gloves when heading out with Karl the Wonder Dog, Valentine's Day or not. Yesterday afternoon sometime before I returned home from work, two very large turkeys walked up the road and through the drive, first to the back door and then to the bird feeder. Even today the scent was strong enough to make Karl want to sniff and snort, forgetting that his feet were cold and the warmth of the wood stove was a better idea.

Some gardeners might think of hot and spicy things at Valentines Day like the peppers pictured above. There are some great choices on the market now and I prefer the companies that maintain the registered names and can tell how hot the peppers are on the Scoville scale. Alex is a hot pepper fan and he collects hot sauces and enjoys giving guidance to the right one when I am making stews, soups and chilies. When you are at a garden center or scanning catalogs, give a new one a try this year. Next Valentine's Day reflect on this blog and how well you and the peppers did.

I have been thinking about daylilies again and just placed another order with a company in Wisconsin that I try to use each year. They offer wholesale and retail and always have something that has a good display. Gail and I aren't as concerned about fancy daylilies, new to the market with big price tags. We're more interested in daylilies that are dependable and have a bloom that friends and neighbors comment on and can afford.

Here are a few orangy-red and red daylilies you might consider. They are all very hardy here and they clump up nicely. Just about all that we sell are dug from our gardens so the root systems are large and you'll be pleased in a couple years with the number of flower scapes. Red isn't the only Valentine's Day color but for this morning, it's the color I am thinking about.

Ruffled Valentine

Anzac

Baja

Charles Johnson

Chicago Apache

Chicago Fire

Eruption

James Marsh

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where some ice fishermen apparently stayed home this morning to cook breakfast and be nice. The road is quiet but inside here there's a little rumbling noise in front of the wood stove. Karl is back to sleep. If you have been resting for the past few days, slide back to the previous post and enjoy another side of Valentine's Day.

Be well!


George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Garden Romance

Valentine's Day 2008

Today is a classic red day like the red Asiatic lilies pictured above. It's Valentines Day and a day to remember, not a day to forget. Here at Vermont Flower Farm things are in their usual upside down winter state. I just got home from work and Gail and Alex just returned from Burlington. We could have used one of those wizard's wands you see on television cartoon shows where a little flick here and there and things fall into place. We don't have one.

The groceries are in, Karl the wonder dog has been out, Alex already grabbed a snack and his new book and is squirreled away in his room reading and Gail is mixing up some sauce for the shrimp. I have the woodstove cleaned out and will get it going in a few more minutes. There are eleventy seven other things to do but I have to let readers know The Vermont Gardener has been busy...and it's Valentines Day!

The woods are pretty as the trees hold the latest snow and ice and glistened in today's sun. It's getting darker now but today's peace is very much unlike last year's 46 inches of snow in two days that closed down Vermont and drove florists looking for cliffs to jump off. This year has been different and travel today was much easier. Hopefully you visited your florist and helped make up for last year. If you live locally and know you messed up, stop by our friend, Jerome the Florist, North Main Street, Barre first thing tomorrow morning and he'll help you out. Guaranteed!

Many of the flowers that I really enjoy are not even available on Valentines Day. Fresh roses that are so very expensive often actually come from South America although there are a few American companies that produce fine product. Potted plants are popular with me. I like pink or white cyclamen, red azaleas, or tulips. Cut flowers are also nice and a spring type mix heavy on iris, tulips and daffodils makes me happy. Gail agrees.

One perennial that is a great cut flower is one which is enjoying dormancy right now. Dicentra. Bleeding Heart. Long about the first week of May here at Vermont Flower Farm they bust through the ground and then stop to catch their breath. They raise questions of "What's that?"among visitors who stop to see how we made it through the winter. Fortunately, they grow quickly and by the end of the month they are looking bright and sophisticated.



Later in the summer there are lilies that remind me of the cold days of February and the Valentines Day that passed. A couple Oriental lilies that bloom in late July/early August but could be Valentine flowers are named Kiss Proof and Hot Lips. I know these are good ice




breakers because I once gave a talk to a garden club where the average age of the 50 or so ladies and one church janitor was about 68. Even the janitor's yellow lab was white with age. When I got to Kiss Proof they giggled and when I got to Hot Lips the laughter even made me redden up. I could have made 51 sales that day if only I had thought about bringing some Hot Lips.

As for you this late on Valentines Day, just one kiss, just one "thank you for being you", just one handmade card or homemade poem might do the trick.


Happy Valentine's Day from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the salmon is about ready.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Vermont Gardens A popular site to check when The Vermont Gardener forgets which
blog he is supposed to be writing