Plan For Butterflies

 Thursday, February 7, 2013

Just back from a walk with Karl the Wonder Dog. It's early yet and there's a slice of moon showing between the naked tamaracks and fir balsams and there are a few stars around. Trees are cracking in the woods from yet another night of below zero temperatures. The sky over Peacham Pond shows evidence of a clear and beautiful day ahead but I know differently. I always trust the Eye on the Sky Weather at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in St Johnsbury and they are confirming we have snow coming late today and possibly into Saturday morning. It seems odd that over recent years, larger storms have settled in Boston than in Vermont but the two storms setting sight on New England will drop more on southern parts than here.

My pre-storm chores are already finished save for mounting the plow on the truck and that will happen this afternoon sometime. Everything is set in case we lose power as we did the other night. That leaves me today to continue updating our web page. Alex has some shopping he wants to do late morning and I don't know where that will take us. In winter when plants are dormant we have less of a schedule and that's really nice.

The latest series of trade and gardening magazines that have arrived have headlined using native trees, shrubs and flowers to lure butterflies and birds. I like that idea and have always kept it simple and productive. Years back--2004 I think it was--we put an addition on the house and part of the success was a steep bank outside my new office window. Long term I had plans for a patio affair but that part is still a thought, not a reality. What we did do was buy an assortment of 7 different spireas to hold the bank and bring in some flying beauty. It sure worked. All 35 spireas are now 3-5 feet across and each spring they put up new stems that turn  to white, purple, red, maroon, lavender and creamy yellow flower heads that lure in all sorts of bees and butterflies by day, night flying moths after dark. This was an inexpensive fix for a large area. Gail added a few clumps of daylilies here and there and I added some basic echinacea, some yarrows, rudbeckias, and liatris.

Many of these plants including the spireas self seed so over time the area fills in nicely and the insect actors multiply too.

From my experience, the plantings brought on smiles as butterflies arrived that I had not seen before and that made the project even more interesting. Today a few more milkweeds and mullein have worked their way in and although some gardeners see these rouges as just that, I find them to be season extenders that keep me in Monarch butterflies into September and goldfinches all winter feeding on mullein seeds.

So if the snow deepens over the next couple days at your home, think about plants that will bring a different level of happiness to next summer's gardens. It's not expensive and it is rewarding. Kids love butterflies too and it's a way to encourage an early understanding of our earthly neighbors and how we have to work together to keep things in balance.

Guess that's it for this morning. A large blue jay is looking in the window at me as if to say "Sunflower please." I do not speak blue jay but I can "see" the request. Be well!

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!

Many Hands Make Light Work

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Almost 2 PM here on the mountain. 46 degrees with winds smothering in and out from 1 to 3 miles an hour. Karl the Wonder Dog is snoring on the couch and impatient deer hunters are driving the roads, waiting for another hour before heading for their favorite stand until dark. Gail is outside pruning fir balsam boughs for wreaths and I'm just getting back to the computer after an ongoing saga of medical repairs on my body. Carpal tunnel release, one trigger finger, one hernia repaired, one more trigger finger to go and then more recuperation. My dad always said "Boy, I'll be happy when it stops hurtin'!" and I know just what he meant.

A few weeks back we took a ride to Glover, Vermont. Gail and Alex hadn't been there before and I wanted them to visit Curriers Market. This is a neat old place that's half grocery store, half sporting goods store. The meat is very good and the prices for the various cuts are hand written on paper hanging in front of the counter. As the price moves up or down, the butcher lines out the last price and writes in the new one. The meat is fresh cut for you and there's something special about a butcher/butcheress (?) who knows your name and how you like things done.

What I wanted Gail and Alex to see wasn't the meat though, but the taxidermy on display. The store is a museum of animal mounts, mostly from Vermont and Canada and some from further away. The walls around the beverage coolers are papered with Polaroid pictures of each season's harvest--pictures of deer and bear and turkeys and hunters by the hundreds. It's a place that has a history that should be written but is relived many times each year.

On the outskirts of town there's a pull off that's worth the stop as it forces recall of two hundred years worth of history. The Town of Glover erected this monument to a time in 1810 when 60 men and boys changed history and geography at the same time. As you read the stone and the commemorative plaque that appears on its reverse side, glance back up to the picture up top and visualize if there was 70 feet of water on top of the gravel you would be standing on. Click on the pictures to enlarge the writing so you understand the story of what happened.

Sooo-o-o-o, many hands do make light work and in this case 60 sets of hands changed history. Today the same task would have been automated with giant heavy equipment but it wouldn't have been allowed without a truckload of applications, deer yard reviews, bear habitat reviews, site visits, hearings and permits. Today it wouldn't take 60 men to get the job done but factually 60 men could do the job by hand faster than the entire process would take in modern times.

In the same pull off as the marker are some benches made from millstones. Again, the stones represent a time that is long passed but the granite of the stones and the method by which they were manufactured 200 years ago serves as reminder to the amount of physical work people had to do just to exist. When you're shopping next and you reach for a 5 pound sack of flour, remember these millstones and think about where we've gone since then.


This final picture shows a water well configured to match the millstones. The accompanying sign cautions that the water hasn't been tested but there's no doubt that hundreds of critters have stopped for a drink over the past couple hundred years. The picture gives another example to think through 70 feet of water that stood here before the trench was cut.

Gardening can be a tough experience and smart gardeners benefit from the helping hands of friends. I should have learned this lesson before I needed to learn the advantage of prosthetic mesh to patch a tear in an aging mid section. Well, I learned the lesson late but I do have some time to catch up on garden reading.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where good gardeners should care about their health and not try to do too much themselves.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm

Heavy Rain, Beautiful Foliage Continues

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

47 degrees here on the mountain at almost 8 PM. My new toy, an inexpensive anemometer, is spinning at 3 mph with gusts to 5 mph as the front moves in. The rain continues on and off and the "on" part this afternoon disrupted my wood splitting. I coaxed Gail to ride with me for a few minutes while I took some quick pictures, knowing that more rain and wind would influence what is by far the best foliage color in recent years. My ulterior motive was I wanted help picking out some more flat and colorful leaves to add to a collection and a book going to my grandsons out Seattle way. Gail agreed with getting out but had a brief self-debate about taking Karl the Wonder Dog along..... until I let out an impatient "Let's go!" Karl stayed home to snooze on.

During the past few weeks I have probably told a hundred people about the back road to Osmore Pond in the Groton State Forest. The road is almost two miles from our house and the state park people always open it up the day after Labor Day. Since 1989 I have been telling people this as it means not having to pay to get in to see and paddle on a nice little pond. There's also some unusual feeling about a secretive entrance to something so beautiful as Osmore Pond....kind of like an explorer finding something new and exciting.

Gail and I arrived at the road and the gate was locked tight. I muttered some anti budget cut comments and we turned around and headed to New Discovery, the main entrance to Osmore. Karen, one of the rangers, was in the contact station and she explained that they closed the road due to the bad behavior of a few. Just the same the pond was accessible and entrance was free but access is through this entrance. Down the road through a nice maple forest we went.


Osmore Pond has a history I will study some day but I know there was a time when logging around it was an important thing. Several people have told me about two different sawmills on the pond but I have never received good accounts of where the milled lumber went from there.

Osmore has three primitive lean-tos for rent and one newer one on the side close to the parking lot. "Primitive" means you walk in or paddle across the pond. No shower and you share the outhouse with the porcupines. This pond always has had loons but today they were either underwater and out of sight or just not there. The pond is beautiful this time of year so I took a couple shots. Click to enlarge.

We turned around and headed for Owls Head. This is a great granite dome and on a clear day you can see for a hundred miles each way. In late August you might witness raptors moving along as you sit up top eating wild blueberries. In contrast, in late May around Memorial Day you will certainly find other raptors gliding around feeding in the company of slow flying-coasting turkey vultures.

Today the rain was coming down stronger as we made it to the Owls Head parking area. We walked over to the picnic area and I took pictures of Kettle Pond down below. I wish they'd get the work crew to clean out the brush so the view for aging picture takers like me was easier. Typically Camel's Hump is easy to see but from this grown over vantage point, it was missing today.
During the Civilian Conservation Corp days the workers build a set of steps to the top of the mountain. If you have visited here before you know that they are high steps but just the same a fifteen minute walk to the top is nothing in trade for such a beautiful panorama. We want to get back there this weekend as the park staff close Owls Head right after Columbus Day.

Kettle Pond (last 3 shots) is down Route 232 a little further than the Owls Head turn and it's en route to Route 302 that heads to Groton or Orange. There's a prominent parking lot and a portage that's longer than I like if you want to paddle. There is a private youth group area of multiple lean-tos for rent by families, groups like scouts, even an organization of knitters makes a go of it--all who can enjoy a beautiful pond and a rural setting for a few bucks.

We've come to learn this area as it's really part of the big backyard we share. My favorite time is around Memorial Day when wildflowers abound. Trillium and orchids are favorites for me but there are dozens of flowers and shrubs to enjoy. Any time I walk here, I recall ever flower I have found, every place I have taken pictures. Gardeners should think broadly about their gardens and their state as they visit natural areas preserved for our use. Before we decided to move our nursery, I was just starting to lay out some woodland gardens intended to link nature, cultivated wildflowers and domestic hybrids. Maybe sometime I'll get back to that project. For now I can look back at these pictures and be thankful it was such a colorful day. Come visit soon if you can!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the wind speed is up to a constant 7 mph and I can hear the trees rustling from my office.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Winter and Winterberry

Sunday, November 2, 2008

A crisp morning here on the mountain. The crows are noisy and their message is confusing. I think perhaps they are calling friends to a breakfast at the compost pile. It is amazing how far into the woods I find food scraps that they drop. This morning's offering is a few egg shells and a bowl of apple parings from last night's Apple Crisp. That's a fall delight for sure and anything goes well with the "crisp" bite of the fall air.

There has been "sleeping trouble" here at Vermont Flower Farm of late and last night made three nights in a row that Karl the Wonder Dog sounded his animal security barks at a time when I really wanted to be dreaming. It wasn't the three bears this time. I woke at about 12:30 to the sound of deer hooves walking up or down the path from the drive to the house. At that time of night (morning), it sounded like the Budweiser Clydesdales on a paved road.

Eighteen years ago I built a wooden walkway of pressure treated decking boards and although it has lasted well, I'd never do it again. I had seen several configurations in garden magazines at the time and they looked very nice, landscaped right to the edge. A chop saw made cutting angles easy and articles suggested ways to add a serpentine look without too much carpentry skill. I thought there was some merit in the ease of construction and future care. The downside, I find, is that over time the walks develop a slippery coating of algae and moss that creates a challenge that aging ankles and legs don't need in the winter. Last year I took three headers, each time landing in either the lilac bush or the Alberta Spruce. Strange safety nets that worked!

The noise of the deer woke Karl from the front room and in nanoseconds he was at our bed shouting barks of "Go-Away, Go-Away" that took a while to register with the deer. By then we were wide awake again, hoping that slumber would return. There is a price for any good security system!

As fall weather brings it's first snow, I always make a ride to the same place where I have cultivated a nice stand of winterberry. If my timing is right and I haven't allowed too many 15 degree nights to get ahead of me, I pick a nice bucket full of winterberry for the house. This is the native variety found along Vermont streams, ponds or in bogs. It grows to 9 feet tall and in good years offers a profusion of berries. The key is to getting to them early. Successive cold nights eventually wear down the anti freeze in the berries and when you bring branches inside, the temperature change turns them mushy in a week. If you plan it right, you have a nice display through Thanksgiving. There are several hybrids on the market now and other than needing a companion variety to set berries, they are a nice addition. Color through the fall and another seed crop for birds and small creatures.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where a large flock of Canada Geese is moving overhead. The sky is clear, the air pressure high and the geese are at several thousand feet but there are so many, their voices are clear even here inside the house.


With kind fall wishes,

George Africa
The (sleepy) Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Autumn Colors

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The rain is pounding the roof again tonight as I think back about yesterday afternoon's trip with Alex and Karl the Wonder Dog, looking at foliage from some of our favorite vantage points. Foliage this year has been about a week earlier than usual but as spectacular as I can ever remember. The colors have been so vivid that you don't want to leave one point of view for the next.

Alex and I had dedicated a couple hours to be with Karl and travel around but I was late getting back from work and we had to modify our schedule a little. We headed down to Osmore Pond in hopes of spotting a moose along the way but the trip was mooseless. The pond was as beautiful as ever but quiet this time with no loons to be seen or heard.

We back tracked to the village for some gas and a soda and headed up past the waterfalls and onto the Lanesboro Road. This is a favorite with us--the old Montpelier to Wells River, Vermont Railroad, thrown up in the early 50's and now an excellent place to drive, enjoy the scenery and the wildlife which abounds. We stopped at Marshfield Pond which I photograph several times a

year. This is a small kettle pond surrounded by some great wildflowers in spring and lots of life the rest of the year. The granite head wall on the back is still on my list of things to hike to but I still haven't made it.

We exited the road at the corner of Lanesboro and Ethan Allen Corner and then drove part way up Owl's Head and then home. The foliage was something we didn't want to leave but evening chores beckoned.

The predominant tree in these photos is the maple. There are red maples, sugar maples and some Norway maples but all are colorful. As the leaves of these trees fall around our house, I use the leaf vac to pick them up and shred them for next year's gardens. Maples have a very long root system and they store important minerals in the leaves. In the spring I'll spread an inch or so on all the new gardens at our nursery and begin the process of improving our garden beds, a little at a time.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where day time visitors from around the world will stop and click photos of fall foliage so they can talk about it forever. Vermont is a great state and it always looks better on the return trip. Come visit!

Best autumn wishes,

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm
Vermont Gardens

Coastal Maine 2

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Good morning again from Vermont Flower Farm where it's windy and 51.9 degrees with very soggy ground after a tremendous storm last night. I never like to cut short anything I am writing but the thunder storm approached quickly last night and I wanted to get things shut down here. We are surrounded by a number of objects that lure in lightning strikes and although we have never had a problem at the house, we want to keep things that way.

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is a work in progress that is already a masterpiece of delight for gardeners like me. As I left Route 27 and made the entrance, the series of sculptures made me slow to enjoy each one. As I entered the parking lot there were about 20 cars but it was still early I thought and what could I expect of a garden which had just opened in June. From the time I parked the car and began my journey, it was abundantly clear that this was a masterfully designed and planted garden which everyone would enjoy.

I made my way up the walk to the front doors and entered. Three ladies greeted me at the front desk and we chatted about my journey and how I had become aware of the gardens. We exchanged questions as gardeners always do and I exited the building to the side lawn and my first view of what to expect. I stopped short, in awe of all in front of me, as I tried to take in the colors, textures and heights. I stuffed the map brochure in my camera case and began a journey that took well over two hours.

I walked along the Visitor Center to the Kitchen Garden, then the Rose and Perennial Garden and the gazebo, then down to the Hillside Garden and the Meditation Garden. I went up and down the hill a couple times to be sure I didn't miss anything but each time something else caught my eye. I knew a lot of the plant material but fewer of the trees and shrubs than I wish to admit. On and on I walked, respecting all the time the almost countless hours that went into the planning and design, let alone the planting of this enourmous place of beauty.




Walking the paths time and again reinforced in my mind the difficulty the design team must have had pulling together divergent design philosphies while matching plant materials which would grow successfully in an area where fog and sea salt breezes are part of the competition.


I have been so busy this summer that I haven't been able to get to Seattle to revisit my still new-to-me grandson. When I am in that city I always enjoy Dale Chihuly's glass sculpture which to me is difficult to describe but easy to enjoy. As I made my way to the Forest Pond, there in the middle was one of Chihuly's works, reminding me of what I wouldn't see in Seattle this fall. The yellow was a perfect match to a large group of senecing ferns which caught my attention near the parking area.

As I made one final tour around the Great Lawn, I let the images I had seen filter back through my mind. This is truly a remarkable botanical garden, still in its infancy but already a tribute to the very dedicated group who took a vision and created a monumental coastal garden.

I chatted with the ladies at the desk one more time and headed for the parking lot. Vehicles of all descriptions had filled many of the lots and the access road was a long line of vehicles. If you get close to Boothbay next time you're in Maine, plan a visit to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. If you are a gardener like me, you'll come away energized and carrying a new vision of how to plant and display differently, even on the scale of your own gardens.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond, Marshfield, Vermont where the strong winds have forced the temperature to remain a steady 51.9 degrees despite the departing clouds and the welcome sunshine.

Best gardening wishes,

George Africa
http://vermontgardens.blogspot.com
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Foggy Morn

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

A foggy morning here at Vermont Flower Farm. The temperature is already up to 54 degrees. Last evening's rains, limited but wet, and a declining temperature, created some dense fog which only now is being cut apart by bright sun rays from above. A beautiful day is promised.

Hosta Days continues here and if you haven't come by, you're missing our hosta gardens in their prime. There are a few holes here and there from black weevils but except for a few of the thin leaved, light-colored hostas that insects go after, everything looks great.

We've had hundreds of visitors to the lower hosta garden so far and all the comments have been positive. Even the little kid who handed over a collection of plant signs was so positive I was only half bothered by having to put them back. One couple who are hosta enthusiasts said it was the best garden they have seen this year. It is a truly peaceful garden and has it's own strengths but if you look around, you'll find many other great hosta gardens. Some of the finest are collectors gardens and not publicized although the owners are always happy to give tours--you just have to find them first. They are real garden treasures just like our Hosta 'Garden Treasure' pictured next.


So if you have a few minutes in the next few days, stop by and come walk with us. The hosta gardens are beautiful and just sitting for a minute listening to the red eyed vireos will make you ask why you haven't stopped before.


Our website is not up to date on the hostas we have available for sale. We are close to 200 varieties potted and ready to go which is less than half what we have for you to see. Excuse us for short days and too much to do and just stop by and see for yourself that hostas and Vermont go well together.



From the mountain above Peacham Pond where I am heading in a few minutes with patience and two cameras. I think I know where a loon is nesting and I hope with some camouflage and a pair of binoculars I can find the nest. Distance and silence are included in my backpack. Be well!

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com
http://vermontgardens.blogspot.com

A Time For Learning

Saturday, February 17, 2007

18 degrees here on the mountain. The wind is blowing in big gusts and the light snow seems to be flowing parallel to the earth instead of falling from the skies. There's a gray-white cloud above Peacham Pond and as I look down that way I can see the sun's rays slowing rising, orange and obvious. I just came in with Karl the wonder dog and he was not impressed with the thermometer reading which was apparently inaccurate in dog degrees. I'm inclined to agree that the wind is not kind some days as it affects temperature.

The platform feeder is absent of birds right now which seemed strange until I noticed that the wood smoke from the stove is being pushed down from the chimney and almost surrounds the feeder at times in a blue haze. There's lots of controversy about fuels and pollutants and in Vermont this is approaching the issue of outdoor furnaces. These are multi-fuel burning furnaces which are located away from buildings and stoked with large logs once every one to four days depending on their size. They hitch into your domestic heating system and have circulators to move the water through the furnace and back into your home, garage, barn, greenhouse or other outbuildings. Each one has a metal chimney and that's where the rub apparently comes. They reduce volumes of fuel and emit clouds of smoke. In the realm of fuel choices, the jury is still out but I think there is merit to be considered.

A neighbor high on the hill installed one last year and I thought nothing of it until I started smelling burnt household trash. This sends me into craziness because of the multitude of serious pollutants involved but there is no enforcement on this. I could be wrong and the problem could have issued forth from one of the other three houses up that way but the point of pollution remains. When you have an interest in the environment and an ongoing commitment to find out where autism comes from, these little mysteries are as critical and the larger ones media-blasted to us every day.


I've added a feature to both this blog and Vermont Gardens that I think will be interesting to some readers. I've added a little Yahoo Flickr badge on the right side of the page just below my profile. The badge has pictures I've taken over the years here at Vermont Flower Farm. Many of the pictures appear on our Vermont Flower Farm website as Virtual Tours but some are pictures not publicized before. On a rotating basis a picture enlarges but you can click any place on the Flickr badge to get to the site that houses the picture inventory. It's an easy learning curve to negotiate and I think you will enjoy it. Comments are always welcome.

The time seemed right to add more pictures to The Vermont Gardener because late winter and early spring is when gardeners tire of white ground and the sounds of snow plows and fuel trucks. This is a time for learning when trips to the library or bookstore find us returning with stacks of new ideas and ways to spend a couple bucks. There is a perpetual question involved with this annual quest for learning which has lots of answers, none of which are right or wrong.


"Why do people garden?" is a common question and a good one for introspection. Perhaps some time soon I'll offer some personal thoughts but in the meantime blogs, magazines, newspapers and educational radio and television shows offer opinions to match against your thoughts. On a wintery day with blowing snow, look out the window for a minute, let your eyes and mind cruise your garden spaces, and ask yourself "Why do I garden?" If you reach a conclusion, add a comment for us. I'm sure others will welcome your thoughts and your bravery!!


From the mountain above Peacham Pond where blue jays and grosbeaks have landed at the feeder and the smell of Gail's apple pancakes and maple syrup has me winding up this "good morning" wish.

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com
http://vermontgardens.blogspot.com

Vermont Reflections

Tuesday eve, December 5, 2006

I just put a couple logs in the woodstove. The warmth feels very good, especially to Karl the wonder dog, flanked out in front of the brick hearth acting as if his spot is not to be intruded upon. In a few minutes he will probably become oblivious to his surroundings. Soon we'll hear his erractic snoring and twitching as he goes into dreams of chasing red squirrels and rabbits. Much has changed in the past couple days and the weather has shown it is in charge of our outside world.

Sunday morning Karl and I headed out early to try to get a few late fall pictures. We headed south on Route 232 and then took a right turn across from the turn to Owls Head. If you haven't been there yet, locate it on a good map and make a note to visit any time after Memorial Day next spring. That's when the state park system begins to open. Owls Head is special to me and I speak of it often, to friends, to visitors, and in our blogs. The profile shot of me on this blog is one Alex took several years ago when I was sitting up there enjoying a time of peace. For Alex and me, we don't make the trip up there often enough but when just the two of us go, we have good conversation.

Karl and I headed down the road until we came to Marshfield Pond. I have no idea how many pictures I have taken of the pond but Sunday morning we got there as the sun was just tossing back the bedsheets. The mountain looked cold and dark even though the temperature was almost 30 degrees warmer than it is tonight.

Marshfield Pond is a kettle pond, less than 35 feet deep and filled with browned, acidic water, warm water fish and is surrounded by some fine wildflower specimens. Despite all that beauty, the shear granite headwall has always intrigued me, forever beckoning me to visit.

The visual entrance to Marshfield Pond is similar to the entrance to our hosta display garden. It makes you catch your breath with all there is to see and as soon as you cast your eyes right or left, you're instantly fatigued by how much there is to see. Once you've looked around , you know you'll return time and again to compare differences and savor the tranquility that is so difficult to find these days.



The hosta garden entrance is impressive but it didn't turn out as expected. It serves as a good reminder to other gardeners that a good garden plan is priceless. If you visit before mid May when the hostas are first breaking ground and then visit again around the third week of June, you'll notice that the beauty of the hostas has covered the beauty of the stones that delineate the old barn foundation, three stone walls holding firm grasp to hundreds of hosta so they can't escape to adjoining land. Had I done it correctly, I would have spaced the larger hostas further apart and would have planted the smaller ones 5-6 feet from some of the larger varieties. Seeing a Sum and Substance hosta that's 6 feet across and almost four feet high makes you "wow!"; having to peal away 20" leaves to find much smaller Kabitan, Lemon Lime, Twist of Lime and Little Sunspot is not nearly as fun as seeing them well grown as perimter hostas.

Planting a hosta garden the right way makes you want to keep bending over to grab another hosta to plant. The new garden looks sparsely planted and open at first and makes you feel too stingey with the plant material. This feeling continues for at least the first two years when the plants begin to fill out.

If you can't resist that urge to fill in between plants with yet more hostas, you can always buy some fast growing annuals and pop in a few here and there. It's also prudent to remember that the first full year after planting, the hostas are typically adjusting to the soil and putting on some nice root growth. The second year they will start to grow and the third year it's a whole different look

These last two pictures show the same hosta bed two years apart. It's been two additonal years since the last picture. If you stop by to visit, you will easily see what we're trying to communicate on the spacing issue. And I'll bet even a quick walk through the lower garden will give you the encouragement needed to try some hostas. If the look is enticing but the courage is lacking, courage is something we dole out for free. Just ask!

From the mountain above Peacham Pond where colder temperatures will lead to some snow on Thursday and then slightly warmer days by the weekend. "Warmer" is relative in a Vermont winter but it's always nice for us to hear.

Happy gardening thoughts!

George Africa

http://vermontflowerfarm.com

http://vermontgardens.blogspot.com