Remembering Mrs. Monarda

Saturday, December 18, 2010

15.6° and rising. Windless for a change. The birds are awake and feeding on Saturday's breakfast buffet and traffic is building as people leave the pond and head to town for recycling and shopping. The weather will be good this weekend and retailers should be smiling by close of business tomorrow evening.

Karl the Wonder Dog was not interested in much of a walk this morning when the temperature bounced from 12° to 10° to 15°. We made it to the granite Peacham Pond marker and then he bee lined for the back door, right past the tin of butter cookies on the counter. He was in bed again in seconds and I had avoided another potential scolding for feeding him bite sized tastes of non traditional dog food which is not healthy for him. He and I love butter cookies and speaking only for myself, I enjoy too many.

As we passed the mailbox this morning, I noticed the bee balm heads had caught piles of snowflakes as the last storm went through around 6 this morning. Some folks clean up spent flowers in the fall but there are certain flowers we leave to admire. Monarda is an example. Seeing them gives quick recall of how beautiful they are during the summer, decked with butterfly jewelry and dancing hummingbirds.

Monarda is a member of the mint family and some don't care for its wandering habit. The picture just below shows how a planting at the house overtook daylilies, actaea, astilbes, and martagon and Oriental lilies over the past couple years as our energies turned to the new nursery.Just the same, a mass of red and purple, the hummingbird magnet that it is, serves us well as we enjoy Vermont summers.

Red is one of the colors of the current holiday season but for us, it is also a reminder of a season to look forward to. Consider monarda in future plantings at your home and you'll be reminded how important they are to insects and animals. Try some!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the white of the woods beckons to me for another walk. Give me a call if you want to walk too.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Using social networking as a vehicle to share good gardening ideas with others. On Facebook as George Africa or as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

PS Running late on shopping time? Call Gail and order a gift certificate. 1-802-426-3505 or lilies@hughes.net

Two Bears and a Deer

Monday, May 3, 2010

Overcast sky this morning but surprisingly warm at 61 degrees. I just heard Gail head out with Karl the Wonder Dog who refused to rise and shine for a walk with me this morning. They will be gone for half an hour or so as they make their way to Peacham Pond and back. It's a nice walk and sure to produce some wildlife encounters.

Yesterday morning seems like ages ago. I drove the tractor down to the nursery for the first time this year. It's a matter of necessity as I can't justify the expense of a trailer right now for a couple-three trips a year. It takes half an hour and I always go in the early morning to avoid trucks on Route 2 and impatient fishermen on our road.

As I rounded the final corner maybe a third of a mile from Route 2, I looked down to the bottom of a six acre field. Two black spots caught my attention, one much larger than the other, and as the tractor moved along, a sow bear and one yearling cub became obvious. The sow is big by Vermont sow bear standards and I believe this is the same one I saw last fall with two cubs. I could be wrong but she is a big mother and the other cub could have been inside the treeline or perhaps it was feeding in a different place and didn't catch up yet. I wish I had the time to look longer and I would have liked to make a quick walk down into the field to find what they were eating. Bears are always foraging around and they travel a bunch more than many people think. I suspect these bears will be around the house tonight --or maybe that's what Karl was barking at when he woke us at midnight last night. Bears are hungry now and there's not a great selection of food for them.

As I made it to the bottom of the hill, I glanced left and there was a large deer at about 300 yards. It was by itself and I would guess it was a buck. I was paying attention to traffic and making the turn onto Route 2 as the deer took a couple leaps and was gone. Turkey season started Saturday and that same area produces some fine birds so my guess is a hunter spooked the deer.

Yesterday was the third day at the nursery designated for potting new plants. We started Friday and planted over 700, Saturday with a smaller crew we did 600 and yesterday Gail, our worker bee from Peacham and I planted a little over 500 pots. Yesterday's number is deceiving as everything we planted was perennials from cell packs so the work goes faster save for the responsibility of the guy mixing the potting mix--me.

Among the flowers yesterday was bee balm, monarda, Oswego tea, an herb belonging to the mint family. This is the herb that Native Americans shared with Colonists when their protest saw bales of tea going into Boston Harbor. One time a historical horticulturist joked during a presentation that after the Colonists tried the Oswego Tea (named after natives and bee balm from Oswego region, New York) they quickly decided they wouldn't be dumping any more real tea.

Bee balm comes in many heights and colors and we have always had some growing here at the house. The picture up top shows some Cambridge Scarlet and some Raspberry Wine (on right of pic) that formed wide swathes of color, almost choking out a variety of lilies we used to have. The nine foot tall Empress Orienpet lilies sticking high above the bee balm came from Judith Freeman from The Lily Garden Vancouver, Washington. Four years ago when I visited there, Judith explained she didn't think that lily was so good but it sure likes growing conditions in Vermont! Some place in this mass of monarda is a shorter, light pink too. I cannot remember the exact name right now but for some reason Croftway Pink keeps coming to mind. Aging minds like bumps in Vermont dirt roads, create challenges at times and my "remembery" is no different!


Bee balms are a favorite of night flying moths, butterflies, bees (well, yes!!) and hummingbirds. I love watching all these visitors and stand in amazement as hummingbirds find something good to eat from a flower which is so hard to work at. The hummers are not back to this part of Vermont yet but they always make it about Mothers Day. Use the hummingbird tracking site if you haven't seen any birds at your gardens yet.

As fall approaches and first frosts hit, the flowers look a little like this. We always leave them for the birds and cut bunches for use in dried fall arrangements. Here in Vermont there is a company in Craftsbury named Vermont Bee Balm that combines the oils of the mint with bees wax. There are many virtues to bees wax and one is helping with the arthritis gardeners often encounter.

So anyway we planted some bee balm yesterday and in a week or two it will take hold and fill the pots so that by July gardeners will have a good look at what we have available. We planted Fireball, Gardenview Scarlet, the taller Jacob Cline, the shorter Petite Wonder, Coral Reef and some more Raspberry Wine. I'll dig up enough Cambridge Scarlet from the gardens for 30 pots and that should suffice for this season. Although mints have a spreading habit and bee balms are not different, they are an inexpensive hummingbird lure and if you have never encountered night flyinig moths, a summer night after 9:30 is a place to visit. Try some!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Karl the Wonder Dog just returned and Gail brought me a coffee refill. Nice doggy, very nice wife!


George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm Our website that's still lacking a page for the fine selection of garden phloxes we are growing now
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens or just plain old George Africa
Twitter comments as time permits. vtflowerfarm

Bountiful Blossoms

Friday, July 31, 2009

The clock read 4:03 AM when Karl the Wonder Dog's thunderous commands brought me to attention. I neither understood his message nor really wanted to hear it. Yesterday's arthritic leftovers made thoughts of an early morning walk less than desirable.

I layed there for a minute waiting for the noise to stop and then between barks I heard the calling of a cat. The voice was different than any of the neighbors cats and I assumed that it was a "left-over", a cat that was brought on vacation to Peacham Pond and then left behind as it wandered while the family packed and left. Not all cats are good at adapting and this one is on that list.

With reluctance I got up, started the coffee and headed out with Karl. 57 degrees, still and overcast as if more rain is predicted. The previous night the rain gauge measured 2.75" here and exceeded 5 inches in southern Vermont. The wet summer that is not a summer continues.

I have to say the gardens are lush with all the rain and the daylilies are especially thick and full of blossoms. Morning walks here at the house are best for me because the absence of foot and car traffic allows me to hide from the embarrassment of gardens in shambles around the house. This is the second year we are trying to get the new nursery organized and priorities require that sacrifices be made. The wild impatiens is 4 feet tall with the rain and even some of the grand hostas in the lower garden are almost out of sight because of the rain and weed growth.

Up top is a picture of the Lilium superbum which came out yesterday. It's a poor picture but I'll get back to some better ones tonight if the weather comes around. These are tall lilies, sometimes reaching ten feet here. The bulbs are actually in the shape of a dog bone. They are easy to scale and start anew but even the simplicity of that reproductive process is something I couldn't find time for last fall or this spring. I have lost a few to voles and other critters and it's about time to get with some restoration.

Bee balm, monarda, Oswego tea, that mint family herb that does make a tea if you are into that stuff is in full bloom. I should dig and bag some and sell it but it's just another thing on the "to do" list that makes sense but I don't get to doing. I promised some more to Leslie down at the pond and I'll have to give her a call and tell her where the shovel is.


Again, my photography skills show the bad side of working in haste but this daylily picture is of a daylily known as the best coral colored daylily on the market. It's not new but it surely is nice. It's named South Seas. If you see it in our gardens, you'll think there's something wrong with the photo or the photographer and both are a little off. The daylily is a beauty!

Lilium that did not succumb to the lily leaf beetles are in bloom and doing well. An assortment that Brent and Becky's Bulbs sent me a couple years back to trial are in bloom now and most are longiflorum-asiatic crosses. These tend to be taller lilies with thicker stems and larger flowers. Some have faint fragrance, others almost none.

Some Asistic lilies have been with us since the 80's. Tags get lost, memories get foggy and yet some still return despite thick weed competition and the beetle. I forget the name of this 5 foot tall Asiatic over by the compost pile but it returns each year even though I dig away a few each season for customers who bug me for a chance to add a strong bulb to their collections. Some days when I am tired I give in because it's easier than repeating "No, not this year".

Gail is in the garden now making notes of things she wants Austin to dig and bring down to the nursery today. Some of the plants will require lots of digging as they are older, established plants. I sure wish Austin would find my 6 foot pry bar. I don't need it today but he will.

I'm heading to the nursery in a few minutes. Gail will have breakfast at Maple Valley mid morning with some friends from the autism community. Autism is an important reality in our lives and with a couple of the ladies attending this morning. They have sons, ages 25 and 43, who have presented them with lots of challenges. At some point in most gardeners lives, autism appears as a family member, friend or community acquaintance and things look a bunch different. Among the many things Gail juggles in life is how to make a better world for those on the spectrum. Her knowledge gets applied first right here at home. She is quick to answer gardening questions but speaks authoritatively about many aspects of autism too. If you have a question, feel comfortable asking her. We have a list of resources on our website

Got to scoot. If you some time, stop by and see us at the nursery.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where ravens and "raucous' are made for each other.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Gardening at Vermont Flower Farm where we grow hardy plants for hardy Vermonters and their friends. Come visit!