Happy Easter from Vermont!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

34° here on the mountain. Easter morning and the sky looks as if it has been painted in horizontal pastel pinks and blues interspersed with thin lines of grey-white clouds. The rain and wind have stopped and the fog that was obvious as the moon went back to bed half an hour ago has now dispersed. Robins talk to each other along the road looking for worms and other breakfast foods and a lone pileated woodpecker pounds hard on a dieing sugar maple over by the mailbox along the road. It looks like the start to a nice day.

Yesterday Gail and friends went to Montpelier for an illustrated talk by Dr. Leonard Perry. He is the Greenhouse and Nursery Extension Specialist at the University of Vermont and if you know flower folks in Vermont, you have probably already met Leonard. He spoke about new or underused perennials and provided everyone with a very informative program.

Dr Perry offered a handout where he broke down topic plants according to growing conditions, so "Shade", "Part Shade" and "Sun"--over 8 hours per day. I'll scan the list sometime but for now, here are the newer plants on the "Sun" list for your review.

1. Achillea millefolium-Tutti Fruitti Series
2. Baptisia australis 'Purple Smoke', 'Screaming Yellow', 'Twilight Prairie Blues'
3. Echinacea purpurea 'Green Envy', 'Coconut Lime', 'Tiki Torch'
4. Geranium x 'Rozanne--perennial geranium
5. Geum 'Totally Tangerine'
6. Leucanthemum x superbum 'Broadway Lights'
7. Phlox paniculata 'Peppermint Twist'--a tall garden phlox
8. Panicum virgatum 'Ruby Ribbons'--a switchgrass

The only one on this list I am not so sure about is #8. I shouldn't speak with doubt about something I know nothing about but I have this thing about grasses. One time a friend of Gail's gave her a "you must have this" grass and she planted it by the back door. It's not there any more because I spent three years getting rid of it. BUT------If you walk down the George Jewett Road from our house towards the backside of the pond and look, you'll see some that got away. I'm just not enamored with grasses because I have yet to be introduced to varieties that stay in place and don't over seed the world. If you know grasses and can help me, I'd like to learn. Please.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the moose tracks in the snow from a couple days ago have melted bigger and Sasquatch-like. I have to get out of here now and get down to my friend Mike's and do morning chores for him. Bucky the bantie rooster will be greeting me with a morning melody and I expect there is a fresh little egg from his friend Becky who pecked me twice yesterday afternoon when I tried to slide my hand under her during egg collection time. The other girls were more friendly.

Happy Easter wishes!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm

Hot Gardens

Thursday, May 27, 2010

56 degrees here on the mountain, 98 % humidity with a rising barometer. Gail and Karl the Wonder Dog have been out since 5:30, enjoying the bird songs of the morning and an occasional deer or moose visit. Gail has taken over some of the morning walk-the-dog duties so I can get to the nursery and start watering. Division of labor is an interesting affair.

A week ago this past Sunday I was standing at the nursery in a snowstorm. Since then the temperature has risen and not a drop of rain has fallen around here. The grass on city lawns is already yellowing and dust rises as lawn mowers or farm tractors navigate grass of any kind. It was so hot yesterday at the nursery that people came to look, only briefly, and couldn't make themselves buy a plant in 90 degree weather. Around 8 last night the large mass of humidity hit another hot front and in places there were big storms with lightning and high winds. Although the National Weather Broadcasts kept going off, nothing serious got to Marshfield--this time.

Despite today's repeat of hot weather, I will start planting a hot garden in hot weather. I have a garden planned mentally for along the Winooski River that when in bloom will be observable from US Route 2. The soil along the river is terrible as it's a mix of river gravel with many large stones and a thin covering of alluvial river soil from ancient high waters. I have amended a piece 10 feet by 75 feet and that's where the planting will commence today. All the plants will be heat lovers that do well in poor soil and with limited water. I will plant intensively so the large flowers will shade the roots of the smaller ones and I plan to over-mulch with shredded maple leaves when everything is up to try to retain moisture.

All the flowers will be planted in big swaths so when the flowers bloom the color will be like a flower tapestry. I will use Benary zinnias toward the front as they provide lots of color variety and are in the 28-34 inch range. They usually don't need pinching but when they are up a foot I'll pinch them hard and water well and get them to branch to the max.

Purple and white liatris make nice clumps of color in time and bring in butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and moths. They bloom from the top down and provide a more obvious vertical element. For some reason I can't remember this morning if I ever received the white variety I ordered but do know there's a big bucket of the purple.

Part of the back drop will be swaths of yellow heliopsis (just above) and helianthus in lots of colors. I have 14 plants that are the end of last years garden rows and those will all be moved. This is a nice cut flower too and a flower that gardeners should use more for cuts and August-into-late-September bloom.

There are two crates of echinacea and rudbeckia and a crate of white shasta daisies to bring it all together. It will take another year before it fills in the way I want but there should be some good color this year anyway. The final backdrop will be sunflowers of various heights and colors. These are the bigger eye catchers that draw people close up for a better view. I love to look at sunflowers as they always remind me of two friends--my gardens and me! Have a nice day. Come visit!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where 56 degrees feels really nice!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm: where astilbes are on sale today 3/$21
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Sugar House Smoke

Friday, March 23, 2007

32.3 degrees here on the hill. As the temperature drops tonight, bigger and bigger smiles form on sugar makers faces each time they look at the thermometer falling into the twenties. A hard freeze tonight will guarantee a good sap run tomorrow and sugar house smoke should billow skyward by about 2 PM.

The maple syrup industry is important to Vermont and although the process of gathering sap and making delicious syrup is foreign to most folks, it's something many of us have grown up with. It's worthy of explanation and if I get a chance over the next week, I'll shoot some pictures and tell a story or two. Let me leave that as a promise.

Gail and I have been busy for a couple weeks now and regrettably we have wandered away from work on our website and writing to each blog. Autism is a big part of our family and there is legislation in Montpelier that is dear to us. I must add that some of what I have learned about the legislative process I did not care to know. No matter how big a state you live in, politics is just that and everyone has agendas which may differ from yours. I have written to over 35 legislators and as things stand now, there's a good chance a very important bill will never come out of Senate Appropriations because .......of politics. I had to catch myself there and for those who know me, you can let out that sigh of relief now. I won't go further on this one.

Today's warm weather dropped the snow and I can begin to see the pots we covered with an insulating blanket and plastic last fall. As the snow has melted, too many rodent trails are appearing in the snow and that's not a good feeling. We knew in January when the ground was barely covered with snow and the voles were feeding everywhere that there would be losses we couldn't control. It will be another month before we can accurately access the damage but don't be surprised if you lose a few things in your garden too. Usually you lose the expensive plants first. It's a tough world out there for animals so they like expensive things and they go for them ambitiously.

One plant I really like is coneflower or echinacea. It is not expensive unless you buy the newer varieties. It is an enjoyable plant because it lures birds and bees and butterflies in abundance. The white varieties tend to bring in Japanese beetles if there are any within miles of your property but the plants stand out nicely in early evening light and make gardens look bigger as only white can do. The various heights and sizes of pink are also very nice.

The reason I go with the whites and pinks is that the newer creams, reds, oranges, yellows and marmalades are just not hardy here. I'm told that with protection they fare better but for the current price I don't think it's worth the possible enjoyment. During a winter like this last one, I doubt any amount of help would have brought them back as they tend to be susceptible to multiple freeze-thaw cycles and we sure had those this year.

Coneflower exits fall each year as a large seedhead packed with seeds that are bird feed for months to come. Although the plants produce thousands of seeds, few germinate each spring. Regardless of the weather or the variety, you're likely to see some new growth. As spring approaches and cleanup time begins, be sure to find a good pair of gloves before cleaning up this plant. The remaining seeds and stalks are prickery and if you don't use care you'll find yourself performing minor surgery. I have no problem digging out prickers or broken stems with a sterilized needle and some magnifying glasses but the room seems to clear out quickly around here. In your house do everyone a favor and wear good gloves to start with. In the meantime think about buying some coneflowers to add to your gardens. Varieties range in height from 20"-36". The bloom time is quite long and the accompanying display of critters is fun to watch.


From the mountain above Peacham Pond where the wind is silent, the stars are shining and the word "prickery" eludes Webster, even though I still like it. Karl the wonder dog wants to go out just one more time before he goes to bed. Sounds good to me.

Gardening wishes,

George Africa

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