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

First Eruptions

Sunday, December 7, 2008, 5:10 AM

A different-than expected morning here on the mountain. Yesterday's 7 degrees was programmed in my mind to welcome me this morning but it's 21 degrees out and strangely bright with light pushing through thin cloud cover. Karl the Wonder Dog wanted to walk longer than I did on the ice covered paths out back and then down the road. The coyotes are moving more right now, perhaps looking for deer, sadly leftover from deer season which is now in its muzzle loader phase. Karl pulled right, then left, nose sniffing and snorting like the bloodhound he is not. If Karl was on his own this time of year I would worry about him as coyotes have bad habits with domestic dogs and the result sure wouldn't be a holiday story.

Friday I noticed the first of two eruptions here and I welcome them. These are bird type eruptions, not volcano eruptions which would really have people talking. Vermont is volcano-less but full of fine birds. Certain birds move to food sources and you can see movement when there is more snow in Canada earlier in the year than on average. The evening grosbeaks came first last week and by Friday the Pine Grosbeaks were here in abundance eating the bazillions of crab apples on the Malus sargentii trees.

If you enjoy birds and want a fine display of spring color on a small crab apple, try Malus (that's may-lus) sargentii. The flower buds begin as red and then the flowers open, first pink and then to white and the trees hum with the sound of bees. The fruit is not anything you'd do anything with but the tiny red apples are packed with seeds which any of the seed eating birds love. Grosbeaks have conventions on our trees and when they are there only the briefest of time, the snow is covered with red confetti as they are seed eaters, not apple eaters. Usually when the crabs are cleaned out, most of the pine grosbeaks move along but the evening grosbeaks seem to stay here as long as there is sunflower seed and cracked corn in the feeders.

As the holiday season approaches, I want to do my usual couple-three-four recommendations on possible presents for gardeners and their families. I personally don't think we do a good enough job teaching our children about the world we live in so I'm always looking for inexpensive gifts that help parents do what they themselves may not be all that good at any more.

Cornell University is one of the finest in my book and their Lab for Ornithology has lots of opportunity for new bird watchers. They have set up an eStore that makes on-line shopping easy. One of the favorites is Project FeederWatch. For $12 a year you can get everything you need to know about bird watching and as you use the resources, you can help track very important information about where bird populations exist, pass through, or are now absent from. You can be a piece of the environmental puzzle and have fun doing it too!

Another possibility comes from a local ornithologist and one of Vermont's best, Bryan Pfeiffer. We just received a card from Bryan and he is again promoting his Vermont Bird Tours. These tours include Vermont opportunities but also February 20-March 1 in southern Florida looking for Limpkin, Magnificent Frigatebird, Reddish Egret, Swallow-tailed Kites and as he says in his ad "sunshine". From April 4-12 he's doing a tour to the Texas Rio Grande Valley in search of Great Kiskadee, Ringed Kingfisher and the Green Jay. Now don't get me wrong, even though I've lived in Vermont since I was five, I see birds every year that are on my "new and unknown" list. Show me a Limpkin and I'll show you a new addition to the list. People such as Bryan can help those of interest expand their knowledge and get outside. Give it some thought and don't forget about Cornell!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where this writer will be at the computer much of today learning more Dreamweaver software and redoing more of our Vermont Flower Farm web site. In my personal chain of weak links, this task is mine. Bear with me and in a couple months, there will be a new site that should catch your interest. In the meantime, remember that we offer gift certificates for your gardening friends--just call Gail at 802-426-3505 and she will help. And if you see this bird (just below) in one of your trees, let me know. Mr. Pine Grosbeak having breakfast.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm