Thursday, June 28, 2012
5:30 AM and Karl the Wonder Dog has just returned from his morning walk. He was reluctant to return to the house with me but I think wet fur and a tired sniffer encouraged his return. We both sort of expected to see some big critters of the woods this morning after three days of solid rain but so far the wild animals are slow to get moving. I have never used an alarm clock and they don't either.
The wind is light but strong enough to turn some leaves over. The recent heat and then heavy rains made the trees and shrubs grow quickly and branches hang across woods paths and roads. Occasionally Karl stopped abruptly, his less than perfect eye sight challenging the movement of what he saw and what was actually there.
In the flower farm garden along the Winooski River, the Rose Campion, Lychnis coronaria, (pictured above) started blooming a couple days ago and is drawing attention from those who are not familiar with it. Originally from Europe and documented in Thomas Jefferson's gardens in the 1700's, this silver stemmed and leaved biennial comes in fuchsia, white and pink flowers. We only have grown the fuchsia colored variety and the color surely is an attention getter. I picked a nice bouquet the other day adding Veronica 'Eveline', Penstemon 'Dark Towers', a couple yarrows and a pale yellow wildflower I think is named Cinquefoil. It turned out to be a nice bouquet to look at but fragrance was absent and the penstemon have a "fragrance" that makes a wandering nose pull up short.
I am really proud of the way the hosta display garden (example just below) is maturing despite the fact that a year ago, half of it went down the river in the May floods. I have been busy replanting immature hostas to replace those I lost so half the garden will take another 3-4-5 years to match what is there now. If you can find some time to visit Vermont Flower Farm, ask for directions down the hill to the garden and we'll point the way. If you have mobility issues, give us a "please help" and one of us will give you a ride down in the golf cart. It's really a neat looking garden and I'm really pleased with what the floods spared. The onslaught of weeds that came with the floods is a different story and one of us has to go through the garden each week to hoe out weeds. At least we were spared Japanese knotweed like many riverside gardeners are contending with this year.
The wind is light but strong enough to turn some leaves over. The recent heat and then heavy rains made the trees and shrubs grow quickly and branches hang across woods paths and roads. Occasionally Karl stopped abruptly, his less than perfect eye sight challenging the movement of what he saw and what was actually there.
In the flower farm garden along the Winooski River, the Rose Campion, Lychnis coronaria, (pictured above) started blooming a couple days ago and is drawing attention from those who are not familiar with it. Originally from Europe and documented in Thomas Jefferson's gardens in the 1700's, this silver stemmed and leaved biennial comes in fuchsia, white and pink flowers. We only have grown the fuchsia colored variety and the color surely is an attention getter. I picked a nice bouquet the other day adding Veronica 'Eveline', Penstemon 'Dark Towers', a couple yarrows and a pale yellow wildflower I think is named Cinquefoil. It turned out to be a nice bouquet to look at but fragrance was absent and the penstemon have a "fragrance" that makes a wandering nose pull up short.
I am really proud of the way the hosta display garden (example just below) is maturing despite the fact that a year ago, half of it went down the river in the May floods. I have been busy replanting immature hostas to replace those I lost so half the garden will take another 3-4-5 years to match what is there now. If you can find some time to visit Vermont Flower Farm, ask for directions down the hill to the garden and we'll point the way. If you have mobility issues, give us a "please help" and one of us will give you a ride down in the golf cart. It's really a neat looking garden and I'm really pleased with what the floods spared. The onslaught of weeds that came with the floods is a different story and one of us has to go through the garden each week to hoe out weeds. At least we were spared Japanese knotweed like many riverside gardeners are contending with this year.
The weatherman promises sunshine by noon so I am packing the truck and heading out in a few minutes. Stop and see us if you can.From the mountain above Peacham Pond where dark sky suggests more rain before the front comes through. The birds are beginning to sing to me and a woodpecker beats on a close-by sugar maple offering a cadence that almost says "get to work, get to work". I'm going, I'm going!
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!
