Spring Fury

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Mother's Day

I bright morning here at Vermont Flower Farm. Last night's 29 degrees left heavy frost on the grass and the promise of another fine day. That's great because there's lots to do. A reader from Townsend in southern Vermont stopped by yesterday to find out what was going on. She didn't think I was writing enough and I agreed with her but pointed out that moving a nursery business is kind of like moving a family even if it's just across town. I begged forgiveness and promised that our new location would be up and running by Memorial Day. I encouraged her to walk the rows of potted plants which Gail and her crews have been cranking out relentlessly. Apparently it all worked, as she bought 11 potted daylilies and said she would see us at our new place.

During the past couple weeks, Kim and Lenny have been busy on our new building. They both work full time in the granite industry so this is a part time endeavor for them. Yesterday the rafters went up and this morning the plywood roof, Grace roof covering/waterproof sheeting and drip edge will go on. Tuesday the shingling starts, then the windows and doors slide in and then the siding goes on. I am the gopher on this project. Kim and I designed the layout based on what Gail wanted and then I finalized the materials lists and bid out the various items. We are really pleased how this is turning out. Gardeners eager to read about spring garden flowers will have to show patience too as they don't make day stretchers and my days are already quite thin. If you're in the neighborhood, do stop by. We are open for business on Peacham Pond Road as we work along on US Route 2.

Yesterday morning I noticed a red Subaru slowing out front at 5:30. I knew it must be our friend, Eric, who lives and works in Massachusetts but has a camp in Groton. Eric loves Vermont and if truth be known he'd rather be living here. I was packing the truck with tools for the job site so he accompanied me down to see how things were advancing. I got things set up for Kim and Lenny, and then Eric and I came back for breakfast with Gail. We hadn't seen each other since last fall so there was lots to catch up on.

Eric is a gardener but he's also an experienced bird watcher and he knows ornithology like no one I know. As always, I had a bird question for him. Gail and I had seen a new bird recently and it was totally unfamiliar to us. We described it as grosbeak size with the breast color of a male robin, black with white wing bars and a most odd habit of scratching the ground under the maples and the spireas with both feet. Good or bad the description was more than enough for Eric and he immediately said "Towhee" and then described the call as "drink-your-tea-ee-ee-ee-ee' Rufous-sided Towhee.

We told Eric of the annual visit last week of a mature male osprey and then fell into catching up on winter and spring events. The conversation had to end too soon as we had to get to work and Eric had some things to do at camp.

Today is Mothers Day and we want to wish all mothers a good day. We have some special things in the greenhouse for Gail, and Alex has crafted his typical card which I haven't seen yet. The day will be busy but our celebration at the end of the day will be a sincere thanks for all Gail does for Alex and me. Sometime this afternoon we'll also slide in some time with my mother-in-law, Miriam, now 91 years young. No matter how busy you are today, try to let your Mom know you care.


Writing form the mountain above Peacham Pond where 1500 plants, mostly hostas, await my presence at the potting bench. Spring sales have been exceptional with incredible astilbe sales because of a brief mention of our business name and website in the spring Better Homes and Gardens Magazine perennial issue. We'll be here at 256 Peacham Pond Road until Memorial Day and then will be at our new location. Stop by if you have a chance.


George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Vermont Gardens

Remember Astilbes!

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Almost 6 AM and the sun is finally crawling above Peacham Pond to light up a previously dull morning. Last night's temperature dropped to 28.9 but I notice that the water flowing over the lower road is still moving fast enough that it didn't freeze. There are still great patches of snow in the woods which keep the water flowing.

Busy day coming today. Gail is finishing up lunch for the planting crew which will begin arriving at 8. She and Alex are heading for Jericho for much of the day so I will be here mixing soil, barking directions, and doling out bags or buckets of plants that must get into pots. The crew is never the same but always interesting and the conversations can cover quite a spectrum.

Gail is usually in charge and about the only thing we do differently is lunch break. I'm big on a break around noon but Gail has this thing about grabbing a good five hours from people, having lunch around 1:30 and then saying "That's all folks!" Her management philosophy is that people who have had a good lunch don't bend as fast and she expects people to keep up with her non-stop performance. I'm getting too old for that but when she's the leader I have to follow suit, often in verbal, badger-like protest.

One of the flowers we'll be planting today is astilbe. I really like this plant and Gail must too as we have 60-70-I don't know how many different astilbes. I like to offer a self preservation comment about this plant every spring because you must be careful when cleaning up last years stems.

We leave all the previous season's flower scapes through the winter because they turn a rusty brown and they look very nice in contrast to the snow cover. What this does, however, is give them a chance to dehydrate over the winter and it turns the stems into upright pin cushions of thin needles which can easily--and I do mean easily--penetrate finger tips and any other unprotected skin.

Be wise about this and always wear a good pair of gloves any time you are cleaning up astilbes. The work goes quickly but again, it's better to put on a pair of safety glasses and gloves and move slowly.

Astilbes work well in semi shade or fairly open settings in this part of Vermont. They'll do fine in full sun as long as moisture prevails and the soil has been amended to maintain moisture. Their thick, mat-like root mass maintains lots of water but if it dehydrates, it's difficult to rehydrate and keep the plant looking good.

So far this has been a dry spring in the gardens and the first leaves have just started to unfurl. If we don't receive any rain by Tuesday, we'll get the hoses going on the potted plants to bring them along. In the meantime, planting chores abound. If you haven't given astilbes a thought before, stop by later this summer and take a look. This is really a low maintenance plant that provides a different texture over a good period of time. Heights range from 10 inches to 5 feet.

Here are close ups of Montgomery and Bressingham Beauty.

From the mountain above Peacham Pond where the temperature is already 38 and a nice day is forecast. For bird watchers in the audience, yesterday at about 2 PM we have a visit from an absolutely superb specimen of male Osprey. Gail's distance vision is not good and she was in awe at this master of the air as he spent about twenty minutes here trying to figure out if our trout pond menu was to his liking.

I don't know if it was the mallards on the pond or our neighbor on his riding tractor but Mr. Osprey failed to complete the entertainment with a dive for a fat trout. This was an adult male and if you haven't seen how big this bird can get, keep an eye out if you visit Peacham Pond. Last year one showed up the same day the state fish trucks dumped 2500 brown trout into Peacham. My guess is this guy checked his calendar yesterday and headed over our way. His wingspan is etched in my mind--giant and masterful!

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