My Friend Brien

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Already after 6 here on the mountain. A thin layer of blue-grey clouds slides across the horizon as the sun pushes hard on eastern bedclothes and climbs above Peacham Pond. Like the sunshine, I am having a hard time getting started today..... in contrast to Gail who has already walked the dog and had a conversation with neighbor Michelle. Dishes rattle in the kitchen and it sounds like a combination of unloading the dishwasher and making pancakes at the same time.

There are many, many reasons to live in Vermont and one of them is the people who have grown up here. They're a funny lot and something that I have yet to figure out in the almost 60 years I have lived here. It's probably not different than anywhere else but people either like you or they don't and if they like you, they never seem to forget you and they always find time to help. When we moved to Vermont in the early 50's, things were not good for us. My dad had no work and my mom was sick a bunch. Two nearby farmers and their families helped us get through tough times and yet each was like night and day and had interesting things to say about each other. One farm raised holsteins and ran Farmall tractors. The other had Jerseys and a couple odd Guernseys and ran Fords. Both families worked very hard and were generous to us. But even as a little kid it appeared to me that they didn't like each other.

Back in the early 90's when we gardened at the house, Gail started having spring "potting parties" where she'd find local people to help plant and they'd come and work like crazy and have a late lunch with us. "Late lunch" to Gail meant lunch at 2 PM. She always had a theory that if you fed people early, they'd stop working and go home. One of the couples who always came were Brien (with an"e") and Jeanne Ducharme.

When we bought the nursery property and began to build gardens, I had it in my mind that we needed a good looking daylily garden adjacent to Route 2. I found a contractor down the road with a hillside full of free stone and Brien volunteered to appear with his cherry picker and place loads of stone wherever we wanted. This was back in 2007. Here are pictures of that time.....the last day Brien used his log truck before he sold it and retired. I'll never forget that day as he appeared in mid afternoon asking if we still wanted stone as he was retiring the next day. When we said we would like stone, he went to work until the job was finished. I photographed the entire event and framed up a picture of that last job for him and the picture has prominence in his house--something he really likes.

Brien and Jeanne like to garden and although Jeanne is just recovering from a serious stroke, Brien continues to garden both flowers and vegetables and he continues to be the kind, generous person he is. He stopped the other day looking for me. He wanted me to come see his native lilies which he knows I like a lot. He rescued some Lilium canadense and planted them in his garden. There are some variations of the yellow, some with a red collar, and one beautiful plant of plain red.

I tried to visit the other day just as a big storm was starting to blow. I had to leave in haste but got back there yesterday. These are some of the nicest examples of canadense you'll find. The red variety is very uncommon around here and I'm hoping it sets good seed so Brien can get more going. He knows a lot about soil and has a good aged manure source down Hollister Hill Road way that he taps into each spring. He keeps the soil friable and damp and the canadense think they are home along the Winooski River.

Not everyone gets a personal invitation to see these flowers and that means a lot to me. I like Brien and I'm happy Jeanne is making good progress. This is a couple who has traveled around the world, square danced with the best, cooked meals for local seniors and worked real hard. They are part of what I like about Vermont and I'm pleased to be able to say they are my friends. I hope you have Vermont friends like this too. They're special like their lilies!!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where two ravens are chastising me for not getting to work yet. I have to get going. You should too!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
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Where's George?

Saturday, August 22, 2009

5 AM on the mountain above Peacham Pond. Where's George? Last night's heavy rains have all the trees hanging low and the critters of the woods are out and about in numbers now that 10 hours of rain has stopped. Rutland and Chelsea, Vermont got hammered yesterday with inches in minutes as the rains of Summer 2009 continue.

Karl the Wonder Dog had to go out before five. His sniffer was in full gear and he half ran from here to there trying to pick up scent of big animals and small. The bears have been through here again and it drives Karl silly as he tries to figure out which way they went.

Daylily season is different today than it was back on the 8th when I last wrote but the bloom has been special and customers and visitors alike have kept us very busy. The early morning sunshine of June is long past and this morning's darkness reminds me how much I already miss early summer. Gail is already up trying to get ready to head to the nursery before 6 so we can split up all the daylilies we will be selling today as bare roots. When we have too many of one variety or something is not moving along or has lost popularity, we dig up most all and prepare them to sell 5 for $15.

I have tried to manage the new gardens at the nursery as if they were shelves at a supermarket. In those situations vendors pay for shelf space so items must sell or they are replaced. Same thing is happening at Vermont Flower Farm. We are often sad to see nice flowers go but part of selling flowers is an eye of the beholder thing and what's nice to me might bring harsh opinions from others. Up top is Apricot Sparkles which Gail bought in this year. We both think that by next year it will form nice clumps and be a great bloomer but for now it is an unpopular apricot which needs too much conversation to sell. It's on the table this morning, marked down enough not to make me happy but some gardeners should be all smiles come summer 2010.

Pastel Pink is a daylily that I really like. When it clumps up, it is a nice addition to the later garden here and it has a nice flower and a strong rib. I can never keep enough of it and this year's offering are a couple fans each even though summer rains were perpetual. Some things you cannot grow fast enough.

Double Yellow intrigues me as many of the doubles do. They are a little different from flower to flower but they bloom very well. This one is a late bloomer and brings forth dozens of buds that go on and on. I like it more than Double Gold with its habit of buds hanging on too long after they bloom. Mix in a couple blues or purples with Double Yellow and Apricot Sparkles and you'll catch folks attention in seconds. These two show that you don't have to spend lots of money on a nice late display. Late displays is what Gail continues to work on because she maintains gardeners need color until Columbus Day and it truly is possible, even in this part of Vermont.


Dominic is another mid to late addition we like. This picture is a bit duller than the color really presents. It's interesting and creates attention but this year for some reason it also drew in rose chafers, an insect we never had to deal with before.

There's plenty to do this morning so I must get going. I'm sure you have things to do today too but if you have a few minutes, stop by and look over the bare roots. Last night I dug some Fragrant Treasure, some large Bama Music, some fair clumps of Stella and there are a few Grand Masterpiece, Siloam Space Age, Butter Curls, Autumn Red and a Chicago I cannot remember right now. Good choices for a garden, along a drive or to cover a bank that you're tired of mowing. Come see!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where brown trout fishermen are heading to the pond and ravens are waking up everyone with harsh calls using words I do not understand.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Check out Vermont Flower Farm our website of pictures and good information. If you are trying to learn a little about autism, a non gardening topic for sure, try our autism page. Autism may not yet have touched a family you know, but the incidence suggests it will. Be thoguhtful, be supportive!

Persistent Peonies

Sunday, June 29, 2008

A breezy morning here on the hill. It has rained on and off all night and this morning's 59 degrees is supposed to climb until the next front arrives with thunderstorms and bad times. The gardens look lush but the sales have been down due to weather and gas prices. Just the same we have met a lot of new customers and our loyal following continues to appear, carrying rain gear and umbrellas and wearing warm greetings and encouragement for a successful new nursery. We'll take all the good thoughts we can get!

The peonies have been great this year. Part of it is that I watered them well last August when they were setting buds for this year. That's a mid-August thing here and something I really recommend because the pay off is so great. Gail has been picking peonies to sell in bunches of 6 or 7 for $9.50 and they have been moving well. Some days there are some left and the last customer gets quite a deal but mostly it has been consistent sales with the preponderance made as people scoot home after work.

Our supply of potted peonies is now down to under a dozen and the selection is slim. Mrs Margaret Truman, a nice double pink prevails, but there are a couple Festiva Maxima and a couple Adolphe Rousseau. They have been potted since last year and well cared for so they are a buy at $25. Most are six or more stems so folks should be happy with what they receive.

As is typical in peony season, we receive many inquiries about why the foliage is nice but the flowers never bloom in home gardens. The answer is in the planting as these are a plant which must be planted shallow and not more than 2" deep. Over time the lawnmower or falling leaves sometimes packs around the stems and the flowers just don't develop. Bend down there and clean out around the stem and water well for this year and you'll be back on target for next year. Oh yes, ...sun. They need sun and that too will make a difference.

Well I have to get going here. I have a couple loads of Hosta 'June' to take down as that has been selling very well. Amber Tiara and Golden Scepter, small, luminescent springtime beauties are about gone so I have to do some repotting so they will be set in well in a week. I hear Gail clinking the coffee pot so that means the day is under way and we'll be back into the flower business by 9 AM on Route 2. If you have some time, please stop by.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where I hear the ravens in the distant red pines as a lone hen turkey struts slowly through the lower daylily garden, looking for food in the fresh dugs holes left from our daylily relocation program.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm Our website, old but packed with good buys!
Vermont Gardens Our other site about our new nursery and other thoughts of gardening

November Chill

Saturday, November 3, 2007

I woke early this morning after hoping for over an hour that the arthritis in my right hip would fade. It didn't, so I got up and began my Saturday ritual. The house had cooled off last night as the fire in the Vermont Castings Vigilant wood stove was less than vigilant through the wee hours. Two trips to the wood pile, crumpled newspaper and two matches later things have begun to come around.

It was 23 degrees last night, absent of wind, with skies dotted with clouds and stars. The hurricane off the East coast may change things today. This morning things are calm and no amount of coaxing got Karl the wonder dog to think about joining me for a quick walk. I went down the road and into the lower hosta garden where the wooden bench was solitary reminder to the crowds who visited that garden this summer. I was embarrassed by the presentation this year with weeds and a multitude of maple seedlings everywhere but there was little I could do. My energy was diverted to a new piece of property and brighter beginnings for next spring.

The leaves of the birches, poplars and beeches hold firm and offer color. My eyes glanced towards the corner of the foundation wall where 'Hadspen Blue' Tokudama flavocircinalis', nigrescens and 'Striptease' hostas usually provide color. The wall was strong and firm but the colored plantings lay flat from several hard frosts. It's a nice granite wall and it looks fine to me at any time of year. If Robert Frost could join me, I'm sure he'd have some words to share. Gail just gave me a copy of a compilation of his works dating from 1916--more winter's work--perhaps I can find some words about foundations.


I wandered towards the standing stones which have reminded several visitors of the Seven Sisters. They are still just nice stones to me and I have encircled them with epimediums which have really grown this past season. This is a flower which will continue to gain popularity and probably price. It's still worth the expense. You should consider it in your garden if you haven't yet.


The deer have topped off about every hosta but for some reason have left Summer Music, Daybreak, City Lights and August Moon. Some nice seed pods remain on some sports of Summer Music which came in a tray of tissue cultured plants a couple years back. Obviously the person doing the culling wasn't perceptive enough that day. Actually I'm pleased with the find as these are big plants, rapid growers and I think they have some potential. I may name them 'Off Key' at some point in the future. Time always permits lots of fun thoughts but fewer completions.




As I headed up the back path to the house, the blue jays began scolding me for not filling the feeder yet. All that remained was a block of suet, enclosed in an onion sack and tied to the flat of the platform feeder. The ravens, Vermont's stealth bombers of the woods and fields, coast in and try to grab the suet but so far it has held firm and provided caloric warmth for our smaller feathered buddies.

It will be a cold morning but I have more leaves to rake, more wood to cut.


From the mountain above Peacham Pond where early morning car traffic results from Youth Day when young hunters get a crack at deer before the competition of the regular season. Some parents have forgotten the fact that good hunting starts when you get out of the truck or car.


Fall gardening encouragement,

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