Thoughts of Other Colors

Sunday, March 18, 2007

17 degrees here on the hill with a haze above the trees and an ultra fine snow falling. Received a couple more inches of light, fluffy snow last night that is moving around with off and on again winds. The blue jays have been here since 6:15 and have a lot of the snow kicked off the feeder. They are talking a lot today but I can't figure out the words. I noticed the grosbeaks talking back to them but their words were muddled from mouths full of sunflower and millet.

It's peaceful looking today but my color of choice is turning to green. I know that will be slow in coming and staying but things will be dramatically different in a couple weeks. Yesterday was a longer day than I wanted and the day's shoveling has caught up with me. Big storms have matched big holidays this year but regardless of the day, a thousand shovels of snow makes for a weary shoveler.

Color in the garden is always welcome and some gardeners are amazed at masses of color we have put together. Obviously a garden looks better every year but there are certain ways to get there in a year or two with just a little patience. The required budget is also manageable.

Regardless of their gardening skills, people seem to understand "daisies" and "black eyed susans" and they use those names frequently. When we talk about any of the leucanthemums or the rudbeckias we are talking about the sunflower family which also includes asters and echinacea and similar flowers we enjoy a great deal. As I have attested to with frequency I am not a botanist and I guarantee you that I'll never speak with confidence about plant families. What I do know is that any of the leucanthemums or rudbeckias will give you color without expense and they look fine mixed with sneezeweed, daylilies and a smattering of the bright red crocosmia 'Lucifer'.


If you like to start seeds, garden centers and mail order can offer wide possibilities for well under $2.00 a packet. Companies purported to sell wild flowers often include these in their all- too-expensive mixes because they serve as a filler. Many are guaranteed to thrive and make you think the other 59 varieities you thought you bought are mixed in there too. If you don't want to start seeds inside, sowing directly into the garden works well.

For many, a trip to your favorite nursery is a quicker way to get the color going. These are often potted in 3 and 4 quart containers for $3.50 to $10.00 and sometimes there are two gallon pots of well established plants for $15. Smaller is better than bigger here because it's important that the roots get well established. These flowers have fibrous stems with roots which get woody over time. As they age, those roots become sponges for water which in a place like Vermont leads to their demise in three or four years. The good news is that they self seed nicely and once established you will probably have some in the garden for a long time.


Those that swear by well amended soil with lots of organic material will find that these flowers might well grow better with neglect in poor soil that drains well. The prevalence of organic material sometimes contans more fungus and encourages the rot we are trying to avoid. Trial and error will get you where you want to be in a couple seasons. Do what we do and let them go to seed and then in late fall rub the seedheads back and forth in between your fingers, letting the seed fall to the ground. You won't notice the results for two years and by then you'll be on your way to great swaths of color which you can enjoy for a good part of the summer.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the feeder is empty and a single dove pecks cracked corn from the ground and probably thanks blue jays with poor manners for making breakfast an easier meal.

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

Cold Temperatures, Warm Lilies

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

A beautiful day here at Vermont Flower Farm. The sky is almost out of clouds and the sun is shinning brightly. Only the faintest of breezes comes and goes, spreading tiny black Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' seeds about the snow crust making it easier for the smaller birds. This morning's -18.2 has been transformed into 22.3 degrees on the thermometer but I suspect it's really colder than that. The sunshine knows how to deceive even the best thermometer.

The birds are coming in waves which would make an interesting movie. I filled the top of the 20" square platform feeder with 1/3d cracked corn, 1/3d millet and 1/3d black oil sunflower. Three equal stripes of feed as if someone took a paintbrush that changed colors and painted three downward strokes. Bluejays first, totaling about 12-15, some young, some old. One has a bad wing but makes up for its disability with a tough beak and a short fuse. It regularly says "Step back, brother" with a couple hard pecks to any other jay which tries to move in on its territory. These jays are all relatives of each other but family ties means nothing when you're hungry.

A mature jay, fluffed out to fend off cold and looking bigger than it is, kicks sunflower seeds from side to side like a mad bull pawing the ground before the charge. Then suddenly the Evening Grosbeaks move in, 15-18 strong, eating as if it's their last trip to the feeder. They are flighty birds, quickly spooked by the slightest movement from inside the house or in their outside world. They come one or two at a time but leave in unison in split seconds. Then the Juncos and chickadees arrive, on the platform and on the ground. Their diminutive size affords inspection of the seed remains at the platform and it becomes obvious that they were taught better manners than the jays and grosbeaks.

Yesterday I saw a Northern Shrike again. A friend from Danville reported one too. It is fortunate these birds do not come in flocks because they are mighty warriors and like harrier jets they swoop out of the sky and grab up small birds first. I have read that they have been known to impale their prey on wire fences or tree limbs but I would have to see this first to believe it. Factually they have great speed and they have total disregard for my admiration of small birds.


The mail will be here in a few minutes bringing more catalogs and more documents to go along with income tax preparation. Lois is our mail lady and she packs our mail meticulously with catalogs at the bottom and letters carefully secured so as not to get mixed with the junk mail. I'm hoping that she is bringing a particular lily catalog more than I'm wanting to get back to the taxes.

Gail and I started with lilium about 1983. At that time there were so few people growing lilies in Vermont that we had a hard time getting started. That was pre-Internet and also before we knew of the North American Lily Society. Once we got started, things increased rapidly. Every year Gail bought in more and more new varieties and we always have had a great selection.

I'll never forget the first order we received from Europe. It was a very large and expensive order for us and we didn't know what to expect. When the boxes arrived it was like kids at Christmas until we opened the boxes. The freight bill should have been an indication of what we'd find but we were neophytes in the vast world of lilies. As we opened the boxes, inside were blocks of ice with 25 lilies frozen in each block. I was convinced we had been had.

Courage sometimes takes a while to conjure up but looking at the frozen bulbs prodded mine into full gear. I got on the phone with the company and the US bulb rep. He was Dutch and he listened politely to my description. I thought I could hear him laughing in the background and kind of hoped that wasn't true. But he was laughing and he apologized for himself and then said to think of the blocks of frozen lilies as an American turkey at Thanksgiving. Thaw slowly and patiently and the bulbs would be ready to plant. He reiterated the company's guarantee and we thanked each other graciously. True to statement, the lilies thawed, were planted and flourished. The very next year all lilies were shipped dry in peat moss but the memory of the first year will last forever.


In recent years Gail and I have each developed greater interest in daylilies and hostas but we still offer some lilies. Our website, http://vermontflowerfarm.com explains the different varieties and how to successfully grow them. If you're interested in a quick breakdown of what is on the market, take a look at our pictures at http://vermontflowerfarm.com/lilies_cat.html
You'll get an idea of what's out there and whether lilies are something you want to add to your gardens. The North American Lily Society website has a good resource list and lots of good information to help.

Karl, the wonder dog, is barking. That means Lois is out front. There are three other mailboxes in a row with ours and it takes her a bit to fill them, all the time being barked at by Karl. He only barks happy barks to her and they both know it. For me, I'll tolerate the barking, I'll tolerate the tax forms but really I want to know if that great lily catalog is there. Have to go see!

Cold gardening thoughts from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the rural delivery mail people are an important part of every weekday........even if you're a dog.

Goerge Africa
http://vermontgardens.blogspot.com

Soggy Seeds, Flighty Birds

48.3 degrees this morning at Vermont Flower Farm. The fog has been with us since about 9 last night when the temperature dropped from another record setting high. Near sixties in early January is certainly not close to the below-zero temperatures we often see from late December into early January.

As I look out the office window, the rain has quieted things and save for raindrops, everything has stopped. The birds and animals of the fields and forests hunkered down last night, knowing that low pressure and bad weather were upon them. The platform bird feeder is actually tipping south, rearranged a couple nights ago by a doe deer looking to nibble the last of the cracked corn I leave for the blue jays. It matters not, as the rain has been so heavy all night that the corn, sunflower and millet seed is soggy now.


Many gardeners enjoy birds and incorporate feeders and bird friendly plants into their gardens. I've mentioned before that I leave the wild mullein to grow close to where I place the feeders because the small birds like those seeds. We also plant lots of rudbeckias and coneflowers to provide selections to our bird buffet. That way we have swaths of great color during the summer and from late fall through spring we can enjoy bird visitors.


Internet resources, TV and radio shows about birds are plentiful and make it easy to work into a really interesting hobby. At some point I'll write some thoughts about birds and gardens but in the interim try http://vt.audubon.org for the Vermont Audubon Society, http://www.nekaudubon.org for the Northeast Kingdom Audubon Society (8 Audubon chapters around Vermont), and http://www.vinsweb.org for the Vermont Institute of Natural Science. If you have elementary school age children, track down the VINS ELF Program. Environmental Learning for the Future is a program you and your kids will really enjoy.

Finally, one of my favorite local resources appears every Tuesday in the Caledonian Record newspaper. This is an old newspaper from St Johnsbury Vermont and it's still one of the best. Science and Nature is one section followed by Education. As example, this week's paper includes an article entitled Birding In A Winter Wonderland. It's a regular in the Bird Notes section that the NEK Audubon Society does. The same section also includes The Night Sky Observer sponsored by the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium. Between the two sections you can bring the heavens to the earth with a quick study specific to whats happening that week. The weather may be challenging this year but the world outside your back door places you just steps away from some interesting lessons.


From the mountain above Peacham Pond where 5 Evening Grosbeaks just appeared at the feeder, satisfied with soggy seeds for breakfast.

Best gardening wishes;

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