Much Needed Rain

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Rain continues at Vermont Flower farm. 1.9" has fallen since yesterday and the Winooski River is flowing faster and higher than it has for several weeks. The flower seeds we sowed three and four days ago --zinnias, cosmos and sunflowers--have all germinated and give us encouragement that cut flower sales will be better than last year when repeated rains and frosts rotted many seeds before they even got started.

Color in a garden and what color will sell well is a challenge in any year. Earlier this year we had a beautiful viola--those "little pansies" that appear here and there in the garden for years to come. It was a yellowy orange that made you want to take home an extra pack even if you didn't need one. It was a color that you knew your best friend would like in her garden even if she didn't have any violas or maybe didn't really even care for them. The color was so popular, they sold out in a couple days. Gail found a very nice back up but it wasn't the same and only half have sold in a week.

Today a customer stopped. The lure of another nursery to visit on the way home was greater than the hassle of opening and closing the umbrella again. The lady and her two friends challenged the rain and toured our gardens. The woman's gardening skills were obvious and she raised questions about our selection of hydrangeas, our temperate zone by the river, and our success with a small appearing yellow leaved Ninebark.


Just talking about hydrangeas reminded me of two we had growing at the old farm house back in the 50's. One was the smaller snowball type and one was a massive, unpruned shrub better than 8 feet tall and full of large blossoms that we brought into the house as "cuts" or hung upside down in the "summer kitchen' and dried. I mentioned "Pinkie Winkie", a fairly recent introduction and explained that I had seen several in my travels in northern Vermont but none seemed to live here for a second spring.

Our discussion turned to an astrantia named 'Claret' that Gail likes. I have never been happy with how long it seems to take to get started here but the abundance of blooms when it gets settled in is worth the wait. These are popular plants from English gardening times and hybridizers continue to explore new colors.






As our conversation ended with the sale of daylilies 'Nile Crane' and 'Woodside Ruby' and the customer and her companions drove away, I made a quick tour of the gardens. Rain drop bubbles were everywhere as the rain continued. My friend and personal mechanic, Mike just called to report that my Troy Built Horse rototiller is finished save for the muffler. He is replacing the standard muffler with a quieter type made especially for people who have just signed up for Social Security. He says it's quieter and I'll like it. Stop by later this week and see for yourself!


Writing from the nursery where the only noise is rain on the roof and an occasional car on Route 2. Sales have been surprisingly good today despite the rain. Some gardeners have to buy new plants and get them in the ground on a day like today. Gail has Hosta 'June' on sale for the entire month for $12 from a regular of $16. This is a "must have" hosta! Come see.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm & Gardens and also as just me George Africa
Tweets on Twitter as vtflowerfarm

Hot Gardens

Thursday, May 27, 2010

56 degrees here on the mountain, 98 % humidity with a rising barometer. Gail and Karl the Wonder Dog have been out since 5:30, enjoying the bird songs of the morning and an occasional deer or moose visit. Gail has taken over some of the morning walk-the-dog duties so I can get to the nursery and start watering. Division of labor is an interesting affair.

A week ago this past Sunday I was standing at the nursery in a snowstorm. Since then the temperature has risen and not a drop of rain has fallen around here. The grass on city lawns is already yellowing and dust rises as lawn mowers or farm tractors navigate grass of any kind. It was so hot yesterday at the nursery that people came to look, only briefly, and couldn't make themselves buy a plant in 90 degree weather. Around 8 last night the large mass of humidity hit another hot front and in places there were big storms with lightning and high winds. Although the National Weather Broadcasts kept going off, nothing serious got to Marshfield--this time.

Despite today's repeat of hot weather, I will start planting a hot garden in hot weather. I have a garden planned mentally for along the Winooski River that when in bloom will be observable from US Route 2. The soil along the river is terrible as it's a mix of river gravel with many large stones and a thin covering of alluvial river soil from ancient high waters. I have amended a piece 10 feet by 75 feet and that's where the planting will commence today. All the plants will be heat lovers that do well in poor soil and with limited water. I will plant intensively so the large flowers will shade the roots of the smaller ones and I plan to over-mulch with shredded maple leaves when everything is up to try to retain moisture.

All the flowers will be planted in big swaths so when the flowers bloom the color will be like a flower tapestry. I will use Benary zinnias toward the front as they provide lots of color variety and are in the 28-34 inch range. They usually don't need pinching but when they are up a foot I'll pinch them hard and water well and get them to branch to the max.

Purple and white liatris make nice clumps of color in time and bring in butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and moths. They bloom from the top down and provide a more obvious vertical element. For some reason I can't remember this morning if I ever received the white variety I ordered but do know there's a big bucket of the purple.

Part of the back drop will be swaths of yellow heliopsis (just above) and helianthus in lots of colors. I have 14 plants that are the end of last years garden rows and those will all be moved. This is a nice cut flower too and a flower that gardeners should use more for cuts and August-into-late-September bloom.

There are two crates of echinacea and rudbeckia and a crate of white shasta daisies to bring it all together. It will take another year before it fills in the way I want but there should be some good color this year anyway. The final backdrop will be sunflowers of various heights and colors. These are the bigger eye catchers that draw people close up for a better view. I love to look at sunflowers as they always remind me of two friends--my gardens and me! Have a nice day. Come visit!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where 56 degrees feels really nice!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm: where astilbes are on sale today 3/$21
On Facebook at two accounts: Vermont Flower Farm & Gardens and also, George Africa
On Twitter at vtflowerfarm

Sunflowers Have Arrived

Sunday, August 31, 2008

51 degrees out this morning with a light breeze and a clear sky. This is my kind of morning except that this time of year things start later than I'd like. My walk with Karl the Wonder Dog makes it seem like I have already lost a big part of the day. 4:30 "starts" in late May and early June make me happy.

Wildlife is beginning to stir this morning but most noticeable are the loons which have moved to the Marshfield reservoir on Route 2. I can tell from their calls that many have already moved on in their journey south. They are a prehistoric bird and I have no understanding of when they leave and where they go. Some of the young will stay until the ponds almost freeze and once in a while I notice a large old loon hanging on and I do not know if it's an age thing or not. It has the potential for a great story.

Customer traffic at the nursery has come to an abrupt stop but that is typical this time of year. Gail had six customers and a few lookers yesterday and I had three customers early in the morning. This is the weekend that ends thoughts of summer and Friday night it was abundantly clear from the traffic on Route 2 that people were heading somewhere for the weekend. This slow down is good for us, especially this year, as there are hundreds of plants to get into new garden beds. An occasional customer or visitor is a nice interlude and an opportunity to stretch voice and other muscles from kneeling-bending-stooping postures that become difficult as one ages.

The sunflowers and tithonia have punctuated the ridge line parallel to the Winooski River with color and variety that's exactly what I planned for. Gail and I planted them later than usual, disrupted by a variety of new garden chores but set on giving the public a nice view as they road by on Route 2. We bought about ten varieties from Johnny's Seeds, the company that I brag about often. This wasn't because they sent me free hats to replace what the dogs had chewed up but because they are very nice folks with one incredible selection. These sunflowers and tithonia are examples. There's always time to go to their site and see what you really need to have for next year. Their vegetable seeds are impeccable and if that's your persuasion, plan ahead because vegetable gardens are sprouting up like dandelions in a spring garden due to food and energy prices and bad stories about contamination and illness.

Tithonia is a plant that Gail and I tried back in our first days together in Shelburne, Vermont. We grew some in an old barnyard and literally harvested the top three feet for cut flowers using a ladder. There was no other choice as they grew to 8-9-10 feet tall and held each other straight and tall by the closeness with which we planted them. I really should go find some old gardening pictures--yes... old fashioned photos--and see if I can show these plants. This year they weren't as tall because of our tardiness but they are special for sure.

The sunflowers are special too but their is a caveat to planting hundreds of them like we did. The planting part is easy but the fall clean up takes some time as one by one they need to be pulled from the earth and that takes gloves on strong hands and well stretched back muscles. We have sold a bunch and should have a good collection to hang as instant bird feeders along the river and here at home.
I remember the sunflowers that the old farmers grew when we first moved to Vermont. They had some name like Grey Mammoth or something that suggested the size of the seed head. Back then the neighboring farm family dried the heads on the sun room porch after rubbing off the external seed covering. If you know sunflowers, you can envision this process.

Last week as I drove up Route 5 along the Connecticut River I noticed a giant field of sunflowers in Newbury. I have no idea what the intended use was as I never saw them grown commercially in Vermont before. Perhaps it is for seed or perhaps to harvest and sell to one of Vermont's seed companies. I'll ask around but if someone has the answer, I'm interested.

The sun has dragged itself over the tops of the balsams and is shinning on my keypad en route to the monitor. Time to move along instead of closing the blind on what I have been waiting to see. Best gardening wishes for a fine Sunday. Drive with care but get out and enjoy the fine flowers and good vegetables which are everywhere.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where two tiny warblers sit perched on a five foot thistle that has no purpose outside my office window. They are pecking seeds or insects and I am asking myself again why I left the thistle there so long.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm An old but good website (ours!) with a great collection of hostas and daylilies that would look very nice in your garden next year

Vermont Gardens
Another blog I write that mirrors work at our new nursery

Summer Revisits

Saturday, August 23, 2008

54 degrees here on the hill this morning. It was so very still as I walked Karl the Wonder Dog who tried with great resistance to walk me instead. The animals and birds are lazy from the first consecutive days of heat in Vermont for some time. A doe and fawn walked carefully in the lower field, the doe looking straight at me with eyes that questioned our intrusion into "their" space.
It will be a busy day for many. Some get to start with breakfast.

Late August is a nice time in the gardening world and Gail and I try to explain to people, to coax people, to welcome people to the wonderful world of flowers that can prevail in late August and on into September. There is something very wrong with American advertising and it's all oriented to greed. This is my philosophy on why gardeners are now forced to believe that gardens stop with the last day of July. The other day Alex and I stopped at a store in New Hampshire and barely inside was a mountain of candy. I looked at Alex and queried, "Did I miss a month?" There were literally tons of bags of candy topped with Halloween displays of idiot phantoms dressed in computer generated colors. Before the candy pile dwindles, the Christmas displays will prevail.

Two days ago, two announcers on a television station advised folks to get out and enjoy the day because summer was over and kids had to go back to school. I did enjoy the day but I worked along in the gardens enjoying the various false sunflowers, the ten varieties of sunflowers we grow as cuts, the garden phlox, the helianthus and the soon-to-arrive late summer anemones. There is plenty to see and there's no reason not to have good color in your gardens.

Garden phlox are very popular and now that many have been bred to be more resistant to mildew and other fungus, gardeners are looking for them. Gail and I are disappointed in what has become our last attempt to grow them well in pots. Next year we will offer about 25 varieties, all grown in the ground and ready to dig and sell.


The other great shrub plant to grow is hydrangea. We have three varieties that do very well here and next year we intend to offer a variety of these for sale. They are beautiful in the garden but they also make great cut flowers, and cut and hung upside down for a few weeks, they turn into real assets for the dried flower arranger.


I hear noise in the kitchen as Gail is getting my lunch ready. She has some errands to run today so I will be at the nursery by myself for a while. Mike, a neighbor down the road, will probably stop by with Rusty, his Jack Russell Terrier, for a little rodent control exercise and I expect Eric from Massachusetts will stop by after his morning drive in search of Vermont wildlife. His moose reports have been slim this year and I know we both would like to see a few more and maybe a bear or two. Anyway, have a nice day and spend some time in the garden.

From the mountain above Peacham Pond where the loons are calling. If you have some time today, drive into Groton State Forest and climb Owls Head. The wild blueberries, diving peregrine falcons, and the view at the top are the reward for a short climb.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm