Bird Song Morning

Sunday, July 24, 2011

57° and windless on the mountain. We opened the windows last night and the cool breezes of around 11 PM made sleeping easy. Actually after a day working outside since 6 AM in 90° and high humidity, sleep came quickly. The songs of the vireos and warblers woke me half an hour ago and as I sit here writing and thinking, the bird songs welcome a calming morning. Thin gray clouds slide across a powder blue background sky and I know we are in for another nice day.

The hot weather continues without let up and I'm heading to the nursery in a few minutes to get some more watering done before customers begin to show up mid morning. It is a funny affair at the nursery, trying to track when you need the most help to handle customers. On Saturdays, and on most weekdays except Mondays, people do not arrive in numbers until about 2:30. Yesterday it was almost an hour earlier and it seemed that just as soon as we finished lunch, cars arrived, one after another. Sundays are different and I have never figured it out. Some people arrive before I put the flags in their flag holders by the road at 7:30 while others plan that we'll be opened up around 9. Today we will see who wants daylilies and who wants to beat the heat.

We have intentionally left the fields of daylilies to themselves with their only water coming from the sky. I have an excellent drip irrigation plan ready to install but the floods of May put us so far behind and added so much extra work that irrigation was a thought for next year. Relying on almost no rain for three weeks means that the daylilies sport smaller flowers but the bud count remains very high based on root systems which were so well prepared for summer with good rains last fall. The plants came into spring in excellent shape and this spring's constant moisture allowed them to soak up plenty more. The down side was twofold. Rain meant lack of sun and cooler initial temperatures and rain washed lots of nutrients into the river. We have not managed to return the fertility to last fall's levels. 20 inches of rain will do that.

Regardless of weather issues, the color as you drive by Route 2 is excellent. Even speeding, crazed drivers passing unsafely on the flat past our business sometimes slow to look and some turn in to visit. Once here, smiles and compliments are plentiful.

Morning at the nursery means deadheading the daylily flowers to improve the image and reduced the opportunity that the plants will start to set unwanted seed pods. It takes the better part of a full day for a couple people to do the whole 4 acres which is why it doesn't get done every day as I wished. I work gloveless and in the end, the deep purples of the Grape Velvet, Strutters Ball, and Wayside King Royale do a magnificent job staining my fingers and palms. If you work gloveless like me, remember that straight out of the bottle el cheapo store brand lemon juice is the very best way to become stain free in minutes. Give it a try!

Just a reminder that it's berry season in many parts of New England and I am receiving some fine reports of berry picking opportunities around. Strawberries are coming to an end in most places although some commercial fields have the newer late varieties where tasty reds are still in abundance. On Friday, friend Tracey from Marshfield Inn dropped by some freshly picked, grown-on-her-mountain raspberries which were a treat. Wild blueberries are in their glory, and black raspberries are fleshing out. I hear that some spots already have blackberries and of course some of the hybrids are ready to pick. Here on the mountain we have to watch all the berries with care and get out and pick before they reach prime. Two sets of bear sows and their cubs, one big bruin and an assortment of other critters get to the berries quickly and they can eat a patch in an evening. I have noticed that the drought has caused the deer to eat the vitamn rich raspberry leaves in most places so berry drop will occur early as a result. When you finish the paper this morning and still aren't sure what to do, dig out the berry buckets, bug dope and water jug and head to Groton Forest or a local pick-your-own berry farm. Berries can't be beat! If you have a place to plant a few, Gail has a dozen or so Latham Raspberries in 5 quart pots ready to go. We should have picked the blossoms so they didn't go to fruit this year but I bet they'll still be great producers next year. Come visit!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the bird chorus continues and I wish our birder friend Joan was here to tell us who is singing to us. This really is a Bird Song Morning!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa. Come visit!
On Twitter as 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