Peppery Valentine's Day

Saturday, February 14, 2009

A calm morning here on the mountain. 6.7 degrees on one side of the house, 7.4 on the other. Still cold enough not to forget gloves when heading out with Karl the Wonder Dog, Valentine's Day or not. Yesterday afternoon sometime before I returned home from work, two very large turkeys walked up the road and through the drive, first to the back door and then to the bird feeder. Even today the scent was strong enough to make Karl want to sniff and snort, forgetting that his feet were cold and the warmth of the wood stove was a better idea.

Some gardeners might think of hot and spicy things at Valentines Day like the peppers pictured above. There are some great choices on the market now and I prefer the companies that maintain the registered names and can tell how hot the peppers are on the Scoville scale. Alex is a hot pepper fan and he collects hot sauces and enjoys giving guidance to the right one when I am making stews, soups and chilies. When you are at a garden center or scanning catalogs, give a new one a try this year. Next Valentine's Day reflect on this blog and how well you and the peppers did.

I have been thinking about daylilies again and just placed another order with a company in Wisconsin that I try to use each year. They offer wholesale and retail and always have something that has a good display. Gail and I aren't as concerned about fancy daylilies, new to the market with big price tags. We're more interested in daylilies that are dependable and have a bloom that friends and neighbors comment on and can afford.

Here are a few orangy-red and red daylilies you might consider. They are all very hardy here and they clump up nicely. Just about all that we sell are dug from our gardens so the root systems are large and you'll be pleased in a couple years with the number of flower scapes. Red isn't the only Valentine's Day color but for this morning, it's the color I am thinking about.

Ruffled Valentine

Anzac

Baja

Charles Johnson

Chicago Apache

Chicago Fire

Eruption

James Marsh

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where some ice fishermen apparently stayed home this morning to cook breakfast and be nice. The road is quiet but inside here there's a little rumbling noise in front of the wood stove. Karl is back to sleep. If you have been resting for the past few days, slide back to the previous post and enjoy another side of Valentine's Day.

Be well!


George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Valentines Greetings

Thursday, February 12, 2009

38 degrees here on the mountain and the rain continues to fall. It's been raining off and on all night and the fog generated by the temperature change since yesterday's momentary 57 degree high floats across the snow as if looking for something Stephen King wrote. Just the same, Valentines Day is approaching and its a day for gardeners and others not to forget.

Bleeding Heart is a flowering plant that was prevalent in most every New England garden when I was a kid. I was fascinated by its pendant beauty and always remember the first time Eunice, the +90 year old matriarch of the next door farm picked off two hearts from her favorite plant, gently opened my hand and placed each heart side by side. "Friends, good friends" was all she said. The words and the smile come back to me every time I see a Bleeding Heart and sometimes a shed a tear with the memory.

These are easy to grow plants that will last a long time if you consider a good placement with well amended soil with good friability. They like moisture but during the year they cannot handle any standing water. Dicentra spectabilis as I have pictured here does better for us where sun prevails but planting not far inside a forest shade line will work too.

The long flower scapes actually make fine cut flowers "if" you sear the cut stems with a match first. You'll notice the sap has a bad smell that Gail is quick to comment on but if you want an early arrangement to jump start your spirits, give some a try with the match-sear routine included. All bleeding hearts are poisonous and some people have a reaction to the sap. I catch poison ivy just thinking about it but have never had a problem with bleeding hearts or any of the family including the wild Dutchman's Breeches, Dicentra cucullaria, which I love.

We planted a number of large roots along a fence line years ago. Today the fencing is sagging with age but the bleeding hearts are going strong. We clean out each plant come spring so the new growth can spring into action without impediment. It's amazing how quickly they grow. On the plant their period of enjoyment is relative to spring rains and wind and inside, their vase life is about 4 days. As the garden grown plants mature on into spring, hearts drop off but it's not uncommon to find some tucked away and holding tight when the first days of July approach here. That's not true most places but our climate makes the difference.

This year we have some good 3-4 eye plants ordered in and they will probably be planted in gallon and a half pots. If you cannot find any locally, they will be for sale at the nursery and via our website. Order early as this was one of the most requested plants last year that customers and visitors didn't find in the area. We will also have a selection of Dicentra eximia, aka wild bleeding heart, eastern bleeding heart, fringed bleeding heart or woodland bleeding heart. These are all very nice too.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Gail just returned from slip-sliding down the icy road with Karl the Wonder Dog. I like the dog but I didn't need the shake-shake-shake he just presented that rewarded me with a dripping left side and a moist keyboard. Oh well, dogs are like that!

Lovely Valentines Greetings to All!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Vermont Gardens

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Already almost 11 AM here on the mountain. Karl the Wonder Dog has been driving me crazy with his in-out, in-out begging. Someone must have caught a fat brown trout at Peacham Pond recently as this morning has been a line of trucks and fisherman. Most smart fisherman were already on the ice by 4:30 to insure being set up before dawn but two loads of late risers just passed the house and I'll be surprised with their success.

Karl doesn't consider success. He feels some inherent responsibility to be the social activity director out on the corner, barking greetings and insults depending on the occupants or the accompanying noise. A loose tail pipe will get him going as fast as a truck bed with bouncing beer cans. People who know him shout "Hi Karl!" while others just wave, never knowing if we reciprocate or not.

There's lots of snow here on the mountain and the temperature is already warmer than it's been for well over a week. I have the machine shed to shovel this afternoon as I don't know if snow or rain will materialize for tonight's storm. It shouldn't be much of a storm but the shed hasn't been shoveled yet and I swear I heard it groan the other day. It's an old pole shed Gail's father built and over time rough cut spruce and fir succumbs to the weather.

In some parts of the country, snow is not a problem and I suspect that somewhere, a favorite plant of mine is already up. Epimediums are so very special to me that you would think I could remember where I first saw them. I doubt it was a garden around here and maybe it was Gail just buying me a present she knew I would like. She has always had this thing about buying "me" plants that might teeter on success, might become money makers, or might not make it through a full year. If there is failure, then I did something wrong but if it became a good decision, then the glory is often split. Someplace around here are some corydalis that I really wanted to live. I take full credit for the problems with them. Like epimediums I like them and maybe I'll ask Gail to get me a few more...."to try".

I just reworte some of our website yesterday in between tax preparation and I finished part of the shade plant page that involves epimediums. If you haven't tried these plants before, read through what I have to say below and do a little research. Chances are good that you will really like these plants. You may not like the price, but you will like the plants. What we have left for this year will be three year old plants so they should have "ok" size.

I have noticed that there are a number of nurseries selling these now so once you find a place with plants of interest, check references and place an order. They tend to be in short supply by the end of May.

Here's what I wrote for our web page. Drop me a line if you have any questions.

EPIMEDIUMS

Barrenwort, Bishop's Cap, Fairywings

You may have heard "The garden is magic and you are the magician!" Try epimediums and you'll see the magic displayed right in front of you. These aren't new plants at all, they are special plants, and thus far they are seriously underused, and often unknown to gardeners. All that is changing as the nursery trade and some hard working plant hunters set out to offer gardeners new and interesting varieties.

Epimediums deserve consideration for rock gardens, woodlands, dry, shady areas, under trees and along rock lines and walls. Their delicate, spidery, star-shaped blooms and neat leathery foliage make writing a good description difficult. Once you see one, you're sure to ask yourself why you have missed them for so long. These are tough, long lived perennials which grow along by rhizomes with tenacity and beauty.

The world's authority on this fine plant is Darrell Probst. If you have a minute, take a look at The Epimedium Page. If your curiosity continues, check out Chapter 10, King of Epimediums, Garden Vision-Darrell Probst, The Plant Hunter's Garden by Bobby J. Ward.This is a nine page journey complete with enough photos to make you want to have your own collection. And if you need a final complement to these resources, go to W. George Schmid's The Encyclopedia of Shade Plants and turn to the section on epimediums.

Here at Vermont Flower Farm epimediums are about 6 years "new" to us. We have grown them without any winter protection, in full shade, partial shade, along a walkway, and under a huge James MacFarland lilac in full summer sun. They bloom beautifully in late spring and sometimes again in early September. They aren't the fastest growing ground cover in Vermont but they bring a texture and color palette that offers more opportunity and little after-planting care. Come see!

Good gardening wishes,

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Colorful Accent, Snowless Thoughts

Saturday, Jauary 31, 2009

A quiet morning here on the mountain. 9 degrees and calm save for Karl the Wonder Dog, laying in front of the stove and providing an unmelodious tune of snoring. For some reason he has taken to sleeping there and anytime he returns from outside he sits in with his back to the stove so he can warm up. Dog intelligence doesn't register on the Stanford Binet or the Wechsler but perhaps it should.

Today's list is too long to possibly get through but there are some things which have to happen. I just looked at the weather radar and even that is having trouble loading today. The storm that is scheduled for Tuesday, whether arriving as rain or snow, will encourage people to stay in bed. There's just too much moisture in the heavens not to cause problems. This means I absolutely have to take care of the roofs and fire up the tractor today. The roads and drives are too narrow now and out front here there is no place to put any snow. The truck only pushes so high and the tractor only reaches 11.5 feet. Much to do.

Bigger problem at the top of the list is the maple syrup mystery which has to be solved. One of the things about Alex and his experience with autism is there are certain foods he eats regularly. For ten years now he has eaten pancakes for breakfast. Sometimes he'll even deviate from his fish-for-supper routine and haddock turns back to pancakes. This translates to needing lots of maple syrup.

Vermont has the best syrup in the country. Trouble is that production is influenced by a ton of variables and environment and weather are two. This week we looked for syrup at stores and on the Internet and supply is getting short until the trees run again this spring. When you find a popular website that says "Down for reconstruction" that means they have run out. I usually buy our syrup locally and I try to make our purchases from Gadapees in Danville. A couple times I stopped and Diane wasn't home and I haven't been to St Johsnbury for a while so I don't even know if she has any left. At any rate I have to solve this maple mystery today. I know I'll have to close my eyes to the price if I end up at a tourist store someplace.

As clear and white as the landscape is today, Gail is working over the daylily inventory again. There are a few daylilies that we sold too many of. It's a careful line between saying no and keeping sufficient stock to grow on versus making one last sale. Gail will fuss a little but she'll come up with some replacements from someone if she feels the demand warrants spending the money.

So on a morning that is white with snow and a sun that is in its "red in the morning, sailors take warning" phase, best wishes for your day. Mine will be busy. The daylily named Mallard is up top and down below here are Luz de Sol, Janice Brown and Jungle Beauty. In real life, each of these is a little brighter than the pictures.

Writing from the mountain where the first flock of grosbeaks has arrived for breakfast. That sounds good to me too!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

A Day Without Thank Yous

Saturday, January 24, 2009

A bright and beautiful morning here on the mountain as long as you don't open the door. Karl the Wonder Dog's internal barometer was apparently working well this morning as the high pressure told him to stay in bed as long as possible and that's exactly what he did. He and Alex just woke up and it's almost nine. Gail is off to the Community Center for the book sale at the library and I'm getting ready to start the taxes.

Even though the snow is deep and the wind is bitter, Gail and I continue to work on plans for new gardens at the nursery. All our orders have been confirmed so we know where we stand with new items and we have a list of mature plants in the garden that will need to be dug and divided come spring. Last fall we asked Austin to pop out about 100 six year old daylilies. Those are still in the ground but loosened up to make it easier to get them out. The hostas on my list are a different issue as many of these have been growing for 5-6-7 years and you don't pop out something that weighs more than 200 pounds a clump. When we get to them we'll eat our Wheaties first and then cut around each clump, work them free with the six foot pry bar and then scoop them up with the tractor bucket.

Dividing daylilies and hostas is something I prefer to do in the spring. I don't need to contend with extra foliage then and it's easier to see what I'm doing, count fans or eyes and make the necessary cuts. I'm also less paranoid about spreading hosta virus even though I'm not aware that we have any here. Hosta virus is spread mechanically so dividing plants in spring probably reduces the opportunity should it exist.

Anyh-o-o-o, a long time ago Winnie, now 81 years old and our Chief of Hydrological Services
(aka best waterer in the world!) found a serrated knife at a yard sale. I think it may have been a bread knife but maybe not as it had a heavy, wide serration to it. Anyway it worked well and cut through tough roots as quick as the operator holding it. This year I had to buy 4 bread knives to accommodate what we had to do and they were less than stellar in comparison. A couple weeks ago as I was walking around Lowe's making a mental list of what I'd buy if only the Megabucks would come through for me, I found a good knife that's cheap. It's a drywall knife for cutting Sheetrock. The price range is $7-$15 and I couldn't see that one was substantially better than the other. Both had cushioned handles and about the same size, pointed blades and the steel in each was from China. If you have any dividing on your spring list, give one of these knives some thought. When I buy a replacement for myself, I'll send away a picture.



When you begin dividing plants from an established garden you'll be saddened by what transpires. Even if the opportunity will lend a new look, there's no way you won't miss that big old hosta or daylilies with dozens of flower scapes.


Any garden has an evolution and even if you are enamored with a small hosta like Golden Scepter just above here, you have to appreciate change and get excited about where you'll be in a couple more years. Patience is good! A garden plan works wonders.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where some Pine Grosbeaks have come from nowhere to eat cracked corn at the platform feeder. A dozen or so are on a crab apple finishing off the small fruits. Despite the fine buffet we have provided, this is apparently another day without bird thank yous. I guess the beauty of the birds will have to suffice!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

The Garden Doctor

Monday, January 12, 2009

Already close to zero degrees tonight. I just gave up on the evening news as the bad part is over and there is limited good stuff to listen too. Some power company lady is telling folks to save energy by not opening the fridge or freezer doors for very long. Maybe that's what got me to today's post. The power rep said when you open your fridge and need 5 items, take them out all at once. Maybe I did that too much and that's the reason I had a carpal tunnel release surgery done on my left hand last Friday.

Carpal tunnel is an interesting malady to me. Growing up I don't remember a single farmer ever complaining about his hands although they did more physical labor back then than is even contemplated now. Twisting and turning the wrists while moving hay and manure, picking up bales and buckets--all those repetitive tasks should have created a problem that no one talked about. My dad was a house painter and did wall paper too. Up and down, back and forth with the brush in those pre-spray paint days but never any carpal tunnel, never any complaints except that he was poor.

I had an initial eval last year and didn't like the explanation or the suggestion from the doctor that I could be booked for surgery in a couple days. Then a friend at work recommended a plastic surgeon at Mary Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and the rest is history. The eight minute operation is interesting because as soon as the carpal ligament is cut, the pain is gone and feeling returns a little at a time to the affected parts. In my case I couldn't feel any fingers or down to mid-palm level in my left hand. On a 12 point scale with 12 registering "You waited too long George" I was a twelve so I was apprehensive about how things would turn out. Right now I am in the rehab stage and as long as I maintain this one handed typing and keep the hand elevated as much as possible, progress is fine and I am smiling. Feeling in everything but the very tip of one finger has already been restored.

I mention carpal tunnel release because many gardeners experience wrist and finger pain, especially when they are twisting their wrists while raking, shoveling, hoeing and lifting. Part of being successful with surgery is reorienting yourself to how you use your hands and whether you abuse them or not. There's plenty of info on the Internet about this procedure. Other than having to take your money in wheelbarrows to pay for the operation, it's something that gets rid of sleepless nights and brings on fine gardening smiles. If you need advice, have questions or want a reputable doctor's name, let me know. Just don't wait as long as I did!

When one hand goes out of commission for a while, it becomes apparent how much it was used for. Here on the mountain above Peacham Pond, snowflakes abound and that means shoveling paths, snow raking and shoveling roofs and plowing snow. One hand does not a merry shoveler make so Gail and Alex learned how many tons of white stuff I move in a year. They also learned how to put the plow on and off the truck but they never had to learn how to plow. That needs to happen sometime soon but they escaped the chore for now. As soon as I figure out the total rehab time, I will schedule my right hand. No telling what reality they will face then.

The next three nights will be as much as 25 degrees below zero here so I'll lay low and reorganize pictures for the new website. The site is 95% written and I have the first 120 hosta pictures ready to insert. I think you'll enjoy the site when it's released in February. In the meantime, enjoy your winter reading and garden design. If there's a topic you'd like an opinion on or a concept you'd like to share, please let me know. Good gardeners get better with new information from their gardening friends.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the moon's face is sparkling through the big maple and into my office.

Sparkling wishes from

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Things Change

Sunday, January 4, 2009

The first weekend of the new year is well under way. The wind has finally stopped and a little sun warms the January landscape. It's 22 degrees on the east side of the house where 17 blue jays, the largest collection this year, feed with greed on the platform feeder. They appear to be playing a game of who can stuff the most pieces of cracked corn in their crop at a time.

On the west side of the house the thermometer is holding at 12 degrees. Chickadees and white and red breasted nuthatches fly back and forth from the hanging feeder, eating some sunflower seeds and hiding others for later when the feeder is empty and the birdwatcher absent.

Days, months and years change. Some things are noticeable and others lead a camouflaged existence. For two days now I have worked on hosta pictures for our new website. It makes no sense to me why I have a hundred pictures of some hostas and not a single good picture of others. I just made a list and in the end of this website madness I hope to come away with a list of hostas I absolutely have to photograph this year. Sure wish I could find someone more diligent than I am. Photographic compatibility and interest within a family is apparently not the same as the compatibility alleged to be found using the on-line love match, E-Harmony. Oh well.......

One hosta I like is Fortunei Albopicta. I'm not certain there are many who admire it as I do but it has a place in my garden because spring in Vermont is very important to me. This hosta was first collected in Japan around 1860 but wasn't registered with the American Hosta Society until 1987. That means a lot of gardeners have had a chance to look at it over a long time.

Albopicta starts slowly, reaches incredible coloration and then fades into total greeness for the balance of the year. The last part is the part many people like the least. The picture up top shows it on the right with Abiqua Moonbeam on the left. The picture represents the time of greatest color change for the season.


When Albopicta breaks through the ground in the spring, fends off early frosts and first passes 5 inches in height, it looks frail and pale. This is an example (just above). But then as if a fairy wand gives it a couple-three twinkles of spice, it turns from toad to prince and really is an attention getter. I have always said that a hosta that would hold this color all year would be a great seller. Here are some examples. Click to enlarge.




In all too short a period of beauty, the display is over and Albopicta fades to all green. This gives reason for you to think where you place it in your garden so you benefit from the energetic mid spring color but can accept it for its summer-long dullness. It's size can be attractive but give it some thought. Here is a picture of Albopicta wearing its summer suit.


As new years begin, those who have made resolutions are put to a test. There's more revolution in me than resolution but I do hope that this year all gardeners can share themselves and their gardens with others who have yet to experience the peace there's not enough of in our world.


From the mountain above Peacham Pond where Gail is moving my Santa collection, one by one, into their annual retirement while a new pot of chili bubbles on the stove.

Safe wishes to all!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Future Fences

January 1, 2009

Just after 4 PM and the wind has finally begun to tire. The Christmas wreaths on the west side of the house have finally stopped pounding the clapboards and the damper on the Vermont Castings stove has calmed its clink-clink-clink. The damper is tickled by chimney downdrafts that started yesterday as high pressure advanced here. This morning's -12 degrees was really three times as cold with winds above 25 mph. This morning, Karl the Wonder Dog set a world record for the least time outside in 2009, and I came in second.

Almost a month ago now we received a letter in the mail. It was postmarked from New Jersey and was a letter of introduction from Bob. He and his wife had just purchased a piece of land adjacent to ours and he was writing to let us know who he was and what their plans were. It was a friendly letter and not something you would expect any more. It was the kind of letter that Gail and I might write.

For some reason, Bob's letter triggered my fondness for Robert Frost poetry and my mind caught on the line from Mending Wall that I like "Good fences make good neighbors." This whole fence thing has always bothered me because our world has always had so many fences, literal and figurative fences, maybe too many fences, maybe not enough fences.

I have always liked looking at fences, especially when they are constructed of stone. I'm not alone in my favor. In New England each town still has a "fence viewer" position that is voted on at town meeting. I guess I haven't made it known that I like fences as I've never been considered for the position here in Marshfield. Any ho-o-o-w........


I spent earlier years with an old farmer named Warner who liked straight fences. To me at age six, a fence that kept the cows and horses in the pasture was a good fence but to him a fence should be straight and the wires should be taut . Frost's review and mine were more pragmatic. He asked: "Before I built a wall I'd ask to know what I was walling in or walling out, and to whom I was like to give offense." As a kid, keeping in animals was the concern, not keeping out neighbors, who I assumed were just that....neighborly.



Times have changed and I almost think there are fewer "good fences" than there used to be. It need not be that way but it is. The actual fence is a structural relationship with the people who live on either side. The "good fence" part doesn't necessarily mean that it's structural like Warner the farmer intended, but more that people have an understanding of each other and a respect for what each is doing. When expectations are clear, the fence serves better.



As we begin a new year, I hope all good gardeners will make like New England fence viewers and inspect their fences. Begin with the structural fences if you have them and insure they meet their intended purpose. Sometimes a coat of paint, the color of the paint on the fence you do not "see", a new strand of wire, a new board, three new nails, make all the difference. Then inspect the personal part of "good fences". If you don't know your neighbor yet, go meet them. If you know them but haven't seen them in a while, say hello. If you don't know what you're walling in or walling out, have that discussion. You might be surprised! The fences we build and maintain today are often carried on for generations. It's those good fences that really make good neighbors!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Gail undecorated the tree and Alex and I just pulled it outside. 9 feet of new bird feeder for the balance of the winter.

Happy New Year To All!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

A Cold Ending

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Just in from too long a day that began at 4 AM when the wind was intent upon filling the walkway with snow and the stars were hidden away by clouds and snow flakes. With afternoon passing quickly, the wind continues, and looking out the windows makes me think of little snow globes that kids shake and watch spin no matter what month it is. Today's Burlington Free Press headline read "Year Brought Weird Weather" and went on to say "A tornado. Flash floods that wiped out roads in a matter of minutes. Ninety-mph winds. Snow measured in feet, not inches. Forests decimated under the crushing weight of ice." That was all very, very true in 2008.

Today as we wrap up the year, I can reflect on what we have accomplished and what is left to be done at the new nursery. It's not new any more. It has been challenged by the weather as rain came regularly in inches, so frequently in fact that at times we closed off part of our daylily display gardens. It was easier losing sales than helping shoeless customers and visitors retrieve muddy footwear. The wind challenged our new shade houses and actually flattened one less than an hour after I had tied the final knots to the shade cloth. That one ended in pieces so twisted and gnarled that I dismantled the steel pipe frame and headed the pieces to the scrap recyclers soon after the lightning finally stopped. I'll never forget that storm.

2008 was a great year nonetheless, as we met many new people, learned to be travel directors, and waited patiently for prior customers familiar with our Peacham Pond Road gardens to reorient themselves to Route 2. Every new business has its idiosyncrasies and you can only guess at what they will be.

For 2009, we have to construct a hosta display garden that will provide the same opportunity we offered on the mountain. The site is prepared and when spring arrives we'll begin planting. I carry the plan with me every day but it's not written on paper or electronic media. The day I decide to start planting, I'll convince Gail that we need to do something different. She's accustomed to this with me and with reluctance she'll agree and get people organized. She knows it's important to me. Within a week, the bones will be in place and a new beginning under way.

Here are some pictures from our current garden on Peacham Pond Road. It is small in comparison to what is planned. Come visit next summer to see the new garden grow. Watch our two blogs for pictures as the garden evolves. And for now, be safe, wish family and friends well, and keep commitments to making our world a better place. The best gifts do not have to cost money.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where eleven blue jays fill themselves with sunflower seeds, as strong winds ruffle their feathers and blow them sideways as they land and take off. First Night for some, but just another blue jay day.

Warm New Year wishes to everyone!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Vermont Gardens

Christmas Afterthoughts

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Just in from a brief walk with Karl the Wonder Dog. His feet and mine weren't doing too well this morning on the glaze that covers the walks, driveway and road. That glaze arrived yesterday morning but is nothing like what is en route in the next few hours. It's 26 degrees right now and the wind is clocking at 9 mph. The humidity is 76% and that makes the air feel heavy outside and colder than the thermometer suggests.

Christmas Day has passed but the spirit and happiness we enjoyed here continues. I always try to take time off now to be here with Alex as sometimes the senses of the holidays get confusing for him and us too. Autism, just like gardening, is something everyone should try to learn a little more about in today's world.

Gardeners and especially flower hybridizers enjoy using Christmas names when they register a new plant. We grow a lot of hostas and daylilies and although we don't have such individual collections specific to Christmas, we're aware of the numbers out there. Each of these plants has its own society and membership is worth every nickel.

The American Hosta Society ranks number one with us but folks could debate that either way. We belong to both societies and a bunch of others too. For years now the hosta group have had an incredible journal of table top book quality paper and a pictorial display that's unmatched among the societies. I recommend membership for yourself or friends if you even think you should learn more about hostas.

During the past year the American Hemerocallis Society (hemerocallis=daylilies) has revamped their journals and taken on a larger paper/print/picture format. They are moving along with much more content and still publish seasonally four times. Again, a great journal with lots of information and details about regional and national events, plant sources, and growing information.

So the registered names, what are some examples? With hostas the list is a third that of the registered daylilies but still interesting. Actually that's not a bad ratio because there are probably 15 times as many registered daylilies as there are hostas. I recently wrote to the daylily registrar asking for the actual count because I don't know what it really is any more.

With hostas try Christmas Candy or Christmas Cookies or Christmas Cup; try Christmas Dome, Christmas Gold, or Christmas Jewel. How about Christmas Lights, or Christmas Pageant or Christmas Stocking? Try Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree Gala, Christmas Surprise or Christmas Tart. If you want to see what these look like, try the Hosta Library .

With daylilies the list is longer than I want to write. It's probably around 50 registrations. Try these as example, all with the prefix "Christmas". There's Christmas Angel, Balls, Blessing, Candles, Candy, Carol, Celebration, Cheer, Cherub, Chocolate, Colors, Comet, Concerts and another 40 or so. If you use Tinkers Gardens daylily database, many of these are pictured. Just enter "Christmas" in the database and you will get the list.

Slim availability here at Vermont Flower Farm which is probably surprising to anyone who knows us and knows how well we decorate for the holidays. We have the daylily Christmas Is pictured up top and then the hostas Night Before Christmas and Christmas Tree pictured below. Sometime maybe we'll move along with a collection.

Better get going here! From the mountain above Peacham Pond where a lone blue jay is sitting on the platform feeder outside my office asking "Where's the breakfast buffet?" Guess it's bird food time.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Christmas Trees For Profit???

Friday, December 26, 2008

A cold, still morning here on the mountain. The stars are sparse compared to a week ago and yet it's bright for 4:30 in the morning. Karl the Wonder Dog heard me stirring the fire and came out to try to coax me for a quick walk so he could get back to bed. Christmas Day with food and friends and different smells tired him out and he obviously wants to sleep in some more. That's fine for him but I am too much of a morning person and I have lots to do before I sleep again.

Writing and just having blogs is a fun way to garden when the snow depth exceeds three feet like it is here. I am always amazed the number of people who write to me as a result of what I write and I guess I'm more amazed at how many people prefer to write directly instead of responding to the blog itself. I care not, for correspondence from any direction is fine. Of late there has been lots of news from Europe and that is very interesting. Some time ago I had a computer crash and lost some addresses including one from Marek in Poland. He found me again a couple weeks ago and it like finding a long lost friend even though we barely know each other yet. He raises cannas and has a site that's quite interesting.

To my last post here, Don, a retired physician from eastern Iowa wrote and questioned profitability in growing Christmas trees. Don writes An Iowa Garden and has shared links with me for two-three years now. I enjoy his thoughts as he grows many of the same things I enjoy.

Many of us purchase a Christmas tree every year, some raise their trees, and some only buy a live tree which they plant when spring arrives. When I was a kid there was slim to nothing under the tree most years but the tree was always large and well adorned with many antique, hand blown glass ornaments from England and Germany that were passed down from great great grand parents and their families. Our tree was always something my Dad would find in the woods and I was always required to go on the "hunt". I sure got to see some acts of ........I sure got a chance to see some interesting behaviors over the years. Once we returned home and Dad didn't think he cut a tree with enough branches so he got out a bit and brace and drilled holes and added more branches. I saw this same performance recently on one of the home and garden channels and it reinforced my thought that someone should break out the Stanford-Binet intelligence tests again and try to find out what's going on. Another time the only apparent tree was really the top of a giant fir balsam. It looked fine at 60 feet but once on the ground it was a little lean. Once home it was turned around so many times in the tree stand to find "the good side" that it left a mark in the wooden plank floor.

Gail asks me time and again when I will begin to prune some of the bazillion balsams we have growing here. I think the price this year has pushed me far enough in that direction. Her Dad had a twenty acre piece logged off in 1992 and now it is coming back strong with lots of balsams. I think a planned pruning program over the next few years will get us out of buying each year.

But back to Don's question about profitability. First, let me be really generic with the answer. Farmers do not get rich. Most wealthy farmers were wealthy before they started to farm whether they raise Christmas trees or cows or porkers or trout. Flower farmers like us are even worse because we are more at odds with the weather. As for Christmas trees, you have to be forgetful to grow them. When you make a sale you have to put the money in your pocket and completely forget the previous ten years. That time started with initial planting and then there were annual prunings, fertilizer application, fungicide/insecticide worries, grass mowing, and deer control problems. The errant tree thief doesn't even register on this scale. Just look at your tree for a minute and ask how long would it take to trim and shape it each year? How much did you pay for it? Makes no sense does it? Next time you buy a tree from a grower, remember to give a nice "thank you".

Now how about buying a tree from a retailer? My son Adam lives in Seattle and now, with a house and kids, he is into Christmas trees. This year's story is no better than the last one I heard. Last year he found a place that was recommended, bought a tree, brought it home and looked at the truck bed which by then was covered with needles. Oh boy!! The day after the tree was in the stand the needles were on the floor and the cats were having a field day scooting stuff around. This year he got a step smarter. He picked up the tree and kind of half bounced it off the ground to see how much fell off first. The report is it's about 50% better than last year. No one has shared any pictures so I can't confirm how the learning process is really going. I relayed that I heard there were some very nice tree farms down towards Olympia so maybe just maybe next year.........??

So to answer Don in Iowa, no Don, there is no profitability in trees unless you take them to a city yourself or you are the middleman.

I'm not cutting trees but I do have lots to do here today. Have to get going. Sunrise is bright red and that's just a reminder of the rain that is headed this way for the next two days. Hope you are having a great holiday season, with or without a tree.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Website rebuild update: I keep saying I am updating our site. I am rebuilding it all. The old site is still here and works well but will be replaced soon. I've completed the rewrites on astilbes and daylilies and started the hostas last night. Nothing too difficult but it sure takes time. Bear with me!

Holiday Gift Thoughts

Monday, December 22, 2008

Tonight is flying by as I try to crank out Christmas cards and little notes to people I am feeling guilty about. They were able to find time to send nice notes and I'm trying to figure out if I should use up the rest of the sunflower postage stamps or wait in line at the post office for half an hour tomorrow. It's been one of those weeks that doesn't seem to change. Do people really look at stamps on Christmas cards and letters or is that just something my mother taught me?

Last week's 8 inches of sleet and freezing rain bonded to the roofs and Friday's additional foot was followed by yesterday's 22" of new fluffiness. I am not going to get into an inconvenient truth type discussion with anyone but I have to say that the past couple years have brought this part of Vermont one pile of snow.

I cannot make myself forget when I was a kid growing up on Church Hill Road in Woodstock that by January my 6 foot 6 inch father was made small by mountains of snow. The snow was so plentiful it blocked visibility from the farmhouse windows while actually shielding us from the subzero winds that blew through our 1826 farmhouse. It was so cold in that house that you could see your breath despite six woodstoves. Even the mice packed up and moved to the farm next door for the winter.

The top picture is looking down the valley from the house roof on Saturday. It looks a lot different today. The next picture of the snow fence at night shows the fence before it was covered with drifting snow. A snow fence is intended to block snow and this one did just that until the snow got deeper than the fence. Tonight the lights look nice but the path that was supposed to be protected is deep in crystal magic.

The holidays are here and good gardeners have already made gift purchases for other gardeners. I know there are some who see shopping as a challenge that only gets better as less time remains and for those I want to drop a few suggestions. There's no order to this but I do ask that you think about the last suggestion after number 12. I wanted to have some pictures but time is short so just pretend there is a backwards Letterman drum roll and here we go.

1.) Folding garden bench for huff and puff older gardeners. Gail asked me to get her a fold up bench like worker bee Gail brought to work one day. These are readily available and I got one at Gardener's Supply in Williston for $32.95. They have two folding handles and a knee pad so you can huff and puff and push yourself back up from a kneeling position when you're pulling weeds or planting. The plastic and foam pad is marginally easy on your knees but it's the ability to get up off the ground easier that makes this product worth it.

2.) Long handled garden trowel. I suspect most would call this a little garden shovel with a 4" shovel blade and an 18" wooden handle. These are so great for planting annuals in the spring or perennials in September. I wish they would paint a flourescent stripe on the handle so I don't have to keep hunting for mine when I lay it down but that's because the handle is dirt brown after twenty odd years of use. About $20. now. Do not buy one that says "Made In..." you know where on it. Their steel is no good.

3.) It's hard to believe every gardener doesn't have a cheap digital camera. They come with too many pixels now and some are made for outside use, i.e. built to lay on a rock, spray with the hose, coat with fertilizer, leave in your pocket with the old Hersey candy wrapper, etc. Digital pictures of your garden make you proud but also give you plenty of recall during winter months when you are replanning gardens or designing new ones. Memory cards wear out over time and are cheap so if a friend has a camera, find out what they use for a card and buy a replacement/back up. If you really like the person and know they don't have a newer model computer with ports for every gadget going, spring for a card reader for about $15. They plug into aUSB port and will handle 13 different memory cards. That way they won't have to plug their camera into the computer. Cameras aren't built for the stresses of plug in, plug out, plug in, plug out, etc

4.) A bulb drill bit to fit in your electric drill is of no use this time of year but a great tool for quickly planting hundreds of bulbs next spring or fall. I even use mine to plant annual plugs in early summer. The drill will fit in any electric drill. $10.00 will do it.

5.) Gloves and polar fleece socks are good stocking stuffers and make for better spring and fall chores when wet, cold days tend to slow down the day's to-do list. Write a little verse and stuff it in a glove or sock and no one will know about it until the day they are placed into action. The little note will be nice and generate smiles.

6.) Memberships to plant societies are great. We belong to a dozen societies and like the American Hosta Society best followed by the American Hemerocallis Society. Name the plant and there's probably a society to go with it. Don't say "no" to the American Conifer Society or the
succulent folks or the rock gardeners or the begonia clan. They are all great and have an annual magazine published from 2-4 times a year. $25-$40/year for individual memberships.

7.) A one gallon, recycled, glass mayonaise jar with lid and a note from you saying you'll get together in the fall and make a terrarium of native woodland plants that are not on the endangered list. Thoughts or pictures of bunchberries or partridge berries or tiny hayscented ferns or mosses would give nice thoughts to what is possible.

8.) A stainless steel shovel, strong and sleek. It won't rust, will look attractive, will feel good in the hands and will cause garden comment. $50 or more.

9.) A leather, belt case for nursery shears. About $10 but either give it with some leather curing oil or rub it good before giving as a gift. Tell the recipeint what the smell is. Protect it at the beginning and it will be passed on for years and years, turning darker with age but remaining soft. A good leather holster is one that is on your belt but you don't know it 's there.

10.) Lunch and a day trip to visit 1-2-3 garden centers, display gardens, speciality nurseries within an hour of your home. Do this annually and you won't be able to stop because it's always fun and always enjoyed by anyone. Pack the lunch if you don't want to stop at a resturant but include a tentative sample menu and itinerary at gift giving time as a description to what you're planning. Make the card yourself and slide in a dried flower, some dried herbs or rose petals and thoughts of creative genius.

11.) Garden books that you think will match the recipent's experience or interest. I'm a nut and love the outdoors so you can give me a new bird book, an 1932 daylily species book, a history of a New England garden estate or Dan Snow's latest book on dry wall stacking. Used book stores have some great finds and such books are cherished. I once found Pioneering With Wildflowers
by Vermont's famous US Senator George D Aiken. Not only had the senator autographed the book but the previous owner had included newspaper clippings of him in the cover flaps. Book dealers have great memories and can help with books you may not have ever seen or even thought about.

12.) A can of Vermont- famous Bag Balm for sore, garden- rough hands. Made in Lyndonville, Vermont for chapped cows teats, Bag Balm cures problems fast. $5 to $10 depending on the size (of the can). Include a pair of cotton gloves for excitement. Explain that rough hands rubbed with Bag Balm and gloved before bed, will seem odd until morning when the soreness is gone. ..all gone.


These are just some ideas to get you going. There are millions more out there and unless your mind is getting muddled and time is growing short, you'll do fine yourself. But before you finish with the giving part, think about those that you do not know who are not receiving gifts. As I sit here writing away, the temperature is 4 below zero and the wind chill is "I don't know how cold". "Bitter" isn't close to what it would be called if you were homeless and "shivery cold" wouldn't be much better if you were on fixed income with the heat turned to 40 so you could keep from freezing and still have a buck to buy something to eat.

If you want to feel really good about the holidays, think about what you can give of yourself. There are lots of charities to give to, kitchens to work at, food shelves where deliveries need to be unloaded, seniors' driveways to be shoveled, rides to doctors to be offered. These are things that are worth a million to someone with nothing. These thoughts always become more obvious to people when I ask "Who exactly does put money in the Salvation Army kettles? Give these thoughts a little attention. The warmth created will come from you!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where fine snow drops from a below zero sky as a sliver of moon twinkles seasons greetings to all.

Best holiday thoughts and wishes!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm Where gift certificates are always available

Just A Day Stretcher, Please

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Heading towards 9 PM here and the snow is still raining from the sky as if it was February, not the first day of winter. My body is a little weary from a couple weeks of this snow thing and the past week has been a little more taxing than usual. It's not that it's the holiday season, it's the snow that is getting to me.

Yesterday I cleaned off Gail's mother's roof. Miriam recently moved to a nursing facility but the home remains and has to be cared for. I wanted to get the last storm shoveled off but it quickly came to me that the "rememory" part of my brain wasn't turned on. I had already forgotten that under the top layer of a foot of fluffy light stuff was 8 inches of sleet with a slippery crust of left over freezing rain...left over from last week. That roof work sliced almost three hours out of my day and gave some leg cramps I didn't need.

Before I climbed up the ladder, I erased the foot of snow from the road and driveways that fell Friday night. Being a snow plow operator seemed great when I was in high school but now I just can't get excited about bumping around in a truck cab, wipers flip-flopping and defroster moving humid air in circles. Even though Karl the Wonder Dog enjoys riding shotgun with me, it's still not a job that ranks high on my list. Somewhere in yesterday's mix was a lot of shovel work plus cleaning the backside of our house roof too.

I finished yesterday's snow removal just in time for the evening news and weather. There's nothing like sitting slumped into a chair like bread dough that won't rise, listening to a weatherman who is smiling when he says "...and 12-18 inches, maybe a little more in the mountains." That was today, no, no, the part about the little more in the mountains. We are in the mountains and the snow depth of 3 inches above my knees is about where we were two hours ago when I came in from cleaning off our satellite dish to make this connection. And to top that off, the snow that was falling again today in Seattle, home of my two fine grandsons, should be here in Vermont sometime pre-Christmas like Wednesday afternoon.

So there's my snow story and that's why it appears I have packed up and left the world of blogging.......... even though I reported a couple weeks back that I would give a few holiday shopping hints for tardy shoppers. Days are only just so long and the snow has been an interruption for certain.

So now I want to make the promise again that by tomorrow night there will be some ideas out there for gifts that shouldn't be too difficult to pick up in the next couple days. Don't trust me on this but check back late tomorrow night or first thing Tuesday. Could be the ideas will be helpful.

In the meantime, consider finding a Cape Cod Weeder. It's such a handy gift that even if your gardening buddy already has one, two is not too many.

This brand was Snow and Neally, a company that may or may not be around any more but the concept is the same. Gail liked this brand enough to buy them in multiples to hand out as gifts. This one is tagged at $19.95 which was probably the going price four years ago. If you find a look alike, grab the steel weeder hook in one hand and the wooden handle in the other and see if they come apart. The Snow and Neally brand were built strong but many imported look-alikes are poorly bonded. If you can't find anything better, some Gorilla glue in the joint will solve the problem even though no one likes to "fix" something brand new. In this modern day real world, there is however, an acceptance that there's never time to do things right, but always time to do them over. I'm not keen on that philosophy but that's why Mr. Gorilla apparently made a very good glue. Think it through and if you read this blog and don't know a gardener who needs a weeder but do know a woodworker, then buy some Gorilla Glue and make someone happy.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Snowflake Bentley would be pleased with tonight as he'd have plenty of snowflakes to investigate. As for me, two of Gail's ginger cookies and a glass of milk should be just fine. I'd really like to find a day stretcher but I don't know that one exists yet.

Good Sunday wishes. Travel with care!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

If you are a gift certificate type gift giver, consider calling Gail and ordering one up. Unlike some businesses, we know we'll still be here when all this snow melts next spring. 802-426-3505

Temporary Turkey Talk

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Troublesome morning here on the mountain. Just can't get going. Made it through the newspaper and have had a chance to watch my environmental clean up team, Mrs. Turkey and the kids, clean up blue jay spills from the past couple days. Here is a through-the-window-and-screen video clip. I haven't incorporated a movie clip before, so if you have any feedback, send it along.

The Thursday night-Friday ice storm was quite an event. We probably received 8 inches of snow before the rain poured down as if it was an August storm. Although everything was cover in ice here, we had nothing close to what people experienced in southern directions of New England where having electricity may be days away for some.


I have noticed that the grosbeaks are having a difficult time with Sunday brunch. They really want some crab apple seeds but getting through the coating of ice is a bit of a chore for them. When the turkeys head out, I'll replace the seed and be sure to get a good quantity of seed down for the ground feeders. Between the snow and the heavy crust, seeds and nuts are difficult to come by today.

During the holidays I enjoy being on the receiving end of ornaments for our tree. I especially like items from nature. From Tracy and Diana, our friends from the Marshfield Inn , we received a hand carved ornament by Gary M Starr of Starr Decoys, Middlebury, Vermont. Gary does great work creating an ornament that is also a great teaching aid for children for years to come.

Here are the three ornaments we have so far including the Hermit Thrush, Vermont's state bird, on the bottom. This is a bird to watch because its numbers are in decline relative to the demise in old growth forests.



In contrast to "old growth" is a new growth "forest" to watch. It's the Cabot Christmas Tree Farm at the old Smith Farm in Cabot. The farm is accessible from either Thistle Hill Road off Route 2 just east of Water Tower Horse Farm, Marshfield, or off Rt 215 in Marshfield Village, then the first right hand turn just past Cabot Creamery entering Cabot village. There are signs at all junctions. The have 35,000 trees for sale and they are beautifully sheared and market priced. I cut an 8.5 footer last Saturday and now it's standing proud and perfect. If you live within reasonable distance and don't have a tree yet, give this place a try. Cabot Creamery is also a place for some nice gifts and stocking stuffers!

Have to get going here although I have misplaced my energy. As you work your way through your Christmas shopping this year, don't forget to support your local farmers, hand crafters and businesses. Operating a small business is difficult any time and these recent times place many small business owners in precarious spots. Work together and we'll stay healthy together!


From the mountain above Peacham Pond where a sudden, heavy downdraft of wind just placed a scary cloud of smoke in the living room. That's what living at great heights does.

Good Sunday wishes!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm