Gettin' Better

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Almost 10:30 AM here on the mountain. 16° with a 3 mph wind. The sun is still trying to break through the clouds but to no avail. Kinda like me trying to get back to The Vermont Gardener after two weeks of fighting a virus. I always get a flu shot but this year, even after the shot, something did an end run. All I can say is that if I had encountered the "real" thing, I'm not sure how well I would have done. I'm still weak but I'm making myself do a few things every day. Yesterday's storm left little choice and minutes ago I came in from plowing the last of yesterday's gift. Alex will get the paths shoveled for the final time and Gail will feed the birds.

Tons of fresh white snow make gardeners yearn for color. I return to this simple picture of a garden at our house when I want to show how easy and inexpensive it is to put together a season-long mass of color that involves Vermont hardy plants. When we ran Vermont Flower Farm out of our house, the gardens around the property served to represent mature examples of what we sold in pots. We lined the paths with thousands of pots, all in alphabetical order and all properly signed. The pots are gone now and the displays are unkept but the notion of inexpensive gardens remains.

Take a look at the picture and you'll notice some tall reds. Those are Crocosmia 'Lucifer', a bulb that will remind you of a gladiola. This plant is from the plains of southern Africa and only 'Lucifier' is hardy here in Vermont. It needs to be planted in a light moist-to-dry situation. You'll know if you have it placed right by year two when it will be profoundly absent or have happily reproduced into more and more flower scapes.

3 foot tall lavender flower scapes from various hostas border the fence. Their numbers wave in obvious clumps and last a number of weeks. Rudbeckias from yellows and oranges to mahogany browns begin in July and bloom into late September. Over time the flowers dry somewhat but the color binds everything together.

Daylilies line the borders and provide continuous color. Simple daylilies such as Lemon Lollipop or Mini Pearl bloom from July into almost Columbus Day and rejuvenate themselves daily as there is fresh color. The cream shades of Joan Senior and Miss Amelia and So Lovely provide varying heights and nice color even after frosts have begun.

Across the fence a collection of actaeas, formerly known as cimicifugas, range in height from 3 to 8 feet and put up bottle brush flower plumes that draw daytime butterfly visitors and any-time moths and insects. And then towards the backdrop, hollyhocks mingle with hydrangeas and garden pholx in purples, whites, lavenders, fuchsias, "almost" blues, reds and pinks. None of these are difficult to grow and all can be used as cut flowers.

So as you look out at new snow cover, think positive thoughts about the colorful gardens you have or can have without great expense or work. If you have questions or comments, drop us a line.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where three crows just found a new addition to the compost pile.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Social Networking Works!©
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

"Green" Chickens

Saturday evening, January 22, 2011

The barometer is holding tight at 29.44 and the temperature continues at 5.5 degrees despite two different weather stations reminding us to dress warmly, bring in pets and watch out for seniors as below zero temps are on the way tonight. This is part of typical winter in Vermont and should not be a surprise. As I get older, I like it less, but I am never surprised.

I stopped by my friend Mike's today to snap some overdue pictures of his "green" chickens. Mike is my friend but he's also my egg man when the chickens are laying instead of "chivering" (port manteau word for chicken shivering). He fixes my broken machinery and provides an extra set of hands unannounced like when the potting mix truck arrives with 100 bales. He is a great mechanic and he can be a carpenter when times require.

Mike was worried about his chickens and the upcoming cold temps so he gathered up some recyclables and built a nice sun room for his chickens. Now they can come out, exercise, eat and be warm. There aren't any fancy chairs or other typical sun room furnishings but for the chickens, this is just right.

Mike added a new door to the former opening and then took an old window to serve as one wall of the new addition. Today when it was 17° and windy outside, it was 30° in the little addition. Even chickens can go green.

This isn't a fancy addition, it's a functional addition and the chickens love it. They can still come and go as they please but they are warmer as they walk around and enjoy the sun. I think they can see themselves in the window glass but I haven't asked.


Mike has a nice mix of chickens, each has a name perfectly matched to its personality, and most all lay tasty eggs which we enjoy. The big red rooster is a nasty bully but he thinks well of himself and that's what big roosters do. On the other end of the continuum are Becky (way up top in Mike's arms) and Bucky, down in front here, smallest of all with a nice red comb, black tail feathers and one heck of a voice. They are bantams and so far Becky hasn't parted with an egg. She loves the new greenhouse but she always lets Bucky go out and test the weather first.

All the shavings, leaves and vegetable scrapes from the coop and the yard go into Mike's vegetable gardens and berry patches. Chickens are fun to raise and they are great benefit to one's land and family. If you have some room on your property, consider raising some yourself!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the barometer is dropping but the temperature is not moving. Bet it will by morning. Be warm!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Social Networking Works©
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

Book Sales

Saturday, January 22, 2011

The last week of January is typically the coldest week in Vermont with some sub zero temperatures and wind that makes chickadees turn into horizontal dots trying to land on our bird feeders and get some breakfast. Today is not part of the last week but it is not only cold at -6 degrees, but it is getting colder over the next three days. I truly feel badly for folks with economic difficulties because to me there is nothing like cold. Cold is what I experienced as a kid and living with wood stoves and seeing your breath at night as you jumped into bed were things I said I would never do again. Today a have a nice Hearthstone stove by choice and I love the stove and the associated wood cutting and splitting but no longer do I see my breath when I'm inside my house. Unfortunately, lots of people still do.

Small town Vermont is a great place to live and in our town like many in New England, the town library has become the community center. We have a small library but it offers super service, lots of smiles and excellent programs on a weekly basis. I think it costs more than many in town can afford but that's something that we get to vote on every year on Town Meeting Day.

This time of year the library holds a book sale and it's quite an event. Books that need to be moved along from limited library shelves are joined by books that townspeople bring in and the event raises a wee bit of money for the library and moves a bunch of reading material around. The books that are left go to a recycler and although I don't know where they go, I do know they go to readers someplace else in the world.

Gail has been helping with the sale for several years. It may be a dusty chore but it is full of laughter and good stories and she wouldn't miss it. The helpers also get the opportunity to scan the books first and Gail always comes home with something of interest for me. Yesterday it was The Owls of North America and Beginners Guide to Wild Flowers.

Wild flowers is a topic that I have been fond of since as a little kid I was responsible for entertaining myself and I spent a lot of time in the woods. Today people would be sending rescue squads out to find me but back then at age 6 I walked into the woods and always got back hours later. I don't ever remember crying to myself but I do remember getting lost. Today Gail always asks how we can never get lost no matter where we go in the woods but always get lost in a city. I simply tell her that there aren't as many trees in a city.

Books have always been my companion and gardening books mean a lot to me. As I opened Beginners Guide To Wild Flowers, 6th Impression, 1948, by G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, written by Ethel Hinckley Hausman, I randomly found Dutchman's Pipe at the top left page.

Dutchman's Pipe is a plant I have never grown and never will. I can't say that I never liked it because its vining habit and big leaves cover arbors and give a nice effect which has impressed me. The price has always been too expensive to buy in quantity and until recent years few gardeners requested it. I think people have seen it enough now that they are interested in it but I still won't carry it for sale.

This is an interesting plant, known as birthwort from the days when it was used in herbal medicine. All parts of the plant are poisonous so one would wonder about the merits of using a poison to deliver a newborn but stranger things have happened in this world. Insects are attracted to the less than fragrant smell from the flowers and some say that so insects actually become poisonous themselves from their consumption of pollen and nectar.

Apparently Ms. Hausman thought enough of the plant to include it in her book but modern day writers mention its invasive character and suggest using other plants. If you like large leaved plants like I do you still might give it a try but for me, a picture from an old book is just fine.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where my neighbor just went by with her dog, Jelly, perhaps walking quickly because -6 degrees really is frosty!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Social Networking Works!©
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

False Hellebore

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Already 8:30 AM and things seem to be moving slowly in contrast to how long today's list is. Very cold weather is approaching and there are certain things I want to get out of the way. It's up to 9.1° now and windless, as light snowflakes float through a slow-to-rise sun. The feeders are packed with about 50 American Goldfinches sporting dull winter feathers but flying in wavy, up-down patterns and cleaning out the thistle and other fine seeds from the feeders. Later on in winter the males begin to change to bright yellow, hence the name by some of "Wild Canary".

I have been working on our website again and am spending a lot of time on images. For several years I prepared annual picture tours I called Virtual Tours and people loved them. When I began the move to the new nursery location, a number of things took a back burner. Here it is 2011 and the last Virtual Tour is from 2008. I have been reminded that the "new nursery" isn't "new" anymore and the virtual tour is outdated. I don't receive these comments as criticism but as "encouragement" to please our readers.

Along the way this morning I opened a folder I had labeled as "skunk". As I clicked on it I thought maybe I had filed pictures of the skunks that plagued me last June until they were flattened on Route 2. For some reason a Mr and and Mrs Skunk dug into the bank along Route 2 and had a family of four. They seemed enamored with Japanese beetle grubs in the lower field and spent time digging and eating with no respect for when customers arrived. It's really difficult to sell flowers when you remind people to "walk the gardens, enjoy the flowers and watch for the skunks".

The folder did not contain any animal skunks but instead pictures of what I grew up calling "skunk cabbage" which it wasn't. Various adults taught me the name when in fact I was looking at False Hellebore. It was only in recent years that I learned that Skunk Cabbage, Symplocarpus
foetidus, is not that easy to find in Vermont and grows in observable numbers right behind our old apartment in Shelburne along Lewis Creek not 300 yards from Lake Champlain. One of the stories I had learned about the real skunk cabbage was that it was the first "green" that bears ate in the spring when coming out of hibernation and needing to purge their systems. Part of that annual chronology is misleading as bears exit hibernation before lots of things are turning green. The important point is that if bears ate False Hellebore instead, they would probably be real sick or dead because it's seriously poisonous. Here is a Wiki link to explain.

Aside from right plant, wrong plant, dead skunk or live bear, false hellebore is a neat plant to photograph and observe. It grows quickly and by August has whithered and is gone until the following spring. I planted a bunch around a little bog garden I made at the house and for the period of time it was prime, people always wanted to purchase some. For me it has become another plant I would place with care, especially if there are kids around. In the meantime, maybe you have learned another lesson.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where poets would enjoy writing about what they see from my window.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Social Networking Works!
On Facebook at Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

18 Daylilies

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

25° outside and already beginning to drop from this morning's high of 27.9°. By this weekend the temperatures will be in the -15° to -20° range with high winds and serious wind chills. That means all the outside chores I want to get done need to get started today. Working outside when the daytime high is zero is just not for me. This winter is quite a contrast to last year when from January on through September, warm weather records dating from the 1880's were broken.

I am a fan of Fine Gardening Magazine and have been reading it since its inception. There were a couple years when I temporarily gave up a subscription but Gail and I have been regular readers to the magazine and other Taunton Press specialty issues.

The February 2011 issue has an article entitled That's a Daylily? by Brandi Spade. It includes 18 daylily favorites complete with pictures and cites 7 growers who have a good representation of the 18 that are featured. Vermont Flower Farm is mentioned as a plant source and we are happy to say that we offer 5 of the daylilies. We offer Charles Johnston, Chorus Line, Condilla, Sir Blackstem and Sunday Gloves. For those who do not read Fine Gardening, here are pictures of all but Sir Blackstem.

Charles Johnston

Chorus Line

Condilla

Sunday Gloves

I picked up Sir Blackstem two years ago to add to some plants that I want available when I start hybridizing. It's a hybrid from 1988, and one of its parents is the older Gold Thimble, registered in 1966. With one Gold Thimble parent being Thumbelina, another older daylily I like, you can see that there is some heritage involved. Sir Blackstem reflects itself well with a very dark stem of mahogany red to black. Although its name as registered is a single word, it's not uncommon to see two words used. I know I have some pictures here somewhere from this summer but for now you will have to conjure up an image of a noctural, yellow-orange flower, 2.5" in diameter on a 24" black stem. Those who enjoy Bitsy, Golden Chimes and similar older, smaller flowered daylilies will like Sir Blackstem--no matter how they write the name.


As for writing, I'm writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the sunshine has brought a nice spirit to the day and four Pine Grosbeaks to the bird feeder. I've been interrupted five times and this piece reads like a man with a broken day wrote it. Be well!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
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Try Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens on Facebook
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Lung Lichen

Monday, January 17, 2011

Almost 3 PM, with bright sunshine but today's high of 6.1° had not been very rewarding. Alex and I had planned to go ice fishing but the leader in me said "no" to what at that time was still -8°. Instead we headed for Bradford to a store I know as Farm Way. If you haven't been there, it's worth a stop. Their Internet moniker is Vermont Gear and they do in fact have quite a selection. The store sits by the railroad tracks, is an old mill, and has a sign out front reminding people that 43% of its electrical needs are met by a ground mounted solar display out back. The store is proof that the owners are thinkers.

Returned home to happily find a response to a question I posted on my January 2, 2011 blog,
Early Winter Hike. As we were finishing a New Years Day hike through the Stranahan Memorial Town Forest, a leafy green plant growing out of the side of an ash tree caught my eye. In all my years of being in the woods, I never saw such a thing. I floated the picture on the Internet and asked questions but until today did not have a definitive response.

Brett Engstrom, a local naturalist and very nice fellow, answered my inquiry. He wrote:

"Funny you should send the photo of this lichen from Stranahan. I took a photo of probably the exact same patch of lichen a couple weeks ago. It is lung lichen, Lobaria pulmonaria.Very striking. Not real common with us, but I do find it occasionally on basswood, ash (white and black), and sometimes on sugar maple in moist forests or swamps."

Mystery solved. Try this link to Lichens of North America for some more very interesting information. Understand that on October 7th I blogged about Lichens and Rock Ferns. Guess it's about time to purchase some good guides and take a course or two. Lichens seem everywhere!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond while Gail reads bad news about King County (Seattle) Washington where my son Adam lives. Floods are some contrast to our current +4.2° and the freezing rain that is supposed to arrive late tonight. Best of luck everyone!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Social Networking Works!
Find us on Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens or as George Africa
On twitter as vtflowerfarm

Winter Markets

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Almost 5:30 PM. The sun is down and a couple stars dot the sky. The last of the ice fishermen are making their way up from Peacham Pond. Soon the local folks will be back to their homes for the night and the road will become quiet. As the temperature continues to drop, the maples will shudder and creak and startle Karl the Wonder Dog as we make a quick evening call. If I'm tired or cold on that last walk of the night, I might startle too. Probably will.

I have many irons in the fire right now but a Facebook notice this morning from Artesano in Groton, Vermont, took an hour and a half out of my day. Artesano is a meadery that makes some special meads from local honey, fruit and maple syrup. The notice said they would be at the Groton Farmers Market selling limited quantities of three of their hand made ice creams. So on the coldest morning yet to be faced in this part of Vermont, I headed to Groton, over Route 232, a snow packed road that is growing frost heaves on a daily basis. I wanted some ice cream and not just any ice cream.

The third Saturday of each month the Groton community center becomes a farmers market. During the summer it is a weekly affair but through winter months they move to one day a month and shorten the hours to 10 to 1. I've been past a bazillion times but the lure of a taste of this coveted ice cream made me do it today.

Surprisingly--or maybe not-- there was no place to park when I arrived. The lot serves the fire station and also the town clerk's office which is part of the building well known in October for one of Vermont's most well attended chicken pie suppers. I sat in the truck for a couple minutes and then a couple came out, one using a walker, the other carrying a dozen eggs, a bag of dinner rolls and 1 buttercup squash. This is Vermont at its finest and the picture of this couple could have come from Peter Miller's Vermont People.


I walked up the back ramp and entered the door, stopping on the mat for my eyes to adjust. My ears could hear all sorts of activity and there were some good smells too but I couldn't see anything as my eyes adjusted from the bright snow to a room where electric lighting must have been on some sort of economic hold. In a shorter time than it seemed, I could see and I began walking about.

I found the blue cooler and the Artesano sign and the friendly face and smile I had grown accustomed to this past summer. The choices were a super rich dark chocolate, vanilla or Munson's Maple. I could have picked any one as I have no preference but I went with the maple as it is Alex's favorite. The hand packed cartons are quarts and that's not nearly enough once three people break out the spoons but like the economic hold on the lighting at the community center, I put a hold on treats. But this is worth it!

The Groton Farmers Market will continue through the winter on the same 3d Saturday of each month schedule until farmers have to break into their spring routine. Artesano is a different story and you should follow their Facebook page. The ice creams are melt-in-your-mouth delights while the meads including blueberry, raspberry, chili-cinnamon and spiced have a taste to be savored. Try some!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond as a gardener who has horticultural responsibilities that sometimes take a back burner to the scenes and stories, products and people of Vermont. If you can't live here, at least come visit!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Social Networking Works!
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

Organic Weed Management

Friday, January 14, 2011

Already 7 AM here on the mountain and I'm bouncing around from one thing to another trying to clear up "paperwork" before Alex and I head to Burlington for the day. I'm "old school" so I say "paperwork', not knowing what that word has been replaced with in a society going paperless. I haven't touched a piece of paper this morning but I have placed two plant orders, confirmed a web order we received for daylilies and hosta, and reviewed our business account balances. Every day there are more and more TV commercials about applications for the various Smart phones and I wonder how soon it will be that I must get into that thinking. Here in Marshfield, cell and broadband services are worse than terrible and as much as we want cell phones, they just don't work and what sort of works at the nursery doesn't work at the house.

Gail and I have always tried to steer clear of chemicals. There have been times when there has been no other choice save for pulling up specific crops and getting them out of the garden. This could have involved insects or various fungal situations but there are times when gardeners and greenhouse growers just shake their heads and toss money into the landfill. Compost piles surely are not considered when infection is serious.

We read articles in all our trade journals about controlling problems and we do a good job sharing ideas with each other. Customers bombard us with questions and there remains a fairly obvious profile of those who think in terms of safety and those who dump on chemicals and expect immediate results. The chemical users don't mince words and don't seem to think there is a different way but Gail and I are possesed to eventually be able to show a brighter future.

For Christmas, Gail gave me a little book named Organic Weed Management by Steve Gilman. Gail has a renewed interest in the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) and this book is one of their "Hands-On Organics" books. I'm sure she probably noticed a forward by Lynn Byczynski too as we both like Lynn's book The Flower Farmer: An Organic Grower's Guide to Raising and Selling Cut Flowers. (Organic Weed Management was first published in 2000 by a very good Vermont publisher, Chelsea Green Publishing.) So as snow in Vermont deepens and my time working in the woods slows proportionate to how deep my boots sink, I turn more focus on weed and insect management and try to learn better ways.

I few weeks back a trade journal mentioned an organic weed control made from citrus. Spray it on and half the weeds are history at the end of about a week. Progress continues over the next month. The agent does not discriminate so care must be exercised to keep the flower crops alive. Best of all, the product is approved for organic production and for food. The name: GreenMatch, billed as a Burndown Herbicide. A replacement for RoundUp I hoped!

As I read product information I was interested enough to send off an email to the regional sales staff for more info. A return call came in two days later and I received an excellent presentation about the product. I had questions about how the product could be applied and the sales person did the research and got right back to me. It is available from a Vermont wholesaler, North Country Organics in Bradford and goes for about $45 per gallon.

It's too early to tell how oil from lemon grass will work to kill Vermont weeds but if what people tell me is true, then I have found yet another product that will help keep Vermont the way it used to be. I have been in sessions where new gardeners spoke of pulling weeds as if keeping five acres of garden weed free is an easy task. I have even heard a local presentation on protecting local riparian rights of way by hand pulling noxious weeds like Japanese knotweed and poison ivy. I'm trying to say that I have heard from those who haven't gardened beyond their backyard and "bigger" puts a different meaning to what must be done to control weeds and be successful with one's crops. That does not preclude respect for our environment. I hope this organic product will help me maintain control of the gardens we have already planted and help develop more gardens that are weed free. I'll keep you all posted.


Got to head to Burlington now. Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where 7.4° has been a regular morning feature here. Possible freezing rain by Tuesday. Bird feeders need more food before I go. Enjoy today!

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm
Social Networking Works!
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Fringed Bleeding Hearts

Saturday, January 8, 2011

18° on the mountain with a light wind but lacking the snowflakes that were predicted. That's fine with me. I just started checking inventories and plant orders for next spring and ended the exercise wondering if I had messed up on the Dicentra eximia, the woodland or fringed bleeding hearts that people have come to enjoy so much.

For years I thought the traditional bleeding hearts were the limit. Everyone talked about them and they prevailed at every farm lady's garden I ever visited. But then as I began to expand my tour of gardens and begin woodland and shade gardens, I learned of these fringed leaf perennials which grow so well here in Vermont. The strong point is probably the fact that they bloom throughout the summer and into fall and there is some color variation to choose from. I especially like the deep cut leaves and the blue-grey foliage color that reaches about 16" in height.

Some of our records are on the computer, some written on inventory sheets, some just a matter of memory, Gail's or mine....and sometimes we are memory-less. I fear that is the case with eximia.

Although many descriptions suggest avoiding wet planting areas and caution about allowing them to totally dry out, we have grown them in a garden alongside the road where bright sun shines and the soil dries quickly. Perhaps they do well there because all the plants are thick and water evaporates slowly. But sometimes the soil is baked hard from July heat and yet these flowers keep blooming.

If you have an out of the way place with some sun but not too much water, give them a try. They work well with about any shade plant and accent our hostas and astilbes well. If you haven't tried them before, let me know what you think.

As I think about the inventory, I think we have enough for this season but it will mean dividing some plants this spring. That will work!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where it's quiet and I can get some reading done.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

Walking Along Waterfalls

Friday, January 7, 2011

4 PM is already here with a dullness that suggests tonight's coming snowstorm. It's not predicted to be very big, perhaps 4", but the weather folks say light snow will continue this weekend. Locations closer to the New England coast may well receive more snow but that's all for us. It has been a strange winter so far, quite cold and windy with really very little snow here to speak of. I have put on the plow only one time and that really was at the pleasure of Christmas guests.

Vermont is a beautiful state and I really wish I had more time in the summer to get out and enjoy it. Operating a nursery and trying to keep employees to a minimum puts a damper on free time to get out and about. Up top here is a picture of local Marshfield Falls, purported to be one of Vermont's longer waterfalls. The falls is easy to find, is located in Marshfield village and just 2/10's mile off US Route 2. Although the main falls pictured here is about 100 feet long, the entire falls from where it tips downhill at the top of the mountain to where it joins the Winooski River at the bottom is over 600 feet. If you're passing through town, it's worth stopping for a few minutes. It's visible from the road all year long.Turn of Route 2 at Rainbow Sweets and go straight. Bear right where the road forks if you want to park and visit for a bit.

This summer a customer's plant question led me to a web search which led to mention of Cheever Falls, 15 miles away in Walden, Vermont. Just reading about Cheever falls got me interested and along the way I heard about New England Waterfalls by Greg Parsons and Kate Watson.They had published a similar book years previous that described the location for 200 waterfalls but this revised edition discusses 400 waterfalls. Cheever and Marshfield Falls are both mentioned.

As a gardener I enjoy getting out and walking along rivers as there are many botanical surprises to be found. This holds true of river banks with adjacent waterfalls. The humidity of the land adjacent to the falls always provides a perfect place for certain plants to prosper. I have found buttercups, moneywort , jewelweed, Jack in the pulpits, cattail, Japanese knotweed, baneberry, Jerusalem artichoke, yellow flag, trout lilies, orchids, Indian cucumber root, clintonia, marsh marigold, black eyed Susans, forget-me-not, meadow rue, baneberry, turtlehead, Dutchman's britches, wild sarsaparilla, Canada lilies, trillium, cardinal flower, loosestrife and Lilium superbum. There are many more as well as ferns, mosses and lichens in quantity to keep any would-be botanist busy.

Today it's too cold for me to be climbing around waterfalls but for next spring through fall, test your scouting skills and find a few waterfalls. There's probably at least one nice one close to your home.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the wind has died and the light is almost gone. Time to bring in some wood for tonight.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Social Networking Works!
On Facebook at Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

Early Winter HIke

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Approaching 5 PM, darkness has closed in and the temperature continues to drop from today's high of 40.2 degrees. Two days in a row of springlike weather meant we were able to get outside and get a lot of things done that might have been saved for much later into winter.

Yesterday afternoon some friends invited us to join them for a walk at the Virginia Stranahan Memorial Forest off Hollister Hill in Marshfield. Although we had some sense of the background of the forest, we had never visited. The Stranahan family offered all 622 acres to the Vermont Land Trust that ultimately gifted it to the Town of Marshfield. An industrious crew has mapped the land, laid out trails and done a lot of clearing. The parking area is open, a sign and guide map station has been erected, road fill added, a security gate installed and trails have been marked and cleared.

Seven of us left the parking area about 1:30 and walked the first leg of the Forest down Thompson Road, part of which is also the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers trail. Gail provided some entertainment along the way as she had snow proofed her boots before the trip and apparently went a little heavy with the silicon spray which she learned should not be allowed on the bottom of the boots. Pirouettes may be classic ballet (?) as Gail demonstrated from the back of the pack but they really have no place in an early winter mountain hike.

We took the first left which is the Sugar House Loop, a third of a mile long and climbing steadily uphill through some beautiful woods. Half way up the loop the old sugar house skeleton including evaporator pan lay on a rise, offering little to see but conjuring images of wood smoke and evaporating sap from bygone years. I stopped for a minute and my memory brought back the sweet smell of the boiling sap and the reminiscence of eating my first hard boiled egg directly from a wood fired arch.

Here and there large maples show leftovers from a pipeline system apparently used and in some places never recovered. One maple looked as if someone had cinched a belt tightly around it 4 feet off the ground as it grew around an old pipeline wire. The maples looked wonderful and Sara commented how straight they were and how far up they grew before any branches started.

The topography of the Sugar House Loop is interesting because as you rise in elevation you can look down and see plateaus rising from the bottom as if someone laid giant steps up the mountain. Sugar maples prevail in this area accompanied by some very nice green ash, occasional white birch, more frequent yellow birch and towards the end of the loop, fir balsams and hemlock trees. Snowshoe hare tracks wind in and out red spruce and a minor number of striped maples. Coyote tracks passed through several places. Deer tracks were fairly common although we saw neither deer along the way nor any moose tracks anywhere. We flushed one partridge before the sugar house site and I saw only two red squirrels the entire afternoon. I was pleased not to see or hear any pileated woodpeckers. These are spectacular birds but they signal problems with sugar woods as they hammer away, eating insects from dying trees. I am all too familiar with their presence here on the Peacham Pond Road where our maples are in trouble.

From the Sugar Woods Loop we jumped onto the Upper Sugar Woods Trail and from various vantage points could see Moon Field Trail and back in the direction of Eaton Cemetery and Route 2. The trees are thick enough that these are somewhat obstructed views but with the map you can get a good sense of how big 662 acres really is.

As the Upper Sugar Woods Trail heads downhill a bit you move onto the High Ridge Trail. There you meet Guernsey Brook, 5 feet wide and quiet this time of year as it eventually seeks to join Kings Brook before the two merge and head for the Winooski.

The end of High Ridge Trail is the commencement of Old Grist Mill Road. We stopped to observe what was apparently a grist mill at a small falls and then slid down the trail, parallel to the brook. Beavers had been here several years ago but were absent now. I stopped and looked back up to the waterfalls, now hidden in snow and ice. I snapped a few pictures and noticed how far behind Diana and I were from our quicker companions.




Deer had been feeding on ferns along the swamp and their tracks were more prevalent in the lowlands. Coyote tracks passed in and out of the swamp as we headed down an easy trail, rejoined Thompson Road and returned to the parking lot.

Towards the end of Old Grist Mill Road I spotted something I had never seen in all my days in the woods. I hope someone out there with more experience than I have can identify this plant growing in the bark of a green ash tree. It appears they have a relationship going but it's not anything I can explain. Can anyone help? Replies appreciated. Click to enlarge.

As Gail and I drove away, we had a better sense of what 662 acres involves but we also knew what a treasure had been given to our town. Although we don't know the names of many of those involved in the project, we are grateful for their time and energy. This is a magnificent place! For more detail, go to the Marshfield, Vermont town website and click on Stranahan Town Forest

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the outside temperature has dropped to 29 degrees as the wood stove inside warmed enough to draw Karl the Wonder Dog to "snoring mode" in front of it.

Happy New Year!

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Social Networking Works!
On Facebook as George Africa and also as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

Rearranging Magazines

Thursday, December 30, 2010

3 PM here on the mountain. One lonely mourning dove at the feeder. Looking across the valley I can see the last sun already leaving Hooker Mountain and heading west. The temperature will fall quickly now without the sun but it has been a beautiful, productive day.

I just put a roast in the oven and the vegetables are prepared to follow in a while. I want it ready about the time Gail returns tonight. I'm just guessing at the time because she is in New Hampshire making arrangements for the transfer of her one remaining uncle from the hospital to a community care facility. At age 92 he cannot safely manage himself any more and a recent fall confirmed his needs to probably everyone but him. Independence is a difficult thing to relinquish.

For me, even giving up old gardening magazines is difficult too. For days now, Gail has sorted and bagged magazines for different friends based on her knowledge of what they grow and what magazines they already receive. When she's not looking, I go through the piles again and pull out things that "I need". It happened again today as I threw a safety net around a 2008 (vol. 2) copy of Fine Gardening's design ideas: 17 strategies for shade gardens.

Early in the issue, editor Steve Aitken offers an introduction entitled Seeing the Light:Knowing what kind of shade you have is the first step to success. The title is a fitting description to a dilemma that creates unrest for gardeners, new and more experienced alike. I see the consequence all the time at the nursery when asked "Will it grow for me in my garden?" When I ask about light or absence of light, the dilemma often deepens. If I can get a "my house is situated north-south", or "east-west" out of people that is a good start but often I find myself asking where the sun is in the morning or at night. An occasional "Why, it's everywhere!" is less than helpful but usually describes the exuberance of the gardener to succeed. Aitken's article (pages 10-11) is a good start as he includes a diagram complete with compass-like readings and the flow of the sun from morning to afternoon. He also shows the shade impact based on the position of the sun and makes the concern easier for the reader to apply to their own location.



Reading along I thought again of Sue Reed's new book, Energy-Wise Landscape Design. It is the perfect book for people planning a new home construction, a home remake or a landscape change. It describes sun and wind and relates them to your house, out buildings, walks and drives, lawns and gardens . It suggests where to plant what type plants, shrubs, trees and explains why. Every idea can help save money through efficient design, construction and landscaping.



In an age when energy efficiency has become cost-imperative, we really need to try anything to save energy and money...and still enjoy and be able to maintain our homes and landscapes. This past week many in America experienced severe weather and some of the worst winds in their lives. Some winds were just too strong and no matter what a homeowner had planted would have been devastated. But the sound of wind in your ear can be a reminder that some of Sue's suggestions would have slowed the wind and energy loss, while adding, not detracting from the landscape.

I hope this little thought, generated from a rescued magazine, will make you go to pencil and paper and rework thoughts of how well energy saving really integrates with home and landscape planning. Give it a try!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where chickadees and evening grosbeaks crowd the feeders for supper.


George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
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The Birds Of Winter

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

When Winny the Pooh and friends mentioned a blustery day it may have been fall, not winter, and their discussion occurred on Winds-day not Tuesday like today, but here on the mountain there is still no shortage of wind. It's still too dark to see the size of the snow drifts but the wind has not given up since last night's strong bursts. My anemometer is hanging at 11 mph and only slows to 4 for brief periods. A trip outside to empty wood stove ashes made me return to look up a wind chill chart and rub my hands together despite a pair of gloves. Karl the Wonder Dog came out for a brief visit, turned quickly and went back to bed. No "outside" for him yet.

Yesterday was a "stay inside day" and save for plowing the driveways and gassing up the truck again, we all stayed inside. The wind was brutal and even layered clothing doesn't avoid the possibility of frost bite with those winds. I noticed a group heading out for cross country skiing at the Martin Covered Bridge outside Plainfield village but they all wore face masks, and each dressed in black which seemed odd, a highly noticeable contrast to clouds of white snow.

The birds of winter interest me. The snow buntings are still here but only four remain now. They entertain me the way they scoot across the snow looking for small seeds. I would love to hear their voices but they only speak during mating season in the arctic tundra, far distant from Vermont. It would be fun to hear one say "I love you."

For days I have been seeing my favorite pine grosbeaks (up top) and they have been to our feeders only once earlier this season. Yesterday as the snow deepened, they appeared again, numbering six, then eight and then leaving. They are late this year as they usually arrive to eat the sargentii crab apples but flocks of robins and our wild turkey population took care of those much earlier in fall.

Blue jays are everywhere and they are noisy, wasteful, arrogant, bullying birds. I never understand what they are talking about but they come each morning within minutes of me spreading new food. I keep looking for a frequent visitor last year who had an injured wing but haven't seen him yet. I hope he is fine as he displayed strong courage.

If you aren't into house plants and gardening magazines and shows to get you through winter, consider birds. Cornell University has a great site to get you started. Bird feeding is no longer cheap but the entertainment is worth it.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the rising sun has dropped the temperature to 3.9. I can see that the snow fence along the back walk was once again worth the time to put up.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Forever using social networking because it works!

Christmas Ferns

Friday, December 24, 2010

An even 15° here on the mountain this morning. 9 blue jays at the feeder are the only noise as the road is quiet of traffic and the only disruption here is an occasional crack from the wood stove. Gail is off to make some deliveries and visit the Humane Society and Alex and Karl the Wonder Dog will join me in a few minutes for a walk to the pond. Life is good.

I have never decorated with Christmas Fern before but this New England native was well used from colonial times on. It is a thick leaved fern so it holds its color through cold frosts and into winter. There were times in America when it was so heavily harvested for shipment to cities that some thought it would be wiped out. It is common in Vermont and noticeably successful growing in poor soils close to neutral ph. That said I have found some good colonies among maple trees and in regularly wet areas.

The picture up top is from fall a few years back. The site is our lower shade garden built within an old barn foundation. The accompanying European ginger makes a good contrast and floral designers can have fun with both. For today, my Christmas Ferns stay in the gardens, silent and waiting for Christmas.


George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as George Africa and also as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens.
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Social networking works!

Light Up The Darkness

Thursday, December 23, 2010

22° here on the mountain, a 4 mph wind and 3" of fine snow that arrived sometime after midnight. Seems dark for after 7 AM as the front moves quickly overhead. I have reached the threshold of snow in the driveway and think today I'll have to mount the plow on the truck and clean things up for Christmas.

It's nice to reach the point where days get a little longer although through January and February our focus is on how deep the snow gets or if the weather will warm and freezing rain will replace snow. But in summer, daylight hours are important to gardeners as they fill in every available hour with planting and grooming their gardens. This is especially true in a state such as Vermont where seasons can end with a hard frost anytime after Labor Day.

Long ago our friend Harold from daylily land in Morrisville mentioned how he gardens half the night with a headlamp. He works all day at a regular job and cares for some of the most beautiful gardens in Vermont the rest of the season. This requires nightly work after the sun hides away when sometimes the moon provides the only other source of light.

Now you have to understand that Gail and I think working all day is quite fine and our commitment ends at dinner time. From June through August this often translates to sitting down to eat at 8 PM. That's ok because that's when we are finished but with Harold and his headlamp, 8 PM is when he often just gets going. If you chance to see the gardens he and Leila have created, you'll understand why he needs a day stretcher to find the time to maintain and of course expand the diversity they enjoy.

Last year I was shopping at a sporting goods store and just after the decoy section was a huge display of headlamps. My mind flashed back to duck hunting on the Black River in Newport and setting up decoys in snow squalls when one twisted anchor line could have benefited from a headlamp and a few less expletives at 4 AM. Headlamps were on my mind anyway because I had just finished an early evening tractor repair the night before and admittedly my old eyes and limited light made the final reassembly a chore. I looked over the choices and bought an Energizer brand labeled by the battery people with that rabbit that never stops running.

For whatever reason, the headlamp ended up hanging from my dresser mirror and never got used until this fall when Gail was walking Karl the Wonder Dog just after ten and the sound of a bear in close proximity suggested to her that carrying a flashlight might make sense. Gail is fearless about the dark but decided to try the headlamp. She was instantly converted to the opportunity to walk about in hands-free fashion....and maybe at least see the bear. Harold had succeeded in his recommendation.

Since that time I can't say that we have done any night time gardening. I don't think we will. But if you need a small gardening gift with lots of uses, buy a headlamp. They have an adjustable head band and have 3-4-5 adjustments for the amount of light/number of bulbs you have lit. For that Christmas tree effect there are even red lights for when you need "light without the shine". The gift is also great for runners, hikers or campers but to me the strength is good light in a hands-free format. I noticed that LL Bean and Cabelas now sell baseball caps with the same concept built into the visor. Those are around $20 each, this headlamp was $14.99. People might roll their eyes with the thought of a headlamp but once they use it, you'll hear about it again and again. Guaranteed!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where later on snow plowing will be replaced by a final list of groceries and then home for the holidays.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Using social networking to spread good gardening thoughts. On Facebook at George Africa and also at Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens; On Twitter as vtflowerfarm