NEAR  WHITE  DAYLILIES 

Remember the far distant cartoon show named Rocky and Bullwinkle? It was located in a fictional Minnesota town named Frostbite Falls. My friend Don Church hybridized a very nice daylily and he named it Frostbite Falls. Here's the picture and the registration information. I'm growing it here in Marshfield and will have a couple plants I can sell this fall. One of the parents is Early Snow which is one of our favorites here at the farm. It's pictured here below our picture of Frostbite Falls. #vermontflowerfarmforsale; #vermontrealestate; #buylocal; 

Frostbite Falls (Church, 2009) Height 38 inches (96 cm), bloom 6.5 inches (17 cm), season M, Dormant, Tetraploid, 25 buds, 3 branches,  Near white self. (Early Snow × Chablis Blanc)

PEONIES  FROM  SEEDS

 

It may seem a while back to June 9th when I took this picture of peonies setting nice buds. Now two months later it's a different time and the peonies have set seed and soon the pods will be cracking open. The peonies pictured have been raised from seed and if you are patient you can do the same thing. As the seed pods begin to crack, pick off the seeds. Wait a day too long and they will be spread all over the ground so keep an eye on them. Then prepare a bed in your garden and plant the seeds right away. Plant them a couple inches deep and mark the rows or the places you plant them. Although a few may germinate the first full year, most need the following year after stratification. The first year above ground they will be a couple inches tall and after that they will take off. Peonies from seed are like winning the lottery. You never know the result until your number is called. In this batch of plants which came from my friend Mary B., there are a couple beautiful little plants now still bushel basket sized with small 2.5-3" single petals, white blooms with golden stamens. What a beautiful plant to place along walkways or front of gardens or as borders. The others of the first 60 Mary gave me are mostly large singles, a few doubles and one Itoh. A couple of them have the highest producing scapes I have ever seen. They are all very nice cut flower plants and a couple are very fragrant and would make any gardener smile. Give the seeds a try!  #vermontflowerfarm; #farmforsale; #peonies; #cutflowers; #hostas; #600daylilies; #buylocal; #vermontrealestate; #oregon; #california;

 DAYLILY SEASON 

We are about 18-19 days away from excellent daylily bloom at Vermont Flower. Farm. Even a little rain will get things going faster but it's been a dry spring and the scapes have just begun to get going this week. Days like today when it will reach the high 80's slow the growth just a bit  but tonight's predicted quarter inch of rain, although skimpy compared to what we would like to see, will be enough to get more scapes growing.

These pictures are from a year back on July 19th so you can get an idea what you will see at our farm. We encourage people to walk the gardens and enjoy the color. We have thousands of potted daylilies ready to move from our gardens to yours and one thing you will most always find here is #600/6 quart pots of daylilies with several large fans that once planted will give the appearance that the plants have been there for some time. Come visit and see what we offer. Can't visit? Try our website https://vermontflowerfarm.com and place an order. We ship Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday bu US Postal Service.

Phenology

 Pollinators

The Rocky Mountain Biological Lab may be a long way from Vermont but the research there is critical to our eastern pollinators. Scan this brief article and share your thoughts and observations on weather changes you have noticed in Vermont.

https://www.vaildaily.com/opinion/chase-shaw-what-happens-when-the-birds-and-bees-cant-pollinate

 Northern Vermont Hardy Plant Club

Just a reminder that one of Vermont's greatest collections of serious gardeners belong to this group. Gail and I joined the Northern Vermont Hardy Plant Club when we lived in Burlington and the group has grown in membership and talent each year since. Name the plant and you can find someone who knows something about it. It's fascinating to take the various garden tours offered each year, attend the programs and special events. If you are even thinking about  flower gardening, the $10 a year annual membership is more than a great investment. Just meeting so many special gardeners is something you'll never forget.  Read on here and then consider joing!   https://hardyplantclubvt.blogspot.com

Butternut Trees

 BUTTERNUTS

I remember so well arriving in Vermont as a five-year-old and finding a world that was exciting, challenging, and dramatically different than Rye and Port Chester NY where various members of my family resided. We moved next door to a century-old dairy farm and the three farm ladies who lived there were forever introducing my sister and me to all sorts of new and unusual experiences. 

During our first full fall in Vermont, we learned about butternuts, and we filled bushel baskets full of the nuts from those trees....and in that process got our hands all browned up and sticky from the husks. The ladies lugged the heavy baskets upstairs into the back attic of the farmhouse where the nuts were spread out to dry. They showed us how to crack the previous years' nuts which had cured. It was several years later before we could successfully crack nuts and not fingers but we learned early on how delicious the nut meats were and how Vermonters loved them with their maple candies.

Since those days in the 50s, butternuts have declined in Vermont to the point that you hardly see any trees let alone a good supply of nuts. In 2006, when we bought that land that today is Vermont Flower Farm, we had 9 butternut trees growing along the Winooski River. This summer the last of those died.

Here's an article that was written by Chittenden County Vermont's Forester, Ethan Tapper. It does a good job explaining butternuts. I keep hoping someone will hybridize a stronger butternut so we don't lose this wonderful tree (beautiful wood) and its nuts.

https://mcusercontent.com/58398f7a782118e355bf99377/files/37c05cc5-a341-5180-e1ed-03f033634d53/Butternut_March_2022.01.pdf

NEW WEBSITE

OUR NEW WEBSITE HAS ARRIVED! 

We are pleased to announce that our Vermont Flower Farm website has been revised and is now available to you in an easy-to-use WordPress format. We have updated most all our plants and have changed pricing based upon Covid-related increases as well as incoming shipping cost increases. The past two years have been the best we have ever had at VFF but the price increases due to Covid have continued upward, now relative to the war in Ukraine. Anything manufactured using petroleum products such as greenhouse covers, field fabrics, plant labels, potted trays and plant pots have risen and continue to rise. Many fertilizers have production components that originate in Russia and as such those prices have risen sharply and are expected to continue to rise.  

We feel that we have made manageable, appropriate adjustments that will keep Vermont Flower Farm on firm footing to continue as one of Vermont's finest specialty nurseries. We look forward to seeing you and your gardening friends this summer and fall. We continue to be open 9 to 5, seven days per week Mother's Day through mid-October. If you have gardening questions or want to check on the availability of those favorite plants, email us at vermontflowerfarm@outlook.com or call us at 802-426-3505. After April 12th the telephone will be active at the farm so call there with questions 802-426-3506. Come visit and we will show you what's new!

 

Supply Costs to Farmers

It doesn't matter what size "garden" you grow, whether a few square feet or a few hundred acres, the cost of growing anything has risen sharply and will continue to rise as a result of the war. At Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens we have been shaking our heads for a few weeks now and so far the prices of what we need to grow plants this year has not settled down. Here is yesterday's report from Bloomberg that might give you an idea of just some of the problems. As I have been recommending, if there are supplies you need, buy now and plan into the future a bit because this whole thing is not going away quickly.

"Fertilizer prices continue to surge to records as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine puts a massive portion of the world’s fertilizer supply at risk, adding to concerns over soaring global food inflation.

The Green Markets North America Fertilizer Price Index jumped almost 10% Friday to an all-time high as the market worries that potential sanctions on Russia, a big low-cost shipper of every major kind of crop nutrient, could disrupt global trade. The country accounted for almost a fifth of 2021 fertilizer exports, according to Trade Data Monitor and Bloomberg’s Green Markets

Russia has urged domestic fertilizer producers to reduce exports, further stoking fears of shortages. The war also is pushing up the cost of natural gas, the main input for most nitrogen fertilizer, forcing some producers in Europe to cut output.

At the same time, prices for staple crops like wheat, corn and soybeans are soaring, with war in one of the world’s breadbaskets threatening to push millions more into hunger. Rising costs for farm inputs like fertilizer could further send the price of food skyrocketing."

ALLERGIES

Here's an article from National Geographic showing recent findings that point to higher allergy issues as climate warms. I believe it. The combination of more heat and less rain can result in growth of certain grasses and weeds. Some weeds prevent other weeds from rapid growth, seed production and rapid spread while others slow the growth.

We started working the ground at Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens in about 2007 after installing fencing around the 4.3 acres. The pasture had been a cornfield in recent years and had just been reseeded with alfalfa and white clover. Being proximate to Route 2 also meant that traffic from all over North America was depositing weed seeds many of which we had never seen before. Wild chervil, hogweed, Queen Anne's Lace were early arrivals followed by Jimsonweed, Poison Parsnip and Wild Buttercup. All of these flourished right from the start. 

Ragweed probably bothers 50% of the public in some way but in our home for example it's the tree pollen that's at issue: poplar, willow and white birch pollen, but tree pollen in general. I am fine but Alex has to take medicine during peak times. 

If you read this paper you'll see the correlation between climate change, drought, and the incidence of new weeds. When I saw fireweed for the very first time in Vermont and knew that it was common in Alaska, I recognized the importance of understanding how weed seeds travel by wind, by people and unknowingly by commercial and public transportation. Drop us a note if you have spotted a special weed such as our very noxious wild buttercup, or you have seen other correlations between drought and special weed resurgence.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/allergy-season-could-be-much-longer-with-climate-change

 

PEONIES

In the old days, it was quite common, almost expected, to see peonies growing around every farmhouse in New England. Vermont was no exception. When my family moved me to Vermont in the early 50s, the 1826 house we moved to had peonies and the two farms down the road did too. My love for them started early and continues today.

At Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens we grow more varieties than we sell but in 2022 for example we will start the season with +30 varieties including 6 Itohs and the balance herbaceous. Certain varieties such as Festiva Maxima, Sarah Bernhardt (the pink, not the red version), Duchess de Nemours and Red Charm we offer every year but others we change out each year so collectors always have something new to consider. There are thousands of peonies on the market so no matter where you go, you could be disappointed to not find what you want while still locating lots of beautiful plants among vendors.

Here are some examples of what you'll find if you visit us in 2022. Come visit! We officially open on Mothers Day weekend but any time in April that you see the gates open--we are there working someplace. Be well! Stop by!

Blaze

Celebrity

Coral  Sunset

 Morning  Lilac

Bloomerang Lilacs

 Lilacs

A Sunday afternoon but without any sun. Snow squalls and 27.5°instead. I just finished with the new web page for the lilacs we sell at Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens. There are 15 varieties available and if you enjoy lilacs in your gardens, my guess is you will enjoy every one of these.

Today I'd like to point out a reblooming lilac that we have had great success with named Bloomerang. The first year that we bought some to plant ourselves I had my doubts but I didn't know that it took the first year to get well established. We buy these in as small cuttings in 4" pots from a grower in Indiana and by August they are 18"-22" tall and beginning to bloom. The end of the following year they will reach 30" more, maybe taller depending on the summer and how you planted and cared for them.

My friend Mike Marshall at Perennial Plant Place, in Gorham, NH has three beauties well established and growing in his display gardens. They convinced me to keep buying them so everyone can see their eventual size and the way the entire shrub colors up again and again at bloom and rebloom time. Here are the three varieties we are selling for 2022. Beauties!

Top to bottom: Bloomerang, Bloomerang Double Blue Scentara, and Bloomerang

Dwarf Pink.