Night Walk

Monday, June 15, 2009

Incoming thunder and heavy rain drove me away from the nursery almost 2 hours early tonight. By the time I got home and got things unloaded, the rain stopped and Gail yelled that sustenance

was waiting. The cod tasted great but I almost felt like one I was so wet when I got home. By the time I had finished eating, the rain stopped and the temperature began to fall, leaving a little time for a quick walk.

The gardens here are an embarrassment as I was reminded today when a lady from Florida drove up to the house not knowing we had moved. I think she was gracious in her description of the weeds and the missing plants. This was a lot more apparent to me tonight as I walked around. One can only do so much in a day's time and Gail and I are operating close to maximum warp speed right now.

As I looked around, there were reminders of what to move, what to relocate, what never to buy again. The thalictrum up top is a fine plant. There are many from the rue family available for sale but it sure is nice to have such a firecracker of a plant in mid June. Gail has used it before as a foundation plant in floral arrangements but I can't answer as to its vase life. I really do like it just the same. I think we have a couple varieties in the lower shade house at the nursery--probably surrounded by astilbes about now.

There are many, many columbines on the market now. Some are just too big for me as my favorites growing up were the small red ones native to New England. One time prior to Internet days I searched for a good seed source and finally found one in Colorado as I recall. No recollection of the name now ("A....." something or other) but the available color combinations were extensive. Leaf miner is a problem here as the little insects mine through leaves, offering a skinny trail and a weakened stem. Deer will nip the flowers but if they don't, the seed pods each provide sufficient new seed to get a good sized bed going in 2-3 years.

Tradescantia was for one brief time in my early flower career a plant I sought to collect. That was a short lived affair when I determined that once you plant it, you cannot get rid of it. One small piece becomes a new plant and it takes over gardens in short order. Just the same the color contrasts nicely this time of year with the various peonies that are opening. It's safe for now as I have too much going on to be pulling up anything.


Peony buds are everywhere here on the mountain and with that abundance comes an onslaught of peony questions. I wish people would get over this "My peonies don't have ants yet, maybe that's why they don't have flowers?????" syndrome, but I guess we just need to do better with the garden education program. The crop looks especially good and the first peonies for cut flowers should be in about a week.



The Siberian iris are out everywhere at lower elevations than our 1500 feet. Their flowering time is short but they are beautiful and fun to work with. I have to remind myself who took over the late Currier McEwen's work in Harpswell, Maine. He was just the best and he left some beautiful plants to serve as reminder to what he enjoyed. Here in Vermont, Phil Cook up Cambridge-Underhill way at Poker Hill Gardens has some very nice Siberian iris.


Four or five years ago, maybe a little longer, Gail liked this geranium (directly above) named 'Samobor'. Others liked it too and it was well documented in all the journals at the time. The flower color is very nice and the leaf pattering is an eye catcher too. When folks found out the price they immediately liked it less and I liked it a great deal less the next year as about every seed germinated and the plants were everywhere. Now, years later, the plants are scattered about and are 28 inches tall. I give some away with the caveat that people won't hold it against me. Some guarantee they won't and others, upon hearing that it is free, decide they don't want it after all. Maybe I should charge a dollar a plant and move a few thousand down the road.

There are good plants and great plants and plants that are great to get rid of. Each of us is different in what we like. If you haven't made your mind up yet, stop by Vermont Flower Farm and ask for help. We must have something here that you'll like.

Great gardening wishes!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
http://thevermontgardener.blogspot.com
Vermont Gardens
http://vermontgardens.blogspot.com
Vermont Flower Farm
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Great Customers, Great Lilacs

Monday, June 1, 2009

8:30 PM and as I look out the window, I think it must be freezing cold out there even though the thermometer now reads 49.4 degrees. My reaction is justified by the way it was earlier this afternoon and for the past couple days. Yesterday I was on my hands and knees most of the day planting hostas and it warmed briefly each time the sun came from behind a cloud but then reverted to just plain damp and cold. At 7:30 last night it was snowing. The limited customer count during the day was reflective of the temperature too. Who would want to garden when it was so cold and windy?

Customers at our Peacham Pond location were habituated to our presence and after more than 15 years, many knew better than us when certain flowers would be blooming. As we made the move to the valley last year, we lost some customers. How many we lost is still a question as our neighbors keep reminding us how many people they see in the driveway each day when we aren't here. We hope in time they will all catch back up with us. In the meantime we are picking up new customers from Route 2 traffic. This road is a major east-west highway and many of our new customers are from Maine.

Saturday a Montpelier couple that missed us last year showed up again. They each have their own garden at their home and they both enjoy daylilies. Many couples seem to share this concept and kind of try to best the other in dynamic affect or color contrast or balanced bloom time or highest bloom count over the season--got me--but it seems that variables like these come into play. Anyway it was good to see them again and they asked for suggestions and bought some of what I suggested after confirming how well all previous purchases had done. Austin did the digging and Gail checked them out so I could get back to planting.

We're still missing Eric from Massachusetts and haven't a clue where he is. He's our resident bird adviser as he is an internationally experienced bird fanatic and we haven't stumped him yet. Well, that's not quite true. He was emphatic one time that pileated woodpeckers were very territorial but he still didn't answer why we have 4 in the maples across the road from the house. Anyway, Eric has a summer camp in Groton, Vermont and he scoots up there every weekend he can from Memorial Day until as late as Thanksgiving depending on the temperature. We know he's out there someplace but just haven't seen him yet. Maybe mentioning Gail's blueberry coffee cake will bring him in. She hasn't brought any down for customers yet but he doesn't know that.

Today I stopped by the nursery after a day at my real job. It seemed that before both feet were on the ground, Gail shouted out "Hosta questions for you over here." I could see a person squatting by a display but I wanted to grab a jacket first as the wind was coming up and I was stiff from the ride in from Waterbury.

James Macfarlane Lilac

As I approached the unknown customer, he was looking over some epimedium Gail was in the process of rearranging into a new display. A pot of Japanese primrose, a variegated polygonatum, and a small hosta had already made the cut and I assumed were assembled for purchase. In short order I met Warren Oakes, Secretary of the International Lilac Society. He was en route back home to Maine after attending the 2009 International Lilac Society Convention and Annual Meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. We struck up an instant conversation and it took me no time to ask for advice on a reliable lilac grower from New England. I explained that I was really interested in lilacs and I wanted to plant a border around our entire 5 acre nursery.




Customers often have something to share and very, very few are secretive about their knowledge. I always try to learn from customers and Gail and I have always tried to share what we know with other gardeners. This always helps as a new customer today is probably a customer for a long time. I told Warren that I was taking a couple days off soon to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens probably Acadia and a couple nurseries in Searsport and Belfast. He suggest that I might consider Syringa Plus, a lilac nursery he likes in West Boxford, Massachusetts since I'm going to start or end my journey in southern New Hampshire.

Warren had been driving for a long time and had a ways to go but during our short time we exchanged good information and when we all said goodbye, I knew I'd see him again sometime. That's how good customers, good gardeners are. They're like great lilacs. Every year they please you with their presence. Here in this part of Vermont the tiger swallowtail butterflies first hatch around Memorial Day and they always head for the James Macfarlane lilac. Both sights please us a great deal.

With special thanks to all customers!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm A website that seeks to describe our business while making your plant
choices easier. Take a look or come visit in person!

Not All Yellow

Friday, May 29, 2009

Almost 8:30 PM here on the mountain and the darkness is closing in quickly. The sky remains gray and a thick fog is dropping like a curtain. At least the rain has stopped for the first time today. The only bright spot that remains is formed by the white apple blossoms on an unknown native apple at the edge of the old daylily nursery. It's been a long, wet day!

The local evening news mentioned that the rain amounts varied from 3.4" to 1.7" over night and this is obvious by the thunderous power of the Winooski River as it passes our nursery. As sick as I have been with this cold virus, I've been down twice today to check the level of the river. Each visit saw Gail and Austin get muddier and muddier as they transplanted annuals and lined out perennials. The news later advised that if garden seeds don't germinate in a week, replant them as they are probably too soggy now. The weather lady's advice only bothered me more as Austin planted all our seeds yesterday. Maybe tomorrow's sun will bring enough warmth to start some positive growth!

Despite the wetness of the week, gardens abound with yellow and for some reason I find that Vermonters like to see yellow in the spring. This first picture is a nice hosta from years back by Mildred Seaver. It's called Sea Fire and I love it because of the light bulb it turns on in the garden each spring. I bought my first plant probably 8 years ago from a Vermont grower and subsequently bought some tissue culture plugs that were iffy at best. Those that remain are looking good and should finally be ready for sale if we don't receive a third frost while they are tender. This one is surrounded by jewelweed, wild impatien, the cure for posion ivy rash.

When I first got relocated to Vermont from New York in the early fifties, our new found neighbors, two farm ladies at the Century Farm, Church Hill Road, Woodstock, took my sister and me to gather marsh marigold, Caltha palustris, from area swamps. This was Cowslips to them and also a spring green favored as much as dandelion greens from the field. To be honest, I don't even remember spinach played a part back then but the cowslips were a "had to have" meal.



Then there's spurge, euphorbia, a neat yellow with flowers that are really bracts like poinsettias. This plant greeted us in Marshfield when spring came in 1990 and it's been here ever since although in more places. It seeds easily and has a sap that can irritate some gardeners as bad as poison ivy. Although the ivy gets me from three miles out, this stuff doesn't bother. As it blooms out in about a month, the stems lay prostrate but if clipped off will come again and hold itself upright for more of the summer. I'm not interested in selling it but there's always someone who asks "Why not?"



Other yellow hostas abound and some are only good with their spring colors. Chinese Sunrise comes out strong but then fades to a mustard green. For now it's a boost to visual senses!

Celebration (below) is a small hosta which looks really nice early on but if you saw it later when it ranks up there on the "slugs-like-it" list, you'd pass it by. To keep it looking good I should have started surrounding it with coffee grounds about two weeks ago but I fear I'm already too late as a see a couple holes. Night walks right about now would confirm the presence of slugs and would tell me how many prevail.

The yellows go on and on and I really do enjoy them. I started planting the new hosta garden at the nursery yesterday and I started with the yellows along the walkway. They should be really nice next year but will be worth a look in a week or two.

As I journeyed up the hill to the house tonight, I noticed a lone peony, in bloom, early, nameless, alone in the garden. It came to us mixed in by mistake with some other roots and it stood out from the rest as different so it got planted where it could be watched. It's still small but very nice. The yellow center draws my attention and makes me wonder what is its name? For right now it will remain nameless. It's not yellow and I like it. I'm tired and sleep sounds more interesting.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where peepers peep and Karl the Wonder Dog just said he wants out one last time.

Fine gardening wishes!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm: A nice web site that almost begs you to buy a few flowers

Short On Pollinators

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Another wet morning here on the mountain with up to 4" of rain predicted by tomorrow about the same time. We need rain but this is a little too much too fast and I expect the runoff will cause the river to rise quickly--something that gives me a big headache. We pump water from the Winooski River and the pump is located 25 feet above the riverbed but the river is narrow there. We went through a similar situation last year and I had to pull the pump to avoid it being washed down the river. Not difficult to do but a bear to carry a pump hitched to a pressure tank up a steep clay bank. Gail will be watching the situation and will call if things begin to look challenging.

I cannot remember a spring when the apple trees, both native and domestic, have been so well covered with flowers. Although they have begun to fall due to yesterday's rain, they have been beautiful every place I have traveled.

The part that bothered me again this year was the profound absence of bees. One morning I went out and looked at this sargentii crab and around and around it I walked looking and listening for bees. I finally spotted a lone bumble bee and then two hours later returned to find a large number hard at work along with some smaller bees I am not familiar with. Nowhere was a honeybee to be found so something obviously happened to the neighbor's hives down the road. Wild honey bees have been absent for years so even the sight of a domestic bee is heartwarming to someone who understands the need for pollinators.


Rowan Jacobsen's book, Fruitless Fall, is a book I continue to promote because very much like my favorite Silent Spring it mentions chemicals and what we are doing that cannot easily be returned to normal. As you think about buying some lawn food or bug killers, give the issue of pollution and the demise of beneficial insect and animal populations a second thought. Just the thought of white nose syndrome in bats and the loss of hundreds of thousands of these beneficial mammals should makes us wonder how we have upset certain balances. ???


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where I'd still like to find the nesting site of the pair of mature osprey who forget to say thank you on a daily basis as they eat trout from the pond.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm Our great site which contains pictures of hostas that look better today than the real plants that have been nailed two Mondays in a row by heavy frosts. Stop by and make your own judgment

Hazy Morn'

Flycatcher

Sunday, May 24, 2009

48 degrees and a hazy morning here on the mountain. The great grayness hangs at tree top level and the ground is thick with last night's dew. As I look out the office window I can see deer tracks from two deer as they dragged their feet through the tall grass. This must be last year's fawns as this years arrivals haven't even arrived yet. Whitetail deer in this part deliver all their fawns within a week of each other and by mid June their legs are strong enough to begin learning the paths to human gardens. I better remember to call my friend Jim and advise strongly that he bite the bullet and put up a deer fence this year to protect his new hobby as home vineyard manager.

The gardens are coming along nicely and traffic at the nursery has been very good. Gail has invited a man and his kids who grow vegetable plants as a project to sell some plants at our place. The kids have special interests, special needs, and they obviously take great pride in what their father has taught them. All the six packs, vegetables or flowers, are $2.75. The price is not as important as the message of what the man does with his two kids and the smiles on their faces when a pack is purchased. I wish sales were better for them but last Monday's 25 degree frost slowed thoughts of gardening so it will be a week or so before the interest grows again.

Forty Carats

The daylilies are growing very well and Elizabeth, an old daylily by Norton, 1942 is about to open. Actually it may be open now as it was about ready yesterday but I didn't check it in my bus-i-ness of working with Worker Bee Gail while wife Gail and Alex were away at a program in Jericho. We like the old daylilies and have a fondness for the species. Gail keeps saying that she really likes all the old daylilies and wants to collect them but each year we just get too involved and forget to place an order. If you have an interest in the real old ones too, let me know and I'll find the email address for a very good grower.

Here are some photos of a few more daylilies that are available at the nursery or via the Internet. There are hundreds more available too. Descriptions are available on the Internet. Flycatcher and Forty Carats are up top.

Cedar Waxwing

Bama Music

Ruby Throat

Miss Amelia

Leebea Orange Crush

Hyperion

Hesperus

Time is short, time to scoot. If you're out and about today stop by the nursery and say high to Gail or Gail. They'll both be there today. I'll be back and forth between home and the nursery gathering plants for the new shade garden. If you can't find anything to do today, look me up and I'll talk garden design while we work together.

Good gardening wishes from Vermont Flower Farm where Karl the Wonder Dog has expressed an impatience with my keyboarding as he wants a second walk towards Peacham Pond. Oh for life's multitude of controlling life forces!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm A great website for when you can't personally visit us!

Beat the Rain, Beat the Beetles!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

A quick morning walk with Karl the Wonder Dog made me happy about how well the hostas are doing (Pacific Blue Edger pictured here) but dismayed about the state of lilies east of the Rockies and on into Canada. The lily leaf beetle has taken control and a predator wasp which is successful in zone 5 just doesn't do the trick here. It's too cold for it to survive.

If you search my blogs from last year you'll see some comments and some solutions but the battle is a big one and here in Vermont there are at least 3 generations per year so you have to love your lilies a lot to help them through the disaster. I'd say 3-4 people a day stop at the nursery and ask for advice. Click on the pictures and get a better look at the beetles--about 3/8's of an inch long.

I have to get clicking here myself because I'm trying to beat the rain. I'm putting a new roof on Gail's mother's house so we can sell it and the rain in recent weeks has slowed me down. I have the sun room roof stripped and will add some more insulation inside and then top it off. Rain is coming after lunch so time is short.

If you are out and about today, the wild flowers are still beautiful around here. Painted trillium are out down the road. At the nursery where we rototilled last fall for the new hosta and shade garden, millions of blue and also white forget me nots grew. We never saw them before but they are bountiful. I won't be at the nursery today but Gail is there so stop and say hello if you have a minute. We're working our way out of "spring disarray" so Gail may need a minute to locate what you want but we do have a nice selection.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where tom turkey just chased 6 hens by my window. Turkey life is good!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm Visit virtually if you can't stop by in person
Vermont Gardens

Trillium On Mothers Day

Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mothers Day

A long but successful day at the nursery. The weather was cold and it rained off and on but a fairly steady flow of customers brought on plenty of conversation, some good laughs and some good sales. I was as pleased with the volume of visitors as I was with those who parted with some cash because it was so encouraging to see people find us and also comment on how much they liked the revised website.

I do wish I could get out and take some wildflower pictures. Time is short and when you miss a good display as I did with the bloodroot, it's gone until the following year. The trillium are looking great right now. The grandiflorum are so nice and fresh and they always bring on lots of comments.


Even the assasin bug enjoys them! People often want to purchase a pot or two but they aren't that keen on the price even if I tell them seven years from seed to flower is the norm. Die hards spring for the purchase and I know they'll do a good job of planting and will follow my directions for harvesting seed pods before insects do so as to encourage better production on into the future.


Trillium erectum are in good supply in our gardens as I have worked hard to propagate them too. I need to find someone with good experience with trillium as some of the hybrids are especially tall and strong and I'd like some feedback on these. Last year the deer ate all the seed pods the night before I intended to harvest them so my production cycle was interrupted.

Before I know it Memorial Day will be here and the very popular orchids will be blooming. In the meantime I'll keep plugging away at the nursery. Today it was phlox and tomorrow it will be astilbes. If you get a chance, stop by and say hello.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where supper is about ready and early sleep will be most welcomed.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm A website that shares the plants we grow with those who cannot make the trip. Take a look!

Sunny Spring Morn'

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Almost 7 am and I have to get going here. Old joints are slow to loosen this time of year and I have rubbed emu oil on both knees and Bag Balm on both hands in preparation for another day of planting. Today there are several hundred daylilies to get lined out and several crates of new plants to get potted up. Gail has four or five people lined up to plant this morning but I will be on my hands and knees doing garden planting. We are planning an official nursery opening next weekend but we'll need good weather and good planters to meet the goal.

One of Gail's favorite wild flowers is pictured above. Hepaticas don't flower all that long as they are negatively influenced by high spring temps and strong winds. Just the same, one look at a nice little group seems to get Gail through spring. There is some good hybridizing going on with these flowers but I haven't tracked down the new product to sneak some larger plants into the garden. The same is true with the trout lilies which have become real garden standouts in spring.

I'm heading down to the nursery in a few minutes but want to run the tractor tiller over the potato piece one more time. The potatoes are about ready for planting but the weed crop from last year got started early so one quick till and today's sun will fry those weeds and ready the area for planting.

Try to get out today and visit a few nurseries and garden centers. Next weekend is Mother's Day and it's not too early to make a decision on what might make that gardening mom smile. Don't forget!

Good spring wishes,

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermotn Flower Farm A site to visit and tour even if you're not in the mood to buy plants

Rising Peonies

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Quiet at last here on the mountain after an incredible night of wind as the weather fronts changed. Yesterday the temperature rose to 58 degrees and the wind pounded long after we retired for the night. We are anemometer-less here so have no confirmation of the real wind speed but it surely melted more snow and upped the forest fire danger higher than it already is. You would never know of yesterday's wind now as it's motionless and 43 degrees.

Last night Karl the Wonder Dog begged and begged to walk some more. When spring comes his sniffer goes into overdrive and walks are never long enough. We actually enjoy the long walks except when he finds an errant bone or something else springy that he shouldn't grab on to. We envy his ability to be able to run and have fun and resist returning to the house and then within seconds of his return be laying in the sun or by the stove snoring. Dog life can be good!

As we walked last night the peony nursery was a surprise. The snow just came off but the peonies were obviously putting up growth even before the snow exited at garden. The plants are up about 4 inches already. I'll spray them with Tree Guard tomorrow because I really want the flowers for late spring brides but that requires competition with the deer. Smouthii, the fern leafed peony, is always the first to bloom and the deer just love it.

Peony 'Top Brass'

Peony 'White Wings'

When you order peonies they often arrive for fall planting and books and guides never mention spring planting. We have long planted and relocated peonies in the spring too and have always had good success. Peony roots can be big so you have to use care when digging. They should be planted just an inch and a half to two inches below the surface so consider a good 18" radius away from any new stems you notice. Get a good clump of dirt with the roots during spring relocations. Some garden centers have peonies in those little cardboard boxes for $6 to $10 depending on where you live. If you are new to peonies, that's not much expense to try one. They won't bloom for a couple years but it's a way to get started. Plant them as if they will be there forever with amended soil and good sunlight.

Our old web site had a nice piece on peonies and a list of those we are growing on. Gail wouldn't let me move any to our new nursery because she thought it would create more trouble as visitors saw beautiful plants they couldn't buy. She was right of course but I wanted that 45 day period of being surrounded by June colors and fragrances that cannot be replaced by any other flower. Probably the best reason to take the page off the new site was that soon-to-be brides called year round wanting, sometimes begging for peonies at times when they just don't grow in North America. We had a lot of nice conversations and gave out a lot of good info but in the end no bride ever changed her wedding date to wait for peonies.

Rain is on the way today. Not a lot but enough to make the temperature feel cold as we erect a new 30 X 60 foot shade house. I have a lot to get ready before the helpers arrive. Regardless of the weather, get out and into your gardens today and see what's new, what's bigger, what's missing. Don't buy any plants yet as it's just too early and you'll only have to take care of something that will look better at a greenhouse or nursery while the real spring arrives.


From the mountain above Peacham Pond where 6 ducks just landed on the trout pond and a medium sized Great Blue Heron stands sentry looking for a frog on a frogless, peeperless morn.

Be well and get gardening!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Our revised site Vermont Flower Farm is up and ready for your orders.

Vermont Gardens

Happy Easter

Sunday, April 12, 2009

A quiet 5 AM here on the mountain as the bright stars of last evening slowly turn off one by one as the sun gives thought of welcoming Easter morn to each of us here on the mountain. Last night was a late one for us but I am still on schedule. It's a different story with Gail and Alex who will slumber on for some time. Karl the Wonder Dog made a brief appearance fifteen minutes ago and then gave a little snort and went back to bed. Even from the office I could Gail mumbling as Karl jumped back on the bed with apparent disregard for where his feet landed.

Flowers at Easter time are a welcome sight but here in Vermont there is often a great disparity depending on when Easter falls and what the late season snows have brought. As I travel around Vermont I notice varying degrees of spring bulb flowers in bloom although here our only entertainment is crocus and so far only purple at that. In a week they will be plentiful but the snow has only melted over some of the gardens this week so bulbs are just now reaching for the sun. As such, we usually rely on potted plants to give us some energy to fight off the final throes of winter.

Lilies are a popular Easter plant and we really enjoy them from our days of growing thousands of lilies here on the mountain. The large white lily known as an Easter lily in America is not the lily from Bibical times but instead a hybrid which fares better with the need to be an adaptable bulb capable of being coerced into early bloom on years like 2009. Variation of light exposure and chemicals are now used to regulate bloom time and height but despite breakthroughs, the variables create a challenge for greenhouse growers. Gail bought a lily two weeks ago and as soon as I looked at the bud formation I questioned what Easter day would look like. This morning there is only one kind of ok flower and the rest are curling and discolored. In contrast I have seen years when public houses from churches to restaurants were lined with pots where bloom had just begun and whispers always included "Easter is late this year isn't it?" When Easter is over, cut the stem back to a couple inches and let those lilies dry out a bit. When the garden warms, plant the bulb(s) and feed and water them with care and perhaps they will rejuvenate and bloom another year. It won't be for Easter but usually sometime in August here in the northeast. The picture up top is an Easter lily I bought many years ago. It arrived with some ants enjoying the sweet nectar.

Growers have expanded the lilies they make available at Easter and the colorful Asiatics are now accompanied by many different lilies. The following one is the trumpet Regale which does well in Vermont. It is a July bloomer when grown in the garden.


A final plant which you might consider as a year round houseplant is Eucharis grandiflorum, the Amazon Lily. In the flower world there are over 250 plants which bear the name "lily" but are not true lilies. This is one of them. It's a zone ten flower so it is a house plant here but one we really cherish. Small starts are usually available in greenhouses and on occasion you'll find an errant shipment of big pots at a box store. Typically no one knows anything about them including the price so that's a good time to pick up several as gifts for gardeners who enjoy house plants.

Without doubt you can purchase potted tulips in all kinds of colors, some tipsy hyacinths with great fragrance, and pot upon pot of daffodils or mixes of spring bulbs. These are always a good bet as an Easter present for a senior friend and they're sure to conjure up some memorable stories.

Here on the mountain we'll enjoy Easter Day and we hope you do too!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where a neighbor reported having to stop yesterday morning just past the intersection of Route 2 and 232 as six moose controlled road access as they made their way down from the mountain tops to summer in the valleys. Use care driving at night as the moose are on the move and they make very poor hood ornaments.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens

Vermont Flower Farm: Our newly updated website---have you been there yet??

Instruments of Change

Thursday, April 9, 2009

You can tell by the absence of communication from Vermont Flower Farm that the weather has broken and spring is struggling to give us an opportunity to be outside. In no way does that mean that the gardens are even remotely free of snow but there are patches of driveway and grass that need picking up and the chance to get some fresh air is just too good. Robins predominate now although the winter birds continue to wear down the feeders. The bears are out of hibernation here and there and I am reluctant to put any more feed in the feeders than the birds will clean up in a day.



The picture here and up top is of a great daylily by Darryl Apps named Over There. It was registered in 1983 and continues to be very popular. I chose this picture to show how strong a grower it is. You are looking at three healthy fans here and this is what we typically begin to break up and line out in the spring to keep all our flowers in rotation and in supply. It's trickier than you might think as a popular seller this year might not even sell six plants next year.

I have written about dividing daylilies before and if you go to the intro daylily page on our website you will hear a little about my thoughts on this. Years ago a friend found the bottom knife with the brown plastic handle at a flea market, garage sale, something like that. She had me in mind having heard my one-on-one exchange with daylilies about to be split up. The knife has larger teeth on one side and is very strong but almost impossible to sharpen. This past year I noticed the top knife at a box store. It's a drywall or sheetrock knife for cutting that plaster board that lines many of our house walls. This one cost about $10 and comes with a spongy soft handle that I like.

As spring arrives and it's time to divide some daylilies, think about what I have said and give a knife like one of these a try. Easy to use after you hose the plant off with water. Although every newly split daylily won't put up blooms the same year, some will surprise you. A vigorous grower like Over There is sure to please by year two and the color and bud count will make you smile!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where three large hen turkeys just spent some time scratching their way through dinner in the old potato patch. One tried to cross the snowy field but kept falling in so she about-faced and walked the perimeter. Good thinking!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
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