Two Friends!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

The sun has gone to sleep and there's an awkwardness right now as we wait for the next performer to appear and provide interest. The temperature is slipping downward and a light wind continues but I really do not care. Gail is gone with the girls to a benefit dinner tonight and I am here with Alex who is sicker than sick and not interested in anything but being left alone. Autism and sensory interferences are not a good combination.

Valentines Day approaches quickly. I have made responsible and irresponsible purchases for Gail. They are small but thoughtful and will pair nicely with going out to breakfast which will now have to be delayed until a day when Alex feels better.

As each Valentines Day approaches I always think of two friends like the two bleeding hearts held above in my open hand. I like the thought of two friends and each of us in this family has two friends here and we mean a great deal to each other.

The larger flowered bleeding heart, Dicentra spectabilis, is my favorite because I enjoy the big hearts which photograph so well. They work well in the garden and they spread larger each year.
Just below here are some I have planted along a split rail fence. They sprout upward through a maze of actaea and the colors and textures contrast nicely.

In this part of Vermont, the Siberian Irises open about the time the bleeding hearts are half finished. I like the iris blues, purples, blood reds and yellows as they crowd alongside bleeding heart scapes. I like the combination in a vase although the hearts have a heartless smell about them that isn't always that pleasant soon after they are cut. Do not sniff and you will not be disappointed.

In spring the bleeding hearts make ostrich-like appearances as they push through the maple leaves and stretch upward. Often they confuse gardeners who ask a few "What are those?" interrogatories and then seem to handle my response with a doubtful "Oh really?" Ask me and I'll answer. You don't have to agree.

Our woodlands sport Dicentra eximias in whites and pinks and reds. They grow quickly and bloom for more than half of the summer with only minor rest. At 14" tall with cut leaf displays they look nice in the front of the garden and bring focus to smaller and bigger plants that surround them.

Valentines Day approaches. It only lasts for a brief day. Remember your friends. Let them know you care.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where a barred owl has just moved close enough that I can hear him from inside. Two owls can be friends too.


George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Also writing on Facebook as myself and maybe daily on Twitter as vtflowerfarm.

Patience Prevails

Saturday, February 13, 2010

11 degrees here on the mountain with a very slight wind and a gray sky suggesting snow flakes within a couple hours. Not a lot of snow, not a Dallas, DC, Philadelphia snow, just a light, "welcome to the mountain" snow. This winter has been like that with almost nothing of merit since the holidays.

The kitchen is noisy this morning as Gail wants to get out the door and get to work. She is working with her friend, Jerome the Florist in Barre today. Jerome is a very good florist and Gail is a great designer. She worked for Jerome when we first moved here from Burlington but when Alex was born, her work went to creating Vermont Flower Farm and that creativity is now obvious in a fine business and a great son. The thing about designers is they cannot stop designing and Gail helps out every now and then to keep her hands in the trade. The week of Valentines Day is always busy and this year has proven to be especially so. Unlike 2007, we are not fighting three feet of snow and whiteouts so the much needed business should materialize. Gail has sharpened her knives and she's eager to return again today.

A few days back I started a piece here about building a hosta garden. I want to end today with some images of the hostas as they reached maturity. These aren't the greatest images but you should get an idea of what happens if patience prevails. Looking back on this garden I should have prepared the soil a lot better, trimmed back adjacent tree limbs a little better and I certainly should have added more space between each planting. Just the same the garden is a pleasure to walk through and it's a challenge for even experienced hosta gardeners to correctly identify all the varieties. The issue isn't that this is a nice little collection, it's that walking into the garden now is like going back for a high school reunion. There's a guarantee that your mind will offer a few embarrassing "I know that person"s but it's a race to the the correct name before the real embarrassment surfaces. You won't confuse a Blue Moon and a Blue Angel but City Lights, Daybreak and Richland Gold on a mid-spring morning might be more difficult.

Take a look below and maybe just maybe you'll be encouraged to start a shade garden of your own. We have enjoyed ours and know others have too. In a day or so I want to start this whole process over again and show you what we're doing at the nursery as we build another display garden. The progress won't bore you, the interest should challenge!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where two red voles work quickly under the platform feeder, unbothered by chickadees and three mourning doves. I don't like voles. They are plant eaters who forget that hibernation is pleasant.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Also on Facebook as George Africa and occasionally offering abbreviated comment on Twitter as vtflowerfarm. May give Google Buzz a buzz soon.

As Hostas Mature

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Quiet on the mountain this morning. Karl the Wonder Dog woke with a bark at 4:15 and by the time I gave up trying to figure out what animal was outside, he had gone back to sleep and I was wide awake. At least with Karl I don't have to answer the phone with one of those security guards from ADT calling to see if I'm ok. I don't think I could handle a "Hello, Mr. Africa. This is Joe from ADT calling. Is everything all right?" I respect what those companies do and know that in many parts of the country it's imperative to have a system but here in the sticks of Vermont I tell myself things are better.

It's quiet this morning. 12 degrees feels different even with 98% humidity but unlike many parts of the US this morning, there is no wind here. It's nice to see the sun coming up earlier and blue jays fighting over sunflower seed at 6 AM makes for happy sounds to my ears.

I started a little piece on building a hosta garden and I want to move towards the end with some pictures of what transpires in a few year's time. This project was here at our house and at its peak the garden was show quality and an absolute pleasure to be a part of.

Building any garden teaches new lessons and when I built this one, I learned how to use a 6 foot pry bar, give direction to a tractor operator before I owned a tractor myself, and create good soil conditions that would last for years. I learned the hard way how close not to plant hostas and also the thought required when mixing other perennial plants with the hostas I love so much. The picture up top shows the year after I had "planted" the standing stones and just before I began planting large numbers of epimedium, hostas and liliums inc. superbum, henryi and canadense around the stone bases.

Hosta gardens just don't look right when first planted unless you have the luxury of buying mature hostas or moving in some from other gardens. Last year at Vermont Flower Farm I started growing some hostas for area landscapers who want to pay for fully mature plants. The plants should be ready for initial sales next year and I know they will be popular in our "I'm impatient, can't wait" society. The first couple pictures shows how new plants look strange at first and then fill in and make you smile.

Most people do their hardscaping and tree planting early on but I am a backwards guy and am used to doing things several times over. As this garden progressed I never changed the placement of a hosta or other shade plant but I did add in more stones and some conifers. I especially like the weeping tamaracks because they are not expensive and they do lend a seasonal "gotcha" that grabs you in early summer. I like to see the weeping branches that sometimes meet the ground runners, and then see the contrast between yellow needles in fall and the nearby yellowing leaf color of a Robert Frost hosta. At times like that I break out the poetry books and enjoy the scenery.

You should probably click on these pictures to get a better view. The one just above shows some empty space that I planted with a dozen different small hostas with a couple low growing clematises in the background. The hostas looked great, the clematis colors super but the clematis grew quicker and too soon I was on a hunt for where I planted H. Whiskey Sour.

New gardens require vision and you must remember that your vision and your fellow gardeners vision may not be close. The picture just above features a basic hosta that I use a lot. It's H. Tall Boy, a 5-6-7 footer with your basic green leaves but with flower scapes that stand tall and serve as hummingbird and butterfly magnets. I care for them well to get the height I want but they spread horizontally too and soon adjacent hosta big boys such as Squash Casserole and Super Nova overlap.


I like plantings where there is an aerial opportunity for viewing. This is not often possible in home plantings but if you can do it, the display grows stronger and compliments flow like August rain drops. This view is from the walkway along Peacham Pond Road. Check out Building Stone Steps on our Vermont Flower Farm site and you'll get a perspective of where I'm standing for the picture taking.

Gail and I enjoy ferns and we refuse to relocate any natives we find in new planting areas. I suppose if Hay Scented Ferns started taking over the place we might take action but by and large we leave what we have and enjoy the Jurassic look when it finally arrives. Just once in a while I get scolded by a designer who tells me "her way is the only way" as I get the riot act on extirpating such garden ruffian's. Everyone has opinions and I have listened to a number of them in my life.

I could probably live by the hosta colors, heights and leaf variations all by themselves but other gardeners prefer dots of color for spice. This garden incorporates treasures here and there like pats of butter on a slice of fresh country bread. As I planted this garden, many of the hostas were planted too close together and beautiful accent plants that looked great in years 1-2-3 now need CPR to make it another year. Beautiful little dodecatheons, commonly named "shooting stars" don't shoot anymore when buried deeply under the fringe of Green Piecrust or the accent of City Lights or tall-scaped Regal Splendor. Maidenhair ferns, a coveted Vermont native, and 'Silver Falls', our favorite painted fern from Terra Nova Nurseries aren't done justice when encroaching leaves hide their enthusiasm.

Despite the changes, despite the weeds, this garden has been a joyful experiment in learning about hosta, working with stone and sharing experiences. I promise the garden will get some needed attention this summer and by next year should be ready again for scheduled tours. Be patient with me, and think about a visit in 2011.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where dishes rattle a call to breakfast for me as a woodpecker enjoys his feast of suet outside my window.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm

Look for George Africa on Facebook and Twitter tweets from vtflowerfarm. Social networking is great for gardeners too!

Building A Hosta Garden

Saturday, February 6, 2010

The sun is shinning brightly here on the mountain as I wait for the mail lady and watch the birds have a late buffet. This morning started early--too early--as we awoke at 3 AM for why we don't know. Everyone but me fell back asleep in time but for me, "toss and turn" prevailed until I gave up and got on with Saturday chores. Gail and Alex headed for Jericho by 7:30 and at 8 I was making a recycling run with friend Mike. Even the trash and recycling collector was an hour late getting set up for the day.

Mike and I stopped at the post office, then the store for a paper and coffee, made a trip up to Marshfield Falls (longest waterfall in Vermont) to see how deep the ice is getting, got rid of the recyling and stopped at the nursery to check out the place and take some measurements. I want to purchase supplies this week to finish off the inside of the office. The roof in already insulated but the sidewalls need to be insulated and then strapped for the 8" pine ship lap I intend to use.
Don't know if I will get to the wooden floor I want to put down but at least another part of the building will be completed before spring weather jump starts me into seasonal frenzy.

One of the first big projects of the season after the potting and transplanting are done will be to finish the new shade and hosta display garden. We have had nice hosta gardens in the past and I have written about them many times. If you have missed my comments, try this link from our Vermont Flower Farm website. It's named Building Hosta Gardens. It mentions some thoughts about building shade and perimeter gardens and there are some pictures of me moving large stones about. Over the next couple blogs I will summarize the evolution of our hosta and shade gardens from the first one at our house to the new one at 2263 US Route 2. Here's a look back.

The barn foundation that we turned into a shade garden was vacant as a result of an early 1900's fire. Gail learned the details last spring when she was supposed to be registering a subdivision request at the Town Clerk's office. She became enthralled with her own title search and has vowed to complete her historical review of our land before spring arrives again. Here are some pictures of that garden at the end of the first year.

West wall straight back, south wall on left. White markers that are prominent are manufactured by Parker Davis Co. Although some say they look like cemetery markers they are so big, they actually stand out very well within a mature hosta garden. The labels are 4 mm corrugated polypropylene and I use Avery clear plastic labels completed on a laser printer. For garden tours
where the speaker is apart from the audience or for times when self guided tours are offered, these large signs bring compliments from those unfamiliar with the number of hostas we have on display.

The stones forming the front and side walls are described in the article offered above. The bags of potting mix in the fore section are Fafard Brand #52 Mix. It's a heavy, coarse bark mix I really like for potting and planting hostas and daylilies. It allows for good root growth because air circulates well between the big particles.

The size of this barn for the late 1800s in rural Vermont was quite special. The southeast corner at the bottom of the photo reaches diagonally back past the yellow wheelbarrow. As I finished this garden three years ago, there were close to 500 hosta varieties within the walls. The corner by the two small trees in the front of the picture is an astilbe display of 40 species and thousands upon thousands of self hybridized seedlings. Some time soon I need to sort through those hybrids and see if there is anything of merit growing that I don't know about.




The picture just below here is a shot from the driveway up above. I constructed an overlook area so you can walk to the edge and obtain this view. The road extends to Peacham Pond a half mile below our home. The white markers are absent now and by mid June the entire garden will be a blend of greens, blues and yellows.

Here are a couple shots of a side garden I started in 2001 and 2. I learned that spacing 4 feet apart doesn't cut it for large and extra large hostas. As I finished this garden piece, I planted a large hosta named Maple Leaf in front of the big stone where the gray and green hoses come together. Now the Maple Leaf is big and beautiful and the stone is not visible except in late fall and parts of winter and early spring.


In the background are 7 pieces of granite as much as 11 feet tall before being planted. Many visitors call them The Sever Sisters. A visit this spring would find the area around the stones to look like a woodchuck home as there are vacant holes everywhere because we have begun to move specimen plants to our new nursery. Just the same, the stones are surrounded by a number of mature epimediums and the backdrop of Lilium superbum and Lilium henryi remains. Mid to late August is the time to see this.

Here are The Seven Sisters again before the area was planted. The backdrop on the left includes Hosta 'Tall Boy', Hosta 'Lakeside Cha Cha', and Hosta 'Fragrant Bouquet'. There are perhaps 50 other varieties planted within this garden. Dowsers have registered this garden as being the confluence of some of the most powerful underground rivers recorded in the area.

This garden has reached maturity now. It has not been kept well for three years and I have hired a college bound, dollarless youth to clean things up this summer. The garden is not open to the public any more but is a nice sampling of hostas and other shade plants that do well in Vermont.

Stand by for the next blog in which I will show examples of the mature hostas that now stand strong. If you have questions or comments, we enjoy both.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where 12 mourning doves are eating millet from the platform feeder and red squirrels steal the last of Gail's cones.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm

How to Get the Word Out?

Thursday, February 4, 2010

A bright, sunny afternoon here on the mountain. The temperature pulled its way up to 15 degrees by noon but wind chills keep dropping it back down, forced lower by persistent winds averaging 5 mph but bursting to 20. Snow clouds whip by my office window in little whirls. It's cold out there!

I have been on a mission to learn more about social networking lately and some of it makes sense and some is more confusing. We have had our website, vermontflowerfarm.com for several years, our blog, The Vermont Gardener, for four years, a Facebook page for a month or so (look for George Africa) and we just began using Twitter (look for vtflowerfarm). With the demise of advertising on television, radio and in various printed formats, and a noted decline in classified ads by 70% over the past 10 years, I am trying to reach conclusion on social networking. Do I continue with this blog, put more emphasis on Facebook or work Twitter to the n-th degree? Is a combination of the three the way to go? Read this article and help me figure this out.




All sorts of social demographics work into the equation and in the flower business, any business I guess, you have to know your customer very well. Since fresh grown and picked flowers have a limited season, it's real important to get our message out correctly the first time. Gail and I have about given up on newspaper and magazine ads except for special events. We were about ready to toss the costliness of radio ads until Gail had a chance to pick up a three minute spot on Friday afternoons. She doesn't have to prepare all that much and tells listeners whats blooming, what is on special, planting how-to-dos, and her cares and concerns. Reflecting on her success last year, Gail concludes that the radio talk brings in a number of people including male construction workers looking for "Where's that woman I heard on the radio today?" Bring in the men and you eventually bring in the wives and girlfriends, parents and families.

I get a chuckle out of how new customers ask for "that woman" even though Gail mentions herself by name. I shouldn't be surprised as Vermont is the land of "my husband", "my wife" and "my girlfriend" even if the couple have been married or living together for years. There's a strange, nameless way Vermonters handle their relationships but as long as they leave with some flowers, we really don't care what they call each other. It's not as callous as that but I think you get the message.



Current data shows that as people grow older they are less involved with technology. I believe this may offer a misrepresentation because baby boomers were the first group to experience widespread exposure to computer technology and probably a portion of those in the current age 60 and up group either have not had computer experience, don't own a computer or don't want to learn to operate one. The next group to follow shows close to 100% exposure and an extremely high rate on continued involvement.

Even though I'd like you to be thinking about gardening and a visit to Vermont Flower Farm this summer, help me with this question about social networking. Do you ever read this blog, like it or want to move right along; do you have a Facebook page or do you use Twitter? I need some direction and you can help. If that fails, point yourself in the direction of Marshfield this summer and we'll talk when you get here.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where it's almost time to make a fresh batch of noodles. What flowers are pictured above? Amaryllis that are just finishing up. Reds, whites and Apple Blossom.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardner
Vermont Flower Farm.com

With Whispers: Talking Scythes

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Small patches of sunlight intersperse a field of snow and balsam tree shadows below my office window. 14 mourning doves quietly peck cracked corn and eat millet from beneath the platform feeder. A lone red squirrel offers personal neglect for raptors as it runs across the meadow by the John Deere tractor. The squirrel is carrying--borrowing--stealing yet another cone from a bucket of Norwegian Fir cones that Gail left by the back door.

January is fleeting but the next couple evenings will be reminder to what typical Vermont winter nights can offer. Tonight we expect zero readings but tomorrow night the fire will have to work a tad harder in the wood stove as temperatures will be in the minus numbers.

January is the month when the Vermont Farm Show arrives for a midweek display in Barre, Vermont. I have been just about every year since we moved here in 1989. I work with small businesses and sometimes with farmers in my real world job so the show is a time to see lots of new ideas in a few hours. This year the old time farmers are more absent and if one hadn't bumped into me as his cane went thumping to the floor, I might have completed my first ever year without a good "farmer" discussion.

As I toured the show, back and forth, up and down the aisles, trying to squeeze into what displays I wanted to see, I came upon Carol Bryan and Richard Scott and their display for Carol's business, Scythe Supply. They are from Perry, Maine which is a town about as far north in the US as you can get. It's past Lubec and Eastport and I imagine it shakes hands with Canadian friends every day.

Bear with me a minute. When my dad moved us to Vermont in the early 50's he was intent on being some kind of farmer. Made no sense to the rest of us but as time went on, we had opportunity to see what old time farming was all about. Dad was 6 feet 6 inches tall before he started to shrink and he seemed to enjoy cutting hay for the goats and cows with a scythe he found hanging in the barn when we arrived. It was at that early age that I learned the words scythe and snath and began to assimilate the rhythm of swinging a scythe and hand mowing grasses.

As some of you know, I enjoy the poetry of Robert Frost and I maintain a few of his books in my library as well as a hosta in my garden named after him by his good friends and neighbors, the Lachmans, in 1988. Frost wrote a poem entitled Mowing in 1913, and he used the sounds conjured by swinging a scythe as he explained to readers that work is not a bad thing. I really like what Frost wrote and I like scythes too.....and I'm not afraid of work.

So I came upon Carol at the Vermont Farm Show and was immediately impressed by her as a fine business woman and by the products she sells. That's why I invite you to check out her website, and if you need a scythe, give her a call or visit her website.

Carol told me about The Scythe Book and I'll leave it to you to check out what's behind it by reading about it on her site Scythe Supply. It represents many old books that should be brought back for the latest generation to learn by.


Carol has a relationship with an Austrian manufacturer who does a fine job making blades for her scythes. She offers two snath types and about ten blades made especially for cutting grass, mowing ditches or cutting bushes. The blades are for right or left handed mowers and this is important when ordering or using.


I liked the European design on the snaths because the handles make it much easy to grip and exert pressure. Sorry the picture of the handles isn't bettter but you'll get the idea. These are quite different than the American scythe I trained on where the handles needed tightening and and always needed repositioning after dad finished and before I started with the same piece.

Carol is a small business person just like Gail and me. It's tough work and there are days when you keep asking Why? But when you have a fine product and you are rewarded by the compliments others share, you keep moving on. If I think about it for a minute, I can almost hear the whisper of the scythe in Frost's Mowing. Maybe you can to. If you didn't make the farm show, get over to http://scythesupply.com and see the full selection. There's a lot of learn about a tool from the past that continues today....especially when it whispers to you!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where winter garden thoughts always include good gardening friends.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm

Spring Hosta Thoughts

Sunday, January 24, 2010

A cold afternoon here on the mountain. Just back from snowshoeing in the woods with Gail and Michelle. It was nice out there but now I notice the temperature and barometer are dropping and the wind is coming up. Guess the storm that was talked about is heading this way.

33 degrees might not be a temperature at which to be thinking about hostas but despite the cold I have been spending lots of time on that subject lately. For those of you who ever visited us when Vermont Flower Farm was located at our house, you'll remember a fine hosta and shade garden that started by the driveway and mailboxes and traveled down along the road and into and around an old barn foundation.

Over the past year and a half I have been developing a new hosta display garden at the nursery and it should begin to show some maturity this season. Visitors commented regularly about missing the opportunity to see mature examples of hostas they were interested in purchasing as well as hostas that we didn't have for sale but were growing on for future sales. It was a good fit for everyone.

I finally decided that our website should include every hosta we grow, and should indicate whether it's just on display or available for sale. Now that I am most of the way through this I am doubting myself and just hope it will not cause confusion. We do have a nice collection and the several hundred we offer for sale is a larger number than most nurseries around here. You'll have to check out the site when it's finished and come visit and then make your own decision. Three resources to help you with hosta decisions are the American Hosta Society, the New England Hosta Society and the Hosta Library. Give them a try.

One of the most commonly found hostas in garden centers, public gardens and gardener's personal gardens is Elegans. This is a large hosta which many are thinking of when they tell me "I want one of those big blue hostas I see in all the magazines." Up top is a picture of Elegans as it breaks through the soil when spring temperatures begin to rise. As the leaves unfurl and temperatures change, the leaves begin to grow and a very nice plant develops.

Sometimes people catch me looking at the underside of hosta leaves in our gardens but that's because I love to see the vein structure that supports big leaves. Elegans has big leaves at the end of June-first part of July here in Vermont, and the blue of the leaves contrasts so very well with just about any other perennials you want to match it with.

Elegans is not a fast grower but I have found that with regular waterings and a combination of manure tea and Epsom salts , plants really do come along nicely. Last summer I planted a couple dozen at the nursery in a place that I can keep track of. I am going to try to force them along so landscapers and gardeners will be able to purchase mature specimens. Here's a picture of one that Austin potted up last summer from a garden at the house as we moved some specimens to the nursery. This is the size that I am in hopes of having in good supply in a couple years. You cannot pick one of these two bushel pots up by yourself but when planted with a little care they will offer a very impressive eye catcher that will come complete with a wide array of garden compliments.

Here's a picture (below) of one along the road at the Peacham Pond garden. It is surrounded by Abiqua Moonbeam and Albo picta on one side and Sunpower, Hyacinthina, Richland Gold and August Moon on the other. A couple maidenhair ferns served as accents although hostas grow faster than ferns and the ferns are less obvious now.

Probably the only downside to an Elegans is the flower scape which is short. The beautiful flowers appear just above the leaves and do not stand out as prominently. The flower size is large enough to bring attention and at bloom time the leaves are still holding sufficient blue color so the contrast is obvious.

This last image is of an Elegans at the bottom of the stone steps along the garden by Peacham Pond Road. It was getting towards sunset when I took the picture but you can see the size and the contrast this hosta affords its surroundings. The dandelions should not be in the picture but the Soloman Seal bells hanging on the left of the frame show a companion plant that hosta growers should consider.

As green thoughts bounce around on the cold days remaining this winter, give Elegans a thought as a possible addition to your gardens. It's relatively inexpensive, offers a great garden dimension and looks kind of neat when raindrops bubble up against new flower scapes. All hostas don't have to have catchy names and big price tags. This is a keeper!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where two more degrees have ticked off the temperature and January 24th has inched closer to night.

Warm Gardening Wishes!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm A website-update-in-progress where some hosta narratives are incomplete but the information and pictures that are there should be an incentive to grow more. Questions? Give us a call at 802-426-3505 or email at lilies@ hughes.net Sharing information is what good gardeners do!