Sometimes a brief speck of information from an article about the type of gardening you enjoy can direct you along what had been a challenging path. Here's an article I wrote this past year that might help with something you have found difficult to master within one of your gardens. Still have questions? Stop and visit us at Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens, 2263 US 2, Marshfield, Vermont 05658. 802-426-3506. Email at vermontflowerfarm@outlook.com

SPRING  IN  THE  GARDEN

 

It’s a bright, sunny day here on the mountain above Peacham Pond and the sunshine is most welcome after the month of February when we experienced four consecutive weeks of cold, windy weather that lacked any thaws and consequently stacked snow everywhere. There is little doubt that the climate is changing and being any kind of farmer, even a flower farmer like me, brings you closer to those changes.

Yesterday I received an email agricultural report that summarized major storms that hit the US since 1980. The storms had to exceed a billion dollars in repair/replacement costs to be included in the total which was $1.87 trillion. The early 80s is when I began a perennial flower business in Shelburne, Vermont. The only negatives I can remember from back then were a hail storm that knocked down all our Pacific Giant Delphiniums and a herd of deer that arrived three weeks before Halloween and ate the entire pumpkin crop the day before we planned to harvest.

Fast forward to our move to Marshfield and weather issues have evolved. Only a couple instances of hail, but several sheer winds that took down trees and ripped the tops off our shade houses. There were years when cold would just not leave and I remember one June when there was a killing frost that flattened our entire potted hosta crop. And then there was extreme water as in floods. One year we had three floods between May and August. That was the year that bad times culminated in Tropical Storm Irene. What a mess! And since then, we have become used to sheer winds that follow the Winooski River from Burlington. They arrive quickly and leave swaths of trees on the ground in their wake. When I think back on these events, I’m just happy we live here and not in Louisiana or Texas.

 

But spring is coming and by mid-April most of the snow should be gone and the harbinger of spring should be spring ephemerals that are awakening. In 1990, our first year in Marshfield, the weather was so warm that our peas were in the ground April first.  Most all years, early in May everywhere, and usually May 5-6-7 or 8 here, the male hummingbirds arrive to get started on their nest building chores. By then red winged blackbirds, grackles, starlings and brown headed cowbirds have returned and are busy cleaning up bird food leftovers underneath the feeders.

Early May provides the first color. Pulmonarias join hellebores no matter how much snow might be left in shady places. Granted the hellebore foliage from the previous year looks a little ratty but the flowers bring smiles and lure the hummingbirds and bumblebee Queens in for food. By the third week of the month, Trilliums including grandiflorum, erectum and undulatum have broken through the ground. The wild Dicentra you might know as Dutchman’s Breeches are in bloom and the woodland Fernleaf Dicentra eximia in pink, red and white are right behind. At the same time, ferns, both native and hybrid, have begun to show their height and color, and a combination planting of native Cinnamon, Ostrich and Northern Maidenhair fern serves as a good foundation for a mix of spring ephemerals including trout lilies, violets, bloodroot and Japanese primroses. By this time Brunnera has opened its heavily veined leaves, variations of white and pink Dodecatheon are in bloom, native orchids are coming along nicely, Great Blue Heron have fledged and osprey kids are teenagers ready to shove off for a new life along the river and area ponds.

 

So as spring moves your way, enjoy the longer and warmer days and map out your gardens for the 2021 season. They will need clean-up work, pruning, and perhaps some soil amendments. Have confidence that you are already your best designer so sketch out some new plans, read new garden books and locate sources for new products. Check what made it through the winter successfully and what plants might need to be replaced. Join a plant society for rock garden plants, daylilies, hostas, peonies, perennials, conifers, lilacs. There’s no doubt there’s a group for every interest. And above all, relax in your garden and invite others to join you. 2020 was an incredible year for all of us but our gardens always have and always will provide peace. If all else fails, remember this line from Minnie Aumonier. I like it enough to keep it hanging on the wall at the flower farm. My copy is part of a poster by Mary Azarian.

 

“When the world wearies and society fails to satisfy, there is always the garden.”.

 

 

 

 

Here is a continuation of articles I have pushed with the North Star Monthly during 2021. I hope some of the thoughts and ideas will help you be a better gardener. 

CABIN   FEVER   GARDENING  

 

It was clear, bright and beautiful this morning so I decided to go to the flower farm and walk the perimeter to check for animal intruders. I hadn’t seen any deer tracks when I passed by on Route 2 but last year deer came in and ate a couple of dwarf conifers even though I had enclosed them with a wire fence. One experience with any kind of loss will always remind me to check. I know from many reports from customers last spring that I was not alone in seeing some damage from deer. This year, things look good….so far!

 

As I walked along the river, I noticed a pair of cardinals hiding in a wild honeysuckle and later on a small irruption of evening grosbeaks resting in a Katherine Havemeyer lilac before heading for the village where bird feeders are available. I have noticed that the colder temperatures have caused snow and ice to hang on the trees for three weeks now and this has made it more difficult for birds to find their favorite foods. That causes them to move into adjacent fields and appear at feeders. It also has given bird watchers an opportunity to see birds they might not normally see. Snow buntings have been at our feeders this week and despite their hyperactive moods they are nice to see.

 

Covid has kept us inside more than we want so this year it’s more than seasonal affective disorder and deepening snow that reminds us that it’s winter. Cabin fever has kept more than just gardeners inside but there are some things we can do to boost our spirits. We belong to plant societies and online specialty groups for the plants we grow and sell. As example, hostas are an important plant that has always interested us and the American Hosta Society (americanhostasocity.org) is one of the best organized societies I know. I think they have the absolute best journals which arrive twice a year as a published, image packed, journal and then again as an online journal. It costs $30 per year for an individual membership which arrives with a voucher for $15 towards a hosta. I especially look forward to the journals because they have biographical sketches of hybridizers, terrific pictures and stories about display gardens, hosta history, advances in viral testing, and great information on the latest registrations.

 

In addition to hosta journals, I use the online Hosta Library (hostalibrary.org) which is free. It contains summary information, abundant pictures (1000’s) and registration detail on all hostas, registered and unregistered.  It is the best resource I know of for anyone interested in this shade tolerant plant that’s perfect for Vermont gardens. Take a look-see and you will see what I mean.

While at the flower farm I decided to take some lilac cuttings. I usually take them a few weeks after the lilacs have bloomed in June but I read that you can also take cuttings now and root them in sand, covered for the first weeks in plastic wrap or plastic seed tray domes. I took cuttings from 8 lilacs to try this out and I’m being positive about my success. I dipped each one in rooting hormone and then put them in the front room under an eastern facing window. I mist them every day or so. If you have visited us at the farm, you might have seen that we have much of the perimeter dotted with multiples of +20 varieties of lilacs. Each spring by mid-May we have 8-12 varieties for sale if you are interested. The International Lilac Society is a great organization for lilac lovers and it’s very helpful as you learn about growers, retailers and how to grow successfully.

This time of year the larger grocery stores often have primroses in their floral departments. Primulas have become very popular perennial garden flowers in recent years even though they are sold as houseplants too. They come in all colors, bloom for some time and are attention getting, front-of-the-border plants. If you get serious about them, the  American Primrose Society (americanprimrosesociety.org) is a membership you might want to purchase. It publishes 4 information filled journals and can direct you to specialty gardens and retail sources. The Society has just completed its annual seed exchange which is an inexpensive way to purchase primula seeds from around the world to add to your collection.

Garden blogs, garden clubs and societies, plant societies, university and extension service groups as well as a plethora of gardening magazines can help you get through cabin fever. All gardeners are generous with their time and information. Be positive. Have questions? Can’t find something you’re looking for? Need a gift certificate? Drop us a line at vermontflowerfarm@outlook.com. We’re always here to help you grow your green thumb!

 

 

 

 

 

Here at Vermont Flower Farm, we try our best to share our gardening experiences good and bad, with new gardeners. We also use social media extensively and we write a short monthly piece for the North Star Monthly (http://www.northstarmonthly.com) that shares our messages all over. We're very busy at Vermont Flower Farm now and hope you can come to visit sometime. In the interim, here are some pieces I have written through the last year. Remember that we're always here to help you grow your green thumb so ask questions!

WINTER GARDENS

PLANNING   THROUGH   CRISIS

It’s been a cloudy morning here on the mountain above Peacham Pond. At 6 AM, I asked myself “Where’s the sun?” and now at 1 PM, I am asking the same thing. Minor snowflakes float to earth from a gray sky as the temperature holds at 26.8° and birds and red squirrels share the feeders for a late lunch. They seem very happy despite Covid.

Each year a company named Pantone® announces its color choices for the upcoming year. They factor in their complete understanding of the psychology of color and come up with colors which influence everything from fashions and home and garden furnishings to the vehicles we drive, and every purchase we surround ourselves with from home to work to vacation and back…including…. the plants we grow. This year the color choices include Pantone Illuminating and Pantone Ultimate Gray. The color descriptions tell it all. “Illuminating is a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warm yellow shade imbued with solar power. Ultimate Gray is emblematic of solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation.” If you scan through gardening or home decorating magazines by late Spring you will see these colors surfacing. New colors make us review our gardens and decide what additions, subtractions or rebuilds we need to make come spring….as the new colors warm us in difficult times despite the fact that in a sense we have been here before. Here’s a thought.

Rewind to 1943. America was in the throes of war and times were tough. In some respects, it was different than our current Covid crisis but some of the problems were the same. A broken food supply chain was an example. From the war came the Victory Garden Manual, a book that taught us that gardening was a way to feed ourselves, our friends, neighbors and soliders. We learned what fruits and vegetables would grow in our temperate zone and we were reintroduced to the Universal Food Grinder, the Foley Food Mill, hot bath canners and pressure cookers. Not only did we learn to grow and harvest food but we also learned to put foods by. 

Now more than 75 years later, 1/3 of American farmers are over retirement age but still working. 6% of all farmers are under age 35. Climate change is upon us, and pollinators, ever so necessary to help with our food production, are in decline. Invasive plants and invasive insects which we have never before seen in such large numbers are prevalent in our backyards. Beetles are taking down red and white pine trees, tamaracks, hemlocks, ashes, sugar maples and beeches. Is positive change possible? Yes, it is! Gardeners by their nature are always changemakers striving for a better tasting fruit or vegetable, earlier and higher production, and resistance to more viral or fungal issues. Gardeners share with us the importance of learning about new plant or seed varieties before we buy and plant them. They learn the right plants for where we live, and the right place to plant respective of sunlight, soil type, hydrology, and the plant’s growth rate to maturity. Gardeners teach us the importance of pollinators and how to grow plants that pollinators can reproduce on while they carry out their work.

If you haven’t gardened much before, give it a try. Raised bed or container gardening are two ways to get started. You can add fruit trees or bushes to your property and start that way with blueberries, elderberries, strawberries or apples, pears, or plums. In the process you can expand your backyard bird and animal habitat as your gardens grow. Add vegetables to your perennial flower gardens and consider when your gardens bloom and how to add color from flowers next to the blooms of vegetables you grow to eat. Blueberry bushes planted in flower gardens provide red leaves as fall approaches. Tricolor beets—the reds, oranges and yellows—seeded into flower gardens provide color and textures that contrast with your flowers and grace your table with healthy food. Clumps of purple, pink or white liatris or swaths of 3-foot-tall blue Verbena bonariensis lure all sorts of pollinators and in so doing provide entertainment as you watch them work and learn to identify them one by one. Kids love to learn insects and teaching them early on will encourage their respect for environmental concerns forever. Clumps of grasses such as Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ become floral targets for insects you probably have never seen before while offering 5 foot scapes by year 2.

Yes, gardeners and their gardens truly are changemakers. In times such as these, gardens offer a peacefulness, a place of respite, an activity that calms when other news is something to avoid. Give gardening a try! We know you will enjoy it!!

WINTER   GARDENS

PLANNING   THROUGH   CRISIS

 

It’s been a cloudy morning here on the mountain above Peacham Pond. At 6 AM, I asked myself “Where’s the sun?” and now at 1 PM, I am asking the same thing. Minor snowflakes float to earth from a gray sky as the temperature holds at 26.8° and birds and red squirrels share the feeders for a late lunch. They seem very happy despite Covid.

 

Each year a company named Pantone® announces its color choices for the upcoming year. They factor in their complete understanding of the psychology of color and come up with colors which influence everything from fashions and home and garden furnishings to the vehicles we drive, and every purchase we surround ourselves with from home to work to vacation and back…including…. the plants we grow. This year the color choices include Pantone Illuminating and Pantone Ultimate Gray. The color descriptions tell it all. “Illuminating is a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warm yellow shade imbued with solar power. Ultimate Gray is emblematic of solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation.” If you scan through gardening or home decorating magazines by late Spring you will see these colors surfacing. New colors make us review our gardens and decide what additions, subtractions or rebuilds we need to make come spring….as the new colors warm us in difficult times despite the fact that in a sense we have been here before. Here’s a thought.

 

Rewind to 1943. America was in the throes of war and times were tough. In some respects, it was different than our current Covid crisis but some of the problems were the same. A broken food supply chain was an example. From the war came the Victory Garden Manual, a book that taught us that gardening was a way to feed ourselves, our friends, neighbors and soliders. We learned what fruits and vegetables would grow in our temperate zone and we were reintroduced to the Universal Food Grinder, the Foley Food Mill, hot bath canners and pressure cookers. Not only did we learn to grow and harvest food but we also learned to put foods by.

 

Now more than 75 years later, 1/3 of American farmers are over retirement age but still working. 6% of all farmers are under age 35. Climate change is upon us, and pollinators, ever so necessary to help with our food production, are in decline. Invasive plants and invasive insects which we have never before seen in such large numbers are prevalent in our backyards. Beetles are taking down red and white pine trees, tamaracks, hemlocks, ashes, sugar maples and beeches. Is positive change possible? Yes, it is! Gardeners by their nature are always changemakers striving for a better tasting fruit or vegetable, earlier and higher production, and resistance to more viral or fungal issues. Gardeners share with us the importance of learning about new plant or seed varieties before we buy and plant them. They learn the right plants for where we live, and the right place to plant respective of sunlight, soil type, hydrology, and the plant’s growth rate to maturity. Gardeners teach us the importance of pollinators and how to grow plants that pollinators can reproduce on while they carry out their work.

 

If you haven’t gardened much before, give it a try. Raised bed or container gardening are two ways to get started. You can add fruit trees or bushes to your property and start that way with blueberries, elderberries, strawberries or apples, pears, or plums. In the process you can expand your backyard bird and animal habitat as your gardens grow. Add vegetables to your perennial flower gardens and consider when your gardens bloom and how to add color from flowers next to the blooms of vegetables you grow to eat. Blueberry bushes planted in flower gardens provide red leaves as fall approaches. Tricolor beets—the reds, oranges and yellows—seeded into flower gardens provide color and textures that contrast with your flowers and grace your table with healthy food. Clumps of purple, pink or white liatris or swaths of 3-foot-tall blue Verbena bonariensis lure all sorts of pollinators and in so doing provide entertainment as you watch them work and learn to identify them one by one. Kids love to learn insects and teaching them early on will encourage their respect for environmental concerns forever. Clumps of grasses such as Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ become floral targets for insects you probably have never seen before while offering 5 foot scapes by year 2.

 

Yes, gardeners and their gardens truly are changemakers. In times such as these, gardens offer a peacefulness, a place of respite, an activity that calms when other news is something to avoid. Give gardening a try! We know you will enjoy it!!

 

 

 

 

 

Here at Vermont Flower Farm, we try our best to share our gardening experiences good and bad, with new gardeners. We also use social media extensively and we write a short monthly piece for the North Star Monthly (http://www.northstarmonthly.com) that shares our messages all over. We're very busy at Vermont Flower Farm now and hope you can come visit some time. In the interim, here are some pieces I have written through the last year. Remember that we're always here to help you grow your green thumb so ask questions!

Positive Gardening Thoughts

From December 2020

 

Winter has arrived in New England and although the weather temperatures and precipitation fluctuate from south to north, it’s still certain that our outside garden work has come to a halt for 2020. During the summer the higher than usual temperatures and very limited rainfall challenged all of us who enjoy farming or gardening. Drought conditions required more attention to our annual and perennial flowers, shrubs and trees than we might have been accustomed to providing.  In addition, we had to keep an attentive eye out for new insects set upon eating up our favorites. If you thought the Emerald Ash Borer was a big threat to ash trees,  the Eastern Larch Beetle has appeared in our area with a vengeance and in less than three years has devasted all the mature larch trees on our property. Fir Balsams, our favorite “Christmas Tree”, has also been doomed by insects and some reports suggest that a high per centage of native ash, larch and balsams will be totally decimated in 4-5 years. Throw in the problems with invasive plants such as Wild Chervil, Japanese Knotweed, Hogweed, Wild Parsnip, Common and Japanese Barberry, honeysuckle, and with invasive exotic earthworms –including those Crazy Snake Works/Alabama Jumpers and the gardening challenge broadens. Be positive and try to learn as much as you can about insects and invasives that are causing harm to your gardens. Gardeners often can be heard commenting about weeds in their gardens but as the quality of your soil improves to a better pH balance, weeds, which often prefer poor soils, with become less of a problem.

 

Having healthy soil is a great place to start but by itself it requires other “helpers” too. When I bought the land for our flower farm in Marshfield, I was visited by a member of a federal agriculture program. The immediate recommendation even before a soil test was ordered was the need for a soil management plan. A simple soil survey of our 4 acres determined 4 distinct soil types, each with separate needs.  The predominance of heavy clay soil in the middle portion of the acreage came with its own list of special needs as did the alluvial soil piece that historically was overrun by springtime flooding, the sand and gravel piece that parallels the Winooski River, and the wet loam that absorbed underground water runoff from the mountains across Route 2. Soil analysis is not expensive and worth requesting but it comes with a caveat—the cost in money and time to add the suggested amendments to bring the soil up to the appropriate level. It really can be a financial surprise and requires planning for. With all the new gardeners in Vermont because of Covid, it’s difficult to find manure to amend the soil and that means manures from your local farms or processed and bagged manures from far away too.  But planting green manures such as buckwheat, clovers or winter ryegrass or by adding composted leaves are ways to start the process. It takes time to improve soil but the results are always worth the effort.

 

In times like these, it’s ever so nice to look at our gardens and be able enjoy the colors of the flowers or the food we can harvest. There are abundant annual flowers that can be started from seeds if you are so inclined or purchased from your local greenhouse or nursery. If you visit our farm you’ll notice zinnias in all colors, the blues of Verbena bonariensis, mixed colors from single and double flowered cosmos, different blues from ageratums, whites, creams, oranges and yellows from marigolds with heights of 10-36”, 6 foot tall Rose Queen cleomes along the fence lines or 10” varieties included in our potted displays. There is amaranthus in lime-green, bronze, burgundy-red and coral, calendulas in oranges, yellows and straw colors , 3 foot tall dill, and sunflowers from 4 to ten feet tall. The list of perennials flowers doesn’t end and when combined with annuals you’ll always have a smile when you tour your garden. Your flowers will be yelling out “Don’t you love us?” and of course you will.

With winter upon us now, this is a great time to catch up on garden reading. Plants often have societies of gardeners interested in growing them. Annual memberships are typically in the $25 to $30/year range which includes newsletters and/or journals, meetings, lectures and display garden tours. We belong to societies for daylilies, hostas, peonies, lilacs, and rock gardens which keep us current on the latest and the greatest of each plant. And above all, belonging to plant societies provides a world-wide friendship which is ever so dear when times are tough. Yes, recognize the reality of negativity but turn to your gardens and your gardening friends for warm and positive experiences. Dirty hands are a good thing!! And don’t forget to get your kids, your neighbor’s kids and your grandkids involved too. Kids love gardening and you’ll admire their positive thoughts and behaviors too! Best gardening wishes from your friends at Vermont Flower Farm. Be safe! 

Deadheading Daylilies

Daylily season in Vermont is upon us and as I write, the rain continues to fall. We were in a severe drought two weeks ago and have caught up to appropriate water levels in much of the east all in a few days. Monthly total rainfall for July has exceeded  6" and here at Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens there's a puddle from a poorly ditched State highway culvert that's diverting water onto one of our fields. The mallard ducks are loving it this morning but for me, not so much. 

When our daylilies flower heavily like they do right now, we try to deadhead them every day. Some people enjoy doing this as part of their daily routine while others find it a cumbersome, hand staining nuisance...... so..... why do we deadhead thousands of daylilies?  There are a few good reasons.

Some daylilies hold spent flowers for 2-3 days. These are generally more modern hybrids named tetraploids which are bigger in all respects. Bigger blooms hold more water and when they pass, it takes longer for them to dehydrate and fall from the flower scape. The name daylily suggests a flower that opens and closes all in 16 hours of a day. The "one day only" per bloom plant--a daylily. Daylilies have many, many buds and blooms however, so they bloom on and on for several weeks until the final blooms are spent. The first blooms to open are the largest the plant will produce for the season and as blooms pass on each day and other blooms open they tend to be smaller. When a plant is registered with the American Hemerocallis (Daylily) Society, the bloom size is represented by the size of the initial (larger) blooms.

Removing spent blooms will prevent them from setting seed and will make subsequent blooms larger since the plant is not taking water and nutrients to make seeds. It will also make the plant much more attractive without spent blooms hanging on. It keeps spent blooms off the ground so your garden is much more attractive too. 

Probably the largest incentive to deadhead involves insects. Many insects love to find their way inside a bloom, even a bloom that is closing after it has flowered. Insects use the flower as a moist, warm place to lay eggs and generate more insects. If insects lay eggs inside blooms that will soon drop off the plant and fall to earth, the eggs are likely to mature more successfully. The heat of the earth warms the spent bloom, and as the bloom oxidizes and decomposes, that heat helps the eggs hatch. Picking the spent blooms before any of this can occur minimizes insects such as the tarnished plant bug, which love daylilies. 

The final part about deadheading that bothers folks is their hands. Despite the way nitrile gloves have escalated in price because of Covid, we always wear them to keep our hands from staining. If you don't like plastic gloves (some people are allergic to them), then you can remove stains, especially purple stains from your hands with lemon juice. I always buy the generic brand and have it around in case I forget the gloves or run out of them. Over time you will learn which daylilies stain the most and you'll react appropriately. Large-flowered daylilies that are the darkest colors such as Persian Ruby, Ruby Spider or Wayside King Royale are examples that stain a bunch but remain our favorites.

Have other daylily questions? Email us at vermontflowerfarm@outlook.com or stop by for a visit at 2263 US Route 2, Marshfield, Vermont where the fields are ablaze with color and we still have thousands of 6 quart pots packed with every color daylily but blue. Come see!

The Hardy Plant Club of Northern Vermont

I have mentioned The Hardy Plant Club of Northern Vermont many times in the past and try to mention it again as each gardening season appears. Today as I write there is snow on the ground and tonight there will be more snow arriving as well as high winds and dropping temperatures. Gail and I have been fortunate to be able to have worked in the gardens of Vermont Flower Farm for a couple weeks now as we prepare for an anticipated opening on Mother's Day weekend. But on a day like today, it's nice to turn to the Club's blog and learn more about the gardens we love so much. We know you with find the Resource section helpful.

http://hardyplantclubvt.blogspot.com/

As information, we are in the process of rebuilding our website for Vermont Flower Farm. We began our first site over 15 years ago (and our business +37 years ago) to represent what we grow, sell and do at Vermont Flower Farm which now located at 2263 US Route 2, Marshfield, Vermont. Progress is rather like this spring's weather. There have been temporary interruptions but the project advances. We expect to have the new site up by early June. In the interim much of the old site works. When you get to the page on Lilacs, scroll to the end of that section and use those links to move to other pages. If you see special plants listed that you wish to purchase, it's best to call Gail at 802-426-3506 and confirm availability and pricing as updates have been avoided this past year. We add new plants each year and can most always offer substitutes for plants that are out of supply.

Vermont has an abundance of great gardens to visit. Check the Hardy Plant Club's  Resource Page and check with us if you have questions about where to find your favorite plants. Gardening, especially during a pandemic, brings peacefulness and reward that we all need. 

From your friends at Vermont Flower Farm please remember: "We're always here to help you grow your green thumb!"

George, Gail and Alex Africa

Advice on Helping our Bird Friends

 

On snowy days like today I enjoy catching up on my reading. Today in my email was this piece that The New Hampshire Gardener, Henry Homeyer wrote for the West Lebanon Valley News. It appeared thanks to a reference from Victoria Weber of the Northern Vermont Hardy Plant Club. Victoria works as a member of the Club's Program Committee and helps bring members interesting tours, lectures and gardening resources.

Henry's article is very interesting, especially to those who enjoy birds. When Gail and I purchased what became our "new" Vermont Flower Farm" in 2006, we planted a long row of Japanese  Fantail and Curly Willows. Little did we know at the time that the honeybees we had just started keeping looked to willows in spring as one of their earliest and most time-desired flowers. That began our journey into learning trees, shrubs and plants that birds, butterflies and insects like. I know you will find value in Henry's article. Read on.

How what we grow helps our feathered friends — and the environment

By HENRY HOMEYER

For the Monitor

By now birds are finding their own food and have less need for that sunflower seed we have been providing during the cold days of winter. So what can we do to help our birds as they go into the season of having young? Growing native trees and shrubs on our property can be a huge help to our bird friends.

 

Let me explain. It is not enough to put out birdhouses, we need to help birds find food for their chicks. The diet of baby birds is about 90% composed of caterpillars. Caterpillars – the larvae of Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) – are high in fat and protein that developing birds need to grow and be healthy. One clutch of chickadees can, according to entomologist Doug Tallamy, a PhD researcher from the University of Delaware, consume 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars in the 16 days from hatching to fledging. And most parent birds continue to feed their chicks even after they have fledged.

 

In Tallamy’s new book, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard, he explains that not all trees and shrubs are created equal. Those that evolved alongside the butterflies and moths are palatable to them. Those that were imported from Asia or Europe mostly are not of interest to them.

 

Most woody plants create toxins or badtasting chemicals to keep all sorts of animals from eating them, but caterpillars have developed ways to eat most native tree leaves – they have adapted to eat what was available to them. It’s as if they learned to eat things, the way we learned to eat Brussel sprouts.

 

Although caterpillars eat the leaves of our native plants, they rarely damage or defoliate their host plants. Tent caterpillars and a few other imported species will defoliate trees, but that’s rare. It’s just that most of us never notice the little holes chewed in the leaves that are supporting the caterpillars.

 

In fact, I rarely notice caterpillars in the trees and shrubs at all – but our bird friends certainly do. They evolved along with the caterpillars and are genetically programmed to recognize them and bring them to their young, even birds that are seed eaters. As Dr. Tallamy explains in the book, not all native plants are created equal. Some native species may only feed a few. Some, like our oaks, feed many hundreds of species of caterpillars. These “keystone species” are critical to supporting our wildlife. Five percent of the native species support over 70% of our Lepidoptera, according to Tallamy.

 

So what plants are best to feed the caterpillars that support our birds?

According to Tallamy’s research, native oaks, cherries, willows, birches, poplars and elms are best, and goldenrods, asters and perennial sunflowers “lead the herbaceous pack.” The National Wildlife Federation’s Plant Finder website (nwf.org/Native-PlantFinder) allows you to enter your zipcode and see what plants are best for your zone, and how many pollinators are served by each.

Tallamy did a study in Portland, Ore., and found that of 1176 trees he identified on the streets there, 91.5% of them were from other continents or eco-regions, mainly Asia. What does that mean? Portland is a pretty city with lots of trees, but it is largely a wasteland for caterpillars that feed our baby birds. The birds need to nest where they can get food for their young.

 

If you wish to improve your landscape and plant native species that will support wildlife, think about reducing lawn size. Tallamy explains that there are 40 million acres of lawn in America, an area the size of New England. Thirty percent of our water is used to water lawns, and 40% to 60% of all fertilizer ends up in our waterways and drinking water, he wrote.

 

Doug Tallamy proposes that we all join him in creating, a “Homegrown National Park,” by reducing our lawns by 50% and growing native plants. This will create wildlife corridors and improve our environment in many ways. The plants will sequester carbon in ways that lawn does not. It will help to save endangered species of insects and birds. It will reduce pollution of our air and water. Who could argue with such an idea?

According to one study, in newer housing developments lawn covers about 92% of space not covered with driveways and buildings. If we were all willing to reduce our lawns and add trees, shrubs and native perennials, that would make a big difference in helping to reduce species extinction of Lepidoptera, birds and small mammals. It does not require eliminating lawn, just reducing it. Think of lawn as area rugs, not wall-to-wall carpeting.

 

What else can you do to help our birds? Add a water feature. Even a small pool with a re-circulating pump will attract birds, especially migrating birds that need water and food for their long journey.

 

Instead of lawn, add native groundcovers. Lawns get compacted by lawnmowers, making it difficult for caterpillars and native bees to burrow in the ground. Most caterpillars pupate in the ground or in leaf litter, but lawns are not suitable. Other than honeybees, most bees burrow into the ground or into decaying wood to lay their eggs and hatch their young.

 

I love the idea of us all of linking our properties together to support our butterflies and bees. You can go to homegrownnationalpark. org to register your property as part of this movement. Thanks!

 

Henry is the author of four gardening books and a UNH Master Gardener. You may reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast. net or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.

If we were all willing to reduce our lawns and add trees, shrubs and native perennials, that would make a big difference in helping to reduce species extinction of Lepidoptera, birds and small mammals.

Copyright © 2021 West Lebanon Valley News 4/21/2021

 

SUNFLOWERS 

32.4 degrees here on the mountain above Peacham Pond and there's no promise of sunshine for the next two days. Rain will turn to snow and by tomorrow we'll have 6" of wet snow to welcome us. The bad weather will include high winds as much as 40 mph so with the heavy snow, loss of electricity and bad travel are guaranteed.

This is the time of year we begin planting some annual flower seeds to transplant in the garden for use as cut flowers.  We start the seeds in flats inside the house  and later move to our small greenhouse when it's warmer and heating costs are lower. We typically hold off until just after Memorial Day to plant outside but in more recent years we have sorted out the weather before getting started. Recurrent cold weather of less than 30 degrees has been more common so it's worth the wait. If you haven't tried sunflowers before, here's an article from Johnnny's Seeds, a seed vendor I have used for +40 years. They have a nice selection. We plant some of the larger varieties along the fences and the road to serve as a customer magnet and then smaller flowered varieties to use in arrangements.   I'm including this advertisement from Johnnys because it's a good, one spot location to see a number of varieties. Johnnys isn't the only sunflower vendor out there, just one I have confidence in.

Savor the Summer with Sunflowers (johnnyseeds.com)

Vegetables

 

FIRST  TIME  VEGETABLE  GROWERS

If you have followed my writings over time, you have heard my praise of Johnny's Selected Seeds. I have used the Maine company for +30 years and have never had a criticism. Their website is an accurate display of everything they sell and the opportunities increase every year. The descriptions and images of vegetable and flower seeds are excellent and you know how many seeds you are ordering whether a packet, an ounce or more.  Flower farmers and vegetable growers,  farmer's market growers, wholesaler growers --name the grower profile and you'll find that they might well purchase seeds from Johnny's. Give them a look-see at https://www.johnnyseeds.com. Unlike some companies I have tried, their germination rates are always accurate.

In more recent times, Johnny's has added a great video library which is ever so helpful to America's new crop of gardeners that has developed since Covid. It's free and easy to use. This morning I found this link that might be of interest if you are planning to grow some vegetables this year.  Garden writer Niki Jabbour chose 8 vegetables to learn about. Since I have committed to growing pickling cukes this year and making my family's very special recipe for Bread and Butter pickles, I was interested in Niki's video on growing cucumbers.  Watch the video and tell me what you think. Her point about replanting for a second crop is important. Also the mention of not letting your cukes get too big as they get bitter and slow down the production of more cucumbers because fruit production slows as some get big and go to seed. 

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/vegetables/8-great-vegetables-for-beginners-from-seed-to-harvest-with-niki-jabbour.html

Happy gardening!

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

ADD SUNFLOWERS IN 2021!

 

 

 A very inexpensive way to add some "vertical" to your gardens at the same time you are adding color is to plant sunflowers.  A package of  4-10  different seed varieties will cost $5-$12 total and the result will be impressive. At the flower farm, I usually buy ten different packages and plant one seed of each variety together in a hole 3" deep. Germination is always better than 90% unless you have a squirrel or chipmunk watching you plant. By the middle to end of July here in Zone 3-4 Vermont, the sunflowers are beginning to show some color which lasts until a hard frost---or a flock of hungry birds looking for fresh seeds.

As I purchase seeds I always try to vary the size of the flower heads I expect to see. That way I have some 8-9 foot tall attention-getters from way across the field as well as plenty of 5" diameter blooms on single stems that I can cut for bouquets. Do this once and you'll wonder why you didn't always include sunflower seeds on your list. Although the seed packages of sunflowers you might find in racks at box stores may seem incredibly inexpensive, sunflower seeds tend to be large and the husks protect them from dehydrating so the price is not only "right" but the varieties will get this project underway at little cost. 

CABIN FEVER GARDENING

 Reposted from my writing in the North Star Monthly, a very old Vermont publication from Danville, Vermont. Subscribe to the journal and always have a piece of Vermont close by. I love it and know you will too!  Enjoy!  George

CABIN   FEVER   GARDENING  

It was clear, bright and beautiful this morning so I decided to go to the flower farm and walk the perimeter to check for animal intruders. I hadn’t seen any deer tracks when I passed by on Route 2 but last year deer came in and ate a couple of dwarf conifers even though I had enclosed them with a wire fence. One experience with any kind of loss will always remind me to check. I know from many reports from customers last spring that I was not alone in seeing some damage from deer. This year, things look good….so far!

 

As I walked along the river, I noticed a pair of cardinals hiding in a wild honeysuckle and later on a small irruption of evening grosbeaks resting in a Katherine Havemeyer lilac before heading for the village where bird feeders are available. I have noticed that the colder temperatures have caused snow and ice to hang on the trees for three weeks now and this has made it more difficult for birds to find their favorite foods. That causes them to move into adjacent fields and appear at feeders. It also has given bird watchers an opportunity to see birds they might not normally see. Snow buntings have been at our feeders this week and despite their hyperactive moods they are nice to see.

 

Covid has kept us inside more than we want so this year it’s more than seasonal affective disorder and deepening snow that reminds us that it’s winter. Cabin fever has kept more than just gardeners inside but there are some things we can do to boost our spirits. We belong to plant societies and online specialty groups for the plants we grow and sell. As example, hostas are an important plant that has always interested us and the American Hosta Society (americanhostasocity.org) is one of the best organized societies I know. I think they have the absolute best journals which arrive twice a year as a published, image packed, journal and then again as an online journal. It costs $30 per year for an individual membership which arrives with a voucher for $15 towards a hosta. I especially look forward to the journals because they have biographical sketches of hybridizers, terrific pictures and stories about display gardens, hosta history, advances in viral testing, and great information on the latest registrations.

 

In addition to hosta journals, I use the online Hosta Library (hostalibrary.org) which is free. It contains summary information, abundant pictures (1000’s) and registration detail on all hostas, registered and unregistered.  It is the best resource I know of for anyone interested in this shade tolerant plant that’s perfect for Vermont gardens. Take a look-see and you will see what I mean.

While at the flower farm I decided to take some lilac cuttings. I usually take them a few weeks after the lilacs have bloomed in June but I read that you can also take cuttings now and root them in sand, covered for the first weeks in plastic wrap or plastic seed tray domes. I took cuttings from 8 lilacs to try this out and I’m being positive about my success. I dipped each one in rooting hormone and then put them in the front room under an eastern facing window. I mist them every day or so. If you have visited us at the farm, you might have seen that we have much of the perimeter dotted with multiples of +20 varieties of lilacs. Each spring by mid-May we have 8-12 varieties for sale if you are interested. The International Lilac Society is a great organization for lilac lovers and it’s very helpful as you learn about growers, retailers and how to grow successfully.

This time of year the larger grocery stores often have primroses in their floral departments. Primulas have become very popular perennial garden flowers in recent years even though they are sold as houseplants too. They come in all colors, bloom for some time and are attention getting, front-of-the-border plants. If you get serious about them, the  American Primrose Society (americanprimrosesociety.org) is a membership you might want to purchase. It publishes 4 information filled journals and can direct you to specialty gardens and retail sources. The Society has just completed its annual seed exchange which is an inexpensive way to purchase primula seeds from around the world to add to your collection.

Garden blogs, garden clubs and societies, plant societies, university and extension service groups as well as a plethora of gardening magazines can help you get through cabin fever. All gardeners are generous with their time and information. Be positive. Have questions? Can’t find something you’re looking for? Need a gift certificate? Drop us a line at vermontflowerfarm@outlook.com. We’re always here to help you grow your green thumb!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WINTER GARDENS

I'm still playing catch up with articles I wrote for the North Star Monthly. Take a look at this really special journal and see if you are interested in subscribing.  

http://www.northstarmonthly.com

WINTER   GARDENS

PLANNING   THROUGH   CRISIS

 

It’s been a cloudy morning here on the mountain above Peacham Pond. At 6 AM, I asked myself “Where’s the sun?” and now at 1 PM, I am asking the same thing. Minor snowflakes float to earth from a gray sky as the temperature holds at 26.8° and birds and red squirrels share the feeders for a late lunch. They seem very happy despite Covid.

 

Each year a company named Pantone® announces its color choices for the upcoming year. They factor in their complete understanding of the psychology of color and come up with colors which influence everything from fashions and home and garden furnishings to the vehicles we drive, and every purchase we surround ourselves with from home to work to vacation and back…including…. the plants we grow. This year the color choices include Pantone Illuminating and Pantone Ultimate Gray. The color descriptions tell it all. “Illuminating is a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warm yellow shade imbued with solar power. Ultimate Gray is emblematic of solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation.” If you scan through gardening or home decorating magazines by late Spring you will see these colors surfacing. New colors make us review our gardens and decide what additions, subtractions or rebuilds we need to make come spring….as the new colors warm us in difficult times despite the fact that in a sense we have been here before. Here’s a thought.

 

Rewind to 1943. America was in the throes of war and times were tough. In some respects, it was different than our current Covid crisis but some of the problems were the same. A broken food supply chain was an example. From the war came the Victory Garden Manual, a book that taught us that gardening was a way to feed ourselves, our friends, neighbors and soliders. We learned what fruits and vegetables would grow in our temperate zone and we were reintroduced to the Universal Food Grinder, the Foley Food Mill, hot bath canners and pressure cookers. Not only did we learn to grow and harvest food but we also learned to put foods by.

 

Now more than 75 years later, 1/3 of American farmers are over retirement age but still working. 6% of all farmers are under age 35. Climate change is upon us, and pollinators, ever so necessary to help with our food production, are in decline. Invasive plants and invasive insects which we have never before seen in such large numbers are prevalent in our backyards. Beetles are taking down red and white pine trees, tamaracks, hemlocks, ashes, sugar maples and beeches. Is positive change possible? Yes, it is! Gardeners by their nature are always changemakers striving for a better tasting fruit or vegetable, earlier and higher production, and resistance to more viral or fungal issues. Gardeners share with us the importance of learning about new plant or seed varieties before we buy and plant them. They learn the right plants for where we live, and the right place to plant respective of sunlight, soil type, hydrology, and the plant’s growth rate to maturity. Gardeners teach us the importance of pollinators and how to grow plants that pollinators can reproduce on while they carry out their work.

 

If you haven’t gardened much before, give it a try. Raised bed or container gardening are two ways to get started. You can add fruit trees or bushes to your property and start that way with blueberries, elderberries, strawberries or apples, pears, or plums. In the process you can expand your backyard bird and animal habitat as your gardens grow. Add vegetables to your perennial flower gardens and consider when your gardens bloom and how to add color from flowers next to the blooms of vegetables you grow to eat. Blueberry bushes planted in flower gardens provide red leaves as fall approaches. Tricolor beets—the reds, oranges and yellows—seeded into flower gardens provide color and textures that contrast with your flowers and grace your table with healthy food. Clumps of purple, pink or white liatris or swaths of 3-foot-tall blue Verbena bonariensis lure all sorts of pollinators and in so doing provide entertainment as you watch them work and learn to identify them one by one. Kids love to learn insects and teaching them early on will encourage their respect for environmental concerns forever. Clumps of grasses such as Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ become floral targets for insects you probably have never seen before while offering 5 foot scapes by year 2.

 

Yes, gardeners and their gardens truly are changemakers. In times such as these, gardens offer a peacefulness, a place of respite, an activity that calms when other news is something to avoid. Give gardening a try! We know you will enjoy it!!