Spacing Hostas

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

I'm heading to the flower farm in minutes and by the end of the day I'll be heading to Maine for a few days starting with time at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay. Before I leave,  I wanted to invite anyone thinking about developing a hosta garden to consider stopping by Vermont Flower Farm in the next week or so to see how I have planted things.

Hostas are easy plants to deal with but it's difficult sometimes to know the mature size. Here in Vermont it takes 5-6 years for most plants to max out and sometimes this is confusing based upon less than accurate registration information regarding mature size. Saying a hosta will be small and finding it's a "small" monster may mean you didn't leave enough room for the mature plant. Planting some variety of  Sum and Substance by the back door may leave you with a nice mental image at planting time but a difficult entrance down the road 4-5 years.  I guess I am just suggesting that any information to use as reference might be useful and our gardens could serve to help.

If you're out and about, stop by and walk down to the display garden. The potted hostas are looking especially nice this year and most all are featured on our website, http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the fog is thick and where Karl the Wonder Dog wants to go for a second walk. 

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

Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Daylilies: Digging, Dividing, Replanting

 Sunday, May 1, 2016

May Day 2016. 36.1° at almost 6 AM, the warmest morning we have had in a couple weeks. The waning crescent moon offers up 35% illumination through thickening clouds as the darkening sky serves in obvious contrast to yesterday's wonderful blue sky and bright sunlight. Yesterday was a busy day at the flower farm and it left us with a few new aches and pains but with a great sense of accomplishment. Friends Julie and Michelle arrived to help, Julie with planting and Michelle with weed whacking. Alex dug and divided daylilies and Gail and I did what we do everyday--a little of everything. I asked Michelle to take some quick shots of Alex and me as we worked up some of the species daylily named Citrina, a tall lemony color with a fragrance to match.

Alex has the "digging" part of this process figured out now and he can get a bunch of daylily clumps out of the ground in short order. We use the black plastic bulb crates from years gone by to carry and lift the clumps to the truck and then we set up by the edge of the field to work off the tailgate and divide the clumps. We always use the 99 cent, throw-away knives that box stores sell so when they get dull they can be tossed away. It's still quite a chore to get through the clumps and Citrina is an example of a tough daylily. These had been in the ground for about 4 years and the clumps weighed about 35-40 pounds each before we started to break them down.

Once the clumps are broken down--usually into quarters, we wash them with water and then throw them into crates based upon size.

                                     

Often when we divide large roots like these Citrina, folks think the roots will die because we are cutting straight through big masses. We usually let them dry off for a couple days before planting and have never had any losses. 

It's an ongoing process but one of many that Alex has picked up with a sense of enthusiasm. I know he is doing well when I hear him singing to himself. Autism is something that never goes away but there are certain things that make daily life better. Alex loves being outside and really enjoys the company of the variety of friends who appear to help us get through spring planting and summer responsibilities.

Everything we do in these pictures follows what we have been doing for years and years so if you are apprehensive about cutting up your daylilies.... with fear of daylily death or destruction... fear not!

You might find yourself a little mud-spattered and wet  during the process, your back might ache a bit from bending and lifting but the end product will be crates, baskets or buckets of divisions that  will bring a certain joy and a few happy smiles. 

Give it a try!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond this morning. Rain is predicted for later today and all day tomorrow so I'm out the door in minutes to get some outside work done. If you stop by the flower farm today and it's raining, we're likely to be in the office getting orders ready for tomorrow's mail. We officially open next Saturday but despite the many things that need to be organized before then, we are open for the season, seven days a week, 9-5 but usually later. Stop and visit!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as George Africa and also as the Like page, Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
Writing on various other social media resources

And always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Thoughts on Hydrangeas

Sunday, April 24, 2016

25.4° this morning and the temperature continues to drop even before the sun has given any thought to rising. Winter was snowless here in Marshfield, not meaning that it never snowed but that it snowed so little I only had to use the truck to plow once and truly that was more of an "I should be plowing by now" affair just after Christmas. Boots lined the utility room by the back door but often they fell over instead of being used.

Now that spring is here we continue to  have this expectation of warmer weather and garden work but after many sunny days, the ceaseless, drying winds have returned along with colder weather. This coming week we have two nights forecast that will be 20° or less. This is not good  for hosta growers such as we are.

This morning as I cruised gardening websites from around the northeast I came upon an excellent article on hydrangeas. Gail, Alex and I have been offering some hydrangeas for 6-7 years now but we never offer the pinks or blues that people often see in gardening magazines and always ask for. We stick to tried and true, cold hardy paniculatas and tell folks our experience with these and why we won't change.

Here is an  excellent article by James Kohut from the blog Northscaping.com. It offers useful information on growing Hydrangea macrophylla, the wonderful mopheads known by their trade name Endless Summer and arriving in pink or blue. The article points out what we have learned. It's not that you cannot grow these hydrangeas in this part of Vermont, but as with everything in life,  you have to work at it and at times you do not succeed. Read on, give it some thought, and if you're still persistent, talk to your area nurseryman or Master Gardener. We're sticking with the paniculatas!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where a waning gibbous moon offers brightness to the night sky. Enjoy the day!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Writing on Facebook as George Africa and also at Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
And always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Pollinators

 Thursday, March 31, 2016

An interesting morning here on the mountain. Now up to 40.9° with a 3 mph breeze.  The sky is clouded over but sunlight is just beginning to emerge. It is supposed to warm to 55°-60° by noon so I am trying to wind up inside chores and get outside. In another two days the temperatures will fall again and I won't be so eager to be outside. 

There has been plenty of discussion in the past 2-3 years about the importance of pollinators. The absence of the monarch butterfly has stimulated the discussion in the east where pockets of butterflies have been obvious but not like their absence in places such as the flower farm a couple years ago. Last summer the total count was about 13 but nothing like 10 years ago. Back then I used orange colored flags to mark off 12 X 50 foot garden plots I was preparing to rototill for daylilies. The monarchs were in good numbers then and they appeared around the garden sitting by or on the flags as if orange flags were their favorite friend. Never since have there been so many. 

 So for my part in a personal "Bring Back The Pollinators" campaign I have begun to plant flowers, some annuals, some perennials, that are proven to me to be pollinator magnets. Yesterday I ordered in three flats of 50 plugs each of  Vernonia noveboracensis, an ironweed sometimes commonly named New York Ironweed. I have never found it growing wild in Vermont but understand there are places in New England where it can be found. It caught my attention several years ago at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens where it was mass planted in groupings of 20-40 plants. It grows to be 6-7-8 feet tall and  that height in a large planting is an impressive standout even for long distance eyes.

This ironweed works well with the equally tall Eupatorium maculatum 'Gateway', any of the 3-4 foot heleniums, the 6-7 foot tall Helianthus 'Lemon Queen' , 5-6 foot tall Veronicastrum, and the 6'-7' tall annual Tithonia commonly referred to as Mexican Sunflower.  Grow some annual Verbena bonariensis in front of the entire mass and I guarantee you will be pleased with the color and will have plenty of butterflies, moths, bees, and hummingbirds to look at.  You do not have to do this all at once, as a plant here, a plant there will spread and get to the same grouping size over time. Just remember the mature sizes of these plants so they match your site.

If you stop by the flower farm this summer, ask me about pollinator plants. I'll point out what we might still have for sale and you can check out the garden plantings too.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where in the time I have written this the temperature has risen 6 degrees and the wind speed one mph. I better get going!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and also as George Africa
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
And always here to help you grow your green thumb!!

Eupatorium Joe Pye Weed

Friday, March 26, 2016

An off and on day that finally settled down in the afternoon and provided sunshine to suggest clearing sky and a nice weekend. This is a picture from last season of our hosta and shade garden. We think it's a very nice place to visit. It's still under construction after 6+ years but many of the hostas are mature at this point  and offer a first-hand look at where you will be in a few years if you start with a plant in a one gallon pot.

In 2011, we had three different floods on this property. Hostas can take a great deal of abuse including water as long as it finally subsides which it did. The real problem with the flooding was the introduction of millions of weed seeds. Some of these came from high in the watershed either up towards Walden or over towards Molly's Falls Pond, maybe even Peacham Pond and further towards the Groton State Forest. We were more fortunate than many farmers along the river that found themselves facing a bazillion new starts of Japanese Knotweed. Our problem has been eupatorium, also known as Joe Pye Weed. The native-to-Vermont eupatorium is a great magnet to pollinators just like the hybrids, but it is a more vigorous grower and it spreads quickly from its root systems and from seeds which are abundant. 

If you happen to live in proximity to a river where knotweed is common, keep vigil in your gardens for eupatorium too. In our image up top here, the eupatorium is the dark green plant, center picture, on the right side. Once it gets established to the size pictured, it is a bear to remove because the roots have taken hold and are already deep. It can be removed, it's just work! It's far easier to get going right away on the seedlings, but do beware that even their roots grow quickly and need persistence to remove.  If you are unfamiliar with eupatorium and want to see it first hand, ask me when you stop by and I'll show you the problem that it creates. 

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the late night is quiet even though the wind continues at 4 mph.

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm

On Facebook as George Africa and also as Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens

Always here to help you grow your green thumb!