Mt. Cuba Center

 Consider a Visit!

For a couple years now I have posted this link to the Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware. My theory has been that maybe some of those heading south for the winter might be going early enough to stop in Delaware if they were not yet familiar with this special horticultural magnet. In the previous years a couple travelers each time thanked me for mentioning it. If you have visited there and have any comments that might encourage people to stop, please post here.

Mt. Cuba Center

Bat Houses

 As winter approaches I begin getting supplies together to build birdhouses for the farm and also the fields and forests at our home property. This recent article from Vt Digger suggests I need to add bat houses to my construction efforts. If you have a source of good house plans, please share with us.

https://vtdigger.org/2021/10/21/vermont-fish-wildlife-wants-to-provide-homes-for-endangered-bats

Gentian and Bumble Bees

 For the past month, Gail has been picking flowers every morning and filling Mason jars with colorful arrangements for visitors to take home for their enjoyment or to pass on to friends. I sold a nice arrangement yesterday and then watched Pay It Forward in action as the customer handed it to a new-to-the-farm young woman with two little kids. So nice!! Lately, the arrangements have included zinnias, Verbena bonariensis, ageratum, 'Lemon Queen' helianthus, vibrant orange-red tithonia and some peony leaves for filler. As we enter further into September it's always a guess as to when an abrupt weather change will bring a single night of frost and many of the annuals will be finished for the year. But as for now we are enjoying the colors and watching various bees fly into our display area and work the flowers in the very same arrangements. We all get along!

I have mentioned writer Mary Holland many times. She comes from down Hartland, Vermont way and she writes about all things nature. I love her writing and always learn something. Today she writes about the relationship between bumble bees and the flower Bottle Gentian. It's worth reading. Earlier this week when I was brush hogging a backwoods road on our Peacham property I noticed that the gentian was in bloom. The wild gentian is shorter than the hybrids but their blue color is so very beautiul I always stop the tractor and just gaze at the blue blossom. If you have a chance to get into the woods soon, keep an eye out for the gentian. We have blue and also white growing wild on our property.

https://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com/2021/09/09/a-win-win-situation/

 

 

 

It's too late to plant them for 2021 but sunflowers might be something you would like to consider for 2022. Here's an article from the University of Connecticut which provides a great summary. I buy ten varieties of sunflower seed every year from my favorite supplier, Johnny's Seeds in Maine and I plant 1 of each variety in a hill together so size, shape and color bloom at different times. Give it a try.

Celebrate the Sunflower! | Uconnladybug's Blog (wordpress.com)

AUGUST HEAT

 

AUGUST   HEAT

I arrived at the flower farm before 5 this morning knowing that it would take several hours to get 11 sections of irrigation lines going before the pump and I began to warm up. It's going well and should be finished by 9 AM. Perennial plants can handle temperature fluctuations but it's the gardeners who have the trouble. During the past couple days, as the temperatures have closed in on 90°,  gardeners and Covid-encouraged would-be gardeners have arrived and have asked if it's too late to plant perennials. My answer is always the same. Plant as you normally would but remember that perennials like people need to be kept hydrated when temperatures rise. I always explain the importance of oversizing the planting hole and being generous with composted materials that are certain to hold moisture from the sky or from your water source. And finally, despite what you might have heard or read, avoid using peat moss out of the bag. First off, it has almost no value to the plants and secondly if it is not thoroughly watered before going into the hole and being mixed with existing soil, it will never absorb water.  Never. I had a gardener do one of those "That's not what I heard!" things the other day regarding peat moss and although I was in the middle of a project I asked him to hold tight while a got a tumbler full of water and a handful of peat moss. I sat it on the table with the peat floating on the water and asked the guy to tour the gardens and when he finished to check what the situation was with the peat moss. Surprisingly his comment was "I never knew that." Still in doubt yourself? Try the experiment.