Memorial Day Reminders

Tuesday, May 30th already and just 5 PM here on the mountain. Guess I came in just in time as the skies just opened and the gentle rain has changed to a heavy pour even though the temperature continues at 79.8. I had planned to get something out this weekend but the first sunny days and a long list of gardening chores kept me away from my computer. That's not to say that I didn't think about the importance of Memorial Day and what it means to me.

Our family believes in service to country and the philosophy of the power of our freedoms were ever present. Both grandfathers and a grandmother served in WWI, my Dad was in the Navy in WWII. He served on the USS Kerney which was torpedoed even before the war started and while on neutrality patrol in the North Atlantic. I lost an uncle in Normandy and another uncle to Viet Nam. I was in a Guard engineering unit and my son was in the Navy. Our freedoms are important to us and we think of them and are thankful for them every single day. We hope you are thankful too!

Memorial Day in Vermont is another signal, kind of a gardener's reminder to changes in weather, less chance of frost and the beginning bloom of some of nature's showiest wildflowers. By now the purple trilliums, Trillium erectum, are about finished even under the big white pines. The painted trilliums look especially good in places although they refuse to group themselves in prominent colonies like the purples and whites. The white grandiflorums are turning pink and light lavender as they fade away--annual reminders to me that it's probably close to Memorial Day.

I have always enjoyed the orchids and I equate Memorial Day weekend with the chance to seek out lady slippers. The pink lady slippers, cypripedium acaule, are out now and knowing that they are available for viewing makes my want to take some pictures....more pictures. For some reason I just really like this flower. To me, finding a new lady slipper is like picking up an arrowhead. I just get a rush as if succeeding at some individual conquest.

The adjacent state parks with their swamps and bogs and waters provide ample viewing space for all wildflowers and the past 4 days have been exceptional. Great waves of clitonia, the so called blue-bead lily, are everywhere. Bunchberries with their perfect white blooms are coloring up on the forest floor and rock tops along the way.....and the list of beautiful flowers and foliage continues.

Spring rains and warm days bring on mushrooms too and I can't forget the job of picking morels. They are the best. Morels to me are kind of like a find of orchids. I might take pictures, I will pick mushrooms, I will tell others about my happiness but I won't tell where I've been. I can't and I won't. Maybe some day in the future but certainly not now. That's just the way it is with me. They are parts of nature and I hold the map. By spending just a little time outside, you can make your own map and enjoy these things too.

So as June approaches get out into nature, reflect on our freedoms and go find some nice wildflowers!

From the mountain above Peacham Pond,

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Trilliums Final Show

Vermont has three different trilliums, which are shared by other New England states. Maine has one addition to this trio that is partial to that state but will grow here, as many trillium will, if they are relocated.

Pictured above is T.undulatum, the painted trillium, which is the last to bloom here. After almost six inches of rain this past week and 3" of that Friday night, these usually bright accents to the forest floor looked waterlogged yesterday morning when I tried to take pictures. Our grandiflorums, the large, pure white trilliums are past peak and the T erectum wine reds have about faded away. Under the large white pine are some interesting T. erectum which have especially large leaves and very wide petals. I haven't figured out the differences but it could be something as simple as the age of the plant and size of the rhizome.

Trilliums are a great woodland garden plant as long as your gardens are prepared for their disappearing act come August. Within days they go dormant and the space they once occupied is obviously bare. This isn't noticeable with small plantings but here we encourage many trilliums planted together so when they are gone, the hole is obvious.

Well before the plants become dormant, the seed pods require daily attention as they mature. Ants are the "great seed dispersal insects" as far as trillium go and that means that you have to beat the insects to the seed pods if you want to expand your collection. Each tiny seed is ellipsoidal in shape and has a fleshy appendage which has an oily texture that ants like to eat. This part is called the elaiosome. You must monitor the seed pods because when the ants know they are prime, they'll clean them out over night. I pick the pods and make a hole in the ground with a finger and then smush the pod before forcing it into the hole in the ground and covering it.

Within my gardens I have some T flexipes seeds planted last year which deserve an inspection soon. I also have some T luteum which Gail bought for me a couple years back. They are in bloom now with their yellow petals. I keep forgetting to get down and smell the flowers to see if I can detect the lemon fragrance which I'm told is obvious. Actually I think the mottled leaves are the strong point of this one. Finally I have some new arrivals, some rhizomes of T pusillum. Pusillum means "small" or "dwarfed", hence the common names "Dwarf" or "Least" Trillium.
Last spring I took some pictures on Bainbridge Island in Washington of some trilliums which I liked. They are the only other trillium I have had the opportunity to see. Nonetheless I feel prividledged to be familiar with 7 of the 43 trilliums native to North American.

Have an interest in trillium? I think Trilliums by Frederick W. Case, Jr and Roberta B. Case is worth the $29.95 new, probably much less than that slightly soiled and used. I take trillium journeys with it trying to figure out where I'd like to go to see and photograph other trilliums. Trillium journeys are good journeys!

From the hill above Peach Pond where final daylight leaves balsam tops on the horizon, and the call of a barred owl across the pond in the maples.

Evenin'

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Hostas Rise Up!

We've always grown hostas at Vermont Flower Farm but it wasn't until about six years ago that visitors began commenting how nice it was to come to a garden with more than the 6-8 hostas common to the many nurseries and garden centers in Vermont. Maybe that was the encouragement we needed to begin a collection and make a serious garden to properly display the mature size of hostas we offer for sale.

Much has changed since then and the shade garden we have established within the confines of an old barn foundation has become our pride as an example of how useful these plants are. The collection exceeds 400 varieties now and it grows annually based on our budget and gifts from other growers. Although there are other collections in Vermont that are 4-5 times as large, ours has a uniqueness because of its setting. Although bordered by the town road, a neighbors place and our driveway, people remind us that they like to get "lost" in the tranquility of the garden. That's a nice reminder to what we will forever work to improve.

Hostas can jump-start your desire to garden in New England because of the way they grow. Snows melt and garden walks while watching and waiting for "something green" are finally rewarded by tiny cracks in the soil and the first green or gold. Early on the lancifolias emerge, gold, green or variegated. Nothing special here except the encouragement that more are on the way. Montana aureomarginata rushes to become number one only to be nailed by spring frosts one or two times before its upward growth succeeds. And then garden sparklers emerge as small Golden Scepter, Chinese Sunrise, Crepe Suzette, Lemon Lime, Platinum Tiara and other small yellows confirm our need to register our happiness with spring. The hostas have arrived!

Here in Marshfield it has rained for 12 days straight. Although the sun is breaking through black clouds over Peacham Pond as I write this morning, it has been a difficult spring for farmers and gardeners. It has been a great spring, however, if you're a hosta. The repeated heavy frosts are long ago forgotten and the grounds were so wet early on that the few nights of mid-twenties air temperature never translated to cold ground temps. The Sieboldiana 'Elegans' hosta pictured above is now 18" tall and ready to unfurl its first leaves with today's sun and warmth. All the hostas are out of the ground and rising upward to visitor's cheers.

Hostas are an easy plant with strong architectural meaning and intent. From tiny 2" tall plants like Popo and Cats Eyes to plants such as Tall Boy, Tenryu, or Krossa Regal with flower scapes in the 5-6-7 foot range, hostas offer more than enough to work with. As the ground warms we try to rake off the left over winter debris including last year's leaves and flower scapes and get it out of the garden. We don't compost this for reuse but spread it instead out back on the open fields where we are encouraging wild blueberries to grow taller and save our backs at harvest time.

When the gardens are cleaned and the hostas are on their way upward, we fertilize with fish emulsion and Epsom Salts. The salts are magnesium sulphate, a salt that was found for hundreds of years in farms and farm houses all over the country. Although its primary use was to soothe aches and pains, it's agricultural value is also important. Additionally, it is used by some as a regular bath for those on the autism spectrum because of some theories about chemical needs (magnesium) and balances. For plants, this salt assists in strong root growth and dark, healthy looking colors while not affecting soil ph levels. Although it is a salt is doesn't burn the plants and the short term changes are quick and obvious.

When the fertilizing is accomplished we try to add an inch or so of last years left-over maple leaves, shredded by the garden vac and left over winter to begin to decompose. The leaves have beneficial bacteria and chemicals and they serve to slow water evaporation. Hostas best fertilizer is water and to insure a nice looking collection, consistent watering and water conservation is essential.

I sure don't have to water anything today but the list of spring chores is still longer than I want to admit. Gail has pancakes cooking in the kitchen and that's a sign that another day calls my attention. I've already seen more sunshine this morning than in two weeks and between the sun and the pancakes, it looks like a welcoming day. Welcome to spring, gardeners, welcome to spring!

From the mountain above Peach Pond, where loons call and the robins are nesting....

Happy gardening!

George Africa
http:vermontflowerfarm.com

Spring Yellows

The rain continued here today but fortunately failed to set +8" records as it has from the southern Maine coast on down to Peabody-Danvers Massachusetts. Mid Vermont saw about 5" and various other pockets received 1.4" or above. The weather radar tonight suggests the weather will continue for another three days.

Gardeners almost always listen to weather reports and read newspaper and online reports to keep tuned in to when they can work outside. I have always liked the Eye on the Sky which is a weather program put on by a couple forecasters working out of the Fairbanks Museum in St Johnsbury, Vermont. Their site is at http://www.fairbanksmuseum.org/eye

The Eye on the Sky does a close job tracking what will happen and since we live only 20 miles from St Johsnbury, the reporting is especially important to us. From late spring through hard frost there is a Farm and Garden Report and a journal of historical accounts. Today for example, they reported that in 1884 there was a giant snowstorm in Newbury, Vermont about 40 miles SE of here. 24-36" of snow fell in that area. Snow in early May is not uncommon but is much less common than a hundred years ago. 2 feet of snow was noteworthy even back then when attention was paid to getting spring farm crops in the ground.

The yellows of spring trees, shrubs and flowers offer plenty to look at. A couple days ago the euphorbias caught my eye. I have always called them spurge and the ones which spread around here must either have been here when we arrived in '89 or moved in by wind, bird or animal. There is a certain group of Vermonters who think they are a fine plant and one they "have to have". The most we'll ever do is point out a shovel and offer a paper bag so they can cart away another less than desirable plant. One of those "eyes of the beholder" things I guess.

These are bright yellow and although the bracts are often thought of as the real flowers, the brightness is like a signal light informing that spring is here. All that shines is not bright and the euphorbias have a milky juice which is latex in nature and in some folks cause a dermatitis much like poison ivy. I remind people to use care until they understand how they are affected but few seem to listen.

As I looked around tonight the euphorbias, my spurges, were bright eye catchers in comparison to the fading daffodils and forsythias. When the first day of warm weather arrives after all this rain, the dandelions will burst open in abundance and become the next eye catcher. For right now I'll just settle for the newness of spring and the smells of a roast chicken dinner calling me to the table.

From the hill above Peacham Pond, where the rain is pounding on the roof and windows,
evening thoughts and best gardening wishes!

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Spring Wildflowers

The native flowers of Vermont provide a nice prelude to summer from the time April snows melt and the ground begins to warm. One that I've enjoyed since childhood is Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis. It's a common spring plant, easily found along the eastern half of the US, and often found growing on shaded hillsides. Here is Vermont it blooms beginning in mid April or into early May depending upon your location. Although I can't find any populations growing on our property, I traded some daylilies for a nice clump last fall and was quite pleased with this year's flowers.

The juice from bloodroot was supposedly used by Native Americans as body paint. Today it is used as a dye for fabrics and yarns by those true to their craft. Getting juices on your hands or clothes serves a reminder for a while so use care. I learned the lesson from picking a bouquet as a kid and then getting yelled at for my stained hands and clothes. Too much yelling back then.

As the plant emerges in the spring, the leaves are tightly wrapped and eventually they emerge to entertain with their beautiful white petals and yellow centers. The flowers open and close each day and an evening photographer like me has to adjust one's schedule to secure a good shot.

At some point I'd like to inquire of an herbalist as to the medicinal uses a couple hundred years ago. In the meantime I'll continue to enjoy that one brief week each spring when bloodroots blossom and black flies emerge to torment anxious gardeners.

Gardening thoughts from the hill above Peacham Pond.

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Peat Moss and May Rains

I worked in Guilford, Vermont today, down below Brattleboro and not far from the Massachusetts border. It was raining when I got there and it was pouring when I left. There are flood warnings for the next day or so and clearly if the rains I left behind are still falling, the threat is real. On the way home I thought about my gardens and how I wish they would green up like what I saw in southern Vermont. Rain makes a big difference.

Mother's Day is this Sunday and for many gift givers, a trip to the local nursery is a regular event. I'll bet a lot of flowering shrubs and trees are purchased as well as roses and other perennials. I'll also bet that a lot of the purchases are planted incorrectly and peat moss is part of the problem.

Gardening advice in magazines, newspapers and advertisements often speaks of the virtues of peat moss and almost make "soil amendments" and "peat" seem synonymous. Folks get the impression that digging a hole and filling with peat is a great way to plant a new prize. This is the furtherest from the truth.

Often when I give gardening talks I grab a handful of dried peat and put it in a half filled quart Mason jar as I begin. When I finish my rambling I point out the peat still floating on the top. I try to show that if peat is not thoroughly wet before going into a planting hole, it will remain dry for another million years. As the roots of the new plant begin to grow, they eventualy reach the dried peat and there they stop. If there is lots of dried peat, many roots meet the same fate and in short order the plant starves and dehydrates.

Some gardeners are hard to convince and they must use peat when they plant anything. Sometimes there are too many "My Dad did it, my Grannie did its". For those I suggest "peat soup", a thorough mix of peat and water stirred well in a big bucket or better yet a wheelbarrow. The soup means the peat is thoroughly wet and it mixes better with the soil originally removed from the hole and any other additives you think belong.

Personally I've seen some evolution in my planting methods over the years and I think the latest is the best. Here at Vermont Flower Farm the soil is very acidic clay soil which refuses to encourage good plant growth. I dig an oversize hole and add maple leaves to the bottom 6" and then add a mix of our compost. There have been times when I've run out and I've purchased from the Vermont Compost Company http://www.vermontcompost.com

A thorough mix of dirt and compost makes all the difference. Peat can be added to the mix, but in moderation and completely mixed in. If you see fellow gardeners dumping whole bags of peat into a hole, become a plant saver and give the "peat-in-the-jar" lesson. You'll help save a plant and make another gardening friend.

Gardening wishes from the hill above Peacham Pond.

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Evening Starbursts!

Gardeners seem to enjoy walking their gardens in the morning or in evening time after dinner. I like the weekends when I can catch both ends of the day. This is especially true in the spring and early summer when so many things are changing. I didn't make it to the lower shade garden yesterday afternoon or this morning so this evening's walk was a surprise. The flowers are jumping through growth spurts and are amazing to watch. If only we'd get some rain, things would look so much better.

The epimediums caught my attention as they circle the standing granite stones. The grandiflorum album stand out with their star shaped flowers. The heavy bud counts mean that there will be blossoms for some time to come. The simple rubrum are heavy with flowers and even though they have creamy yellow centers that stand out, their more rounded petal shape is not as interesting as the shape of the white grandiflorums. Are they star shaped or spider shaped flowers? Look closely at the picture and try to describe the flowers. I find it a difficult task. Perhaps it would be easier if I had studied botany.

Walking along I noticed a new group of hellebores brought on by the soaking from yesterday's watering. Yellows, creams, whites, maroons, all with heavy center spots, all hanging downward
save for one curious yellow flower that looked into the camera for me. I glanced back to the epimedium, back to the hellebores. Which do I like the best?

The evening sky is blackening as a storm approaches. The sound of the fire trucks in the background is lightening a bit so the drill must be over. The local volunteers come a couple times a year and pump from the dry hydrant that enters the trout pond. They shoot plumes of water 200 feet into the air. Never once have I seen a trout go flying by and that is good because the little ones cost $1.85 a piece. I add 50 per year--25 brookies and 25 rainbows and I prefer they don't learn to fly.

The European gingers have fleshed out nicely and the tiny yellow of immature Hosta 'Green Eyes ' is an attraction with such a bright yellow. Lemon Lime and Venusta are barely poking through the earth but by week's end they will probably be an inch tall. Little hosta are nice!

Time to end the walk as darkness is coming fast. Perhaps the weeds are growing as fast as the hostas. One thing is clear though. Heavy watering up until frost time sure made a difference with the size of the hostas coming through the ground this year. If I can catch up on other chores this weekend I'll add a little fertilizer to the water and really watch them grow. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy the sights of spring and the voices and sounds of the male hummingbirds, home to Marshfield at last, to build nests in the white pines and enjoy the flowers at Vermont Flower Farm.

Enjoy the evening. Walk your gardens as often as you can.

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Warm rains and black flies

The day dawned early today with little fog, a clear sky above and a temperature already in the sixties. A surprise for us and and a welcome sight as there's much to do over the next few days. Gail will be busy planting and continuing to get things organized. The gardens still look messy from last fall's as yet unraked leaves. It's always a mystery how we can rake and vacuum so many leaves each fall and still have truckloads more each spring. We compost them all so it's no loss, just very time consuming.

Maple leaves seem to have some special component which encourages growth when we include them in each hole we plant. One time I was told that's because maple trees have a very long root system and the roots draw minor elements from down deep. I don't know that it's true but it makes for a nice thought.

The hellbores continue to produce more flowers like the one I have included here. Despite the recent rains I put the sprinkler on the foundation garden yesterday and by nightfall more hellebores were in bloom including some pure white this time. I think I'll move some to the foundation headwall so they can be seen looking up. Crawling on hands and knees and turning petal cups skyward to see the beuaty is a bit of a chore.

The bloodroots came out yesterday. I noticed them open in their glory around noon but by the time I returned with my camera at 5:30 they had already closed shop for the day. They have a special personality and show that they are in charge. We don't have any growing wild around here but I have always loved them since growing up in Woodstock where they abound. An elderly man and his wife who attended a talk last year heard me say I liked them and brought a gallon pot full in trade for a couple daylilies. I think he was happy with the trade.... I know I am. They are the single variety.

The young bear spotted at the edge of our property the other night has found the area too good to leave as it was spotted again yesterday. I'm not sure what it is finding to eat that's keeping it here. I guess I removed the bird feeders just in time. A neighbor at the pond reported that the osprey I was enjoying so much last weekend has moved to his place at the Peacham Pond fishing access. The Fish and Wildlife folks stocked the pond as they do every year. They used to take the hatchery fish out into the pond and dump them in but now the trucks unload at the fishing access. The fish stay there for several days before they figure out they really are swimming in 360 acres of water. Chuck says the osprey is having no trouble finding a meal. At least the trout in the pond here at the house are spared for a while.

We received another hosta order yesterday from a friend in Wisconsin. There are dozens of hosta dealers on the Internet but Northern Grown Perennials has some nice looking stock. They also sell some great looking daylily roots. I have five plants of Komodo Dragon filling a five gallon bucket and they'll get planted later today. I wish I had bought them last year so they would stop visitors like the giant Sum and Substance, Parhelion and Lady Isobel do. Only so much time each day and I guess that's a reminder to get going here. Hope your day and weekend are pleasant. If for some reason you can't get out and walk your gardens, go to our website and check out the Virtual Tour links. These are just pictures of our gardens over the years but some are special.

So with great gardening wishes, be well and go plant something!

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Misty May Morn'

May has arrived and added confusion to the weatherman's work. It's been no lower than 51.5 degrees all night. At 3 a.m. when the dog wanted to go out, the warm mist was impressive, and made it difficult for the light from the power pole lamp to shine through.

The dog was more occupied by bouncing frogs, lazy toads and nightcrawlers everywhere than he was in doing what I suspected he had us out there for. He walked cautiously, holding his nose high as if trying to home in on a strange scent of something that did not belong around the house. Spring rains encourage many animals to travel and our home is situated in the middle of a historical animal trail. Last evening a neighbor stopped his truck in the middle of the road and got out to say a bear had just crossed in front of him by the upper mailboxes. I inquired if it was a "good one". He replied that it was young judging from its prominent ears. Perhaps the dog caught a smell of the bear looking for our birdfeeders, absent from their winter stand for a week now.

It's been a busy week for us at Vermont Flower Farm. I've been busy away from here but Gail and a couple helpers braved the rain and wind and plugged away at the plants. New orders have arrived and are potted save for a couple more boxes of hostas. Now we are settled on digging and potting from the fields and lining up and refreshing last year's plants. Most overwintered very well but the red voles raised havoc again with some of the potted bulbs and a few of the ferns.

Spring is an exciting time when each day is different from the previous one. Sunday morning I looked out the window towards the trout pond and thought for a minute a dog had jumped in for a swim. There was great and wavy commotion for such a little pond. Then at the far end, a large male otter climbed out of the water, shook for a brief moment and headed into the woods. They are a masterful critter in the water but my mind was more on the trout count than the otter. I couldn't tell if he had lunch at my expense.

During Friday and Saturday a male osprey circled overhead, eyeing the pond and trying to decide whether to dive in for a meal. He never did which is a surprise as the trout are plentiful and the water in most places isn't that deep. I enjoy watching him in flight and hope he returns.

The woods are changing quickly. Various ferns are growing by the minute with the recent rain and warm weather. The hellebores are nice and remind me I need to plant more. I'll snap a photo soon and share their beauty. I do wish they didn't hang down so much but that's their nature. The Canadense and European Gingers are refreshing themselves with new leaves, the arisaemas are sprouting high and the baneberries are well started. And then there are the epimediums, just such an enjoyable flower quite unknown to many. E. rubrum is out now and the multitudes of dainty flowers slows the garden journey to a halt. They remind me of the many varieties left to come.

Today I'll pot a dozen tomatoes and put them in the greenhouse to grow larger. Piles of leaves have to be moved out of the gardens and the rest of the hosta pots have to be freed of weeds before they catch hold, fertilized and lined up for the season. Yesterday's delivery was a 20 X 30 foot shade house which will serve to protect the smaller hostas from late August temperatures. Sure wish some good friend would arrive and put it together for me.

That's all for now. Good gardening wishes from the hill above Peacham Pond!

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Morning walks

A beautiful day here above Peacham Pond. The sunrise was a surprise because even though it's crisp and clear out, the sun rose as a burst of yellow, rising quickly between the mountains. Last night's 25.7 degrees should soon be heading towards 50 as there's no wind this morning. At 6 o'clock the loons were calling back and forth between the reservoir and Peacham. I hear them daily until just before the ponds freeze again but still don't know what they are saying. Their calls remain an ancient mystery to me. Spring fever is evident in the downy woodpeckers and sapsuckers as the males continue to entertain their companions with special dances and splayed tail feathers.

Garden walks in the morning are better than any other time. The light is most clear then, and personal mind and sight are fresh from sleep and more open to processing new sights and sounds. The mornings are still cold now but later on, the night's dew will decorate leaves and flowers differently each day and new sights will become a daily challenge to find and enjoy.

Spring flowers come quickly now and each day brings more leaves and flowers. The Trillium grandiflorum are forming white buds, the hepaticas are in full bloom, and the common primulas have been in bloom for a week. Some of the epimediums are quickly growing new leaves and flowers simultaneously. Their flowers are difficult for me to describe and more difficult to take my eyes from. They are one of my favorite plants, a fairly new introduction to collections here and one plant that will continue in my favor.

I stopped for a moment this morning to look at the vernal spring adjacent to the standing stones.This is on the perimieter of the lower shade garden, towards the field. Some years this spring holds water into July but this year it won't make it. The water table is much lower now due to a dry winter. The spring was so erratic this year that even the peepers avoided laying eggs. I think I should build a bench of sorts so folks can stop and view the mass of boulders cast around the depression by farmers from past centuries as they cleared the fields of our ever abundant "glacial erratics".

Time is wasting, I thought. Have to get to work while the weather is so good. Just a quick stop in the peony nursery to check P. smouthi. Peonies are a great plant which gardeners are beginning to find out about again. We have over a hundred varieties in our collection now and probably have close to 200 plants, maybe more. I really like Smouthi because it is early to set buds and bloom and it has some great looking fern leaf foliage. It's a single red dating from Smout-Malines in 1843. It looks great this morning with 7 buds and more probable. I have to remember to bring down a piece of fence and surround it. For some reason, it ranks number one with the deer and previous years it's been cut back to the ground before we can enjoy it. Gardening in the spring is a busy time. Our intentions are fine, our accomplishments often off target a bit. Morning stroll journeys in the garden provide a regular opportunity to review and enjoy. This was great!

Better get to work!

George Africa
http:vermontflowerfarm.com

Mullein of Many Names

As I walked around before supper, wishing it was warmer but knowing it was raw and cold, I noticed an occasional mullein here and there on the side bank. The soil there is about worthless but it has what it takes to grow some interesting wild plants.

There was a time when I was pretty good at remembering a large variety of herbs but today's recall of mullein left me wondering. I resorted to our collection of horticultural books and this in itself created just another mystery. After sorting through three books, I pulled out Euell Gibbons Stalking The Healthful Herbs from 1966. Some memories there. I located the chapter on mulleins, 35. Great Mullein or Velvet Dock (VerbascumThapsus) p. 224. Fumbling around, I dropped the book to the floor and when I picked it up, I opened to the title page. There was an ink sketch of a flower and a note written on the page: "Gail-May you ever walk in harmony with the plants of the earth.....In joy and infinite love. Sue"

I read the inscription a few times. Who was Sue? This was Gail's book and knowing that Euell Gibbons books were long ago replaced on her reading list, I inquired "Who was Sue?" The mystery continued. Sue-Sue-Sue-Sue Who? Who was Sue? This went on for what seemed like ages and then came the brillance of a light turning on. Gail remembered--well kinda. Sue was a friend from high school days +30 years ago. She was a talented artist who moved to British Columbia to go to college. Was she still there?.....yet another mystery.

So mullein, the plant of many names, has a history of use as a cough medicine and an expectorant. Gibbons mentions a long list of common names begining with "flannel leaf, beggar's blanket, Adam's flannel, velvet plant, feltwort, bullock's lungwort, clown's lungwort, Cuddy's lungs, tinder plant, rag paper, candlewick plant and witch's candle." He lists other names too.

I remember pulling the old flower stalks, often 5-6 feet tall from the pastures and using them to keep the cows heading back to the barn. They also remind me of the domestic plant, Lamb's Ear, which we brought here from Burlington years ago. I think it lasted about 4-5 years and then one year succumbed to too many freeze-thaw cycles.

If you enjoy native plants and like to hike around like we do, a really great little pocket guide to consider is Wildflowers of Vermont by Kate Carter. The waterproof cover points out that the book details "255 wildflowers from Vermont's trailsides, roadsides, alpine summits, woodlands & bogs" . What I like is the book fits nicely into your pocket and is color coded by the flower color so you don't have to have a clue about what you're looking at to finalize the identification. A neat book by Cotton Brook Publications, Waterbury Center, Vermont. Gail gave me my copy for my birthday. No inscription like in the Gibbons book, just Kate Carter's signature. Where is Sue anyway?

From the hill above Peacham Pond
Evening wishes,

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Cirsium vulgare, beware!

Time seems to fly by once the snows have melted and our flower gardens experience their annual rebirth. There is so much to do to get the nursery ready for summer and no matter how well we plan or how hard we work, nature's interruptions set us back a few days here, a few hours there.

Gail was planting Oriental lilies this afternoon. She almost always works outside at a table crudely constructed of 6 bags of potting mix and a sheet of plywood. She worked her way through 25 Farolito lilies and 25 Casa Blancas and just finished 50 Souvenir before I got home from work. Her timing was perfect as the skies had darked and rain was eminent.

I brought in groceries and some homework and Gail threw together a box of plant labels, a packing list and two coffee cups covered with Pro Mix. Her day was over and although I wanted to do some potting myself, the rain-sleet mix suggested I consider something else. With a cup of fresh coffee,I checked our website for activity and reviewed my ever growing list of things to do.

Two years ago we built an additon to our little house. It is a 28 foot addition which includes a small office and a porch-like room. It has a Vermont Castings woodstove and great cottage style windows for easy views towards Hooker Mountain and the mountains surrounding Peacham Pond. It's a pleasant place to contemplate garden chores and look out at some of our gardens.

In front of the windows is a steep bank which we planted with 7 varieties of spirea, each a different height and color. We interplanted with over 1000 daffodils which have grown well and are now coming into bloom. It's a comforting view.

For a minute I convinced myself that the rain and sleet had stopped. I put fresh batteries in the camera and headed out for a few shots. There was more wind than I thought and the daffodils floated back and forth, wavying whites and creams and yellows. No use trying to photograph those, I thought.

My eye caught the yellow of the 6' X 8' forsythia in full bloom. It had been in bloom for over a week now and unlike some years, the entire shrub remained a mass of color. This was the first year it had bloomed like this, perhaps because of the winter, or lack of winter we experienced. I thought of the flower arrangement Gail had made for the kitchen table. Three varieties of daffodils mixed with sprays of forsythia in a round, green, hand blown glass vase. A temporary work of art to remember.

As I looked at the daffodils, my eyes fixed on a garden infiltrator, Cirsium vulgare, the Bull Thistle. Where do these things come from? Clearly they had been here last year and had been overlooked. There's one, there's another. Such symmetry! They aren't a very nice visitor, as dead or alive they are tricky to handle. I wondered if I had any cider vinegar left. I began using vinegar a couple years ago as a weed killer and is works well on thistles. A job for the next warm day I thought.

The roast chicken smells delicious. Must be almost done. Time for dinner.

Be well!

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Spring colors

Spring is different every year and this year is clearly no exception. Some things are early, some are late, some haven't even arrived yet. It's still been a fine spring after a very dry winter.

By now the cowbirds and red wing blackbirds should have been here. Our token cowbird is not a representation of "being here" and I haven't seen flocks of blackbirds along the Winooski River yet as I usually do. A neighbor told me his adnonis, a yellow buttercup-like flower with fern type leaves has come and gone. Last year this time I took pictures of some in full bloom in a bed of snowflakes. Not so this year.

Cardinals, a favorite bird with us, never stay here during the summer but they always visit this time of year, encouraging our hopes with their nice songs. So far there aren't any cardinal songs although they can regularly be heard in Marshfield village which is probably 500 feet lower in elevation than we are.

The hellebores are in bloom and their colors please us. These are less than exotic as their flowers hang down, hiding the beauty and intracasies of their blooms. This is another flower I have tried to avoid becoming more interested in because I really do like them---and I really do have enough things going on right now. If you think you want to try hellebores, search for my friend Barry Glick at Sunshine Farm in West Virginia http://www.sunfarm.com

In the larger gardens, hundreds of daffodils, narcissus and scilla are beginning to bloom. Rains are on the way and they will jump start the spring bulbs. And as the flowers grow, so does the palette of colors. Spring is nice!

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Links of chain

It was cold and dark this morning with the skies spitting pieces of sleet and intermittent snow flakes. I hadn't been fooled by previous weeks of warm weather and the nicer signs of spring but like many, I had hoped the mild days would continue. As I came around the corner of the lower woods road, a grouse ran through, did a half circle, took a glance my way and scooted into the balsams.

I walked up the road checking for deer and moose tracks. No fresh moose tracks today but the usual deer sign showed movement from the valley floor up to our seculded fields. Recent rains have encouraged the grass to grow and although it is always a poor crop, it's the best there is in these parts this time of year.

I made it to the old barn foundation garden and as I always do, I entered the front, moving slowly and looking for signs of unfurled hosta and wildflower leaves breaking ground. Save for a few bunchberry stems, there were none. I sat on the granite bench a neighbor had made for us, and listened to the silence. The sun would be rising soon, I thought, as the birds had begun their morning chorus.

Lots of work left to get the garden ready, I thought. I had already raked the leaves off the beds and into the walkways. The accumulation of downed branches from January's storm would take time to remove. The northeast corner of the foundation wall still had a foot of ice and snow welding piles of leaves to the garden floor. It would be another week or two before they would thaw. The little display pond was ice-free but filled with leaves and twigs. Apparently, it was still too cold for the spring peepers, as the water surface didn't move.

My eyes focused on an old piece of chain I dug out of the cellar hole. Eight beautiful old links of pitted and rusted iron....left I surmise, from the days when the foundation was built. Moving large stone takes levers and rollers and pry bars, man and animal power...and sometimes even chains. I could be wrong about its use but I'm certain the bigger part of it remains a mystery, still missing....perhaps buried right here. Eight links would not have been much use except perhaps to hold a rope hoist to the barn rafters and secure a beef or pig butchered and spread on a whipple tree, hanging to drip. Chains have many uses......but eight links?

In the distance, I could hear the sound of the route driver for my Sunday paper. He's new and I haven't met him yet. His muddy truck sounds as if it is missing the muffler, perhaps another victim of mud season. I'll meet the driver sometime soon, but for now...........a cup of coffee.

Be well.

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Spring rains, spring flowers

Mornin' from Marshfield! 50.7 degrees now as a gentle and much needed rain begins to fall. I've been away for a few days and there is a lot to catch up on. The greening grass, the calls of loons just back to Peacham Pond and the sight of the first blue heron all suggest the early spring will continue. The lone cowbird and the absence of red winged blackbirds remains a mystery.

The ice left Peacham Pond on Wednesday and that's a couple weeks earlier than the April 28 average. Although the water level is still low, the power company will probably be closing up the dam gates and the level will rise quickly over the next couple weeks.

Each spring is somehow different. The first spring we were here in Marshfield, the spring of 1990, Gail's Dad planted his peas on April 1st. It's never happened that way since. On April 23, 2001 we had 8" of fresh snow a day after we had planted 1500 lilies into gallon pots. On April 28th, 2003 about 4" of wet snow covered everything for a couple days and slowed down our spring planting. Keeping a garden journal is a good reminder to the past as well as things we should do that sometimes are escape us.

I was outside early this morning setting up the hoses on the lower hosta garden for the first time. I waited impatiently for rain but there hasn't been enough to suit me. Last year I waited and I paid the price with some less than admirable looking hosta. This is a plant that loves water, in fact water is said to be the best fertilizer. Dry springs, absent of sufficent rain to really get to the roots, shows itself weeks later when the leaves dehydrate ahead of time and brown and tear at the edges. One of my favorites is Regal Splendor, a vase shaped sport of Krossa Regal. Last year the creamy edges cracked and tore early and once that happens the beauty of the plant is lost for the season.

As I set up the hoses I noticed some damage from voles this winter. There is all kinds of information available about these little critters and I avoid the controversy of moles, voles, mice and who eats what, damages what, and so on. Fact is I could see too many holes among the hostas and pieces of root mass on the top of the ground.....chewed leftovers from sometime this winter. Hopefully a thorough watering will bring them around.

Time to get going here. The list is long. The rain is now falling hard enough that it was like turning off the switch on the voices of the spring peepers who carried on all night as they do when the temperature stays above 45. Already I miss their voices as nature's music is kind of nice. Off to the garden..Be well!

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Building a Garden

Another beautiful spring day making everyone want to be outside enjoying the warmth and sunshine. I wanted to get home early to do some raking but things didn't turn out that way. I've been trying to get the leaves and branches collected in the "lower garden" but as usual, it's a bigger task than I want it to be. I sat on the garden bench with a cup of cold coffee and enjoyed the sun.

Close by the bench is the old barn foundation within which I started a shade garden several years back. The granite and fieldstone slabs pay homage to the strength of the past when men and animals accepted the burden of this type construction and labored on for weeks as a foundation moved into place.

At the end of one of the front walls is a flat rock that just seemed a natural place to toss things I found during the garden building process. Some the the metal shapes offer no idea of their origin but the collection of hand wrought nails of various sizes is very interesting. No need for nails in the current theme of construction but just the thought of history-past weighs more obviously when you grasp a hand-made nail and think back in time. I guess these "found" nails hold part of my mental garden history together.

This is an interesting garden and building it has been fun. The first part was more laborious as the foundation had become a dumping ground for rocks and trash. The foundation was close to the Peacham Pond Road and it afforded an easy place to off-load unwanted property in the days before we moved here. I became friends with the crew at the landfill for a time when cleaning up the mess was the first priority and trips with a loaded pick-up were frequent.

Using stone in garden construction is so very rewarding but it requires some thought ahead of time. Stones rarely move themselves and some are larger than others. Calculating each move in advance cuts down on the work. Crude tools to enhance mechanical advantage also come in handy--a 6 foot pry bar, some wooden blocks for fulcrums and some iron pipes in 2"-3"-4" diameters to use as rollers.

Folks often ask where I learned to do this. There really was no course to take, no book to read, no mentor for me. It was more a mix of time and trial.....and a plan. As I sat on the garden bench I reminded myself of the garden plan which had come this far. Today I saw some buds starting to show on the European ginger; the hellebores are forcing their first new shoots out of the cold ground; a few lone Trillium grandiflorum are breaking ground. My plan is well underway but long from finished. History covers time.

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com

Almost 8 PM and the light is almost gone. One robin is running across the lower field looking for a last bite. It's been a busy day! I sat here at the computer at 5 this morning watching the sun rise up from the valley. The morning was clear and it had every indication of being the great day it turned out to be.

As I scanned pictures of last year's gardens, I ran across this one of our driveway. It's only a driveway when flowers aren't in season. Beginning about the first week of July when the first lilies begin to bloom and continuing on until about Labor Day, the colors are warm and inviting and pots fill the drive save for a small area we leave to handle 3-4 cars. This picture represents a time we really enjoy at Vermont Flower Farm.

This morning was pleasant but cold to start. Last night's drop in temperature caused the pond to skim over with a fresh layer of ice. As I enjoyed my coffee I caught a glance of a dark brown mink at the edge of the pond. He seemed upset that he couldn't enter the water for a fine trout breakfast but that didn't hurt my feelings. Each spring just as it did late Friday afternoon, a strong wind breaks up the last of the winter ice on the pond. The pieces tinkle as they slide into each other and then they melt away.... only to come again a few more times until May rains warm the water. This is the time we typically see mink or maybe an otter traveling overland. They are fun to watch but as they leave I always wonder how many trout are missing.

Today it was time to uncover the pots we had carried over from last year. There were about 6000 this year, too many according to Gail. In the fall we line up the pots, ten abreast in rows 50-60-70-80 feet long. Then we cover them with a spun fiber insulating blanket and a piece of construction poly to keep the water out. Tree boughs top off the plastic to hold it in place and catch and hold snow to further insulate.

I had started this uncovering project a week earlier but the woods road muddied up quickly and I had to wait for it to dry a bit. Today was a good day to remove the rest of the boughs and errant tree limbs from the bad storm back in December. It took four large loads but the task is done.

My curiosity won't ever leave me alone and I had to uncover the lilies to see how they fared. I curled back a corner of the insulating cloth and the evidence was clear that the vole population must be healthy. Some pots looked as if a strong hand reached straight into the center of the pot and grabbed out the lily bulb and soil. Voles are small but they have an interest in the sweet sugars contained in lily bulbs. I can't say that I like them even though I rarely see them. Why do they eat the most expensive lilies first? Wouldn't a $2 lily bulb taste just as good as a $20 bulb? Guess I'm not a vole. Hope you enjoyed today too!

It seems like ages ago when the tall Orienpet lilies stood 7 feet tall and towered above the other flowers. Perhaps their name "The Empress" was appropriate to their strength and stature, all the while in contradiction to their role as chief hummingbird perch for the ruby throats. The tiny birds stake these lilies out as they catch their breath before feeding again on the bright red monardas, known to many as bee balm.

Welcome to the Vermont Gardener

It's a blustery day here on the hill above Peacham Pond. It's still too cold to get outside to work in the gardens but it's a good time to begin The Vermont Gardener. Here at Vermont Flower Farm, flowers are our specialty. We've been growing flowers since the early 80's and although our interests have changed over the years, we have arrived at an outstanding collection of astilbes, daylilies, lilium and hostas plus some great shade plants. During the evolution of this blog, we'll post pictures of how the gardens develop and the varieties grow. Chances are good that you'll be interested and want to keep coming back.

We hope that as you visit and exchange thoughts, questions and pictures with us, you'll get a sense of gardening in Vermont, the people who visit us here and the gardens that interest us. One of our fondest and most popular gardens is a shade garden built within the granite and fieldstone walls of an old barn foundation. We left the wildflowers we found growing there as design anchors to the plants we added. Now, as this particular garden enters it's seventh year, hundreds of different hostas combine with epimediums, hellebores, cimicifugas, ligularias, rodgersias, primulas, ferns, baneberries, arisaemas and false solomon seal. It's a picture to remember!

So thanks for joining us on our gardening journey.

George Africa
http://vermontflowerfarm.com