First Snow

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Returned home late yesterday, but fully aware that a big storm was coming. It was billed as a possible nor'easter and I knew that this time of year that could mean about anything. One forecaster had the Adirondacks of New York lined up with 12-14 inches of snow and high winds so I decided I'd try one last time to grab a few pictures and enjoy the fall scene.

The list of things to clean up in the gardens before serious snow arrives is quite long and this apparently is not the year to challenge Mother Nature. That reminder was confirmed when Vermont Public Radio mentioned a major storm of over a foot of snow on the same day in 1952. Although quite young, I remember that year well because that was when we were fairly new to Vermont and depended on a vegetable garden for food. Let me leave it that there was just not a lot to go around. Unlike the melting snow, those memories have never left me.

I changed quickly and got Karl the Wonder Dog and the camera and away we went with Karl's nose pointed out the truck window, sniffing and snorting fall smells of interest. We arrived down at Ethan Allen Corners and the view I wanted was perfect, although the rain didn't help the photographer much. The tamaracks are a beautiful yellow right now and they contrast against the rusty browns and yellows of the swamp grass. This valley opens with wildlife this time of year as large game cross back and forth and waterfowl follow the small stream southwest to where it meets the Winooski River. This is an area that makes you want to stop and stare and enjoy.

We turned around and headed back home as I wanted to walk the shade garden again. That garden has been a part of me since I began to build it years ago. It presents a tranquility, a peacefulness that I thrive on. I miss it when I can't find the time to enjoy it.

We made it to the garden bench and I spread out my jacket and sat down. Karl chased a chipmunk that was missing an inch of his tail. Rain fell, but the smell of the leaves on the air was refreshing just the same. In front of me were dozens of hostas, topless and well trimmed. Deer on fall maneuvers had diligently eaten each leaf, flower scape and seed pod, leaving only spiky looking affairs that could have served as models to Dale Chihuly's beautiful glass art. Oh those deer...what an unusual relationship I have with them!

I couldn't sit as long as I wanted. Karl was impatient and I wanted to walk a little more. The power of the granite foundation blocks looked stronger than ever, their color enhanced by the rain. The Christmas Ferns were beautiful and the adjacent groupings of European Ginger contrasted so well with the fallen maple leaves.


As Karl and I walked up out of the sunken garden, the Japanese primroses and the various hellebores were obvious. The wet summer days had set the year's seed crop well and gave last year's new plants a good jump start. Next spring Gail will have a good selection to dig and pot for sales.

We reached the yard and I noticed a crab apple tree shaking with a flock of robins devouring the seeded fruits.For some reason a line from an old Johnny Cash song came back to me, not the song's name, not the whole line, just a piece, hopefully correct, kind of appropriate to the view.

"Did you ever see a robin weep, when leaves begin to die?"

We grabbed the mail out of the box, waved to a passing neighbor and headed for the house. Our brief mission was complete.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where geese are resting for the night, hopeful for clear skies tomorrow.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Drying Hydrangeas

Sunday, October 26, 2008

5:30 PM and the sun already slid over the mountain and the high 50's temperatures that made today so nice are down to 42 already. Two beautiful Sundays in a row have given us an opportunity to scratch off a couple more things from the fall clean up list. My problem was the "us" fell apart after lunch and left me to work on alone. Gail and Alex headed to Studio Place Arts
in Barre to hear a lecture. Stephen Bissette, an instructor and consultant for The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Jct, Vt, was offering Ghosts, Graphic Novels, Manga and Comics: An Introduction to the Medium.

For those who don't know, Alex is our favorite home schooler and one of his pursuits is drawing. His comics always involve our current and past two dogs, Barney, Baker and Karl, and always are drawn in black and white. Humans are absent from Alex's cartoons as the dogs carry out human type conversations with a perspective of dog sense. Anyho-o-o-o-o, in their absense, I finished the afternoon off at the nursery repairing some fence and tightening a couple pieces that had moose stretches.

It's too late here in Vermont for this suggestion but the hydrangea up top here was supposed to be a reminder a couple months back that if you enjoy your hydrangeas in the garden, you can easily enjoy them in the house once they are dried. And the drying part is easy. Pick your hydrangeas early on when they are fresh and perky. Place them in a vase with a couple inches of water. When they have taken in all the water and the vase is dry, the hydrangeas will be dry themselves and they will keep as long as you want. This makes them attractive in dried arrangements or in an arrangement just by themselves. With all the different hydrangeas on the market how, you have a good selection. Currently I am studying them as I want to carry some at our nursery next year, regardless of what the economy is doing. Right now I am gathering info on hardiness so if any of you can recommend zone 4a and 3 hardy hydrangeas, let me know.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the robins are in flocks going nowhere but to the crab apples. Sargent crab apple, Malus 'sargentii', gets my vote. White flowers in spring, dark foliage in summer and small dark red fruit in fall allowing seed-loving birds a place to dine. Right now the robins are using a menu with only one item but they are certainly chowing down!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Making New Beds

Aster 'Alma potschke' still blooming

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Getting late already and I haven't come close to the list of things which have to be accomplished before my head hits the pillow. One of the girls next door just left. 16 years old today and she had printer problems finishing up a school paper. The interruption was brief and it was fine as she's a good kid--but it was an interruption.

After work today Karl the Wonder Dog and I headed to the nursery to pull the water pump for the winter. Next year when I finally get an insulated pump house built, this whole procedure won't be necessary but for this year there is no choice. It's a half horse shallow well pump that sits atop a pressure tank and neither of those would fare well at 25 degrees below zero. The advent of winter strongly suggests precautionary measures when it comes to water pumps and faucets, water lines and irrigation.

We got to the nursery just after 4 and I took Karl for his regular perimeter walk. I really didn't want to spend so much time but he had been cooped up today as Gail and Alex had headed for Burlington before noon. As we returned to the truck, he refused to get back inside and he ran around in circles at top speed challenging with nips and barking sounds of "This is fun, this is fun." Dogs which misbehave bug me and I wasn't in the mood for another walk. Then I remembered he had been by himself until I came home, he does enjoy the smells of autumn and we are really friends.

It took an hour to disconnect the electric, and unplumb and drain everything but that was easy compared to carrying the pump up the clay-slick river bank to the truck. I secured it with some spaghetti straps and then sat in the truck with Karl, having a bottle of water and catching my breath. As I looked across the field, it was instant gratification of what we accomplished this year.

Just last week the new daylily plots had turned yellow and I began tilling them. Since these plots were closer to the river than the 24 I made last year, the tilling was easier as the soil is more loan, less clay. Just the same it took dozens of repetitions to begin to get things in shape. The 30 horse tractor is not a big rig but it plugs along and does a nice job. Although the weather prediction is for 1"-3" of white stuff tonight, I still have time to spread calcium sulphate over all this new work and then re-till one more time before serious snow arrives and accumulates.

Calcium sulphate is the miracle worker for breaking down the clay soil. It is an acid and that means that when the job is done I'll have to balance back to where I want to be, ph-wise. No matter to me as it's good stuff and it works better than anything I have ever seen. I spread by hand so I'll be talking to myself a bunch before that's over, perhaps accompanied by some I pod tunes and thoughts of next year. For right now, good thoughts are sufficient!



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Karl and I passed a sow bear and two cubs on the way home tonight. I'm thinking this was the same family that was here last night which translates to a walking tour of 3-5 miles for them since last night. I don't talk to bears unless I have to and I am pleased to say that none have ever spoken to me.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm A website about our business and how we build thoughts and gardens

As a PS: Give Bernd Heinrich a read if you want to know what bears and other creatures do this time of year. His book, Winter World, The Ingenuity of Animal Survival is great!

Blog Action Day: Poverty 2008

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

If you have been following The Vermont Gardener, you might have noticed a banner on the right side of my page. It sponsors Blog Action Day which this year honors the topic of poverty. Blog Action Day affords interested bloggers the opportunity to share their thoughts on a special day and a special topic. Poverty is an issue we hope did not exist, in America or in the world. Trouble is, this is a tremendous issue that requires our help.

Here in Marshfield, Vermont our small community of 1500 members tries to work together to exist in this difficult world. We have a community center which serves as our library and the office of our village and town government. The center is a meeting place for a number of ongoing activities and it also provides space for our Food Shelf.

Eighty year old Winnie Mundinger is in charge of the Food Shelf which she manages with a smile and an enthusiasm big enough to take on any challenge. Food deliveries arrive on scheduled Saturday mornings and Winnie's volunteer crew arrives to unload the truck and prepare food goods for a waiting line of needy community members.

As if this isn't a big enough challenge, Winnie helps manage and cook for the Senior Meals Program three days a week, she helps schedule a foot clinic for seniors, and offers special activities to keep them mentally fit too! Although the Marshfield Food Shelf is part of our community, members from surrounding communities can obtain services too. With Winnie at the helm, no one is ever overlooked.

Volunteering to help your local food shelf is something you and your family members can do no matter where you live. There are other activities related to social services which you can provide too. I'll always remember a winter day years ago when I found Gail and Alex putting together a food basket. I inquired who it was for and Gail replied "Sam". "Sam?????" I didn't know any Sam. Gail explained that Sam was the little old man who lived down the road in the fallen down home with the rusty car and the little fluffy dog. I usually saw him at the spring by the side of the road filling plastic water jugs as he didn't have running water.

Gail didn't know his name but she thought the winter had been long enough already and with holidays approaching, he needed something, unexpected and unasked for. Gail said she wanted Alex to be a part of the process so he could begin to understand our responsibility to others we don't even know. They finalized the gift with some little doggie treats wrapped in a bow and away they went to meet a person neither knew.

The visit was a great success and Gail said the smile on Sam's face was committed to memory with her and Alex forever. Not too much later, Sam had to move to a nursing facility and then he passed on. But for a brief time, the ray of light brightened the loneliness of poverty and an old man smiled and shared conversation that made for a better day. Each of us can recreate this same scene time and again if we just take the first step. Reread this little story and make a plan. Your reward won't be measured in dollars or cents but it will be immeasurable!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where each member of our community has a gift that needs to be shared.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm


Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty was a huge success! Try http://blogactionday.org
for follow up.

Poppies Friends

Monday, October 6, 2008

It's 34 degrees right now and the temperature is beginning to fall, but not quite as fast as the market did around 11 this morning. The temperature has actually been more predictable for me of late than the stock market.

We pulled the last of the zinnias last night knowing that "the real frost" would be here soon. This was a troublesome project and I had real problems pulling up perfectly beautiful flowers. I relented for a few brief moments and walked to the top of the hill for a 5 gallon bucket for one last bouquet.

Our building looked great surrounded by autumn colors but Gail and I knew that it's not uncommon to see snowflakes now so we busied ourselves with all the garden chores. Two hours later the truck was filled to the roof with spent Benary zinnias and the lone bucket of absolutely beautiful flowers sat in the middle of the garden, a new-found place of respite for every bumble bee in town.
But why the picture of the poppy serving as an intro above? Because we like Oriental Poppies and have finally figured out a thoughtful means of dealing with their spent foliage in July.

Oriental poppies come in many colors now so the orange that I grew up with is now accompanied by ruby and scarlet, pink, salmon, white and red. They all like full sun in Vermont but will take partial sun/shade if the "sun" part prevails more than shade. They are about 30" tall, eye catchers-in-bloom, are resistant to deer and they leave a giant gaping hole in your garden when their bloom time ends and they have to catch their breath for next year.

At last, I propose a possible solution!! Try planting anemones and Oriental lilies such as Uchida two feet or so from each poppy. These two are late bloomers so they will not detract from the poppies but will grow upward above the spent foliage and fill in the holes. If you have ever grown poppies before, you understand this problem without further description.





Anenomes are hardy perennials that grow in full sun to partial shade. Gail has grown Queen Charlotte and Robustissima for us for years now and added A. Pamina this year. The first two have proven themselves hardy in our changing climate. The good part is they are late bloomers with first flowers in mid September and lasting through at least the first three weeks of October.

When you have a need to try to get around the poppy-hole-problem or just want some nice fall colors, give the anenomes a try. They are an interesting flower and help us sell the fact that flowers in Vermont should be blooming in your garden at least through Columbus Day!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Karl the Wonder Dog snores loudly despite the wood stove's heat which is pushing 76 degrees with two doors open. Yes, the challenges of adjusting to seasonal change!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Autumn Colors

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The rain is pounding the roof again tonight as I think back about yesterday afternoon's trip with Alex and Karl the Wonder Dog, looking at foliage from some of our favorite vantage points. Foliage this year has been about a week earlier than usual but as spectacular as I can ever remember. The colors have been so vivid that you don't want to leave one point of view for the next.

Alex and I had dedicated a couple hours to be with Karl and travel around but I was late getting back from work and we had to modify our schedule a little. We headed down to Osmore Pond in hopes of spotting a moose along the way but the trip was mooseless. The pond was as beautiful as ever but quiet this time with no loons to be seen or heard.

We back tracked to the village for some gas and a soda and headed up past the waterfalls and onto the Lanesboro Road. This is a favorite with us--the old Montpelier to Wells River, Vermont Railroad, thrown up in the early 50's and now an excellent place to drive, enjoy the scenery and the wildlife which abounds. We stopped at Marshfield Pond which I photograph several times a

year. This is a small kettle pond surrounded by some great wildflowers in spring and lots of life the rest of the year. The granite head wall on the back is still on my list of things to hike to but I still haven't made it.

We exited the road at the corner of Lanesboro and Ethan Allen Corner and then drove part way up Owl's Head and then home. The foliage was something we didn't want to leave but evening chores beckoned.

The predominant tree in these photos is the maple. There are red maples, sugar maples and some Norway maples but all are colorful. As the leaves of these trees fall around our house, I use the leaf vac to pick them up and shred them for next year's gardens. Maples have a very long root system and they store important minerals in the leaves. In the spring I'll spread an inch or so on all the new gardens at our nursery and begin the process of improving our garden beds, a little at a time.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where day time visitors from around the world will stop and click photos of fall foliage so they can talk about it forever. Vermont is a great state and it always looks better on the return trip. Come visit!

Best autumn wishes,

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm
Vermont Gardens

German Apple Cake

Sunday, September 28, 2008

A dark morning here on the hill. Last night's limited rain turned to a drip-drip-drip at about 4:30 this morning as the small drops slid down the standing seam roof and landed on the steps. Based on last night's forecast of a tropical depression heading up the coast, I half expected pouring rain by now. It's 61 degrees which this time of year and under these conditions can signal heavy rain. Not yet!

Yesterday was another "clean-up-the-gardens" day. Gail and I pulled weeds in the daylily beds at the nursery in preparation for dividing and lining out plants. I had pretty good control of the weeds most of the summer because I had a routine that was working well. Each afternoon when I came home from my regular job, I would relieve Gail at the nursery. During the last hour of the evening I'd pull weeds in one of the 21-12X50 foot beds. Long about mid August things fell apart as I had to finish the electrical and do some fence repairs. Weeds prosper in neglect and Gail and I are paying the price. Yesterday reminded me how many weeds I do not know by name. I also was reminded how insidious wild daisies and dandelions are.

There's a lot to do this morning so I want to end quickly with a recipe for German Apple Cake that was my great grandmother's. There's nothing novel about this and I would guess it was common to the time and only became known as my great grandmother's as one of those family things. Just the same it's a great cake with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk and it fares well at night with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Give it a try.

German Apple Cake
Recipe from my great grandmother Engelke but who really knows from where

4 medium apples, quartered and sliced
1/4 c. white sugar
1/4 c. shortening
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. milk
1 whole egg

Cream the shortening and add sugar, egg and mix. Add dry ingredients, alternating with milk. Spread batter in buttered 9" baking pan. Press sliced apples on top in rows. Spread a mix of 1/2 c. white sugar, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon evenly on top.

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, then 5 minutes longer with pan covered with aluminum foil or a cover. Remove from oven and let cool.

Apples pressed into batter

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the blackbirds are in the tops of the white birches having breakfast and a flock of robins is in a nearby cherry.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm

Touring St Gaudens

Atrium and Pool w/Turtle Fountains at New Gallery

Friday, September 26, 2008

Sometimes the Vermont Gardener needs to get out and about a little more and this past week presented a series of beautiful days and just enough time to scoot away in between business. On the agenda was the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, NH. Alex and I had been there before but Gail, our family artist, hadn't made it.

This site incorporates the home, gardens and studios of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, a sculptor of the American Renaissance. There's more than enough history in the area to spend days writing about since Cornish became an artists colony for many years. There remains a profound sense of a different time when you walk inside Aspet, St Gauden's Federal style home. Your respect grows for this artist as you walk the grounds and pass through the studios. Here are some photos.

Bust of Lincoln, one of many sculptures of Lincoln including the famous "Standing Lincoln". This is part of the atrium, the new gallery and the picture gallery.

Birch alley paralleling the Shaw and the Adams Memorials

Shaw Memorial: the monument to service by the 54th Regiment of African American Volunteers in Boston.

Side gardens at Aspet

Flower Gardens

Looking towards Mt Ascutney, Vermont


From Aspet towards memorials

Path to memorials


Little Studio


Little Studio open porch which uses grapes for cool shade



View towards Mt Ascutney from in front of Farragut Memorial which includes the statue of David Glasgow Farragut, the Civil War Admiral

We stopped for a bit to speak with the resident sculptor and learn how these beautiful bronze pieces are made from the clay sculpture. It's fascinating to learn and compliments so well the gardens that obviously provided so much peace to the intensity of this man's work.

As we left the national park, we retraced our route, and went across the covered bridge to Windsor, Vermont. This is the longest wooden covered bridge in the nation. We stopped at Harpoon Brewery and picked up a case of root beer and a case of cream soda for Alex, meandered to West Lebanon NH for sustenance and returned to Marshfield in time to rototill more daylilies and take some evening photos of Gail standing in the zinnias. St Gaudens is a worthwhile trip for gardener and non gardener alike.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where I just heard Gail coming back from a church supper with a couple friends. Fall suppers in New England are traditional and something you just "have to do". Try one!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Vermont Gardens

Just Good Apples

Sunday, September 21, 2008

A fair morning here in Vermont with fog visible through the distance but an early promise of sun despite forecasts to the contrary. Yesterday morning I decided to make some scones and this morning it was really supposed to happen. Opening the door on the fridge was instant reminder to the gallon of milk I didn't remember to bring home last night. The scone idea was put on hold and I decided to take Karl the Wonder Dog and head for town the long way.

This part of Vermont used to have a railroad that ran from Montpelier to Wells River. The train ran 4 times a day and carried the mail until 1952 when better methods and economies materialized. The railroad bed was thrown up but remains today as a nice road for early morning bird and wildlife cruises.

Karl and I made our first stop just before Ethan Allan Corners. I like to look down across the swamp and see if I can see any ducks or geese landing in water pockets or anxious woodcock flying helicopter-like and then returning back to the swamp to peck for worms. Today the only sign of movement was the whispers of fog swirling above the meandering stream bed.

As we approached the corner, I looked to the left. The straight edge of conifers the length of the swamp was telltale evidence of a railroad bed from a previous life. We made the turn and headed for Marshfield Village Although Karl found plenty to bark about on the ride, we returned home in half an hour and his tail wagging must have tired him as he headed back to bed and I started on the scone recipe.

I just about got the batter heading to the pan and Karl went into attack mode at the back door. The smiling face looking through the glass was Eric, our friend from Groton. Eric really lives and works in Massachusetts but this time of year he gets to Vermont every weekend he can. His family has a camp and it is a nice release to trade city life for some quiet.

Often Eric stops by for a visit as he's a gardener and he's always had an interest in our progress. We always share stories and I always tap his professional knowledge of the bird world when I see something fly by that I cannot find in our books. Anyway Eric appeared just in time for some coffee and warm scones but not before he presented us with a nice bag of one of the nicest apples going: Honeycrisp.

The problem with this apple is that you can't find a place to buy it. At least I cannot. Buying a tree is a different story and the only place to look in this part of Vermont is Elmore Roots Nursery They also have another favorite I reported on last year, an apple named Beacon which makes some of the best cider you'll ever taste.

Anyway the breakfast snacks were great but the conversation had to be cut short as Gail from Peacham was waiting to help. This Gail is originally from New Hampshire but she's making a new home in Vermont and is helping us close up for the year. Coincidentally she is planting some apple trees and one is a Honeycrisp!

As the recent frosts encourage the foliage to provide autumn colors and excitement, we are picking up little messes and getting organized for next year. Along the way it's fun to be able to break for a few minutes and share thoughts and treats with friends. We hope you get the same chance soon.



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where it's a warm 45 degrees which makes for good sleeping. But first, maybe a few slices of "just good apples"!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Vermont Gardens

PS Thanks to the Christian Science Monitor for picking up our two blogs. It's nice to know we are being read and shared by gardeners everywhere

The End Is Near

Thursday, September 18, 2008

It was almost 5 PM and 58 degrees out when I pulled into the driveway tonight with the last of the zinnias. Gail had cut six buckets of various zinnias for a friend who is getting married Saturday. They easily would have lasted in the garden except that the statewide prediction for tonight is for killing frost with some lows in adjacent upstate NY in the low 20's.

Zinnias are a great flower and we will surely miss them. Those cut today will make a nice presentation for a very nice bride at a very nice outside wedding on a hill outside of Morrisville.

It's quiet here now as Gail and Alex started a Shakespeare discussion group tonight at the library. Neither of them knows what it will involve as it was billed as an informal group that might include reading plays aloud, watching films, or working on dramatic monologues. Alex has been reading Shakespeare since he was about 6 so it should work for him. Gail's experience has been teaching Alex as well as learning from him but she's tired. Maybe her commitment will materialize as a dream in a soft library chair....no telling.

As for me, there's lots to do around the gardens here on the hill and down at the nursery. Time is short and my arthritis races against dropping temperatures and cold ground. I can tell by life around me that the challenge of fall days is felt but others too.


The Japanese Beetles are really eating. Soon they will drop to the soil and another generation will be on its way to driving me crazy next year. I have spread milky spore at the nursery and have the greatest confidence with it. Just the same it generally takes more than one season to become well established. I cannot forget this July when the first flush of daylilies burst forth and Gail and I hoped for some sun and a bunch of customers. We received sun and customers and in mid afternoon the first day we also received a hatch of these miserable beetles. They hatched in the hundreds, probably thousands as I think about it, landing on every fragrant yellow daylily we owned.

As long as the soil temp is 50 or above, spreading milky spore is fine to do. I have written about it before and suggest you consider it. You'll have a decreasing amount of mole damage visible next spring and plants will return to bloom as opposed to being placed on the missing in action list. This situation will improve each year.

The male hummingbirds have been gone for several weeks but today it was clear that the last females had headed south too. We made a lot of people happy this year at the nursery as many saw hummingbirds for the first time.


The monarch butterflies hatched Tuesday and are feeding on the Eupatorium maculatum 'Gateway' as if there is no tomorrow. They are easy to get close to as they are hungry for sweet nectars as their flight schedules are set and they have to move along soon. Usually I spot a number of their green chrysalises this time of year but thus far I have struck out. The gold trim and black spots are things I remember from first grade when we hatched them on the elementary school windowsill.

As we all prepare in our own way for what will be left after the first major frost, we have to recall how great gardening is and how many people it makes happy. If you have time left with your gardens, pick something and share it with a friend. The smile of appreciation will be worth it--even if you're exhausted like me!


From the mountain above Peacham Pond where the temperature has dropped to 38 degrees and the clear sky enhances the cold.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
Vermont Gardens

Gardening Respite

Thursday, September 11, 2008

A cool morning here on the hill with the thermometers on either side of the house registering a degree and a half differently but both just slightly above freezing. Last night was supposed to be the first frost of the season over many parts of interior Vermont but it appears that we have been spared the bullet. This is positive for us because it probably means that the annuals planted at our nursery are still viable.

We typically receive a killing frost around the tenth and then have a month of fairly consistent weather. This year I have hoped for a long season as a friend's daughter has an outside wedding planned in two weeks and I hoped to be able to provide some flower arrangements of zinnias and big sprays of fall asters. We knew the timing would be cautious but hopefully it will work.

Every year the three of us ask Michelle and Winnie to house-sit and care for Karl the Wonder Dog and we shoot over to Maine for a few days R&R. We typically go right after Labor Day and the week always has had a track record of great weather and a good time. Despite rain showers in Vermont during our absence, the weather there reads like a book. Despite hurricane season and annual southern challenges, we always fare very well. This year was no different.

As we reached the end of our first season at our new nursery, a few days without the phone was special. Every day we lugged beach needs and 30 pounds of books and magazines down to the ocean and we read ourselves silly as we ate fresh seafood and met people we had never seen before. When you go to the same place at the same time every year you are not alone in your schedule and often you also meet the same people doing the same thing. Nancy the cleaning lady, the retired army colonel from New York, a former paratrooper destined for double knee replacement after vacation, Bill the boisterous one from Massachusetts who goes to bed and wakes up talking loudly.......each offers a welcome and a warm goodbye. You know you have begun to look for people when handshakes turn to embraces.

Often I leave Gail and Alex for a few hours and scoot away to tour a few garden centers at times when there's a chance a question will be answered without competition from the rush of gardeners. This year I just couldn't do that. Like never before I am exhausted from what we have accomplished so I decided my only journey would be for morning walks at the
Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in Wells, Maine. At over 9000 acres large, it isn't really entirely in Wells but the hiking trail I take in the morning is there, just a mile down the road from the Wells National Estaurine Research Reserve at Laudholm Farm. These are both places that remind me of my love for the environment. Between these two websites and the accompanying pictures I took, you should get an idea of the peace that's available as you walk along the trails. Here's a map of the general area and a copy of the trail map as the right hand insert. If this doesn't enlarge for you, try the brochure.

There are 11 stops along the hiking path. The first starts a hundred yards or so from the parking lot and looks into the marsh on the south. That marsh adjoins the Laudholm Farm property which by the way is the post-Labor Day site of an excellent craft show used as a primary fund raiser. If you are in the area then, it's worth a visit. I have included the craft show announcement so you can see what fine artisans have been exhibiting at this show of 21 years.

The second stop was a sad one for me this year as the giant hemlock which has marked the first bridge and a fine site for pink lady slippers has passed on. It still stands tall but it will have to be removed soon. Hemlocks throughout the east are being attacked by a terribly invasive pest known as the Hemlock wooly adelgid. I can't say that was the problem with this tree but if you have hemlocks, do some study or this could be the result.


In the vicinity of this bridge there are many lady slippers, some Indian Cucumbers gone to seed and a variety of mushrooms of interest. I checked about 20 lady slippers for viable seed pods but not one had set seed this year. The cucumbers were obviously a different story and each had black, ripe berries. The partridge berries were also in abundance.


The trail is well designed and the points of interest are clearly marked with big numbers. I'm always bothered when I walk a trail like this and find the number of people who just have to cut across paths and interrupt the untouched beauty you want to enjoy. I guess that's part of today's world and part of what some parents fail to teach their kids any more. It's a lesson that should have no economic boundaries but I see as many kids with designer cloths destroying things as I see those of less affluence.




The walk offers as much as you have time to absorb. Birders walk the trails daily and sometimes I have seen the very same watchers, cameras and binoculars in hand, morning and night. The plants and wildlife are interesting and there's always a new lesson to learn.

Indian Pipes

Winding River and Flooded Marsh

Guiding Handrail and River Overlook

As I headed downhill past point number 5, I was on the lookout for Trillium erectum. I love trilliums and raise some here at Vermont Flower Farm. The deer had beaten me to the site as most of the plants were eaten to the ground. I found a few still standing but the ants had already grabbed the seeds and carried them away.

As you reach point number 6, there's a broad area of marsh which looks down towards Laudholm and north towards Walker Point. The river is right beside the overlook and as I looked down, I saw millions of fish fry, species unknown to me but a living example of what an estuary actually serves. This is an awesome point and the recent storms had made it even more powerful.


I walked along the boardwalk and on up the hill, through the oaks and white pines and on back to the car. For me this is an annual event which serves to quell the busy thoughts of a summer as a nurseryman. Although there is water everywhere it is quiet and thought provoking and entertaining all at once. If you get to this part of Maine, stop for an hour or so. It's worth it!



Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where two turkeys are pecking seeds in the lower garden as the rising sun reminds me there's a lot to accomplish today. Vacation is over!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Gardens
Vermont Flower Farm: A website with lots of fine daylilies, astilbes and hostas just right for fall planting.