Oft Forgotten Astilbes

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Another fine spring day in Vermont with temperatures starting at 18 degrees this morning and rising into the high 40's here, almost to 50 in other parts of Vermont. The temperature spread made for free flowing maple sap and some fine maple syrup for the hundreds of producers in Vermont.

Friend Harold Cross from Morrisville just called tonight to confirm our syrup order for 10 gallons. Although Harold always taps and boils for himself, he also buys some more and last year Gail managed to turn our friendship into Harold the syrup delivery person. Harold would have helped us out anyway because that's the kind of person he is. He's one of those Vermonters I know would come at any time, for any reason if we needed a hand. Deliverying good maple syrup isn't a crisis but it sure is helpful. Thanks, Harold!

Along with smoke and steam rising from sugar houses, this time of year sees gardeners getting out into their gardens to clean up last year's leftovers. I have noticed lots of comment on various blogs, Facebook, and Twitter about people cleaning up their astilbes. The picture up top is intended to serve as my annual cautionary reminder that cleaning up astilbes can be hazardous to your health. Do beware!

As astilbe stems desicate in the fall they become very brittle. As they break it's an uneven event that produces needlelike pieces that can penetrate a finger or palm in nano seconds. Wear gloves and go slowly, grabbing leftovers from the side and cutting what will reasonably fit in your clippers, avoiding extra fingers of course.

Although many folks plant an astilbe here or there, Gail is into masses when she can find the space or the plant material. Here's a picture of some masses that are along a forest line just in back of a small daylily nursery at our house. At bloom time this is quite a site.

Years back I planted 35 different astilbes (just below) in a garden for Gail. They have naturalized since then and provide a stunning backdrop to a line of hostas and are a nice under planting to a couple small trees. There are thousands of seedlings under a Discovery Elm that need a little attention--perhaps this summer-- to really determine if there's anything of merit there to dig out and reproduce.



When our gardens and sales area were here at our house, we lined the potted astilbes under the sugar maples by the road and used Parker-Davis Step Stake markers to delineate names, descriptions and prices. The astilbes were at their best from late June into mid August and slowed the traffic as people enjoyed the colors.


I have to admit that despite some very nice comments on my photograhy, I am not a photographer, I am a person with a pocket full of rechargeable batteries and buttons on my digitals cameras that I push-push-push. I have always had trouble photographing astilbes as they move in the wind and have millions of focal points. A few years ago I just moved to closeups and that's where I'll stay. The advantage for someone unfamiliar with these plants is the opportunity to see the way hundreds of little blooms make up the flower scape. Here is Astilbe 'Bressingham Beauty' just below. I've named a few more too for you to see. Take a quick peak.

Bressingham Beauty

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Bloom

Erica

Flamingo

Hyacinth

Montgomery

Visions

Here at Vermont Flower Farm I have to admit our supply of astilbes changes annually, both in number of varieties and quantity available for sale. Obviously some are more popular than others but it's not always easy maintaining a good supply or adding some of the older ones in quantity. When I finish the hosta and shade garden I intend to line out some of every astilbe we have so we can do a better job providing a flower that is very dependable in this climate, beautiful in the garden or as a cut flower, and deer proof about anyplace.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where it's quiet except for Gail's occasional laughter as she finishes up Ben Hewitt's new book, The Town That Food Saved.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm: Always accepting orders by web or phone
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Gardens of Change

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

24 degrees here on the mountain as things wind down for the night. Karl the Wonder Dog snores loudly in front of the wood stove, little birdy toy 2 inches from his nose. Apparently the toy rolled away from his grasp just as he went to sleep.

It takes just seconds for dogs to go to sleep or to go back to sleep. That ability irritates my jealously, especially at 3 AM when an animal passes the house. I have one good ear and its apparently on the pillow and useless while Karl's good ears bring him to protective alert and he barks. He works a drill reminiscent of an Army routine and when it's over he retreats to sleep in seconds. I toss and roll and watch the clock, hoping to get back to sleep in time to wake up for work. Right now Karl is in deep sleep and that's good.

The only picture on this post is one of a garden on Peacham Pond Road three years ago. It is a great garden, now fallen into serious weed-i-ness, the height of garden disarray. Just the same it has strong bones and with a few days work it can come alive so that it's both beautiful and walkable again. There's a chance this might happen this summer. It would make Gail happy and I know it would really make Fr. Joe, our summer time neighbor happy too.

Just as gardens change, our priorities change and recently I have been neglectful of many email questions and telephone calls. Forgiveness please. Spring gardening is only a thought here but in many places people have been planting for a while and they have questions. I have realigned my priorities long enough to set up a Facebook account for myself

http://facebook.com/george.africa

and that has taken me some time. I also set up a Facebook fan page for Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens and that is available at

http://companies.to/vermontflowerfarm

As I continue to learn the challenges of social networking, I have added Twitter to my list and I am there almost daily at http://twitter.com/vtflowerfarm It's been a while but I try to write on the consortium of world wide garden blogs, Blotanical (from Australia) whose membership bestowed this blog, The Vermont Gardener, with Best Vermont Garden Blog last year. Finally I have updated much of our website Vermont Flower Farm, the final part of my recent work, and the target of all the social media work.

So as I have continued to get my feet wet with social networking, I have brought out impatience in some. A few gardeners have signed off and I can respect that too. I'm bringing this all together in time for the emergence of Spring here in Vermont and I know you will enjoy any or all of the opportunities to review what is happening at Vermont Flower Farm.

Thanks for sticking with us during our move to the valley and please come back here once in a while to see what's up. In short order, I should have all of these opportunities networked to each other to make it easier for you.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the night is quiet and the maples have frozen in anticipation of tomorrow's warm temperatures and another great run. Maple syrup is a good thing!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Hollyhock Hellos

Saturday, March 6, 2010

12 degrees here on the mountain this morning. Colder than was predicted but the high pressure that moved in is a large front and I could tell by the moon at 10 last night that the morning would be clear. By noon it should be to 40 degrees and I'll be encouraged that spring is only another month off.

This morning it's my turn to take the trash and recycling to the village. I don't mind the job at all and in fact it's a strange challenge because you never know what you will be charged. Last year the law changed and recycling could have fees as well as trash but there is no standard. A collection of gallon milk jugs in a 55 gallon plastic bag might be a buck or the same number on a string 50 cents. I noticed some of the attendants aren't all that strong with math skills and the amount owed always comes out in even numbers. No making change with even numbers. "Gimmee four bucks."

When I make the trip I never plan anything else for at least two hours. The thing about Vermont is people like to talk and you also never know who will be at the recycling center when you arrive. It's kind of like that any place in rural Vermont. Yesterday I stopped at the little village store on the way home from work to grab a paper. I was standing in line waiting for a conversation about a girl's boyfriend rolling his truck and going to jail the night before and I felt a pull on my jacket. I turned and a diminutive, older lady all of 5 feet tall looked straight at me and asked "How do you grow them hollyhocks?" Never saw her in my life but she knew me. I suggested we pay up and move outside to my "office" which was not a smart thing to say as I still don't think anyone understood me. At any rate we had a nice conversation and I probably have a new customer ....but not for hollyhocks.

I'm guessing but hollyhocks, an old New England favorite, are probably more of a country than an urban flower now. They get tall--even the smaller varieties are over 3 feet-- they take space and they add a bunch to the compost pile. They are susceptible to rust and Japanese beetles which diminish their popularity. I recommend to everyone that if they want hollyhocks, buy a package of seed and sow in early spring, be patient for the first year and enjoy the plants from then on.



The root system makes attempts at transplanting a futile exercise because breaking off the roots, even a couple, is sure death to the plant. I give away plants every year with the warning. Few are successful but many try. Winnie, our 82 year old Chief of Hydrological Services at the nursery (she likes to water) is about the only really successful transplanter. She uses care with anything she does and at 82 is not in a rush so that's probably why it works for her.

Hollyhocks come in singles which I like and doubles which I do not. There are a variety of new colors now including some that are almost black. I prefer the older, pale colors and like an extra large planting of the red crepe color.


Bees enjoy hollyhock flowers and if you cut a couple stems for an arrangement, the bees will follow you right to the door. Be sure to give an extra shake or two or you'll be taking grief from bringing bumblebees inside.

In fall after heavy frosts, most gardeners are quick to cut the spent stalks off and get them heading towards the trash or the compost pile. I do not do any cutting until spring. The hollyhock stalks at ground level are an inch or more in diameter and to expose the hollow stalks to the air is like creating a funnel for water to be directed at the critical root mass. Frozen water in frozen stems translates to dead hollyhocks. Your choice, my opinion.


So if you want some hollyhocks in your garden for next year, buy some seeds right now. Don't wait much longer as they are popular.







Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the sky is clear, the blue jays are having breakfast and the cranberry muffins are almost finished baking.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
http://facebook.com/george.africa
Facebook Fan Page: Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens
http://twitter.com/vtflowerfarm

Easy Colors Birds Like

Friday, March 5, 2010

20 degrees this morning, quiet and dark. Not sure what woke me at 3:30 but here I am an hour later thinking about the gardens and the advent of spring. Blogs, listservs and Facebook pages are filed with comments and pictures from impatient gardeners who have had enough winter and want to see color, not mud or dirty snow. I cannot get too excited yet because here in Vermont there can be a lot of winter left.

Looking out the office window yesterday I noticed the American Goldfinches are still finding seed on what appear to be spent rudbeckia seed heads. I like these little birds which my mother always called wild canaries. The males still sport their duller, olive, winter plumage but I can see some change started already even though it seems early.

The rudbeckias are popular flowers, easy to grow, quick to reseed, loved by birds and butterflies and good cut flowers. Once settled in the second year they get to be healthy, vigorous plants with lots of bloom scapes with various sized blooms. We have always grown them.

Years ago we found 'Mahogany' on the market and found it to be one of the most popular among customers. Now it seems that the taller yellows have become more popular.


The echinaceas have been with us since day one but we still haven't gotten into the new versions which we haven't had such great success with. The new colors are absolutely the greatest and Gail read recently that their success is a two year project. These plants need to be planted higher out of the ground so the crown does not act like a sponge and take in too much spring water when temperatures are cold and the plant is breaking dormancy. The flower buds should also be picked off the first year so the plants can get better established.


Nitida pictured above is a favorite but you have to remember height with this one. The 3-4 feet of the first year will quickly grow to 7 feet in year two in good soil. This is a later bloomer which means you have interesting flowers, opened or closed, a waving planting in later summer-early autumn breezes and a source of winter foods that stands tall in most snow depths for the birds.


When spring comes and you can't wait to get your boots dirty, break off the remaining seed heads and sprinkle the seeds on the top of the ground. There are millions of seeds and few will really germinate but what will are a guarantee of color and seeds for some time to come.

As Vermonters say "I kinda like 'um!" Here are two closeups.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where I can hear a barred owl just outside the window.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
http://facebook.com/george.africa
Facebook fan page: Vermont Flower Farm and Gardens
http://twitter.com/vtflowerfarm

Is Deer Control Management?

Sunday, February 28, 2010

An hour away from face off time for the Olympic hockey game. I cannot miss this one. I remember so well what 1980 was like for me as a memory of incredible team spirit and my own six year old hockey player just learning to skate. Not many ways you can relate hockey and Olympic events to deer and gardening but I'll try.

I have written about deer many times because so many gardeners call or write to us asking for advice on how to deal with a problem that seems to get bigger every year. Once again I'll refer gardeners to a page on our Vermont Flower Farm website named Deer Control. The piece offers a continuum of strategies leading up to becoming a deer hunter. One strategy before hunting is fencing which is much more practical for most gardeners.

Yesterday's mail included a letter from Scott Fallon. He and his wife, Lauren own Specialty Agricultural Products, LLC and Scott wanted to mention some new products. This is a company I have had personal, positive experience with which is why I want to mention it again. For over twenty years Scott has dealt with the increasing demand for deer control. First it was around production gardens and tree farms but in more recent years it has included urban areas where lot sizes might only be 75 feet by 100 feet but the deer population per acre is in the dozens.


I am interested to see the recent change to even heavier fencing materials capable of holding back lots of deer. It's also nice to read that the fencing materials have been coated to make their life expenctancy longer while decreasing visibility so the fences aren't an eyesore to the public.

If you have deer fencing problems and have reached the point of installing fence, try http://www.nodeer.com The 800 number for New England is 800-483-8889. The email address is Sap5902@hotmail.com. I'm sure they have a solution.

Writing from Vermont where it's cloudy on the mountain, 39 degrees with a 3 mph wind. The weekend has been lost in a blur to me. Hope yours has time left!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
http://vermontflowerfarm.com
http://facebook.com/george.africa
http://twitter.com/vtflowerfarm

No Snow Lilies

Saturday, February 28, 2010

Gail is in the other room still listening to tsunami news as I think about the weather and the world. Recent earthquakes in Haiti, China and now Chile stir geologic curiosity. I have heard of these events so probably others occurred someplace in the world.

Here in Vermont it has been snowing off and on all day. The flakes were those large, fluffy type that come down is great white-outs and then stop short for a while only to restart and add enough depth to make sweeping the steps imperative.

I noticed today on Twitter that several gardeners are mentioning lilies. These were a favorite at Vermont Flower Farm in pre-lily leaf beetle days but now we enjoy what are left in our gardens and keep a small library of images for people looking for a special image or to resolve a gardener's "discussion". It's sad not to be able to grow something so beautiful but the beetles are a serious critter and we refuse to use chemicals and don't know of an organic or insect alternative that works in this zone. Just the same, some gardeners continue to grow them and we enjoy seeing them.

Here are some pictures. If you have lily growing questions, write or call us. We still have answers, just not many lilies.

Siberia

Rosy Dawn

Luxor

Dizzy

Bright Star

Arena

As reference I like two books very much. I like Edward McRae's Lilies: A Guide for Growers & Collectors and I like George L. Slate's Lilies for American Gardens. McRae's book is readily available but you might have to look for the Slater book. 1939 by Charles Scribner's Son, New York and London. I found it at Flora & Fauna Nature and Garden Books, 3121 Government Way, Seattle, WA. I could get lost in there......in thought.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Karl the Wonder Dog snoozes by the wood stove, thinking springtime thoughts.

George Africa
Vermont Flower Farm
http://www.facebook.com/george.africa
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A Hosta Garden Evolves

Thursday, February 25, 2010

A very weathery evening for me to be finishing up a series on planting a new hosta garden. Yesterday's +21" of wet snow gave us plenty of clean up work today. Gail and Alex worked much of the day while I was away and when I returned, I fired up the tractor and moved mountains of snow to more appropriate places. It was raining heavily when I came through Central Vermont but here on the mountain it was spitting snow even though the temperature was 36 degrees.

When I finally parked the tractor there were a couple places on the roof that needed final cleaning and as I leaned against the roof rake to take a break, I noticed that my neighbor's helper was just beginning to clean his roof and Michelle up the road had already done hers. Getting "feet" of snow off the roof when heavy rains are a possibility is something that has to happen, like it or not.

I expected storm activity again but right now a front is moving in and the wind gusts are powerful bursts of 13 to 19 mph and they continue to rise. We figure the electricity will go out before the night is over as the western slopes of our famous Green Mountains are expected to feel winds with gusts to 65 mph. We won't see those numbers but it will be gusty enough to take down trees that are dead or burdened by heavy snow loads. This isn't climate change, this is climate in Vermont.

The new hosta garden took longer than I thought to get to this point in its new history. Although there are somewhere around 150 varieties planted so far, I have divided up many clumps and split them up here and there. My plan is to have a nice looking garden in a couple years. In the interim I want be able to dig and sell larger hostas from the garden instead of relying on our potted selection. We have about 2500 potted in four and 6 quart pots but some of what I replanted are much bigger plants and they will do better in the ground.



If you look in the center of this picture (just above) you'll notice a row that is slightly wider compared to the widths the hostas are spaced at. This is intended to be the walkway. Sometime this late spring when the land dries a bit, I'll roll commercial road makers fabric down this path and then cover with some form of crushed gravel or slate. I want pathways that are easy to walk on but are also prominent enough to mentally hold visitors on the path. Each time I have gone to Maine Coastal Botanical Gardens I have wanted to yell at people who walk right into the middle of gardens to take pictures or read tags. I guess this "unpermissioned meandering" has to be expected if you offer a public garden but I don't care for it. When I was a child, the do's and don'ts of being polite and respectful of other peoples' property were lessons well taught but my practice and other folk's behaviors don't always match.

The raised walkway that was a road in bygone years will offer visitors a chance to look down on the gardens from perhaps 7-8 feet above them . In time as the hostas mature and crowd together, it should be an interesting sight and should afford unusual photographic opportunities. The colors, sizes and textures of the hosta leaves entice some to break out cameras and take pictures. I hope in time the native plants and the complimentary ones we plant will help to brand Vermont Flower Farm as a convenient place to stop and see some Vermont hardy shade plants.

I am not pleased that the predominant trees are boxelders (no space, friends) but they are native to the adjacent Winooski River stream banks and fields. They are actually members of the maple family but they lack the strength and desirability of our state tree, the sugar maple, and are much weaker than even the red maples. As such I have planted some lindens, three varieties of maple, some weeping larches and some blue cedars. I'll add more conifers this spring.


It's a hike up and down the hill from the parking lot and I expect this will deter some visitors from making the journey. Everyone with bottomless pockets advises me to buy refurbished golf carts or ATVs and offer rides to older folks. Actually younger visitors are more in need of a ride than most seniors. I'm getting to be an "older folk" and if I wanted to offer rides I'd have to be prepared to give up everything else I do. Maybe in years to come when I can't garden as much I'll want to ride and talk more but for right now, no carts. For me there is something special about being able to visit a garden and not be rushed. I hope visitors will agree with me and want to spend time.

Since I planted this garden to the point it is, I covered the entire property with recycled burlap bags. My plan is to cover the bags with shredded leaves and tree chip mulch to keep down weeds and conserve water. Over time as the hostas and other plants mature, the mulch will be less noticeable and hopefully the plants will begin to hide them. I have used burlap bags before and expect similar success.

When you visit Vermont Flower Farm, squeeze in some extra time to walk down the hill. If your visit is during a rainy day, week, month--we experienced all those last year--bring suitable footwear so you don't go sliding down the hill. This might be called a garden in motion as it is growing all the time. Come visit!


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the snowy road has turned to muddy tracks, wind gusts continue and the temperature holds at 33.8 degrees.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
http://vermontflowerfarm.com
http://www.facebook.com/george.africa
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Weeds and Alders Become Garden

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Past 5:30 PM. I can still see the lower road from my office window. The birds have left the feeders for the day and things are quiet except for Karl the Wonder Dog as he barks at ice fishermen, slow to make the corner as they head home for the day.

All gardeners have vision. It comes in a million different types. Some visionaries are self starters and need little or no help, others need confidence, a physical assist, a refined mental picture or a drawing of the project. I have seen many and helped my share. It's easy for me because I have always been a person who plans and implements.

The day Gail and I closed on the nursery property we drove down with Alex and walked the land. We mentally located the road and parking lot, and the office and sales area. We paced out in our minds the shade houses and we enjoyed the thought of being so busy with something we both loved. We walked down the hill towards Marshfield Village and I told Gail the plan I had for a large hosta and shade plant garden. She was quiet and I don't recall even a comment.

Over the next nine months I heard Gail tell friends what I wouldn't be able to accomplish and I have to admit if you looked at these pictures as she looked at the property itself, it sounded like an idea whose time would not come quickly. She didn't doubt the end result, she questioned my time line.

For years the farm tractors, haying equipment and corn harvesters had avoided the piece of land I saw as a new garden. Part of that was the alders and boxelders that had grown from the river's edge toward the field. The area held water in spring and after any significant storm, and the soil was poor enough that weeds and grasses prevailed with vigor.
I walked around this piece time and again. The feeling was similar to how I felt for the years before I constructed the foundation garden on Peacham Pond Road. It was one of those glass-half-empty, glass-half-full things. Did I focus on the potential beauty or the back ache of cutting trees and pulling weeds?

I really liked the spot because the back side that formed our property line was an old road used to back up town and state trucks and dump sand into piles for the roads. The road stood out in my mind and I could envision a walk way with an opportunity for visitors to walk above the hostas and look down on the colors, textures and heights.


I couldn't quantify the required time in hours or days. I told myself that I would have it ready to begin planting by late June 2009. Gail smiled, I labored and the new garden was ready on time despite weeks of rain and cold weather. Here's a section (below) that was completed by June 16th. Some mature hostas were moved whole while others that I knew would be in demand were divided into smaller clumps and spaced appropriately. A mix of maple trees, blue cedars, lindens and weeping larches were added, and blocks of daylilies, 25-30 plants per block, were planted in one color of the same plant as I had seen done at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.

This should give a vision of "my vision", the idea I had as Gail and I walked the land the day we bought it. I'm not there yet but this shares the idea. More to come. Be patient.


Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the sun has retired and the temperature has slipped to 21 degrees. Thanks for touring with me!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm

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