The Importance of Good Soil

Monday, June 13, 2016

A damp, cold, blustery day here on the mountain above Peacham Pond this morning. 44.3° with a varying, three to five mph wind. Karl the Wonder Dog has been out for two walks but each time as the rain increased,  he ran for the house. He doesn't know that we really need the rain but he does know that he likes the warmth of the wood stove that has been fired up since last night.

We have been busy at the flower farm since our Mother's Day opening and have had a very encouraging number of visits, customers and also web based plant orders from across the US. We have always encouraged people to stop by with gardening questions even if they aren't in the market yet for plants. This gives people the opportunity to see who we are and how devoted we are to growing good plants.

Yesterday afternoon during a very brief break in the rain, I started to weed out the new lilac garden alongside Route 2, down by the hosta display garden. As I kneeled on the slope, my backside getting wet at times, it came to me that I should remind folks to think about their soil more than they probably do. The soil I was working was extremely acidic soil, full of a variety of weeds but still growing very nice two year to four-year-old lilacs because I had amended the planting holes well. The surrounding soil is a disgrace to a good gardener, however, and clearly needs some  help. Just the same it serves as an example of the importance of  good soil.

I once worked with a young man who was in the business of planting food crops for hunters interested in "growing" a larger deer crop, bear and turkeys on their own land. He taught me to notice the weeds that were growing in my soils and said that from there I could adjust the soil accordingly. His comment was that if I could balance the soil better, many of the nuisance weeds would disappear and the plants I wanted to grow would do much better. He was correct.

There are a couple of good books on the market that list the weeds of New England and the soil types they enjoy. There are probably similar books that will help you regardless of where you read this blog from. For me, maple leaves are the chief amendment because I know they contribute a great deal to improving my soil and I also have an abundant supply of them each fall. I also buy several tons of Foster Brothers Composted Cow Manure each year because it helps with my plants and is weed-free. I do not broadcast it within 

my gardens but instead use it within rows or under each new plant. This helps the plants more directly and short term is a little less expensive. Since Gail and I started Vermont Flower Farm on Route 2, we have literally added tractor trailer loads of manure, leaves and various other organic materials to our garden beds. Our site was actually the bottom of the Winooski Ocean 15,000 years ago so it's a soil that needs a great deal of "rebalancing". We have a long way to go and perhaps you do too but develop a plan like we have and continuously try to improve your soil. It makes a difference!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the rain has started again. I'm headed to the flower farm in minutes and will be there until noon when Gail takes over and I head for an appointment. If you have any gardening questions, let us know.  Sharing good information about gardening is a passion with us!

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm

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

On Twitter as vtflowerfarm

Writing on various gardening-related social media formats

And always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Spacing Hostas

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Daylilies: Digging, Dividing, Replanting

 Sunday, May 1, 2016

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

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

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

                                     

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

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

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

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

Give it a try!

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

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

And always here to help you grow your green thumb!

Thoughts on Hydrangeas

Sunday, April 24, 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pollinators

 Thursday, March 31, 2016

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

Eupatorium Joe Pye Weed

Friday, March 26, 2016

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

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

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

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

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm

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

Always here to help you grow your green thumb!

The Ash--A Favorite Tree!

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

A strange day today with weather that changes with the wind that blows from 2 to 8 mph and then stops and starts. 32.1° now with occasional snow flakes floating around despite an earlier weather report that said we would see highs in the low forties by noon. Which noon? Not this noon for sure!

Another interesting article came through from the entomology group I subscribe to. This one is about the emerald ash borer. Ash has been one of my favorite trees since I developed a strong relationship with them as a young kid swinging a way-too-big splitting maul. We lived in a large farmhouse  with multiple wood stoves and on the good winter nights you didn't see your breath downstairs but when going upstairs to sleep, you could be assured that it would be cold. Firewood was part of my job. I loved ash because it burned hot, burned green, and split like butter. It was also lighter to handle than maple or beech, our other two predominant fire woods. Ash was also the wood from which my favorite Louisville Slugger baseball bat was made of.

Some years back it was reported that the emerald ash borer had invaded America and was heading north from Central Park NYC. The thought bothered me because the initial prognosis for trees infected with the borer was bleak. A couple years later purple box-like sticky traps could be found hanging from trees in Groton Forest and my fear of disaster grew. One day I found an emerald ash borer while on my hands and knees weeding one of my gardens. Somehow it dropped out of the ash tree and hit me enough to be noticed. I picked it up, identified it as an EAB and reported it to the state folks. They indicated they didn't need to inspect as the borers had not been verified yet. The inspectors had apparently never caught one on any sticky traps (above) and that was good enough for them.

Since that time emerald ash borers have been identified on the Vermont/Massachusetts line and in several southern counties of New Hampshire. That probably means they are moving north so if we really didn't have them, we really will. Here's the article which you might be interested in:
http://entomologytoday.org/2016/03/07/heres-how-to-inspect-your-trees-for-emerald-ash-borer/

And in case you're wondering about the picture up top of this page, that's an ash tree with a wonderful example of the Lunge Lichen, Lobaria pulmonaria. That lichen can be found on white or black ash trees.  I took the picture at Marshfield's town forest on a January day that was warmer than today if you can believe it. Go see it!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the mourning doves are in the pine trees but the blue jays continue to work the grass under each feeder looking for leftovers from earlier month.

George Africa

The Vermont Gardener

Vermont Flower Farm

Aedes aegypti--Oh Boy!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

A damp morning here on the mountain with a 44.2° temperature and a 2-3-4 mph breeze. The snow is about melted from the fields and woods around the house and it's hard to believe that winter never really materialized. My benchmarks involve how many times I put the  snowplow on the truck and this year it occurred just once. Memories of last year's gardens is what keeps me going this time of year when we are between seasons.

Looking out the office window at puddles of water reminded me of an article I just read on one of the entomology sites I subscribe to. It mentioned the Zika crisis and Aedes aegypti, the insidious mosquito that is actively involved in spreading disease and death. Some of the attributes of this insect served as reminder to the spring clean up that we should probably give more importance to. In Vermont, for years and years, we have had Vermont Green Up Day, a giant effort to pick up roadside and "public places" trash and make our state look nicer for the coming summer. It's a great event and in recent years I have noticed that some folks start the event earlier and keep their clean-up going longer. I like that. 

The Aedes egypti mosquito has been around for a long time. It was targeted for its links to dengue and yellow fever and also chikungunya and now has been identified relative to Zika. This mosquito is known to bite during days or nights and is described as a container breeder because the females lay eggs in small amounts of water found is trash, cans, bottles, old tires, and rain gutters. It takes little water to serve as a nesting site and their primary target is human blood. That explains the links between people and trash. 

Aedes aegypti are known to live in South and Central America so most would probably say that Vermont is a stretch. I suggest that maybe we should keep track of what climate change has done to animals and insects. We may not like it, but some critters seem to acclimate to new and unusual places. Large snakes are becoming very large problems halfway up the US coast now. As pets, they have been abandoned into the wild and although some have said that they cannot live where it gets cold, that just doesn't hold true. They may not make it in Vermont but in the past year wildlife control staff have had to deal with alligators and large snakes in proximity to Washington DC. The Charles River in Boston has long been the home of piranha, that toothy fish from South America that prefers schools of company and can devour a large cow in short order. Changes happen!

So as spring weather approaches, thoughts of Green Up Day may have a different meaning this year. Maybe just maybe, we should relate our clean up not just to sprucing up the roads and byways but to improving our likelihood of better health. As I walked along the part of our land that parallels Route 232 last week, I found 5 tires that had been rolled off someone's car and down the hill. Someone apparently thought "Out of sight, out of mind." and didn't want to pay the recycling charge. Chances are good however that left there,  those 5 tires will become breeding habitat for insects after this week's rain and soon-to-come warm weather. Let's think this through and do a better job. And no matter what our opinion on Aedes aegypti, let's Green Up Vermont!

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the ground outside my window is full of juncos as noisy crows discuss political news from nearby maples. Be well!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
On Facebook as George Africa and also as Vermont Flower Farm & Gardens
On Twitter as vtflowerfarm
And also writing on a variety of gardening sites and social media endeavors!

And remember, we're always here to help you grow your green thumb!