Easter Wishes

Saturday, March 22, 2008

It's very close to Easter here at Vermont Flower Farm. I remember there was a time when virtually everyone I knew celebrated Easter. Times have changed and some who did, no longer do, and some people I know are of other faiths while some have no interest in any religion at all.

I always have had an Easter Lily or two or three and have always enjoyed them. What we know of as an Easter Lily is really a longiflorum and not at all like Madonna lilies associated with a far different part of the world in a much earlier time. This year I don't have any Easter lilies because I couldn't find any that looked good enough to purchase. After four stores, each with lilies that had botrytis and had been over fertilized, I was about to give up. There's only one greenhouse that produces them up this way and it's still 65 miles away towards Burlington. I knew they would have very good lilies but the trip didn't make any sense. I tried one last store and those lilies looked as if they had been frozen. I was disappointed and settled for a nice azalea just starting to open and some tulips. Gail was quite pleased but still wanted a full explanation of why we were going to be lilyless.

Several years back I bought Easter lilies from a box store. They looked exceptional and they were. When I got them home I found out they had some pretty hungry red ants inside but the ants didn't seem to bother us and the plants were well enjoyed. Lilies are a very good investment and reward you for a long time if you purchase them when they are just starting to open.

This Easter presented a real challenge for growers and that's probably part of the problem with all the lilies I looked at. Balancing light and fertilizer is very tricky. Growers now days use growth regulators to compensate for the lack of sun when the bulbs are first planted --say 80 days ago, and the increasing sunlight each day since planting. The number of variables involved is where the challenge comes in and just anyone can't figure this out. This year Easter is very early compared to other years which means the bulbs were planted and grew under artificial light during much of their early start.

A couple alternatives to consider if you can't find a nice longiflorum is a potted lily or several stems of lilies of either Orientals, Asiatics, or the crosses of those two. Oriental lilies are the nice showy and fragrant lilies while Asiatic lilies come in a large variety of colors, hold up well and are fragrance free which is something to consider if you're having company with possible allergies. The various longiflorum hybrids are also readily available as cut flowers and are very impressive.

In early August I always think of Easter because the nice trumpet lilies begin to bloom here including Regale. This one always gives great pleasure with it's burgundy backing and pure white petals. Just looking at this picture makes me wish I had a few pots going right now.

Finally, I have grown to love Eucharis grandiflorum, the Amazon lily pictured at the top of the page. Ours are just finishing blooming again and probably would have been on target for mid April if I hadn't moved the pots into my office when we had some company over a few weeks back. They are not as easy to find any more but you can track them down on the Internet.

With a twitch of a bunny's nose, Easter will be here. Regardless of your belief, I know that you probably enjoy plants. I hope these thoughts have been helpful as you purchase and grow plants for Easter in years to come. In the meantime, enjoy time with family and friends and give some time to think about the origin of Easter.



Easter wishes from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the moon is just now rising above the fir balsams and tamaracks and the wind I thought had stopped, reminds us again that cold days will remain for some time longer.

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener

Eastern Spotted Salamanders

Sunday, 8:35 PM, April 30, 2007

Just as a follow up to my earlier post about the Amphibian Monitoring Program I wanted to show you some pictures of the salamanders I relocated last night. I really wanted to get out again tonight but we have high winds predicted and things are already swirling in good shape. The road I have to take is through Groton State Forest and the chance for downed trees is very good tonight. Cutting trees in the dark is not something I want to learn to do.

This first picture is of two Eastern Spotted Salamanders. The one in the front has a little note attached as I am questioning the blue spots. There are Jefferson and also Blue Spotted salamanders in Vermont and there are hybrids of those two. I wasn't aware that the Eastern (yellow) Spotted hybridized. Alex tells me "no" which means he listened to the lecture better than I did. He cannot, however, tell me how blue spots got on a Eastern (yellow) Spotted Salamander.

These salamanders get to be a foot long. The largest last night was 8.5" That translates to several years old but again I don't remember the exact ratios. I noticed that they don't mind walking all over their friends and fellow salamanders so they do have some human traits too.


When these guys walk, they can cruise right along but nonetheless they are very difficult to spot. When they do stop, they raise their heads but this is only half an inch off the ground so there's not a lot to perceive. If you pick them up and then place them back down they hold in a kind of lame posture with tail curled and head pointed down towards the ground. I was a little apprehensive when I picked up the first one as it turned its head toward my hand and I didn't know what to expect. Probably been around Karl the wonder dog too much. He always bites the hand that feeds him!


One time a reader commented that he enjoyed reading my blog even if I took a circuitous route to get to the garden topic. There's no garden issue with spotted salamanders but the fact is they are part of our environment. If we are good gardeners, we're always thinking about what lives where we garden. Sometimes the absence of certain things such as frogs or the presence of things such as long horn beetles I've never seen before, makes me think about how our environment is changing. Having a new piece of land to work at a new, much lower elevation will encourage us to look at new plant and animal relationships. If you have any questions or comments, let us know.

Karl wants to go out and the way the wind is blowing, I hope this is the last call for tonight.
Gardening wishes from the mountain above Peacham Pond where Wayfarin Strangers plays High On A Mountain ..........where the wind blows free...... and the spring peepers and wood frogs have already called it quits for the night.


George Africa

http://vermontflowerfarm.com
http://thevermontgardener.blogspot.com

Amphibian Spring Migration

Thursday, March 29, 2007

A bright afternoon here at Vermont Flower Farm. There's still too much snow to get off Route 2 and onto the new property to begin spring chores. It shouldn't be much longer though as the wind is dropping the snow quickly and drying up the open areas.

I just checked the thermometers here and it's 36 on the east side of the house and 62 on the west. The way the wind gusts are striking, I'm sure it feels colder than it reads. Outside my window a male pine siskin is bending sideways on a large mullein stalk as he tries to peck the remaining seed from a nearby Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'.

The snow will go quickly now and although it will probably return in a couple April storms, it's time to get on with spring. Historically the last couple weeks is the time when Vermont experienced big rain and snow storms and floods. Those were the times when lives and livestock were lost and many things floated down the river. Gail's mother remembers seeing a cow going down the Winooski River in 1936 and a weather channel from the Fairbanks Museum in St Johnsbury reminded us that last week in 1913 (Foggy on the recall on that date??) a whole log yard in White River washed south into the Connecticut River.

When the rains turn warm, other things begin to happen. Last evening Gail and Alex and I went to a terrific program at the Jaquith Library here in Marshfield. It was about the Amphibian Monitoring Program sponsored by the North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier. Larry Clarfeld of the Nature Center brought salamander guests and presented a super show about salamanders, frogs and toads and their spring migrations.

Larry will present next week on April 3d at the Aldrich Public Library in Barre and April 5th at the Roxbury Free Library in Roxbury. Programs at the Dorothy Alling Memorial Library in Williston and Maple Corners in Calais are being arranged. Next week's shows start at 7 PM and our family recommends you attend. If you have home schoolers in the house like we do, this is an excellent program to integrate. If your kids attend a school that isn't big on science (like one I know), this is a program that will challenge you out of your easy chair and into the outdoors. Further details are available at the Nature Center at 802-229-6206. This is a great program and you'll leave with excitment, lots of information and a new way to ribit-ribit. You might even want to participate in the monitoring program.

Yes, spring is here and soon we'll all be very busy. Yesterday morning at about 5 AM I spotted my first woodcock rising in front of the truck headlights like one of those verticle takeoff jets. It was a big one with a long bill very prominent even in the dull night light. Down the road close to RT 2 where I always see animals cross stood a most beautiful red fox. It leaped up over the right side of the road between two snowbanks and kind of hung in half levitated stillness as it's feet settled in the snow and it's eyes fixed on the headlights. It was bushy and alert and a harbinger for me of the day's tone.

This part of spring is a good time to take that last little rest as very soon the gardening chores will commence. If you live in central Vermont or close proximity, try to get to one of Larry's presentations. You'll come away with a better understanding of some very important parts of our environment which don't often get the attention they should.

Writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where only millet seeds remain on the platform feeder, collected like steel filings moved into the corner by a strong magnet.....but really......just millet seeds waiting for the doves.

With spring wishes,
George Africa

http://vermontflowerfarm.com
http://thevermontgardener.blogspot.com