Sunday, June 15, 2008
Almost 7 AM and 58 degrees outside. Still raining ever so lightly after an entire night of heavy rain. All the five gallon buckets around the potting stand are overflowing so I have no idea how much rain we received. I'm leaving shortly to open the nursery for the day and the little brook at the intersection of Routes 2 and 232 will be a good indicator of what happened.
I took Karl the wonder dog for a brief walk this morning. He should be kind on Father's Day but his sniffer was in overdrive as hungry wildlife had a late start to last night's dinner or this morning's breakfast. We really needed some rain and the sounds while walking suggest it was much more than an inch.
This is a good time to look around your hostas and see what previous year's seed production may have provided for you. At the entrance to the lower hosta garden here at the house, I planted a sieboldiana 'Elegans' next to a couple Abiqua Moonbeams, an Albopicta and an On Stage. Just above it are an August Moon and a Sunpower. They are all mature plants and five or more years old.
I suggest a little exploring this time of year because you will always find some of previous year's progeny but you may never know what the genetic mix is due to insect hybridization. The hosta to the left of the yellow On Stage pictured above is the result of some kind of mix. The thing about this hosta is that it's going to be a giant in time. Last year was it's second year and it really grew. It looks as if it will be the size or bigger than the On Stage this year but in a couple days I'll have a better idea because the heavy rain will bring everything along quickly. Many very popular hostas were "found" so look under the leaves of your favorites and you might be surprised!
The peonies look great this year. As if having an ability to read the calendar, the peony named 'Dad' is in blossom as of yesterday. Nearby is 'Paul Fay' and also 'Sea Shell'. The rain probably cancelled out the eight blossoms left on the fern leafed 'smouthii' which was special this year. If you get a chance, add this to your collection as it is the earliest here and very nice.
Better get going. It's Father's Day so good gardening wishes to all fathers in every garden anywhere.
George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm Our outdated but very useful, still operational, home built commercial site which needs some sales ......but just the same has some neat pictures and good comments. Take a look! We're still biased.
I took Karl the wonder dog for a brief walk this morning. He should be kind on Father's Day but his sniffer was in overdrive as hungry wildlife had a late start to last night's dinner or this morning's breakfast. We really needed some rain and the sounds while walking suggest it was much more than an inch.
This is a good time to look around your hostas and see what previous year's seed production may have provided for you. At the entrance to the lower hosta garden here at the house, I planted a sieboldiana 'Elegans' next to a couple Abiqua Moonbeams, an Albopicta and an On Stage. Just above it are an August Moon and a Sunpower. They are all mature plants and five or more years old.
I suggest a little exploring this time of year because you will always find some of previous year's progeny but you may never know what the genetic mix is due to insect hybridization. The hosta to the left of the yellow On Stage pictured above is the result of some kind of mix. The thing about this hosta is that it's going to be a giant in time. Last year was it's second year and it really grew. It looks as if it will be the size or bigger than the On Stage this year but in a couple days I'll have a better idea because the heavy rain will bring everything along quickly. Many very popular hostas were "found" so look under the leaves of your favorites and you might be surprised!
The peonies look great this year. As if having an ability to read the calendar, the peony named 'Dad' is in blossom as of yesterday. Nearby is 'Paul Fay' and also 'Sea Shell'. The rain probably cancelled out the eight blossoms left on the fern leafed 'smouthii' which was special this year. If you get a chance, add this to your collection as it is the earliest here and very nice.
Better get going. It's Father's Day so good gardening wishes to all fathers in every garden anywhere.
George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm Our outdated but very useful, still operational, home built commercial site which needs some sales ......but just the same has some neat pictures and good comments. Take a look! We're still biased.
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