Dig-Your-Own Vermont DAYLILY Sale

SOLD (DUG) OUT -two days later...  Field is closed.





We grow our own perennials to sell, digging and potting them in the fall and the spring.  To this end we have six large gardens.  And we can't maintain them all anymore, so from one of the gardens we are having a DAYLILY DIGATHON sale -  Fill a five gallon bucket for $4.00.

I picked blooms from that digging field on Monday and show them below.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Aug 2 - Aug. 5 ) from 9 am - 11:30 am come to Amanda's Greenhouse and we will supply you with a five gallon bucket. Please BRING YOUR OWN shovel. Fill the bucket with as many plants as you wish. We will transfer the plants into a plastic bag. $4 a heaping bucketful.

This will not be easy digging, so bring a good shovel and strong shoes.

Hardy Daylily Sale in Vermont

All daylilies (buy four or more) are now $6 each in gallon pots.  June had seven inches more rain than average and the daylilies loved it.  We have now had three hot, sunny days in a row and suddeny they are exploding into bloom in the gardens.  I have never seen so many buds.

I believe these are edible, but I am not THAT hungry (unless maybe they are identical to chocolate.)

RUBY SPIDER is huge this year, easily measuring nine inches across.

I can always count on MADE TO ORDER to produce tons of blooms.

MARKED BY LYDIA is an outstanding "spider" daylily.

"CHARLES JOHNSON" announces that summer has officially arrived.  At last.  

Vermont Daylilies - July at Amanda's Greenhouse

Daylilies have just started to open here and I have scheduled a sale ( buy 4 or more, $6 each) to begin July 13.  Not sure what came over me, as that is early for a sale like this.  

Meanwhile - here are a few that have opened in the growing gardens...

Joleyne Nicole

Midnight Masquerade

Pat Garrity

Wineberry Candy

Zona Rosa

This last one is supposed to be a double, so I will keep my eye on it.  Pretty, anyway.  The daylilies have loved all the rain.  We had seven inches more rain than the average rainfall for June.

Vermont Perennial SALE

My sale of perennials in 4 and 1/2 inch deep pots continues -  Buy two at $3.99 and the third one is free.  There's everything from campanula to clematis.  Here are some of the phlox offered.  I concentrate on mildew resistant varieties.

Vermont Perennial SALE - $2.50 each

How is it possible that I have gone since March without posting anything?  I see other growers writing just about every day.  I'm simply too busy.  It has slowed down now and I find myself with a surplus of perennials in quart pots.  They have all been overwintered and will bloom this year, but it is next year that they will really show their stuff.

You know the saying about perennials?  "First year they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap."  They are creeping now, getting ready to leap.   And they are all on sale for $2.50 each!

I have plenty of one of my favorites - sidalcea.  This is often called a miniature hollyhock.  I started them from seed last year and here's a photo from the seed company.

I use them a lot in bouquets.  We also have echinacea 'magnus' (coneflower), delphiniums, perennial sweet peas, Nora Barlow aquilegia (columbine) and loads more.  Here's a photo of our creeping phlox for sale.

And the Jacob's Ladder on sale is particularly robust.  The pretty foliage is some of the first you see in the spring. 

We are open every day EXCEPT for Monday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Blue (?) Flowers for Vermont Gardens

Many flowers are called “blue” when in fact they are usually more purple than blue.  In nature you rarely find a true blue flower, and breeders find it difficult to come up with this color for the buying public.  But ... when naming a new plant, putting the word “blue” in the title will certainly help sell the product.

There are several perennial blue salvias.

'Rhapsody in Blue' Salvia

'Blue Hill' Salvia

And my customers love the “Black and Blue salvia, which is an invasive perennial in places like Texas, but in Vermont it is strictly an annual.

'Black and Blue' Salvia

The  blue tradescantia does not spread and take over like other spiderworts.

'Zwanenburg Blue' Tradescantia

'Blue Ice' Amsonia is taller than the species ( amsonia tabernaemontana) and much showier, but I like both of these plants.

'Blue Ice' Amsonia

‘Summer Skies’ siberian iris is a nice light blue.

'Summer Skies' Siberian Iris

The popular ‘Blue Wave’ petunia is definitely purple from my perspective.

But, when combined with other colors, you can get away with calling it 'blue.'

I plant various “blue” flowers as “cuts” because the darker color compliments just about every other color in a bouquet.  Among my favorites are 'Victoria' blue salvia and and any of the tall cutting ageratums.

New Perennials at Amanda's Greenhouse

I'm always game to try new perennials. I like bee balm (monarda) as a cut flower and am looking forward to trying 'Purple Rooster.' It boasts both "true royal purple flowers" and "mildew free plants." Bee balm can be an aggressive spreader, but its roots are shallow and it is easy to thin.

'Purple Rooster' Monarda
Photo from Walters Gardens

Perennial grasses are tricky. Many of them are either too vigorous, or they do not stay upright. 'Karl Forester', a feather reed grass, was the 2001 Perennial Plant of the Year. The publicist call it a "vertical masterpiece." I am less impressed. Where I have it growing it spreads too fast does not look good all season. I'll try it somewhere else.

Meanwhile, I am forever impressed with miscanthus 'Silberfeder' (silver feather grass) which looks nice in my garden all winter. Every spring I dig around the edges to keep it from getting too big and of course to have plants to offer my customers.

Late last sumer I was visiting my friends at Cady's Falls Nursery and was very impressed with a blue switch grass, Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal'. It was upright and about 50 inches tall. This is one I will be growing and selling this year. This grass has metallic blue leaves which turn yellow in the fall.

'Heavy Metal' panicum virgatum
Photo from Walter's Gardens

Mildew on phlox is definitely a problem for me. 'David' seems to have the best resistance and I am adding 'David's Lavender' this year, which is supposed to have the same resistance.

David's Lavender Phlox
Photo from Walter's Gardens

Another new phlox I will be trying, because I was asked by a customer and I can't resist the photo, is 'Peppermint Twist.' It's only 16 inches tall and appears to be a real sweetheart. It is also supposed to have good mildew resistance.

Peppermint Twist Phlox
Photo from Plants Delight Web Site

Many more new plants on the horizon.

Rain in Vermont ...and then more Rain

We have had record breaking rains here and the poor village of Cabot really got "hammered" with flooding. The local hardware store got hit the worst. Over the years I had been building up a nice perennial garden next to the building. That's gone now.



Bridges, driveways and culverts were washed away all over the place and many roads were closed. Memorial Day weekend is normally our busiest time, but the rain sure slowed people down.




Unless folks have raised beds or very dry gardens, they have been unable to plant. We have not tilled once and our gardens are embarrassing. Meanwhile we did have some flooding in the greenhouses and the cellar took on 8 inches of silt, but we're better off than most folks.

The perennials are loving all the rain. Our shade garden is thriving (as are the snails) and the hostas are in seventh heaven.

Early this spring I tossed some slow-release fertilizer on some peonies. It lets the fertilizer out every time it rains. Well, those peonies are more than one foot taller than usual.

Fern leaf peonies are blooming now.



If we have to have extremes in weather, I far prefer too much rain to a drought, and so do most of the plants. Daylilies seem to do well in wet conditions, and of course Siberian iris prefer moist locations.

I am hoping for better gardening conditions for all of us!