Here in Bedford, New York, temperatures today are expected to be in the mid-30s with several inches of snow coming tonight - this winter has been very erratic.
Yesterday was warm enough - 67-degrees Fahrenheit - to open my tropical greenhouse for just a bit to let in some fresh air. This large hoop house is where I store most of my tropical plants over the winter months. The structure is heated and the humidity levels are closely monitored and adjusted when necessary. My Skylands gardener, Wendy Norling, who is visiting New York this week, took some time to check on all the plants and do some greenhouse grooming.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Here at the farm, I have five different greenhouses. I call this one the tropical greenhouse. It works by heating and circulating air to create an artificial tropical environment. The entire structure is built using heavy gauge American made, triple-galvanized steel tubing. To simulate the best subtropical environment, we try to keep the temperature in this house between 50 and 85-degrees Fahrenheit with some humidity.
These plants grow a little more each year, so the placement of these specimens changes every time they are stored. Here’s a large sago. The sago palm, Cycas revoluta, supports a crown of shiny, dark green leaves on a thick shaggy trunk that is typically about seven to eight inches in diameter when mature, sometimes wider. The sago palm may look like a tiny palm tree with its glossy, stiff fronds, but it is not a palm tree at all. Sago palms are cycads, one of the most ancient plants that have been around since prehistoric times.
These are where leaves were once cut. The rough trunk becomes leafless as it ages and gives way to an evergreen crown filled with upward pointing fronds. The tips are quite pointy and sharp, so it’s best to plant it away from lots of foot traffic.
I have many sago palms in my collection – in all different sizes. The sago palm is slow-growing and can take up to 100 years for it to achieve its maximum height of 20-plus feet tall. It thrives in sunny to shady sites and can withstand some drought once established.
Also in this hoop house is a potted ruffled fan palm, Licuala grandis. It is an unusual and gorgeous species of palm. Ruffled fan palm is native to the Vanuata Islands, located off the coast of Australia. It is a very slow growing palm which can reach up to 10 feet, but usually closer to six feet when grown in a pot. They are grown for their gorgeous pleated, or ruffled, leaves.
This is a Chinese fan palm, Livistona chinensis. This palm is also known by the common name fountain palm because of the way their fronds arch up and then spill downward like water from a fountain. Each frond can grow 40 to 60 inches long.
Another palm is the European fan palm. This is a slow-growing, clumping palm that grows eight to 15 feet tall and spreads six to 10 feet wide. This is the only palm native to Europe and is very hardy. The fine-textured fronds make this palm stand out from other plants. The leaf color ranges from lovely light green to stunning silver.
I also have many agaves, including this blue agave with its beautiful gray-blue spiky fleshy leaves. Do you know… tequila is actually distilled from the sap of the blue agave?
The rigid, thick blue-green succulent leaves are marked with bud imprints and have undulate margins with prominent teeth. The blue agave may reach a height of six to eight feet and grow just as wide.
This is also an agave. All agaves do best in full sun and sandy, well-drained soil, and thrive on the scantest amount of water. Some are more cold-tolerant than others, but they can’t handle damp cold. Here, all the plants are stored with enough space, so that none of them touch.
Fans strategically placed around the greenhouse help to circulate the air. This day was unseasonably warm, so all the fans were running.
This is a Bismark palm, Bismarckia nobilis, which grows from a solitary trunk, gray to tan in color, and slightly bulging at the base. The nearly rounded leaves are enormous and are divided to a third its length into 20 or more stiff, once-folded segments.
This is a fig tree leaf. The fig tree has been sought out and cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world, both for its fruit and as an ornamental plant. Most fig tree leaves are bright green, large, singular, and well-lobed. Fig trees need full sun to partial shade – a minimum of seven to eight hours of sun exposure is best. They also like soil with good drainage. Some of the fig varieties in my greenhouse include ‘GE Neri’, ‘Letezia’, ‘Brunswick’, ‘Chicago Hardy’, and ‘Petite Negra’.
Kalanchoe is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, mainly native to Madagascar and tropical Africa. It is know for its ease of care and interesting leaves and flowers, which bloom consistently throughout the year. Kalanchoe can grow quite large, spreading out over a thick columnar trunk.
The kalanchoe’s leaves are soft and felt-like.
Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia nicolai, is a species of evergreen tropical herbaceous plant with gray-green leaves. Look closely, these plants have actually evolved to create splits along their lateral leaf seams to allow the wind to pass by. In doing so, they eliminate the risk of being snapped in half by strong tropical gusts.
In the front of the greenhouse is a monkey puzzle tree, Araucaria araucana. It is an evergreen tree native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina. It has strange leaves, a distinctive trunk and branches that emerge from the trunk in whorls. Mature trees may reach 150-feet in height and have a trunk diameter of up to seven-feet.
The leaves of the monkey puzzle tree are thick and stiff and have a pointed tip. The leaves overlap each other and completely cover the branches. They are sometimes said to look “reptilian” because they appear similar to a reptile’s scales.
Also in this enclosure is this tall pygmy date palm tree, Phoenix roebelenii. This tree grows to about 10-feet tall or more. Phoenix roebelenii is a popular ornamental plant and needs little pruning to develop a strong structure.
The slender trunk has decorative protuberances along its entire length from where fronds were once attached, but have fallen off as the tree grows.
And remember the potted up Eucomis? All of them are doing well. This plant is also commonly known as the pineapple lily. This South African native has a very interesting flower stalk that is reminiscent of the delicious fruit. These plants will show off a beautiful indoor display in weeks.
The potted amaryllis are flowering! Look how beautiful this bloom is – I can’t wait to see the others open.
And here’s Wendy – enjoying her time grooming many plants she doesn’t often see up in Maine. She’s also enjoying the warmer temperatures, but they won’t last long. Night temperatures here are expected to drop to the 20s and teens – with snow. Winter is not over yet.
A comprehensive preventive health care program for horses should always include regular dental visits.
Twice a year, my horses are seen by their lay equine dentist, Brian Stuart. Unlike human teeth, equine teeth are constantly growing, which means their bites are always changing. Because of this, it is very important for a horse’s mouth to be examined for any sharp edges or misaligned molars. The process of correcting these conditions is called floating - filing or rasping an equine’s teeth so that chewing surfaces are smooth and properly contoured for eating. These days, power floating has become a popular method, but I prefer the all-natural, more traditional hand filing process. Yesterday, Brian came to my stable to check on all my horses, including the newest residents, Geert and Hylke.
Here are some photos.
This is the Stable, located at the foot of my long Boxwood Allee and within view of my Winter House. Currently, my stable has 10 equids – my five donkeys, Rufus, Billie, Clive, Jude “JJ” Junior, and Truman “TJ” Junior, my four Friesian horses – Rinze, Bond, Hylke, and Geert, and my Fell pony, Banchunch.
Yesterday, all my Friesians and Banchunch got their teeth checked. These are Brian’s tools of the trade. They are called floats. When not being used on a horse, Brian soaks them in a Chlorhexidine solution, an antimicrobial disinfectant.
Each float is fitted with a sharp tungsten carbide blade made of chips that are bonded to the base. This is what files each tooth during the floating process. Brian has 10-floats in his bucket. The floats also come in varying angles for use on different teeth. By using these floats, Brian can file sharp enamel points to correct any dental imbalances.
Floats are about 21-inches long. The long handles allow Brian to get to the back molars.
This is an “s” file, a two-sided file used for finishing areas and for polishing the front of the molars section where the horse’s bit sits.
The key to working with horses is to gain their trust, which in turn helps them calm down. Brian spends a few minutes just talking to each horse before he begins working. Here is Hylke meeting Brian for the first time.
Brian has been practicing for more than 30-years. He always works in the horse stalls where they are most relaxed. He starts by checking on Hylke’s front teeth. Hylke is comfortable with him from the very beginning.
This is a McPherson full mouth speculum. It keeps the horse’s mouth open during the floating process.
Brian places the speculum on Hylke – he doesn’t seem to mind it at all.
After feeling his teeth with his hand, Brian reaches in with a float to assess the back molars and float those that need it.
Hylke remains still for the entire process. Brian continues to speak softly to keep Hylke relaxed. Fortunately, Hylke has had regular floating at his last stable, so his teeth are in good condition.
After a half hour, he is back to eating hay and watching all the farm activities from his stall window. Good boy, Hylke.
Next is Geert.
Much of Brian’s work is done through feel. He feels for any abnormalities in Geert’s mouth. Horses have 42 teeth in all. Of those, 24 are molars and premolars that are constantly growing and being worn away.
Regular dental exams and floating are an important part of a horse’s preventative health care plan, so Brian comes to my stable twice a year. Over the years, power floating has become more popular than traditional hand filing, but this manual method is more natural and does not require anesthesia. All that is needed is a knowledgeable practitioner and a trusting relationship between horse and dentist. Geert is also very good during the entire session.
Brian uses a float to file any uneven or high edges of the front molars. The process of teeth floating and occlusion adjustment are not painful, but the sound of the rasp may need some getting used to, especially for a horse that is new to dental care.
Brian secures the speculum on Geert’s head. Geert is also accustomed to this apparatus and doesn’t mind wearing it.
Then, Brian feels every tooth and assesses its condition. He also runs his hand up and down the cheek to check for scratches or sores or anything unusual.
Brian is very gentle when floating teeth – being a lay equine dentist requires excellent horse skills. Geert is also done within 30-minutes.
What a good boy you are, Geert. All five of my horses received good reports and all five have healthy well-aligned teeth.
After their dental exams and some hay, they’ll all go back out to their paddocks where they can run, roll, and graze – their favorite activities – for several hours and then return for grooming. See you soon, Geert and Hylke.
Today at my Bedford, New York farm, we're expecting sunshine with temperatures in the mid-50s - pretty mild weather for February. We're getting a lot of work done outdoors and indoors.
Inside my main greenhouse, we've already planted lots of seeds for the coming gardening season and they're all growing nicely - most of them are from Johnny's Selected Seeds, a source I've used for many years. Starting from seed is not difficult to do, but it does require careful attention and patience. And, once the seedlings start to develop, it’s important to keep up with maintenance care - thin out seedlings that are weak, prick out those that are growing too big for their seed starting trays, and transplant them into larger pots and flats.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Seed starting trays and pots come in all different sizes and depths. These flats have individual pots which will accommodate seedlings that are now ready to transplant from smaller containers. Experiment with pots to see which ones work best for what plants. And, always choose containers or trays that have proper drainage holes at the bottom. Johnny’s Selected Seeds offers a huge variety of seedling trays and other vessels.
Wendy Norling, who usually works at Skylands, my home in Maine, is visiting New York and working at my Bedford farm for a couple weeks. Here she is preparing a series of flats with pots so she can transplant some of the growing flower seedlings.
Wendy fills the pots with a good all-purpose potting soil mix. A good quality organic mix designed for seedlings will be fast draining, and light. It will usually contain sphagnum moss and perlite or vermiculite. These mixes are formulated to encourage strong, healthy growth in new plants.
This tool is great for transplanting seedlings – it’s from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. It’s called a widger. It has a convex stainless steel blade that delicately separates the tiny plants.
Regardless of how perfect seeds may appear, germination is never guaranteed, so multiple seeds are always planted in each seed starting tray cell. This provides a better chance at least one in each cell will take root. When the seedlings are a couple inches tall, and have reached their “true leaf” stage, which is when each seedling has sprouted a second set of leaves, it’s time for a process called selective thinning – removing the weaker sprouts and leaving those that have a better chance of growing strong. Once selective thinning is complete, there should only be one seedling in each cell of the seed starting tray or container. These hollyhock seedlings are big enough to transplant.
Wendy carefully loosens the soil around the seedling with the widger and lifts the seedling. The widger also helps to avoid damage to the plant’s leaves or roots.
Hollyhocks have long taproots as well as lateral roots that need space, so the deeper the pot, the better.
Wendy uses the wider end of the widger to create a hole a couple inches deep in the new pot.
These holes can also be made with one’s finger – the mix is very soft.
Wendy places the seedling in the hole and gently firms up the surrounding soil. Avoid handling the seedling by its tender stems, which can bruise easily.
The growing seedlings will remain in the new larger pots until they are ready to plant in the ground.
Osmocote is a slow-release fertilizer. Osmocote particles are known as prills. The beige shell on the prill coats a core of nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
My gardeners spend many cold, winter days planting seeds in trays. Some are placed in a smaller greenhouse adjacent to the head house. These seedlings are in different stages of growth. As they germinate and begin to mature, it’s important to check their development, so they continue to thrive. These seedlings are dianthus, treasured for its grasslike, blue-green foliage and abundant small and often spicily fragrant flowers.
These seedlings are foxglove, Digitalis purpurea. Foxglove flowers are clusters of tubular shaped blooms in colors of white, lavender, yellow, pink, red, and purple. These were planted from seed a few weeks ago and already transplanted into larger pots. The purpose of transplanting is to provide enough room – overcrowding can stress the sprouts. These look so much better in the pots.
And these are lupines – colorful spiked flowers that grow one to four feet tall. These are also growing in flats in the greenhouse.
I also use my Urban Cultivators. I have one commercial unit and two smaller residential units in my head house. Once seeds are planted in trays, they are covered with humidity domes which remain positioned over the seed tray until germination begins. Each tray receives about 18-hours of light a day with the appropriate amount of water and humidity.
These seedlings already germinated – the covers have been removed. Inside the Urban Cultivator, they are receiving the best growing conditions. It is fascinating to watch the plants grow.
All our hollyhock seedlings are now transplanted and fed in their larger containers.
Finally, Wendy gives them a good drink of water and returns the flats to the greenhouse to continue growing. And then it is back inside to transplant more – thanks, Wendy. We’ll have a lot of flowers and vegetables to plant outdoors this season.
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