>f Past and Future 



The benches in this house consist 

 of wooden frames with galvanized fenc- 

 ing fastened to their undersides set on 

 cement blocks. Slats are placed at inter- 

 vals wide enough to hold a row of 4 1/ 

 2", then a row of 6" pots. "The spacing 

 is perfect," Everett said. "I was looking 

 for a way to keep pots from tipping 

 over. One day I saw a stair railing and 

 wondered what would happen if you 

 put it on its side..." 



The house is empty now. ..only the 

 few geraniums, a few pots of freesia 

 bulbs (also grown for the shop, these are 

 grown under a section of the same gal- 

 vanized grid used for the benches. The 

 grid supports the plants when they get 

 tall and floppy.) 



The space between the two houses 

 is 12 feet wide - just wide enough for a 

 12 X 80 hoop house. The frames remain 

 standing all year. The radiated heat from 

 the two houses on either side melts the 

 snow early and by the end of March, the 

 hoops are covered with 

 plastic and the unheated 

 house becomes a hold- 

 ing place for bedding 

 plants. Now the space is 

 used for growing hardy 

 mums for fall - 500 of 

 them in ten varieties. 



A narrow plastic- 

 covered cold frame runs 

 along the back side of 

 the shop. Corey hopes 

 to CO ver it with Cyroflex 

 and use it for starting 

 seeds and for growing 

 more shade-tolerant 

 plants like impatiens. 



Outside the back 

 entrance of the annex 

 are a few potted peren- 

 nials - lupines, poppies, 

 delphinium - some 

 brought in, some grown 

 from seed. These will be wintered over 

 and sold next year. 



Beyond the perennials, at the edge 



'The Village Green is a 



curious mix of post and 



present - of recycled 



parts and ideas 



for the future' 



of the property, is a 50 x 50 bed in which 

 neat rows of plants are beginning to 

 bloom. This is an experiment in grow- 

 ing cut flowers for the shop. There's a 

 wide range - astilbe, liatris, achillea, 

 pyrethrum, viscaria, gladiolus, asters 

 ("Seven varieties - we're big on asters," 

 Aldrich said). There are unusual things 

 along with the common. If this garden 

 seems sensible, there will be a larger 

 one next year. 



...and a compost heap is begun - al- 



up annuals, but it seemed too bad to 

 throw the stuff out. 



"The florist shop is flourishing. We 

 do work as far south as Woodsville," 

 Everett said, "north to Lancaster, east to 

 Bretton Woods, west toSt.Johnsbury..." 



"It's a big area," I agreed. The flo- 

 rist shop is in a good situation. The cli- 

 entele is varied - there are plenty of tra- 

 ditional weddings and familiar holidays 

 and the people with summer homes and 

 the big inns and hotels fill with what 

 could be a quieter summer season. At 

 the time we spoke, Everett was design- 

 ing the arrangements for a double bar 

 mitzvah. 



So it's Peter's job to bring the green- 

 houses up to full production. A small 

 poinsettia crop will be grown this win- 

 ter. And there's talk of nursery stock. 

 And the partners hope to move the shop 

 to the old bam and put their offices in 

 the loft. And... all this will be done in 

 steps, I'm sure, depending on fluctua- 



I'^m^ 



ready it's an impressive size. No one is 

 quite sure whether the compost will be 

 spread over the gardens or used to pot 



tions of crops and marketplace. Every 

 year may not see progress, but the 

 changes will go on..^ 



17 



