Post by Admin on Dec 29, 2003 13:53:28 GMT -5
Bill Countryman's gardens are world famous
June 23, 2003
(from the Top Story section)
By Andrew Nemethy
TIMES ARGUS STAFF
When Bill Countryman became interested in growing peonies back in 1991, he figured it might be a nice retirement hobby. He didn’t know his hobby would take him to the top of a spectacular horticultural niche, let alone take over his life up on top of a high hill in Northfield.
Today Countryman’s Peony Farm is generally acknowledged to have more varities of the spectacular plant than any place in the world, some 1,500 in all, including 43 “gold medal” winners. He’s visited by flower fans from all over the United States and from Europe, and some of his more exotic varities sell for over $100 per plant.
Countryman readily admits that wasn’t what he had in mind when he started growing the plants famed for their heady perfume and spectacular round blooms.
“The peony business is a hobby gone absurd,” he jokes.
But as anyone who has been mesmerized by their sweet lemony scent and spray of huge flowers knows, it’s easy to be enchanted by peonies.
Countryman came to growing them after a 27-year career teaching at Norwich and stints on the District 5 Environmental Commission, the Vermont Environmental Board and the Water Resources Board. At the age of 82, he still runs an environmental consulting business and aside from a bum knee, is as together as any of us would want to be at his age, especially when it comes to peonies.
“I forget to pay my bills sometimes, but most of these I can recognize,” he says as he gives a visitor a tour of the vast expanse of peony gardens he maintains with his wife, Anne, and son, Chris. He uses a motorized golf cart to get around the extensive garden plots, which occupy about four acres of a 200-acre old dairy farm high above Route 12A in Northfield.
Despite Sunday’s steamy afternoon and occasional droplets, many visitors were walking the garden paths to look at the collection, which is in prime bloom right now. The variety of petal shades — dark red and pink and magenta and peach, white and yellow — some single and others double or semi-double petaled, is almost too much to take in. Up close, many blossoms reveal intriguing centers of yellow or white tendrils.
Countryman’s peony garden is not a manicured nursery plot; some of the square plots overtaken by various degrees of weeds and grass, none of which seem to hurt the hardy plants, which Countryman says thrive in Vermont’s harsh climate. It’s a lot of work to maintain the plots, “and a lot of it doesn’t get done,” he says.
Peonies, according to Countryman, attract a diverse mix of people who range from avid gardeners to those seeking prestige and expensive trophy flowers few folks have. His rare “Garden Treasure,” a stunning big yellow peony, sells for $125, but there’s no shortage of buyers.
“It’s expensive but I’ve never had anybody complain about it,” he jokes. For rare varieties, he often barters with other growers for a swap, though sometimes he’s shelled out hundreds of dollars for a really rare variety.
After a few years, he can start subdividing the roots and selling them, slowly making his money back.
Countryman, who has become an expert simply by working with the plants and studying them, says peonies originally came from China, Tibet and southern Europe, but it was the French who began cultivating them seriously in the mid-1800s. He dispells the old wives tale that the blossom buds won’t open if they aren’t covered with ants - ants are attracted by a sweet liquid on the buds - and says what makes peonies perfect for Vermont is that deer don’t eat them.
“Otherwise you wouldn’t see any,” he says, mentioning his farm has a lot of deer.
While you can raise peonies from seed, he says it takes a couple of years for the seeds to germinate, so most peonies are sold from divisions. He sells and ships peonies from his catalog in fall when the plants go dormant. Their relatively high cost results because they grow slowly and it’s time-consuming to divide their thick tuberous roots.
After 12 years of raising peonies, he jokes that his “mental illness” hasn’t seemed to abate one bit.
“I got the bug. The fascination continues,” he says.
June 23, 2003
(from the Top Story section)
By Andrew Nemethy
TIMES ARGUS STAFF
When Bill Countryman became interested in growing peonies back in 1991, he figured it might be a nice retirement hobby. He didn’t know his hobby would take him to the top of a spectacular horticultural niche, let alone take over his life up on top of a high hill in Northfield.
Today Countryman’s Peony Farm is generally acknowledged to have more varities of the spectacular plant than any place in the world, some 1,500 in all, including 43 “gold medal” winners. He’s visited by flower fans from all over the United States and from Europe, and some of his more exotic varities sell for over $100 per plant.
Countryman readily admits that wasn’t what he had in mind when he started growing the plants famed for their heady perfume and spectacular round blooms.
“The peony business is a hobby gone absurd,” he jokes.
But as anyone who has been mesmerized by their sweet lemony scent and spray of huge flowers knows, it’s easy to be enchanted by peonies.
Countryman came to growing them after a 27-year career teaching at Norwich and stints on the District 5 Environmental Commission, the Vermont Environmental Board and the Water Resources Board. At the age of 82, he still runs an environmental consulting business and aside from a bum knee, is as together as any of us would want to be at his age, especially when it comes to peonies.
“I forget to pay my bills sometimes, but most of these I can recognize,” he says as he gives a visitor a tour of the vast expanse of peony gardens he maintains with his wife, Anne, and son, Chris. He uses a motorized golf cart to get around the extensive garden plots, which occupy about four acres of a 200-acre old dairy farm high above Route 12A in Northfield.
Despite Sunday’s steamy afternoon and occasional droplets, many visitors were walking the garden paths to look at the collection, which is in prime bloom right now. The variety of petal shades — dark red and pink and magenta and peach, white and yellow — some single and others double or semi-double petaled, is almost too much to take in. Up close, many blossoms reveal intriguing centers of yellow or white tendrils.
Countryman’s peony garden is not a manicured nursery plot; some of the square plots overtaken by various degrees of weeds and grass, none of which seem to hurt the hardy plants, which Countryman says thrive in Vermont’s harsh climate. It’s a lot of work to maintain the plots, “and a lot of it doesn’t get done,” he says.
Peonies, according to Countryman, attract a diverse mix of people who range from avid gardeners to those seeking prestige and expensive trophy flowers few folks have. His rare “Garden Treasure,” a stunning big yellow peony, sells for $125, but there’s no shortage of buyers.
“It’s expensive but I’ve never had anybody complain about it,” he jokes. For rare varieties, he often barters with other growers for a swap, though sometimes he’s shelled out hundreds of dollars for a really rare variety.
After a few years, he can start subdividing the roots and selling them, slowly making his money back.
Countryman, who has become an expert simply by working with the plants and studying them, says peonies originally came from China, Tibet and southern Europe, but it was the French who began cultivating them seriously in the mid-1800s. He dispells the old wives tale that the blossom buds won’t open if they aren’t covered with ants - ants are attracted by a sweet liquid on the buds - and says what makes peonies perfect for Vermont is that deer don’t eat them.
“Otherwise you wouldn’t see any,” he says, mentioning his farm has a lot of deer.
While you can raise peonies from seed, he says it takes a couple of years for the seeds to germinate, so most peonies are sold from divisions. He sells and ships peonies from his catalog in fall when the plants go dormant. Their relatively high cost results because they grow slowly and it’s time-consuming to divide their thick tuberous roots.
After 12 years of raising peonies, he jokes that his “mental illness” hasn’t seemed to abate one bit.
“I got the bug. The fascination continues,” he says.