It’s a very special time of year for the peafowl at my Bedford, New York farm - it's the beginning of breeding season.
From now until early August, the peacocks display their stunning and iridescent tail feathers, strut back and forth shaking their hindquarters to produce a rattling sound, and make loud calls to the females around them. The peahens tend to choose males with the longest, most colorful tails. It's quite a "tail show."
Enjoy these photos.
This is one of my handsome peacocks. I share my farm with 18 beautiful peafowl – peacocks as well as peahens. Their pen is outside my stable, completely enclosed to keep them safe from predators. Peafowls are very hardy birds, and even though they are native to warm climates, they do very well in cold weather as long as they have access to dry areas away from strong winds. These birds spend most of their days outdoors, and nights in their coop where it is warm and cozy.
Peacocks have large eyes on the sides of their heads providing wide views. They possess sharp visual acuity as well as color discrimination. Both males and females have the fancy crest atop their heads called a corona. Male peacock feather crests are blue or green in color, while female crests are a more neutral shade of brown or cream.
Peacocks are stunning to look at, but do not underestimate their power. These birds are extremely strong with very sharp spurs – just look at the legs and feet of this peacock.
While these birds are ground feeders and ground nesters, they also enjoy roosting at higher levels. In the wild, this keeps them safe from predators at night. My outdoor birds all have access to natural perches made from old felled trees here at the farm.
A peacock’s head can turn more than 120-degrees by rotating some of the joints between the bones in their neck. When looking behind them, these birds are physically twisting their bodies.
And here is a mature male with his gorgeous tail feathers behind him. A mature peacock can have up to 200 feathers in his tail, which can weigh about a half pound during mating season.
The beautiful feathers of the peacock grow to five feet long when mature – that’s longer than the bird’s body.
Peahens usually choose males that have bigger, healthier plumage with an abundance of eyespots. After the season ends in August, the males lose their long tail feathers and then grow them back before the next breeding season begins. The train gets longer and more elaborate until five or six years old when it reaches maximum splendor.
Peacock feathers also help the bird maintain its body temperature by trapping air and providing insulation. This male is preening, or cleaning its feathers with its beak.
Here is a peahen. Notice, the female is less iridescent with more muted colors and markings.
Females also lack the long, showy tails.
During the mating season, the peacocks will do their ritualistic dance to attract the hens.
The peacock turns in circles showing off his tail. This display is known as “train-rattling.” The ability to fan out the train is done with very strong and specialized muscles.
Here is one of my all white peacocks. Stiff rear feathers underlie the front feathers and provide support when the whole tail is raised.
Researchers say the longer the train feathers, the faster the males would shake them during true courtship displays, perhaps to demonstrate muscular strength.
Peacocks are polygamous by nature, often having several partners during the season, and after courtship, and mating. Here is a peacock dancing in front of a hen. She seems less than interested – maybe. Once a peafowl pair has bred, the peahen will usually lay about three to eight brown eggs. It then takes about 28 to 30 days for the eggs to incubate before hatching.
Peacocks and peahens are very smart, docile and adaptable birds. They are also quite clever and very curious. Here are three peahens looking at my geese in the adjacent pen.
… While the males continue trying to attract them. Here’s a closer look at the male’s head and gorgeous eyespots on the lower portion of the tail closest to the body. The neck muscles stiffen to allow for the elegant positioning of its head during the courtship dance.
All peacocks and peahens will look you in the eye, but if you stare at them or seem aggressive in body movements, they will feel threatened. I love how friendly all my peacocks and peahens are with people.
And remember, only the males are peacocks. The females are peahens, and both are called peafowl. Babies are peachicks. A family of peafowl is called a bevy. And a group is called an “ostentation” or a “muster.” I wonder if we will have baby peachicks later this year.
We still have another two weeks of winter, but the gardens at my Bedford, New York farm are already beginning to show signs of spring.
This time of year is when all the witch hazel shrubs are blooming. With their fragrant, butter yellow to orange and scarlet red flowers, witch hazels add a lovely spark of life to otherwise gray winter landscapes. Although witch hazel has many common names, its generic name means “together with fruit” - it is the only tree in North America to have flowers, ripe fruit and next year’s leaf buds on its branches at the same time. Their diversity, beauty, and all-season appeal make them one of the most well-loved garden shrubs.
This time of year, excitement always grows at the first signs of spring. The witch hazel is now blooming at my farm. Witch hazel grows as small trees or shrubs with numerous clusters of rich yellow to orange-red flowers.
Witch hazel is great for splashes of winter color. They’re very hardy and are not prone to a lot of diseases.
Witch hazel is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hamamelidaceae. Most species bloom from January to March and display beautiful spidery flowers that let off a slightly spicy fragrance.
The flowers are able to curl inward to protect the inner structures from freezing during cold wintery weather.
Hamamelis mollis, or Chinese witch hazel, is the most fragrant of all the species. Chinese witch hazel begins blooming as early as January and has buttery yellow petals and clear yellow fall foliage.
Japanese witch hazel, Hamamelis japonica, has showy yellow or red flowers.
There are five species of witch hazel – Hamamelis virginiana, Hamamelis vernalis, Hamamelis japonica, Hamamelis mollis, and Hamamelis ovalis. All of these produce flowers with strap-like crumpled petals.
Witch hazels possess shallow, slow-growing root systems, which do best in large planting areas to ensure normal growth and development. Fortunately, I have a lot of room to grow these pretty shrubs.
Witch hazel is a unique shrub because it features flowers, next year’s leaf buds, and fruit all at the same time.
While most varieties reach 10 to 20 feet high and wide at maturity, witch hazels can be kept smaller with pruning once they are finished blooming.
Witch hazel is great for attracting pollinators and songbirds as well as for deterring deer.
These plants perform best in full sun, or filtered shade in hotter regions. They prefer well-amended soil and regular water, and are tolerant of acid or alkaline conditions. I have several shrubs near my Summer House and more near my allée of lindens.
Witch hazels need a winter chill to achieve full flowering. For best results, temperatures should drop to at least 30-degrees Fahrenheit. Most of the species and cultivars are hardy down to negative 10-degrees Fahrenheit.
Gardeners usually plant witch hazel for its ornamental qualities – in spring and summer witch hazel is a very attractive plant with dark green leaves and graceful, spreading shapes.
Witch hazel will grow in one of six basic shapes – upright, vase-shaped, oval or rounded, spreading, horizontal or weeping.
Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’ is a popular cultivar with its coppery orange flowers that appear in early to mid-winter.
Witch hazel works well as a natural remedy because it contains tannins, which when applied to the skin, can help decrease swelling and fight bacteria.
Witch hazel leaves, bark and twigs are used to make lotions and astringents for treating certain skin inflammations and other irritations.
However, wildlife appreciate it also – leaves are an important food source for native insects and many native birds and animals eat the seeds that follow the flowers in the winter.
Witch hazels can thrive in many gardens given the right conditions and care. I love seeing the witch hazels in bloom – it’s a good sign that spring is just around the corner.
Soon after moving to my property, I built a winding 300-foot pergola along one side of a carriage road leading to my home. Under it, I dug six-foot-wide beds and a grassy footpath. Supporting the wooden beams are antique granite posts from China originally used as grape supports. Every year, this area blooms with beautiful color. In May, a palette of lavender, violet, purple, and blue Camassias, alliums, croci, clematis, muscari, and others. Later in summer, hundreds of orange tiger lilies fill the border gardens. Now, as part of a restoration project, I am replacing the 20-year old timeworn wood with new beams and cedar rafter tails carved from a pattern I conceived and designed myself. Last week, the old wood came down and it's looking markedly different already.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Since building this pergola I’ve added lots of bulbs and perennials that bloom at different times throughout the season. Here is the pergola garden in late May. Boxwood line the beds on both sides.
And gorgeous spring-flowering bulbs emerge along the entire length of the pergola.
In the center, a cross section supports beautiful sweet-smelling wisteria standards.
Here they grow over the rafters.
And on the vertical granite posts I grow several different varieties of clematis.
Each pair of posts supports the same variety and every summer they stand out in all their gorgeous colors.
Later in the season, the gardens change. Here is the pergola in early August when the beds are filled with bold orange tiger lilies. I always encourage guests to walk along the footpath underneath.
From above, one can see the pergola’s structure. This pergola extends from the carriage road in front of my flower cutting garden all the way to the west end of my soccer field.
Last week was phase one of the project. Here’s Fernando Ferrari, who has worked with me for more than 30-years. He saw the original pergola go up. Now he is helping to take it down, one board at a time.
Pete is also a longtime member of my outdoor grounds crew. He is removing the wooden boards carefully, so as not to damage the antique granite posts.
Most of the beams in this section are removed. A lot of them have deteriorated over time.
The copper wire for the clematis vines remains. Here, Fernando moves the wire and any supporting screws and nails from the top of the posts.
The entire removal phase took several days. Thankfully, the milder weather cooperated.
As each piece is taken down, it is placed in a pile at one end of the pergola.
Here is the pergola mid-week. Pete and Fernando have done a fast job.
Next are these old decorative rafters. They must also be removed carefully.
The entire job is done by hand to protect the posts and the gardens below – no big equipment can be used. Pete is close to finishing.
This is what it looks like now – quite bare. The burlap covers the boxwood hedge and shrubs that border the gardens.
Soon, the building will commence and a new pergola will take shape. Follow to see the next phase of this restoration project.
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