Autumn life and death
Trudy Taylor was a multitalented artist of living — fierce and contrarian in her beliefs, and entirely unique. Matriarch to her large biological family and to many more whom she mentored, Trudy, well known...
Sounds amid the silence
The new air comes in,
As rustling wind,
A sojourner here,
Hurrying onward —
Toward autumn.
Background Noise
How many connoisseurs of silence remain? On quiet days, early-morning stillness carries the sound of the resident crows clacking their...
Summer took its toll
Gardeners always face challenges. It is midway through September, and still the Island has received very little rain. Last week’s thunderstorm (2.25 inches in my rain gauge, delivered throughout the day) was very timely....
It’s Labor Day
Labor Day weekend nears; a seasonal turning point approaches. Whether or not it penetrates the conscious mind, everything senses it at the cellular level, including plant life, animal life, and higher vertebrates. It marks...
A mania for hydrangeas
Cutline quote: “Oakleaf hydrangea’s white flower heads age beautifully to burgundy.”
It would seem that the nation is in the grip of hydrangea mania. Sales campaigns for new introductions are planned and executed almost like...
Designing the 21st century garden
In a community such as Martha’s Vineyard, where gardening and natural preservation standards are high, each gardener and every garden benefits from natural plantings unique to the location.
The town of West Tisbury, known as...
Repotting my hibiscus
It took me a long time to get my vegetable garden in hand this season. So cold, so dry — that is how we started in spring 2015. Now, as I brush off mosquitoes...
Summer magic
To be out at dusk amidst fireflies and the fragrance of regal lilies is summer magic.
Lilies are some of the garden’s most aristocratic elements. The members of the genus Lilium really begin to dazzle...
Let it rain
Welcome to summer, which officially started with the summer solstice last Sunday. It was a rainy day; perhaps we can take it as a good sign that adequate rain will fall on us for...
On pergolas
Garden features
“And every man shall sit under his vine, and under his fig tree …” (Micah 4:4) To my mind, there is nothing as desirable and visually inviting in the garden as the features...
To-do lists are growing long
The “merry month of May” is traditionally characterized by hawthorns in bloom; no matter that May is almost over and the hawthorns are only just starting to flower. Despite the chilly, dry weather, there...
Appreciate the less flashy plantings
The air is full of bud scales drifting and blowing about as the expanding leaves free them. They create plugs and stoppers in downspouts and gutters; check on that. Pollen is here too. Early...
Magnolia and lilac time
The old joke about Island spring, “January, February, March, March, March, June …” means expectations here are low. The flower buds of lilacs (Syringa spp.) are generally cold-hardy; however, those of magnolias, less so....
Thoughts on Earth Day
Stand up for what you stand on
Earth Day is April 22. Space exploration is said to be one of the grandest, vastest human ideas. As the delightful Mary Clear points out in the propaganda...
A flurry of spring
In the garden
Where to begin? Snow and crummy conditions may have set our schedules back, but be assured that in the end all will be well. Christmas wreaths come off doors, according to Island...
Soil is our only true capital
The principal message is the value of increasing carbon content in soils.
Beneath the snow cover, soils and plants are cozy and insulated
February is the time to prune your fruit trees.
Dreaming, scheming “I wanta’s!”
Garden dreaming “I-wanta’s”
This is the dreaming, scheming, and planning portion of the gardening year. The catalogs arriving daily are a font of ideas and “I-wanta’s.” At some point reality must reassert itself, but not...