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Friday, May 24, 2013

By Hermine Hull
Published: July 30, 2009

Margaret Logue just stopped by to look at some daylilies I was planning to dig up and give away. She ended up with a pale yellow instead of the red she came for. No mind, gardeners can always find space for just one more desirable plant, especially when it comes with the memory of a friend's garden on a lovely summer day.

I guess it's the cool temperatures that have made things seem later this year. My daylilies are at their peak with amazing, thick clumps of heavily budded stalks. Going around the garden in the morning to deadhead yesterday's flowers is one of my favorite tasks. It brings immediate gratification, order where there was none only moments ago, neatness restored. As the colors appear more heavily one day than the next, there is always a sense of discovery, a different garden, one day more yellow or gold or peach. Being unable to throw anything away, I have a newly dug spot in the backyard to begin moving and rearranging the clashing red daylilies I had hoped to give away.

I had dinner last night at Ruth Kirchmeier's and Nelson Bryant's. A highlight of the evening, apart from the company and Nelson's perfectly cooked salmon, was a tour of Ruth's garden, which is very sculptural, with perfectly pruned evergreen standards and artfully arranged plantings. The cobalt blue platycodon she paired with her red daylilies really looked good, giving me an idea on how to replant mine to greater effect.

If color is your interest, West Tisbury artist Adele Schonbrun is exhibiting her art porcelain and sculptural pottery as part of Color & Whimsy, the latest spotlight at the Shaw Cramer Gallery in Vineyard Haven. The show is designed to explore colorful and playful artwork.

It's not too late to see paintings by another West Tisbury artist, Sheila Fane. Her work is on display at The Old Sculpin Gallery through July 31.

Nancy Noble Gardner will be August's artist of the month at the library. Her exhibition of photographs is called "Little Garden Miracles." She will be at the library for a reception on August 5 at 4 pm. Please come to meet her and see her work.

This Saturday, August 1, come to the library to see and hold real moon rocks, around which Colleen Morris has planned a terrific program. She has been trained to handle them correctly and to help all of us handle them correctly. Also on display will be a portrait of Apollo 17 Commander, Captain Eugene A. Cernan, painted by Vineyard artist Paul Ortlip.

Of course, the biggest event in town this weekend is the Friends of the Library's Annual Book Sale. My reporter in the field, book sale volunteer Henry Bassett, says this will be the best sale ever. He reports an even bigger than usual selection of really good books. The sale at the West Tisbury School gym begins July 31 and runs through August 3. Hours are 9 am to 3 pm.

Bob and Susan Wasserman have had Miles George visiting with them for the past three weeks. Miles is from High Wycombe, England, and is the son of friends of the Wassermans from London. While here, he was able to travel between the Vineyard, New York City, and San Francisco. He was particularly captivated by San Francisco's cable cars, buying a pass that enabled him to ride all around the city.

Sunday afternoon, Red Sox left fielder Jim Rice was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Not only was the ceremony itself very moving, but NESN showed interviews with him and many of his teammates and replays of Rice's greatest moments on the field. It was a special treat to hear much of this related in the elegant voice of Ned Martin, one of the best baseball commentators ever. The Red Sox will retire Rice's number 14 on Tuesday.

Despite never winning the World Series, the Red Sox of the 1980s were the last team that really felt like a team of long-standing. Jim Rice was our left fielder, Dwight Evans played right, with Tony Armas and then Dave Henderson in center. First base was Bill Buckner. Marty Barrett played second. Wade Boggs was at third and Spike Owen at shortstop. DH was Don Baylor. Rich Gedman was the catcher. A richness of pitchers included Roger Clemens, Oil Can Boyd, Bruce Hurst, Bob Stanley, and Lee Smith. It was great to watch them season after season, sometimes shining, sometimes struggling, often playing their entire careers with the Sox. I really miss those days of baseball where opening day was a reunion instead of a brief introduction before players were traded to another team.