Posts Tagged ‘Humarock Beach’

Truly Fall

The day is blustery and seasonably crisp. There is a frost warning for Plymouth County tonight. Yesterday brought warmth and a steady offshore breeze for a perfect fall beach walk at Humarock beach.

 

Normally uneven and rock strewn,  the ocean at low tide provided a smooth, wide swath of lightly packed sand like a freshly paved road.

The wind whipped and curled the modest waves which beguiled a couple of surfers. 

   

 

A bicyclist rode by. We exchanged hellos and nods to other couples. And a few dogs.

 

Afterwards, we gleaned late season tomatoes from our friends’ garden since they’re traveling in Southeast Asia. It is truly fall.

Three cheers for the red, white and blue!

The perennial garden is at another peak – this time with summer blooms of hydrangea, evening primrose (), bee balm (monarda), cone flower (Echinacea), lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) and day lilies too various to mention (see this article). Plus continually blooming roses,  emerging liatris spicata (Gayfeather) and surprise reappearance of sweet smelling daphne. And, of course, classic annuals. Everything seems early this year.

Spring blooms of Japanese dwarf spirea, clematis, astilbe and peonies have faded. The honeysuckle over the trellis is not very happy this year – thinner and fewer blooms, some blackened. I’m trusting this rugged perennial will recoup next year.

I’m a gardener on vacation – which is a special opportunity to reconnect with dirt, buds and beauty.  And weeds. I used my push-pull loop hoe along the driveway bed (80 feet) to clear several years’ of embedded weeds.  This is an awesome hoe that makes weeding, if not fun, at least productive.

This year’s hydrangeas look so, so blue. Roses in the Betty Garden spill profusely over the stone wall. Family and friends gathered for our almost annual July 3rd party, celebrating summer and fireworks on Humarock Beach. Scituate police enforced a bonfire ban this year but mobs of people and fireworks attended the traditional fest nevertheless.

Our house is literally abuzz outside with painting preparation. We recently reshingled and re-roofed, the next step will conclude a major exterior renovation long in the works. The carpenter who was prepping the trim discovered (how fitting) carpenter ants on the back wing of the house. Bummer. We’re waiting for the exterminator.

End of vacation – tomorrow we’ll see Cirque du Soleil (“Totem”) perform at Boston Marine Terminal.

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Oenothera (Evening Primrose or Sundrop) is a Genus of about 125 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous flowering plants, native to North and South America. It is the type genus of the family Onagraceae, the Evening Primrose Family http://gardencoachpictures.wordpress.com/tag/oenothera-tetragona/

Early Spring Dance

New England, March 2012: So odd to have late June’s cameo appearance.

image of withered echinacea and wood bridge

Last year's echinacea

We pensively enjoyed the abundant warmth and sunshine, while summer’s annoyances buzzed and swarmed around us, eventually driving us inside from the patio.

So many things sprang to life this week – the helleboros from Grace & Jerry, which must be thinned and would probably work better at the foot of the stone wall; our accidental hyacinth — a reliable, discarded gift from a beau to one of our teenage daughters, who are both in their 30’s now; streets bursting with magnolias already past their peak on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston; and, allergies galore.

I began clearing last year’s garden refuse and I re-installed the garden foot bridge on reset brick footings that lower the leading edge of the bridge so it’s neatly flush with the adjoining patio. This fundamental satisfaction I will enjoy forever. On walks at Humarock Beach I’m harvesting tumbled, black stones to supplement my medium hard-scape around the bridge; I will place the rounded rocks such that they become a Zen garden-like flow.

photo of purple and white crocus

Crocus cast in myrtle

It’s too early to put out my little water feature because here in New England, in March or April, a sudden freeze can descend at any time. One doesn’t put out one’s tomatoes before Mother’s Day. My wish is for a brief cold snap to kill off the flying insects that hatched prematurely, then, a long, drawn out spring with just the right amount of rain. We can have the most spectacular Mays and Junes.

Spring is planning and planting and visioning and acting. Who knows how this season will progress? Is the sudden warmth a friendly lark or a portent of grave weather to come? Neither, both.