I had my first freeze here in Vineyard Haven on Monday night. On Tuesday, I noticed the big field of zinnias at Ghost Island Farm was blackened. They were oddly a backdrop for the Halloween display. It looked like a shipwreck going into the lair of goblins. Every year, Rusty puts himself out for the holiday. He’s a cross between creepy and incredibly creative. At home, the first freeze is a boo situation. It’s the end of tomatoes, tender herbs and a few last minute zucchinis. On the other hand, fall clean-up can begin in earnest. It will be satisfying to yank the spent annuals. I can never bear to get rid of something that still has a minute of life left. Also, the birds seem to enjoy flower hearts that have gone to seed.
There are some fall blooming plants still brightening folk’s yards. My friend, the late Fala Freeman has several perfect lespedezia in her yard on Skiff avenue. It’s nice to think of her when driving past. The garden mums are looking their very best. There is an impressive stand of Sheffield pinks on South Water street in Edgartown opposite the Federated Church parsonage. Both alyssum and ageratums held their own throughout September and October.
Every so often a typo happens in my column that is amusing to me. Last week I meant to say paste tomatoes, but it printed out as pasta tomatoes. How fitting is that? Is it called a malaprop
ism when the wrong word is used but is amusing? Once, years ago, I warned folks to avoid pruning a forsythia into a globe but the paper said glove. I still laugh to think of a glove shaped shrub.
I tackled some unruly rose this week. It is actually a misnomer to call them climbers. The correct tern is long cane rose. Who knew? I cut several canes that would be too messy if bunched together on the trellis. I tied up a few so they wouldn’t get whipped around during winter weather.
Someone asked why their specimens suddenly turned red one year. What actually happens is that the root upon which the pink was grafted suddenly sends out canes of its own. They are usually a muddy red in color when they bloom. I cut anything seeming to come from below the graft site.
Now that the cut backs of gardens has begun, it’s time to sharpen the clippers. I take an incredible amount of growth from the PeeGee hydrangeas. They bloom on new growth so always come back even fuller in spring. I only leave about two inches on each branch that grew two feet last summer. Also, any dead sticks should go.
I like to think of myself with a moderately well-developed sense of humor. The so-called comedian at the Trump Madison Square Garden rally was anything but funny. The MAGA audience seemed to enjoy it. When did racism and being mean to others become laughable in our country? In contrast, Kamala Harris gave a hopeful and uplifting speech at the Ellipse on Tuesday night.
Our former longtime Representative in Congress said something about abortion that bears repeating given the high stakes in the upcoming election: when a government is given the power to tell a woman they cannot have an abortion, how long before that very same government can tell her she must have one?
Wonder what next week will bring?
VOTE!
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