Should you find that the ground beneath you is no longer sure, that the once stable path you were halfway down is now eroding before your eyes, or that you’re […]
UNDISTURBED
Thoroughly Hyssop-Leaved
A meadow plant that thrives in sandy soil with good drainage, hyssop-leaved thoroughwort (Eupatorium hyssopifolium) will show up at anthropogenic sites with similar conditions. The pictured specimen is a volunteer […]
HOCUS POCUS
The Witch of the Wood
When certain shrubs are in the vicinity of fir trees, they can become infected with Pucciniastrum goeppertianum, a rust fungus that needs two different species to complete its life cycle. On […]
DON’T PANIC
A Trail for Times Like This
If you’re feeling a swell of anxiety as we approach the first Tuesday in November, maybe some panicgrass can help. The serene walking trail from Province Lands Road to Hatches […]
I SPY A SWEETGUM
A Tree for In-Town Leaf-Peepers
Driving deep into New England to leaf-peep, you won’t be likely to spy many sweetgums — the tree’s range comes to an end in Connecticut and western Mass. The predominantly […]
MIDDAY AT THE OASIS
A Constellation of Cottonsedge
After trudging over the blinding, desert-like mountains of sand that compose the first half of Provincetown’s grueling dune shack trail, a hiker then stumbling across the floating, twinkling hairballs […]
UNAMBIGUOUSLY SALTY
In the Glow of the Glasswort
Glowing in the afternoon sun at Nauset Marsh like Chihuly art, Salicornia ambigua, the perennial glasswort, unambiguously lives up to its name. Evolved to survive the salt water as a […]
OFF THE SHELF
Fungi Are Our Friends
The spooky season has a way of arriving overnight: one day candy corn suddenly appears on the grocery shelf, the next day shelves of candy corn pop up along the […]
WOOD ASTER
Starry, Starry Days
Along the quiet back stretch of the Beech Forest trail, a sea of serrated hearts has been patiently photosynthesizing since the spring, steadfastly preparing for its late summer show. The […]
TOO RELIABLE
Not Very Mindful, Not Very Demure
Clematis terniflora’s common name, sweet autumn clematis, does a lot of PR work for this badly behaved garden vine, which is repeatedly guilty of reseeding itself into neglected spaces and […]
IN VIEW THIS WEEK
WHORLY GIG
ON THE WING
One Last Taste
As popular as the Nauset Light is as an Eastham tourist destination, it might have less buzz than the shining sumac nearby — at least while it’s in bloom. The […]
LAVENDER & LACE
A Salt Lover’s Life
The intertidal zone around the circular 40-foot-deep Salt Pond in Eastham is divided into strata: the inner ring is composed of the tall saltmarsh cordgrass, which prefers the inundation of […]
AN IFFY LIE
Beyond That Red Barn, Sacro Bosco Revisited
A horticulturalist’s reverie on the mini-golf potential of the world’s great gardens
EASTHAM — As a recent student of landscape design — an endeavor that involves examining the layout and imagery of the famous gardens of the world — I couldn’t help […]
SWEET SPHERES
A Walk in the Buttonbushes
The straight stems and spherical inflorescences of Cephalanthus occidentalis are reminiscent of childhood craftwork, each cluster like a model molecule or solar system made from sticks and foam. The individual […]
