There’s a path off North Pamet Road in Truro that slowly climbs around a bearberry-covered dune up to a soaring overlook of the Atlantic at the top, but there’s another […]
FAKE FRUIT
Rogues Callery
If the endangered plants and animals of the Shank Painter Pond Wildlife Sanctuary are the rubies and diamonds of Provincetown’s ecological crown jewel, as the sanctuary is often described, then […]
SWAMP THINGS
The Red Maple Helicopters In
On the Outer Cape, the swamp maple (Acer rubrum) can often be found with its feet wet, growing vigorously in low spots like the Atlantic white cedar swamp in Wellfleet. […]
DO NOT DISTURB
Mayflower Compact
At first glance, the native evergreen Epigaea repens looks a bit haggard. Its rough, leathery leaves, which have bite marks and brown spots left by the visiting insects it hosts, […]
A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
The Call of the Catkins
How pussy willows and hazelnuts beckon trysts in the breeze
A walk along the Head of the Meadow bike trail in the first days of spring can be a master class in cold-weather copulation — of the horticultural kind. In […]
ITCHIN’ FOR IT
Pick Your Poison
Poison ivy, whose wood can trigger an allergic rash on contact just like its foliage can, might actually be easier to identify in the off-season when its “leaves of three” […]
WHEN HONEYSUCKLES SUCK
On the Morrow, an Invasion
The deciduous flora of the Cape has just barely begun to awaken and flower — most native trees and shrubs are still hitting snooze — and leaves aren’t on the […]
BITTER ABOUT IT
Salad, Sort Of
While the wild plant community is still slowly waking up from winter dormancy, there’s one urbanite who’s wide awake, in full flower, and ready to be flung on your dinner […]
DESIGN
A Greenhouse for Gatherings
With help from family, friends, and history, a longed-for warm spot comes together in a builder’s back yard
Braunwyn Jackett wanted to have a kitchen garden with a greenhouse. But not just that. “I knew I wanted to be able to hang out in it, too,” she says. […]
COREMA, COREMA
At First Blush
Of all the native plants, Corema conradii, the broom crowberry, has one of the earliest spring blooms on the Outer Cape if not the very first. It’s a rare plant, common […]
INKBERRY
The Real Understory
With an engulfing green understory and damp earth underfoot, the hike through Whistle Path Woods on its eponymous trail can feel almost tropical, even in winter. This narrow path in […]
PAPER BIRCH
All About That Bark
A stand of paper birch trees in Vermont in winter is an idyllic scene. Everywhere you look, you find ribbons of bark that practically beg to be used as canvases […]
IN THE BUD
An Azalea of Our Own
A flower bud in winter is a good symbol of hope, reminding us that spring will come again if we simply can endure. The shingled buds of the swamp azalea, […]
MIGHTY PHRAGMITES
America, the Invaded
The view across a Cape marsh in winter can be downright lyrical, with beautiful, spacious skies and amber waves of Phragmites australis, the invasive common reed. Soaring up to 20 […]
CONNIVING IVY
Your Friend Hedera Is a Clingy Climber
English ivy is a determined escape artist. It sneaks under garden fences while no one is looking to set up house in neglected or forgotten places, then starts working on […]
