11:17 p.m. Horseshoe Crab Survey

You read it right: horseshoe crab survey in the dead of night!

Now, you may be asking yourself, "how does this relate to horticulture?" That is a great question and the simple answer is, "not really."

But, it's pretty darn awesome to trek out to the beach in the almost pitch dark to look at these fearsome creatures for Felix Neck Sanctuary, Mass Audubon's preserve on MV! Well, they're not really fearsome and the choppy waves were more of a threat than the horseshoe crabs were, but still! #livingthedream, as one of my fellow surveyors said. I couldn't have agreed more.

The weather was heavy with the threat of rain and the wind was constant at the inland-side pond. Curious passersby slowed down to watch our four headlamps romp over the flotsam and jetsam to find the start of the survey site. We saw schools of tiny fish, lost of seaweed, a couple of what may have been oyster-catcher chicks, and, of course, pairs of horseshoe crabs doing their thing.

The males are naturally considerably smaller than the females and they were getting their exercise in as they clung to the enormous females as they were buffeted by the waves. Luckily they are equipped with specialized hooks on their front claws just for instances like this (as well as keeping hold of her after their special night together). Here's a general overview of their anatomy.

Late-night Horseshow Crab Survey Adventure Photos

As a passing fun fact, horseshoe crabs are in fact not crabs at all, but more closely related to spiders. Kind of creepy, but one cannot overlook how intelligent these animals are when you interact with them. Their eyes are knowing, in a way. I better understood this after helping a female horseshoe crab Eva and Tessa found upside down at Great Rock Bight. She was stuck on her back and way out of the water, and it was lucky we found her before a seagull did. I grabbed her properly by the shell, so that she could bend her telson and not hit us, and we studied her legs, telson and hairy mouth. We then picked an open area in the rocks and let her go. She didn't struggle and she watched us watch her from the shore for a while, her black eyes sitting above the surface of the water. It was really incredible.

All in a day's work.

Some other cool highlights from the night:

- The barn owls at Felix Neck (check out their cute, fuzzy chicks at their owl cam though!) scared the crap out of me with their calls before I remembered they were there. Few things are creepier than being in the middle of nowhere by yourself in the middle of the night, armed with nothing but a headlamp and you hear this.
- A lone male, bless his heart, found my wader boot attractive and tried desperately to grab on to it as we waded across a stream. I could feel him try to get a grip and I could get him to get the hint. I picked him up gently and we all looked at him before I gently tossed him away. He got the hint that time.

Finally, "why are surveys important?!" you might ask. Well, there's a conservation and an important human medical reason why.

Daytrip (off-island!) to Sakonnet Garden

A couple weeks ago I was surprised with an invitation from Nancy to go to a little garden in Rhode Island. It was an instantaneous 'yes!' and when the time came, I was both excited and slightly uneasy about going back to the mainland! (So many cars and roads with more than two lanes, what was I going to do with myself?)

The morning of the was grey and the air was saturated with the promise of rain; but the four of us (me, Nancy, Margaret and Susan) boarded the ferry bound for Woods Hole without hesitation because of the promise of a beautiful garden and adventures to be had.

After a quick stop to a local bakery, we drove up and around Buzzards Bay and back down into Rhode Island. The small towns we drove through were still sleepy in the slow morning, but it was obvious we were near Sakonnet Garden as we approached. Cars lined up along each side of the road, making it difficult for traffic to move on the normally empty street.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Garden Conservancy Open Garden Days sign hen we got there, but very happy to be supporting such a wonderful program. That explained the traffic.

Anyway after snaking our way through the wares of the plant sale area, we walked through the sempervivum-topped wall into the garden and the traffic was justified.

As soon as I stepped past the cat on the garden gate I knew I was in a whole new world unto itself, and as I peered through the undersized door cut into the towering boxwood hedge, I found it to be Wonderland. When you thought you'd found the end or got your bearings, a new room appeared through the hedge.

The garden was an incredible, unexpected wonder of Rhododendrons, Tulips and other oddities. Garden rooms created intimate, unique spaces that allowed the visitor to sample different plants, textures and colors without being overwhelmed (well, not too overwhelmed!). There were some familiar faces and some new ones. Some I'd never thought to be used the way John and Mikel demonstrated in the secret garden they'd created in the middle of the rolling hills around them.

If that wasn't enough, we took a slight detour on the way home to check out the legendary Avant Gardens, and met the wonderful folks who make it work (and got some cools plants, of course!).

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Garden Photo Slideshow Here

I'm Going Daffy!

So, it's been more than two weeks since my last post, but it's been a busy time. Besides work at the Polly Hill Arboretum, I've finished the invasive species guide for N.C. State University and I'm continuing my work on the N.C. Master Gardner's Manual. Never a dull moment! But, as a treat, here's a two-for-one deal: two slideshows for one post!

(Note: You will have to go to the actual blog to see the photo slideshows. Just click the title at the top and it will take you there. This is also my first post with the new email list, so please feel free to respond to the email with feedback!)

Every time I would look up at the El Field I would think to pinch myself
because I was sitting in the middle of a field of daffodils and they were paying me.

The second week started with more exploring of Martha's Vineyard with Sandy, Tom's wife, and Cercis, their dog (yep, as in the plant genus) at Quansoo Beach, before it went private. (Land rights around here are weird.) Anyway, the work week was spent getting more familiar with the plants and people. The horticulture staff and I hauled a huge Cryptomeria japonica, Japanese Cedar, log (check out the photo!) out of the garden, and the Daffodil Project (or as I've now come to know it: the Daffy Project) really started to take off.


For the latter, I had to put on my fedora and start sleuthing around Polly Hill's original accession cards and garden notebooks (After just a little while I was jealous of her meticulous notetaking skills!) to find leads to which Narcissus cultivars might be planted on the grounds, because I quickly discovered there were tens more cultivars in the garden than were in the database! It definitely made me ask Tom who's idea it was to start the project by the end of week three. After that I had to use DaffSeek, the American Daffodil Society's daffodil database, and The Plant List, a working list of all recognized plant species in the world, to verify the cultivars and species I found. What I discovered were a mind-boggling amount of daffodil cultivars and tons of taxonomic shifts in the genus Narcissus.

Narcissus rupicola subsp. rupicola, the last surviving species Narcissus that I've found on the grounds. There's a good chance there are two subspecies in the clump these came from. These little guys, barely as big as a quarter, look like they're dancing.

Most of week three was the bitterest cold my body has ever seen for spring in my entire life. I was barely in the 50 for a couple of days and the air was wet and chilled you to the bone. My winter coat didn't seem thick enough to protect me from the biting wind and rain. There was even fog in the afternoon one day like none I've ever seen in my life! Four in the afternoon looked like 6:30 p.m.! Devon and I had a plan though: check out Chilmark Chocolates after work. Success.



There was hope yet by the end of the week though. As soon as the sun came out, it started to warm up, which used here is a very loose term. It broke the upper 50s. But warmer, nonetheless, and I took it. The plants did too. Hints of spring, just hints, started to reveal themselves and made the cold worth the wait.

Now, it is just a matter of time until Martha's Vineyard looks like North Carolina did before I left in early April!

Prunus 'Accolade', accessioned in 1980. Whoa, what a show! It was worth the wait just to see.
There is a lady in the bottom right of the tree for scale.