Adventures in the Polly Mobile 2: Hanging out near Kingston, RI (aka a Summer Town in Winter)

It was a cold, dreary day in Kingston, Rhode Island, as you would expect for this time of year. Not yet the bitter cold of January, but definitely getting grumpy.

East Matunuck State Beach

 

(Click above for photos)

I had to get up super early in the morning to get a parking pass to save my car (and my wallet) from the college parking Nazis. Once I was up I just decided to go post up at Hope Student Center to catch up on some work and get a super reasonably-priced coffee. As the morning zombies filtered in, I realize I blended in, but also didn't. There were people pouring over flash cards and staring blankly at their computers, hopes that the information they needed would beam into their sleep-deprived brains. I was just hanging out. There was only a slight tinge of urgency to my work, but I was spared the future-crushing pressure of being under the academic wire.

Tessa let me know when she was done and we met at the Horridge Greenhouses (here's their blog). I took a quick jaunt through the grounds of the botanical garden to check out the collections. It was a modest offering and came complete with signage! I've really developed a taste for the need to have tags on plants and I was happy to see them (and the Magnolia grandiflora 'Bracken's Brown Beauty').

It was a low-key afternoon and evening exploring southern Rhode Island. Not much was going on and Tessa and I were reminded of the California Dreamin' Mad Libs fiasco that occurred on the way back from the Woody Plant Conference because it was definitely a 'Califonia Dreamin'' day as we were standing on East Matunuck State Beach.

We ended up walking through a forest of Juniperus virginiana that looked like something out of a horror movie and to take the edge off of the experience we contemplated what kind of monster we might encounter. Apparently people with chainsaws were the first thing she thought of. What an irony.

Adventures in the Polly Mobile 2: Going back to college

You can never "go back" to college once you've been to the real world. It is merely an illusion.

But today I felt a slight reversion taking place. After Tessa's mom's generosity of letting me stay at her house and with me off to visit Tessa at URI, I felt like I was back in the insulated world of college life.



The Carey Mansion on Ruggles Road, next to the entrance to the Cliff Walk. Jeez.

 

(Click above for photos.)

Tessa's mom was kind enough to give me another tour of Aquidneck Island from her own perspective and show me the sights she loved the most. I got to see the sea-side cottage Tessa had talked about all summer, get more of the natural and cultural history of the area and hang out with a cool lady all morning.

In the afternoon I was off across the terrible roads of Rhode Island (seriously, watch your tires!) and the Jamestown and Newport Bridges, complete with toll, to crash Tessa's afternoon grounds maintenance class, which was planting trees on campus! I got my parking permit and left my car to take to campus on foot. I blended in with the students because of my age, but I got tons of weird looks because, I would find out later, making eye contact and smiling just isn't done up here. I found Tessa easy enough though and we were off to meet with her class.

After class Tessa and I made some loose plans about what we would do that evening. Taking my stuff up to her dorm room (because I was sleeping on her floor!), eating at the dining hall and hanging out in the library were all on the docket. How much more "college" can that be? Despite how typical the evening plans were for a college student, the experience made me feel the distance between what my time in college was like and where I was now. Oh, how so much has already changed.

We had a great time though! After the tasty dinner (goodness, does URI have a cool dining facility at Hope), Tessa and I made our way to the library because I just had to check it out. We explored the many different collections (they still have newspaper negative readers) and floors, and made some cool discoveries. Of course we hung out in the plant and ecology sections of the stacks and found some fascinating books. It reminded me of how much I love libraries and how much I wished I'd had more time to hang out at D.H. Hill at N.C. State!

The front-page fold out woodblock print of "The Araucaria Avenue at Bicton" from The Manual of Coniferae (1881) by James Veitch and Sons, of the Abies veitchii fame.

 

Adventures in the Polly Mobile 2: Fairhaven and New Bedford, MA and Aquidneck Island, RI

Honestly, looking back on this day, it hardly seems like it could fit all of what happened in it.

Brenton Point, Aquidneck Island, RI

I woke up in Fairhaven, MA; visited sites in Fairhaven and New Bedford, MA; and then made my way to Newport, RI and got the grand tour of Aquidneck Island, RI; and finally rested my head in Portsmouth, RI. Whew! Not as much horticulture today, but goodness did I get a sense of place. Check out the photos for more adventures (click the photo above).

Adventures in the Polly Mobile 2: Departing Martha's Vineyard

My escape trip to the Polly Hill Arboretum was colored in my favorite shade of afternoon light.

(Click the photo above for more photos!)

It was a day of madly packing my things into my car. I had been putting off packing in lieu of doing any last-minute exploring or visiting I felt was necessary before I left the Vineyard; and I was paying the price by pushing my luck with the ferry that waits for no one.

Although I did pack most of the day, I just had to see the Arboretum one last time. Out of all of my internship experiences, not going to see the garden, whichever it was, one last time was a recurring regret of mine. I wasn't going to do it again.

I was rewarded with wonderful weather and a silent, peaceful moment of reflection in the space one last time.

As I sat in line for the ferry, my stomach rioting in a way it never had before and my mind racing about all of the logistics I had to handle when I got to the mainland, I had to recall why I had been there at all, what I'd done and seen, and remind myself it wasn't a dream. I'd had this experience, lived this life. It was all worth it, I'd do it again in a heartbeat and I will miss it dearly.

My Martha's Vineyard farewell.

Adventures in the Polly Mobile 2: Pre-Departure from Martha's Vineyard

The first day of my internship at the Polly Hill Arboretum I pulled up in my '99 Chevy Lumina, the gold one with the green hood, next to another Chevy Lumina that was the same green color as my hood. After many chuckles from the staff, I learned the car was Polly's and they lovingly referred to it as the Polly Mobile. Of course the "old lady car" that my Lumina is would stick it to me that first day and my car became the Polly Mobile 2.

(Click the photo for more photos!)


State Beach Road, looking towards Oak Bluffs.

As I was planning my trip back down to North Carolina from Martha's Vineyard, Tim Boland asked about what adventures the Polly Mobile 2 would take and that instantly had to be the name of my epic two-week expedition through New England and down the East Coast. So, for the next two weeks look out for the random moments, horticultural or otherwise, that will make up my trip in the Polly Mobile 2.

~

I should have been doing more packing than exploring the day before I left Martha's Vineyard, but with snow on the ground when I woke up and such a gorgeous afternoon peeking out of the clouds in the afternoon, who could stay inside? Well, needless to say, it was a long night. Totally worth the opportunity for farewells and reflection though.

The Magnolia macrophylla 'Julian Hill' Through the Seasons Video Complete!

So, even before I got to the Polly Hill Arboretum, I had a crush on the Magnolia macrophylla 'Julian Hill', one of the northern-most (if not the) individuals of this species that Polly named after her husband in 1984.

I first saw the tree in One Seed at a Time by Marnie Stanton, via a link posted on the PHA Internship information page (which I highly recommend you check out). At one point the camera pans up the tree. I immediately recognized what it was and it was then that I knew the Polly Hill Arboretum was the place for me.

Hokey, I know, but true.

Anyway, fast forward through the internship; spring, summer, fall, at one picture a day (except for most of the weekends and a few days here and there, but I digress)...and viola! A vision of the year-long cycle of growth of this stunning deciduous tree takes shape in this video (click the photo).

A flower unfurling on the Magnolia macrophylla 'Julian Hill'

A Mighty Triad: Morris Arboretum, Longwood Gardens and Chanticleer

It's almost not fair to do this, but it cannot be helped. It's been too long coming and I want to make sure these wonderful experiences are shared. I also wish I had enough time to annotate each photo, but I would only be able to do that if I could pause time.  Feel free to comment or email me if you have any questions!

The inflorescence of a grass with its receptive female flowers
waiting for the wind to blow its way, with an Agapanthus and the porch of Chanticleer House Garden in the background.

Each one of these institutions, Morris Arboretum, Longwood Gardens and Chanticleer, are leaders in the international public gardens community, for many different reasons. I've heard stories for years from the Horticulture department at N.C. State, from professors and students who have traveled to Pennsylvania. It is amazing how much more in horticulture made sense after visiting these gardens in succession. I met so many people whose names I'd heard, but never had a face to put with the name. Now, whenever anyone talks about horticulture royalty I know who they're talking about. It is still mind-blowing to think I was so close to these people and places.

I think that officially makes me a geek.

ANYway, before we left, Tom told Tessa, Eva and me to choose which gardens we wanted to visit after we were done with the conference. He sent us home with books on all of the gardens and Eva and Tessa poured over them that night. I immediately made a request for Longwood, since I'd only ever been on a cold, overcast March day. Tessa knew an intern at the Morris Arboretum and suggested we might get a tour from her. None of us had ever been to Chanticleer and its whimsy seemed to fit with Eva perfectly. It also worked out that a past PHA office intern worked at Chanticleer in the development office and could get us in early and give us a tour. Our all-star horticulture extravaganza came together pretty quickly.

We were on the road early Saturday morning to get to Longwood Gardens as soon as it opened. It was an overcast, mild day, but I could barely contain my excitement. I found myself almost jogging down the allees. We only had a couple of hours before we needed to head off to the next garden but there was so much to see! Poor Eva and Tessa had to keep slowing me down. The Calocedrus decurrens grove was still just as stately as before, but sadly many of the largest trees had succumbed to the heat and stress that were causing their decline when I first visited in spring 2013. It was heartbreaking to see the trees that had inspired me to love the species suffering. Not all was doom and gloom though. The orchid collection and glasshouses were still as overwhelming as ever. I could have stayed with the orchid collections forever, but alas.

***Remember, click on the photo for the slideshows!***

Morris Arboretum was our next stop for a private tour with Lauren, a friend of Tessa's from URI who was doing a long-term internship at the Morris. The tree walk was an excellent exhibit that welcomed visitors to walk in the canopies of some of the trees and get a bird's-eye view of the ground. Netting was suspended about 30 feet in the air and children, young and old, could climb around on it. There were also learning stations to experience trees with all of your senses. It was pretty cool. We walked through the model train garden and into the older part of the garden with the older trees. We met one of the original Metasequoia glyptostroboides, Dawn Redwood, to be brought back to the U.S. You can see how small Tessa looks compared to the tree.

If that wasn't enough horticulture for us after our day of garden adventures, we met up with Andrew Bunting, the curator of the Scott Arboretum, at his home in Swarthmore, PA. We got a private tour of Belvidere, Bunting's intensely-planted, intimately-designed personal garden (Check out his presentation at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum in April 2014). His summer outdoor room and picnic table with built-in planters were crowd favorites. He cleverly worked with his neighbors to expand his planting space beyond the .3-acres of his own yard so he could plant screening plants and an extensive vegetable garden, complete with chickens. It is a rare treat to see the private garden of a public horticulturist.

The next morning we were up especially early to get to Chanticleer before it opened to the public. It was over-and-above what I was expecting. The expansive property was intensely planted and manicured with very deliberate considerations for vistas and focal points, but it was so expertly executed that it looked like you'd stumbled upon an intimate garden taken over by nature (and they offer plant lists of each area in very creative and adorable boxes!). The horticulturists are not only gardeners but artists, and each are encouraged to give each of their areas a touch with their own artistic flair beyond the plants they choose. I highly recommend making this a destination if you're ever in the Philadelphia area.