Limbwalking and Trunkhugging: Hanging out in the canopy with Ian and Steve

Trust means something different when the only things between you and the ground are a length of rope and two metal rings.

Fall is coming to Martha's Vineyard, and the island is slowing down and raising up a couple inches as the last few vacationers trickle away. All this means it is time for Steve and Ian to start tree work up again. Working in trees takes time and planning and Fall is a great time for them to devote a couple of days a week to getting things done above the ground.

It was an informative afternoon today during the ArborMaster training held at the Arboretum and my understanding of what was going on was aided by my experience last week with Ian and Steve (goodness, do I wish they'd covered knots in Girl Scouts!). I have an elevated respect for trees and arborists after my experiences this last week. While there were some jarring and sobering photos and stories shared today, assessing and working in trees is incredibly important. We can help them be healthier for themselves and safer for humans walking under them, but we need to be safe, educated and respectful of the danger involved.

I will be honest I was a little nervous last Tuesday about climbing the 50+ ft. tall Pinus taeda, loblolly pine, and I was wishing I hadn't just ate lunch as I stood at the base looking up to where I'd wrap my lanyard at one of the tallest crotches in the tree.. However, the butterflies flew away as I worked my way up the line with the pantin, and much coaching from Steve and Ian. After "hanging out" and watching them work, I can't wait to learn more about climbing and rigging. It's amazing what you can do with some good rope, carabiners, and the know-how to put them to work.

Final Thoughts: The Post- Post- Polly Hill Internship Interview

It seems every time you meet a plant person they love to ask what your favorite plant is. This is a harder question that one might think. There are more than 375,000 species of plants in the world, and at least 100,000 more cultivars and varieties, which makes making a decision quite difficult. It is obvious from the last blog post the Polly Hill Arboretum Internship was a transformative experience for Eva and Tessa, but were you wondering if they had a favorite plant?

~

New Plants We Love

The flowers of the Cornus kousa in the Dogwood Allee at the Polly Hill Arboretum. The opposite branching and thick network of leaves and branched gives this tree a pleasing geometric feel. All of the dogwoods in the allee were heavy with beautiful bracts, and inconspicuous flowers, this year.

Eva- Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa). Three words: Origami flower buds. “I’d seen dogwoods, but not the kousa kind. I’ve kind of fallen in love because we got to see it flower, leaves, and its bracts full of whiteness, and then they kind of fell off, and then their fruits are turning red; and it’s just a beautiful spectrum of interest.”

The close-up of a Stewartia malacodendron flower, highlighting the stunning blue anthers and royal purple filaments. I felt a sense of pride knowing this wonderful tree can be found in the southeastern woodlands.
Everyone else should be jealous.

Tessa- The genus Stewartia. “I never knew what a Stewartia was before I came here. What I love most about them is their bark. It’s not the typical ‘oh, their flowers are great,’ because their flowers are beautiful, but their bark is so interesting to me. So cinnamon-y. Their form is really nice too, but I’m a sucker for bark. Bark!”

Just look at Tessa checking out that really cool Stanhopea orchid at Longwood Gardens. Plants are amazing.

Amanda- Plants. “This answer is a bit of a cheat, but oh well. There are tons of favorites in the collection. Literally. Some old loves rekindled. Some new and unfolding. Some still undiscovered. Every day, every plant reminds me of some new detail as to why I love plants and horticulture. There is always something to wonder about. That inspiring wonder is why I love them and being at Polly Hill is a constant reminder of that.”

~

Favorite Places in the Arboretum

Cornus kousa Allee at the Polly Hill Arboretum in June.
It's hard to imagine it was planted more than 40 years ago in a grass field.

Eva- The Dogwood Alleé. “We walk through that every day and it’s always beautiful.”

A view of the Conifer Rows at the Polly Hill Arboretum, looking from the west to the southeast.

Tessa- The Conifer Rows. “I never see as many people in there as there should be. People don’t appreciate conifers, maybe because they don’t flower, or what, but they’re just silent giants of wonder.”

The restored nursery area draws a lot of questions form visitors. It inspires a deep sense of appreciation in me because this is where Polly started, or tried to start, all of her seeds and seedlings. This is the birthplace of the Arboretum.

Amanda- The Nursery Field. “It’s probably because of the Magnolia macrophylla ’Julian Hill’. There is something magical about coming around the corner or from underneath the Dogwood Alleé and looking up into this towering, tropical-looking tree. However, the Dawn Redwood and some beautiful Stewartia ovatas are also planted in the field. I will admit that most people never see most of this area because of the way it is organized, but it is probably one of the most important because it is where Polly startedeverything.”

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Recommendation for Future PHA Interns

Tessa and Eva being goofy on a concrete toadstool at The Folly, during the Garden Conservancy's Open Garden Days.

Tessa- “You have to have a sense of humor. If you come to Polly Hill Arboretum and you don’t have a sense of humor, you’re in the wrong place. Well, not in the wrong place, because that’s harsh, but you’re either going to hate it or you’re going to be turned into a different person because you’re going to gain a sense of humor. And be ready to just do a lot of work and keep an open mind. Be prepared to do some tasks for a long time. You have to be prepared to set out and do a task, and finish it. And then you feel a thousand times better when it’s finished anyway. Don’t half-ass anything.”

Eva imitating this Chamaecyparis obtusa cultivar at Mytoi Japanese Garden on Chappaquiddick Island.

Eva- “Appreciate all the care that everyone puts into the work they do. The staff and volunteers care so much that you’re here and they want you to learn, so just appreciate that. Be good-natured and don’t be afraid to try anything. Even if there are things that don’t necessarily sound fun, it is enjoyable. You can find a way to enjoy it. Just don’t cancel things out just because you’re afraid to try them. And if you don’t like them, but have to keep on doing them, don’t be a brat about it. Be good-natured.”

Eva and Tessa exploring Mytoi Japanese Garden on Chappaquiddick Island,
where we saw many Japanese Maples and other manicured conifer cultivars.

Amanda- “I think Tessa and Eva hit most of the high points. My final recommendation, and this applies to internships and opportunities in the future, is to seize each moment you have and make the most of it. Waiting around for things to happen to you is going to leave you waiting for a long time. There are opportunities out there for you, you just have to go for them. Sometimes something may not even seem like “an opportunity,” but you have the power to make it into one. Also, don’t forget that everything you do represents who you are to others. Make sure your putting your best whatever out there.”

“The Adventure of Martha’s Vineyard”: The completion of the TY 12-week Training Program

“Give us a scene in The Adventure of Martha’s Vineyard…” I asked.

Eva and Tessa teaming up with Ian to tackle this large Rhododendron in West Field South. It got a little close for a little while, as Tessa disappeared to cut back a grape vine that was sneaking up from the middle.

Check out the photo slideshow of the summer!

It has been three weeks since Eva Colberg and Tessa Youngfinished their 12-week internship at the Polly Hill Arboretum. It was a tearful, but happy goodbye, as each were off to the next-best-thing in their lives. One is going back to Rhode Island to start her sophomore year and Horticulture Club presidency, and the other is off to Madagascar to study conservation of natural resources, before returning to the College of William and Mary. Such is the life of a successful college student.

It has taken me three-weeks to get this done only because of family visiting and personal travel. This last week at PHA was my first week without Eva and Tessa’s bright, smiling faces around at PHA and the Hoft Farm; and the absence revealed how powerful, positive their impact was.

We worked and lived with each other for twelves weeks, and traveled across six states on two different horticulture adventures together. We have had a truly remarkable, epic summer, and it is my honor to share it here with you.

~

As you may remember, these ladies have just started their professional journeys in horticulture. They are off to terrific starts, if their final thoughts on their experience are any indication. Reflecting back on their time at PHA, they had some great memories to share, some silly and some spontaneously inspiring.

“One of my favorite internship memories,” Eva smiled, “was that time when Tom was like, ‘Let’s go wander.’ It was magical. That will forever stick in my mind. I hope that I can make someone as happy as that.”

“Something I’m going to remember forever, for sure, and that I’m going to tell all of my children someday, or nieces and nephews, or younger people that I have an influence on later in life,” Tessa rambled on, laughing, “is definitely the Bobcat lawnmower story of me going up the tree yielding/wielding the lawnmower. That, for sure, will forever be set.”

The PHA internship was about work and expanding perspectives, but it was about fun too. Chainsawing and Taylor Dunn-driving were definitely crowd-pleasers. Eva got excited about pruning, while Tessa liked tree-climbing. “The whole ride, man. It was great,” Tessa said.

There were so many favorite parts of working at PHA, the question was daunting for Eva. After an off-the-wall reference to “if this had been in Nevada….” we got down to it. She was happy to have experienced and been exposed to horticulture.

“It’s such a magical place. Everyone always stands together and they can take us to all these cool places…” she said. “I was so happy at the fact that I learned so much. It’s definitely something that I want to do again.”

Tessa found the rewarding nature of the job and working with a team were her favorite parts. 

Tessa expressing her excitement over a blooming Rhododendron. She did this a lot.

“I love being able to do jobs and as you’re doing them see the transformation of the area,” she explained. “Then, when you’re done with it and you step back, it is this totally new area, and it’s just so beautiful. You feel great because you did that, with help from your teammates. With their help, you created this beautiful thing and then almost automatically people who are visiting the Arboretum…go ‘thank you for doing this…’ They come up to you and give you a big smile. I think that is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever encountered or been a part of.”

After completing their internship, Eva and Tessa have different thoughts about their future careers, though they also know they have more time to grow and discover what they want to do.

“I really do love the public garden setting,” Tessa shared. “It’s hard to say where I want to be in a few years because there is so much for me to be exposed to in the upcoming years, but public gardens definitely hold a special place in my heart.”

“One thing for sure, is that [the Polly Hill Internship] made me more certain in that I wanted to stay in horticulture and not change to something like sustainable ag,” Tessa shared. “It helped define the path of what I wanted to do and continue doing in my college career.”

Eva concurred, though she was jealous of the classes Tessa gets to take in her major studies, since William and Mary doesn’t have a horticulture program. “But at the same time it does give me hope that I can still do what I want to do,” she said.

Tessa hanging out in a tree, as Ian fetched a ladder.

“I am thinking more about what my major is and there are many more jobs than I realized,” Eva admitted. “Honestly, my dream job would be to go on plant expeditions all the time and go plant collecting, which is cool, but you can do that and get to other cool stuff at the same time if you work in horticulture.”

Not only were they more confident in how they felt about their studies, they had a better appreciation of horticulture as a field because of their internship.

“It has actually made my perspective on horticulture broader, because one of the great things about the internship was that it really let you have the opportunity to test the waters in the whole sector of public horticulture,” Tessa said. “We weren’t just sitting outside weeding every day, all day; though we did that a lot, which is great, but it’s not that it’s all we did.”

It was insightful for Eva as well, who wasn’t aware of the realm of horticulture or how small it really is, but she was really excited about the options.

“…it is more open than I imagined, like you can start out doing one thing and then go on to another thing,” she said. “and then your job can allow you to explore other parts of the field or you can just kind of shift.”

~

Working was the main purpose of the experience, but living on Martha’s Vineyard was also a big part. Eva loved the close-knit community on the island.

“Besides the adventure that is really just right outside your door, the second you go outside there is something new, just the whole vibe that the island has, that people on the island have,” Tessa reflected. “Mostly everyone is pretty relaxed and chill.”

It was challenging for them not to have a car and to have rely on the buses, however it also allowed for some fun adventures. “Being able to get to cool nature places by foot or bike was really nice,” Eva reflected, despite the precarious long and winding road that is Lamberts Cove. She was regularly running to Lambert’s Cove Beach or Ice House, or riding her bike to the West Tisbury Farmer’s Market. The Lamberts Cove bus is known as Tessa’s bus, in honor of her bus adventures.

“Short story version: met a man on the bus, found out that man played the violin, sang Jesus Christ Superstar on the bus, and then ran into him again later in town, and ended up just getting in one of his friend’s cars and going to hear their music rehearsal, and he gave me this really great book: Johnathan Livingson Seagull, which has changed my life and will continue to do so as I continue to reread it. That is the biggest adventure that I think I’ve had on this island.”

Eva and Tessa loved the mushrooms at The Folly, a private garden we visited
during the Garden Conservancy's Open Garden Days.

Tessa’s leaving signaled the end of the summer and slowly the Hoft Farm has emptied. Listening to the interview recording and writing this blog post has made me laugh and made me cry, but all in good ways. Other Hoft Farm homies made silly cameos, namely Tessa’s surfer-bro alter-ego and Dylan, with his opening detailed recount of his day, reminding me of a summer well-spent. Although the summer season is over, our friendships will remain. 

From changes in perspectives to new-found loves, they have embarked on an adventure of a life-time. I wish them both all the best in their travels and their studies, and look forward to hearing about all the cool things they will most certainly do!

Final note from Eva: Be a good intern.

Final note from Tessa: Live every day like you might die tonight. Oh, and: the meal’s not over until you hate yourself.

The making of the dessert that inspired Tessa's final thought.

Man of a Thousand Garden Stories: The Garden of Charles Cresson

I have to say I was slightly ashamed that I'd never heard of Charles Cresson before our trip to Swarthmore College this summer. Google his name and see what I mean. But, I'm not one to turn down a garden tour, so when Tom said Charles Cresson had invited us for an evening tour of his garden after the Woody Plant Conference, I was ready to go.

We followed the native Swarthmorian to his house through the tight neighborhood streets and parked in front of what one would assume was just another house in the neighborhood, save for the 12-foot deer fence. What was going to be a quick tour easily continued into the twilight hours of the night with rich, personal stories of almost every plant in the garden, especially his prized Camellias and Hydrangeas. There was more to Mr. Cresson's garden than one could see from any point and he lead us on a very winding, but deliberate, path by new beds where prized old trees from his grandfather's days had fallen, his back porch, vegetable garden, bonsai collection, diverse perennial/annual borders, and meadow by his creek, just to name a handful of nooks and crannies we found ourselves in.

On our way back to Martha's Vineyard I found myself scribbling down every moment I could remember so that I could hold the experience in my mind. Such a wealth of knowledge. I felt like I'd met a true American gardener.

Horticultural Inspiration: The Woody Plant Conference

I was excited to attend the Woody Plant Conference at the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College, however I had no idea I would be so deeply inspired by the talks. People in the horticulture department at N.C. State told about the excellent collection at the Scott Arboretum and my experience surpassed any expectations.

There is something about being around a group of passionate horticulture people. Todd Lasseigne reminded me of the rich family of plantspeople in Raleigh with his impassioned presentation about overused plants, tried-and-true plant and plants that are worth knowing. Andrew Bunting, the curator at the Scott Arboretum, introduced us to some really exciting interspecific magnolias, and Chanticleer Horticulturists Dan Benarcik and Jonathan Wright reintroduced the crowd to hydrangeas, both beloved favorites and those most gardeners haven't met. I don't know of anyone who wasn't salivating over those plants. Four words: Magnolia macrophylla grandiflora hybrid.

On top of the excellent presentations, I got to see an old classmate who was working for Andrew and a woman I was an intern with at Duke Gardens. Horticulture really is a small world. A wonderfully small world.

This post is to friends, new and old, human and plant alike.

A Trip through an Orchid Lover's Dream: The Stop at the New York Botanical Garden

It has been too long since I promised to post my photos from our trip to the Woody Plant Conference. We stopped at several gardens and over the next few days, I'll post up the rest of them.

We headed out from Martha's Vineyard on the first ferry and drove straight to the New York Botanical Garden to meet Jaime Morin. She'd organized an incredible itinerary that led us through many of the areas of the garden with the curators themselves.

I am the Tangerine Man

Thank you, John Cleese. Now....

I am the Tangerine Man

(To the tune of I am the Walrus by The Beatles)

As Mad-libbed by Tessa Young, Eva Colberg, Tom Clark and Amanda Wilkins

Generated by Mad:)Takes

Sitting on a pie, waiting for the airbag to come,
Corporation ballet shoe, stupid lumpy Tuesday,
Man, you been a shrimpy shopping cart, you let your hip bone grow long.

I am the avocadoman, they are the avocadomen,
I am the lemur! Goo goo [ga] doink!

Mister City, jockey sauteing, pretty equine mechanics in a row,
See how they fly, like Lucy in the record, see how they blow-torch,
I`m opera singing, I`m opera singing,
I`m opera singing, I`m opera singing.

Yellow matter bridge, dripping from a squeemish dog`s cheek,
Crabalocker fishwife, buddy priestess,
Boy, you been a shrimpy lily-pad, you let your underpants down.

I am the chiliman, they are the chilimen,
I am the goat! Boo boo [ba] joob!

Giggling in an peeved garden, waiting for the door,
If the door don`t come, you get a tan from gobbling in the peeved rain.

I am the tangerineman, they are the tangerinemen,
I am the cat! Galumph galumph [guh] gah! Galumph galumph, galumph galumph [guh] gah!

The Polly Hill Crew, including Jaime Morin (behind the camera here and previous collections management intern!), goofing-off in the gardens in front of the horticulture office after a long day at the 2014 Woody Plant Conference.

So, if you are completely lost, great! Cabin Fever and exhaustion make for fun Mad Libs.

All joking aside, randomness and whimsy abounded this weekend as the Polly Hill Interns and Tom Clark headed south to the Woody Plant Conference at the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College, on Friday, July 18.

Although our main objective was the conference, we took our time and made many side-trips to famous public gardens and a couple of private gardens. Below are some of the highlights of the craziness at the five botanical gardens we visited this weekend. Tune in soon for a complete post about what really happened!

Photography Yoga with Eva Colberg and Tessa Young at the New York Botanical Garden.

Eva really getting into being a human yard stick with this Magnolia macrophylla at the Scott Arboretum.

I just had to check out how easy it is to slide between this lip and column of this Stanhopea orchid at Longwood Garden. What an amazing flower architecture: a large, pendulous, cream-colored flower with purple leopard spots that emerges from the bottom of the plant in hopes to tape its pollen to the back of some enormous bee or bird.
Who makes this stuff up? Not me.

This unidentified man could be found lurking behind many a shrub looking for tags.
This sighting occurred in a Cyrilla racemosa at the Morris Arboretum.

What is going on in the background with that man and the megaphones....?
We were definitely Out on a Limb with this one.

Tessa found her spirit animals in the lions at the Morris Arboretum's Japanese Hill and Water Garden. She couldn't help but smile creepily back.

Honestly, it was a fantastical trip that did more than I could have ever imagined with my concept and appreciation of horticulture and the field of public horticulture. We met some truly amazing people and got a taste of some of the finest gardens in the country. My head is still swimming with ideas and I'm still digesting everything I experienced. I can tell the future has changed.

A view towards the Gravel Garden at Chanticleer.