Red Oak trees, planted from acorns in 1985. Reporting from Monson Massachusetts

In 1985 I acquired two acorns sourced from Thayer Road in Monson Massachusetts. I planted them at my home on Moulton Hill Road, about 8 miles away as the crow flies. I got them in the fall and put them in some dirt filled pots and se5 them in the damp basement for the winter. By spring the acorns were swelled up and ready to sprout. I chose two locations that today I would not have picked, because they are too close to 1, a drainpipe and 2, a septic leach field. Over the years I have watched the two trees grow, sometimes suffering from too much water nearby, the occasional insect infestation and one of them was accidentally mowed over in its sapling state.

This is the one that got mowed down in 1986. It looks about 45 feet tall. Below is the one planted near the septic system.

A nice place to sit, in front of the Mayapple patch featured in yesterday’s post.

The circumference of the mowed down one is clocking in at 7 feet!! Measured in the trunk about a foot above the end of the flare.

GARDEN IN THE WOODS

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

 

The Garden in The Woods was a place we had heard about for years, and on this fine day we made the visit. A very pleasant afternoon was in store for us! This is a native plant preserve, championing the flora of our natural lands, beginning with a well-appointed parking lot, (which is a great place to showcase the formal use of native plants), and ending with a store of native plants for sale. This is an unforgettable landmark giving us visitors the continental sense-of-place so needed in the cultivated plant landscape dominated by the monolithic list of alien species in the  surrounding Boston suburbs. Here an alternative aesthetic is carefully cultivated and presented, with a bookshop for the data, info, inspiration and roadmaps, a native plant sale to sell you the actual products, and a series of formal gardens to present this alternative landscape to the visitor.

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

There are signs that tell us visitors about the native plants, and help us get acquainted to them.

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

 

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

As this next picture demonstrates, the native plants attract the beautiful native wildlife, such as this dragonfly.

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

At the plant sale we bought a blooming Turks Cap Lily and a Trillium sulcatum, which was marked down because the plant had gone dormant and was just a pot with dirt in it. We will see what happens next spring!

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

 

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

Many of the plants in the gardens can be seen in the woods and meadows in and around Monson, Massachusetts (where we were staying) and surrounding New England. Here they were arranged in a a garden setting where varying communities of associated plants were grouped together in a condensed format. Above, Isabelle photographs blooming Black Cohosh.

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

 

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

The well-appointed facilities made this place a very pleasant and relaxing place to enjoy the plants.

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

And every opportunity to learn at every turn! This is a great place to take gardening notes. We spent an hour and barely moved down the trails!

 

 

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

A great place to get gardening ideas, especially for that native plant garden!

 

 

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

The Bee-Balm, Monarda didyma was in full bloom, a great hummingbird plant.

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

The Carex pensylvanica , Pennsylvania Sedge lawn was impressive to us, being that we have also created a Pennsylvania sedge lawn in our backyard, which we mow like any other lawn. This native sedge is also very ornamental if left un-mowed as well.

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

The board-and-batten shed with the green roof was a charming addition to the show. Would have loved to see how this roof was put together, would imagine there is a plastic membrane below all those plants. Thats a garden shed, or is it a shed garden then?

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

Gotta have that sense of humor! This contained the Asiatic Bittersweet Celastrus orbiculatus, a dreadful vine pushed by the horticulture industrial complex long enough that it was planted widely and has wreaked havoc all across New England. Many unsuspecting buyers were lured with the promise of bright red berries on the vine. While some non -native plants can take over 100 years to become invasive, this one wasted no time at all and immediately began overtaking everything in its path.

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

Another charming path through the gardens..

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

The native irises.

 

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

A great section featuring the Pitcher plants.

Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com
Garden in The Woods, New England Wildflower Society, Framingham Massachusetts. www.thesanguineroot.com

The fruiting Mayapples in the Natural area of the garden.