Page 12 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2021 SAUGUS GARDENS IN THE PANDEMIC Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable By Laura Eisener N ow that the danger of frost is past, it is safe to plant tropical annuals and warm weather crops like tomatoes, beans and melons. This week is the most floriferous time of year in our climate and the meteorological start of summer. The rains of Memorial Day weekend may have dampened some cookout plans, but it was a relief for many plants which had suffered from the dryness of this spring, and a relief as well for those of us who had been standing holding a hose too many days this spring! Gordon Shepard has made sure that there are plenty of flowers at the veterans’ plots at Riverside, as he does every year. Volunteers have sought out veterans’ graves and planted a garden of flags for the holiday, and all over town where there are monuments, flags and flowers abound. Wax begonias (Begonia semperflorens hybrids) like those at the G.A.R. plot – the Grand Army of the Republic was a large, nationwide Civil War veterans’ organization – are among the most popular bedding plants, as they can tolerate summer heat and grow well in light conditions varying from full sun to part shade. The shiny foliage keeps them from drying out easily and is eye-catching. Depending on variety, the leaves may be bright green, bronze or deep burgundy. The flowers may be bright red, pink or white. Because they stay low to the ground, wax begonias do not have the trouble some longer stemmed begonias do, which is a tendency for the stems to break off in windy weather. Like many of the most popular summer annuals, wax begonias bloom consistently all summer and into the fall until a frost. Donna Manoogian, on behalf of the Saugus Garden Club, decorated the flagpole dedicated to Saugus’s first Vietnam War casualty, Corporal Michael DeProfio USMC, in front of the Belmonte School. Nancy Sayles recently added some annuals in patriotic colors to the garden beside the front door of the Saugus American Legion hall on Taylor Street. This small garden is dedicated “To those who served in the Armed Forces of the United States of America -Past-Present-Future.” Red HONORING A FALLEN MARINE: The Marine Cpl. Michael DeProfio flagpole Memorial at Belmonte School. Donna Manoogian installed the wreath, flowers and mulch on behalf of the Saugus Garden Club. Tom Raiche added the flags. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Tom Raiche) UNKNOWN SOLDIER MARKER: Wax begonias adorn this marker at the Grand Army of the Republic plot in Riverside Cemetery. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) FLOWERS AND FLAGS: A Memorial Day display at Saugus American Legion Cpl. Scott J. Procopio Post 210 at 44 Taylor St. Nancy Sayles recently added some annuals in patriotic colors to the garden. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) flowering scarlet sage (Salvia splendens), originally from Brazil, has become a very frequently planted summer annual all over the world. Despite its common name, it can be found in other colors, including purple, blue, pink and white. A form called ‘Bicolor’ has both red and white flowers on the same stalk. The first one scientifically described in the 19th century had a red flower, and the red varieties remain among the most popular. Blue floss flower (Ageratum houstonianum), which is planted near the garden dedication stone, is one of the few truly blue annuals, although it can also be found in purple, pink and white. Nancy has also planted white annual sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) and dusty miller (Centaurea cineraria) in this little garden around some perennial sage (Salvia ‘May Night’) and a small evergreen shrub, andromeda (Pieris ‘Cavatine). While most years the andromeda would have finished blooming by June, this spring’s cool temperatures have prolonged the blooming period, so you may still see the small, white, bell-shaped flowers for another week or two. Among the most noticeable shrubs in bloom this week are several hybrids of catawba rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense). This largeleaved North American evergreen shrub has long been a popular landscape plant because it combines year-round foliage with showy late spring flowers. Depending on variety, the mature height can range from 5 feet to over 15 feet. Catawbas are very similar to another large-leaved native, the rosebay rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum), which blooms several weeks later, often around the Fourth of July. Next to Town Hall resplendent in its patriotic bunting, a large ‘Nova Zembla’ rhododendron is at its peak of bloom this CIVIL WAR SOLDIER: Paul Kenworthy, wearing a replica Civil War greatcoat and a hat bearing the badge of the Harvard Regiment, contemplates the Grand Army of the Republic plot at Riverside. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) A MEMORIAL DAY BLOOM: ‘Nova Zembla’ rhododendron beside the Town Hall’s World War I monument, ballot box and flag bin. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) week. The cultivar name literally means “New Land” and was named for two islands in the Arctic Sea owned by Russia, perhaps alluding to this variety’s cold hardiness. It flowers near Memorial Day each year and seems to call attention to the World War I monument beside it. Editor’s Note: Laura Eisener is a landscape design consultant who helps homeowners with landscape design, plant selection and placement of trees and shrubs, as well as perennials. She is a member of the Saugus Garden Club and offered to write a series of articles about “what’s blooming in town” shortly after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was inspired after seeing so many people taking up walking.
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