Page 12 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, AUGUST 1, 2025 Saugus Gardens in the Summer Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable By Laura Eisener T oday, August 1, is a very old holiday in parts of Great Britain, in which loaves of bread are brought to the church to be blessed, as an appreciation or prayer for a good grain harvest. Members of the grass family, such grains as wheat, barley, rice and corn (maize), are valued around the world as important food crops. It is related to the Gaelic harvest festival Lughnasadh, also spelled Lughnasa, a pagan event celebrating the time about halfway between the summer solstice (June 20) and autumn equinox (September 22). Today is also national spider man day! Perhaps we could extend this to appreciate the benefits spiders usually contribute to the garden, including control of plant pests, mosquitoes and flies. Speaking of spiders, spider lily (Hymenocallis latifolia) is a tender bulb from South America sometimes called Ismene, Peruvian daffodil or basket flower. The fragrant flowers are usually white with long narrow sepals that extend out beyond the fused, trumpet shaped corolla. It is easy to see where the name spider lily came from because of those narrow sepals, but unlike actual spiders there are only six rather than eight “legs.” Like gladiolus and other tender bulbs, they can be stored indoors in a dormant state over the winter and replanted in spring — placed outside when the temperatures warm up sufficiently. Like most of our hardy bulbs, the flowers do not last a long time, and the foliage needs another month or so to ripen to ensure new flowers in the following growing season. I look forward to the first blooms of the cardinal flower Cardinal flower is a brilliant red native perennial that is sure to attract hummingbirds wherever it grows. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) Buttonbush blooms in my garden, but this native plant can also be seen on pond banks at Breakheart Reservation and in other damp areas nearby. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) The European smokebush at the Saugus Iron Works is one of the most noticeable shrubs on the site and has inspired many people in town to add this species to their own gardens. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) (Lobelia cardinalis) every summer. This bright red flowering perennial grows in shade or sun, although it needs more moisture in sunny locations. It attracts hummingbirds, which are drawn to the bright red color of the blossoms. In the wild, cardinal flowers usually grow in the woods or near the edges of ponds, and they can often be seen in these areas in southern and northern New England. The most noticeable plant near the Iron Works house is the smoke tree, also known as European smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria), since its size and shape places it on the borderline of the definitions of tree and shrub. Some years the “smoke” is especially thick, and this is one of those years, since it nearly covers the foliage. This “smoke” is actually the fine textured flower stalks, and it remains most of the summer because even though the flowers have gone by, it holds onto the small seeds until they are ready to be released. Like milkweed “fluff,” these lightweight stalks often break off with the seed and help it to drift away from the parent plant into new locations where it may have a better chance of growing. Some varieties of this species have colorful foliage, such ‘Royal Purple,’ which has dark purple or wine-colored foliage, or ‘Golden Spirit,’ which has yelIt is easy to see where the shape of the flower inspired the name spider lily for this summer blooming bulb. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) This monarch butterfly has found one of its host plants, a pink swamp milkweed, in a Lynnhurst garden. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) low-green leaves through the growing season. While buttonbush (Cephalanthus occentalis) is a very common shrub in our area; often found along the edges of ponds and streams, it is not frequently seen in gardens. It is a real attention getter, though, when the spherical flower heads bloom, and is one of my favorite shrubs. The honey scented blossoms attract many bees and other pollinators and always draw attention as cut flowers in bouquets. In some parts of the country, it is known as buttonwillow. This species has a very broad range across the country. A community in California, formerly named Buena Vista but now known as Buttonwillow, is the location of the largest one in the country, famous as a 19th-century trail marker and now a California historic landmark. My two shrubs are thriving next to my house in a shady and not especially wet location. While adult monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) appreciate nectar from a wide range of flowers and seem to be especially drawn to butterfly GARDENS | SEE PAGE 18
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