Page 8 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2020 Saugus gardens in the pandemic Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable By Laura Eisener W e still have some beautiful flowers, colorful leaves and bountiful fruits to enjoy on walks around town. On porches and gardens, Halloween decorations run from whimsical to terrifying, and it looks like people have put extra eff ort into festive decor this year. One tree that could be a scary sight in its most frequent natural form is honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) because of large, branching thorns on stems and even protruding from the trunk, but luckily our street trees are of the thornless variety! Wild trees found in central North America have thorns as long as four inches, and they may be single straight thorns or may have several branching thorns from the main one. This tree species also can produce large six- to eight-inch-long pods full of seeds. While interesting and A HALLOWEEN PORCH: The front steps of Laura Eisener’s home in Saugus are decked out with plants and pumpkins of festive fall colors and a Halloween cat. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) sometimes considered decorative, the pods can clutter streets and gardens. Luckily, quite a few thornless and “podless” varieties are available from nurseries, so most gardeners can enjoy the good features of this tree and avoid its worst features. Beautiful golden fall color and a light airy canopy are among the big selling points of this tree. The leaflets on the large compound leaves are only about an inch long, and fall individually, so there is less that needs to be raked – by the time you notice they have fallen they may have HONEY LOCUST COMPOUND LEAVES: Beautiful golden fall color and a light airy canopy are among the big selling points of this tree. The leafl ets on the large compound leaves are only about an inch long. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Laura Eisener) blown away down the street! These trees were all the rage in the 1970s and early 1980s, and many towns planted them heavily in parks and along streets. Several of the shopping center parking lots along Route 1 have attractive honey locusts, now turning gold, and there are quite a few along Central Street in the Saugus Center area, at the Veterans Memorial School and many other locations around town. Beware if you are strolling A TROPICAL PARADISE IN SAUGUS? Yes! At the Matt home on Summer Drive. The palms in the pots are cataract palms, and the tall one planted in the ground is a majestic palm. You can also see busy Lizzie impatiens and New Guinea impatiens, and growing up near the roof line are some pink roses called “Queen Elizabeth” still blooming this week! (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate by Jamai Matt) around the Summer Drive neighborhood – you could stumble upon a tropical paradise. I’m sure most Saugonians would do a double take if they were walking around town and suddenly encountered palm trees! For the past seven years, the Matt family has been planting a garden that would make you think you’d been transported to the islands. This year there are four palm trees in the front yard and 13 in the back yard, along with other tender plants, such as cordyline (Cordyline terminalis), canna lilies (canna hybrids), Abyssinian banana (Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’), banana (Musa paradisiaca), busy Lizzie impatiens (Impatiens walleriana), New Guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri) and hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis). While some of the plants, such as the impatiens, will be familiar to gardeners who may have planted them in pots, window boxes or garden beds as annuals, they are likely to be less familiar with majestic palms, spindle palms, areca palms, cataract palms and fan palms, which can also be found in this garden. The two taller palms in the front yard are majestic palms (Ravenia rivularis). Native to Madagascar, they can grow nearly 100 feet tall in their native habitat! The potted palms on each side of the front walk are usually GARDENS | SEE PAGE 11 Monogram D4 Double siding Cedar impression half rounds Harvey Vinyl 62 Replacement Windows Custom Aluminum Trim work Windows & Doors Top quality Vinyl Siding! •Vinyl Siding •Carpentry Work •Decks •Roofing •Free Estimates •Replacement Windows •Fully Licensed •Fully Insured
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