Page 8 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, NOVEmBEr 6, 2026 Saugus Gardens in the Fall Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable By Laura Eisener I have been asked to cut back to two weeks a month to leave enough space for sports, holidays and all the other activities people would like to read about this winter, so it may be close to Thanksgiving when you read the next gardens column. The weather this fall has been full of paradoxes, and our fall season of flowers and foliage seems to be stretching out to give us a great show in our town. Although we have had a few light frosts already in many parts of town (the average first frost date is the first week of November around here), we have also had some unusually warm afternoons. I’ve been checking the weather to bring the tender plants in the night before a threatened frost, then bringing them back out to benefit from a few more days of flowering. Up until Halloween the volunteer hollyhock in my lawn was still producing a few flowers at the top, having continuously bloomed since late June. Even after the frosts, the Montauk daisies (Nipponanthemum nipponicum) and Sheffield Pink October glory (Dendranthema ‘Sheffield Pink’) have been going strong in the garden along with several varieties of potted chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum hybridum). On Halloween, several of the older trickor-treaters and parents who waited on the sidewalk for the younger children commented on my collection of pumpkins, hay bales and mums in black cat shaped pots. The pumpkins on my porch VETERANS | FROM PAGE 3 cess, then led the advance across an open field. Wounded repeatedly, he destroyed an enemy machine gun with grenades before he died. His actions prevented a delay in the assault and allowed his company to advance. Jarosz’s collection, built from newspapers, photos, and saved articles passed The woods behind Birch Pond beside Walnut Street is at peak color now. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) The red maple beside the library is a traffic-stopping red this week. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) are already serving their second purpose: providing food for wildlife who are storing up energy for the winter ahead. Eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus caronlinensis) are known for “squirreling away” extra food for later in the winter and early spring, and sometimes I have had pumpkins grow the following year from seeds they buried. The change back to Eastern Standard Time on November 1 has brought some adjustments to our schedules. The earlier sunrise is a boon to the early morning walkers but not so pleasant for those who have gotten into the habit of a late afternoon stroll during warmer afternoon hours with sunset falling earlier. Still, it gives us a chance to see different lighting patterns, which down by her aunts, also includes the story of Phil McCullough, who grew up in Saugus and flew as a pilot in World War II. She said she spoke with him, and that he was captured and held as a prisoner of war for about two years. The history of veterans in Saugus is also her own. Her grandmother sent four of her nine children to war. “How do can call our attention to the color display in the trees. On Birch Pond in the accompanying photo, as well as on other ponds throughout town, the reflections in the water can be amazing in the hours just after sunrise and before sunset. Views across Birch and Hawkes Ponds on Walnut Street have been especially beautiful in recent weeks, and if you are driving by, the slow traffic on Walnut Street gives plenty of time to appreciate them! While red maple (Acer rubrum) is still showing a lot of color in many neighborhoods, a lot of the deep reds and golden yellows are from several varieties of oaks (Quercus spp.). Silver Lake in Breakheart provides a lot of red reflections from highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) and black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) growing on its shoreline and islands. Tuesday, November 17, is Take A Hike Day, so we can you take a whole chunk of your family and send them overseas to countries they don’t even know the names of?” Jarosz said. Her uncle, John Penney, landed at Normandy with the Army, she said, and over the years told her about it in detail. “He told me everything,” she said. The last thing he told her about his service, before he passed away in 2013, was A hungry squirrel finds seeds in a pumpkin in Lynnhurst. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) hope for nice weather to enjoy this day before all the hectic activities surrounding Thanksgiving and the many winter holidays. The gardening year may be winding down, but that he was grateful for the GI Bill, which helped World War II veterans like him pay for college and buy homes (Penney attended Boston University after returning from the war). She said she has long wanted to share these stories with Saugus students, perhaps in 10th or 11th grade, because the veterans came from the same neighborhoods as today’s teenagers. “You guys are we can still enjoy the outdoors and the pleasant features of every season. If you still have things to plant, there is still time before the ground is frozen. walking the same streets that they walked 50 years ago, 60 years ago,” she said. For more information on the Veterans Day ceremony, contact Castinetti at stevecastinetti@comcast.net. This story is part of a partnership between The Saugus Advocate and the Boston University Department of Journalism’s Newsroom program.
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