When I recently visited Arizona for a few weeks, it was a nice respite from frigid Grantham with lots of hiking opportunities and lots of cactus.  My favorite cactus is the saguaro. I saw thousands of them and even hugged one.  What I love about saguaros is that each one is different and has its own personality. The best time to take their pictures is at sunset so I made sure to visit saguaros every evening.   Saguaro National Park has more than two million saguaros.  I took pictures of about a million of them ;-)
 
A great place to see them is on Tumamoc Hill, a butte which looms over the city of Tucson.  Hundreds of people walk the three mile round trip every day.  Everyone is super friendly and shares information about the saguaros.  That’s how I learned about 'Ramona,' whom I was told is the most loved cactus on the Hill.  So many people have given her a hug that she no longer has spines on her lower trunk.  It’s impossible to give Ramon a hug without smiling. 
 
A threat to saguaros is the invasive buffelgrass.  The volunteers of the Sonoran Desert Weedwackers meet three times a month to pull this highly flammable grass.  These dedicated volunteers have cleared thousands of acres of buffelgrass over the past 25 years. 
 
Here are some facts I learned about them from a park ranger on a sunset walk at Saguaro National Park:
 
Saguaros only grow in the Sonoran Desert and range from central Arizona to Sonora, Mexico.
 
To procreate, they grow large white flowers on the top of their heads and ends of their arms which are pollinated by bees, bats, and birds. The more arms they grow, the more flowers, the more opportunities to ensure their DNA  continues into the future.
 
The next stage is a red fruit.  People have eaten them for centuries. Tastes like chicken (only kidding:-)  
 
If a seed is lucky enough to land in a suitable spot, it takes five years before a cute little saguaro can be seen. 
 
They start producing flowers at around 35 years of age.
 
Arms start growing between ages 60 and 80.  Most have two to six arms.  The record holder is a saguaro named 'Shiva' that’s located in the Ironwood Forest and has a whopping 40 arms. 
 
They live to around 150 years and can reach 30 or 40 feet tall. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, an armless saguaro grew to 78 feet.
 
Their roots are shallow but are as wide as the cactus is tall so that a lot of root. 

I’m always happy when I get a text from Jim or Amelia Lantz inviting me to pop on over to their place on Mill Pond to see some wonderful new sights like munchkin-sized merganser ducklings following their Mom, or a family of three otters churning up the water, a fruiting Jack-in-the Pulpit, or a newly felled tree by a local eager beaver.   
 
When I arrive, I usually walk around with Jim to see the latest happenings, take a bunch of pictures, and then sit on their wide swing, where we bask in the beauty of the Mill Pond and discuss philosophy. It really is a break from the hustle and bustle of life.  Amelia, on the other hand, almost never takes a break.  Among her passions are pollinators in every shape and form as evidenced by the pollinator paradise she has created for them in their yard. When we’re quiet, we can hear them buzzing.  
 
Now I’m excited to share a new way of experiencing Mill Pond.  Jim and his son Daniel with the help of AI have composed a lovely song called “The Ballad of Mill Pond.”  Find a comfortable spot, close your eyes, and listen at  ​https://suno.com/song/90e75798-5a77-4e8f-ba61-55534b0f11aa

I had the pleasure of helping Grantham Garden Club member and hobbyist beekeeper Amelia Lantz run a program for Eastman’s All Day Gang and Kid City campers this summer. 
 
Amelia is beekeeper who participates in the Kearsage Beekeepers Association or KBA (https://kbanh.org). She is passionate about all species of bees and how vital good habitat is to all parts of our ecosystem. Amelia speaks for KBA to public groups, works in the their apiary in Sunapee, and helps teach at their Bee School in Newport on five Saturday mornings starting in January. (Yes, you too can sign up if you’re interested.)
 
The campers, who ranged in ages from 4 through 12,  dressed in bee veils, jackets, and gloves. They handled Amelia’s tool belt and the smoker used to calm bees when the hive is opened. The hit for the children was the observation hive that Amelia brought which contained 15,000 lives bees.  Amelia pointed out the queen.
 
Campers were given hive boxes, frames, covers, and a stand to figure out how to build an actual bee hive. This led to discussing the pioneer history of beekeeping in the United States. In the 1860’s, Ohio beekeeper, Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth, was essential to the industry becoming standardized. A teacher, clergyman, and pioneer; he improved the existing hives and built and patented the moveable frames inside the hives which make it safer for the bees and beekeepers and still used worldwide today.
 
Beyond all this information, Amelia’s main take-home message for the children was clear “Please eat only local raw honey.”  Raw honey has enzymes that activate nectar.  It has bits of pollen (protein).  Raw honey has the anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-viral qualities that heated, filtered, blended honey does not.  Local raw honey is the real deal.
 
Local Raw honey can be purchased in the Upper Valley at:
Beaver Pond Farmstand
Bouldevale Farm
Rum Brook Market
King Blossom Farm
Edgewater Farm
Kearsarge and Upper Valley Food Coops
Sutton Farmers Market
Spring Ledge Farm
Grounds Coffee Shop
 

​ Many Grantham residents attended the April 22nd event sponsored by the Grantham Conservation Commission (GCC) “Local Successes in Restoring the American Chestnut Tree”. We had three speakers who did a wonderful job of describing the history of the American Chestnut Tree, the blight that killed virtually all (4 billion) chestnut trees and the current effort to restore the American Chestnut tree to our area. The New London Conservation Commission has a robust effort underway and one we hope to model as we develop our own Grantham Restoration Project.

This is a new project for the GCC that will be implemented on the Town Forest land. There is much to do in assessing the ideal location for planting, soil preparation prior to planting, seed planting in pots 6-9 months in advance of seedling planting, protection of the seedlings from rodents and deer, and eventually statistic tracking as the orchard becomes established and developed in the coming years.

Our effort began with the acquisition of 30 American Chestnut seeds from The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) in early April as part of their Annual Seed sale. These seeds had already spent 60-90 days in cold storage to give them the sense of winter conditions (cold stratification) so that they would be ready for planting once we received them. Those seeds were immediately planted in pots and housed in a heated woodshop with exposure to some light. One thing we had to keep in mind is that not all seeds will germinate, sprout and produce a seedling so we needed to set our expectations accordingly. As of today (approximately nine weeks after planting) we have 19 thriving seedlings that were moved mid-May to a greenhouse. We’ve attached a couple of photos.

The plan is to plant these seedlings early this fall in the Town Forest. Over the couple of months we’ll be evaluating the soil conditions and identifying specific planting locations for the 19 seedlings from this, our 2025 crop. We’ll be clearing away underbrush, weeds and laying weed barrier in anticipation of the planting this fall.

Our goal for planting seeds in early 2026 will be to not only acquire seeds through the TACF Annual Seed sale but to also seek seeds from the VT/NH TACF chapter as we continue to work with them in their harvest of seeds from the American Chestnut trees near Barre, VT. This is an annual event for them and allows them to offer seeds locally to members of TACF who have chosen to also be members of the local chapter. We expect that we could have between 50 and 80 seeds to plant next Spring which could yield 30 to 50 seedlings.

A member of the GCC has volunteered to assist the New London Conservation Commission in the planting of their seedlings as well as adapt some of their existing planted seedlings for appropriate deer and critter protection so that we are well positioned to do the same when we initially plant our first crop next Spring.

We will provide periodic updates on this restoration project and will welcome those residents who wish to participate in the planting this fall. If you are interested in assisting please email me at [email protected].

A No-Dig Garden requires either sheets of newspaper covered in cardboard or simply 6-12 inches of wood chips of any kind — No Dig, No Plastic, No Hassle. Poison Ivy and Virginia Creeper might burst through these barriers, but they can be eliminated later when they appear.

On May 26th, Garden Club member Amelia Lantz led the charge in cutting through the cardboard to plant the two No-Dig Garden beds at the Orchard in Brookside Park. Beebalm (Monarda didyma), the milkweed Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum), Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea), and Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum) are the initial plantings donated by Amelia and Commissioner Marty Gearhart. Commissioner Dennis Ryan reclaimed his past glory of 2016 when he had assisted Renee Gustafson in the first Pollinator Gardens. His Three Dollar Dolley and his Grandkids’ Radio Flyer Brand Little Red Wagon were once again put to good use in moving plants and buckets of mulch.

Special praise for Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum). Less invasive than most mints, it has an excellent tolerance for a wide range of light and moisture and is a big favorite for nearly all pollinators. In fact, the University of Delaware entomologist, renowned conservationist, and prolific author Doug Tallamy has stated that if every home owner planted a native oak and a clump of Mountain Mint, huge benefits would benefit bugs and, especially, birds. Dr. Tallamy has shown that it takes 10,000 caterpillars to raise a clutch of 4 chickadees from eggs to adulthood. Since oaks are everywhere in Grantham, all we need to do to help our fauna is to plant Mountain Mint. If you want to do more, you can buy one of his many books such as “Bringing Nature Home” or “Nature’s Best Hope.” And be sure to check out his organization: homegrownnationalpark.org

As the gardens grow through the summer, the other GGC members of the “The Brookside Brigade,” including Terri Munson, Renee Gustafson, and Kathy Houghton (also a Commissioner) will help Commissioners Dennis Ryan and Arborist Colin Davis of Wild Tree with additional plant donations as well as watering. Check out the No-Dig Gardens and the information on both sides of the Orchard Kiosk when you next walk Brookside. And don’t forget to take iNaturalist Observations whenever you are there.

I’ve written about escapees in this blog before, but a recent hitch hiking lupine deserves a post of its own.  Back in 2023 when a wonderful group of volunteers dug up and hauled dirt from the Grantham Transfer Station to the post office with the sole goal of providing a 42 foot flower bed for daffodils, they didn’t realize that a tiny precious lupine seed was hidden in the dirt.  The following spring, the garden club folks noticed a sweet little baby lupine among the daffodils and hoped it would thrive.  To our delight, the grown up lupine blossomed this month and and is perfect.  It may have crashed the party, but it is a very welcome guest.
 
When I read up on lupines, I learned that they love full sun and well drained, sandy soil.  Not surprisingly, that describes the post office plot perfectly.  Lupines are difficult to divide because they have a long taproot and don’t like to be uprooted. The taproot brings up nitrogen that improves the soil so is a wonderful neighbor for the daffodils.  A potential bonus is that lupines often re-seed and this lupine could multiply over the years.  Picture a row of lupines showing up there every May to the delight of the folks who gather to chat outside the Grantham Post Office. 
 
There are a couple of related posts that you might like to read:
9/11/20 Escapees by Terri Munson
6/19/22 A Day Journey to the Land of Lupines by Mark Kendall
10/18/23 Post Office Project by Terri Munson

Although it’s ostensibly spring, the recent ice storm is reporting otherwise. I kept venturing outside to see the familiar trees and shrubs looking magical under a coat of ice.  I didn’t worry about them surviving this onslaught.  They are New Hampshire plants who have seen it all before. Something I hadn't seen before is the way the ice formed grooves and canals to match those on the buds and leaves.  
 
I recently visited the cherry blossoms in DC and saw a similarity in the photos I took of the blossomed cherry trees and the iced crabapple trees.  Just like those much beloved cherry blossoms, the ice spectacle didn’t last long.  After a few days, the ice was shed like hailstones. Unlike the reliable, annual cherry blossoms; ice storms are rare.  The lesson to me is to seize the moment before it melts away.