Lots of folks have encouraged me to visit New London’s Tracy Library garden which I never seemed to get around to doing. When I came across John Lennon’s quote “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans” I scolded myself. As writer of this blog and an avid flower photographer, what was I waiting for?

I finally went a month ago and have been back three times since. Now that I know where it is (half way between Colby-Sawyer College and Tuckers Restaurant, but across the street and behind the library), I’ll make a point of stopping by whenever I’m in New London. Every time I go, there are different flowers and plants to see.  A month ago, the garden was surrounded by lilac bushes of various hues. Right now 45 rose bushes are in bloom.  The difficulty in putting together this blog was deciding which flower photos to omit because I couldn’t possibly include them all.
 
In 1926 Jane Tracy summered in New London and had the foresight and finances to have a library built and, for the icing on the cake, the design and planting of the garden behind it. She hired the Olmsted Brothers’ landscape architectural company to design the garden. Their firm also designed gardens in Acadia National Park and Yosemite Valley not to mention the entire park systems of Portland, Oregon, the City of Roses.
 
Originally the garden park consisted of four beds of flowers around a children’s wading pool. The stonewall perimeter enclosed a variety of shrubs, vines and trees. When Mrs. Tracy died in 1944, the garden beds were grassed over, the pool was filled with dirt, and the hedges removed. Then in 2000 when the Tracy Library was renovated, it was the right time to bring back the garden. The New London Garden Club and the library joined forces and raised $175,000 to restore this half-acre plot of land and rebuilding began in May of 2002. A bronze water fountain made by well known sculptural metalsmith Dimitri Gerakaris replaced the wading pool. The garden is lovingly maintained by a head gardener and an army of volunteers and is a sight to behold. 

This unseasonal photo is a ploy to get you to learn ‘the rest of the story’ about this secret garden. The garden itself isn’t a secret to folks who go for a walk at Grantham’s Brookside Park this time of year. For some reason, I mostly visit the park on brisk winter days with the rushing water partially covered by snow as shown in the picture above. It’s one of my go-to short walks when I need a little grounding.
 
During yesterday’s warm and sunny summer day, I strolled along the brook and then I took a path to a clearing and came upon a delightful garden full of Sweet Williams. These flowers were not escapees that happened to grow there. Someone took some time, efforts, cash, and a lot of TLC.
 
If you haven’t seen the garden, I encourage you to stop at Brookside Park on old Rte. 10 north of Rumbrook.  Cross the wonderful volunteer-constructed bridge to the trail. The beginning of the trail looks wheel-chair accessible and do-able for folks with canes or walkers. Here’s another little tidbit you might not have known about Brookside Park: Emil Hanslin, the creator of the Master Plan for Eastman back in the late 60s, donated the land to the town of Grantham in 1984 along with his son Tony. 
 
I looked around for clues for the secret gardener's identity. There were notes posted on a nearby information kiosk thanking some men for mending its roof and for bags of manure and as well as thanking Dunkin’ Donuts for bags of coffee grounds.* I suspect that these aren’t the people who made the garden. If you or someone you know planted this garden, please reply in the comments and let us all know. Or if you’d prefer, you can keep it a secret.  

*Used coffee grounds add organic material to the soil which improved drainage, water retention, and aeration.    The grounds also help microorganisms beneficial to plant growth as well as attract earthworm who enjoy a little caffeine pick-me-up. 

​While waking around gardens and hiking in the woods and bogs, I have seen a few creepy looking plants among the vast majority of attractive ones. I took pictures thinking I would never use them but decided to share them with you for a bit of fun. Some of the scary looking plants were just starting to develop and will eventually become beautiful, but I like to photograph them in their Ugly Duckling stage. Most of my photos are of that variety. Others are destined to never blossom but remain beasts their whole lives. Here’s an example:
 
While visiting the Philrick-Cricenti Bog in New London the other day with my hiking group, a keen-eyed hiker pointed out a pitcher plant. The more we looked, the more we saw—hundreds of insect eating pitcher plants. Unlike their more famous relative, the Venus flytrap, pitcher plants don't close up once an insect or small reptile wanders inside. The pitcher plant's shape doesn’t allow the prey to escape. They are stuck inside where they meet a gruesome end.

One of the bug-eating plants was surely the inspiration for Little Shop of Horrors, a very campy 60’s low budget movie that became a popular musical where humans foolishly answer Audry II's plea to "Feed Me." Ultimately these giant plants take over the world. It's a hoot.
 
By way of apology to all these plants, I realize that they all have their roles and fill important niches. Without them, we would live in a very different place. Vive la différence

New GGC member Betty Kargacos invited me to visit her property on the golf course that has an amazing array of pink lady slipper orchids. There must have been 50 in groups or pairs or standing alone all over her woodsy backyard. Betty’s neighbors on either side have similar yards but the lady slippers only grow in Betty’s. She told me that new plants pop up every year. All the pictures here are of Betty’s flowers.

Lady slippers are very difficult to pollinate. A bee that manages to navigate down the narrow opening to the pouch will be disappointed to find pollen but no nectar. The savvy bees look elsewhere for pollen but some bees give the lady slippers a few tries before giving up—just enough to pollinate a small percentage each year. The pollinated plants produce thousands of tiny seeds that are as small as dust and are dispersed by the wind. The seeds depend on wild soil fungi to germinate and grow which make them rare in the wild and almost impossible to domesticate. Another obstacle is that it takes 10 to 17 years before it matures enough to bloom for the first time.

While researching lady slippers, I learned of a folklore about an Ojibwe* girl named Aki who saved her village after most of the people came down with a horrible sickness. A well respected medicine woman who made life-saving medicine lived many miles away making it impossible for any sick person to make the journey. Although she was small for her age, Aki was a fast runner and bravely volunteered to make the trip. It took Aki many days to cross the frozen lake and find the medicine woman who lived deep in the forest. The journey back to her village was even more difficult when a blizzard hindered her progress and caused her to lose her moccasins in the deep snow but she never let go of the precious medicine. ​Aki barely made it back to her village before she collapsed. The medicine she brought saved her people and herself. That spring, on the exact spots where Aki had stepped with her bare feet on her perilous journey, lady slippers grew. The Ojibwe call the lady slippers “Moccasin Shoes.”   
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*The Ojibwe number approximately 320 thousand in the United States and 160 thousand in Canada today. They are known for their oral history of which this story is one

​I have seen hundreds of trilliums this spring and have a somewhat ambivalent relationship with them. Most of them are bashful and bend their blossoms down to the earth making them sometimes impossible to photograph. I recently learned that there are 43 known species of trillium so I shouldn’t have been surprised when I saw some different looking trilliums growing in Janie Clark’s garden. I asked Janie about her bold trilliums,  and her answer resulted in this blog. 
 
When Janie was a young mother living in Albion, Michigan, she learned that an old Victorian house nearby was going to be razed to make room for a parking lot. Janie immediately thought of the trilliums that she knew grew there. She grabbed her children, some buckets, and her trowel; and marched over to the house , carefully dug up the trilliums, and replanted them in her yard. Later, more rescued trilliums joined the pack. Janie often hiked on a trail where beautiful trilliums grew right on the path. She heard that they were going to plow the trail to widen it for hikers. You guessed it, Janie to the rescue again.
 
Many years later Janie and her husband Russ retired and moved from Michigan. The trillium plants rode more than 1,000 miles with them to their new home on Trillium Lane in Grantham, New Hampshire. I asked if she bought her house because of her street address given her affinity for trilliums but she told me that after looking a dozens of homes, she knew this was the one when she saw the fireplace. Russ did his Geological Science PhD dissertation on the granites of south-central New Hampshire—the same granite as the fireplace. 
 
Call it fate or karma or coincidence, but some things are meant to be.

​As you may know, I love taking pictures of flowers, but this week I’m branching out to their much larger relatives, the trees—specifically the trees at Balch Hills.
 
While on a Hanover Conservancy led wildflower and blossoms walk on Mother’s Day, I couldn’t help notice and photograph these gentle giants. Our group was introduced to the impressive Grafton County Champion Northern Red Oak. To learn more about what I was seeing, I wrote to Adair Mulligan who is the Executive Director of the Hanover Conservancy. I learned from Adair  that the Champion Oak was crowned in 2014 when it was measured by a Big Tree Steward who recorded that it was 110 feet tall, 196 inches in circumference, and had a crown spread of 80 feet. She said that several of the large trees on Balch Hill may date from the time of Hanover’s settlement over 250 years ago.
 
Adair told me about another tree there on Balch Hill that would have been the county champion but its huge lower limb broke off the mighty oak. It was affectionately known as “the Venus de Milo." It has since completely fallen down. Now it serves as refuge and food for animals, birds, and insect so continues to contribute to the land. 
 
The NH Big Tree Program, a part of UNH Cooperative Extension, is a network of volunteers throughout the state who hunt for and measure large trees. Anyone can log onto their website and recommend a tree.   The trees are checked every 10 years to make sure they’re still standing and to re-measure them. If you’re looking for a new hobby or want to add some excitement to your hikes, search for giant trees, and don’t forget your measuring tape.

From my membership in the garden club and from my many hikes in the area, I have learned about the hundreds of volunteers and non-profit organizations who protect and care for our land. Here’s the story of the Balch Hill Natural Area
 
A New York developer wanted to purchase Balch Hill in Hanover in 1970 and had plans to build 126 condos. The community came together to save this precious piece of land, and today we can walk on Balch Hill and enjoy the easy hike and gorgeous view from the top. The land is owned and cared for by the Hanover Conservancy, the Town of Hanover, and Dartmouth College—each owning their own parcel. With the help of many volunteers, the trails are well marked and well maintained. Among the many volunteers thanked on their websites were high school and middle school students. This experience not only helps maintain the property, but it teaches the children a love and appreciation of nature.
 
Sue Coakley invited me to join her on the annual Mother’s Day Wildflower Hike led by Hanover Conservancy volunteers Biologist Gail McPeek and Botanist Alice Schori.  We joined the group of like-minded folks and set off of a perfect morning.  Very soon we were greeted by two barred owls that we couldn’t see but clearly heard say “Who cooks for you.” I like to think in owl-ese, they meant “Welcome to our beloved woods.”
 
We stopped often to learn about the ferns and wild flowers every few steps. Among the delightful plants we saw were poetically named Sweet Cicely, Maidenhair fern, and Wild Lily-of-the Valley. One type of flower that I would never have seen if Gail and Sue hadn’t led us off the path was the aptly named Spring beauties. We all admired the beauties while a warbler serenaded us. 

As I strolled through this magical place, I thought of the people who rescued Balch Hill all those years ago. They have left a legacy for future generations: a place to hear the birds, smell the blossoms, and feed our souls. 

As I promised myself, I went back to see if the trillium had blossomed near French’s Ledge but this time I brought along GGC wildflower expert Sue Coakley. You may have seen Sue’s wonderful wildflower presentation that she gave to the club in January or maybe you joined her for a wildflower walk in Heath Forest yesterday. I have to say, Sue comes in very handy on a nature hike.  
 
May 2nd this year was indeed the perfect time to hike French’s Ledge in search of wildflowers. We saw more than 100 red trillium and an equal number of trout lilies. Those few hepatica were still there—just a handful compared to their more productive neighbors. We also spotted some yellow wood violets.  Though tiny, they are hard to miss with their striking yellow petals.
 
After showing Sue this new-to-her wildflower area, Sue took me to the Plainfield Sanctuary on River Road. Unlike most sanctuaries with trails and parking, this one is basically on either side of a dirt road. Both sides of the road are too steep for walking. Whereas we had to hike in a mile or so on the French’s Ledge trail, flowers were mere steps away from where we parked. Again we saw oodles of trillium and trout lily and were pleased to find an entire area of Dutchmen’s breeches and saxifrage. Multiple types of ferns were just a few inches tall and pushing out of their wet leaf beds. Sue pointed out some ordinary looking leaves and told me they were red columbine. That would be a treat to see. Guess I'll have to go back again (and again).  

I listened to Bud Sechler from the Native Plant Trust  presentation at today's Garden Club presentation and was pleasantly surprised to hear him about about the Plainfield Sanctuary that I posted earlier today. I will definitely like to visit some of the other Native Plant Trust protected places that he spoke about, especially Eshqua Bog in Hartland, VT, in June to see the orchids in bloom. If you missed Bud's wonderful talk, you can find the link at "Past Programs."  

​It was a cold and dreary morning. The organizers began to worry that people would rather stay in their warm homes and breathed a collective sigh of relief when volunteers began arriving right on time and eventually numbered 99 hearty folks. Some wore winter hats and coats. Most had gloves to protect them from the cold and from the icky stuff they might find. All wore smiles behind their masks.*
 
The idea all started with new Grantham Garden Club member Diane Bilotta. She spoke at a GGC Steering Club Zoom meeting and presented the idea of running a town wide clean up based on her years of experience with an annual clean up in Conway as part of the Mt. Washington Valley pride day. Even better, Diane said she would help organize it. The club quickly moved into action. Maryellen DeJong and Janie Clark joined Diane as coordinators. 
 
Diane learned best practices from the Conway group and made the event fun for the volunteers. Diane and Maryellen wore wacky sponge hats and bright aprons in keeping with the clean up-theme. Volunteers were given a prize coupon which also asked them for the most unusual items found and the most frequent.
 
In three short hours, 156 bags of trash were collected. The volunteers reported that Bud light was the hands down favorite of litter bugs. Among the unusual finds were a Tulsi Gabbard for President campaign sign, a 5 Finger Death Punch CD, one shoe, a nerf bullet, and a pickled sausage wrapper. A team soccer picture was also found which must have been lost by mistake, unlike most of the junk that was sadly tossed from cars and walkways on purpose. I suspect those thoughtless people never volunteered in a clean up day when they were young.
 
The 99 volunteers on our May 1st cleanup were all ages with many children lending their little hands. Their grown ups are teaching them well. 
 
At noon, blue skies appeared and the warm sun shone brightly on our beautifully clean village of Grantham.