A Note from Rick | Recap of National Public Garden & A Walk Through the Garden
June 27, 2018
By Rick Bogusch
National Public Gardens DayCelebrated at Bridge Gardens on May 12
Over 50 people joined me for a guided walk at Bridge Gardens in honor of this national day recognizing the importance of botanical gardens.
Our Queen of Night tulips and summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum) were in full swing, while the springtime show of early daffodils was starting to fade.
Flowering onion (alliums) were getting started, and the delicate scent of our oldest tree, sweet crab apple, greeted us as we walked through the inner garden.
Roses, late in getting started with this cool spring, were outshone by our Japanese red maple which stole the show.
If you didn't make it this year for our day of free tours, in partnership with Madoo Conservancy and LongHouse Reserve, join us next year and explore all three botanical gardens on the East End.
A Walk Through the Garden
Without question we've had a slow start to the garden season, with a 2-3 week lag due to our cooler-than-usual spring temperatures. However, we're starting to catch up.
Now is the perfect time to get outdoors and into the garden, pull some weeds and groom your beds to look their best this summer.
I am a strong believer in the power of mulch -- it helps keep weeds at bay, offers shade to roots that don't enjoy hot sun, and helps keep moisture in when rains are infrequent.
Visit this month and see the vegetable garden where I've been harvesting lettuce, spinach, radish, and arugula and will soon be enjoying kale, chard and snap peas, planted last month.
Our vegetable bed expands almost every year as we plant not only for ourselves but also to help provide food to the local food pantries, including Sag Harbor and Springs. Just this week we harvested a huge bag of fresh cilantro headed to the Sag Harbor Food Pantry, planted at the request of their patrons!
The nearby 4-quadrant herb garden is showing off poppies, valerian, foxgloves, as well as culinary plants like sage, oregano and tarragon and lovage.
June is traditionally the time for roses but with the cooler weather, they are a bit behind. I think there will be more roses to enjoy going into early July than we've seen in recent years. Nonetheless, if you visit the rose garden, you'll enjoy blooms from Pope John Paul II (white), Sunshine Daydream (yellow) and Big Purple (mauve).
Rick Bogusch
Garden Director, Bridge Gardens
rbogusch@peconiclandtrust.org