Category Archives: Cape Cod

Ruth Kirchmeier, Carved by Nature, CAPE COD HOME

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Ruth Kirchmeier, Martha's Vineyard woodcut artist and gardenerWhen I met Ruth Kirchmeier I didn’t know she was a woodcut artist but thought she must be a sculptor of tall columnar things, her garden suggested so with upright narrow hollies and yews. I imagined her hands chipping away at stout totems of wood. I had the medium right but the art form wrong, instead of totems she chips away at flat fields of pine, cutting into wood visual scenes close to her life such as a simple vignette of her dining room where a forsythia filled vase placed on a red runner radiates with the sun’s energy.

Ruth Kirchmeier, Martha’s Vineyard woodcut artist and gardener
When I met Ruth Kirchmeier I didn’t know she was a woodcut artist but thought she must be a sculptor of tall columnar things, her garden suggested so with upright narrow hollies and yews. I imagined her hands chipping away at stout totems of wood. I had the medium right but the art form wrong, instead of totems she chips away at flat fields of pine, cutting into wood visual scenes close to her life such as a simple vignette of her dining room where a forsythia filled vase placed on a red runner radiates with the sun’s energy.

“I don’t see the difference between making a woodcut and making a garden, you need the skills to cut the wood and make a garden , the same things go into it, placing things so that there is depth and interest and a certain desire to go around the corner and see what’s happening.

“I don’t see the difference between making a woodcut and making a garden, you need the skills to cut the wood and make a garden , the same things go into it, placing things so that there is depth and interest and a certain desire to go around the corner and see what’s happening.

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House plants are welcome winter friends finding places to reside outside come summer. A topiaried myrtle came to Ruth by way of her dealer, Hermine. “She has a small gallery nearby, Hermine Merel Smith Fine Art, one winter she asked me to look after her myrtle and I nurtured it and shaped it. When I brought it back, she asked if I wouldn’t like to keep it permanently.

House plants are welcome winter friends finding places to reside outside come summer. A topiaried myrtle came to Ruth by way of her dealer, Hermine. “She has a small gallery nearby, Hermine Merel Smith Fine Art, one winter she asked me to look after her myrtle and I nurtured it and shaped it. When I brought it back, she asked if I wouldn’t like to keep it permanently.

 

 

More than Summer Friends, CAPE COD HOME

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Favorite flowers for a Cape Cod garden include hardy roses, Guara, and 'Cotton Candy' Supertunias.

Favorite flowers for a Cape Cod garden include hardy roses, Guara, and ‘Cotton Candy’ Supertunias.

To my Puritan New England eye, coleus has a always been a bit too exotic -- red-dressed flamenco dancers edged in flames of green and white. Looking up the Latin name I came across another common name, Flame Nettle, and indeed, these are "hot" plants.

To my Puritan New England eye, coleus has a always been a bit too exotic — red-dressed flamenco dancers edged in flames of green and white. Looking up the Latin name I came across another common name, Flame Nettle, and indeed, these are “hot” plants.

Winter Interest, CAPE COD HOME

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Let's face it. Cape Cod can get downright gloomy in the winter months. Gray sky, gray ocean, even marsh grasses in mellow shades of rust and yellow moving merrily in the wind are soon beaten down by snow and rain. What's a sun-loving, home-owning gardener to do? Plant and sculpt with winter interest in mind.

Let’s face it. Cape Cod can get downright gloomy in the winter months. Gray sky, gray ocean, even marsh grasses in mellow shades of rust and yellow moving merrily in the wind are soon beaten down by snow and rain. What’s a sun-loving, home-owning gardener to do? Plant and sculpt with winter interest in mind.

Choose specimen trees with unusual bark such as the Japanese Trident maple, Acer buergeriannum, with peeling bark offering up shades of gold, brown, and orange. Another peeler is the paperbark maple, Acer griseum, in cinnamon shades.

Choose specimen trees with unusual bark such as the Japanese Trident maple, Acer buergeriannum, with peeling bark offering up shades of gold, brown, and orange. Another peeler is the paperbark maple, Acer griseum, in cinnamon shades.

Plant a textured border of mixed broadleaf and needled evergreens to catch the snow -- Juniperus (junipers) come in many shapes and sizes, from low and creeping to tall and columnar, and are painted in shades of pale blue-green to vivid gold. They are a perfect evergreen for the Cape as they prefer sandy soil and tolerate salt spray.

Plant a textured border of mixed broadleaf and needled evergreens to catch the snow — Juniperus (junipers) come in many shapes and sizes, from low and creeping to tall and columnar, and are painted in shades of pale blue-green to vivid gold. They are a perfect evergreen for the Cape as they prefer sandy soil and tolerate salt spray.

Ornamental grasses and shrub dogwoods look wonderful against a green backdrop in the winter months. Grasses such as Miscanthus sinensis will develop into a four-foot clump sending out beautiful inflorescence plumes in the fall. It is the flowering seed head that is so attractive, catching the late afternoon light and creating a glow.


Ornamental grasses and shrub dogwoods look wonderful against a green backdrop in the winter months. Grasses such as Miscanthus sinensis will develop into a four-foot clump sending out beautiful inflorescence plumes in the fall. It is the flowering seed head that is so attractive, catching the late afternoon light and creating a glow.


Ornamental grasses and shrub dogwoods look wonderful against a green backdrop in the winter months. Grasses such as Miscanthus sinensis will develop into a four-foot clump sending out beautiful inflorescence plumes in the fall. It is the flowering seed head that is so attractive, catching the late afternoon light and creating a glow.

Kitchen Garden, CAPE COD HOME

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The Nantucket Historical Association's Oldest House may be a seventeenth-century jewel of antiquity, but the sweet kitchen garden at the 1686 Jethro Coffin saltbox is the apple of my eye.

The Nantucket Historical Association’s Oldest House may be a seventeenth-century jewel of antiquity, but the sweet kitchen garden at the 1686 Jethro Coffin saltbox is the apple of my eye.

Kathrina Pearl, a Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) staff member and avid gardener, and the NHA grounds crew have adopted the backyard at the Oldest House, planting a long list of period pot plants, culinary and medicinal herbs, a small orchard of fruit trees, and some berries. "The idea for the garden came from the interpreters at the site," says Pearl.

Kathrina Pearl, a Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) staff member and avid gardener, and the NHA grounds crew have adopted the backyard at the Oldest House, planting a long list of period pot plants, culinary and medicinal herbs, a small orchard of fruit trees, and some berries. “The idea for the garden came from the interpreters at the site,” says Pearl.

The Oldest House nestles into the landscape at the top of Sunset Hill. It was built as a wedding gift for Jethro Coffin and his new bride, Mary. According to the NHA, it is the "sole surviving structure from the island's original seventeenth-century English settlement."

The Oldest House nestles into the landscape at the top of Sunset Hill. It was built as a wedding gift for Jethro Coffin and his new bride, Mary. According to the NHA, it is the “sole surviving structure from the island’s original seventeenth-century English settlement.”

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Companion Planting, CAPE COD HOME

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The hillside garden at Satucket Farm Stand in Brewster, Massachusetts bursts with blossoms. “I love the textures of greens in spring,” says Anita Anderson. “I love Solomon’s Seal and Lily of the Valley, they smell so nice.” Other spring favorites include daffodils, tulips, Bleeding Heart, and Jacob’s Ladder. Summer brings on a riot of color. “Monarda, oh my goodness, the red, a bright red. I have a deep purple butterfly bush, sedum autumn joy, tons of veronica, a blue balloon flower, astilbe in white and pink and red.”

The hillside garden at Satucket Farm Stand in Brewster, Massachusetts bursts with blossoms. “I love the textures of greens in spring,” says Anita Anderson. “I love Solomon’s Seal and Lily of the Valley, they smell so nice.” Other spring favorites include daffodils, tulips, Bleeding Heart, and Jacob’s Ladder. Summer brings on a riot of color. “Monarda, oh my goodness, the red, a bright red. I have a deep purple butterfly bush, sedum autumn joy, tons of veronica, a blue balloon flower, astilbe in white and pink and red.”

Satucket’s cutting bed is exuberantly wild with cosmos, sunflowers, cleome, and zinnias all vying for attention. Anita has nurtured these plants from seed, starting them under lights in her basement the last months of winter. “During February I go nuts and have to mail order seeds. I really like Johnny’s Selected Seeds, their flowers seem stronger, healthier than any other supplier I have tried.”

Satucket’s cutting bed is exuberantly wild with cosmos, sunflowers, cleome, and zinnias all vying for attention. Anita has nurtured these plants from seed, starting them under lights in her basement the last months of winter. “During February I go nuts and have to mail order seeds. I really like Johnny’s Selected Seeds, their flowers seem stronger, healthier than any other supplier I have tried.”

Another favorite vendor is a local Orleans grower, The Farm. “They do an amazing job. They grow their own perennials and have great stock.”

Another favorite vendor is a local Orleans grower, The Farm. “They do an amazing job. They grow their own perennials and have great stock.”

A stand of sunflowers painted on the barn door was a Mothers’ Day gift. “The kids asked me what I wanted for Mothers’ Day and that’s what I wanted. I didn’t need fresh flowers, I didn’t need food.” Although her kids are absent, she now has their constant presence in the form of sunny flowers on the door.<br /><br /><br /><br />

A stand of sunflowers painted on the barn door was a Mothers’ Day gift. “The kids asked me what I wanted for Mothers’ Day and that’s what I wanted. I didn’t need fresh flowers, I didn’t need food.” Although her kids are absent, she now has their constant presence in the form of sunny flowers on the door.

A Place in the Shade, CAPE COD HOME

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To cover the demise of early spring foliage, plant lots of hostas in all their many foliage shapes, from heart-shaped to cupped and wrinkled. As the hostas emerge, their leaves will fill bare spaces.

To cover the demise of early spring foliage, plant lots of hostas in all their many foliage shapes, from heart-shaped to cupped and wrinkled. As the hostas emerge, their leaves will fill bare spaces.

There are many varieties of ferns for the shade garden including the delicate maidenhair with black stems supporting finely cut bright green fronds and the Japanese painted fern with burgundy red veins radiating to a pale whitish gray-green.

There are many varieties of ferns for the shade garden including the delicate maidenhair with black stems supporting finely cut bright green fronds and the Japanese painted fern with burgundy red veins radiating to a pale whitish gray-green.

At one end of their courtyard, white paper birch rises from a base of gray-green hostas, ferns, and euonymus.<br /><br />

At one end of their courtyard, white paper birch rises from a base of gray-green hostas, ferns, and euonymus.
While Betsy and E.B. Wilson work with a peaceful palette, it doesn't mean that all places shady need to be tempered. Foliage plants for shade can be a cacophony of color. Coleus are exotic annual clowns with leaves splashed in daring combinations of burgundy and chartreuse.

While Betsy and E.B. Wilson work with a peaceful palette, it doesn’t mean that all places shady need to be tempered. Foliage plants for shade can be a cacophony of color. Coleus are exotic annual clowns with leaves splashed in daring combinations of burgundy and chartreuse.

http://www.capecodlife.com/capecodhome

Garden Accents, CAPE COD HOME

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Hanging baskets, garden gates, terra-cotta urns are some of the many accoutrements you will find in Pat McLoud's garden. A hammock is strung between shade trees for a relaxing nap on a hot day. Spheres grace pedestals and all around beautiful plantings backed by arborvitae, conical white Hydrangea paniculata blossoms mix with deep purple tubular cones of a butterfly bush.

Hanging baskets, garden gates, terra-cotta urns are some of the many accoutrements you will find in Pat McLoud’s garden. A hammock is strung between shade trees for a relaxing nap on a hot day. Spheres grace pedestals and all around beautiful plantings backed by arborvitae, conical white Hydrangea paniculata blossoms mix with deep purple tubular cones of a butterfly bush.

To McLoud, accessorizing a garden is similar to accessorizing a home. it is accessories which delight the eye, with their repetition of structure and shape - even when the garden is in full bloom

To McLoud, accessorizing a garden is similar to accessorizing a home. it is accessories which delight the eye, with their repetition of structure and shape – even when the garden is in full bloom

With a few strong structural elements -- boxwood, arborvitae, and gravel -- McLoud has provided bones for her gardens to rest on and against.

With a few strong structural elements — boxwood, arborvitae, and gravel — McLoud has provided bones for her gardens to rest on and against.

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