From Mélie’s Garden
It is hard to believe that this January, the Fog Horn online is a year old. I started writing gardening in 2010 when the Fog Horn was still in its infancy and printed like a newsletter. Free issues were available at the Post Office, Library and the Market. Meredith Doyen was the editor then and she had asked me if I would write about gardening on Fishers Island. We thought it would be nice to have a couple of articles in the newsletter in addition to meeting announcements and real estate adds. Pierce Rafferty was also recruited to write his wonderful historical columns. The new digital version of the Fog Horn under Jane Ahrens wonderful direction, has brought it farther than any one of us would have imagined in 2010.
It has been challenging for me to write these monthly gardening pieces, since I am far from being a writer, but I have enjoyed sharing my experiences with fellow island gardeners. Fishers Island is a difficult place to grow things due to the often-extreme weather; a cold spring and some times, a very dry summer. But the fall is usually beautiful and flowers bloom well into October and early November. I am hopeful that this year, other island gardeners will want to share their gardening experiences on www.FishersIsland.net and in the Fog Horn. Last year, Joe Henderson wrote about invasive plants and Dave Dennison shared his gardening expertise in an informative interview. If you have gardening information or experiences you would like to share please contact me or Jane Ahrens and we will be happy to include them in this column.
I always enjoy the time in January to look over new seed catalogs, catch up on garden reading and think about what to plant in the spring. This year I want to be sure to include plants for monarch butterflies and other pollinators. It was so lovely to see one or two butterflies in my garden last year. I feel it is up to all of us “home gardeners” to try to create natural habitat areas in our landscape that will encourage these important beings. The winter months are times to daydream and plan for this year’s growing season, so enjoy this quite time and Happy New Year to all!
