We all have those quintessential summer memories from our youth. You know those call-out moments that say "Summer". Like that first day of summer when you can imagine the days stretched out before you like blank pages in a journal. Or the rising hum of cicadas, in the late afternoon when the humidity fills the air and clings to everything. Remember those unyielding wooden spoons for Italian ice? And the ice served in those tiny pleated paper cups? The cup that didn’t hold up

A client regaled me with tales of the local birds that visit her property, “We put a bit of seed out for them and all these various beings come and visit every day.” During a mid-summer walk-through to see what needed to be spruced up we stopped at the small feeder swinging from a shepherd’s hook. “Every day the most adorable family of house finches come by. It’s always the same group, 6 of them, and they chatter to themselves non-stop. They’re here for about 5 minutes and th

The native plant Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), is such a unique plant it’s impossible to miss. It’s a joy to see Mayapple unfurl in the early spring and mature to a stand of what looks like green umbrellas. Mayapple is considered a spring ephemeral or a plant that comes to life in early April and completes its life cycle by mid June. Other spring ephemerals include Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginca), Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) and Spring Beauty (Claytonia vi

We're really admiring garden art on the Twin Forks this year. Here's an eclectic sample of garden pieces we've seen recently. These first three items can be seen in Quogue, on Dune Road........ This giant orb... This Chinese Dog.... This whimsical bird atop a giant orb.... So many styles and mediums. All with their own intrinsic meaning. We're loving all of them from the rustic elements like this lil' piggy and the water buffalo... To another rustic orb within an orb within i

So there is a certain someone you have feelings for. You want to give a meaningful gift but you don’t want too be obvious. The language of flowers will help you out. In times gone by attributes were assigned to flowers giving them a nuance and meaning of their own. The name for pansy comes from the French word “to think”; So it follows that giving a bunch of pansies would be the perfect way to say, “I’m thinking of nothing but you”. You grab your scissors and head out to the

Every garden holds its own pledge as well. We have put to bed many a garden last November and we know what’s happily waiting under the soil.