Saugus Gardens in the Fall

Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable

By Laura Eisener

Now that December is here and the nights are long and dark, holiday decorations and lights are appearing in every neighborhood. Tonight is the town’s tree lighting, and last night Boston celebrated the lighting of its annual gift from Nova Scotia on Boston Common. The Saugus tree is the Colorado spruce that grows beside the Civil War Monument, but other trees and shrubs on the Town Hall lawn and in Saugus Center also will be illuminated at the same time. In addition to trees and menorahs, lights are appearing on historic buildings and other significant objects in many communities. The community “tree” in Gloucester, Mass., and in Portland, Maine, as well as in several other coastal communities is actually a tree-shaped stack of lobster traps. One of the first events of the season in New England took place the evening before Thanksgiving, when Provincetown, Mass., lit up the Pilgrim monument, a tower on the hill overlooking the town, in an annual event known as “the lighting on the hill.” York, Maine, lit up its well-known lighthouse, popularly called Nubble Light but officially named Cape Neddick Light, as well as its outbuildings, on the last day of November this year. (There is also a lobster trap “tree” close by).

Next Thursday, December 12, is National Poinsettia Day in the U.S. Having become the most popular Christmas flower in most of North America early in the 20th century, the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is native to Mexico and got its English language name from Joel Poinsett, who was the U.S. ambassador to Mexico in the early 19th century. Most non-gardeners are unaware of the botanical structure of this “flower” – botanically, the flowers are very small and yellow in a cluster in the center of the showy red, white, pink or other colored bracts. Bracts are modified leaves, and you will notice that in this species although they are very similarly shaped to the green leaves elsewhere on the plant, the colorful ones are generally grouped around a cluster of the yellow flowers. Many different plants, including flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), have bracts that many people understandably mistake for petals.

One of the keys to poinsettia’s continued popularity is that new varieties and colors of this plant’s bracts are introduced almost every year. In addition to the reds, pinks and whites, which have been around for a long time, there are spotted and streaked bract patterns available as well, and some yellow or greenish bracts on varieties that are cream or nearly yellow tones. Then there are plants available in blues and purples in which the bracts are enhanced with food coloring, or almost any color with sprayed-on glitter. Makers of artificial flowers have used their imagination and produced poinsettias in plaids, metallic gold, copper and silver! One of the most recent introductions is the Princettia^® from Suntory – Princettia^® is a registered trademark name for a series of poinsettia varieties with compact habit and more bracts around each flower cluster. These bracts are smaller and layered, so while it is certainly recognizable as a poinsettia, it is eye-catching to anyone who is accustomed to the usual looking plants. The bract colors can be red, pink or white, depending on the individual Princettia^® cultivar.

Many kinds of wildlife are looking for more food now that the weather is cold because they need extra energy to stay warm. Pumpkins on many porches show marks where they have been gnawed by squirrels, who will appreciate the nutritious seeds once they have gotten through the pumpkin’s outer rind and flesh. A few birds are working on the holly berries, but holly berries are not very juicy so there are only a few species who will choose them over other available food. Wild birds flock to local bird feeders, where sunflower seeds are among the most nutritious and popular offerings.

The little downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) at the feeder above is an adult male. Females have no red mark on their heads, and juvenile woodpeckers have their red patch closer to the top of their heads, rather than at the back. There is a female who often visits this feeder as well. Woodpeckers get their common name from their habit of pecking trees where they hear insects under the bark, but they also eat berries and seeds.

  Editor’s Note: Laura Eisener is a landscape design consultant who helps homeowners with landscape design, plant selection and placement of trees and shrubs, as well as perennials. She is a member of the Saugus Garden Club and offered to write a series of articles about “what’s blooming in town” shortly after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was inspired after seeing so many people taking up walking.