Saugus Gardens in the Summer

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

By Laura Eisener

The full moon will be tomorrow, August 9. August’s moon is known as the sturgeon moon. While you are looking up at the sky, the Perseid meteor shower also is happening in upcoming days, and we are also in the dog days of summer. Hot weather and lack of rain often add stress to our gardens at this time of year, so gardeners have been spending quite a bit of time watering plants. August 9 is also National Book Lovers Day, so tomorrow would be a great day to sit and read in your garden.

I have occasionally been given some tips about an interesting garden around town, and while the old adage about the grass always being greener next door may often be true, this is the first time I have had someone let me know about a spectacular garden right next door; in this case the grass was completely replaced by a rich tapestry of other kinds of plants. Mary Kinsell mentioned that her neighbor had a beautiful garden, full of color in every season, including many unusual species. Thank you to Mary for introducing me to Libby Chilinski, whose garden at 9 Sunnyside Ave. is indeed as special as her neighbor says. Libby has a strong background in horticulture and garden design, and she doesn’t leave it behind at the end of the workday. Libby works for Stapleton Floral Design of Chelsea and South Boston, where she cares for indoor plants and is a floral designer, creating container gardens for commercial accounts.

The spaces around her house are full of gardens with different themes and colors. She added a pergola to the front porch to support several climbing roses. The one blooming most profusely right now is the pale apricot colored ‘Lady of Shalott,’ a fragrant tea rose produced by David Austin. Its profuse flowers are easily seen from the sidewalk.

The front walk is flanked by two wooden containers, each centered on a tropical tree-form yellow flowering hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) surrounded by blue floss flower (Ageratum houstonianum), yellow pansies (Viola spp.), purple and magenta million bells (Callibrachoa spp.) and yellow-green foliaged sedum ‘Angelina.’ The tropical hibiscus is a beautiful plant related to several species of hibiscus, mallows and rose of Sharon that we may be familiar with in our gardens, but this one must be overwintered indoors if it is to be kept from year to year. Another showy plant blooming now in the front garden is the spiky purple blazing star or gayfeather (Liatris spicata). This is a native North American perennial that grows wild in sunny meadows. Close to the house, the purple heart leaves of ‘Ruby Falls’ redbud (Cercis canadensis ‘Ruby Falls) are regrowing after a stressful season near a large-leaved tropical elephant’s ear (Alocasia spp.).

One of the side gardens between the house and driveway plays the upright structure of ornamental grasses against colorful perennials and annuals. Among the grasses are striped varieties of maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Adagio’ and others) and the low blue fescue (Festuca ovina glauca). Several ornamental onions (Allium spp.) grow among them. Another area along the driveway showcases a collection of blue-foliaged trees and shrubs, including weeping blue atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica glauca pendula).

While Libby built some stone walls herself and added most of the distinctive garden features, she was struck by the tall Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) growing near the street when she was house hunting in this neighborhood, and that along with the design of the house and the sunny spaces around it made her choose this property. The previous homeowner had also been known in the neighborhood as an avid gardener.

At Saugus Iron Works this weekend, a great egret (Ardea alba egretta) spent some time wading through the Saugus River near the turning basin, accompanied by Canada geese and ducks. During the summer, great egrets, great blue herons and the smaller snowy egrets are fairly frequent visitors to local ponds, marshy areas and several points along the river.

  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.