Calvin Dodge stands under a large hanging basket of petunias in full bloom. Above the petunias is an eight room church-style birdhouse he built in 1965, the year his son was born. The church birdhouse is now down in the backyard of his sons home in Manchester, Conn. In the summer of 2025 it had the nests of eight eastern bluebirds in it. (Photo courtesy Calvin Dodge collection)
Greetings to all. The month of January is almost gone. With all the events taking place here in our town and across the U.S. our minds often seem to be in a tailspin.
Our town has just appointed a new police chief with a long history of careers behind him. We can be proud of our police department and its dedicated staff. The construction of the 70-unit housing development is well underway. The new Castner Brook area and trails are taking shape for all to use.
Many of my close friends have come down with this type of new flu and have been quite sick. Once again I am glad to read that Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust has a new program to explore eelgrass biology and restoration in our Maine waters.
Eelgrass plays a big part in the Great Salt Bay and the deer love to eat this type of grass. I have seen personally so many deer in the evening down by the shore of Great Salt Bay eating this saltwater marsh grass.
The only sad part of this is that last year four of these deer where hit and killed by cars while crossing the highway to feed on this special grass.
Then another article and photo that caught my eyes in The Lincoln County News, “A cozy gardening section of Skidompha Public Library in Damariscotta,” photo courtesy Healthy Lincoln County. Please take time to look at the library’s gardening section of books.
Our forefathers, when they first came to our new world, they brought seeds and plants and planted them. They planted young apple trees and made orchards here in the area of Round Top. Now their apple trees provide us beautiful fruits; they also provide the wild animals like deer, raccoons, and birds with a food supply.
I have some of these so called crabapple trees in my backyard, some over 100 years old. They also planted pear trees here on Round Top. They also planted nut trees which also provide food for us as well as many types of animals. They also planted blackberries and raspberries for our food as well for the wild animals.
When I first moved here on Round Top, there were a lot of Concord grapevines growing in this area. My wife and I used to pick a pail full and make grape jelly in the fall. One book I bought was a book on how to graft different type of apples on one good healthy apple tree so one could have six different types of apples growing off one apple tree.
I have found getting to know and identifying the local area plants and flowers can be a great education and lots of fun. Some plants and flowers need different type locations to grow. We find some need full sunlight, some need partial sunlight, and others need a shady area.
All this information you find out by reading garden books like Reader’s Digest’s “A Garden for All Seasons.”
Over the years I have collected all types of books on growing flowers and plants and in return I was rewarded with success in growing many beautiful flowerbeds around my home here on Round Top. My wife and I both enjoyed raising flowers of all kinds. We had spring flowerbeds full of all colored tulips, crocuses, daffodils, and hyacinth.
Our summer flowerbeds were full of chrysanthemum, daises with yellow centers, delphiniums, beautiful pink phlox, geraniums, asters, and carnations with a row of double hollyhocks in the background.
My fall flowerbeds consisted of bunches of brown-eyed Susans, clusters of pink chrysanthemums with pink buds and bright yellow centers, and the autumn joy of the sedum plant with its beautiful fall colors of pale pink or ruby red. The sedum provide a lot of rich nectar for honey bees and butterflies. The ruby red dahlias plant makes a beautiful fall plant.
Here again you should turn to your garden and plant books to learn how deep you should plant these plants and how far apart and how deep you should plant and how often you should water them and the amount of sunlight they need.
I often look back in life and think of my grandmother Mary and the large cactus she had in her kitchen for over 20 years till her death. My cousin Geraldine Hanley had a Christmas cactus in her south living room by the window and it lasted for over 25 years. Geraldine gave my wife Marjorie a section of that Christmas cactus and Marjorie replanted it in a good size earthen pot and placed it near the south window in the living room. With lots of special care, it also grew and blossomed for 20 Christmases, until her death in April 2020.
I truly believe that some plants really feel the love and affection you give them. I was given a plant arrangement last Easter, a “Garden of Weedin'” in an 8 1/2-inch round metal pan. It consisted of a 6-inch plant in the back side, then a white picket fence, then a wire white bench, with two toadstools beside it in the soft green moss and a small amount of gravel in front of the bench where we find a green frog and silver heart resting on the gravel in front of the bench. I give it about 7 ounces of water and a tablespoon of indoor plant food each week. It sits on my kitchen table and I talk to it every day when I have my meals.
I truly enjoy telling you all of the special plant arrangements. I must once again say that this Easter plant arrangement was put together with tender love and loving hands and a mind full of faithful emotions. This goes to prove we have skilled and talented florists here in the Twin Villages.
Please support all the garden clubs in Lincoln County. They help beautify our local area with flower arrangements and planting of shrubs and trees which adds beauty to the landscape of our local towns.
I also recommend you take the time to attend some of the spring flower shows. You may get a lot of ideas for the arrangement and planting of your summer flower gardens.
Please enjoy these colored photos of past flowerbeds my wife and I have planted over past summers. We shared our tender love, affection, and time with these plants and these photos show the beautiful rewards we received back over all those summers.
