July 10, 2012 -- of flowers and trees

You can't really see how pretty the plant material is in this mug--it's a snippet from wishbone flower (Torenia hybrida) and a snippet from Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus) -- two annuals grown in 4" pots that I bought today on Martha's Vineyard. John and I are staying in the renovated Cow Barn at the Polly Hill Arboretum. Here, where I am speaking tomorrow night, we are both enthralled by the trees, which aren't impressive in the way our Virginia trees are (i.e., big and imposing). but, instead, challenge us to figure out who they are based on family resemblances. What fun! And to be staying in a building where Polly Hill herself stayed (as I read about her history and that of the Arboretum) is a priviledge beyond imagining.

These nice, clean dishtowels were part of our welcome to the Cow

Barn at the Polly Hill Arboretum. And, to me, landlubber that I am, they were as welcoming as flags.