After line-by-line deliberations, the Board of Finance reduced the Town Government’s budget proposal of $2,013,351, decreasing the initial 8.8% increase, to $1,895,445, or 2.4%. At a May 15 budget workshop session, members of the Board of Finance, in conjunction with First Selectman Allan Cahill, reviewed the various department requests, which include all town offices, organizations, facilities and services, in search of savings and surpluses. Reductions were based on a review of actual expenses in previous years, and unspent funds in the current year’s budget which could be used to purchase necessary items this year instead of next.

Increases to the FY2024-25 budget include an additional $13,000 in road maintenance and repair due to storm damage this year, and a $10,109 increase to the Conservation Commission’s request, which included maintenance and improvement to the newly purchased Hammond Hill Preserve, although their initial request of $40,875 was reduced to $17,375 by the finance board.

There were increases to the line item for the Fire Department of $12,800, and the KB Ambulance Service for $36,400. These expenses were lessened for the last few years by applying the American Recovery Program Act funds toward them. The remaining money in that account, $344,404. has been applied to the purchase of a new fire truck, approved by voters at a March 12, 2024 referendum.

For the past several years, the budget has maintained level spending, or a slight increase, or even a reduction. This is not the case this year. In addition to inevitable municipal expenses, the total increase to Education, which includes Hampton’s assessment for Regional District #11 and Hampton Elementary School, was originally a total increase of $269,046. The State’s formula for the Educational Cost Sharing Grant, frozen due to the Covid pandemic, will decrease revenue for the Town by approximately $83,500 per year starting in 2026, eventually resulting in a projected decrease of $584,801 over the next seven years. This amount does not include enrollment changes. Additionally, pending litigation with Huntington National Bank involving the Solar Park has resulted in approximately $1.6 million in unpaid taxes to date. Though a court case has been scheduled for this month, it has been subjected to repeated postponements and continuances, nor can the Town depend on a favorable decision.
In response to the budget proposal presented by the Board of Education, which represented a 3.52% increase, school officials were asked to provide several items, including contracts and matrices for the certified and non-certified staff, the schedules for special classes and for the school’s paraprofessionals, current legal expenses, and a budget version that reflects a 3% raise for non-certified staff. As of press time, only the matrices were received. The Board of Finance also asked the Board of Education to review actual expenses for anticipated surplus funds which could be used toward next year’s budget purchases. Subsequently, the Board of Education met and reduced the budget by $36,014, a 1.84 % increase over last year.

The Board of Finance will not finalize the budget until after the Public Hearing, scheduled for June 5 at 7PM at the Town Hall, to consider citizen input. The Annual Town Meeting will be scheduled after that by the Board of Selectmen to present the Town Government and Hampton Elementary School budgets, followed by a referendum vote.

Kathy Donahue, Chairman, Board of Finance

At its May 22, 2024 meeting, The Hampton Elementary School Board of Education approved a revision to its proposed 2024-2025 budget. The proposed revised budget of $2,179,600 reflects a 1.84%, or $39,312, increase over the 2023-2024 budget. While the originally approved budget reflected an increase of 3.52% over current spending, school officials reduced the original requests submitted to the Board of Education through cost cutting measures. Driving the budget increase are the costs associated with contractual obligations and a new collective bargaining agreement, other compensation rates, special education, and general operating expenses. These items contribute to the largest portion of the budget reach and are not discretionary. The current reimbursement rates from the Federal and State governments do not adequately cover the costs of many of these increases.

Reductions to the originally proposed budget were achieved through decreases in salary, legal fees, and the school supply lines. Hampton Elementary School will be further auditing its inventory of supplies so that existing materials are exhausted before seeking replacement items. Staffing levels, including paraprofessionals, remain flat despite an increase in mandated services, and cost savings were achieved through the analysis of student groups and associated schedule adjustments. Additional cost savings were achieved through the elimination of contractual housekeeping services and the proposed hiring of part time after-hours cleaners. While any cost cutting measures are significant and painful, school officials were able to prioritize the needs of the students, families, and staff in order to ameliorate some of the impacts.

The budget allows us to continue to:
• Fund all current staff at 2023-2024 levels;
• Develop staff capacity with regards to special education and intervention supports, thereby preserving investments in future cost savings through enhanced professional practices, protocols, and procedures;
• Purchase necessary classroom materials for literacy and numeracy; and
• Implement the critical work related to the implementation of the Science of Reading.

The budget enables Hampton Elementary School to implement a high level of instruction for its students and its focus on creating a supportive and nurturing learning environment. The projected enrollment remains consistent with that of the 2023-2024 school year.

Andrew Skarzynski, Superintendent

The Regional District #11 Board of Education has reduced their FY2024-2025 budget in response to the May 7 tri-town referendum that defeated their initial proposal in a vote of 162 – 173. The school board met on May 21 and voted to reduce the budget by $75,000, rejecting a proposal to reduce the spending plan by approximately $130,000 and a proposal to return the same budget to the Towns. A referendum will be scheduled to approve the revised budget.

Concerns were raised by members of the Boards of Finance, Selectmen and Education during a recent budget workshop regarding the amount of money the schools have spent on legal services this year.

Board of Finance Chairman Kathy Donahue noted Hampton Elementary School’s overage for legal fees as part of a discussion on the school’s budget request. First Selectman Allan Cahill pointed out that the town, which includes all of its many departments, spends less than $6,000 a year for legal counsel, while Parish Hill Middle/High School spent $90,000 last year, reportedly due to expulsions. The elementary school has spent $13,000 more than the amount budgeted, according to school board member Juan Arriola, who spoke to the issue at the meeting and whose Freedom of Information (FOI) request yielded a compilation of money spent to date on legal fees.

The response to the request revealed that, though the Board of Education budgeted $20,000 to cover the expense of negotiating the teachers’ contract, this only cost the town $5,194. The remaining expenses, $22,728, are largely due to an investigation into a complaint of discrimination to include conducting interviews and reviewing documentation. A smaller amount, $4184, has been spent on attorney representation regarding an FOI complaint (see article on next page).

According to the Board of Education’s policies and procedures, once an employee files a discrimination grievance, the Superintendent is notified within five days and must apprise the Board of Education of the complaint. Within ten days, a hearing must be held, after which the Superintendent has five days to “resolve the compliant, negotiate a long-term solution, or refer the matter to the Board of Education for consideration”.

In this instance, former Superintendent Sarli apparently used the school’s legal counsel instead, though there is no record of a board decision to do so. Additionally, the timeline stipulates approximately one month to resolve complaints of discrimination, however it appears through the invoices that the investigation regarding the matter was conducted in October, November and December. The agenda of the May 22, 2024 meeting of the Board of Education included an executive session scheduled to “discuss a discriminations complaint”, specifically the “board’s role” in addressing it. This is the first time the matter has appeared on an agenda.

Reportedly, a complaint of discrimination has been filed with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO). This will be the second time a CHRO complaint has been filed in the last two years. The first, alleging racial discrimination, was resolved in the complainant’s favor with a financial settlement as well as unemployment compensation. An FOI request for the legal fees spent on that representation has been filed.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) complaint filed last year has attracted state-wide attention, with the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education and the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents submitting a brief at a May 22 meeting of the FOI Commission to counter a decision against the Hampton Elementary School Board of Education’s conduct at an executive session.

The complaint, filed by Board of Education members Juan Arriola, Diane Gagnon, and John Russell on July 10, 2023, alleged that former Superintendent Samantha Sarli was invited into an executive session on June 28, 2023 without offering the testimony or opinion necessary to allow inclusion of anyone other than a board member. Connecticut General Statute 1-231 states that: “At an executive session of a public agency, attendance shall be limited to members of said body and persons invited by said body to present testimony or opinion pertinent to matters before said body provided that such persons’ attendance shall be limited to the period for which their presence is necessary to present such testimony or opinion”.

Arriola, Gagnon and Russell alleged the superintendent attended the entire executive session without speaking a word, a statement which was confirmed by Board of Education Chairman Rose Bisson, member Maryellen Donnelly, and Sarli herself during a hearing conducted on January 3, 2024. At this hearing, the complainants and respondents presented evidence and testimony regarding the matter. The Hearing Officer submitted a final decision on April 24, 2024, which concluded that “the respondents violated the provisions of CGS1-231(a) when they permitted the superintendent to remain in attendance at the executive session for the entire duration of such executive session, without providing any testimony or opinion during such executive session.” The report recommended that “Henceforth, the respondents shall strictly comply with the executive session provisions of CGS1-231(a).”

The Board of Education’s attorney immediately submitted a Motion to Reopen the Hearing or for Reconsideration, but that request was denied the same day by the Commission. However, a request to submit an Amicus Brief, filed jointly by the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) and the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS), was granted.

Attorneys from the law firm Shipman and Goodwin represented the Hampton Elementary School and the professional associations. According to the school’s counsel, the firm represents 120 school districts, and they all invite their superintendents, as Chief Executive Officers, into executive sessions for their entire duration. The attorney representing CABE and CAPSS, therefore, was concerned with the state-wide implications if the Commission upheld the decision.

In oral and written testimony presented to the Commission, both attorneys objected to Boards of Education limiting a superintendent’s participation in executive sessions to only the period of time when they provide testimony or opinion, despite what the statute stipulates, claiming that the decision “raises issues of state-wide concern”. They stated that board members are “citizen volunteers” who require the expertise of the superintendent in order to make informed decisions, and claimed that the elected officials would require clairvoyance in order to determine in advance whether or not additional testimony might be needed. “How can citizen volunteers serving as board of education members determine ad hoc and in advance when the opinion or testimony of their superintendent on matters under the board’s consideration will be required?” they argued.

Arriola, who represented himself, Gagnon and Russell, countered that superintendents can make themselves available in case board members require their advice during the closed session. “If the executive discussion generates questions needing answers, simply call or text them or ask them to join the session from wherever they’re waiting,” he said. He also suggested that if limiting the superintendent’s presence was as problematic as alleged, a legislative change was needed to amend the statute.

The hearing officer defended her decision, stating that she simply relied on the statute to reach her conclusion. She said she found it interesting that the statute on executive session attendance was not included in the multiple pages prepared by the Board of Education, CABE and CAPSS. She argued that the statute is clear and necessarily restrictive; executive sessions, she said, are not “spectator sports”. She also stated that if adherence to the statute proves impossible for school boards, a legislative change would be in order, as did the Director of the Commission and two commissioners. Multiple members also suggested that compliance with this statute is probably “relaxed”, and that the Commission has no way of knowing if a violation occurs unless a board member reports it, as was the case with Arriola, Gagnon and Russell.

In the end, the Commission unanimously upheld the decision, ruling in the complainants’ favor.

After nearly a decade as librarian at Fletcher Memorial Library, Deb Andstrom retires at the end of June. The library plans to mark the occasion with an all-day Open House, Saturday June 29th, her last day at work. “My husband recently retired,” Andstrom says, “and we look forward to traveling, spending time with family, and enjoying more time at our condo in Cape Cod.”

Andstrom came to library work fairly late in life, after a career in banking and teaching, but she is a long-time book lover. For several years before coming to Fletcher Memorial, she first volunteered, then worked, at Aldrich Free Library in Plainfield, learning much about running a small library. In addition to time at Plainfield, she also worked at the Canterbury Public Library for a couple of years. “I filled in for the director and staff when needed,” she said. “It was helpful that both Aldrich and Canterbury utilized the same library operating system as Fletcher, so I felt comfortable right away.”

She brought that knowledge, plus much experience dealing with young children, to Hampton. Soon after her arrival, she began Baby Story Time, a weekly program for very young children that proved popular with the library’s youngest patrons and their mothers, too. It was followed a few years later by a Story and Craft program for older children. Andstrom also instituted a book club for adults and organized the now annual Dr. Seuss’s Birthday celebration and the Easter Egg Hunt. In addition, she helped out with other library programs and fundraisers, as well as participating in Quiet Corner Reads and representing the library in area library associations.

For the last decade, Deb, as she is universally known, has been the welcoming, cheerful, and efficient face of the library, never too busy for a word and always quick with a smile. She knows everyone and usually recommends just the right book. Deb Andstrom will be very much missed but she is not entirely breaking her ties to the library. She intends to continue Baby Story Time as a volunteer and also to help with the upkeep of the butterfly garden. “I’ve loved my time working here,” she said. “I’ve developed many friendships among our valued volunteers and patrons, and I intend to keep in touch.”

The Open House will run all during library hours, 9AM to 3PM with the reception and refreshments from noon to 2PM.

Janice Trecker

A few years ago, Our Rural Heritage featured an article on “Fire!”, illustrating this threat to life and of livelihood in the 18th and 19th centuries. The need for an efficient and organized method of dealing with fires, beyond the “bucket brigade” of yore, was clear. The consequential development of our fire department has been chronicled in a number of articles, usually in correlation with a referendum on equipment or facility needs.

There is no section of town that has not suffered from fires, as evidenced in remaining chimneys and cellar holes throughout Hampton. And there is no section that has not benefitted from the efforts of the fire department in saving lives and salvaging property. However, as we explore the village and its venerable buildings – the Town Hall, the school, the churches, the Little River Grange, Fletcher Memorial Library — we can’t exclude from the discussion the Firehouse itself, which has been an integral part of the center of town for a century, in its first, second, and final location.

Fire was a tremendous risk and reality in our town’s early years. The use of kerosene lamps, the necessity of hay for livestock, and the proximity of barns to homes all contributed to a relatively regular tragedy. The 2022 article “Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn”, a structure so prevalent in New England that this phrase was a rhyme children recited, described this architectural style. In these “connected farmsteads”, the family lived in the “big house”, the kitchen was in the “little house”, farm implements, carriages and wagons were stored in the “back house”, and the “barn” was for the farm’s livestock. While this architectural structure made movement from one area to another easier, especially in winter, it also facilitated fires. At one time there were probably several houses which were destroyed due to this arrangement. We have one eye-witness account in Alison Davis’ “Hampton Remembers”:

I was getting ready to go out to do the chores one morning and my sisters came running down the stairs with “Hopkins house is afire!” They could see it from their bedroom window. So I ran out to the barn and told the menfolks… The house went, and the horse barn that was attached to it.

Harold Stone

Accidents were not the only cause of fires. Newspaper articles from that era report several instances of arson. And barns were not the only vulnerable buildings. Fire destroyed the General Store three times, in 1890, 1911, and 1939; the first was the work of an incendiary, the second, carelessness, the third succumbed to flames “because the well on the property was so close to the fire as to be inaccessible”. Other notable fires included a factory in Howard Valley, the Congregational Church steeple after lightening struck it, a portion of the railroad bridge, the mansion of famed surveyor, builder and abolitionist Jonathan Clarke, and the village law office of Governor Cleveland.

Until the development of the Fire Department, residents responded to the sound of the church bell ringing with wagons transporting receptacles to fill with water.

The fire department – that was the bucket brigade. Everyone went with their pails and their buckets…everybody come from here and yonder galloping away either on horseback or with their wagons full of pails and they dragged water from wherever they could get it – to put it out.
Gertrude Pearl from Hampton Remembers

In 1920, the Hampton Betterment Society was formed to develop strategies to fight fires. The plan replaced the church bells with a telephone signal of ten rings, and a 40 gallon soda acid extinguisher stored in a shed at the Congregational Church in the summertime and the Chelsea Inn in the winter. We have no record of whether or not it successfully extinguished any fires, but we have this account:

The fire company had a two-wheeled fire extinguisher narrow enough to go through doors…It was soda acid. What a mess that could make! If it got onto your clothes and they got into water they just disappeared!

Harold Stone from Hampton Remembers

The Fire Department was organized in 1929 with 32 members. The following year the first Fire House was erected on the corner of Old Route 6 West and Main Street. This building housed the department’s equipment, including the first fire truck, an American LaFrance, which was purchased for $900 in 1930.

In 1930, we built a firehouse and then we needed money to buy a truck. Some large donations were given but we had to make a lot of money so we had all sorts of money-making affairs at that firehouse every week until we got our bills paid. We had whist parties, minstrel shows, clambakes, dances, auctions, plays, bake sales. It took a great deal of work to get that fire company started. At the end of 1930 we bought our first fire truck, a rebuilt American LaFrance. All the firemen rode on the truck, hanging onto a rail along the sides.
Anna McDermott from Hampton Remembers

This building would serve as a firehouse for the next thirty years. It wasn’t until the department acquired a 1941 International Tank Truck and a 1953 American LaFrance Pumper that the need for a larger structure grew apparent. In 1960, the parcel across the street and a quarter of a mile west from the original building was purchased, and a new firehouse was erected there in 1961. Fundraising, donations of goods and services, and resident volunteers contributed their time and expertise to complete the construction of the facility that continues to house the department’s trucks and equipment. Photographs reveal the community effort: Selectman John Burelle, Fire Chief Richard Jaworski and Building Committee Chairman Leon Pawlikowski reviewing floor plans, Wendell Davis nailing a rafter on the roof, Henry and Billy Becker cementing the floor.

The department sold the original firehouse to the Town to serve as the Town Hall for the next thirty years, eventually moving across the street and a quarter of a mile south to its present location in the building which was once the Consolidated School, examples that prove Hampton has a proud tradition of repurposing its facilities to meet present needs.

The new Firehouse continued to expand due to requirements and equipment. An addition was built in 1969, a second story in 1987, and in 2005, a larger door was installed to accommodate the five fire trucks, gator, trailer, and water rescue boat. At one time a siren sounded to alert the members of the Fire Department of an emergency, and the location was written on a chalk board by the door for members who arrived after the vehicles left. Modern communication has made those features obsolete. In 2018, voters approved a half a million to fund needed improvements, which included repair of the roof and the siding, energy efficient windows and doors, insulation, and a new electrical system. Another addition was also required to provide access to emergency vehicles in order to respond expediently to all calls. This proved crucial with the closing of the Hampton-Chaplin Ambulance Corps, as members of the Fire Department now serve as the first responders to medical emergencies in town, a local ambulance service providing transport when necessary.

Our Firehouse is in its 62nd year of existence. A sturdy, bright red building, lined with bright yellow hydrants, the façade draped with black cloth when mourning the loss of one of the department’s members, its flag at half-mast. It is strung with lights for the holidays, a cornucopia of autumn symbols — cornstalks, a scarecrow, pumpkins — in the fall, a sign that displays important seasonal messages – reminding us to clean our chimneys on the advent of woodstove season, to watch for black ice on winter roads and children on bicycles in the summertime. And throughout the year, it stands as a testament of volunteerism.

In April, residents approved the $1,088,000 purchase of a new fire truck That’s a far cry from the $900 purchase of the first fire truck in 1930. There is far less distance between the fundraising described by those who helped build that first fire house and buy that first truck and last month’s Annual Ham and Bean Dinner, an honored town tradition, where the men and women responding to our emergencies roll up their sleeves for a different purpose, to raise funds in the same way as the volunteers of one hundred years ago. And as we gather there as a community, to enjoy ham and beans, or soup and salad, and the company of our neighbors, the firehouse is another one of those places — like the library, the general store, the grange — reminiscent of home.

The next June in that same parlor my oldest sister, Allie, was married. As I have mentioned before she had been born deaf, but her deafness made her even more beautiful to me. For months and months before the June marriage, Mother and my older sisters had been working on Allie’s trousseau. I remember the bolts of “Fruit of the Loom” that Mother bought and yards of lace and insertion and ribbons for the four complete sets of underwear. How the old treadle sewing machine whirled through that winter stitching tucks and hems and seams. I was allowed to put the pretty baby ribbons through the heading at the tops of the ruffles. The only dress I remember was the beautiful wedding dress that Mother fashioned from a silk lace gown she had had in the New York days.

It seemed endless until the great day was to arrive, but at last June burst into bloom. For days before the wedding we gathered laurel from the woods and made the house so beautiful with garlands everywhere and a lovely arch in the big bay window where the bridal couple was to stand. White peonies stored in stone jars in the fire places and great bunches of garden roses graced the tables. The wedding cake had been baked weeks before and allowed to ripen. Dozens of tiny frosted cakes were stored in the boxes in the preserve cellar. The candied fruit had been cut up and was soaking in the rum ready for the frozen pudding.

The evening before the wedding all the bridesmaids and ushers arrived on the train from Boston. Such a happy, jolly crowd. So much laughing, and although I could understand little of what they said to each other, you could see by the merriment in their eyes what a good time they were having. They all used lip reading that they had been taught in the Horace Mann School in Boston when they talked with each other, but they all had pleasant, low monotone voices which they used in speaking to a hearing person. All but the groom, William Shaw, whose vocal cords were silent. It rings in my ears today the sad, inarticulate sound that he made when the minister at the time of the ceremony said, “Will you take this woman…” But Allie could not hear it, and she loved him so much and was so radiant in her happiness that we all responded to her joy.

It was the merriest wedding I can remember. I was a flower girl with a dotted Swiss over yellow and carried a basket of yellow daisies. But woe unto me! It being a dampish day, the beautiful rag curls that I had tossed and turned on all night became straight, and I’m afraid I looked a bit wispy with my pale hair clinging around my face. However, Hort played the wedding march beautifully, and I dropped my daisies in a perfect path for the bride to walk in. The wedding lunch was wonderful — so many good things to eat, even the frozen pudding that Father had put a bit too much rum in to freeze properly was a lovely frappe. All was gayety and laughter and jokes, and when the bridal couple left, I showered them with daisy petals and Allie with kisses.

Miriam Church Peabody

To be continued….
This month’s memoir comes courtesy of Gustavo Falla, current owner of “Maplehurst”. We will conclude this particular memoir, which has kept us entertained for the last three years, with a final entry this fall.

Recipes are not only for use in the kitchen. There are “recipes” for nearly everything, from romantic vacations to resumes. With the increased interest in gardening, nurseries are now offering recipes for gardens – with ingredients designed to suit certain tastes, or more commonly, an environment.

It makes sense for inexperienced gardeners to start with a prescribed recipe. Take for example this “deer resistant garden”. Many a new gardener has quit after their first attempt at planting things was decimated by these hungry neighbors, who have a particular fondness for tulip and lily buds right before they burst open. Deer consumption is not a gardener’s concern when using this recipe which includes the fragrant plants that deer usually avoid, such as lavender, salvia, perskovia, artemesia, yarrow, geranium, coreopsis, chrysanthemum, catmint and thyme, plants with woolly leaves, like lamb’s ear, verbascum and centaurea, and those with spikes, such as yucca and echinops. Some of our desirable wildflowers are included in the list, and observed, undisturbed, in meadows where deer graze — Joe Pye weed, daisies, golden rod and milkweed. Other flowers deer dislike are amsonia, columbine, Siberian iris, baptisia, peony, echinacea, spurge, liatrus, balloon flower and boltonia, a list that provides color in the garden from the pale blue stars of spring’s amsonia, to the flurry of sparkling daisies of fall’s boltonia. Ornamental grasses — calamagrostis, miscanthus, pennisetum, fescue — are also immune from deer consumption. Of course, if deer are hungry enough, they’ll eat anything, and there are some offerings on this list that deer in my yard have devoured, year after year.

Gardens are designed to attract certain creatures and not only to repel them. This year’s White Flower Farms catalogue offers hummingbird gardens for sun and for shade. The sun garden provides a long season that includes varieties of salvia, coral bells and columbine in spring’s sunshine, and varieties of phlox, penstemon, and bee balm under summer’s sun. In the shade, the dripping wands of bleeding heart, the pale and deep blue cushions of the woodland phlox and the blue bells of pulmonaria attract humming birds in the spring, and in the summer, hummingbirds love the flowers of those foliar favorites, heuchera and hosta.

Butterfly gardens are another favorite. Fletcher Memorial Library hosts a certified butterfly garden and provides a wonderful example of these. On a smaller scale, a garden of summer perennials and wildflowers could include the multi-colored plates of yarrow, purple liatrus stalks, the inflorescences of pink phlox, allium’s purplish pom-poms, magenta arrays of echinacea, and sprays of golden rod. To attract Monarchs, scatter milk weed seeds in the garden, the brilliant orange clusters of flowers providing the essential nutrients for their caterpillars.

Pollinator gardens are also popular, vital for those who cultivate bee hives, and for those of us who are interested in nurturing these species. Along with wildflowers and the plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds, gardeners can select from a long list of pollinators. Some of the loveliest flowers include hollyhocks, with pale yellow to deep burgundy saucers climbing their tall stalks, the flaming spikes of the pure red cardinal flower, spires of digitalis lined with pink, speckled bells, clusters of scarlet bee balm, wands of indigo agastache, clouds of lavender catmint, and lemon thyme, its violet flowers smothered with honey bees in late summer. This list is not exhaustive, far from it, and gardeners wishing to create pollinator gardens should research the assortment of plants to suit their tastes and environments.

Another needed design is for the shade garden. I’ve heard many potential gardeners complain that they can’t cultivate gardens because of the lack of sunshine in their lawns. Along with the various hostas and ferns, which provide color and interest throughout the season, there are other foliar plants which are exceptional. These include the glossy leaves of European wild ginger and the ornamental grass, hakonechloa, a cascading mound of bright green and golden blades. There are also flowers which thrive with little to no direct sunlight. These include tiarella, a small plant with maple-like leaves and wispy flowers that give the impression of a pale pink mist hovering over the earth, brunnera, clumps of heart-shaped, frosted leaves hosting sprays of blue flowers, pulmonaria, with its dappled leaves and raspberry buds opening to vibrant blue bells, woodland phlox, a carpet of pale blue, feathery fronds of astilbe, and many of the geraniums, whorls of leaves, some scented, and all bearing beautiful flowers in jewel-like colors, from palest pink veined crimson to magenta, and the most delicate blue to the deepest violet.

Fragrance is important to most gardeners. While some consider scent a pleasant aspect, others view it as a requirement. Roses offer the most famous of fragrances, and though some gardeners still cultivate “rose gardens”, the visual and olfactory splendor of the rose is enhanced when partnered with perennials to create a perfumed garden. First on the list of scented, complementary plants for pink roses is catmint, its ephemeral sprays spiked with vibrant purple salvias, silvery lavender, pastel stalks of foxglove and saucers of yarrow. Gardeners can also experiment with companions for specific roses. Yellow roses are particularly glorious paired with deep purple clematis, bright red roses benefit from the dark blue globes of balloon flowers, and the perfect partner for the peony ‘Festiva Maxima’ is a crimson rose to reflect its center frills.

Another favorite is “the moon garden”, a garden of all white flowers, especially impressive at night when they glow beneath the light of the moon. Suggestions include towers of white delphinium, clumps of white phlox, bushels of Shasta daisies, clouds of baby’s breath, a ribbon of white astilbes and a bank of boltonia, edged with candy tuft, which will form needled mounds smothered in pristine white flowers in spring. Structure could come from one of several white-flowering vines or shrubs, such as lilac, mock orange, hydrangea, viburnum, roses, clethra and sweet autumn clematis. Remember that the most important ingredient in the white garden is not white flowers – it’s the foliage – green or silver — which separates disparate whites.
Most of us were inspired to start a garden after we visited the garden of a friend, who handed us a couple of plants. What ensued were some successes, some failures, and a love of tending to the earth. We learned, especially from our mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes proved costly, and always caused distress. Using a nursery catalogue’s design can help new gardeners achieve instant success, and still leave plenty of space, and time, for future experimentation, our own creativity, and the flowers’ whims.

Dayna McDermott

Dear Auntie,

I’ve appreciated your sage advice on raising teenagers. Thank you. We could all use help in that department. What we’re struggling with is hoping our 13-year-old follows our family rules when she’s at other people’s houses. Not the easy things, like “keep your feet off of their furniture,” but the stuff that keeps them safe, like – you’re not allowed to wander through the woods, or a mall, without some adult supervision. Should we simply trust her to remember the boundaries? Or should we speak to the parents of friends she’s visiting?

(Over?) Protective Parents

My Dear Neighbor:

Auntie Mac assumes, by the plethora of mail she’s received lately regarding the behavior of young adults, that here in Hampton, as elsewhere, collective thoughts have turned to Spring—the time when all things seem to burst and grow at such a blinding pace that we simply can’t keep up. We feel the need to trim, to tame, to train to the trellis lest nature outpace us, so we can observe our own design at our own pace before this explosion of proliferation is all too soon behind us.

Auntie Mac also wonders if, now that this metaphor has left the stable, she will continue to beat it to death. We shall see. There comes a time, dear, when we must trust not only in our children but in ourselves—that we have provided them with a moral compass that will guide them through the rocky waters of independence (yes, I see we have left the barnyard far behind). If you have imparted, along with your list of rules-to-follow-when-I’m-not-watching-you, a good dose of common sense, you may rest easily while your young person enjoys activities with friends. Make no mistake: boundaries will be tested (what, exactly, constitutes “woods?”). It is not your daughter’s friend’s parents you should inform—unless of course it is to warn of a dietary restriction, an early morning appointment, an upcoming full moon, etc. Rather, have a talk with the explorer herself, reminding her of family rules while conveying that you trust her to be respectful, use good judgment, and remain stalwart in the face of tempting invitations to go moon the elderly neighbor at midnight. You may certainly follow up the next day with a call to the friend’s parents, thanking them for allowing your child to spend time there. If there’s tea to be spilled, let them do it.

And remember, Spring is in the air. It affects us all, so be gentle, and understanding, and enjoy this season while you can.

Your Auntie Mac.