July 2026
Perception is so fluid. It is a constantly modifying principle of reality. When it was 80 degrees in May, we thought we might melt into the gardens. Now after a few weeks of extreme heat and humidity, 80 degrees seems like relief. This reminds of shifting baseline syndrome –– where now humans are very used to not sharing the planet with as many other species. We have lost an estimated 70% of all wildlife since the 1970’s. Of course, this is ultimately to our detriment. Biodiversity is key for healthy ecosystems –– each species we lose has a deleterious effect on those left behind.
In the heat, the garden team becomes crepuscular. We arrive early and leave early –– if the watering isn’t finished by 11am/noon, then we return in the evening to water among the fireflies and moths. They are literally in their element and we are inspired by their mating displays as we move slowly through the gardens. We learn how to modify our behavior, to adapt to the heat by moving through the gardens as they are in the shade, and leaving those gardens as the sun starts to touch them.
We just received many of our native plugs for planting. The shrub saplings from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) are not so patiently waiting in water buckets and soil containers. Our own transplants in Propagation Station are busting out of their boxes, even though we have been transplanting for months. The list goes on, but the humans are patiently waiting. The holding pattern will not break until the heat does, until the rain comes. Then the long planting days return, the steady immersion of roots to soil, water to seed. All of this flora will be planted in its well considered place and hopefully we have calculated correctly and they will have found their proper home. There they will spread, multiply, create seed, habitat, food, and air for so much life.
Our obsessive nature is revealed in our gardening –– the long days of Summer Solstice definitely encourage this madly damaging behavior. Wren and I push through physical pain and continue on. Our mental will and love of creating new plant life diminish any physical pain knowing that we only get one June a year. In extreme temperatures, we must choose balance. We need to stop, drink massive amounts of water, eat copious amounts of watermelon, and swim in the coolest water we can find. All of this fills our cup, allows us to care for others by sustaining ourselves. It is still a delicate balance to weave, one that expresses itself in rest on rainy days and a slow, constant push on mild days. We take inspiration from the wood turtle that came through the Park, the salamanders and snakes we swim with at the lake, the soft clouds that slowly roll over giving shade and respite. We focus on gratitude and observation of the diverse life all around us every day. We are still blessed with life all around, through and within us, above and below us.
- The Garden Team
Lorien McCabe Head Gardener & Volunteer Manager & Wren Waddington Assistant Head Gardener & Membership Manager
