flowers

Dune Road has an extraordinary burst of flowers right now. The best spot is the road next to the Ponquogue bridge (it goes to the old Ponquogue bridge or causeway, the two approaches of which have been retained as a fishing dock, boat put-in and town park). This short road is lined with prickly pear cactus in full, spectacular bloom (our own small stands of pickley pear are long gone, shaded out by the encroachment of the woods). Many do not realize that this species (Opuntia humosa) is native (it does all the way up the East Coast to Cape Cod). It is common on sandy soils in open areas.

Also on this stretch: coreopsis (nobody uses the old name of 'tickseed' any more) and St. John's-wort. There are many other flowers both here and up and down Dune Road in bloom right now including beach-pea, Virginia rose (the native wild rose), rambler and rugosa roses, hawkweeds, and various escapes such as knapweed, sundrops, (ox-eye) daisy, daisy fleabane, day lily, etc. Also the catalpa trees and yuccas are in full bloom or just past, making a grand show on the roads and back lanes of Quogue, East Quogue and elsewhere on the East End. Both of these belong to a category that can be called 'near-natives'; i.e. they are native just to the south and/or west of our area but have flourished here. Other examples are the widespread honey locusts and our prehistoric-looking Big-leaf Magnolia.

Some notable natives that have a foothold on our place are flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), American holly (Ilex opaca) and inkberry (Ilex glabra). One of the dogwoods was growing and flowering on a right of way that we had to enlarge when we renovated the house a number of years (to let in the larger pickups and small trucks needed by the contractor). I marked the tree carefully and gave instructions to said contractor not to touch it so of course it was the first tree that he cut down when he widened the roadway. Fortunately, it sprang back from the roots but it has not, to date, reflowered.

Eric Salzman