Last spring I sent away for three bittersweet plants and received one male and two female plants. These grew high with great leaves, but no berries. What went wrong? — D.C., Pascoag, RI First of all, as pretty as their berries are, Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) is widely considered one of the most threatening invasive […]
landscape
Early autumn in New England is generally considered an ideal time to apply fertilize shrubs and trees. Here’s why and how.
Every fall I buy beautiful hardy mums, but they don’t seem to survive the winter in my landscape. What am I doing wrong? — D.B., Cambridge, MA The chrysanthemums we see everywhere commonly called “hardy mums” are really not designed to survive our challenging New England winter climate — these are seasonal beauties bred to […]
Fifty tons of fieldstone were used in the foundation of this beautiful lake house. Jim Starkey and his apprentice, James Turner, built the columns, arches, and walls during the winter of 2002. Jim learned the trade from his father, Russell O. Starkey, a lifelong mason. “This house was an unforgettable project,” Jim says. “James lugged […]
Small stones crunch beneath David Haskell’s boots as he strolls along a shady path amid Allen C. Haskell Horticulturists in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Son of the late genius plantsman Allen Haskell, David now presides over the seven-acre retail nursery and landscape design business created by his father over the past 50 years. The nursery, which […]
Magazine
2012 Fall Photo Contest Finalists
Yankee Magazine‘s fall photo contest is the most popular one we host, and each year our readers submit hundreds of stunning photos. After careful consideration, we’ve narrowed it down to five images that stand out from the rest. Here are the judges’ comments on why these five photos made it into the finals. Congratulations to […]
Rhode Island
A Recommended Drive: Rhode Island
This scenic byway in Newport County is an 8.3-mile loop that comprises six streets. It gives you an up-close look at classic New England architecture, tightly constructed stone walls, rolling farmland, and stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean. Newport County is not the agricultural base it was when Europeans first turned the land over to […]
New Hampshire
A Recommended Drive: New Hampshire
The most dramatic way to enter the White Mountains region is to follow I-93 and Route 3 north through Franconia Notch, then head east along Route 302 to Route 16. The 75-mile winding drive is one of sweeping views, turnoffs to dirt logging roads and hiking trails, babbling brooks, waterfalls, and covered bridges. Just north […]
Magazine
Inside the Summer Yankee
If a single sound and a single scent can hold the essence of a New England summer, surely they’re the crash of the surf breaking on our shores and the salty tang that hangs in the breeze as you get ever closer to the sea. Nature and geography have bestowed many gifts on our New […]
This brand-new house in Vermont has everything — a spacious kitchen with soapstone counters, a great room with mountain views, an attached three-story barn, and a basement gym. Frieda Wimmelman and her husband, Alan Binnick, have built a dream house, but much of what makes this home stand out is actually hidden from the eye. […]
If we told you that in 1629 this place became the first town in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, would you be able to name it? How about if we said that it was the birthplace of Nathaniel Hawthorne and that he wrote his most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter, here? Still not sure? We could […]
The river flows north out of wild and remote Maine headwaters: Allagash Lake, Chamberlain Lake, Eagle Lake, where Thoreau once camped. Below Chase Rapids, the current quickens and turns riverine; the lakes become smaller and farther apart. By the time it joins with the St. John some 92 miles after starting out, the Allagash runs […]