While the public cannot personally visit Allen Island and the neighboring Georges Islands, you can see some of Andrew Wyeth’s Maine paintings, watercolors, and drawings at over a dozen New England art museums. Start with the Farnsworth Art Museum & Wyeth Center in Rockland, Maine. The Farnsworth has the region’s largest collection: 26 (compared with […]
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 […]
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 […]
When fall comes to this lakeside family getaway in southern New Hampshire, the new color palette of golds and reds flows easily into the rooms, warming the space and creating new, enchanting views. The fireplace is amply stocked now, ready for chilly mornings when hot chocolate begins the day. Because the owner wishes to remain […]
Donald Hall has long been one of New England’s most gifted writers of poetry and prose. Writing from his farmhouse in the village of Wilmot, New Hampshire, Hall’s images cut to the heart of anyone, anywhere. This month he begins his one-year appointment as poet laureate of the United States. To honor its local gift […]
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 […]
HOW IS THE FOLIAGE going to be this year? It’s more than a passing interest at Yankee magazine. It’s an obsession! I worked in Yankee‘s art department for 15 autumns, and New England’s color was always spectacular. Some years there was a little more red or the leaves turned earlier than the year before, but […]
1. DO get lost. Carry a good map (we like the detailed atlas and gazetteer series by DeLorme mapmakers in Yarmouth, Maine; 800-561-5105; delorme.com) and get a little lost. With 7,401 miles of unpaved roads just in Vermont, there’s ample opportunity to find adventure. 2. DO observe proper foliage etiquette. Locals use the back roads […]
And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails (Crown Publishing, $24), by longtime Yankee contributor Wayne Curtis, tells the story of the rise, fall, and return of America’s most reviled and defamed spirit. Rum began as a byproduct of the 17th-century Caribbean sugar industry but soon took on a […]
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 […]
