A Gardened Wild Space at the Vineyard

On Martha's Vineyard, we stayed at a wonderful little place called the Cedars, named of course after the gnarled, wind-sculpted trees growing nearby. Every year I try and fail to adequately photograph these trees.

Across the street, a boardwalk leads to the beach.



Along the way are oak trees which have been repeatedly cut so that, I assume, the view of the ocean isn't blocked. The result is a copse of trees that aren't much taller than I am. Their twised forms look like hands and arms to me.

I love the shapes and colors of the new leaves on these trees.

There is a flowering shrub along the top of the beach that I believe is cottoneaster. Alas, it isn't native. It's beautiful!
But here is a native plant I was excited to find: fragrant fern.

Another unexpected native: bearberry! This one appeared to have been planted, but it was rambling about in a wild way.

Along the path there were some peculiar curly onions. Are these squiggles the result of disease?

This semi-wild space makes an amazing contrast to the formal gardens just meters up the hill.