A Season at Brookwood
Double PeonyI once heard a returning visitor confess that she wanted to keep Brookwood a secret — for herself. Others have shared the sentiment and sometimes I can’t help but feel the same way!
As a fan of fantasy and daydreaming, I was drawn to my internship at the Brookwood Point Conservation Area partly by its “secret garden” aesthetic. This is due not only to the site’s location — nestled against knoll, lake, creek, forest, and wetland — but also to its clever planting. In July and August, what mossy, old stone walls can’t accomplish, eight-foot-tall stands of plume poppies and silphium make up for, completing the feelings of seclusion and privacy. I think Anne of Green Gables would say that Brookwood “provides scope for the imagination,” and I have to agree. After all, another common name for the snakeroot that grows so brilliantly at Brookwood is “fairy candle.”
There is beauty everywhere, even down to the roots of the weeds.
Allium canadenseBrookwood is full of delights.
No matter where you are on the property, there’s always a great view, without exception for weather, season, or time of day. Brookwood offers a little bit of everything: at least two willows that stretch out onto the lake; cleome that bloom continuously, and start to resemble long-necked dinosaurs; conical hydrangea flowers that look like sugary gumdrops; and the chance to see Cooperstown and the hills on the far side of Glimmerglass disappear in oncoming rain clouds.
And then there are all the moments of joy and learning: the difference between single and double peonies; the four species of allium I’ve seen bloom sequentially since May; meeting self-taught moss enthusiasts; and especially, the fear that a very large bee is approaching which gives way to elation as you discover that it’s actually a hummingbird, and for the first time ever you’ve just seen one perch in a nearby tree. Even the algal bloom was interesting to research and watch for.
I’ve been lucky enough to have experienced the property across a wide variety of situations this summer, and despite often wishing I could enjoy it on my own, unobserved and undisturbed, I also hope other people get to experience and appreciate Brookwood — and indeed the other natural spaces around us — as thoroughly as I have.
Rather than the usual fifteen-minute visit on a random summer day, I wish more people the chance to witness each of Brookwood’s vaults and slopes, from sprout to bloom to seeding. There is beauty everywhere, even down to the roots of the weeds.
Photos and Story By Kate O’Handley
