MOUNT DESERT—In past seasons, when the Island Explorer drove through Somesville, people onboard would wave to Tom and Carroll Fernald and yell, “Thank you!”
Other motorists stop to take photos or drink in the colors of the petunias cascading up, out and over the stone wall in front of the Fernalds’ home and family business.
“It’s our gift to the community,” said Carroll in an interview with the Islander last week. “We try to get them in by Memorial Day. This year my granddaughters helped me.”
Each year the live bouquet is planned, purchased, and installed, with a different design. This season, silver, blue, yellow and pink petunias make up the riot of color along Route 102 as travelers crest the small hill in the village heading south.
“I try to change the colors every year,” said Carroll, adding the flowers were installed a week late this year because of cold weather at the beginning of June. “The biggest part of it is planning where the colors are going to go.”
Construction of the wall, with a bed inside that runs from 4 to 10 inches deep, is estimated to have been done in the late 1940s/early 1950s, according to Tom Fernald who fills it with new dirt each season. After a winter of road maintenance, the salt and chemicals leave soil that is not beneficial to plants.
This year, there are yellow, silver, pink and blue petunias in the wall, displaying a riot of color as people drive through the village.
Planting in the wall is a tradition started by Tom’s mother, Norma Fernald.
“She was into her 80s when she was planting this wall,” said Carroll.
But, the succulents Norma tended in the wall couldn’t be seen by passersby. When they took over the maintenance of the wall, Tom and Carroll tried nasturtiums and then moved on to petunias. For years, they planted petunias that needed to be culled throughout the season to stay vibrant.
“We don’t have to dead-head these,” said Carroll, a real estate broker on Mount Desert Island. “They are self-cleaning; that changed everything.”
“You don’t have to mess with them,” added Tom, who retired eight years ago from the family business. “Just give them water, nice hot sunshine and a little bit of fertilizer. They’ll stay pretty much through the season.”
There are about 170 plants inside the wall this year, he estimates, and they get watered every other day. Every 10 days, Tom adds some fertilizer to keep them strong against the elements.
“The cars going by here, that wind dries them out,” said Tom, noting it isn’t just people who are a fan of the flowers. “The hummingbirds and the bees like them, but it’s not for the smell.”
Usually the petunias are on display through August and into September. As the weather gets cooler, the flowers reach the end of their season and the Fernald’s will clear out the beds and let them rest for the winter.
And next season, to keep with tradition, the Fernalds will do it all over again.
“It’s something my mother always did,” said Tom Fernald on why he and Carroll decided to create the wall of color. “And I wanted to please her.”
August 22, 2020 at 07:28PM
https://www.mdislander.com/living/arts-a-living/flower-wall-a-gift-to-the-community
Flower wall a gift to the community - Mount Desert Islander
https://news.google.com/search?q=Flower&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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