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>> NARRATOR: A remarkable 
Victorian garden blooms

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on the rugged Isles of Shoals.

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On Appledore Island, 
in sharp contrast

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to the rocky shore 
and shrubby vegetation,

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delicate poppies gracefully 
twist in the ocean breezes.

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>> "It seems strange

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"to write a book about a little 
garden only 50 feet long

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"by 15 wide.

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"But then, as a friend 
pleasantly remarked to me,

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"it extends upward, and what it 
lacks in area

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"is more than compensated by the 
large joy that grows out of it,

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"and its uplifting 
and refreshment

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of the spirit of man."

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Celia Thaxter.

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>> NARRATOR: The little garden 
has more than 1,600 plants,

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each flowering variety 
placed in the same spot

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year after year, according 
to a plan published in 1894

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by the famous poet and author 
Celia Laighton Thaxter,

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who grew up on tiny 
White Island, where her father,

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Thomas Laighton, became 
lighthouse keeper in 1839.

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>> "Ever since I could remember 
anything, flowers have been

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"like dear friends to me-- 
comforters, inspirers,

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"powers to uplift and to cheer.

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"A lonely child

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"living on the lighthouse island 
ten miles away

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"from the mainland, every blade 
of grass that sprang

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"out of the ground, 
every humblest weed,

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was precious in my sight."

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>> She grew up 
in the Isles of Shoals

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in a little lighthouse.

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She married when she was young.

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Her parents built this hotel,

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which became very popular.

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It was just one of the earliest 
resort hotels in America.

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And Celia spent 
a lot of time there.

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She had an unhappy marriage

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and finally left her husband 
to pursue her own life,

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and she had a disabled son 
who she had to devote

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a lot of time to.

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>> NARRATOR: With three children 
and a large house to care for,

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and far from 
her beloved islands,

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Celia began to express 
her feelings through poetry.

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"Landlocked," a poem 
that described her longing

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for the Isles of Shoals, 
was published to great acclaim

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in the Atlantic Monthly.

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>> "Black lie the hills

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"swiftly doth daylight flee

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"And catching gleams 
of sunset's dying smile

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"Through the dusk land 
for many a changing mile

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"The river runneth 
softly to the sea.

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"O happy river, 
could I follow thee!

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"O yearning heart, 
that never can be still!

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"O wistful eyes that watch 
the steadfast hill,

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"Longing for level line 
of solemn sea!

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"Have patience; here are 
flowers and songs of birds,

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"Beauty and fragrance, 
wealth of sound and sight,

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"All summer's glory thine 
from morn till night,

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"And life too full of joy 
for uttered words.

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"Neither am I ungrateful; 
but I dream deliciously

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"how twilight falls to-night 
over the glimmering water,

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"how the light 
dies blissfully away,

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"until I seem

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"to feel the wind, 
sea-scented, on my cheek,

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"To catch the sound 
of dusky flapping sail

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"And dip of oars, and voices 
on the gale afar off,

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"calling low-- 
my name they speak!

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"O Earth!

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"Thy summer song of joy may soar 
ringing to heaven in triumph.

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"I but crave the sad, 
caressing murmur of the wave

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That breaks in tender music 
on the shore."

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>> By then she had become 
well known

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because of James 
and Annie Fields.

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She had been part of their lives 
for many years

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and knew a lot of their friends.

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>> NARRATOR: Celia was growing 
a cutting garden,

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using the flowers 
to color her parlor.

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Beginning at 5:00 in the 
morning, she picked her flowers,

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and then she arranged and 
rearranged them in vases,

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until she got 
just the right effect.

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>> Celia's garden was

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her anchor, and it held her 
to the island, but it was also

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her tie to the shore,

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in that it attracted other 
artists to the island.

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>> When Colonial Revival

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was seeing the old styles 
of garden go away,

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industrialization had 
come along,

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big agriculture had come along,

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and within a couple of decades 
of their lives,

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they saw agriculture move out 
to the Midwest,

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farm abandonment, railroads,

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so they were looking 
for this nostalgic view

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of gardens from the past.

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>> "As I work among my flowers, 
I find myself talking to them,

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"reasoning and remonstrating 
with them, and adoring them

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"as if they were human beings.

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"Much laughter I provoke 
among my friends by so doing,

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"but that is of no consequence.

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We are on such good terms, 
my flowers and I."

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Celia Thaxter.

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>> She was inspired 
by the flowers in her garden

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for her poetry.

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But she took it beyond writing 
and began to paint

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and found that she could 
truly relax,

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be comfortable, and express 
herself through her painting.

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>> As in all of our lives, 
I think gardens enrich

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our lives, they create a sense 
of poetry in the landscape,

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and she understood that 
as a poet and as an artist.

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It also came through 
in her artwork.

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We see in the collections 
of Celia Thaxter pottery

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that we have here, 
and artwork that we have here,

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that she was painting from some 
of those simple heirloom flowers

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that she had in her gardens.

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>> She would paint flowers 
from her garden

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with botanical accuracy, 
and she did this year round.

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In the stormy cold winter, 
she had visual images

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of her beautiful garden, 
and then would paint.

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>> "While the music went on, 
while the people went in and out

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and talked and talked, I painted 
on steadily, every minute."

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>> Through her painting, 
she knew Childe Hassam

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and many other painters.

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>> They made their gardens

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a gathering place.

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For Celia Thaxter,

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the garden was one part

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of salon life.

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It's a way that she heightened 
the pleasurable experience

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of attending her salon.

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>> "Opening out 
on the long piazza,

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"over the flower beds

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"and extending almost 
its whole length,

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"runs the large, light, 
airy room where a group

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"of happy people gather to pass

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"the swiftly flying summers 
here at the Isles of Shoals.

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"Year after year,

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"a long procession 
of charming people come and go

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"within its doors,

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"and the flowers that glow 
for their delight

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"seem to listen with them

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"to the music that stirs 
each blossom upon its stem.

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"Often have I watched 
the great red poppies

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"drop their fiery petals 
wavering solemnly

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"to the floor, stricken 
with the arrows

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"of melodious sound

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"from the matchless violin 
answering to the touch

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"of a master,

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"or to the storm of rich 
vibrations from the piano.

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"What heavenly music has 
resounded from those walls?

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"What mornings and evenings 
of pleasantness have flown by

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in that room?"

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>> It was just wonderful 
being in her salon,

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because a famous pianist 
would be playing,

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a violinist would be playing,

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she would be painting,

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there were these beautiful 
flower arrangements all around.

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>> "Near my own seat 
in a sofa corner

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"at one of the south windows 
stands yet another small table,

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"covered with a snow-white 
linen cloth embroidered in silk

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"as white and lustrous 
as silver.

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"On this are gathered 
every day all the rarest

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"and loveliest flowers 
as they blossom,

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"that I may touch them, 
dwell on them,

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"breathe their delightful 
fragrance and adore them.

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"Here are kept the daintiest 
and most delicate of the vases,

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"which may best set off 
the flowers' loveliness,

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"the smallest of the collection,

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"for the table is only large 
enough to hold a few.

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"Mr. Paine has been playing 
sonatas for me this morning,

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"ending with the great 
'Appassionata.'

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"I say 'me,' for there's 
no one else to listen.

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"Sat on the yellow sofa, 
I in my corner here,

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"whence I can look out 
to the sunlit, glowing garden

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"through the openings 
in the vines,

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"on the breezy sparkling sea, 
whereon the haze lies

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"like the soft bloom on grapes.

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And it makes everything 
dreamy and beautiful."

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>> Celia was motivated in part 
by her financial situation,

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and Celia found that she could 
take a volume of her poetry,

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which would sell for $1.25, 
and add paintings,

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and for each image 
that she created on a page

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of her own poetry book,

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she could charge 
an additional dollar.

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>> She'd had quite an industry 
going on the island.

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She painted china, which was 
a very genteel thing

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for a lady to do, and she also

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illustrated published books 
of her poems

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with little watercolors,

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and some of those beautiful 
books survive,

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and she would sell those 
to the guests in her parlor,

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along with the paintings

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by people like Childe Hassam 
and others.

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If you were lucky enough 
to be invited into the parlor

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to listen to the musicians and 
to have the stimulating chat,

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you also probably 
had an opportunity

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to buy a painting 
and take it home with you.

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He was an illustrator, which is 
a frequent beginning point

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for American artists 
in the 19th century.

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So as an illustrator, 
and eventually

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a very talented watercolorist, 
he started to meet people

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in the artistic community in 
Boston, which was quite small.

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And among the people he met 
was Celia Thaxter,

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sometime in the early '80s, 
so he was only

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about 20, 21 years old 
when he met her.

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>> The story is

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that his name was 
Frederick C. Hassam,

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and then she convinced him 
to change it

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to Childe Hassam, that it would 
be more dramatic

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and more artistic.

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>> As she did with many artists,

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Celia inspired 
the young Childe Hassam

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to kind of 
be absorbed in her garden

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and in the beauties of nature 
that she was

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sort of experimenting with 
on the grounds.

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He was very interested 
in the rocks of Appledore,

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which had all kinds of 
associations and meanings.

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00:12:02,500 --> 00:12:06,633
>> From the late 1800s 
until World War II, there was

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00:12:06,666 --> 00:12:08,700
a proliferation 
of garden writing.

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And women were entering 
the field and writing books,

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autobiographical books, 
about their own gardens.

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>> "Year after year, 
the island garden has grown

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"in beauty and charm, 
so that in response

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"to the many entreaties 
of strangers as well as friends

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"who have said to me, 
summer after summer,

223
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"'Tell us how you do it-- 
write a book about it

224
00:12:33,166 --> 00:12:36,200
"'and tell us how it is done, 
that we may go also

225
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"and do likewise'...

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"I have written 
this book at last.

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"Truly, it contains the fruit

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of much sweet and bitter 
experience."

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>> An Island Garden is just 
a beautiful, beautiful book.

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The illustrations are by 
Childe Hassam, and her writing,

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I think it's the best writing 
that she did.

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She didn't... it was 
her last book,

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and I think that she did not 
quite finish it.

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00:13:06,766 --> 00:13:11,666
But she had become very friendly 
with Sarah Orne Jewett,

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who was Annie Fields' partner, 
and Sarah Orne Jewett,

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I think, finished the book 
in the end for her.

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00:13:19,700 --> 00:13:20,766
>> Celia was completely 
comfortable

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00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:27,633
in inviting Sarah's advice 
on her book,

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00:13:27,666 --> 00:13:32,300
and there are at least four 
letters that were written

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00:13:32,333 --> 00:13:35,966
through the time that Celia was 
writing the book--

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letters written to Sarah, 
talking about Sarah's advice

242
00:13:41,933 --> 00:13:44,900
and what Celia had been able 
to do with it,

243
00:13:44,933 --> 00:13:47,133
asking questions and guidance.

244
00:13:47,166 --> 00:13:51,000
>> "To Sarah Orne Jewett, 
Portsmouth.

245
00:13:51,033 --> 00:13:55,100
"Thank you for your sweet letter 
and all your kind suggestions.

246
00:13:55,133 --> 00:13:58,633
"Dear, you have given me 
a real helpful lift,

247
00:13:58,666 --> 00:14:00,266
"because I've been doing 
this work

248
00:14:00,300 --> 00:14:02,833
"without a particle 
of enthusiasm,

249
00:14:02,866 --> 00:14:04,566
"in a most perfunctory manner

250
00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:06,600
"from the bits of notes 
I had made,

251
00:14:06,633 --> 00:14:09,833
"and my mind has been 
so saddened by deep shadows

252
00:14:09,866 --> 00:14:12,200
"for many months.

253
00:14:12,233 --> 00:14:14,400
"Somehow I had 
no heart in it at all.

254
00:14:14,433 --> 00:14:16,966
"I'm hoping when I go 
to the Shoals presently

255
00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:19,766
"to get some of the real flavor 
of the place

256
00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:21,600
"and the work into it.

257
00:14:21,633 --> 00:14:23,800
"I was so happy when I wrote 
the Shoals book.

258
00:14:23,833 --> 00:14:25,600
"It wrote itself.

259
00:14:25,633 --> 00:14:30,166
"But now the shadows are so 
long, and it grows so lonesome

260
00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,900
"on this earth, and there is 
such a chill

261
00:14:32,933 --> 00:14:36,966
where there used to be 
such warmth and bliss."

262
00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,766
Celia Thaxter.

263
00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:45,133
>> Towards the end of Celia's 
life, she was suffering, I know,

264
00:14:45,166 --> 00:14:48,200
from what they called 
a nervous disorder,

265
00:14:48,233 --> 00:14:50,633
which I think was a common name

266
00:14:50,666 --> 00:14:53,100
for women's diseases 
in that time.

267
00:14:53,133 --> 00:14:56,166
She was sometimes depressed, 
she was very overweight,

268
00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:01,600
so I think that she was 
just ill, and nobody knew

269
00:15:01,633 --> 00:15:03,600
exactly what it was.

270
00:15:10,700 --> 00:15:13,633
>> NARRATOR: Ultimately, 
the work was finished,

271
00:15:13,666 --> 00:15:16,066
and the author and artist 
produced a book

272
00:15:16,100 --> 00:15:17,766
of lasting beauty.

273
00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:21,633
It was to be Celia's last work.

274
00:15:21,666 --> 00:15:23,933
Just three months 
after the book's publication

275
00:15:23,966 --> 00:15:30,766
in June 1894, 
Celia Thaxter died at age 59.

276
00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:35,633
She's buried on Appledore, 
near her beloved garden.

277
00:15:35,666 --> 00:15:39,500
>> She just died in her sleep, 
and luckily,

278
00:15:39,533 --> 00:15:41,000
Sarah Orne Jewett was there,

279
00:15:41,033 --> 00:15:45,433
Childe Hassam, and several other 
of her closest friends.

280
00:15:45,466 --> 00:15:50,200
And the next morning they 
covered her coffin with flowers,

281
00:15:50,233 --> 00:15:54,333
and they carried her to 
this very peaceful resting place

282
00:15:54,366 --> 00:15:57,266
near her garden.

283
00:15:57,300 --> 00:16:01,933
>> "The day was still and soft, 
and the veiled sun was declining

284
00:16:01,966 --> 00:16:04,600
"as the solemn procession, 
bearing flowers,

285
00:16:04,633 --> 00:16:07,500
"followed to the sacred place.

286
00:16:07,533 --> 00:16:09,300
"At a respectful distance above

287
00:16:09,333 --> 00:16:13,100
"stood a wide ring 
of interested observers,

288
00:16:13,133 --> 00:16:18,566
"but only those who knew her 
and loved her best drew near.

289
00:16:21,500 --> 00:16:24,000
"After all was done, 
and the body was at rest

290
00:16:24,033 --> 00:16:26,466
"upon the fragrant bed 
prepared for it,

291
00:16:26,500 --> 00:16:29,400
"the young flower bearers 
brought their burdens

292
00:16:29,433 --> 00:16:31,400
"to cover her.

293
00:16:31,433 --> 00:16:32,766
"The bright, tear-stained faces

294
00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,800
"of those who held up their arms 
full of flowers

295
00:16:35,833 --> 00:16:38,433
"to be heaped upon the spot

296
00:16:38,466 --> 00:16:40,733
"until it became 
a mound of blossoms,

297
00:16:40,766 --> 00:16:45,666
"allied the scene in beauty 
and simplicity

298
00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:49,833
"to the solemn rites 
of antiquity.

299
00:16:49,866 --> 00:16:54,166
"It was indeed a poet's burial, 
but it was far more than that.

300
00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,666
"It was the celebration 
of the passing

301
00:16:57,700 --> 00:17:00,633
of a large and beneficent soul."

302
00:17:00,666 --> 00:17:03,166
Annie Fields.

303
00:17:21,900 --> 00:17:23,966
>> NARRATOR: With no one 
to devote the hours needed

304
00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:28,633
to maintain the garden as Celia 
had, the garden declined,

305
00:17:28,666 --> 00:17:31,700
much as did the business 
of the Appledore House.

306
00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:40,133
The end came in 1914 
when fire destroyed the hotel,

307
00:17:40,166 --> 00:17:44,733
Celia's cottage, 
and the remains of her garden.

308
00:17:50,133 --> 00:17:51,766
With no year-round residence

309
00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:56,466
and just a few summer cottages, 
Appledore was mostly abandoned,

310
00:17:56,500 --> 00:17:58,700
an island of bushes 
and poison ivy

311
00:17:58,733 --> 00:18:01,533
presided over by several 
thousand gulls.

312
00:18:01,566 --> 00:18:03,833
And there it remained

313
00:18:03,866 --> 00:18:08,866
until a curious Cornell 
professor had an idea.

314
00:18:08,900 --> 00:18:11,800
Dr. John M. Kingsbury 
was seeking a place

315
00:18:11,833 --> 00:18:14,700
to offer a summer 
marine science program.

316
00:18:14,733 --> 00:18:18,266
In order to create his program 
on wild Appledore,

317
00:18:18,300 --> 00:18:22,033
Kingsbury had to acquire boats 
and build a wharf, roads,

318
00:18:22,066 --> 00:18:25,366
dormitories, dining hall, 
and a laboratory,

319
00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:28,600
and provide electricity, fresh 
water, and a sewage system.

320
00:18:28,633 --> 00:18:31,100
>> The Shoals Marine Lab 
is run jointly

321
00:18:31,133 --> 00:18:34,200
by Cornell University and the 
University of New Hampshire.

322
00:18:34,233 --> 00:18:36,866
The primary mission of the lab 
is to provide education

323
00:18:36,900 --> 00:18:39,500
in the marine sciences 
for undergraduates.

324
00:18:39,533 --> 00:18:41,666
And money raised 
by our garden tours

325
00:18:41,700 --> 00:18:43,266
goes to support that mission.

326
00:18:43,300 --> 00:18:45,600
>> NARRATOR: 
Kingsbury became interested

327
00:18:45,633 --> 00:18:48,600
in Celia Thaxter's book, 
and the idea

328
00:18:48,633 --> 00:18:52,300
of recreating her garden moved 
from concept to reality.

329
00:18:52,333 --> 00:18:55,666
>> I felt that it would be 
useful to try to revive

330
00:18:55,700 --> 00:18:59,066
Celia Thaxter's garden.

331
00:18:59,100 --> 00:19:01,300
As a botanist, that was of 
scientific interest to me.

332
00:19:01,333 --> 00:19:04,700
As a gardener, it was of 
considerable interest to me.

333
00:19:04,733 --> 00:19:08,166
>> NARRATOR: Kingsbury cleared 
the site of the original garden,

334
00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:10,100
and using archival seeds

335
00:19:10,133 --> 00:19:13,400
acquired from Cornell 
plantations, by the late 1970s

336
00:19:13,433 --> 00:19:16,500
he was able to plant, 
as near as possible,

337
00:19:16,533 --> 00:19:19,800
the same flowers that 
Celia herself had nurtured

338
00:19:19,833 --> 00:19:23,533
so painstakingly 
a century earlier.

339
00:19:23,566 --> 00:19:25,766
>> After we got 
the garden planted,

340
00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,000
people began 
to find out about it.

341
00:19:28,033 --> 00:19:31,100
We didn't publicize it at all, 
but there was

342
00:19:31,133 --> 00:19:34,233
a tremendous amount of interest 
there as the word leaked out

343
00:19:34,266 --> 00:19:37,166
that it had been 
brought back to life.

344
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:41,133
>> And this was probably 
in 1990.

345
00:19:41,166 --> 00:19:44,066
And that's when 
the tour started.

346
00:19:44,100 --> 00:19:47,800
Every week, people would 
go out on the Laighton.

347
00:19:47,833 --> 00:19:52,066
>> The tours got started 
in a very interesting way.

348
00:19:52,100 --> 00:19:58,333
Dr. Heiser, a former director 
of the Shoals Marine Laboratory,

349
00:19:58,366 --> 00:20:02,433
was annoyed with 
the people coming to see

350
00:20:02,466 --> 00:20:06,533
this infamous garden, 
and had the brilliant idea

351
00:20:06,566 --> 00:20:08,866
that if he picked one day 
that they could come,

352
00:20:08,900 --> 00:20:10,500
instead of just showing up 
willy-nilly,

353
00:20:10,533 --> 00:20:12,600
and then charging them

354
00:20:12,633 --> 00:20:16,400
an amount that he thought 
was exorbitant,

355
00:20:16,433 --> 00:20:18,800
they would certainly stop coming 
and bothering him on his island

356
00:20:18,833 --> 00:20:20,966
while he was teaching classes.

357
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,400
And it had the opposite effect, 
and they're still coming

358
00:20:23,433 --> 00:20:24,466
to this day.

359
00:20:24,500 --> 00:20:28,000
It's become one 
of our very best,

360
00:20:28,033 --> 00:20:29,766
possibly our very best, 
ambassadors

361
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:31,433
for the Shoals Marine Lab,

362
00:20:31,466 --> 00:20:33,633
because it brings 
so many people to see.

363
00:20:33,666 --> 00:20:35,666
It's a goodwill 
ambassador for us.

364
00:20:35,700 --> 00:20:38,400
>> Walking up to the garden, 
it seems very unassuming.

365
00:20:38,433 --> 00:20:41,566
But once you walk into the 
garden and look at the variety

366
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:45,933
of heritage plants 
in the garden, and walk

367
00:20:45,966 --> 00:20:49,733
through that arbor with 
the holly growing on it

368
00:20:49,766 --> 00:20:52,666
and you see the foundation 
of the house in the background

369
00:20:52,700 --> 00:20:54,533
and compare that to the pictures 
that you see,

370
00:20:54,566 --> 00:20:56,900
and you realize how much 
you really are standing

371
00:20:56,933 --> 00:20:59,066
in the middle of history.

372
00:20:59,100 --> 00:21:01,666
>> NARRATOR: While Kingsbury 
could oversee the garden,

373
00:21:01,700 --> 00:21:04,366
the tasks of planting 
and maintaining the flowers

374
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,800
through the season 
required too much of his time.

375
00:21:07,833 --> 00:21:10,700
Fortunately, a loyal group 
of volunteers,

376
00:21:10,733 --> 00:21:14,600
led by Virginia Chisholm of the 
Rye Beach Driftwood Garden Club,

377
00:21:14,633 --> 00:21:17,466
committed to weekly visits 
to Appledore.

378
00:21:17,500 --> 00:21:20,200
>> One day Ginny was 
in the bookstore,

379
00:21:20,233 --> 00:21:24,333
and the proprietor talked to her 
about his interaction

380
00:21:24,366 --> 00:21:27,366
with Dr. Kingsbury 
from the Shoals Marine Lab

381
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,933
and asked her about her interest 
in possibly taking on

382
00:21:30,966 --> 00:21:32,766
yet another garden.

383
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:34,366
And Ginny,

384
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,300
whose husband, Bill Chisholm, 
had been a birder

385
00:21:37,333 --> 00:21:40,833
out on Appledore for many years, 
decide maybe it was her turn

386
00:21:40,866 --> 00:21:43,800
to get out to the Shoals 
and get involved

387
00:21:43,833 --> 00:21:47,233
in Celia's garden 
in one way, shape, or form.

388
00:21:47,266 --> 00:21:49,366
At that time, 
little did she know

389
00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:51,966
that for the next 25 
or so years,

390
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,200
she would be the grand dame 
of the garden.

391
00:21:57,033 --> 00:22:00,466
My husband Mark and I went out 
to the Shoals Marine Lab

392
00:22:00,500 --> 00:22:05,200
about 12 years ago to an adult 
and family ed course of theirs

393
00:22:05,233 --> 00:22:09,533
entitled, 
"A Garden is a Sea of Flowers."

394
00:22:09,566 --> 00:22:13,633
After our experience 
on the island at this course,

395
00:22:13,666 --> 00:22:16,466
about a week later, 
our telephone rang, and it was

396
00:22:16,500 --> 00:22:20,966
Virginia Chisholm, the caretaker 
at the time of Celia's garden.

397
00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:25,300
And she said, "I'm getting old 
and I need to pass

398
00:22:25,333 --> 00:22:28,266
"my torch on 
to some younger blood.

399
00:22:28,300 --> 00:22:30,600
"Would you and your husband 
be interested in coming back

400
00:22:30,633 --> 00:22:33,133
to take care of this garden?"

401
00:22:33,166 --> 00:22:36,466
And Mark and I replied, 
"This dream has come true!

402
00:22:36,500 --> 00:22:38,766
"Yes, of course, Ginny, 
we would love to take care

403
00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:40,466
of that garden for you."

404
00:22:40,500 --> 00:22:43,233
>> The fact that I had been 
going out to Appledore

405
00:22:43,266 --> 00:22:46,633
since I was a very small boy... 
it was my childhood playground.

406
00:22:46,666 --> 00:22:48,866
So any opportunity for me 
personally to be

407
00:22:48,900 --> 00:22:51,333
on Appledore Island was enough.

408
00:22:51,366 --> 00:22:54,733
>> In the winter, Ginny and I 
and Mark got together

409
00:22:54,766 --> 00:22:58,066
to talk about how, 
over the years, and where,

410
00:22:58,100 --> 00:23:01,866
she has procured the seeds from, 
and the relationship

411
00:23:01,900 --> 00:23:05,800
between Ginny and the 
UNH greenhouse, who grows

412
00:23:05,833 --> 00:23:07,966
the plants for Celia's garden.

413
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,500
>> What we're trying to do 
is produce a plant

414
00:23:10,533 --> 00:23:12,100
that's large enough to go 
to the island,

415
00:23:12,133 --> 00:23:14,233
but doesn't outgrow the 606

416
00:23:14,266 --> 00:23:17,033
before it's ready to travel 
out to the island.

417
00:23:17,066 --> 00:23:19,300
So as you look at the bench,

418
00:23:19,333 --> 00:23:23,400
it kind of matures-- things that 
are started earlier and then

419
00:23:23,433 --> 00:23:25,833
things that are started later, 
so they'll be all

420
00:23:25,866 --> 00:23:28,400
about the same size when they're 
ready to go out to the island.

421
00:23:28,433 --> 00:23:33,166
We do direct-seed a few things 
that go directly into the pot

422
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:37,600
that don't transplant well, 
so they go out as a unit,

423
00:23:37,633 --> 00:23:40,366
rather than going out 
in a six-pack.

424
00:23:46,333 --> 00:23:48,833
>> NARRATOR: In early June, 
led by Pam and Mark,

425
00:23:48,866 --> 00:23:51,833
a group of volunteers 
transfers the seedlings

426
00:23:51,866 --> 00:23:53,000
from the greenhouse

427
00:23:53,033 --> 00:23:56,400
to the dock at Portsmouth 
for the trip to Appledore.

428
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:13,266
The flowers are planted 
the next day in Celia's garden.

429
00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:33,966
>> Bill Chisholm, 
Ginny's husband,

430
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:36,133
who's a dear, dear, dear man,

431
00:24:36,166 --> 00:24:39,133
his favorite bloom in the 
garden, and one of mine also,

432
00:24:39,166 --> 00:24:41,100
is the salpiglossis.

433
00:24:41,133 --> 00:24:42,833
He liked it because 
he liked to say,

434
00:24:42,866 --> 00:24:45,066
"salpiglossis."

435
00:24:45,100 --> 00:24:46,933
I like it because it's 
very colorful and beautiful.

436
00:24:46,966 --> 00:24:50,500
>> When I arrived in Rye, I 
found out that Ginny Chisholm

437
00:24:50,533 --> 00:24:53,266
was starting looking 
for volunteers

438
00:24:53,300 --> 00:24:55,200
to help with maintaining

439
00:24:55,233 --> 00:25:00,266
and taking care of Celia 
Thaxter's garden on Appledore.

440
00:25:00,300 --> 00:25:03,333
And having been a fan 
of Celia Thaxter's poetry

441
00:25:03,366 --> 00:25:05,433
since my childhood,

442
00:25:05,466 --> 00:25:10,500
I was very eager to get in 
and join this happy group.

443
00:25:10,533 --> 00:25:16,733
>> The single most asked-about 
bloom in the garden, hands down,

444
00:25:16,766 --> 00:25:21,233
100%, always, is the scabiosa 
just inside the fence.

445
00:25:21,266 --> 00:25:26,766
It's this dark, 
almost a black, bloom.

446
00:25:28,033 --> 00:25:30,433
>> "Yet still the summers come.

447
00:25:30,466 --> 00:25:35,633
"The flowers bloom, 
are gathered and adored,

448
00:25:35,666 --> 00:25:38,166
"not without wistful thought 
of the eyes that will see them

449
00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:39,666
no more."

450
00:25:42,166 --> 00:25:44,733
>> NARRATOR: Celia Thaxter's 
star shown brightly

451
00:25:44,766 --> 00:25:47,266
during her later years.

452
00:25:47,300 --> 00:25:50,833
But it dimmed for decades 
after her death.

453
00:25:50,866 --> 00:25:52,333
With the recreation 
of her garden,

454
00:25:52,366 --> 00:25:56,066
the life of this remarkable 
Victorian woman

455
00:25:56,100 --> 00:26:00,333
once again commands 
our attention.

456
00:26:00,366 --> 00:26:01,800
>> "Often I hear people say,

457
00:26:01,833 --> 00:26:05,166
"'How do you make your plants 
flourish like this?'

458
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,100
"as they admire the little 
flower patch

459
00:26:07,133 --> 00:26:09,233
"I cultivate in summer,

460
00:26:09,266 --> 00:26:11,800
"or the window gardens that 
bloom for me in the winter.

461
00:26:11,833 --> 00:26:14,433
"'I can never make my plants 
blossom like this!

462
00:26:14,466 --> 00:26:15,733
"What is your secret?'

463
00:26:15,766 --> 00:26:23,066
"And I answer with one word-- 
love, for that includes all:

464
00:26:23,100 --> 00:26:25,333
"the patience that endures 
continual trial,

465
00:26:25,366 --> 00:26:29,633
"the constancy that 
makes perseverance possible,

466
00:26:29,666 --> 00:26:33,366
"the power of foregoing ease 
of mind and body to minister

467
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,800
"to the necessities 
of the thing beloved,

468
00:26:35,833 --> 00:26:40,066
"and the subtle bond 
of sympathy, which is

469
00:26:40,100 --> 00:26:43,466
as important, if not more so, 
than all the rest."

470
00:26:43,500 --> 00:26:44,833
Celia Thaxter.

471
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,100
Captioned by Media Access Group 
at WGBH, access.wgbh.org