Spring Has Sprung

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • May 1, 2017

Or at least the tulips and daffodils have! I planted these in the fall and while tulips do not seem to have been in William Mitchell’s list of garden plants – I think he may have had them. The list, which I have mentioned before, was written in summer by John Quincy Adams – the season after that of daffodils and tulips. I am particularly fond of the ones I planted this fall – “Beauty of Spring.” While not a historic variety, tulips are an incredibly old bulb. Are you familiar with the Dutch craze for tulips in the 1600s? At its high point, some tulip bulbs sold for more than some people earned in a year! There are numerous books written about the history of the tulip, including some fictional accounts for children, and it’s an incredible tale.


Tulips were supposedly first cultivated in the Ottoman Empire in the tenth century. By the 1600s, during the “craze,” some of the bulbs were used as money until the craze crashed later in the 1630s. Today, tulips are still synonymous with Holland.

Daffodils are ancient flower – older than the tulip. My favorite variety which I have planted in the past at Mitchell House is “Poeticus” or Pheasant’s Eye – it is white with a dark ring at the very center – sort of looking like an eye – and it has the most wonderful scent of any daffodil. They come out later in May or early June. But this year, I opted to add in some of the big bright yellow daffodils that everyone thinks of. Why? Because William Mitchell, though a Quaker, loved bright colors and I think he would love to see this shocking yellow on Vestal Street.


JNLF

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By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 21, 2025
The MMA found its first astronomer in Margaret Harwood, a 1907 Radcliffe graduate who worked in the Harvard Observatory. Her fellowship began in 1912 and over the first year, she researched, continued to conduct public lectures and open nights, and worked with students of all ages – including those in the public schools. She returned to Cambridge for the winter months where she continued to work at the Observatory. In 1915, she took her leave as was authorized by the fellowship and acquired her master’s degree in astronomy at Berkeley. She returned to Nantucket in 1916, accepting the position of Director of the Observatory. This made Harwood the first woman to head a small private observatory in the United States. Harwood continued her research, with a focus on variable asteroids, published results of her work in numerous publications, and continued to lecture and host open nights. She had assistance from others, including island carpenter and school teacher, Alvin E. Paddock. Harwood became a “first –class celestial photographer . . . accumulating a valuable set of Nantucket photographic plates of variable stars . . .” which are still part of the MMA collection and were the first in the world to be completely digitized. Over the course of her tenure, more than 3,600 plates of the night sky were taken – more than 2,100 by Harwood herself. In the 1950s, Harwood was the first woman to gain access to the Mount Wilson Observatory then the world’s leading observatory, where she was able to use the photographic instruments to further her research. Harwood is seen in the photograph here as she looks for Venus during midday in the MMO using the Cooke-Clark telescope, guided by Maria Mitchell’s own Alvan Clark. JNLF

Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Welcomes Kike Calvo as Featured July Presenter.

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