Regulars (All)

Article - Our Capital by Ellen Moyer; by Ellen Moyer - 6/2/11

Showtime Present

And the ghosts of showtimes past

It is evening in downtown Annapolis. The courtyard of the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre on Compromise Street is alive with people. Above their heads, in bold letters, the marquee spells out Chicago ... Annapolis’ outdoor musical theater is in performance. The brainchild of Joan Baldwin, a visionary who loved the challenges of making new ideas work, Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre opened 43 years ago in the abandoned historical Shaw Blacksmith Shop...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 5/26/11

Asparagus Is a Giving Plant

But you’ve got to keep the weeds out

It is surprising how many gardeners have approached me with questions regarding controlling weeds in their asparagus beds. I am glad to see a growing number of gardeners growing asparagus because it is a crop that you have to plant only once for many years’ harvest. It is a delicious vegetable that can be grilled, steamed, marinated or smothered with Hollandaise sauce or cheese. This year I planted a new bed of an only-male purple variety. Male plants are preferred because they do not...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 5/26/11

Crowning the Heavens

Look overhead to Corona Borealis

With week’s end, the sun sets at 8:20 and each night after almost a minute later. But it’s still more than an hour later that the glow of dusk gives way fully to darkness. By that time Saturn shines high in the south, the only planet visible until well before dawn. Don’t confuse Saturn’s steady golden glow for the cool-blue twinkle of Spica, equally bright but 15 degrees to the southeast. High above the two is much brighter Arcturus, easily the...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 5/26/11

A Bay Triple Crown

The last jewel, white perch, returning to the shallows

Just as horse racing has its Triple Crown, with Maryland’s Preakness its second jewel, the Chesapeake has its own Triple Crown: a gourmet celebration of the three tastiest seafoods the Bay has to offer. This year two of our three savories — the rockfish and the blue crab — have already resumed presence around the Bay. The third, white perch, had yet to return to their traditional summertime residences. Fish Are Biting ... Silt-laden water...

Article - The Bay Gardener by Dr. Francis Gouin; by Dr. Francis Gouin - 5/19/11

EPA’s Fertilizer Rules Earn My Seal of Approval

It’s about time lawn fertilizers were regulated; they’re waging chemical warfare on the Bay

Most of Maryland’s soils are acid. Unless they are limed every three to five years, they are generally too acid for optimum growth, so that any fertilizer applied is wasted and finds its way into the Bay. During the many lectures I give, I always ask who in the audience have had their soil tested in the last five years. I’m lucky to find even a few. Horticulture is a science, not a game for guessing or intuition. But that is how most homeowners and even many lawn...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 5/19/11

Rockfish On!

Hooking up with a striper is sweet, and sweeter still if it’s a keeper

The sound of line being pulled off a reel sent both of us into high alert. The tip of my nearby rod in its holder flexed only slightly under the pressure of the run. Except for the meager tension of the clicker, the reel was in free spool, and line fed out smoothly as the fish accelerated off with my bait. Fish Are Biting ... They are biting with warm days and gentle breezes no longer a rarity. The limit on rockfish as of May 16 is two fish with an 18-inch minimum size. Only...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 5/19/11

The Shapes of the Seasons

Look for the hero Hercules between the stars of spring and summer

The waning gibbous moon rises in the southeast a couple hours before midnight at week’s end, but Tuesday’s last-quarter moon does not crest the horizon until almost 2am. The sun this week sets around 8:15, revealing the three brightest spring constellations: Leo the lion, marked by aquamarine Regulus; Boötes the herdsman, punctuated by rose-hued Arcturus, the fourth brightest star in the heavens; and Virgo, goddess of fertility, marked by Spica, the shaft of...

Article - Our Capital by Ellen Moyer; by Ellen Moyer - 5/19/11

A Tale of Three Fountains

They bring us water, adornment and inspiration

Annapolis has another fountain. You can’t miss it, for it dominates the plaza on West Street at Park Place as the great i am. Capping it is an unknown godlike male in the classic tradition and classically surrounded by horses. Water shimmers down it into a trough. Intrigued by the fountains of Rome, where people gathered to laugh and talk and hold hands, developer Jerry Parks built this fountain to welcome visitors to Park Place. It watches over the ghosts of horses...

Article - Sky Watch by J. Alex Knoll; by J. Alex Knoll - 5/12/11

Clustered at Horizon’s Edge

Four planets await the keen-eyed early bird

The sun sets this week around 8:10. Following the trail of the sun, look above the northwest horizon for golden Capella, the sixth-brightest star. Opposite, in the northwest, shines Vega, the fifth brightest star. This time each year, the two line up at the same height in the sky, right now around 10pm. Friday, the waxing moon shines 10 degrees below Saturn. The ringed planet appears high in the southeast at sunset. By midnight it hovers in the southwest before finally...

Article - Sporting Life by Dennis Doyle; by Dennis Doyle - 5/12/11

Surprises on the Trotline

Blue crabs bite early, but we get the better meal

The marine weather forecast promised only a short window of good weather, but that early May day was the only opportunity coming for quite some time. My friend Mike, his girlfriend Michelle and I launched my skiff that morning, just as a generous full tide was beginning to fall, a good phase to crab the long narrow inlet we had in mind. The first weeks of May are early for crabs in the mid-Bay — or have been the last few years. But we’d heard from some commercial...