Behind the scenes

Have you noticed how glorious Rebecca is looking these days filled with dwarf papyrus, sweet potato vines, ivy geraniums, white lantana, coleus and gaura? Have you wondered who did the planting and who takes care of them? Wonder no more – you can thank the Block Island Gardeners. For years now, they have been keeping Rebecca looking sharp for both the summer and holiday season. In November, the Gardeners decorate Water Street and some of the town’s buildings with holiday wreaths bedecked with pine cones, balls, and ribbons.Some of the interesting details around Rebecca’s planting are that the rectangular white planters are “self-watering” planters. Each requires about four to five gallons of water each week, fed through a small watering tube in each planter. The planting mix used is an organic blend specifically for self-watering planters; about half is reused in the following year. The white water troughs on the Rebecca statue are actually not troughs at all. While the original statue might have been used to water a horse, the current statue has a drainage hole on the bottom of each trough to allow water to run through.Before Covid, the Gardeners offered a number of events during

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