Wild Cucumber (Repeat)

 A version of this was first published in 2013 and very popular (tens of thousands of views)

Wild cucumber showing leaves, tendrils and flower spikes

Wild cucumber, also known as prickly cucumber or balsam apple, is a plant species native to North America but with the annoying habits of some invasive plants. It is a fast-growing annual vine propagated by seeds. This slender-stemmed vine can quickly blanket low plants or tendril its way 15-20 feet up trees.

During July and August the vines display white flowers, followed by the development of seed pods that superficially resemble a spiky cucumber approximately two inches in length. Once the seed pods mature they dry out and disperse from the bottom several large black seeds the size of pumpkin seeds. Wild cucumber dies with the first frosts of fall.

Wild cucumber pods open from the bottom and seeds fall

The Linnaean name, Echinocystis lobata, comes from Echino for spiny and cystis for bladder-like in appearance. Lobata refers to the shape of the leaves. Echinocystis is native to the central, eastern and northern states, up into Canada. It is not found in the southwest, but confusingly, there are distantly related plants in southern California that also go by the name wild cucumber.

The latter are in the family Marah, with several related species. These are all fast-growing vines with tendrils and seed pods that superficially resemble a spiky cucumber, but Marah are perennials not annuals, with each year's new growth sprouting from a huge tuberous root that can weigh more than 100 pounds.

In Maynard, there is currently a patch of wild cucumber near where the Rail Trail is parallel to High Street (a dead end street behind Jimmie's gas station). 

Winter leaves a mat of dead vines and dried pods

Although native to North America, Echinocystis lobata is in fact an invasive species in Europe, where it was first introduced as an ornamental garden plant (always the same sad story). This serves as a reminder that not all invasive species move from the Old World (Europe, Asia and Africa) toward the New World (the Americas). Poison ivy plagues England and parts of mainland Europe because back in the 1600s people thought it was pretty!

And not all invasive species are plants. Some of the most damaging to have made the crossing from North America to Europe are grey squirrels, raccoons, mink, and lobster. The mammal introductions were deliberate - either as pets or an attempt to develop locally grown animals for the fur trade. American lobsters may have been escapees from seawater holding pens for the food trade or deliberate releases by people who bought live lobsters air-shipped to Europe, and then found themselves unwilling to immerse their purchases in boiling water. 

The American bullfrog is considered one of the world's worst invasive species in Europe and elsewhere. Introduced as a food source (bullfrog farms), these frogs escaped into the wild where they out-complete native frogs by laying massive numbers of eggs and eating just about every living thing they can fit into their mouths (including native frogs).  

Trail of Flowers planting July 2024

Ronan Rafter (left) and other Scouts from Maynard Troop
#130 added to Trail of Flowers plantings on July 20, 2024

 On July 20, 2024, nine Boy Scouts from Maynard Scout Troop #130 volunteered to do a morning's worth of planting a mix of Weigela, Beauty Bush, Yucca and Forsythia along the Assabet River Rail Trail as part of the Trail of Flowers (www.trailofflowers.com) program. This was an Eagle Scout project coordinated by Ronan Rafter.

The site selected was a 20 yard section where the Trail is parallel to High Street. Earlier plantings adjacent to High Street include nine Kousa Dogwoods (2021) and three Dawn Redwoods (2024). Prior to the July 20th planting, the site was cleared of wild plants, include invasive species Multiflora Rose, Oriental Bittersweet and Garlic Mustard. 

Site before clearing

While the nursery-bought plants were modest in size, the Weigela should reach four to five feet tall and wide at maturity, and are expected to be blooming next spring. The one Forsythia should also bloom next spring, and reach 8-10 feet within five years. The three Beauty Bush will take several years before blooming and much longer to reach mature size, but after ten years are expected to be multi-trunked and more than ten feet tall and wide. All of these are considered drought-resistant after the first year, and not browsed by deer. The Weigela and Beauty Bush (but not the Forsythia) are considered pollinator friendly for a variety of pollinating insect species and hummingbirds. We will have to see what shows up as these plants mature. 

Site, planted

Trail of Flowers was started in the fall of 2018 as a volunteer organization under the umprella of Assabet River Rail Trail Inc (ARRT). TOF volunteers plant and maintain flowering bulbs, shrubs and trees in the four communities that have paved trail: Acton, Maynard, Hudson and Marlborough. The planned route of the Trail - 12.4 miles - has a four-mile gap in the center, in Stow and part of Hudson, that may never be completed. The crtitical issue is that part of the route in Stow is private property, and the owners are not interested in selling ot providing a pass-through. 

As of summer 2024, Trail of Flowers has raised (and spent) more than $10,000 from individual and corporate donations, plus grants and gifts from community Cultural Councils and garden clubs. Maynard Community Gardeners also donates unsold plants from their annual plant sales. (Three more yucca in transplant recovery mode were added to the site in the fall.) Volunteer efforts and funding are acknowledged on the TOF website. 

ONLY IN MAYNARD Coffee Mugs

Some 20 years ago it was possible to buy ONLY IN MAYNARD bumper stickers, T-shirts and sweatshirts at local stores and at Maynard Fest. The lettering was orange against a black background - Maynard's school colors. Then, for a while, the sole remnant of this endeavor was bumper stickers for sale at Russell's convenience store, next to Town Hall.

The bumper stickers had TM superscripted above the end of ONLY IN MAYNARD, signifying that an application had been filed for a trademark in 2003. This was a Massachusetts-only trademark. It lapsed, but a new Massachusetts trademark was issued in 2017 to a new holder. 

An agreement was reached with the trademark holder that the slogan could be affixed to coffee mugs. The mugs, black exterior, orange interior, the slogan in orange on the outside, are for sale at The Outdoor Store, Boston Bean House, Sugar Snap and other locations. All profits are channeled to an effort to beautify the Assabet River Rail Trail with flowering spring bulbs, summer-blooming perennials and flowering shrubs and trees. This “Trail of Flowers” effort, initiated in 2018, has resulted in the planting of thousands of daffodils, plus hundreds of tulips, daylilies, irises and other plants in Maynard, Marlborough and Acton, with plans to extend the plantings to the south section of trail in Hudson. See www.trailofflowers.com for program description and photos.

A bit of history: In the original form and subsequent incarnations, the words on ONLY IN MAYNARD products were deliberately printed so that the right side was noticeably higher than the left. Best guess is the wording was askew to convey that negative, rueful pride that only in Maynard could things (town things, school things, people things...) be so humorously incompetent or fouled up.

To counter the prevailing negative impression, a group of civic-minded citizens approached the Beacon-Villager newspaper back in 2005, to see if they could take turns writing a pro-Maynard column featuring the friendly and welcoming nature of this unique small town. The column lasted only a few months. An echo of that positive intent was conveyed in a 2008 article in the Beacon-Villager that read in part "A clever slogan, coined some few years ago, continues to describe our singular uniqueness, our melting pot citizenry and our basic values for the 'good life.' That slogan, ‘Only in Maynard,’ sets up the town as a special place where very special people do distinctive and exceptional things. This is especially true in the art of song and music as developed in our town."

An informal survey of people about town yielded both the negative and positive connotations, and also a third meaning - the concept of specialness. Only in Maynard can you see Santa Claus arriving by helicopter for the Christmas parade. Only in Maynard can you still find a local movie theater. Only in Maynard are the bars close enough together to have a pub crawl that might involve actual crawling (or at least walking) rather than driving.  

So, after all this debate, what does "Only in Maynard" really mean today? Whether it is only in this small town are people so warm, friendly and welcoming, or only here are things so ruefully, headshakingly messed up, or a comment on the unique nature of life in Maynard, my own opinion is that in comparison, ONLY IN ACTON or ONLY IN SUDBURY or ONLY IN STOW would make no sense whatsoever.