I love the feeling of endless possibility that comes each year with spring. All around us, we see Nature's giant growth spurt and watch our gardens in the throes of change.

Coastal Home also grows and changes. Two months ago, Keith Lemerise, our publisher, made me Coastal Home's editor, following the departure of Lynn Felici-Gallant, the dynamic founding editor of the magazine. I am deeply grateful to Keith, Lynn, and art director Marsha Jusczak for their leadership in launching a magazine that is elegant, useful and entertaining. Now, one year after Coastal Home's debut, I look forward to bringing you--our valued readers--many more engaging stories, interesting trends, and beautiful coastal homes and gardens for your enjoyment.

Our spring issue is rich with glorious gardens, environmental art, and colorful personalities. It includes the impact that generations of plant lovers had at Glen Magna Farms, a historic family estate. On a smaller scale, Kittery plant enthusiast, Neil Jorgensen, describes his woodland garden bursting with spring-blooming primroses to writer Tovah Martin, and we learn about the fascinating world of eco-artist Tim Gaudreau from writer Jim Cavan. These artists express themselves in radically different ways, but they both make us stop, look at what's around us, and think about what we see.
Gardening is my favorite way to stop bustling and welcome spring. Tasks, such as pulling weeds, sowing seeds, and setting out tubers, slow me enough to absorb the budding world around me. The late May Sarton--poet, novelist and journal writer, who spent her last two decades in York, Maine, described the phenomenon: "Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace."

Penny

Pennelope O'Sullivan, Editor
Coastal Home Magazine
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