down a clipboard with color-coded notes detailing the names , heights and addresses of 238 colorful constituents .
It ’ s a sign of things to come : After earning a spot on the 2020 ballot , McLaughlin withdraws from the race for , according to a statement , “ more time for relationships and flowers ” — a move reminiscent of his retirement in 2004 at age sixty , when he says he could ’ ve worked another decade .
“ I learned a couple of things : You can have more money , but you can ’ t have more time ,” he says .
McLaughlin says he makes time for the things he loves , and tending a dahlia garden of this size requires a lot of it . First , he starts his tubers in pots . The flower beds are rototilled and fertilized , and the dahlia starts are planted by size for optimal growing and viewing . When they achieve some height — up to seven feet tall — they ’ re tied to stakes . Retied .
Retied again . ( And retied again , but with urgency , if a hurricane is in the forecast .) All the while , they ’ re deadheaded . Hundreds and hundreds of them . In the fall , the stakes are removed , the stalks cleared , the tubers dug up and hosed off — with warm water , preferably , for hands made weary from the cold autumn earth . When the tubers are dry , they ’ re categorized , labeled and overwintered in Saran wrap in McLaughlin ’ s basement . Season after season , year after year , he does it all over again .
“ But I ’ d rather have people think this was all an accident ,” he says , wryly .
The detail-oriented side of dahlias would ’ ve pleased McLaughlin ’ s father , an internist and Navy captain . If he had grown dahlias , he would ’ ve had 500 of them , McLaughlin says , and he would ’ ve remembered the names of every single one — an urge McLaughlin eschews .
“ I just want something beautiful ,” he says .
52 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l APRIL 2021