Three planets form a line in the early evening this weekend but the alignment won’t last.

Preserving native plants by using them is the topic of a June 8 presentation with Arthur Haines at the Polly Hill Arboretum. Mr. Haines is a plant taxonomist, author and teacher who makes the case for preservation of native plants through foraging, wildcrafting and medicinal use. He argues that the waning use of wild plants coincides with a decline in our health and of the local landscape.

May 27, what a day! First to visit a part of the Vineyard I hadn’t birded in, and next to be called to verify that there was an American white pelican sitting on a dock in Chilmark Pond! Pete Gilmore of Hopps Farm Road in West Tisbury, has birded with Seven Gates resident David Tobias off-Island.

The woods are wearing pink lipstick. The luscious and luminous blossoms of the pink lady slipper orchid provide nature’s makeup. Blooming with its unforgettable flower, this special species is one to enjoy, but never uproot.

Work continues on a massive house moving project on Chappaquiddick following the discovery of an archeological site of interest that turned out to be an old refuse pit probably used by Native Americans centuries ago.

Project engineer George Sourati said the tribe suspected there could be a significant archeological feature at one location.

A group of riparian owners on Squibnocket Pond pressing for permission to use herbicides to control phragmites found no relief from the Chilmark zoning board of appeals this week.

The board of appeals voted unanimously to uphold a cease and desist order that bars the Squibnocket Pond Organization from using the herbicide Rodeo on the invasive plants.