The Urban Planter

moving...

2008-02-29T12:30:00.000-08:00

here's the new blog: green

Final post of the urban planter

2008-02-21T06:07:00.000-08:00

So this is something of a bittersweet post... I am very excited to be opening my own plant nursery and lndscape design business in Brevard, North Carolina. When visiting a month ago I came across a space with amazing potential for a retail nursery, since then I have been figuring out all of the details... and I leave next week!

This is a big painting I did for my best friend, Renee... She asked me for a modernish botanical abstract... for her condo in Boston.

The very sad news is that my dog, Delilah, has been diagnosed with oral cancer, and has a month or so to live. She has been with me for 13 years and is my first true love. So I am happy to be able to bring her back down south where she can spend her final days off the leash and sidewalks, romping around in the woods, laying on the porch... Sweet, sweet girl.

Tree Pruner Certification

2008-02-19T04:40:00.000-08:00

I have been such a lazy blogger of late that I never talked about the Citizen Pruner Certification classes I took in October...

It is a series of four classes held at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Taught by master arborist, Chris Roddick, it is obviously a rough life for a street tree! The most important aspect of street tree maintenance is actually watering! Street trees have such compromised root space that rain water is often not absorbed... So don't forget to water your trees!
When you pass the exam the NYC Parks Dept. sends you a really cool card to keep in your wallet. This way, when I'm out there messing around with some street tree and some body harasses me, I just flash the card! It's actually going to be handy for work purposes... that and watering!

foodscapes

2008-02-04T18:17:00.001-08:00

by Australian photographer Carl Warner

Oulu

2007-12-29T17:52:00.000-08:00

A little bar I love in Williamsburg, Oulu, on N. 4th street... The facade is an extensive greenwall! I'll be by next year to take some shots of how it takes winter.

Dwell did an article on it after it was installed & they have the facts:
The succulents are planted in 35 or so panels of soil, each less than three inches thick, which are screwed to the wall. A hidden watering system gives them a steady spritz. A living wall can easily be planted on a residential façade, Marni says, at a cost of about $50 a square foot. Interior walls are roughly $30 more per square foot because they contain tropical plants, which are more expensive.

bits and pieces

2007-12-29T17:38:00.001-08:00

My niece, Ava, makes us wonder what holidays were before she was around! She is two and the most beautiful little cherub! One evening after work I was walking in Manhattan and happened to pass a toy store displaying the "Inchworm" in the window... I was jolted back (not going to say how many years) to my early childhood when I had an inchworm, and it turns out that this is some sort of revival toy! I went in and it said for ages 2-5 so I got it for Ava... Carrying it home on a crowded evening subway garnered many amused looks!

Needless to say, it was a huge hit! What can I say - I understand a child's mind...

Kevin reminded me that there were no shots of the love shack on my Dad's property, so here it is! And yes, we had a beautifully white Christmas! That is "the bench" knee deep in snow to the left.

This is a little nest Ben and I came across in a little tree outside of the Sherborn Inn, one of our favorite (and the only one in such a small town) watering holes. We love the micro brews on draft, bar stools on casters and big screen tv that shows sports (ok, ok, he loves the sports, I ask annoying questions about the sports!)

Another great bench

2007-12-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

I don't know exactly why I obsess over garden benches, but I do...

This one is in front of the love shack, is rotting and missing an arm and is absolutely divine!

Nature walks in Vermont

2007-12-22T18:13:00.000-08:00

My Dad and stepmom just built a new home in Woodstock Vermont. It's in the middle of nowhere and will be a land trust as soon as he cons one of his neighbors into letting him buy a couple more acres. We have always taken extensive family hikes, walks, adventures, so of couse, Ben and I were taken on an intensive exploration of the property line (and a lot in between).

We found a bunch of these mushrooms growing on rotting tree stumps - my guess is "Coral" Clavariaceae mushroom family. Danger: some are edible, some are NOT!

The above fern is a mini! growing out of the steps of the "Love Shack" on the property (it's an old hunting/camping structure with a heart shaped window in the door). I don't know exact species on this one... however...

Below is a killer stand of Maiden Hair Fern "Adiantim pictatum" I love I love I love this fern.

Above: Actaea pachypoda (Doll's-eyes, White Baneberry) finding these undisturbed native colonies is like pirate booty!

Someone (Ben!) knocked some lichen off a log, so I decided to transplant it somewhere else in the woods... I do not know if this is really something that can be done by simply placing the lichen on another stump... But I'd like to think it is that way! Grow lichen grow!

Happy Winter Solstice!

2007-12-22T17:55:00.000-08:00

In my pagen heart I am all for celebrating the days getting longer! YAY! Darkness at 4:30 can be a bit much... It's also that amazing sense that everything is constantly changing and that's just how it is - and I love that - no control. The only constant is change.

"the sun rules the day,
and the moon rules the night,
and the stars bring light to the darkness"
Something I borrowed from Luke from Miss Lulu's myspace page...

Invierno (winter), 1573  Giuseppe Arcimboldo  Musee du Louvre

"Winter Solstice marks the longest night of the year. It is from this point that the days begin slowly to become longer and longer. The sun is at its most southeastern point over the Tropic of Capricorn in the northern hemisphere and has no apparent northward or southward motion. In the time of the ancient tribes this was a time of celebration, for it meant the turning point of winter and the eventual return of spring."

Snow in the garden

2007-12-16T12:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've been so slow to write lately... work and life have been taking their tolls. I am looking forward to my last week of work until March, my company goes on unemployment and those of us who have been busting our asses get to travel, indulge, get some sleep...! I had taken everything down in the garden except for this echinacea who would just not stop blooming!

We do a lot of evergreen arrangements this time of year so our clients have something to look at other than pots of dirt and bare branches! These boughs are sprayed with an anti-dessicant to keep them from drying out.

Surprise!

2007-10-26T03:02:00.000-07:00

While cleaning out a closet recently, I came upon my Amaryllis stash... blooming! I was a little bit startled because at first I didn't recognize what it was, since it was completely chlorotic ("The yellowing or whitening of normally green plant tissue because of a decreased amount of chlorophyll, often as a result of disease or nutrient deficiency.") having been put away in a cool, dark place as is the norm for forcing these bulbs... It was creepy!

Rock gardens on a rooftop

2007-10-26T02:49:00.000-07:00

I came across an interesting collection of rock plants on a rooftop on the Upper West Side recently... This is a co-op's community roof and it seems one of the residents is a rock gardener! Great containers!

Especially nice with this view of the park in the background!

Jon's bench

2007-10-08T18:54:00.000-07:00

My friend Jon is an amazing artist. He can take a completely empty space and turn it into something stunning. He is a wiz with found materials... Last summer when we planted his yard in Williamsburg, he built this amazing bench out of timber *borrowed* from some street repairs... I love it! Jon is so creative, he really makes me think twice... And the bowling alley bar he built isn't so bad either...

Angelica archangelica

2007-10-03T03:33:00.001-07:00

This Angelica was planted last year at my boyfriend's brewery, and then, as a biennial, was just a really pretty, leafy specimen... This year it bloomed! In complete shade none-the-less!

Angelica is used to flavor liquors and is taken as an herbal immune stimulant. I'll have to collect those seeds! In this picture is also Abutilon "flowering maple" on the left and Coleus "Inky Fingers" on the right...

Zinnia self seeded from last year! I think they can't help but grow at the brewery because Shane loves them so much!

Chelsea Sculpture Garden

2007-09-20T03:29:00.001-07:00

One of my big design projects, this sculpture garden for an international art gallery network, has finally been installed! We were delayed several months by problems with the brand new building which is covered with a fancy new plastic panel product from the Netherlands... They had to go back and do a lot more water sealing!
But anyways, these are zinc coated boxes with 5'-6' Arborvitaes, 56 trees exactly! They will form a consistent green hedge which will block out all of the distracting ugliness around the terrace and be a nice backdrop to the outdoor sculpture.

Looking West

The black tubing and wires hanging out of the planters are the lines for the irrigation and lighting, which will be finished this week.

Looking East

Do you see how there is a section that pops out? This was designed to hide the utilities and massive flood lights situated in this corner of the terrace. Two of the planters are on heavy duty casters so that they may be pushed aside for any maintenance to the equipment.

The hidden utility equipment

Paulo, my coworker and dear friend!

The community garden

2007-09-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

I really can't explain what's going on here... nature?

This is some yummy parsley

Okra! not mine, but an amazing bloom!

when good trees go bad...

2007-09-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

uh-oh...

Who said dare!? Why is it always the furthestmost, out-of-reach bugger who has to cause a problem? Why? This Arborvitae decided he just couldn't go on... So I got to figure out how exactly to remove him from his perch over the pool (5'-6') deep. It was 3"x10's, screwed together with a bit of carpet foam underneath to keep it from slipping out from underneath us and/or, scratching the granite coping. The pool had been empty until the day before when the pool guys filled it to make sure it was properly sealed!

I think the new tree makes the middle tree look a little bit... ashy...

Japanese Maple, South/west corner, to the right of the outdoor fireplace

Magnolia, opposite Maple, in the "kitchen"

More great annual vines

2007-09-19T03:26:00.000-07:00

Cardiospermum halicacabum ("Love-in-a Puff") is one of my all time favorite vines... It has tiny little white flowers, and makes these balloon-like seedpods. Inside is...

A round back seed with a perfect white heart! The heart is created by where the membrane of the seedpod attaches itself to the seed, and is regardless, a feat of nature!

Also blooming at the brewery is a "Cardinal Climber" Ipomoea sloteri, beautiful ferny foliage, vibrant red blooms and a delicate, climbing nature...

I am so ashamed...

2007-09-15T19:10:00.000-07:00

My front garden went to the dark side... During the heat and humidity of high summer I couldn't deal with it... and was away... and made up a whole bunch of excuses! The weeds were out of control! I had to do something! There were homeless plants that had been sitting in old soil bags for weeks, and watering of the whole thing was spotty at best!

The cucumber vine, who's race horse name is "Wild Abandon", had 2 monsterosa cucumbers stashed away in the privet hedge.They are pictured here on my stoop with a regular/largish cucumber... Freaks.

So I ruthlessly tore out, cut back, planted & transplanted. Spread a little soil conditioner as mulch et voila! So much better! And yes, I store my hose on my boxwoods...

I have 4 large nursery pots full of stones (and one antique door knob) I excavated while gardening. I am wondering what I might do with them...

I planted one of my seed started scarlet runner bean vines next to the neighbor's stoop and have been guiding it into and around the ironwork of their railing. I didn't ask them about it, but they didn't complain! It's blooming and stunning right now with the luminous purple pods popping out all over!

This job is finished and ready for a party

2007-09-15T15:49:00.001-07:00

I'm so shocked at how perfectly these banquette benches came out! The fabric is Sunbrella outdoor marine grade and beautiful! I had the cushions custom made by Foam and Futon (they were near my office on Houston, but have recently relocated to west 12th - and they are great to work with!) out of outdoor safe (non moldy/mildewey) water repellent foam. And I can't get over the fact that they fit absolutely dead on. Even the piping on the seams is fantastic! The occasional furniture, several ottomans that can also be tables are from (yikes!) Target online. The lanterns are from Pottery Barn, they have LED bulbs and batteries, so they can just be switched on or off. The lanterns are just for the party since they would be messed up in the wind there on the 13th floor.

Another view, this time South/West towards Central Park, in the bottom corner you can see one of the buffet units I designed, this one holds a refrigerator and trash, the other is all storage. The kicker with these custom units are the beautiful granite tops, they match the color palette of the furniture fabric exactly! The fountain is a silly spitting lion, it took some finessing to figure out the right proportion of water so that it's not just dribbling and also, not too much so that it shoots out past the catch basin! Below is a swatch of the granite from Red Hook Marble, there were some beautiful streaks of a rusty-peach as well...

This is a picture of problem solving... The problem was a gaping hole where an AC was once housed... Long gone, the hole had been patched with a yucky old board and some caulk. This is where the speaker wire needed to come out from inside the apartment, so I pried off the board and had a really ugly situation to deal with (one that had to have an 8" x 8" access panel for the speaker stuff). I asked the carpenter to frame out a piece of lattice and hang it over the whole thing and then I mounted a really beautiful 4' copper window box on it. Unfortunately the box can't be seen in this picture, it is all covered by a silk ivy and hydrangea arrangement I did for the party. You can catch a glimpse of the access panel middle right.

So my client was having a huge party to celebrate her son's engagement, and decided to use the other half of the rooftop, which is property of the building. Thursday night she had (another) nervous breakdown, this time because she realized there was no lighting in this space... This is where the caterer and half a dozen cocktail tables would be set up. I had the lighting tech whip out a rental proposal for the night, but she decided she didn't want to spend $3,000 for an evening... So she informed me at noon, the day before the party, that this was my problem to solve. She didn't care what it looked like, just so long as people could see and would not trip and sue her. she repeatedly called me to remind me how bright it needed to be. I went to a fancy upper East hardware store and bought 20 clip lamps and 150 watt clear bulbs and a zillion feet of extension cord and worked it out...

Moonflower

2007-09-15T15:32:00.000-07:00

A garden I maintain in the West Village has a stunning Moonflower vine on the front railing... My appointment was too early to witness a peak blossom, as they tend to burst open in the afternoon and stay open into the night. The buds are pretty amazing!

You can almost see it unfurl.

Yes of course I saved the seeds!!!

Morning Glory

2007-09-15T15:28:00.000-07:00

On my walk to the subway in the morning...

Firescape update

2007-08-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

I've had some random annuals rotting away in their pots in the front yard, so I decided to just plant them in some pots on the fire escape.

There were also some homeless Sempervivum (hirta 'Histoni'and heuffelii 'Jowan')...

and 'Fuzzy Wuzzy'!

Bandit

2007-08-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

How did I get so lucky?

Humility in my garden

2007-08-27T18:09:00.001-07:00

Not a Bigfoot...

This morning, while taking the dogs out, I noticed... A fully grown, absolutely perfect... CUCUMBER! It still had it's blossom attached so I only missed it because I was away for a little while... not because I wasn't paying attention! Yes, it is definitely a cucumber vine dominating the privet in my front yard!

Urban Sprawl

2007-08-26T06:07:00.001-07:00

I planted 3 oddball vines I started from seed in the front corner of the garden, under the privet, almost as a means to keep from throwing them in the trash. They all did a little bit of something, until lately when the cucumber took off. Now it is a menace to the small plot! It's all over anything it can get it's tendrils on! I was wondering what to do when I noticed one bloom had been pollinated!

I have to admit, I've been thinking this was a luffa gourd since it took so long to show fruit... Slightly disappointed, but hey, it's growing (and causing quite a sensation among the neighbors!)

NYC Garden Peeks

2007-08-12T20:04:00.001-07:00

These pictures are from a job down in the Financial District. I love the clean lines of this terrace....

I'm so curious what the pound per square foot allowance is on this roof because this sculpture is large and appears to be solid stone. Notice the espalier apple trees are fruiting!

Some kid is super lucky to have this playhouse on their terrace!

Community Garden Spoils

2007-08-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

After a long absence from my community garden plot, I was pleasantly surprised to discover some ripe cucumbers and peppers. These are golden cayenne peppers, also some butternut was looking very pickable...

benches

2007-07-31T19:49:00.001-07:00

I was smitten... these benches at Dimitri's were truly great.

Dimitri's Garden Center

2007-07-31T19:28:00.001-07:00

Dimitri's is an old NYC gardening resource, it keeps moving farther and farther north and now it is in the Bronx. I trekked up there today to spend a client's $500 gift certificate and pick out some pots to plant up tomorrow. I got a few big frost and UV resistant polyethylene pots that look just like terra cotta but weigh about 80% less.I like this little Acer in the big stone dish.

This was my favorite specimen in the whole place (and I rarely admit to picking favorites) Acer japonicum 'Aconitifolium' or Fernleaf Full Moon Maple espalier! Yum yum yum it was so pretty! I totally filtched one of the seed clusters to go gorilla some empty lot with!

Re-do job

2007-07-26T14:22:00.001-07:00

This is a shady back yard in the West Village, a lot of the plants are dying and unhappy. (Annual ferns, microbiota, some bamboo...)I inherited this client from a former co-worker, and while there to do maintenance last week she told me she wanted plants that would make it wild and jungle-like.. Just no more Hostas!
First I removed all of the existing plants and put them aside. Then I mixed 3 bags each of compost and soil conditioner into the soil which turned out to be a whole lot of gravel and sand! The big wooden "sculpture" is actually a play structure the clients liked a lot so it was partially disassembled and left (their son is 16 now!)

Some things I chose for this install: ostrich and maidenhair ferns, hakonechloa, tricyrtis, campanula, cimicifuga, monkshood, polygonatum odoratum and humile, some coleus and abutilon as annuals.

Sambucus Racemosa (Elderberry) with a 3' leaved monster I forget the name of, starts with a "p" - I'll re-post later what it is...

I decided to prune heavy and pot up the clumping bamboos since they were pretty unhappy and half dead, I think they're come back around!

what is this?!?

2007-07-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

This mystery plant, which I was convinced was an Impatiens, is growing in a couple of spots in my neighborhood. I tried to look it up, but can't find it. I think we even grew it from seed one year at the nursery... any ideas?

2007-07-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

Luke calls this urban camo... The London Plane trees in the park across from our office.

Would you take a look at that hole?!? Great diggin Bandit!

YES! Turk's-cap Lily (Lilium superbum) BLOOMED! This was a found plant in the front yard, I moved it to a sunny spot and gave it some triple phosphate... I love these lilies, they remind me of barns in the country. It's covered with little black bb's of seeds, could form quite a colony someday.

More work stuff

2007-07-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

I couldn't believe I found this weeping variety of Cornus Kousa with the same last name as my client, which is not a common name at all! Underplanted with rhododendron, dwarf iris and white blooming fuschia. There is also a climbing Hydrangea vine (Hydrangea anomala) A woody vine that attaches to the mortar between bricks with aerial roots, climbing high and blooming in mid-summer.

These Japanese Maples are so old, inherited from the previous owner, saved for a few years and now finally planted! They flank a hydrangea tree underplanted with more rhododendron and the pink cleome (below).

This Styrax japonicus (Japanese Snowbell) was also a reclaimed specimen, I pruned a lot off the top to compensate for what had been taken off of the rootball... I love it hanging over the edge like this, very Alpine and unexpected... And by unexpected I mean slightly bizarre, but I have faith that it will grow quite nicely into it's new shape.

Cleome

This is a deciduous, dwarf Magnolia underplanted with lavender and assorted annuals.

Fire escape beautification

2007-07-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

Abutilon underplanted with coleus, Passiflora 'Lady Margaret' climbing the railing.

I dug this Salvia and the above Abutilon out of the front garden where their reds weren't mixing well. I accidentally cracked half of the plant off when I repotted it, but I think she'll do just fine! Shares a pot with some white blooming Browalia, a burgundy cascade geranium, Coleus 'Freckles' and....

Aristolochia, food for larvae of Swallowtail butterflies and known as birthworts, a large genus of plants with over 500 species. Aristolochia gigantea or Pelican flower, grows 8-10' over the summer and ought to bloom profusely and lemony. The guy at the farmer's mkt in Union Sq. could sense my weakness and told me it will be biennial (hmmm. really..?) and it had a single hypnotic bloom.

"Nevertheless, aristolochic acid is said to cure wounds or snakebites in a spectacular way. Decoctions of birthwort stimulate the production of white corpuscles and increase their activity. Furthermore, birthwort contains a disinfectant which drains off fluid from the wound. Birthwort was therefore highly regarded by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans."

"The flowers grow in the leaf axils. They are inflated and globose at the base, continuing as a long perianth tube, ending in a tongue-shaped, brightly colored lobe. There is no corolla. These flowers have a specialized pollination mechanism. The plants are aromatic and their strong scent attracts insects. The inner part of the perianth tube is covered with hairs, acting as a fly-trap. These hairs then wither to release the fly, covered with pollen. The appearance of the flowers gives rise to the genus' common name Dutchman's pipe."

Hypertufa update

2007-07-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

There is a big difference in the textures of the 2 different batches: the top has more cement, while the bottom is more 'cottage cheesy' with more perlite and spagnum peat in the mix.

Sometimes I just don't know my own strength! The more porous batch also did not have the reinforcing chicken wire layer in the bottom, so drilling the drain holes proved to be too much... One down,three survivors!

The farthest trough is planted with a mishmosh of different succulents that had been laying around. The middle trough has sempervivum "Hens and Chicks". The closest is from top to bottom; Sedum spathulifolium 'Carnea', Sedum nevii and Sedum divergens. Now I just have to sprinkle them with cayenne so the squirrels don't dig into them!

Masanobu Fukuoka is my hero

2007-07-23T14:11:00.001-07:00

When I was in college, I minored in sustainable agriculture and small scale farming, during which I learned several different techniques and approaches. One very small farm I worked at blissfully followed the theories and principles of Fukuoka. This farm is also very special because it is where Delilah, as a very small and scared puppy, got dumped by some one who didn't want her... I instantly fell in love and have never recovered (I had to chase her around for a long time before she got tired and I grabbed her and took her home with me).

Natural farming is Fukuoka's complete method of growing, harvesting, and renewing an entirely sustainable way of life. Covercropping with nitrogen fixing legumes and red clover, his vegetables grow from seeds broadcast in his orchards. He never plows or otherwise disturbs his soil, allowing for super rich communities of bacterias, fungi and insects to reside.

"Natural farming is gentle and easy and indicates a return to the source of farming. A single step away from the source can lead one astray."

"People think they understand things because they become familiar with them. This is only superficial knowledge. It is the knowledge of the astronomer who knows the names of the stars, the botanist who knows the classifications of the leaves and flowers, the artist who knows the aesthetics of green and red. This is not to know nature itself - the earth and sky, green and red. Astronomer, botanist, and artist have done no more than grasp impressions and interpret them, each within the vault of his own mind. The more involved they become with the activity of the intellect, the more they set themselves apart and the more difficult it becomes to live naturally.

The tragedy is that in their unfolded arrogance, people attempt to bend nature to their will. Human beings can destroy natural forms, but they cannot create them. Discrimination, a fragmented and incomplete understanding, always forms the starting point of human knowledge. Unable to know the whole of nature, people can do no better than construct an incomplete model of it and then delude themselves into thinking they have created something natural.

All someone has to do to know nature is to realize that he does not really know anything, that he is unable to know anything. It can then be expected that he will lose interest in discriminating knowledge. When he abandons discriminating knowledge, non-discriminating knowledge of itself arises within him. If he does not try to think about knowing, if he does not care about understanding, the time will come when he will understand. There is no other way than through the destruction of the ego, casting aside the thought that humans exist apart from heaven and earth.

It means being foolish instead of smart."

Work stuff

2007-07-14T13:11:00.001-07:00

This weeping Tsuga will always stay low so that it doesn't block the view of Central Park. I stuck some Mandevilla in the back to climb along the railing.

Two steps forward, one step back at one of my design/install jobs... The planting is 90% finished, now I'm just working on details like arbors and cushions for the benches I designed. This was my first time creating and dimensioning a piece of furniture from my imagination, then having it built. And what's so cool is it looks just like my drawing! Great carpenters!! My client's style is very French country, hates modern, loves lattice. The seats are all hinged to create storage for the cushions, also the irrigation controls are hidden under there...

This pine was salvaged from the original garden, new trees are an Amelanchier planted with an evergreen gardenia, and a dwarf evergreen Magnolia, under planted with Perovskia, lavender, lamb's ear and allium.

This Vitex is attracting some big bees from the park!

#*$%ing squirrels!

2007-07-14T12:55:00.000-07:00

I came home the other night to this:

Jessica from downstairs said she saw dirt raining from the sky! I hope at least they got a good bellyache!

The lone salvia survivor... She was sprinkled liberally with cayenne pepper!

The brewery garden

2007-07-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

I haven't been up to the brewery roof top garden for a couple of months, it's pretty self-sufficient as long as one of the guys is watering - which they do a great job of! Since it's all annuals, there was some deadheading to be done and the hops vines needed some serious food, their leaves were yellowish and curled in... nitrogen PLEASE! So I left them with a bottle of Alaska fish fertilizer and instructions to feed "Weakly weekly".

Mark's garden

2007-07-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

Mark has a squash and a tomato growing in his kitchen window! That's the Hudson River and New Jersey out the window...

Sometimes we spy on Lincoln Center with his telescope!

A garden I love

2007-07-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

I walk past this garden on the way to one of my job sites & love the intricate simplicity of everything. It is all about the hardscaping, which is almost entirely security! I love the paint color and the massive elephant ears adding a completely organic element to something so controlled...

Came across this little cutie, an urban wildflower, on Houston. It's growing through a fence, probably planted by the wind or a bird!

Walking by a community garden...

2007-07-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

... on the west side in Chelsea. The sign says "Jeff Dullea inter-generational garden at Penn South Co-op". It's brimming with amazing blooms! Nice composter!

Scenes of NYC gardens

2007-07-08T04:12:00.000-07:00

These are some shots I took from a job I was working maintenance on last Friday... Deep in the West Village.

This hedge is certainly not for real!

The window box saga

2007-07-06T03:20:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I ordered these self watering window boxes for the three front windows of my apartment. I think it's a great idea to have the reservoir that will keep them not-to-wet and not let them get too dry...

However now they are in limbo, sitting on top of the stoop roof, because I can't figure out the hanging brackets! I assumed it would be some genius balancing thing where the bracket would latch onto my window frame or something, but it seems there is drilling involved, and that must mean anchors too, right? Luckily the brackets were made in Germany, so the directions are not in English... The website says "Versatile brackets (included) allow installation in minutes" Damnit! This will be one of my big goals for the weekend!

Bad Squirrels!

2007-07-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

Those stinkers have been digging around on the fire escape. One looks dead for sure.

I found this online...
cayenne pepper squirrel repellent

Recipe for squirrel repellent:-

1) 1 bottle (small) hot pepper sauce

2) 1 gallon water

3) water retentative (available from plant nursery) or 1 teaspoon of mild liquid detergent such as dishwashing detergent.

Spray this repellent on plants or anything you would like protected from chewing. Many commercial products designed to repel rodents are not effective. In fact, some say the animals actually eat more of the plants after the repellent is applied.

Echinacea

2007-07-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

It's really summer when the echinacea blooms!

Watering Can's morning out

2007-07-01T20:30:00.001-07:00

Riding up to the penthouse

Giving the new install a little fish/seaweed fertilizing to help them out

Taking a break in the park

Riding back to the office on the subway

It may be love...

A gift...

2007-06-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

A very special friend brought me a present....

Salvia divinorum, also known as Diviner's Sage, "sage of the seers".

I think they'll be happy on the fire escape!

Boomin it up

2007-06-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

This week I'm working with a bunch of the guys on a huge install in SoHo... Yesterday the crane came and we were boomed up pallets of soil, plants, and over 15 very BIG trees. The cops immediately wrote us a ticket!

Soil

Arborvitae or "ThuYa" as some chose to call it...

Landing on the 7th floor rooftop (only one paver broken!)

Trees wondering, "where are we?"...

Corylopsis pauciflora

2007-06-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

Luke, this is that shrub we were wondering about and thought was viburnum! Duh, it's Buttercup Winter Hazel of course!

Slow growing, blooms early spring and may rebloom if you're good in the fall...
"Tassells of primrose-yellow flowers lend this broadleaf deciduous shrub the name "buttercup," appearing at the cusp of spring, a mite earlier than the majority of our garden's deciduous shrubs. The buds begin to open at the tail-end of winter but are at their peak of beauty late March & early April.
Buttercup Winter Hazel"

Green Scenes from NYC

2007-06-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

"Our urban problem is how to revive the reality of the outside as a dimension of human experience." Richard Sennet

Twilight planting

2007-06-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

On a much smaller scale... I planted these sedum & small rock garden-y plants on my fire escape tonight.

The Dianthus was left by the previous tennant.

Front: Saxifraga ardensii "Snow Carpet"
Middle: Saxifraga cochlearis "Minor"
Back: Armeria juniperfolia

Sempervivum... the tags fell down through the fire escape while I was planting!

A Semp with Sedum cauticola "Lidakense"

One of my current installs

2007-06-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

This is a very big job I fell into at work this past winter. My company has had this account since 2004, but very little has happened since the building is very strict (no construction noise until after May 15th...etc) and plans have had to go through many routes of approval. It is three large terraces, which were fully landscaped, but were extremely overgrown and in disrepair when my client bought the penthouse. She fought the building (weight on the rooftop is always an issue) to get the mature trees grandfathered into the new design, and since then, my company has had to take some massive pruning measures, as in, pruning with a saws-all... I have major issues with the McDonald's playland red pavers the building installed, but sometimes you have to work around what you are given. So, the exact fire code ratio of wood-to-concrete has been met by removing said pavers and replacing with at-grade decking. The client LOVES French country and lattice so that is what she got!

Two in one planter... it's an urban forest!

The Crecis "Forest Pansy" and Lagerstoemia "Miami" are the only new trees/shrubs. EVERYTHING else is recycled, and I had such major doubts about the motley crew of Junipers, Viburnum, etc. that I had to incorporate into this design... But after some extreme root and top pruning I think it came out really nicely... A little bit Dr. Seuss, but I think those trees will be happy!

The sweetness of being

2007-06-20T18:13:00.001-07:00

Thrill of thrills... Walking the dogs home from Bonita, where I got my usual fish tacos and a glass of wine at the bar while I waited... FIREFLIES! So magical, ancient and utterly amazing! Once again, the little things change perspective of everything...

Then when I got home, waiting outside my door...

My landlords Jessica & Sasha are so SWEET! They left this to thank me for the garden. I feel a little bit undeserving since it is in a massive state of upheaval right now... maybe I'll post some pic's of that tomorrow! I am so blessed to get to live here!

Guerrilla Gardening

2007-06-19T18:29:00.001-07:00

I picked this book up the other day... the author, David Tracy, says,
I decided to write Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto to join the growing campaign to help cities bloom. By combining what I've learned through reporting from urban areas on six continents with what I studied about urban ecology and tried firsthand as a community planner and activist, I hope to make the case that:
1.Cities are too important to leave to people who don't care.
2. Gardening is easy, although sometime tricky when you don't have permission.
3.The planet can be saved by committed gardeners because
4. We are planting the seeds of a brighter future and
5. Our time has come.

"The phenomenon by which the sunflower's head can follow the movement of the sun throughout the day is known as heliotropism"

My amazing new bike!

2007-06-16T08:49:00.001-07:00

My friend Luke, always a hero, got me this great bike from one of his clients who didn't want it anymore. It was all rusted and the tires were flat, but after some convincing that it was worth it, the snobby bike mechanics on Lafayette hooked it up with new chains, brakes, tires, a seat, a hardcore lock and even a bell!

She even made her maiden voyage as my bike, across the Manhattan bridge, with a sedum in the basket! Maybe her name could be Sempervivum.

I just love my new bike!

The Front Yard Part 2

2007-06-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

This is those 2 planters full of perennials I brought home from the brewery last week. They seeem to have taken to the transplant and are really growing! I just love that cute little grass!

Echinacea

Agastache

The Japanese maple tree farm

The Front Yard Part 1

2007-06-16T08:28:00.001-07:00

I treated myself to a new digital camera... Thanks to Michael who helped me out so much! It has a 7.1 megapixel zoom! Yippee!

The chartreuse Campanula is sweet & spreading itself out

Rose Mallow blooms are so saturated with color

Annual Arrangements

2007-06-10T04:36:00.000-07:00

These usually end up consisting of my favorites... Below is Tithonia, Amsonia, Euphorbia "Diamond Frost" and Callibrachoa in the terra cotta shade.

Here is a funny one because I mixed two of my little pepper plants in with Tithonia, Amsonia, Bulbine and a sweet potato vine. This was the last one planted - it has all of the odd balls in it - there's also a passionflower vine in the back!

This is a "Texan" sage with something I forget the name of with the tubular flowers and a cardinal climber vine that was growing all out of control! And Euphorbia "Diamond Frost" again.

This is what happens when you plant Verbaena bonariensis - it drops seeds everywhere and the next year you have a forest of it!

Making Hypertufa planters

2007-06-09T18:01:00.000-07:00

I created the mix with 3 parts perlite, 3 parts peat moss, 2 parts Portland Cement and enough water to make it the consistency of cottage cheese.

All of the boxes are lined up and ready to go!

Shane brought me one of his Apollo Wheat beers to help the process...

First you fill the bottom of the big box, and then put the smaller box centered on top of that and fill in the space on the sides. Some recipes recommend using a piece of chicken wire in the bottom to reinforce it, but after trying this with the first two I made a month ago, it seems unnecessary with these smallish planters.

Voila! The finished product has to sit and cure for a couple of weeks...I cover them with some of the plastic sheeting so that they do not dry out too quickly.

Transplant

2007-06-09T17:50:00.001-07:00

Last year I planted these two planters with some perennials; echinacea, rudibekia, agastache, baptisia and a great little grass. I decided we should take them home so that I can take these plantings apart and relocate them in the front garden. I think they will be much more prolific with some space to spread out - they are really crammed in!

This is a pretty echinacea blooming in a very pale shade of yellow. Maybe "Sunrise"...

All loaded up!

Stunning!

2007-06-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

These photos do not do justice to the delicate beauty of the blooming Martagon Lily in the courtyard at the brewery. Thay are absolutely perfect.

More arty stuff

2007-06-07T00:00:00.001-07:00

I love this artist, Nikki McClure, who uses an x-acto knife to cut her designs into paper. She creates all sorts of prints, books and t-shirts. A bunch of her stuff is one this website.
I bought this one "Sustain" today at Blue Stockings, "a radical bookstore, fair trade cafe, and activist center in the Lower East Side of Manhattan".
I think the poppies are great!

You can't deny the cuteness...

2007-06-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

Syneilesis aconitifolia, 'Shredded umbrella plant', was impossible to resist... "This is a rare woodland plant, native to Japan and Korea... In early spring, the white wooly leaves push through like May Apples." It goes on to say that it gets 18" tall and forms a 2' colony , spreading by rhizomes. It is a total shade plant, so I put it under the Kalmia.

These little sedum babies were pinched off of some sedum I got Jose for one of his jobs... They're waiting for the perfect sunny spot!

“Plant kindness and gather love”

Slow progress in the front yard

2007-06-05T15:47:00.000-07:00

I added a few perennials to the home garden from the brewery garden, because I can enjoy them much more at home, and I think the brewery should be mainly annuals. So I transplanted a Caryopterus clandonensis 'Blue Mist', Achillea millefolium, a Perovskia and something I am guessing to be Sophora microphylla. The photo below shows the very bottom trunk of a dwarf cherry I rescued from the back yard at work, to the left Echinacea purpurea 'Razzmatazz' (an impulse buy at the nursery), the Sophora to the right and Geranium sanguineum var. striatum (a white blooming cranesbill).
A mystery plant also rescued from the backyard at work - a Viburnum?

This is the Achillea and a new purchase Callirhoe involucrata - Rose Mallow (attracts butterflies!)

This shot has the Caryopterus on the far left, a second hand sedum recycled from work (maybe from the same location as the viburnum?!?), a tender fern-leafed lavender and to the right behind that a little chartreuse Campanula

Gardening on the Roof

2007-06-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today I planted a whole bunch of annual planters at the brewery. Since it is so blazing hot up on the roof, I tried a new strategy - "Rain Mat" - which is a sheet of what looks like felt that you put at the bottom of the pot and it absorbs and slowly releases water, "Place mats in the root zone of containers to reduce watering to as little as every 7 to 10 days. They hold moisture in the soil and slowly release traces of potassium, not sodium (salt)."

Everything looks a little bit wilty since it was so super sunny today!

The shady planters are really filling in - that astilboides in the corner is getting big again!

Martagon lilies look like they will bloom next week!

"'O Tiger-lily,' said Alice, addressing herself to one that was waving gracefully about in the wind, 'I wish you could talk!' 'We can talk,' said the Tiger-lily: 'when there's anybody worth talking to" - Lewis Carroll

Joshua Davis

2007-05-31T20:36:00.000-07:00

My sweet friend, Jon, introduced me to an artist he admires, Joshua Davis. He mutates everyday images into random flowing patterns. Many of his pieces run along a botanical theme or maybe that's just what they eventually morph into...I think his subtle interpretations are truly lovely.

Mom

2007-05-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom, this is the shrub you were talking about in the message you left.Lagerstroemia indica, Crepe Myrtle, is usually found in zones 6 and up, but Boston is what, zone 4? It should be pruned back in the fall, and I think you should definitely dig it up if you sell your place, just relocate it to a southern sheltered spot! I love you!

Veggie garden update

2007-05-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

I planted a ton of the hot pepper seedlings in the veggie garden. Also the baby Genovese basil seedlings - my favorite for making pesto! It's gonna be some spicy pesto this summer!

Peppers...

The Community Garden

2007-05-29T19:25:00.001-07:00

There is a lot of room for improvement at the Clifton Place community garden... I do not yet know the history of the lot, but there seems to be a lot of rubble and random junk all over the place. So I decided, rather than dig out all of this rubble, I would just dump the recycled soil from my front yard on top of it and call it great drainage. Anyhow, this is a before picture of the shady side of the lot.

And another...

This is where I weeded and dumped a dozen bags of soil (yes, I haul around really heavy bags of soil for pleasure, at sunset, on a holiday) and planted a bunch of homeless plants that were wasting away in the backyard at work. Mainly hostas, some miscantus, astilbes and a random fern.

Grow plants GROW!

I didn't really know who to consult about this, so I just went ahead. The one guy who I gave money to, in return for a key, didn't really seem to care. So being an impulsive Aries, I just did it. And I think it's great. And it's just the beginning!

The front yard - planting

2007-05-28T20:51:00.001-07:00

Some major work went on in the shady corner over the weekend, I planted some salvaged sensitive and cinnamon ferns, as well as the large leaf hosta. On a nursery run last week I got a cimicifuga, sambucus racemosa, some mini hostas ("lemon lime" and "Venusta"), and a deciduous azalea I have been coveting for years, Schlippenbachi, "Royal Azalea".
These are some grasses salvaged from a roof top demo job. Also hard to see in this picture are a dwarf cherry and what I am guessing to be a Viburnum, both also salvaged!

I bought this Kalmia latifolia from my company, it was an extra from a job, and it fits perfectly into the corner here!
So here is an "arial" shot from the top of the stoop... All of those bags lined up along the edge are full of soil I've removed from the front section, destined to be fill for rubble filled future raised beds at the community garden.

The diggingest dogs

2007-05-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

The dogs love to hang out in the yard with me while I'm working, and sometimes they are inspired to dig too!

...but usually they just plants themselves in the holes they dig!

Naptime!

Working in the yard - Bricks

2007-05-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

There was a problem in the yard with too much soil, it was spilling over into the neighbors yard and was uneven. My landlord said I could help myself to bricks from this pile in the back...
So, I sorted through them and carried many armloads through to the front...

Then I dug out all the old, spilling soil between the privet hedge roots and the iron fence and bagged it up to take away to the community garden. I placed the bricks (with the pretty sides out, of course!) and backfilled with some nice soil I mixed up.

Now there is a mini brick wall from front to back and I must say, it looks great!

Gardening Sunday

2007-05-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today I got to spend a couple of precious free hours in my front yard... I spent most of that time quadrouple digging the front 3rd of the yard, I'm going to work from the sidewalk back. I mixed in all sorts of composts and soil conditioner. When I sent in a soil sample to be analyzed, it came back to be deficient in organic material and phosphorus. I am using Epsoma's Triple Super Phosphate 0-46-0, which comes in a granular form that I broadcast
into the soil. Should get the job done!

I also planted some little things that have been hanging around: asarums,Erythronium, some clumps of iris and daylilies I moved from other parts of the yard to a sunnier location. Tomorrow I have to get a hose!

At the community garden I planted a zucchini and...

..curley parsley and chives I bought at the Farmer's Market in Fort Greene yesterday.

There is nothing pleasanter than spading
when the ground is soft and damp.
- John Steinbeck

Rescue mission

2007-05-18T18:14:00.000-07:00

I very carefully uprooted 11 baby Japanese maple seedlings today at a job... They are from 2 very large "Bloodgood" Maples we installed last year. And by installed I mean we removed half of the root ball (4' diameter) and branches (and prayed) so that they could be squeezed into two tiny (3'x3' & 2'x3') little city spots in front of a client's home. In fact, one of these very expensive trees was bought to go in the neighbors yard, directly next door. We got a little nervous when the tree next door immediately dropped all of it's leaves - due to stress - so when it leafed out beautifully this spring, that was crossed off the mental worry list!

My dogs

2007-05-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

So, I have to give a shout out to my sweet, sweet dogs...

Delilah and Bandit hold it down at the brewery on a daily basis, but especially love Saturdays because that is when my boyfriend gives brewery tours and they are in charge of meeting and greeting tons of new beer loving people, herding them and sometimes eating their pizza crusts. Saturday is also my big day of gardening in Red Hook at the brewery.

Seedling update

2007-05-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

The hot peppers are looking great! They'll go in the garden this weekend.

My sweet friend Kevin gave me his old digital camera! Thanks Kevin! He is one of the owners of Barcade, one of the best bars in all of Brooklyn!

This is a picture of Central Park I took from a penthouse roof where I am implementing a massive design. Directionally this is looking SW from the Upper East Side, towards Columbus Circle.

This is a killer rooftop garden I spied out of my friend Mark's window on the Upper West (he is on the 38th floor!)He lives in Columbus Circle - that is the park again in the lower right...

Mystery solved - the massive leaved plant is Astilboides! Thanks Xris!!! I clipped this leaf off after I took the picture, it was bullying the cimicifuga!

Community Gardening

2007-05-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

This is our spot in the community garden! With four of us, it was easy work to clear it and mix in many bags of great compost.

This is Bob spreading our secret weapon uber compost...

This is Bob's daughter, Adele, one of the coolest kids I've met in a long time, planting the first four heirloom tomato plants... We're using the 'pack it all in' biodynamic method!

Tragedy

2007-05-08T19:56:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of the front yard with the hedge completely chopped. Pretty bare! This is also the last time I saw my plants from the plant sale (in the 2 brown paper bags)... when I came home from work, someone had filtched them!

It's not like they were especially pretty or fancy plants, they were random, obscure natives and such. I hope they found a good home!

Nothing like a mesh bag of hibernating ladybugs in your fridge to make you feel better!

"Ladybugs can eat over 5000 aphids (and other soft body insects) during their lifetime of about a year. Ladybugs are one of the few beneficial insects that can be stored for between one and ten weeks, dormant, in the refrigerator at a temperature between 35 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep them above freezing, and you can let some out occasionally as needed."

Gardening Sunday

2007-05-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

I got up early this morning to go to the NARGS plant sale, which was amazing! I only got one rock garden plant, all of the rest are super great shady plants... Check out my stash:

I intended these for my front yard, which I thought was shady, but I guess I was wrong, because today I spent the rest of my mid-day tearing into the front yard and it was very sunny! Change of plans! I didn't take any pictures of that but I did take some of the community garden, here's my plot:

There's also an incredible tulip display

Bandit

There is no spot of ground, however arid, bare or ugly,
that cannot be tamed into such a state as may give an
impression of beauty and delight.
- Gertrude Jekyll

Progress at the brewery garden

2007-05-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

I have been doing some research on my mystery plant and I am pretty sure it is a type of gunnera, aka dinosaur food! I think this variety maxes out at a 2-3' leaf, so it will definitely have to be transplanted some day (soon!)I am hopeful it will create an umbrella effect over the other shade plants, which it seems to be doing. I think it is making "Mouse Ears" hosta (next to it) feel big and tough!

I found fresh cat poo in this planter, and I've been having a hard time locating mushroom compost, so in a moment of motherly panic for my plants, I bought some blood meal at Lowes and sprinkled it around having heard that squirrels don't like it... maybe it goes for cats as well? And yes, as a vegetarian, I have massive quams with blood meal, but I was desperate. First I sprinkled some really great compost around.

This is a gunnera...!

One of the bench side planters planted with tricyrtis, angelica, ostrich fern and hosta "ginko craig"... The other planter is planted with the same and last year I filled in the empty spots with annuals.

This is one of many perennial collection planters. Essentially what happened while I worked at the nursery last spring was plant hording. A delivery came in, I had to have certain plants, then didn't have anywhere to put them, so I would buy a planter and put them on the rooftop. I tried to stick to tough sun lovers! My boyfriend came home and asked me if I was growing asparagus! It is actually baptisia, in with echinacea and some other unrecognizables...

NARGS Annual Chapter Plant Sale

2007-05-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

This is our big fundraiser, so if you're local and interested you should come by! Sunday May 6th, 9-11am. The sale will take place in the beautiful courtyard garden behind Merchants House Museum, 29 E. 4th Street between Lafayette and Bowery.

A preview of some plants for sale:

Arisaema ringens

Aquilegia flabellata nana

Podophyllum hexandrum

The brewery courtyard

2007-05-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

In the courtyard of the brewery, where a lot of keg action takes place, there is this planter and also, not pictured, is a bench with planters on either side. It is super shady down here, so I was able to plant lots of really great woodland species last year. In the center is a Japanese Maple, Acer shirasawanum f. aureum. It was covered with aphids so we sprayed it, and I have a package of Lady bugs in our refrigerator to let loose in a couple of weeks...

Showing here is cimicifuga racemosa "brunette", Hakonechloa macra 'Aurea', Asarum europeum... and a huge leafed guy I am spacing on the name of right now (not gunnera). At the base of the tree is polygonatum humile, a dwarf variety (excellent plant) just poking out...

Adiantum pedatum, Maidenhair fern, which I LOVE, unfurling.

SEEDLING UPDATE:
I gave a light feeding with Foxfarm's "Grow Big" liquid food. I love this company! Bob picked us up some copies of the keys to our community garden, so we're going to go check out our plot!

Cucumbers!

“All the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of yesterday”

The Sixpoint Rooftop Garden

2007-04-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

One of my most exciting personal urban gardening projects is the rooftop at my boyfriend's brewery, Sixpoint Craft Ales. It was already hardscaped with decking, built in benches, a bar and an arbor. This is a view of the arbor.

Last year I started a hop farm for the arbor, with a different strain of hops at each support post. These are planted in whiskey barrels accompanied by different ornamental grasses. The race is on and Centennial has taken the lead, Cascade is a close second!

Mmmm... puddle water!

The only real problem is the three cats that live at the brewery, who like to poop in my planters. Someone in my Rock Garden club said that cats don't like mushroom compost. So I am trying to find someone who sells it locally - it is the medium the mushrooms were grown on, not actual mushrooms. My next option is to post the cats on Craig's List as "Free Cats"!

Urban gardens

2007-04-29T05:56:00.000-07:00

This amazing metal planter was scavenged by my old roomie, Rita, and I, on our very industrial block in Bushwick. The super said it was used to catch pieces of fabric as they were cut on big machines. I used it as a planter for various house plants in our apartment. Now it has been relocated to my rooftop garden in Red Hook, where it is a temporary home to last years' skeletal zinnia pots... Soon it will be a rock garden!

I have found some other really clever urban gardening solutions... The Leopoldo City Garden is a very clever design consisting of a recyclable aluminum structure that supports flexible black growing trays of waterproof artificial raffia. It has wheels and comes flat in a bag for easy transport... Brilliant!

Another solution, reminds me of the sand table in nursery school, is the Horturbà (Urban Garden). Made of galvanized steel, it comes equipped with a drain valve and a drip irrigation system!

The latest seed pics!!!

2007-04-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

Once again, the beans win the race! Who can compete with the overachieving legume family? If you suffer from any sort of self-doubt or insecurity, grow some beans, they will make you feel like you can do anything! These are purple runner beans, a beautiful vine, more decorative than edible, but who needs function when you can have fabulous!?!

I had to have a serious pep talk with my sunflowers... they reminded me of whinnie-the-pooh with the honey jar stuck on his head...

So I did the unthinkable and picked off the seed casings... I couldn't help myself, it had to be done.

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in. "

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

2007-04-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

I was a little nervous to leave the bitty seedlings for the weekend, so I gave them lots of water and left the covers off...

These are basil, Japanese climbing cucumber and some different varieties of zinnia...

and here are some sunflowers in the foreground... Yes I am going to try to grow sunflowers on the roof top! Could be dangerous!

A little bulbous surprise in the front garden...

The front garden currently looks absolutely terrible enough for its "before" shot! Regard:

The landlord is renovating the lowest level, so those are some bags of the rubble. And one night, in the twilight hours, I was manic and started to hack back the sidewalk side of the privet hedge. I only got so far as the fence to the neighbors before the light gave out and I gave up to a potential blister on my thumb (no gloves!)

SPROUTS!!!

2007-04-19T03:43:00.000-07:00

I put these seeds in on Thursday before I left work, thinking they would be warm and germinate over the weekend. When I got in on Monday...

Hyacinth bean and moonflower busting through!

This is Mina Lobata - an amazing blooming annual vine that I LOVE!

So I decided it was time for some more light and they moved from the front office window to the gro-light in the back of the other office.

I have to get my buddy Bob, some sunglasses, since the light is practically over his desk! Bob and I scored a shared plot in the community garden in our neighborhood, Clinton Hill, in Brooklyn. He's in charge of weeding! Thanks Bob!

Better Late Than Never

2007-04-13T04:49:00.000-07:00

I was very excited to start some seeds at work yesterday! I am going to use a light set-up there and get a timer so it will go on and off automatically. Believe it or not, seed starting soil is very difficult to find in Manhattan (Jiffy peat pots were the closet I could find, and they never work for me) so my sweet boyfriend brought me a bag at work that he got out in Brooklyn.

I think I must have sounded a little bit stressed out about the urgency of starting these seeds before the weekend because he also brought me this:

(those are lotus pods!)

I was able to get my seeds in dirt and they are germinating over the weekend. On Monday I will put them under the lights! I planted a whole lot of different peppers, cucumbers, gourds, flowers... 2 trays worth! Then I got home and found a secret stash of seeds here! So I'll do another tray on Monday...

My co-worker, Jose, found a box of bulbs that didn't get planted last fall, so I took the daffodils. They've been sitting withering on our dining table for a couple of weeks (hoping they would not go to the compost heap), so I planted them in an old plant box on the fire escape that the former tenant had left behind. First I mixed in a bunch of sandy soil from an old succulent pot so they don't get too wet and turn to mush.

Incentive: if you grow and bloom, I will transplant you into the front garden!

Springtime Magic

2007-04-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

An amazing harbinger of spring, Bloodroot is usually a woodland native... imagine my surprise when I came across this little patch at The Arbor House, a bed and breakfast where we spent the night in Madison Wisconsin last weekend. The Arbor House is an amazing little eco-inn, a model for urban ecology.

When bloodroot first emerges, often busting through the leaf litter as in this photo, the single leaf is wrapped around the white flower bud. Slowly it unfurls to present a perfect little white flower with a golden center...

It truly is the little things that make life great!

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

North American Rock Garden Society

2007-03-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

HAPPY SPRING EQUINOX!
The Manhattan Chapter of NARGS met last night - my first meeting! There was a very exciting slide lecture given by Mike Slater about Dry Sand Plunge Beds.

(not all of the slides were upside down!)
As a city dweller with no terra firma, I will be casting my own hypertufa planters. Trough gardens were originally made out of old feeding troughs for farm animals, before steel. These mini landscapes were micro-climates for alpine, succulent, drought tolerant plants where you can grow almost anything even more difficult plants... The constant theme is dwarf or smaller plants. Dare I say "cute" (a word I have been banned from saying in my household due to overuse and abuse) plants...

These are hypertufa planters. You mix up:
2 parts Portland cement
3 parts of coconut fiber or peat moss
3 parts of perlite
This cottage cheesey mess is smushed between 2 boxes, sometimes reinforced with chicken wire, and dries into a super great lightweight trough!
So, in about a month, when it's actually warm out, I'll be spending my Saturdays cranking out a bunch of these babies! And where, are you wondering, in my urban oasis will they reside??? The fire escape of course! It gets beautiful bright western light!

I will also keep a shady one in the front, purely because I must have hosta "mouse ears" which could easily become lost in the "big" garden. At work I spend all day designing, installing, and maintaining meticulously stunning gardens in very restricted spaces. So when I come home... It's good to know yourself as a gardener, your habits, etc. My compulsion is to over-plant my personal gardens. This is partly because I obsess over and fall in love with new plants daily and must have them. Then I irrationalize any spacing advice given on tags, in books or by my own common sense and cram them together. This is "cottage garden style", no?

Look what's blooming!

2007-03-18T05:25:00.000-07:00

From this....

To this! I LOOOVE amaryllis! These two are from the same batch from last year and are really stunning! The amazing week of bloom is worth the six months they spend recouping in the storage unit. I have four but only two decided to send up bloom shoots this year. I am thinking of sprinkling the no-shows with some bulb-tone. There is one I really want to bloom because it is a mini.

I freaked out at Whole Foods last week when I walked in and saw the seed carousel set up all full of seed packets. There is something so special to me about seed packets - like little presents. So much can come from so little! When I got home and laid them out to admire them, I realized I got all vines! I guess they will be going out on the fire escape!

It was funny because the same day I bought these vine seeds (Gourd Hard-shelled Corsican, Hyacinth Bean Vine "Ruby Moon" and Moonflower) my coworker Luke brought me some white wisteria seeds from a job he had been spring cleaning. I save all sorts of seed heads and pods from wherever I find them, usually at work, nurseries or public gardens (when no one's looking!) to use in my own personal guerrilla gardening efforts in my neighborhood. I only sow these seeds in abandoned lots, empty planters... I even heaved our Halloween stoop pumpkin over a chain link fence in the middle of the night hoping it might sprout!

Naughty Earthworms

2007-03-15T15:16:00.000-07:00

My coworker, Luke, left a very disturbing article on my desk today that he had torn out of the New York Times about earthworms destroying forest ecosystems!
I have heard about fishermen throwing unused bait on riverbanks and these worms changing the soil content so that the native flora died out and more aggressive "weedy" varieties took over. It seems the worms destroy the forest floor by upestting the micro-fungal colonies that decompose the leaf litter and woody material. The calcium infused worm castings change the pH from acidic to more alkaline and also add a stronger dose of nutrients such as nitrogen.
I love the earthworms! The boys at work have teased me for sifting through soil we're trashing in order to salvage any worms and replant them... maybe from now on I should let them ride on into the landfill in the rubble bags to do their magic there? Overall, it is crucial knowledge for me as far as acidic, woodylandish plantings go since we spread earthworm casting at my firm in fact I did so today in 6 penthouse planters I was spring cleaning... And you know there are eggs in there!

Composters

2007-03-10T09:06:00.000-08:00

I am thinking that I am going to put the composter on the fire
escape, so I am looking for something small and completely sealed (I
don't think the landlord would be too thrilled to have compost tea
dripping down their windows! Or to have rats visiting...) I am set on the tumbler type for their efficiency and usually they have a reserve on the bottom where
you can siphon off compost tea!

This looked so cute but then when I saw it full size it was really big and more like a scary pear from a theme park.
The website was also in Spanish, so I was lost!

This one looks cool but not really my style... Too fancy or something... "TheBluePlanetSMART ’s round shape
gives it a surface/volume ratio that is smaller than for any other
shape. The smaller the ratio, the less the impact of heat loss on the
total heat generated and the faster the decomposition."

This is a Happy Farmer Bokashi composter. "Bokashi" means "fermented organic matter" in Japanese, so this type of composter is actually a fermenter
which produces a nutrient rich soil conditioner, as well as a liquid
compost tea that can also be used to clear kitchen/bathroom drains! You
sprinkle a microbe inoculated sawdust and bran mix with your kitchen
scraps (including meat and dairy), filling the entire unit, and two
weeks it is ready! Odorless and amazing, it could easily fit under the
kichen sink.

This is the composter I am leaning towards... A
very basic tumbler.
They market it as "THE ENVIROCYCLE COMPOST/COMPOSTEAMAKER IS PERFECT FOR TODAY'S HECTIC URBAN LIFE STYLE." The "hectic" part is not so appealing but it is GREAT!

Garden Art

2007-03-05T16:02:00.000-08:00

Susan Bradley creates these brilliant pieces. for indoors or out, she calls Outdoor Wallpaper. Available in all sorts of finishes:
- satin brushed stainless steel - a beautiful matt polished finish
- mirror polished stainless steel - highly reflective, like a mirror
- rusted mild steel - for an aged look...

Damask...

Modern...

How stunning as a backdrop on a boring wall! Or with an elegant clematis delicately weaving it's way through... YUM!

My boyfriend says that all he wants in the garden is a beer drinking gnome!

My Front Yard

2007-03-04T19:51:00.000-08:00

So this is my little front yard... Actually, this is the privet hedge in my little front yard! One of the first things to happen here is going to be wacking this beast back to about a third of its current size. When we moved in last October it was looking a bit sad and tired, so I'd like to give it a fresh start. It seems a good time to prune privet is late winter - so NOW!

I will also be taking out at least a dozen rubble bags of soil... These gardens often have very stale soil with little to no anaerobic activity. And the dog downstairs is old and pees in it. I have a big bag of supa dupa worm castings (with some babies inevitably riding along) to spread and will get more compost to mix in. Beside the privet there are 2 mystery hydrangea that I ruthlessly cut back to an inch and some purple bearded iris. These will be transplanted if they survive...

We face East with a huge London Plane Tree in front of our neighbor's house, (it is barely in the very top left of this picture) so it shades our yard a bit too... I'd take a big beautiful warrior street tree and a shady yard any day over a sunny yard with no tree! I love our tree! So the one definate plan is to plant a tree in the yard in honor of our landlord's mom, who passed away last year, probably a Japanese maple of some sort. Other than that...? Since I have obsessive compulsive plant disorder there will be a lot of randoms, but probably along a native plant theme. I like to think that when Babylon falls the right plants will be in the right places to reclaim the Earth! However, with the current global warming trend who knows!

Tweedle Bugs

2007-03-03T06:46:00.000-08:00

When I was little I was obsessed with the Tweedle Bugs who lived in Ernie's window box. I think it was all about their miniature world and the window box itself. I grew up very secluded in the woods and did not ever have any firsthand experience with the micro-nature of windowboxes...

Then over twenty years later, I move to Brooklyn and start working in a great plant nursery (in Caroll Gardens). One of my major jobs at the nursery is windowbox design! As an urban dweller, this can be your only link to outdoor gardening! After many loft apartments in big reclaimed warehouse buildings, now we live in the second floor apartment of a cute townhouse in Clinton Hill, and I am very excited to create some window boxes for our front 3 windows!

One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. ~William Shakespeare

The Love Tree

2007-02-25T09:14:00.000-08:00

We take the dogs to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, for off-leash hours (until 9am), to romp around with hundreds of other dogs. I came across this as we were leaving the park today. Not that I condone any sort of tree abuse, I thought this was a nice sentiment, and less harmful than someone carving into the tree...

Garden to go!

2007-02-25T08:49:00.000-08:00

How great is this! It is a cellphone strap terrarium with a green leafy plant or a cactus in a nutrient gel... My first question was whether you could transplant it after its capsule time is up!