Fall Happenings

Been doing much of everything, here is the attempt to share most of it with you. 

The making of fall bouquets:

A respite in New Caanan, CT satiated the travel itch for an oh so brief moment. 

•  A visit to Philip Johnsons Glass House 

• Philips de Pury auction of Murray Moss 'Dialogues Between Art & Design' The Michael Anastassiades 'kinetic light,' the slender Giacometti bronze a mere 30" in height sold for $3,000,000. Naoto Fukasawa's glass bench for a cool 15k had me transfixed to surfing the sea.                              My big take home was the auction catalogue. 

• Hearing from landscape architect Ken Smith one of many projects is the East River Waterfront Esplanade. Built into the shoreline is a diagonal construction of concrete and stone for a mussle waterbed, a unique feature to rebuild ecology and clean the river water. 

•  Then to toast an evening with a book launch for Rose Hartman's Incomperable Women of Style

Next moring the spring bulbs were planted deep in the earth and we give a few more horrahs before the bitter cold sets in. 

Upstate New York

The fall is New York's time to shine and with the semblance of crispness in the air we headed out for an adventure through Westchester county, up past Albany to hip little Hudson and over to one of the many small towns, a destination spot that could be overlooked is Sharon Springs, New York. 

We saw old friends along the way and excitedly welcomed a day with the fabled Beekman Boys. Sharon Springs is a place they discovered less than a decade ago, and with unbelievable hard work and tenacity they have shared these experiences and breathed new life to a dwindiling farming community.   

The mansion is spectacular as are the 30 acres of pristine land they share with goats, pigs, turkeys and one ilama, Miss Polka Spot. 

On Sunday as we headed back in the direction of the city reflecting on a full weekend of things we liked best, out of it all was this heart shaped rock on the Beekman property. 

How did it get to be that way? Was it carved purposely as a profession of one's love? Simply discovered that way from nature? Or a bit of both...being the perfect stone to sharpen a tool and thus carving its corners to further the heart shape. 

My previous post concluded with the thought of sharpening a dull edge and while the focus was on the sharpened edge, the stone is equally important and beautifully whole; with those two objects and the strenghth of carving perhaps the ultimate goal is to being the truest we can to ourselves and others. 

just a thought...now as to the object recieving the sharpened edge, how about the neck of this turkey for Thanksgving?

For other east coast explorations from the summer are these posts:

* Adirondacks 

 * Eastern Shore of Virginia 

I Like You New York

I like you more while gardening your city spots. 

But especially like you when I can explore places outside the city and to surf your seas!

...and time spent exploring the North Fork to see where your bounty is grown!

Bear with me as I disconnect from cyber world..

 I will come back with better attention to turn those likes into love. 

The Roses are Spent...

We didn't have much of a season for roses this year in NYC. All of this heat has fried the flowers, so a tough gardening day was spent at Jefferson Market pruning the bushes, laying down buckwheat mulch to retain moisture and fertilizing with slow relese manure. Which is the stuff to use since regular fertizlier will burn with too much acidity.

It gets one thinking about this heat island effect and how crucial green spaces are to create pockets of shade to cool down a cooking asphalt city. Listening to talks from landscaping heavy weights of Hood Studio & Robin Key  can really get one going on this topic. 

But with all of that I now suffer from rose envy having seen London's Holland Park a few weeks back, those rosebeds were bursting!

Better luck next year..

Grey Gardening

couldn't tell by looking but here's nyc shrouded in cloud

most of springs been that way..i'm not complaining though, especially when pruning these roses

 

this garden i've been tending to the symmetry is off a bit, but aren't we all..

 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, here's to summer!

Springtime in Greenwich Village

Even with all this travel one would be half batty if time was not spent simply enjoying being home during these dew filled spring days.

Manhattan is at its sweetest this time of year and a stroll down my neighborhood block is a complete marvel.

Gardens tucked away begging to be peered upon... 

seeing front stoops lined with annuals and the clever ways planters are suspended to windows. 

Especially as the gardening of St. Lukes and Jefferson Market continues, yep i've been getting down an dirty pulling up spent annuals and planting perennials. May I add that it's getting even more interesting as I dug up a bone near this wall at St. Lukes last week?

*and unless it's from some overly large chicken dog I'm keeping it for further CSI investigating. My spooked husband thinks I'm a complete weirdo especially since i joked that i'm going to hide it under his pillow...boo! 

   Anyways I really can't wait to see these monkshood and the other planted handy work pop up later this summer. 

Bouquet of the Day

Look who's about to make an appearance.. 

Really a budding tuilp is not that big of a deal unless it was the first bulb you ever remember planting.                                                                                                                       It's a Black Tulip: Queen of the Night. Shocking isn't it?

So is the planter box outside our place being the extent of our dirted land. *chuckle  

I can't wait to see them in bloom when I return! 

 Where are we headed this time?*LA // Palm Springs * 

<<for Seven days>> 

ta

 xx

ta

Spent Cherry Blossoms & Daffodils

Sunday morning we ran the Cherry Blossom Race in Washington, D.C. most of the puffy pink blooms were spent, it has been an early spring. 

Monday morning was spent tying daffodil stems in knots. It's something Susan showed me today at the Jefferson Market Garden , it's our neighborhood garden here in Greenwich Village. Tying or braiding the dying daffodils keep the plants tidy and help return the nutrients back to the bulbs. 

Loving these longer days. 

My mother Suzanne and her Garden Club think daffodils are simply the best and really who can disagree? Down in Virginia they take these sweet flowers pretty seriously with annual shows , over 78 years celebrating an early spring bulb that is found virtually anywhere and bought for just a few bucks. Bright yellow and orange white tight closed buds open and suprise.  

But what has hooked me more than all the daffodils and cherry trees combined are for the Dogwoods, those ones continue to bloom nice and strong. 

Landscape drafting tonight..

Bringing Nature In

When I encounter a home with no plants or cut flowers to enjoy something is lacking. Yes plants can be a responsibility with watering and without adequate light they will perish, but with a variety of low light hearty drought tolerant plants it's tough to find an excuse.

There are makers of self watering planters for the busy traveler and ignorable plant that will do fine just about anywhere you put them. I will not resort to the faux variety but I must admit being duped a few times with excellent impersonators. If you need a little push and direction on these matters read this POST or this great article from NY Times Home & Garden.  

The Fall is an especially great time of year to bring plants indoors to liven up the space while the outdoors wilt away from frosts. It's also a good time of year for budding gardeners to save up and pre-order zippy planters which inevitably cost more than the plants. At my work Sprout Home I splurged on this incredible geometric planter from Planter Worxs a local Brooklyn company and planted two gorgeous orchids for my mantle. This beauty satiates my cut flower needs nicely. 

If you still don't get the drift houseware items that evoke the outdoors is a nice way to bring nature in. Such is this forest lamp shade I have over my table.  

Or fun textiles and prints inspired by nature, rest your eyes on these textiles from Voyesy 

and Obrist embroidery similar to a botanical plate showing plant leaves, bud, flower and root. 

Is it too much to ask for a lemon tree for Christmas?

Gardening: Part Deux

Remember this post back in July about our window box garden? 

from humble beginings:

to a start:

and four months later: 

I planted these two up just in time for the first frosts. Plant those tulip bulbs please!

Left a mess with the dirt, shoot can someone else can take care of that? 

Lookin' good! 

Victory Garden

Look at this sorry state of our planter box, it's laughable really... 

Greeting me home for the past six weeks, time in our new abode was spent wondering when one was going to bring in some buddies to jolly up this lone evergreen, or for the straggler of a weed perched in our hanging basket. 

No shock to any of you, I took matters into my own hands flexing my horticultural gusto and day of Independence. 

This marks my very first gardening project, no less on Fifth Ave here in Manhattan.

See I too have land to plant!

Brad provided the Pacifico with lime in my favorite coosie and we made an afternoon of it. I would like to add another red colius maybe a few more geraniums, then get happy watching it grown in.

But first lets wait and see if any questions or complaints ensue towards this renegade planter. 

 Happy Fourth of July!

Edelweiss

Nothing beats seeing a flower harking from the snowy alps when it's pushing 100 degrees on the barometer. Everyone is damn hot and bothered in this city and I choose to grasp on the thought of snowy Switzerland to make it through the day.   

In Austria, on St. Valentine’s Day, it is tradition for a man to present a woman with a bunch of edelweiss, the implication being that he has risked his life climbing up to where the flowers grow.

Small and white, Clean and bright,
You look happy to meet me.
Blossom of snow
May you bloom and grow,
Bloom and grow forever.
Edelweiss, edelweiss, bless my homeland forever

-The Sound of Music

Hyacinth

There are not many flowers I balance between liking or loathing as I do with the hyacinth.

Popping from bulbs in early spring the hyacinth along with the daffodil perfectly evoke the Easter Season. They smell sweet, their big heads flop over and they last for a glimmer of a moment in the earth. As any florist can attest hyacinth stems are questionable, do you cut the stump and risk loosing the leafs or keep it on? Either way it's a short round pungently sweet thing edging into the common category as it parades its way into more deli's.

I guess it's as debatable as finding Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced bouquet) from Keeping up Appearances hilarious or annoying. 

I say deliciously hilarious. 

The Hyacinth has also been a flower of some great importance. Named after a charming mythological tale of a young person who, dying in the springtime of life, is fittingly changed into a flower. 

Poor Apollo accidentally lobbed off his dear companions head while throwing a discus. Alas, the jealous Zephyr from the west wind was believed to be the true culprit of Hyacinth's death, something of a homosexual lovers triangle if you will. As horror struck Apollo held the injured Hyacinth he watched as the bloodstained grass bloomed a wondrous flower, hence the hyacinth. 

by: Peter Paul Rubens [1577-1640]

© Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Mozart that little whiz wrote his first true opera at age 11 based on this myth.   

Suppose I just need to show this flower the respect it deserves. 

Jatropha Flower

Jatropha, an unusual flower that resembles noble red coral. Renaissance collectors believed coral was a flexible plant that turned into stone once removed from the sea.

The blood red coral was also believed to have come into existence when Perseus, flying over the sea on Pegasus, held up the decapitated Medusa's head, which dripped blood into the water with hissing sounds, causing the coral to grow.

* Perseus with Head of Medusa By: Celini

Today, the plant truly has some powerful properties having the potential to develop a new bio fuel industry, particularly for jets.  Read this Business Week article and this site from the Jatropha Alliance.   Pretty spectacular! 

Garden Clubs In Virginia Are Not Messing Around.

...or certainly not at this particular club in Alexandria, VA where I had the esteemed opportunity of giving a presentation. My topic was, "Floral Design: A New York Perspective" followed by a lesson in my style of arranging. I have never held such a captive audience! The women were incredibly gracious and the hostess lives in the finest house in Old Town, Virginia. Just stepping in the front door made my mouth salivate as my Historic Preservation degree came flooding back. 

What differenciated my floristry from these women is they compete for ribbons in various design categories spending thoughtful time and energy creating one unique arrangement under various guidelines. Unlike the flower business where you are dealing in high volume, customers, but alas much more flexibility in design. (Work vs Hobby)  I do think we mutually learned from one another, and this talk made me realize how much I enjoy a captive audience, all eyes on me please!

I can't even begin to explain the horticulturalist portion of the club, that goes over my urban apartment lifestyle. Pretty sure I figured out something I want to be involved in (maybe when I retire?) In 30 years I'll be sweeping up all those blue ribbons. 

Indoor Plants

I’m just going to put it out there and say- I know a lot about plants. Mostly the indoor kind. Having spent the past couple years in the garden center, Sprout Home I have had many a success and more failures of the plant variety. The best tidbit I have learned is there is a type of plant for every personality. I know that with my touch and go busy busy NY lifestyle I don’t want to be all that concerned with watering, and when I do tend to my green things I don’t mind the occasional misting, pruning, and fertilizing. I consider these little green growers and extension to my own hygiene habits. That’s just me, but I also don’t want to bother with tough plants, With all of that people ask me more frequently about plants. 

Below is a listing of the plants I have in our growing arboretum, or also known as my apartment.   

 1. Jasmine 1.5yrs old

Oh I really adore you. Even though you have yet to bloom, if not ever. You grow like cursive,  vines so pretty and light. 

Bright indirect light

Keep slightly moist

Mist frequently

2. String of Pearls  1.5yrs old

My go to favorite I can forget for a minuet and remember these little delicate pea like pieces of green.

Full afternoon to strong morning light. 

A Succulent so let it fully dry out between watering. 

3. Ficus, Rubber Plant 2yrs

An excellent air purifier and very easy to maintain. Dry out between watering. 

Full to part sun

 4. Dracaena  3yrs

My biggest of the bunch, beats getting curtains to cover my big windows. 

Dry out fully and give a big soaking. Indicator of over-watering yellow tips on leaves. Under watering floppy leaves. 

Easy plant 

5. Insane Prickly Pear Cactus 1yr

I have a love hate with this cactus. I keep neglecting it and it keeps getting bigger and gnarlier. 

Full sun, drought like watering

 6. Jade Plant 3mnths

Full sun dry out between watering, is a member of the cactus/succulent family.

 7. More Cactus

8. Ferns 6mnths

Pretty little guys with an endless assortment of types. Keep moist, mist frequently 

 9. Fern, Lemmon Button 3mnths

Dido

 10. Begonia 3mnths

Dry a bit between watering, part sun

11. Coleus 3mnths

The name of this plant makes it even cooler. 

 12. Basil

Full Sun, Lots of water. Pinch off and never let is blossom if you want to eat it, bitter!

 13. Arugula

Dido

Seedlings & Monogramming

As if planning a wedding 3,000 miles away two weeks from today is not enough,  I'm going to try my hand at growing from seed. My gal pal Heather from "I Grew This" and I are trading seeds these early Spring days. She has a bunch of one thing, I hope to have a bunch of other seeds for her. Together we hope to complete our little city gardens, I put a little (lot) less faith in my own green responsibilities-but what the heck...

On another note I couldn't be more excited about my thank you cards!! 

I had Jenna, my most magical calligrapher from "Love Jenna" my make our initials <BWL> which I then had made into a plate for an engraved copper foil stamp. 

 Here is the finished card! Now don't you totally want to gift me something so you can get one of these pretties in the mail? 

Poppies

I have strayed away from naming my favorite flowers, trying my best to say that I have love them all equally like a litter of my very own children. This time I have to break my rule to tell you about one of my favorites, the poppy. 

These poppies I purchased came from Italy. When you get a fresh bunch of poppies the buds are tightly sealed in a green fuzzy shell that you have to delicately peel off to reveal the orange, red, pink, and white papery petals. The centers are dark purple blue and the fuzzy stems grow in every which direction like a bold cursive letter. 

While being a delicate and finicky flower I have no problem saving poppies after they have wilted, the flower remains eerily beautiful. Poppies are the Greek symbol for eternal sleep and oblivion, imagination and dreaminess.

 

In the Wizard of Oz while on their way to the Emerald City, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion walk through a field of poppies, and both Dorothy and the Lion mysteriously fall asleep, as if from the opium of poppies. The Scarecrow and the Tin Man, not being made of flesh and blood, are unaffected. They carry Dorothy to safety and place her on the ground beyond the poppy field.

Regardless of the history of poppies and its dangerous uses, this flower remains one of the most beautiful buds I have seen. It is not common to find these flowers in the market which add to their intrigue and mystery, and the pods are just as unusually beautiful to see. 

England

While this marks my seventh trip to England I left feeling many more trips are needed. Generally based in London, this time I had another opportunity to go to the midlands to the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. This was a four day packed trip seeing my wonderful girlfriends, exploration, and concluding with a most spectacular wedding. 

I have wanted to visit this spot before and this time my request was answered. Chelsea Physic Garden is often called London's 'secret garden' and is  the second oldest botanical garden in Britain.

Founded in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and it's purpose above all else was to teach students the phamacological uses of different plants.  

Let's just say this place was magic. I brought the stone I found on the beaches of Rhode Island and placed it in a special spot which I hope to see again.   

My friends Anna & Meaghan were such a deilght to see and I am so excited to brag about them. Meaghan is beginning this fall at Central Saint Martins for her MFA, she is a very talented jewelry designer and I can't wait to follow her creative career path. 

...and here are snapshots from Anna's breathtaking home. 

 

With all of that I will need to dedicate another post to the English Countryside.

The Hamptons

I'm not exaggerating the Hamptons is a beautiful, bountyfull, mecca.

While this marks my third trip to the oasis one calls Long Island I got most sense of the place this time around, (we had a car) This one point probably marks its only unattractive quality. Being that I am still "green" to these areas it now makes sense- before the mega mansions multiplied this was farm land, and the area has done a remarkable job holding on to its roots. Driving down Montauk highway was garden center after garden center, fresh veggie stands, and flowers galore. 

One such spot is Halsey's Green Market in Watermill. This is a twelve generation farm where one can get fresh flowers especially cut for you. 

A field of zinnias and sunflowers! 

Vineyards of the most delicious wines. 

Rose wine from the Wölfer Estate Vineyard  Bridgehampton. 

Landscape & Garden design is very serious in these parts and seeing these estates shows it. One such woman is Victoria Fensterer who is responsible for restoring Grey Gardens. 

So with all of this you can imagine what I hope to be doing for the following summers!