Coming Soon: Korean chrysanthemums, 2009 edition

On view at the Conservatory Garden, Central Park, 105th and 5th Ave, New York, NY, 8am-5pm daily from now until the morning of November 12th.

long morning shadows

Happy Halloween...

from arborboy
and felis femina
they actually lasted through the night, amazing! And on the way to work at dawn the next morning I found this relic at one of the local intersections. Love how it seems to be looking back at you. While we are on the subject, feliz Dia de los Muertos senores y senoras.

One Tough Betty

As we all know, this time of year the focus switches to fall color, that sensational last show taking over the northeast before we close down for the winter. But I have to interject here to show off a rose that is one tough cookie. I admit roses are not as special to me as they are to many people, but when one is so reliable and relatively so easy it obviously deserves attention.

Lynden Miller is a internationally known public garden designer and I am lucky to say a good friend. A week ago or so she was giving a presentation of her new book, Parks, Plants, and People: Beautifying the Urban Landscape at the Museum of the City of New York. She has transformed so many urban landscapes into precious and appreciated parts of our lives, necessary parts of our lives, and her guts and determination are brilliantly inspiring. She was showing pictures of gardens she has overseen the rescue and renovation of, including the Conservatory Garden in Central Park, certainly one of my most favorite spots in Manhattan. Lynden shared images of the garden when she began her work with the Central Park Conservancy in the early 1980's. Many of the flower beds were overgrown with weeds and you couldn't make sense of the original design, or even what was left of it. The images showed the neglect and decline over the years. And then amazingly enough, one photograph of the Burnett Fountain showed these roses. Rosa 'Betty Prior' is a modern floribunda rose, and amidst the messy green hodge-podge they lit up the bleak landscape with their perky pink single blossoms. Today the same roses are easily 30 years old or so and with regular pruning in the spring and deadheading through the summer they keep producing these amazing carmine-pink flowers until frost. That's what I call one tough Betty!


Keep in full sun in rich soil with clean surroundings and prune back hard to 10"-18" in spring. As always prune your roses above the nodes with 45-degree angled cuts so that emerging buds are all facing outward from the center of the plant. Prune anything less than pencil thickness and focus on getting as much sun into the central crown of the plant for best growth and flower.

Tree ID: Cornus florida

This is my neighbor's flowering dogwood tree, Cornus florida, photographed back in early May. Native to the northeastern US, I love these small ornamental trees in pretty much every season. The white-to-pink spring flower is pretty sensational, the "petals" of which are actually bracts. In a sheltered spot with full sun to light shade and in organic and nutrient-rich soil these trees will do well. Reference books list plenty of pest and disease issues like anthracnose can target these old beauties, but in the right spot with the right cultural care and little extra fuss I have found they can be pretty trouble free. They max out about 25'-30' tall and wide, and ultimately I think they are beautiful. Flowering dogwoods have a unique bark, alligator-like, which proves to be a helpful ID characteristic in winter. This is a specimen from my time in Massachusetts in 2006. Because of their wide range, in terms of space and hardiness, be sure to buy as local as you can for the best results.
They have a nice medium-sized leaf texture in summer and a proportionally pleasing framework to look at through winter. It's fall color comes early compared to the rest of the trees out there. Here are a couple shots of my neighbors tree again, these from mid-October.

Aquatic plants: tropical water lilies

As many of you out there in gardenland know, now is the time to get those tender tropical plants indoors for the winter. One of the great tropical plants in my summer routine which I have been meaning to write about are water lilies. Water lilies are known botanically as Nymphaea, and are found really all over the world: Australia to Asia, Africa, here in North America, and on and on.

These kinds of aquatic plants have roots that grow in soil under the water, and have to be anchored in and fertilized through the summer months when they are most active. Usually the soil is a dense clay and you top your containers with pebbles or stones, being sure to avoid covering the crown of the plant.
There are hardy species of water lilies out there that can go as cold as a Zone 3, but most of the ones you find at retailers are the tropical species and hybrids. For your all your plant buying be sure to make an effort to know the plant's cold hardiness. The USDA created a hardiness zone map that can be the most helpful when learning about plants and horticulture and especially when experimenting with tropicals in our temperate climate. It can help to show you the natural range for a plant, which then can help you figure out how to provide it with the best environment to thrive in your garden. To see what the USDA hardiness zone map looks like, and to bookmark it for yourself for the future, click here. Obviously with climate change and global warming zones are shifting and exceptions are present, but it is still an invaluable guideline as a gardener.
Most tropical Nymphaea are hardy to zones 11-12 which means they would be happily growing all the way down in southern Mexico. Tropical water lilies like a summer water temp between 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit (at least!), and in order to over-winter want a winter water temp around 50 degrees. They really need exposure to full sun in order to do well, and placid water is a must. Potting and placing aquatic plants in a water feature can be really fun and easy and provide a great twist to your summer. Of course if I had/when I have a yard big enough to have a pond I would like to experiment with both the hardy species and the intriguing might-blooming tropical Nymphaea that are out there.
And mind you, these are not lotus, which are aquatic plants in the genus Nelumbo. Some people seem to confuse the two but they are really very different plants. Water lilies grow their foliage (lily pads) on the water's surface where lotus leaves sit above the water. The same goes for the flowers, with lilies much closer to the water's surface if not on it, and lotus flowers are much more upright. This is a lotus up at the New York Botanical Garden from back when I was a student in 2005. Anyway, I'm babbling.

This is a tropical day-blooming hybrid water lily. They are on their way out now, and didn't get as much sun as last year, but still strike me as being so beautiful.

morning commute, dawn, hip hop headphones

"That's it
Turn the page on the day, walk away
'Cause there's sense in what I say
I'm 45th generation Roman
But don't know 'em, or care when I'm spittin'
So return to your sitting position and listen, it's fitting
I'm miles away and they chase me
Show your face on TV, then we'll see
You can't do half, my crew laughs
At your rhubarb and custard verses"

The Streets, "Turn the Page", off the must-have album Original Pirate Material

Now that's what I call color

Aesculus parviflora is also known as a bottlebrush buckeye


Stewartia pseudocamellia is also known as a Japanese Stewartia


And here is a little Lagerstroemia indica, the common crapemyrtle, the cultivar 'Tuskegee'

fall in New York

a mature Japanese tree lilac (Syringa reticulata) above the gold fall color of Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum sp.), the spot of red is a Hydrangea still in bloom, evergreen Vinca in the foreground and lilacs (Syringa cultivars) in the background
The fall color is just beginning in the city and it is a magical time of year for New Yorkers. Above is a kind of linden tree (the genus Tilia) turning that fabulous bright yellow with it's branches dark and stately.

The main fountain at the Conservatory Garden in Central Park shows off a beautiful rainbow when seen in the right light.

Almost completely defoliated the crabapple (Malus sp.) allees are taken back to their mature bones for the coming winter.

From top to bottom: oak (Quercus sp.), crabapple (Malus sp.), Corylopsis (Corylopsis sp.)

The big oaks begin their rain of glossy leaves and acorns.

The Corylopsis again, a few days later, with the golden Polygonatum still hanging on and the rich green Epimedium and Helleborus refusing to give in to the trend.

mum season

It's about that time of year again. The Korean chrysanthemums up at the Conservatory Garden (105th and 5th Ave.) are in bloom for the next couple weeks and you should be sure to check them out. Not at all like the "pin cushion" mums we find at the local florists, Korean mums are perhaps more of an old fashioned mum but just the same they are true perennials and fabulous. They can tolerate a cut or two during the summer, pre-August I'd say, to become nice and bushy and still put out their strong late October bloom. This pic is from last year because I keep forgetting to take my camera and get some shots on my way home from the office. But soon enough. Great fall color beginning to appear in the park, and yes, this years Korean mums once again the glorious fall show in the north end of Central Park. Take a walk and you'll be glad you did.

morning commute mood

For those of you not versed in MTA signage the digital display on the train reads "Not In Service". ...my sentiments exactly.