6/29/11

The Garden of June Rains

We got quite a bit of rain yesterday. The Bay Area got more rain in June this year than it did in January. That hasn't happened since the Gold Rush. To commemorate, this morning the kitties got some supervised release.

IMG_0068

The garden has gotten away from me. Ahem. I'm removing plants now, and doing lots of pruning. I'm not going to buy any plants in 2011.

IMG_0055

Haha--just kidding. I'm sure I'll buy something. No plans to do so right now, however.

IMG_0073

The buckeye didn't bloom this year, again. It has never bloomed. I see young buckeyes blooming all over the place...but not in my garden. I think it's because I've over-amended the soil with mulch and compost, so plants grows more leaves than flowers. Well, I'm done with that. Hopefully all this lush growth is depleting the soil and making everyone a little bit less...complacent.

IMG_0075

Well, leaves are okay. I'm quite fond of branches and stems too.

IMG_0058

Some clematises are on the way out. I have a couple vines making new buds right now. More on those later.

IMG_0094

We have the last of the foxglove. Where I can, I'm letting them make seed. Unfortunately, the tall, expiring spikes tend to lean into the paths. That was fun for a while, but I'm over it. Snip, snip.

IMG_0099

Dahlias are just coming in. Except for one plant, I grew all my dahlias from seed. In pots last year, this year most of them have been moved into the ground.

IMG_0078

The garden has four passionflowers. Two are blooming: Passiflora sanguineolenta,

IMG_0098

and P. citrina.

IMG_0090

Meanwhile, the compost bin is getting a lot of action.

IMG_0083

6/21/11

In Brooklyn

These three colors--green and two members of the brown family--figure prominently in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood which I visited last Thursday.

IMG_0079

IMG_0077

IMG_0008

IMG_0010

IMG_0013

A friend from college has been living there for a number of years. He's moving back to California soon, and I was lucky enough to catch him while he was still there. We had a fine lunch at Campo de' Fiori--salads, the cured meat sampler, and square-cut Roman pizza--and then we visited the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

He said people call this "the California market" because it has a parking lot and people can fit down the aisles side-by-side. I had to take a picture of the California market. It's funny that California is the reference point, because grocery stores are like that everywhere outside of New York (even in other dense cities, like San Francisco).

People in Park Slope call this "the California market" because it has a parking lot and people can fit down the aisles side-by-side.

Brooklyn has meadow scenes too, just like Manhattan.

IMG_0022

That bed was in front of the Brooklyn library.

IMG_0024

Near here, I very much admired these urns. Want!!

IMG_0074

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden was more like an estate garden than what I'm used to seeing in a botanic garden.

IMG_0035

Lots of roses.

IMG_0048

IMG_0072

IMG_0034

IMG_0045

IMG_0046

IMG_0037

IMG_0050

IMG_0049

And there's a large greenhouse complex...

IMG_0052

where they keep all the plants we grow outdoors in California...

IMG_0054

IMG_0056

IMG_0057

And many that we do not.

IMG_0058

IMG_0060

IMG_0059

IMG_0063

"The Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden is one of the oldest and most visited Japanese-inspired gardens outside Japan. It is a blend of the ancient hill-and-pond style and the more recent stroll-garden style, in which various landscape features are gradually revealed along winding paths." Link.

IMG_0067

It was lovely indeed, but at this point I needed to hydrate so we did not linger long.

6/20/11

The High Line

Do not visit the High Line in the middle of the day. Go early or late, I think.

Don't visit the High Line in the middle of the day like I did. Go early or late, I think.

Even with the sea of humanity, it was still a thrill to visit my first Piet Oudolf garden. Since I am not afraid to make bold pronouncements, I will go ahead and call this the greatest new public space of the 21st Century. I can't be the first person to say so. What else could possibly push it out of the Number 1 position?

This was my first enounter with a Piet Oudolf garden. Even w/ the crowds it was a total thrill.

From now on when I visit New York, I will try to come here first thing in the morning. It sounds like Guy's job will be happy if he goes to New York at least once or even twice a year. I will tag along when I can. I think we might go in October. In the meantime, I will fondly recall a blazing hot Saturday in June.

IMG_0147

IMG_0148

IMG_0152

IMG_0150

IMG_0145

IMG_0155

This was my first visit to a Piet Oudolf landscape.... Even with the crowds, it was a real thrill.

IMG_0142

IMG_0144

IMG_0139

IMG_0157

Good for you, New York.

High Line, I look forward to our next meeting.