Serenity in the Garden

what color do you prefer? Pink and red JAPAN - Nikko Bridge Blue Moon Bridge, Quatre Veints MONET -  for more of Giverny click here 

High Line, NYC Big news: In New York City, the High Line at the Rail Yards - the third and northernmost section of the park - is now open to the  public!   New York’s extraordinary elevated public space now extends  nearly 1.5 miles from Gansevoort Street to West 34th.  You can experience the city from a different perspective as the High Line takes a  big swing west toward the Hudson River around old railroad  yards .    Piet Oudolf plantings In this last and final section of the park to open, part of the old rail line that was abandoned years ago is left intact. from this and that blog  The landscape planting plan was done by Dutch designer  Piet   Oudolf   who left the rusted tracks filled with Queen Anne's lace, chokecherry, milkweed -which is just what you'd expect to find in an abandoned lot.  In addition,  there are benches and picnic tables, a spacious plaza and a place where ch...

HGTV.  October is upon us and the  nights are getting darker. So put on an extra layer and place some outdoor lights in your backyard and enjoy the last gasps of outdoor living. Early evening in the garden can be a magical experience in the fall if you add small lights here and there. The other night I had some guests come for an outdoor dinner. I placed many flickering tea light candles (battery operated) in small glass holders and set them all around the area.  Tall and low, the  effect was dazzling. I placed them atop a low wall and on low tables. I would have had some hanging from low tree limbs but I didn't have the right lights.  Now that there are  tea light candles  that are battery operated there are so many things you can do! This one has a a built-in timer that turns them off automatically (click on caption for a link) : tea light battery candle These are the ones I used below - flickering li...

Bartow Pell Mansion   On Tuesday, Sept 23, 7:30 pm -  I will be giving a Powerpoint talk based on my book, 'Heaven is a Garden' at B artow Pell Mansion Museum .  Please join us! It  the only grand 19th century 'country house' still in existence on Pelham Bay and  is an important link to the  history of New York City.   Reception and book signing follows. Tuesday, September 23, 2014 -  7:30 p.m.   895 Shore Road, Pelham Bay Park Bronx, NY. The wonderful formal terraced  garden behind the house is a delight.  Bartow Pell Gardens And the old trees are memorable. tree at Bartow Pell Mansion

Jan Johnsen,  Johnsen Landscapes & Pools I write about the seductive allure of curves in the landscape in my book... so gracious and inviting. 

sukkahs on buildings When I was a kid I lived for a few years in Borough Park, Brooklyn.  Every autumn I would see little sheds attached to the residential buildings, sometimes as much as several stories above the sidewalk. Adorned with leaves or branches, these were festive huts that my Jewish neighbors would eat their meals in for a week.... I went home to our small apartment and announced that I wanted to build a sukkah.....no luck. brooklyn sukkah The Jewish 'sukkah' is Biblical in origin. It is an   ephemeral, elemental shelter, erected for one week each fall, in which it is customary to share meals, entertain, sleep, and rejoice . The sukkah's function is to commemorate the temporary structures that the Israelites dwelled in during their exodus from Egypt,  but the function is also to express universal ideas of transience and permanence  in architecture.  click here for source The sukkah ..... calls on us to acknowledg...

In ancient times people collected dew water from lamb fleece. Over night the dew would collect on the fleece and this would be wringed into a container. Lanolin, a waxy ester, came out of the fleece and mixed with the dew water. It protects skin with a thin coating so when people washed their face with that dew water they had what people called "a dewy complexion". Tal Ya Water Collectors The same idea can be used for plants...Collect dew water over night and give it to plants. Lets do this in California where they need water badly for the crops that feed the US. The Tal Ya tray is an aluminum composite  tray that responds to shifts in temperature between night and day. When a change of 12 degrees C  (21 degrees F)  occurs, dew forms on the tray surfaces and this condensation is funneled straight to the plant and its roots.  tal ya dew collector and tree  Since water from dew is 'distilled' water this alleviates the problem of salini...

Hedera colchica 'Sulphur Heart'  is an evergreen ivy that has received The Royal Horticultural Society prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM).    This is a hard-to-find plant that deserves wider use as ground cover, in city gardens and on walls.  Zones 6a - 9 It is a large leaved, variegated ivy with bright gold and lime green variegations ( some solid gold centers can cover 60% of the leaf surface) which  brightens up a dark shady wall. 'Sulphur Heart' Persian Ivy clings to walls  with its aerial roots - splash walls with water to help new plants start clinging but don't grow where the mortar is unsound or the roots may cause damage! Plant Delights nursery notes its very vigorous growth habit: "H. Sulphur Heart makes a great groundcover, and is extremely useful in camouflaging old abandoned school buses." Here it is climbing a wall (at right) at Chanticleer, a Pleasure Garden . Chanticleer by Lisa Roper