Tracking to 100,000 and counting

Posted on 2009-05-25 by admin

Sometime this week, one of the counters I use to keep track of visitors to this blog will reach 100,000. I began tracking visits in August 2006, just three months after I launched this blog in May 2006.

Each tracking service counts things differently, and the counters I have disagree on how many visitors I’ve had. While the lead counter says I’ve had 99,859 visitors at this writing, another reports only 90,318, a discrepancy of 10%.

For this and other reasons, I don’t use these counters for exact tracking, but for trends and general patterns. For those purposes, they’re accurate enough; using trackers from different sources balances the systematic counting errors any single algorithm would incur.

So, regardless of whether it’s 90,000, or 100,000, or some other number, I am grateful for all the visitors I’ve had over the years. My goal has never been to manage my “hit count.” If it hasn’t been obvious, this is a personal blog. I strive to avoid (or at least minimize) self-indulgence, and make my posts timely, relevant, and informative. But it will always be with my own voice. I own my words. I recognize that’s not to everyone’s taste. For those of you who do visit here, welcome, and thanks.

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Bees, a Mockingbird, and Marriage Equality

Posted on 2009-05-22 by admin

2022-05-29: This is now the FOURTH time WNYC has broken the link. Fixed again. (What the *^!% is wrong with them?!)
2022-04-13: Updated – yet again – the link to the recording which WNYC broke for the third time.
2012-05-21: Updated – again – the links which WNYC broke – again.
2011-08-23: Updated to current links from the old ones which WNYC voided.

Domestic Bliss: Blog Widow (left) and me in the gardener’s nook on the occasion of the interview. I had just transplanted the female Ilex verticillata in the background that morning.

Two weekends ago, Blog Widow and I were interviewed by WNYC’s Kathleen Horan on the topic of marriage equality – marriage for all – in New York state. The piece aired this morning, and is available on the WNYC News Blog. We make our appearance about 4:55 into the segment.

Marriage Equality, Kathleen Horan, 2009-05-22

I didn’t get to listen to it when it aired at 7:50am this morning. I thought it might be off-topic for the blog. But since most of my part of the aired conversation is about the garden, I figure it it’s not much of a stretch. Please give it a listen, and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Links

Debating “Marriage Equality” , Kathleen Horan, WNYC

Endangered Plants in New York State

Posted on 2009-05-15 by admin

In observance of Endangered Species Day, here is a list of just some of the plants listed as endangered in New York state. Note that plants endangered in one state may not be listed in another.

Aconitum noveboracense, Northern wild Monkshood
Agalinis acuta, sandplain Gerardia
Amaranthus pumilus, seabeach Amaranth
Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum, Hart’s-tongue fern
Helonias bullata swamp Pink
Isotria medeoloides,small whorled Pogonia
Platanthera leucophaea, eastern prairie fringed Orchid
Schwalbea americana, American Chaffseed
Scirpus ancistrochaetus, Northeastern Bulrush
Sedum integrifolium ssp. leedyi, Leedy’s roseroot
Solidago houghtonii, Houghton’s goldenrod

Links

Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State:

The Native Flora Garden

Posted on 2009-05-14 by admin

For the past four years I’ve been cultivating my backyard native plant garden. I’ve been adding compost and mulching with leaves and shredded Christmas trees, as much as I can get of all of it. I’m not yet able to grow The Precious (below), but I’m learning in Soil Management class that what I’ve been doing is just what’s needed to develop the humusy, woodland soil it requires. Someday, I’ll have some in my garden (obtained, of course, only from a conservation-oriented source such as the Vermont Ladyslipper Company). Meanwhile I can enjoy them in BBG’s Native Flora Garden.

Cypripedium calceolus var. pubescens, Yellow Lady-Slipper

I find the native Lady-Slipper orchids achingly beautiful. They seem more to float than to be held up by their slender stems. Maybe they would seem less fantastic if they were more common, spreading like dandelions, and less specialized in their environmental requirements. Maybe, but not by much.

There are other beauties in bloom right now. The early Spring wildflowers have been replaced by the regime of those which bloom in late Spring, and even early Summer. Geranium maculatum is one example of something I associate more with Summer than Spring. It is, in some settings I’ve seen, a common wildflower. But I covet it for my own garden nonetheless.

Geranium maculatum

Some of the Spring ephemerals are already entering senescence. Here’s Dicentra cucullaria Dutchman’s Breeches, as it appeared Tuesday afternoon in one part of the Garden. Contrast that with how it appeared just three weeks ago in a different location.

Dicentra cucullaria, Tuesday afternoon

Dicentra cucullaria, three weeks earlier

Spring ephemeral describes a life habit of perennial woodland wildflowers which develop aerial parts (i.e. stems, leaves, and flowers) of the plant early each spring and then quickly bloom, go to seed and then quickly die back to its underground parts (i.e. roots, rhizomes, and bulbs) for the remainder of the year. This strategy is very common in herbaceous communities of deciduous forests as it allows small herbaceous plants to take advantage of the high amount of sunlight reaching the forest floor prior to the leaf-out of woody plants.
– Wikipedia: Ephemeral plant

It’s interesting that Wikipedia lists Dicentra eximia among the Spring ephemerals. It’s still going strong at BBG. My experience is that it blooms for months, and lasts at least through the summer, barring drought. This is one of the things that makes it an excellent performer in the garden.

Tuesday afternoon, near the Bog habitat

Interspersed with Dodecathon meadia in the Serpentine Rock habitat

Three weeks ago

The march of the Rhododendron in the Osborne Garden continues into the Native Flora Garden, more evidence that early Summer is replacing late Spring.

Rhododendron prinophyllum, Rosebud Azalea

Rhododendron periclymenoides, Pinkster Azalea

Two purple beauties from the Pine Barrens habitat, something which I would only be able to recreate in container in my garden.

Viola brittoniana, Coast Violet

Lupinus perennis, Sundial Lupine

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Links

Native Flora Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The Osborne Garden

Posted on 2009-05-13 by admin

The Osborne Garden of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, with the Brooklyn Museum as a backdrop, yesterday afternoon.

As befits a formal garden, the plant palette of the Osborne Garden – the grand entrance to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden from Eastern Parkway – is somewhat restricted. The main body of the design is a large rectangular lawn, flanked by symmetrical ranks of azaleas, crabapples, and Wisteria arbors. But who’s complaining.

The symmetry is obvious as one enters the garden from Eastern Parkway. But that symmetry is deceptive. There are decidedly different experiences of entering into the garden when one goes to the left or, as I prefer, to the right. There’s a progressive sense of enclosure, in part because of the rock wall and the rise of Mount Prospect Park. And the light is decidedly different, more sheltered and shadowed, on the right-hand, western path.

With its rock wall and bedding displays, the western path also offers more horticultural variety.

And best of all, it leads to the shade garden. The azaleas of the Osborne Garden hint at the explosion of Rhododendron in bloom throughout the Garden right now.

And just to the left of that border is the secondary entrance to the Native Flora Garden, of which I’ll have photos tomorrow.

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Links

Osborne Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden< /span>

The Bluebell Wood

Posted on 2009-05-13 by admin

The Bluebell Wood at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is at its peak. See it this week, or wait another year.

More than 45,000 bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica ‘Excelsior’) are planted under a mature stand of oak, birch, and beech trees just south of Cherry Esplanade. In May, the bluebells burst into flower and create an enchanting woodland display.
– The Bluebell Wood, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The Bluebell Wood is one of those big, cymbal-crashing displays for which only large gardens can afford space. Like Daffodil Hill, this really only looks good at one moment of one season. The rest of the year, at best, it creates the negative space to appreciate the trees – oaks, here – and the views through to the other gardens beyond. At its worst, it’s an eyesore, when the foliage is bedraggled and brown, and the Wood is just something you walk through, preferably quickly.

But for now, the Bluebell Wood is having its moment, and it’s a glorious one.

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Links

The Bluebell Wood, Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Wildflowers in a Flatbush Backyard

Posted on 2009-05-11 by admin

Last week was NYC Wildflower Week. Appropriately, here are some wildflowers blooming over the past week in my backyard native plant garden.

Wildflowers blooming near the gardener’s nook in my backyard for last May’s Garden Blogging Bloom Day.

Aquilegia canadensis, Eastern Columbine
Chrysogonum virginianum ‘Allen Bush’, Green-and-Gold
Dicentra eximia ‘Aurora’, White-flowering Eastern Bleeding-Heart, Turkey Corn
Iris cristata, Crested Iris
Phlox stolonifera
Viola striata
Zizia aurea, Golden Alexanders
Brunnera macrophylla, Large-leaf Brunnera, Siberian Bugloss

Aquilegia canadensis, Eastern Red Columbine

Somehow, I have no photos of this from my garden in Flickr. Yet it’s been a favorite of mine for decades.

Native range is eastern North America. Widespread in New York state. Native to all five boroughs of NYC.

Aquilegia canadensis, Eastern Red Columbine, 2006-05-31

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Chrysogonum virginianum ‘Allen Bush’, Green-and-Gold

A great groundcover for partial shade. Several cultivars are available. To my eye, all vary only slightly from the species, though I haven’t grown them side-by-side.

Individual flowers look like shaggy sunflowers.

Native range is Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. Native to only one New York upstate county. Not native to NYC.

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Dicentra eximia ‘Aurora’, Eastern Bleeding-Heart, Turkey Corn

A white-flowering cultivar of the native Eastern Bleeding Heart. Not every white-flowering form of a plant is successful. This is one that is equally lovely as the species, bringing its own graces to the structure of the inflorescence and individual flowers. Also a good choice for the shady white garden.

This plant is maybe three years old now. Not only has the original plant spread in size each year, this Spring I’ve noticed little seedlings cropping up around the mother plant. I’ll be curious to see how these develop, and what the flower color wil be in the children.

Dicentra eximia, Bleeding-heart, 2006-05-22
Dicentra eximia, Eastern bleeding-heart (Flickr photo set)

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Iris cristata, Crested Iris

Really beautiful, if a bit of a finicky grower. It seems to be at its best when grown on a slight slope with ample mulch. The stems trail through the mulch, the fans oriented down-slope. Sulks during the summer. Needs consistent moisture during the hot summer months and good drainage during the winter or it will disappear. Where it’s happy, it makes a great groundcover.

Native to Mid-Atlantic and interior Eastern United States, but not New York.

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Phlox stolonifera, Creeping Phlox

One of the best wildflower ground covers you can grow in the garden. In the trade, you’re more likely to find cultivars selected for flower color – such as ‘Bruce’s White’ and ‘Sherwood Purple’ – rather than the unqualified species. They all seem equally fine to me. (Mine is also a cultivar, but its name escapes me at the moment.) The flowers are usually fragrant, reminiscent of grape jelly.

Native range is most of Eastern United States, but only found in two upstate New York counties, not NYC.

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Viola striata, Pale Violet, Striped Cream Violet

The “oldest” plant in this post, this population came from my second city garden on 5th Street in Park Slope. The original plants were given to me 8-10 years ago by a gay couple who lived across the street. They have a beautiful shady backyard garden growing many wildflowers collected from their home in upstate New York.

Native to Eastern North America. Native to several counties in New York, but not NYC.

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Zizia aurea, Golden Alexanders

This plant is a recent discovery for me. I had never heard of it before picking it up from Gowanus Nursery last Spring. Now I see it all over the place, and it’s a fine groundcover. You can’t see it in this photo, but the foliage is also handsome.

Native to NYC, but not Brooklyn.

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Brunnera macrophylla, Large-leaf Brunnera, Siberian Bugloss

Okay, Brunnera is not a native wildflower on this continent – it’s native range is Eastern Europe – but it is blooming in the backyard and it’s so pretty I had to take a picture of it. This plant is a refugee from the sideyard of Frank, a neighbor, professional gardener and fellow garden blogger at New York City Garden.

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Cellophane Bees Return

Posted on 2009-05-09 by admin

I’m no entomologist, but I think this is the same species, Colletes thoracicus (Colletidae), Cellophane Bees, that “bee guy” John Ascher identified from my photos last year. This is an individual from a colony that appeared this week in the same place it appeared last year about this time.

We’ve had rain almost every day for a week. Yesterday I had the day off, and the weather also took a break, with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s (F). Seems like perfect digging-in-the-ground conditions to me.

The area of activity is much larger this year than last. I wish I had a video camera. In the area of this photo, there were at least 30-40 bees flying around, but I can’t pick them out from the photo at this scale and resolution.

Links

Wikipedia: Colletidae

Brooklyn Blogfest 2009

Posted on 2009-05-07 by admin

Citizen Journalism

Posted on 2009-05-07 by admin

A meeting of online journalists, professional, citizen, and otherwise, with Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz a few weeks ago.

Looking forward to seeing my fellow citizen journalists at the Brooklyn Blogfest this evening.

I haven’t been following the Senate Commerce Committee hearings on newspapers. Much of the testimony has contrasted big-house newspapers, and whether or not they need special protections, with citizen journalists – ie: bloggers – and whether or not they are a threat. In today’s Gawker, Ryan Tate takes of the speakers – David Simon, creator of the TV series The Wire – to task:

As a newspaper reporter who spent a few years covering a town much like Baltimore [the setting for The Wire] — Oakland, California — I often found that bloggers were the only other writers in the room at certain city council committee meetings and at certain community events. They tended to be the sort of persistently-involved residents newspapermen often refer to as “gadflies” — deeply, obsessively concerned about issues large and infinitesimal in the communities where they lived.
– David Simon: Dead-Wrong Dinosaur, Ryan Tate, Gawker, 2009-05-07

With so much quality civic reporting already being done online for little or no pay, it stands to reason we could eventually get quality government reporting entirely from bloggers, both professional and amateur, rather than depending on a federally-coddled cabal of conspiring nonprofit newspapers, as Simon envisions.

And there are reasons to think the quality would actually be better, since so many of the writers are deeply invested residents …

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Flatbush Gardener

Urban Habitat Gardening with Native Plants

Tracking to 100,000 and counting

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