Resource: Cornell Urban Horticulture Institute

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A tip from a commenter on my post about the Liberty Elm Project led me to discover the Urban Horticulture Institute of the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University:

The Urban Horticulture Institute currently consists of two faculty, one technician and 10 graduate students.

Founded in 1980 with the explicit mission of improving the quality of urban life by enhancing the functions of plants within the urban ecosystem, the Institute program integrates plant stress physiology, horticultural science, plant ecology and soil science and applies them to three broad areas of inquiry. They are:

  • The selection, evaluation and propagation of superior plants with improved tolerance of biotic [eg: insects, pathogens] and abiotic [eg: heat, air pollution] stresses, and enhanced functional uses in the disturbed landscape.
  • Developing improved technologies for assessing and ameliorating site limitations to improve plant growth and development.
  • Developing improved transplant technologies to insure the successful establishment of plants in the urban environment.

In addition to training for landscape professionals, their outreach section has a lot of information for motivated non-professionals. In addition to DVDs, books and pre-printed materials, many of their publications for free online. These include:

The last selection describes the advantages of planting trees from bare-root stock, instead of container-brown or balled and burlapped (B&B). This is particularly interesting in light of a report in March that it costs over $1,000 to plant a tree in New York City:

Bare root trees are one-third to one-half less expensive than B&B trees. Because they are so much lighter and many more can fit on the bed of a truck, they are cheaper to ship. Planting a bare root tree costs virtually nothing when done by volunteers with shovels. The cost of planting a B&B tree, by contrast, is markedly higher because the sheer weight of the ball requires machinery and machinery operators to load the tree, unload it, and to get it in the ground.
– Creating the Urban Forest

Links

Urban Horticulture Institute , Department of Horticulture, Cornell University

Meta-Meta: Blog-Blogging-Blogging (27 lessons About Blogging)

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I’m always interested to read tips on how to blog – and write – more effectively. This list of “lessons” comes from Pick the Brain, via 10,000 Birds:

Over the course of 97 posts and 1602 comments, traffic has grown to over 3,000 unique visitors a day, over 2200 readers have subscribed to the RSS feed, and several articles have been featured on the popular pages of Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Netscape. It isn’t the most amazing start (there have certainly been bumps along the way) but I’m proud of what I’ve built and optimistic the site will continue to grow.

I want to share what I’ve learned, but it’d be pointless to try explaining it all. Rather, I’ve compiled a list of the 27 most important lessons.
– 27 Lessons Learned on the Way to 3000 Visits a Day and 2200 RSS Subscribers, Pick the Brain

I find I agree with most of the 27. I believe I’m even following most of the ones I agree with. A handful I disagree with; maybe I haven’t learned that lesson yet, or maybe my context differs sufficiently from P the B that it doesn’t apply.

Here’s my synopsis, with my reflections in [brackets], including some questions for you, my readers. Read the full post for more explanation of each Lesson. If you have a thought about any of this, please leave a comment.

  1. a) help people solve a problem, and b) differentiate yourself.
    [I think I’m doing both. But not every post, or blog, needs to be task-oriented. “Build a raised bed in five minutes with no tools!” In fact, there are already sources of such information out there, biased or revenue-driven they may be. These two goals are in tension, so striking a balance between them is the art.]
  2. Blogging is not a great way to make money.
    [I never thought it was. I’ve had a Web presence since the early 90s. It’s never been about money for me.]
  3. Make it as easy as possible for people to subscribe to your feed.
    [I’ve thought about putting more subscribe widgets at the top of the sidebar, or in the header. But I also get annoyed when I see 20 or 30 different widgets on some other blog or post. How hard is it to subscribe? What would make it easier?]
  4. Offer a full feed.
    [Here I disagree. I had a full feed at first. I changed it to a digest. I wish I had more control with Blogger about how much goes in the digest. Often the first X words don’t make any sense. On the other hand, the first few sentences should make some sense on their own, per #9.]
  5. A bad post is worse than no post.
    [Yup. I’ve written my share.]
  6. Be prepared to completely run out of ideas after the first 3-4 months.
    [It took me about 8 months before I hit a dry spell over December-January. But it wasn’t because I had run out of ideas. I always have lots of ideas. I had run out of energy and enthusiasm for it. I had to regroup to find my direction again.]
  7. It’s not always what you know, who you know is important too.
    [The fuller explanation suggests to use one’s contacts for feedback and promotion. I’m getting a little less bashful about that, but my contributions must still stand on their own. ]
  8. Write catchy headlines and list posts that will be popular with the social sites.
    [Catchy headlines? I have been too clever. The headline and first sentence or two must make some sense. As for popularity, that’s never been my strength, and I’m not going to start now. Though I look to statistics about visits and page views for feedback about how I’m doing, I’m not doing this for numbers.]
  9. Do everything you can to make your headline and opening paragraph as compelling as possible.
    [Compelling, okay, but not misleading. I find these three lines the hardest to write. See also #4 and #8.]
  10. Courteously encourage friends, family, and casual acquaintances to vote up and link to your posts.
    [You are hereby encouraged!]
  11. Don’t write every post for the social sites.
    [I don’t write any!]
  12. Listen carefully to every piece of feedback but don’t be a slave to it.
    [The most difficult feedback for me to deal with has been communicated through private correspondence. Both instances occurred over the past month or so. Both have caused me to second-guess myself, and ultimately censor my own words. Anyone who knows me knows that’s a BIG DEAL. In both cases, I’ve not been satisfied with the outcome, and I don’t know what a preferable resolution would have been.]
  13. If your writing doesn’t have an edge it might as well not exist.
    [I err more on the side of edge. That’s not always a good thing!]
  14. Always look for a different angle.
    [This is one of my strengths, I think. I like making connections, seeing relationships, understanding systems and interactions. I think that’s what I like about natural history, ecology, and environmental sciences. I think it’s also what attracts me to technology and engineering. This whole blog experiment is a long arc of making connections among themes and topics which resonate with each other for me.]
  15. If linking doesn’t provide value to your readers it’s a bad idea.
    [I don’t link for linking’s sake. It’s always something I read, or find interesting, myself. In my sidebar is my real blogroll for Gardening and Nature blogs and sites. Yes, I need to find room for Brooklyn blogs, too! I try to follow the usual best practices for link usability in the body of my posts.]
  16. Write about your life in a way that’s relevant to your topic.
    [I try to relate my personal life to the themes of this blog. There’s a lot I don’t write about in this blog. I think there’s been only one, maybe two, pictures of my cat. My cat is relevant to me, but to this blog, not so much.]
  17. Make people think.
    [I hope I do. First thing is to make myself think. See also #14.]
  18. Don’t be anxious to plaster Google Ads all over the place.
    [I’ve seen no good reason to ever start.]
  19. Design matters.
    [I’ve tweaked a ready-made template to get the look of this blog. But I’ve focussed more on content than container. There are some things which annoy me about the way my blog is laid out, which I would change if I had the time for R&D. What would you change about my blog’s design?]
  20. Posting comments on other blogs is overrated.
    [I comment on thers’ blogs only because their post sparks some reaction in me which makes me want to respond. I don’t leave comments solely to drive content to my site, though that sometimes happens.]
  21. Respond to your commenters, especially the ones who disagree.
    [I try to respond to every comment, though I know I miss a few now and then. I’m glad that Blogger now has the ability to subscribe to comment feeds, though I don’t know if anyone does. It would be nice if there was a single feed for allthe comments; that would be a more reliable way of keeping up with the conversations.]
  22. Obsessively reading other blogs and checking traffic stats are not productive activities. Your time is better spent doing things that actually increase traffic like creating content, doing research, and posting to relevant forums. [I’ve left this lesson in its full form, because the author makes several points, and this is something for which I’m still trying to find a balance.]
  23. Once you have a bit of success don’t flaunt it but let other people know.
    [I’ve done this a couple of times, such as this Spring’s Rabies More Popular Than Sex and, more recently, I Was On TV! My photography is starting to get more notice, and that’s new for me. I’m curious to see where that goes, and takes me.]
  24. Make use of blog carnivals.
    [I’ve contributed to several blog carnivals, and I enjoy finding opportunities to do so. I hosted my first blog carnival, Festival of the Trees #11, earlier this month. And I can tell you, it’s an investment. And now I’m one of the coordinators of the first Brooklyn “meat carnival” which will follow up on the success of the Brooklyn Blogfest earlier this month.]
  25. Display your best posts on every page in a prominent location.
    [I like this idea. It’s easy to do. But what are “my best posts”? Are they the most popular ones? The ones I’m most proud of? I think it has to be a mix. What would you choose to be among my Top N posts?]
  26. Read blogs about blogging.
    [Most of these are not that interesting. Frankly, I don’t have the time. I’ve been on the Web, though not blogging, a long time now. For me, blogging is writing, first. I could spawn a parallel photoblog, but, again, I just don’t have time. I know that folks like my photography. Maybe I could add a “picture of the week” to this blog which doesn’t take a lot of time.]
  27. Do what works for you. Be completely genuine.
    [Oh, that would never work. I’m far too shy, withdrawn and reticent.]

Event, June 24: Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow

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Brooklyn Blogade Flatbush Flyer (Tall & Large)

Update, 2007.06.14: Adrian Kinloch, Brit in Brooklyn, came up with these terrific flyers and banners to promote this event.

Vox Pop, al fresco
Vox Pop Al Fresco

Following the successful Brooklyn Blogfest in May, the Brooklyn Blogade is taking it on the road to different Brooklyn neighborhoods.

The inaugural event is Sunday, June 24, 2-5pm. Join us at Vox Pop, 1022 Cortelyou Road, at the corner of Stratford Road (East 11th Street).

If you want to attend please send an email to blogade.rsvp@gmail.com. We’ll email you an invitation. We will not use your email address for any purpose except for sending invitations and notifications relevant to Brooklyn Blogade. It will not be shared with anyone else for any reason.

Please RSVP with the following information:
– Your handle or nickname
– Your name (optional)
– If you have a blog or Web site, its URL
– If you live or work in Brooklyn, the neighborhood (eg: Flatbush) or
zip code (eg: 11218)

PROGRAM:
2pm: Signup/registration opens
2:30-3pm: Welcome, neighborhood orientation, and local blogger shout-out
3-5pm: The mingling and socializing continues

Vox Pop is offering food and drink specials for this event:
– $1 off veggie and turkey burgers
– $1 off pitchers of beer (Dogfish Head Craft Ale now on tap!)
You can also checkout their full food menu and micro-brew on tap.

DIRECTIONS BY SUBWAY: Take the Q Train to Cortelyou Road. Vox Pop is five blocks West (turn left as you exit the station).

By the way, the above photo was taken during the height of the streetscape work on Cortelyou Road. The back-hoe is gone now. I’ll upload a more flattering view.

Sources of Plants for Brooklyn Gardeners

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See also:

Update 2011-06-13: Corrected address for Root Stock & Quade.
Update 2010.01.03: Corrected all links to the old Gowanus Lounge domain to the new memorial domain.
Update 2008.05.09: Added GRDN.
Update 2008.04.29: Added J&L Landscaping, Kensington.
Update 2008.04.18: Added Kings County Nurseries. Added link for Zuzu’s Petals.
Update 2007.05.25: Added Shannon Florist.

Gowanus Lounge called it:

Red Hook is turning into Brooklyn’s Gardening District. … No less than three garden shops are now open in the Hook. The Chelsea Garden Center Brooklyn has been operating for a couple of weeks at 444 Van Brunt Street, a block from the Red Hook Fairway. The Gowanus Nursery, which lost its space on Third Street, reopened last month at 45 Summit Street. And, this weekend saw the Grand Opening of the Liberty Sunset Garden Center on Pier 41 at 204 Van Dyke Street.
– Is Red Hook the New Gardening District?, Gowanus Lounge, May 14

And the Times plays catch-up:

A new group of large nurseries that have suddenly sprung up in Red Hook, Brooklyn — since March, three have opened within blocks of each other — is a welcome surprise for many of the city’s gardeners.
– New York’s Nurseries Try a Transplant, New York Times, Today

But Red Hook is not the only place for Brooklyn Gardeners to buy plants locally. (And isn’t Gowanus Nursery technically in Columbia Waterfront, not Red Hook?)

I’ve bought plants through mail order for years. It used to be that the only plants I bought locally were annuals from the Greenmarket at Union Square. Over time the growers at the Greenmarket began offering more interesting annuals, perennials and shrubs. I learned that I got more for the money buying locally than through mail order. And since the plants I bought locally were larger than those I got through mail order, they had a better start and were less likely to fail before becoming established. (Not to mention if it took me a couple of weeks or months to get around to planting them at all.)

It got even better when I moved from the East Village to Park Slope. I’ve lived in Brooklyn for 15 years now, and I’m still learning about new local sources of plants. I’ve bought plants at all of the following locations except for J&L Landscaping and Kings County Nurseries Chelsea Garden Center and Liberty Sunset. Each has something slightly different to offer for variety, expertise, and access to transportation. Prices vary widely. The Brooklyn Terminal Market generally has the best prices, but requires a car to get to it.

  • Brooklyn Botanic Garden Garden Shop, 718-623-7280

  • Brooklyn Terminal Market, several independent vendors, Foster and Remsen Avenues, Canarsie, 718-444-5700
  • Chelsea Garden Center, 444 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook, 212-727-7100
  • David Shannon Nursery & Florist, 3380 Fort Hamilton Pkwy, 718-436-4521
  • Gowanus Nursery, 45 Summit Street, Red Hook/Columbia Waterfront, 718-852-3116
  • Greenmarket, Grand Army Plaza, Saturdays (The one at Union Square is the best place for plants. Lots of selections, and accessible by subway.)
  • GRDN, 103 Hoyt Street (between Atlantic and Pacific), Boerum Hill, 718.797.3628
  • J & L Landscaping, 702 Caton Ave, Kensington, (718) 438-3199
  • Kings County Nurseries, 625 New York Avenue, (718) 493-2363
  • Liberty Sunset, 204-207 Van Dyke Street, on Pier 41, Red Hook, 718-858-3400
  • Root Stock & Quade, 471 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11205 718-832-1888
  • ZuZu’s Petals, 374 5 Avenue, Park Slope, 718-638-0918

Related Posts

Liberty Sunset Garden Center, July 20, 2007
Brooklyn Terminal Market is NOT Closed, June 22, 2007
Chelsea Garden Center, June 16, 2007
Opening Day at Gowanus, March 31, 2007
A Visit to the Brooklyn Terminal Market, May, 2006

Back in the Day

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2008.03.10: Welcome – I guess – New York magazine Intelligencer readers. I encourage you to read my post about the BlogFest itself, which inspired this “hyperniche nostalgia,” as NY characterizes it. (Shouldn’t that be hypo-niche? sub-niche? micro-niche?)

Crazy Diamond, aka Flatbush Gardener, circa 1980s.
Crazy Diamond, ca. 1980s

I wrote the following as part of my Brooklyn Blogfest coverage. I now find myself in the position of being one of the coordinators of the first Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow, which it is hoped will take the spirit and energy of the Brooklyn Blogfest on the road to different neighborhoods in Brooklyn. I hope to provide details of the inaugural event later tonight or this week.

I’m highlighting this bit of autobiography and technology history in its own post here because it expresses what I’m trying to bring of myself to this first event.

[Written 2007.05.11]

Back in the Day

Gather round me, children. Close your eyes, and try to imagine it. It was long before the Web, when the Internet existed only in military and select academic settings. It was the time before GUIs, before mice and color monitors, when MS-DOS and 1200bps dial-up modems roamed the Earth.

There were these things called computer bulletin board services, BBS for short. Your computer told your modem the phone number of the BBS. Your modem dialed, their modem answered, and both modems connected with each other. Then your computer could talk to their computer. Directly. No Web, no Internet. Machino a machino. You could leave messages for other BBS members; the precursor of email. You could even chat with someone else who was also logged in; the precursor of IM today.

I was a member of a BBS based in New York City called The BackRoom. It was, as one might guess from the name, a gay BBS. It was an online community of gay men, mostly, living in NYC, mostly. We had handles, like CB radio users (1970s technology). My CB handle in the 1970s, 30+ years ago, was Green Thumb. My BackRoom handle was Crazy Diamond, after the Pink Floyd song, “Shine On, You Crazy Diamond.”

Donor Recognition plaque on the wall of the second floor landing of the center staircase of the NYC Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center.
In Memory of Art Kohn

We were an online community. A community of humpy nerds, of which I was one. We were not only virtual. We also met, face-to-face, at a periodic event called the Backroom Bash. Sometimes we met at a bar, sometimes at the home of a member or the Backroom founder and sysop, Art Kohn. We built community online, with handles and anonymity. We met in person, still with our handles, and less anonymity, and built community there as well. Our virtual community was enriched by our interactions in 3D, and vice versa.

Last night [the Blogfest] reminded me of that.

Happy Tercentenary Birthday, Carolus Linnaeus

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Reproduction of a painting by Alexander Roslin in 1775. The original painting can be viewed at the Royal Science Academy of Sweden (Kungliga vetenskapsakademin).
Portrait of Carolus Linnaeus

Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné, (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. He is known as the “father of modern taxonomy.” He is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology (see History of ecology).

Taxonomists, in almost any biological field, have heard of Carolus Linnaeus. His prime contribution was to establish conventions for the naming of living organisms that became universally accepted in the scientific world–the work of Linnaeus represents the starting point of binomial nomenclature. In addition Linnaeus developed, during the great 18th century expansion of natural history knowledge, what became known as the Linnaean taxonomy; the system of scientific classification now widely used in the biological sciences.

The Linnaean system classified nature within a hierarchy, starting with three kingdoms. Kingdoms were divided into Classes and they, in turn, into Orders, which were divided into Genera (singular: genus), which were divided into Species (singular: species). Below the rank of species he sometimes recognized taxa of a lower (unnamed) rank (for plants these are now called “varieties”).

… While the underlying details concerning what are considered to be scientifically valid ‘observable characteristics’ has changed with expanding knowledge (for example, DNA sequencing, unavailable in Linnaeus’ time, has proven to be a tool of considerable utility for classifying living organisms and establishing their relationships to each other), the fundamental principle remains sound.

Of course, any tool can be used against others.

Linnaeus was also a pioneer in defining the concept of race as applied to humans. Within Homo sapiens he proposed four taxa of a lower (unnamed) rank. These categories were Americanus, Asiaticus, Africanus and Europeanus. They were based on place of origin at first, and later on skin colour. Each race had certain characteristics that he considered endemic to individuals belonging to it. Native Americans were reddish, stubborn and easily angered. Africans were black, relaxed and negligent. Asians were sallow, avaricious and easily distracted. Europeans were white, gentle and inventive. Linnaeus’s races were clearly skewed in favour of Europeans. Over time, this classification led to a racial hierarchy, in which Europeans were at the top. Members of many European countries used the classification scheme to validate their conquering or subjugation of members of the “lower” races.

Resources: Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants

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As defined in U.S. Executive Order 13112 (Feb 3, 1999), an “invasive species” is:
1) non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and
2) likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.

Many, perhaps most (but not all) invasive plants were first introduced by gardeners as ornamental plants. For example, Ailanthus altissima, the Tree of Heaven, was cultivated as a shade tree. This is the “tree that grew in Brooklyn,” and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden even uses its image in its merchandise such as t-shirts and tote bags.

Not every plant which can become invasive is a risk in all areas. It helps to understand the ecological region and regime in which you garden and the threats to nearby natural areas. For example, the map of the Plant Provinces of North America in the BBG book Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants places New York City and Long Island in the province of Eastern Deciduous Forests rather than Coastal Plain Forests. Yet Long Island was built from millenia of glacial deposits; the area south of the southern terminal moraine – including most of Brooklyn – has more in common with coastal outwash plains than upland forests. Similarly, Brooklyn’s proximity to the ocean and the Gulf Stream moderates our temperatures compared to, say, the Bronx, the only borough on the mainland; our climate is a blend of Mid-Atlantic and New England as gardening goes.

Some states have taken the lead in making it illegal to sell, purchase, propagate or plant those species known to be invasive. Some gardeners, and nurseries, label such strategies “eco-fascism” and worse. I would support such legislation in New York, which has not yet joined the ranks of these states.

However, legislation should not be the sole strategy. Education must be a primary strategy. As gardeners, we can learn about the natural areas around us and the threats to them. We can avoid purchasing, propagating, planting or recommending plants known to be invasive. We can learn about alternative non-invasive or native choices for plants in our gardens. And we can educate others about these issues and possible solutions.

Mid-Atlantic

Kick the Invasive Exotic Gardening Habit with Great Native Plant Alternatives
National Arboretum

New England

Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants
University of Massachusetts at Boston
via Invasive Species Weblog

General

Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants (Excerpts from book)
Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Links

I was on TV!

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UPDATE 2007.05.23: BCAT has the clips available on their Web site! It’s Reporter Roundtable Episode #183. The format is WMV (Windows Media Player) and runs 27:54. The video montage from the Blogfest begins at 08:50. I make my appearance at 10:44, in the first interview.

Here are the direct links:

I’m watching the Reporter RoundTable interview with Lumi Michelle Rolley/No Land Grab, Jonathan Butler/Brownstoner and Louise Crawford/OTBKB/Smartmom. They ran a brief segment of footage from the BlogFest. There I was! Larger than life, if that’s possible.

The video’s not available online yet. I’ll update this and the Blogfest Coverage post when it is.

I sure sound funny. And I have a face for radio.

Oh, and I watched through to the end. Louise Crawford mentioned that the first “Brooklyn Blogade Roadshow” will be June 24 at Vox Pop. She also announced it earlier this week. I’m helping to coordinate that event, so watch this blog for details and RSVP info as we move further along.

I and the Bard: IATB #49 is up on Via Negativa

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A carnival for the birds, I and the Bird #49 is up on Dave Bonta‘s Via Negativa. I submitted my recent bird sightings and Dave linked to my post about the Cedar Waxwings.

But not in an obvious way. Dave did something unusual with the contributions this time. I’ll let him explain:

Poems, like birds, are everywhere; it’s just a matter of training ourselves to recognize them — a metaphor here, an alliterative passage there, and something lovely dark and deep lurking just beyond. And with a little bit of editing, the English language naturally resolves into a rough iambic pentameter…

Each line in the “found poem” below is a link to the post I lifted it from. I’ve altered nothing but the punctuation, and I’ve included an audio version for those who may have trouble hearing the poetry at first.

It was hard to recognize my own words in this context:

Who knows how they knew they were there.

Out of its original context, it reads more like a Zen koan than a sentence from a blog post. I don’t want to spoil the accidental poetry of that line by explaining it.

Go check out IATB#49 for all the poetry. I recommend taking the time to listen to Dave’s audio recording. He has a poet’s voice.

Happy (?!) Endangered Species Day

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On May 18th, America celebrates [sic] Endangered Species Day! The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed a resolution supporting Endangered Species Day, a national celebration of America’s commitment to protecting and recovering our nation’s endangered species. Americans young and old will learn about endangered species, including the American bald eagle, peregrine falcon, gray wolf, grizzly bear, humpback whale and many of our nation’s wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of extinction.

For the next week, millions of Americas [sic] will celebrate Endangered Species Day at parks, wildlife refuges, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, environmental agencies, conservation organizations, schools, museums, libraries, businesses, and community groups across the country. For a list of Endangered Species Day events and activities, visit the Endangered Species Day webpage.

Links: