Forsythia Day today at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

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I’ll be leaving for BBG shortly. We’ve got rain coming today, so I want to get there as early as possible. They open at 10am on weekends.

There are a couple of things I want to see and do for today’s visit.

Today, all members receive a free Forsythia × intermedia ‘Goldilocks’. I generally loathe Forsythia; they have no garden value other than their one week of bloom. But I don’t even have a single one on my property, and I can afford one in the developing mixed border on the south side of the house. I can always dig it up and give it away.

The other Forsythia Day events are an awards ceremony and a reception in the afternoon. I don’t think I’ll stick around for any of that, even if it’s not raining by then. Awards are interesting for the recipients and the organizers, otherwise boring as hell to everyone else.

I’m also going to pick up my signature plants. I got my confirmation letter in the mail last week. Today I’ll pick up Cotinus coggygria “Golden Spirit” and Heptacodium miconioides. Both would be suitable for the mixed border.

Today I really want to see the Rock Garden. Spring should be the peak season for this, and BBG’s Plants in Bloom page confirms that there will be lots of bulb and Hellebore action there. I also ahve never managed to catch Daffodil Hill in peak bloom. Today should be perfect.

If time permits, I also want to check out the Native Flora Garden, just to see what’s going on there.

Of course, there will be a large photo post from my visit. So check back later!

Cinder Block & Razor Wire: Opening Day at Gowanus Nursery in Red Hook

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Signage, Gowanus Nursery
It was a beautiful day to visit Gowanus Nursery. I bought six plants, just enough to fill the two shopping bags I brought. They threw me off when they gave me an extra Columbine, a survivor from their old location which they were giving to customers today to celebrate their re-opening. They also had some beautiful pre-planted trough gardens. If I’d had personal transportation I would have given them more attention.

This space is on a much wider lot than their old 3rd street location, better suited to wandering amongst the generous displays of plants. They have lots of elbow room to bring in more plants, and spread out their stock as it gets larger during the season. Construction of shelters and other structures was still going on when I visited. Will be interesting to see when everything’s put together.

Many more photos below. Or visit the Flickr set.

Gowanus NurseryGowanus NurseryRock Garden Plants, Gowanus NurseryTrough Garden and Rock Garden Plants, Gowanus NurseryTrollius laxus, Gowanus NurseryBee and Tulips, Gowanus NurserySignage, Gowanus NurseryGowanus Nursery

Gowanus NurseryFlats and more, Gowanus NurseryFlats of Pansies, Gowanus NurseryFlats of Pansies, Gowanus NurseryFlats and Plants, Gowanus NurseryFlower and foliage, Gowanus NurseryNursery Stock, Gowanus Nursery

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Flickr photo set of opening day

Off to Gowanus in Red Hook

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I’m off to visit Gowanus Nursery on their Grand Re-Opening Day on Summit Street in Red Hook. I’ve got my eye on some native plants, especially Opuntia and Aristolochia, neither of which I’ve grown before, nor are they common garden plants. I’m also on the lookout for some unusual drought-tolerant flowering plants for the front garden window-boxes.

Without a driver’s license, and with my partner not being a morning person, I have to solve the problem of finding the shortest path over the direct acyclic graph of Brooklyn transit on the weekends. We’ll see how long it takes me to get there and back!

Changes on Cortelyou Road

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Cortelyou Streetscape – Looking East from Argyle Road. Credit: FDC
Dry-laid cobblestones, Cortelyou Road, South side, West of Stratford Road

Construction to revamp the streetscape on Cortelyou Road is well underway. I’m really interested to see how the new, wider tree pits and extra planting areas work out. With adoption by business and residents, they could be beautiful.

The plan calls for the planting of 40 new Linden trees, Flatbush Light Poles, benches, clocks, bike racks and wrought iron tree guards. This streetscape will create a public space that invites pedestrianism, improves public health, stimulates local economic activity, and attracts residents and visitors to the community.
– Cortelyou Road, FDC

Today, the block was hopping, with activity from Coney Island Avenue to Rugby Road. Here’s the front of the library, at the northeast corner of Argyle Road:

Library Plaza, Cortelyou Road and Argyle Road, Northeast corner
Library Plaza, Cortelyou Road and Argyle Road, Northeast corner

Click the image above for larger sizes where you can see the scoring line along the sidewalk on the right-hand side.

Here are some other images from this afternoon.

Scoring the sidewalk, Cortelyou Road, North side, in front of library between Argyle and Rugby Roads
Scoring the sidewalk, Cortelyou Road, North side, in front of library between Argyle and Rugby Roads

Curb and sidewalk reconstruction in progress, Cortelyou Road, South side, looking East from Stratford Road
Curb and sidewalk reconstruction in progress, Cortelyou Road, South side, looking East from Stratford Road

Street Tree “”Barrier””, Cortelyou Road, South side, Stratford-Westminster Roads
Street Tree “"Barrier”", Cortelyou Road, South side, Stratford-Westminster Roads

Dry-laid cobblestones, Cortelyou Road, South side, West of Stratford Road
Dry-laid cobblestones, Cortelyou Road, South side, West of Stratford Road

Cobblestone sidewalk margin, Cortelyou Road, South side, West of Rugby Road
Cobblestone sidewalk margin, Cortelyou Road, South side, West of Rugby Road

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News: DEA busts a different kind of CSA in Washington Heights

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Regardless of other issues raised by this story, as a gardener I am impressed by the horticultural prowess, discipline, and commitment it takes to keep 700 plants of any kind alive … indoors … under lights:

WNBC reported, “It took investigators several hours to remove all of the drug-related material from the location.” Also, it was “unusual” for so many pot plants to be grown in one city location.
– 700 Marijuana Plants Found in Apartment, Gothamist

Drug Enforcement agents raided a Washington Heights apartment building on Tuesday and found a virtual “forest” of marijuana plants being grown on one floor of the building.
…
Con Edison electrical experts were also called in to help dismantle the drug facility because of the advanced lighting that was installed across five rooms of the building.
– Marijuana ‘Forest’ Found In Manhattan Building, WNBC

I’m strictly an outdoor gardener. I can’t even keep a houseplant alive. Nevertheless, I will state for the record that this is not the sort of CSA I hope to see in my neighborhood.

Resource: Garden-Based Learning

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The Garden-Based Learning Program develops projects, activities, and other materials, as well as gardening content- and youth development-oriented support. Many of our materials can be found on-line at this site, or through the Cornell Cooperative Extension Media Services Resource Center.
– About page, Garden-Based Learning

The Garden-Based Learning Program is based in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University. We partner with faculty and staff in other departments at Cornell, educators in county Cooperative Extension associations, and with other agencies throughout the U.S.

Our garden-based learning team encompasses a small group of county and campus educators that meet twice each year to brainstorm new projects, share resources, and plan conference and inservices.

via Librarian’s Internet Index

Blog Against Theocracy

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Credit: Mock, Paper, Scissors
Blog Against Theocracy

I first heard of this through The Greenbelt. Blog Against Theocracy will be a blogswarm – many bloggers writing on the same topic at the same time – over Easter weekend, April 6, 7 and 8:

The idea is to post at least once from Friday to Sunday Easter Weekend, April 6-8.

The post will be against theocracy, in favor of our Constitutional guarantee of separation of church and state. But there are a LOT of issues tied to this, as is pointed out in the First Freedom First website:

  • No religious discrimination.
  • PRO End-of-Life Care (no more Terri Schiavo travesties)
  • Reproductive health decisions made by individuals, not religious “majorities”
  • Democracy not Theocracy
  • Academic Integrity (like, a rock is as old as it is, not as old as the Bible says)
  • Sound Science (good bye so-called “intelligent” design)
  • Respect for ALL families (based on love, not sexual orientation. Hellooooo.)
  • The right to worship, OR NOT.

So take your pick and write your post(s). Really, the wider variety of topics makes it all the more interesting.

– The blog against theocracy blogswarm, Blue Gal

I’ve thought about this a couple of days, about whether or not I should write about this, about whether or not I would flag it as “off-topic” for this blog. I will. And I won’t.

First, I will contribute to the blogswarm. When I mentioned it to my partner, a minister, he said that I should totally do it, that I “have a compelling story.” We’ll see about that. I will write from a personal perspective, from my experience. I’m thinking about a three-part post, one for each day.

Second, there is definitely a connection between gardening and spirituality for me, so this is completely on-topic for this blog. I’ll leave the details for my third post next weekend.

[Updated 2007.04.08: My outline an writing plans have changed slightly. I’ve written two posts so far. I’ll be back later today – after church! – to write three more posts.]

Related posts:

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Technorati Tags: blog against theocracy

The Other Shoe Has Dropped: ALB Found on Staten Island

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Just two weeks ago, USDA APHIS reported that Anoplophora glabripennis, Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB for short) was found on Prall’s Island, an uninhabited island in the strait between New Jersey and Staten Island, about a mile south of the Goethals Bridge. Yesterday the Parks Department announced that ALB was found on Staten Island six days ago:

The New York City Department of New York Parks & Recreation, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYS DAM), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC), and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that the Asian Longhorned beetle (ALB), an insect classified by the USDA as an invasive species and an imminent threat to the United States and New York City’s forest ecosystem, has spread to Staten Island. An infested silver maple tree, located on a private wood lot in Bloomfield, is the first evidence of the beetle found on mainland Staten Island, and was detected on March 22, 2007 by USDA tree climbers. Surveys intensified on Staten Island since the detection of infested trees on nearby Prall’s Island. To date, only one infested tree has been detected on the mainland and survey crews will continue to inspect ALB host trees to determine if any additional trees are infested. Due south, on the 88-acre, uninhabited Prall’s Island which is owned and operated by Parks & Recreation as a bird sanctuary, 37 ALB-infested red maple and gray birch trees have been discovered since March 1, 2007. Not all trees on Prall’s Island have been surveyed.

The ALB-infested tree in Bloomfield sports light damage in the form of ten egg sites in its canopy. When inspected by USDA climbers in May 2006 just prior to flight season, the tree was not infested, leading experts to believe that the tree has been infested for less than a year. USDA surveyors inspected the wood lot following the confirmation of significant infestation on nearby Prall’s Island, which is located in close proximity to ALB-infested areas in New Jersey. Parks continues to work with partner agencies on the federal and state levels to monitor both infested areas of Staten Island for further signs of the beetle, develop strategies to remove infested and potential host trees, and dispose of removed trees in a manner with minimal ecological impacts.

This is really discouraging news.

Related Posts

GAO Report: Invasive Forest Pests, May 2006

Links

Parks’ ALB Home Page
New York DEC ALB page
USDA APHIS ALB Newsroom
University of Vermont ALB Reference

A Big Brooklyn Gardener’s Weekend

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Too much to do on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, I won’t get to all of it:

Saturday, March 30:

Sunday, April 1:

I’m sure there’s lots of other things going on this weekend, but these are things which I’m planning to attend, or wish I had the time to.

Thanks to Gowanus Lounge for reminding me about Prospect Park Opening Day this weekend.

PS: Big = the weekend, not the gardener.
PPS: Okay, the gardener is kinda big, too.