Tag Archives: Brooklyn

Where are all the people?

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Bonsai paparazzo
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Julie, who authors the daily journal, Human Flower Project, recently commented:

It interests (and surprises) me that there are so FEW photos of people in the garden. Any idea why?

She went on to write her own post on this topic:

One might say that since gardens—and photographs, too—are men’s, women’s and children’s creations, they embody a kind of humanism. It just takes a penetrating eye to see the human mind at work in a glorious perennial border or a well-framed foxglove. That’s surely so. But gardens are both by and FOR people, so why are do so few of the Brooklyn Garden’s visitors show us what people are doing there, how they interact with this glorious environment? The same holds true in most gardening magazines and websites. Among the many that feature fine photos of home, public and commercial gardens, one rarely sees a hand pruning or a vagrant snoozing. Why is this?

I hadn’t responded yet to Julie’s comment when I read her post today. So this is my response.

I know I’ve contributed just a handful of photos to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitors pool with people in them. I’ve included a few of them in this post. Most of my photos don’t have people in them. I have some ideas why that might be.

Often the people I end up photographing are other photographers. Why? Because they’re in the way of my shot! Making lemons from lemonade (or something), they become the subject, or at least part of the composition.

Reflections
Reflections

More often, people are are incidental to the shot, or unavoidable, so I include them anyway.

Entrance to the Native Flora Garden, April 2007
Entrance to the Native Flora Garden

Most rarely for my photographs, people are the subject.

Alessandro Chiari, BBG’s Chief Propagator, And Titan Arum “Baby”, August 2006
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Mark Fisher and Titan Arum “Baby”
Mark Fisher and Titan Arum "Baby"

Forsythia handouts, April 2007
Forsythia Handouts

I’m not generally a sociable person. I’m bad with names, faces, and people. I’ve never been comfortable photographing people. There are so many great faces and characters in New York City, I wouldn’t know where to begin photographing them. Not to mention I avoid confrontation. A telephoto lens helps.

Lily Pool Terrace, November 2005
Lily Pool Terrace

Anyone is welcome to join the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitors group and contribute photos of the gardens. I also actively search for photos of the garden and invite their contribution, especially from folks who are not already members of the group and don’t know about it yet. There’s no formula for what I look for. But one of the criteria is “unusualness”: an unusual perspective of a well-photographed site, or an ephemeral moment.

I think part of the reason why there are so few photos with people in them is that they are not usually the subject of the photo. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is located in a dense urban area and gets a lot of visitors. We don’t normally go to a garden to see other people. For example, the Cherry Blossom Festival at BBG is packed with thousands of people. So a photo of cherry trees in full bloom, without a soul in sight, is unusual!

Saturday, June 9 is Brooklyn Pride

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Working it, Brooklyn Pride 2006
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I still have my Marshal’s T-Shirt from the very first Brooklyn Pride March on 5th Avenue in Park Slope. I don’t know if I’ll be able to enjoy any of the festivities this year. I’ll be busy cleaning up the garden following the completion of the roof job, just in time for Sunday’s Victorian Flatbush House Tour. If I do make it, there will be lots of photos!

All events take place in or kick off from Prospect Park near the Bartel-Pritchard entrance at the corner of Prospect Park West and 15th Street/Prospect Park SouthWest.

5K Run (9:30 AM Registration)

Multicultural Festival (11:00 AM – 6:00 PM)

Kids Space (12:00 PM – 4:00 PM)

Night Pride Parade (8:30 PM Kick Off)

Parade Route
15th Street to 7th Avenue
Right on 7th Avenue down to Lincoln Place

Prospect Park West will also be closed for assembly of the marchers prior to kickoff.

Contingent from the Hetrick-Martin Institute in the 2006 Brooklyn Pride March
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The 10th Annual Brownstone Brooklyn Garden Walk

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Update, 2007.06.07: All the Prospect Heights photos are up as of this morning. Clinton Hill photos are up as of Tuesday night.

I made it to all 16 stops on the Brownstone Garden Walk today. I think I should get some kind of prize.

I took about 350 photos today. I’ll be uploading them as I can. Here are the placeholders for the photos from each neighborhood, in the order I visited them.

  1. Fort Greene
  2. Clinton Hill
  3. Prospect Heights

I had no time to visit any of the community gardens. It was all I could do to visit each garden on the walk. I was going to bail out after Clinton Hill, but I started getting requests from some of the organizers for photos, since they had no one “official” taking photos and had no time themselves to do so.

Some general observations.

There was a lot of imagination demonstrated in the approaches taken and solutions to the challenges of each site. Making the best use of limited space is a common challenge, but so is shade, competition from tree roots, where to store your garden necessities, and so on. Yet even with these common challenges, the solutions were different. Lots of ideas for techniques to apply in similar situations.

I also gained an insight into why a garden-only tour would be preferable to a mixed house and garden tour. On a house tour, though I might get some ideas about what to do with my house, what if I don’t own a house? The gap between what I’m seeing and what i could imagine doing myself is more likely to be insurmountable with a house tour than a garden tour.

Even if it’s a single plant in a pot, everyone can garden, even those who don’t own any land. And the gardeners I met today were talkative. Everyone had some insight to share, some experience, some history. It just had a warmer feeling than I get when I’m on a house tour. Maybe it’s just how gardeners are. Maybe it’s just that I like gardens, and gardeners, more than “house people.”

Overall the event was well-organized. They had ample volunteers covering each stop. Most of them also seemed to be avid gardeners, and I had several enjoyable conversations with them, as well as owners and gardeners at several gardens. I gave out all my remaining Flickr cards. I need to order another set for the upcoming Brooklyn Blogade meetup in three weeks on June 24.

Some things I hope they improve upon next year:

  • The promised “free shuttle van service” didn’t materialize. It took me over four hours to cover all three neighborhoods. But the neighborhoods are well served by bus service, at least better served than my neighborhood. The map provided showed the bus routes, which was a big help, since I hadn’t brought my own Brooklyn bus map.
  • It wasn’t clear ahead of time that there were multiple locations to purchase tickets the day of the walk. I don’t know why, but somehow I thought that the BAM Triangle Garden was the starting point for the tour, and that you had to purchase tickets there the day of if you hadn’t purchased them in advance. Only when I got my map did I learn that there were ticket locations in all three neighborhoods. I would have planned my trip differently had I known that in advance.
  • For someone who is not familiar with the neighborhoods, some things were confusing. It took me a half-hour just to find the BAM Triangle Garden. Once I did, I found this sign:
    Placard, Garden Walk.
    Well, I have no idea where St. Felix Street is. A simple arrow drawn on the sign might have sent me in the right direction. Just some additional wayfinding for out-of-towners such as myself.

But those are my only complaints. The event was otherwise well-organized, the gardens varied and all worthwhile. I got lots of ideas for my own gardens, and how we might be able to organize a garden-only tour for our area.

Brownstone Garden Walk, 1/3: Fort Greene

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Hydrangea and Sweet Potato Vine, 116 Lafayette Avenue, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Detail, Hydrangea and Sweet Potato Vine, 116 Lafayette Avenue

Numbered as they were in the tour guide. Listed in the order I visited them.

Stop #6: 42 South Portland Avenue
42 South Portland Avenue42 South Portland AvenueBorrowed View, 42 South Portland Avanue42 South Portland AvenueBig Blue Hosta, 42 South Portland Avenue42 South Portland AvenueFerns and Roses, 42 South Portlane AvenueFlagstones, 42 South Portland AvenueChive Flowers, 42 South Portland AvenuePlanter Bench, 42 South Portland Avenue42 South Portland AvenueRose, 42 South Portland Avenue

Stop #7: 151 DeKalb Avenue
151 Dekalb Avenue151 DeKalb Avenue151 DeKalb AvenueZonal Geranium, 151 DeKalb Avenue151 DeKalb AvenueClerodendrum, 151 DeKalb Avenue

Stop #8: 152 DeKalb Avenue
152 DeKalb Avenue152 DeKalb Avenue152 DeKalb AvenueKitty!Fern in log, 152 DeKalb AvenueCabbage Butterfly

Stop #9: 116 Lafayette Avenue
116 Lafayette AvenueStorage Bench, 116 Lafayette AvenueSpa116 Lafayette Avenue116 Lafayette AvenueClimbing Hydrangea and Evergreen Shrubs, 116 Lafayette Avenue116 Lafayette AvenueHostas and Boston Ivy, 116 Lafayette Avenue116 Lafayette AvenueMosses on Steps, 116 Lafayette AvenueColeus in Containers, 116 Lafayette AvenueLounging Areas, 116 Lafayette AvenueContainers, 116 Lafayette AvenueDetail, Heuchera (“Lime Rickey”?) in Blue Pot, 116 Lafayette AvenueColeus, 116 Lafayette AvenueLounging Areas, 116 Lafayette Avenue116 Lafayette AvenuePlanter Box, 116 Lafayette AvenueOverview from above, 116 Lafayette AvenueShady Corner, 116 Lafayette AvenueFoliage Detail, 116 Lafayette Avenue

Stop #10: 310 Carlton Avenue
310 Carlton AvenueContainers and Plants, 310 Carlton AvenueContainers and Plants, 310 Carlton Avenue310 Carlton AvenueFish and Lily Pads, 310 Carlton AvenueBench, 310 Carlton AvenueBench, 310 Carlton AvenuePond and Bench, 310 Carlton AvenueZonal Geranium Leaves, 310 Carlton Avenue310 Carlton AvenueBench, 310 Carlton AvenueLotus, 310 Carlton AvenueWater Lily, 310 Carlton AvenueContainer Plantings, 310 Carlton AvenueContainer Plantings, 310 Carlton AvenueSolanum pyracanthum, Porcupine tomato, 310 Carlton Avenue

Related posts:

Brownstone Garden Walk, 2/3: Clinton Hill

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Roses climbing on steel beam, 222 Washington Avenue, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
Roses and Beam, 222 Washington Avenue

Numbered as they were in the tour guide. Listed in the order I visited them.

Stop #16: 152 Willoughby Avenue
152 Willoughby Avenue152 Willoughby Avenue152 Willoughby Avenue152 Willoughby Avenue152 Willoughby AvenueMountain Laurel, 152 Willoughby AvenueBegonia on Water, 152 Willoughby AvenueBranches over Water, 152 Willougby AvenueTiny Euonymus, 152 Willoughby AvenueTiles, 152 Willoughby Avenue

Stop #15: 227 Washington Avenue
227 Washington Avenue227 Washington Avenue227 Washington Avenue227 Washington Avenue227 Washington Avenue227 Washington Avenue227 Washington Avenue227 Washington Avenue227 Washington Avenue227 Washington Avenue227 Washington Avenue227 Washington Avenue227 Washington Avenue

Stop #14: 219 Washington Avenue
Front Yard, 219 Washington AvenueZane's BallFront yard, 219 Washington AvenueBay View219 Washington Avenue219 Washington Avenue219 Washington Avenue219 Washington Avenue

Stop #11: 222 Washington Avenue
222 Washington Avenue222 Washington Avenue222 Washington Avenue222 Washington Avenue222 Washington AvenueLizardRoses and Beam, 222 Washington Avenue

Stop #12: 218 & 216 Washington Avenue
218 (left) & 216 (right) Washington Avenue218 (left) & 216 (right) Washington Avenue216 Washington Avenue218 Washington Avenue218 Washington Avenue218 Washington Avenue218 Washington Avenue218 Washington Avenue218 Washington Avenue218 Washington AvenueHomage to Beatrix Potter, 218 Washington Avenue218 Washington Avenue218 Washington AvenueCottage patio, 218 Washington Avenue216 Washington Avenue216 Washington AvenueStill Life with Chairs, 216 Washington Avenue216 Washington Avenue218 Washington AvenueView from the Cottage, 218 Washington AvenueFrom the cottage door, 218 Washington AvenueBudding Hydrangea, 218 Washington Avenue218 Washington AvenueAllium inflorescence, 218 Washington Avenue218 Washington Avenue218 Washington AvenueDriveway detail, 218 Washington Avenue218 Washington Avenue216 Washington Avenue

Stop #13: 190 Washington Avenue
Caladiums, 190 Washington AvenueCaladium, leaf detail190 Washington Avenue190 Washington Avenue190 Washington AvenueStaghorn fern, 190 Washington Avenue190 Washington Avenue190 Washington Avenue190 Washington Avenue190 Washington AvenueChandelier, 190 Washington AvenueChandelier, detail, 190 Washington AvenueChandelier, detail, 190 Washington AvenueTabletop, 190 Washington AvenueBegonia under glass, 190 Washington AvenueHanging pots, 190 Washington Avenue

Related posts

Clinton Hill (Flickr Collection)
The 10th Annual Brownstone Brooklyn Garden Walk
Brownstone Garden Walk, 1/3: Fort Greene
Brownstone Garden Walk, 3/3: Prospect Heights

Brownstone Garden Walk, 3/3: Prospect Heights

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Shady Beauties at 116 St. Mark’s Avenue
Shady Beauties
Numbered as they were in the tour guide. Listed in the order I visited them.

Stops #5 and 4: 493 and 491 Dean Street
Front yard, 493 Dean StreetFront Yard, 493 Dean StreetDetail, Cabbages and Honeysuckle, 493 Dean StreetSemper FiRendition of Atlantic YardsRendition of Atlantic YardsBackyard, 493 Dean StreetBackyard, 493 Dean StreetRendition, Dean Street after Atlantic YardsBase of Apple Tree, 493 Dean StreetDetail, Trunk of Apple TreeDetail, Trunk of Apple TreeView to 491 Dean StreetFlower Clock, 491 Dean StreetShade Plants at base of Apple treeApple Tree

Stop #3: 110 St. Mark’s Avenue
110 St. Mark's AvenueSalpiglossis flower, 110 St. Mark's Avenue110 St. Mark's AvenueKitty and Admirer110 St. Mark's Avenue110 St. Mark's Avenue110 St. Mark's AvenueView from Above110 St. Mark's Avenue110 St. Mark's AvenueRedbud leavesBark Bark Bark110 St. Mark's AvenueLotsa RocksCreepers110 St. Marks AvenueBarkContainers, 110 St. Mark's Avenue

Stop #2: 116 St. Mark’s Avenue
Containers, 116 St. Mark's AvenueContainers, 116 St. Mark's Avenue116 St. Mark's AvenueFish116 St. Mark's Avenue116 St. Mark's AvenueView from the gardener's nookCompost nookWaterfallShady BeautiesPond, 116 St. Mark's AvenueRoseRose

Stop #1: 118 St. Mark’s Avenue
118 St. Mark's Avenue118 St. Mark's AvenueSecond RoomShady SanctumAsarum and Epimedium118 St. Mark's Avenue118 St. Mark's Avenue118 St. Mark's Avenue118 St. Mark's Avenue

Related posts:

Why I Garden: The Sensual Garden

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First Cicada Molt of 2007, photo taken May 27 in my backyard in Flatbush, Brooklyn
First Cicada Molt of 2007

I’m afraid I have nothing of my own to offer up here. I was struck by the intersection of recent posts from two seemingly unconnected bloggers in the communities of gardening and Brooklyn, from Garden Rant and Blather in Brooklyn.

Yesterday, from Garden Rant:

In the archaeological museum in Naples, I learned something else about how the ancient Romans gardened–with loads of erotic art. For over 200 years, one of the great embarrassments of the excavation of Pompeii and Herculaneum–another ancient city in the Bay of Naples buried in ash at the same moment–were all the dirty things that were dug up.
– Sex in the Garden

And I just read today, from Blather in Brooklyn:

When the [Salon des Refusés] opened, Manet’s painting [Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe (Luncheon on the Grass)] caused a public outcry. The critics were not offended by the nudity, but by the fact that the nudes had no supernatural or religious connotations; rather, they were shown as real people, modern, recognizable Parisians enjoying what appeared to be a bawdy, drunken picnic on the grass.
– Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe

Definitely visit both blogs to read the full posts.

Gardening in the nude would not present my neighbors with the sensual delights presented by Manet and the artists of Pompeii, so I shouldn’t start now. Despite my modesty and discretion, nature and gardens have always been sensual experiences for me.

Biophilia is strong in me. Diane Ackerman‘s A Natural History of the Senses spoke to me like many others.

One of my earliest memories comes from outside a school playground. The maple tree there was surrounded by fallen leaves, crisp and brilliant. I stood among them, holding one particularly colorful leaf, examining it until a teacher broke my trance.

I have an earlier memory of sitting in the garden on the side of our first house. I pulled up almost all the baby carrots, grabbing their leaves and eating them right there, dirt and all. In my mind, the whole scene is illuminated by the filtered green light from the sun shining through the tomato plants towering over me.

I’m not always conscious of it, but when I garden, I engage and satiate all my senses. I garden to be surrounded by nature, to welcome it to me, to lose myself in it. The taste of Nasturiums, the movement and rustling of grasses, the shades of green in a single Hosta leaf, the perfume of rosemary, the songs of catbirds and cicadas. These ephemeral moments are why I garden.

Event, Brooklyn, June 3: Brownstone Brooklyn Garden Walk

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Update, 2007.06.05: Read about my impressions and see photos from my visit.

Don’t know why I’m only just hearing about this. This is only the second garden-only tour in Brooklyn that I’ve heard of. There should be scores of them.

Seventeen private gardens may be visited on this self-guided tour through the three historic Brooklyn neighborhoods of Ft. Greene, Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights. Free shuttle van service will be provided, circling between the three neighborhoods. This may be your last chance to see a pair of adjacent gardens in Prospect Heights. These two gardens occupy the western edge of Brooklyn’s first botanic garden, Parmentier’s Horticultural & Botanic Gardens. They currently fall within the footprint of Bruce Ratner’s proposed 22-acre Atlantic Center and are threatened with condemnation through use of eminent domain.

Highlights of the tour include a triple lot garden with several cascades & ponds, a double lot garden with brick cottage & mature trees. Both of these gardens evolved over a long period of time created by individuals, avid gardeners,long time residents of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, who owned adjoining properties and instead of filling space with building additions, used the empty spaces to create garden oases.

The Brownstone Brooklyn Garden District, sponsor of the Garden Walk, is a coalition of three Downtown Brooklyn neighborhoods, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights, with a common interest in improving quality of life through greening of the urban environment. Garden Walk ticket sales support the Annual Fall Bulb Give-Away for planting flowering bulbs in public spaces throughout the Garden District.

I’m hoping I can make it, weather cooperating.

Via Brownstoner.

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