Plant Delights order is on its way!

Posted on 2008-04-07 by admin

I just got an email notifying me that my Plant Delights order is on its way!

Honestly, I don’t remember what I ordered. I know I ordered some exotic, marginally hardy (Zone 7ish) monsters for the long, sunny border. The tracking service tells me the package is 18.3 pounds, which is a lot of produce.

Unfortunately, Plant Delights’ online ordering system generates no copy of what you ordered, and no confirmation of what gets shipped. If you don’t print it out and file the page away, you’ll never know until it arrives. Which is where I am now.

Links

Plant Delights Nursery

Gardening Annoyances: “Virtual” Nurseries

Posted on 2008-01-14 by admin

Nurseries: Include your postal mailing address on every page of your Web site. At the worst, provide the link to a “Contact Us” page that has this information on every page of your Web site.

I value local sources of plants for several reasons:

Reduced shipping costs: It costs less to ship something to me from New England than California or Oregon, so it costs less for me to get a plant from local sources. Fuel and transportation costs will continue to increase, so this will become increasingly important.
Greater viability: It takes less time to ship something locally than across country, so the plants I receive from local sources are in better condition.
Suitability: Plants propagated and grown out locally are more likely to already be accustomed to my climate.
Selections: Small, local nurseries are more likely to have small quantities of specialty plants unavailable elsewhere.
Economics: It’s more sustainable economically and culturally to support local business when and where I can.

Finding out where you are located should not become a treasure hunt. Case in point: Perennial Express, located (I eventually discovered) on Long Island.

Their home page contains no contact information. There’s also no obvious link to such information, such as the usual “”Contact Us” or equivalent. It now becomes a “treasure hunt”: keep clicking on every available link until you happen to stumble across one that looks like it might lead you to the information you want.

Neither of the links at the bottom of the page – Terms & Conditions, and Shipping Information – provide any information.

Their Catalog page (referred to elsewhere on their site as their “Online Store” – two different ideas, in my mind) tantalizingly, teasingly, provides a “Contact Us” link. However, that link leads to an online form which you can fill out to send a site-generated email. Again, no information about where they might be located.

In fact, nowhere on this site is there any information about how to contact them or where they might be located. Not even the state or area of the country is given anywhere. The only way to find out where they are is to leave their site.

Turns out they have a wholesale operation called The Plantage. There is one link to that buried at the end of their home page. Again, however, there is no obvious link to their contact information, even on their wholesale site.

There are five “fake” links across the top of the home page: Home, Sales, Information, Links, Gardening. “Fake” because they don’t link to anything. They’re just anchors for drop-down menus of links which only appear when you move your mouse over them.

Through this kind of “out of frustration I wave my mouse around the screen just to see what happens” exploration, I eventually discovered that there is a “Contact Us” link hidden beneath the “Information” anchor. There I found just what I was looking for: mailing addresses, with zip codes and everything.

For anyone who cares at this point, they’re located in Mattituck and Cutchogue in far Eastern Long Island, near Orient Point, about 85 miles from where I live. That qualifies as a local source for me. But based on my frustrating experience trying to figure that out, I’m not going turn to them unless and until they can straighten our their retail end of things.

Gowanus Nursery under threat

Posted on 2007-09-04 by admin

Updated 22:00 EDT: Added links, maps, and legend.

Gowanus Nursery, as it appeared on their opening day this Spring

I received the following email this afternoon through the Gowanus Nursery mailing list.

On Wednesday August 22, a small group of business owners, employees and clients attended a city planning meeting that was to decide the fate of a few parcels of land located on Summit and Carroll streets.

The likely outcome is that Gowanus Nursery (45 Summit Street) will be forced to move, once again.

Remarkably, this change is a thinly disguised ‘spot zoning’ to allow for a residential development in a grandfathered commercial zone. This action, in the words of Community Board 6, has been the most aggressive use of ULURP (re-zoning) procedures that the current board has ever seen, forcing out active and flourishing businesses to make way for residential development.

Borough President Marty Markowitz’s recommendations suggest that the nursery occupied lot provides property owners the opportunity to lease under-developed land with minimal investment (part true since the only investment came in the form of our own labor and financial funding.) There seems something fundamentally wrong with labeling well-used open ‘green’ space as ‘under-developed’.

On a personal note, I am frustrated not only by the futility of the work we have already logged here, but also by the casual way that zoning change is happening in ‘our’ neighborhood. Last year, you, my customers and colleagues came to offer your services during the first move. Now, I ask for your help to help save this ‘green oasis’ from perishing in the changes affecting all of Brooklyn.

One of the questions asked by the city planning commissioners was “We have heard a lot of testimony about how this is the ‘best’ nursery, could you please give some definite examples to support this statement?” Well, we hope that our garden making has been successful; stimulating ideas and offering advice, suggesting different ways of seeing plants and how they affect our environment directly and indirectly. Of course, something akin to a mission remains: providing to gardeners experience-based knowledge and the broadest selection of perennial plants for Brooklyn gardens.

We hope that you can take the time to email the following parties to let them know in a few words what makes us an important part of the neighborhood and the whole Brooklyn experience.

Council representative – Bill de Blasio, deblasio@council.nyc.ny.us;
City Council Speaker – Christine Quinn, quinn@council.nyc.ny.us;
Land Use Committee Chairperson – Melinda R. Katz, katz@council.nyc.ny.us;
Mayor Michael Bloomberg

The following are some statements to paste into your appeal:

It’s impossible to run a nursery without land.

Businesses such as these provide necessary services to the community, and are the reason we choose Brooklyn.

Please help Gowanus Nursery to remain a Brooklyn institution.

I located a map of the proposed zoning change. This was certified to begin ULURP as far back as May 14th of this year.

The area enclosed by the dotted line is proposed to be rezoned by changing from an M1-1 District to an R6 District. The heavy solid lines indicate where the Zoning District Boundaries would like after the proposed zoning change. To become effective, the proposed changes must be approved first by the City Planning Commission, then the City Council.

Here’s a map, courtesy of OASIS-NYC, that shows the current uses of 45 Summit Street and nearby properties:

Legend:
Legend image 1 & 2 Family Residential
Multi-family Residential (3 or more Residential Units)
Mixed Use (Residential and Commercial)
Commercial
Institutions
Transportation & Parking
Industrial (corresponds to Zoning’s “Manufacturing” designation)
Vacant Lots

Comparing these two maps, it appears that most of the properties along Carroll Street within the proposed zoning change are already in residential use. The proeprties along Summit Street, however, are in industrial use, consistent with their M-1 Zoning designation.

The question of whether or not Gowanus is “the best” nursery is a red herring. This seems like a suspiciously convenient carve-out for someone. Who is going to reap the windfall from eminent domain-style tactics that strip privileges from one group and class of residents to benefit another?

Links:

Southern Exposure Nursery, Rutland, Massachusetts

Posted on 2007-07-24 by admin

Southern Exposure Nursery, Rutland, Massachusetts

Cow and Chicken at Southern Exposure Nursery

On our way back from Gardener, Massachusetts this weekend, we stopped at Southern Exposure Nursery in Rutland, at the recommendation of our hostess. The weather was perfect.

Even this late in the season, they had an excellent selection of perennials.

Sun Perennials at Southern Exposure Nursery

I love Hostas. It was hard to limit myself to just one. The task was made easier by the huge variety of other plants on hand.

Hostas (and other shade plants) potted up at Southern Exposure Nursery

The nursery beds were also beautiful, and provided a glimpse of how the mature plants might look in a garden setting.

Even amidst this lushness, the chickens and Scottish Highland cattle were a distraction.

Links:

Southern Exposure Nursery
My Flickr set
Wikipedia: Highland cattle

Liberty Sunset Garden Center

Posted on 2007-07-20 by admin

Liberty Sunset Garden Center, Pier 44, Red Hook, Brooklyn

Last Saturday I got to visit the Liberty Sunset Garden Center for the first time. Come for the selection. Stay for the views.

Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor viewed from Liberty Sunset Garden Center on Pier 41 in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

They have the best selection of plants I’ve found at any nursery in Brooklyn. They have a lot of space, which they’ve put to use by providing greater variety. They had many perennials and annuals I couldn’t identify without looking at their tags, which is saying something. (Woodies, not so much; I’m notoriously bad in their identification.)

The plants – even annuals – were all in good shape, clearly well-tended and cared for. Their prices also seemed generally lower than those at the nearby Chelsea Garden Center and Gowanus Nursery.

This orange Echinacea spoke to me, so I bought it.

A couple more views. More photos available in the Flickr set of my visit.

I walked through the Pier 44 Waterfront Garden on my way to Liberty Sunset.
While I was at Liberty Sunset, the Crown Princess cruised by.

Liberty Sunset Garden Center

Posted on 2007-07-14 by admin

Update 2007.07.20: Read about and see photos from my visit.

This afternoon I have an opportunity to visit Liberty Sunset on Pier 41 in Red Hook for the first time. The last time we got to Red Hook, our car started smoking just as we were leaving, so I didn’t get to visit on that trip.

So if this afternoon you see some geeky guy wandering around taking too many photographs, say hello!

Brooklyn Terminal Market is NOT Closed

Posted on 2007-06-22 by admin

The Brooklyn Terminal Market is NOT closed.

Yesterday I read:

The ladies doing their thing in the garden. (Disclaimer – these pictures are a few weeks old, but the Brooklyn Terminal Market – I think now closed for a while – was a great spot to pick up a lot of nice things at decent prices.)
– More Gardening, BedStuy Reno blog on Brownstoner

After reading that, I called Brooklyn Terminal Market and left them a message. Beverly Wiseman from BTM just returned my call. She was even more surprised than I was to hear that they were closed!

The Brooklyn Terminal Market, located in Canarsie betwen Foster and Remsen Avenues from East 83rd to East 87th Street, is open all year.

Chelsea Garden Center, Red Hook

Posted on 2007-06-16 by admin

Shrubberies, Chelsea Garden Center

Last Saturday I visited the Chelsea Garden Center in Red Hook.

It was part of our day of car errands. While the roof was getting replaced, the driveway was in use as a warehouse and shop; the car stayed in the garage for three weeks. That may have contributed to our car problems later in the day.

I’d built up a shopping list of outdoor tools and supplies to acquire. We visited Lowes first. They did not have plain cedar mulch, only the “decorator” varieties. They also didn’t have any large bags of Holly-Tone. I passed on the smaller bags, thinking I could get a large bag at Chelsea. I regretted this decision later; Chelsea only had the smaller bags as well, and their prices are much higher than Lowes.

Chelsea’s strength is in woody plants. They had a wide variety of choice shrubs, trees and vines. All were in excellent condition. They were also artfully displayed, as you can soon from the photos.

I didn’t buy any woodies. I bought some unusual shade perennials: an unidentified Ligularia, a beautiful silvery Pulmonaria, and a bright white-variegated Liriope. These will go along the shady path on the north side of the house.

I also picked up some annuals. My preference is to go to one of the larger Greenmarkets for annuals. But I wanted to plant our window boxes before the Victorian Flatbush House Tour the next day. I had also hoped to plant the hell strip between the sidewalk and the street with some drought-tolerant annuals. I bought 18 plants for these two projects. Again, pricier than they would have been at a Greenmarket; only one, maybe two, of the six different species I chose would not have been available there.

So overall, Chelsea is certainly a pleasant visit. Staff was helpful, if a bit stressed by the business they were getting; it felt like they were still getting into their weekend groove. Noone was able to identify the species, let alone variety, of the sole specimen of Ligularia I found. If you have an eye for them, they have a few unusual perennials. I didn’t take but a cursory look at their woody stock, but that seems to be a specialty of theirs, just based on the quantity, variety, and staging.

PS: When you see a car stalled in the non-shoulder area of the Prospect Expressway, honking at them does not help. They already know they are stalled in a dangerous location. And trust me, they want to be there even less than you want them there.

Sources of Plants for Brooklyn Gardeners

Posted on 2007-05-25 by admin

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

Posted on 2007-03-31 by admin

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.