Brooklyn Planting

Brand Spankin NEW!

2011-11-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

I started building my new and improved website!

www.melissavbateson.com

Here I'll show off my beautiful gardens as well as the work I do with photographers and stylists on photos shots. This past year I have worked on such a great variety of jobs... Fashion editorials, childrens portraits and product/lifestyle shoots.

Check it out and let me know what you think! I am still adding more and more photos each day, creating more of a solid collection... so things are still a work in progress.

Also, what happened to fall?? This amazing maple was from last season. With our warm days and rainy weather (not to mention our New England freak blizzard) the tree colors are somewhat stunted this year. Boo. I love autumnal colors.

Time to plant bulbs! Get your orders in now!

This season was so beautiful... Part 1

2011-11-01T17:18:00.000-07:00

Humid & Misty

2011-04-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

April has been a nice mix of pleasant warm sunny days with a few rainy & dreary ones like today. Working in the rain has produced it's fair share of issues - muddy gloves, transporting all my tools, amendments & garbage backs to and from a terrace through white carpeted rooms... but the sweetest part of April is to see what made it through the hard winter.

NYC had three storms back to back with heavy heavy snow that stuck around for weeks. With this months rounds of seasonal maintenance at the Wild Pistil and Brooklyn Planting gardens, I've been finding lots of broken branches on the woody shrubs. A few hollies looked like they were parted straight down in the middle.
Thuja arborvitaes seemed to bend over, almost to the ground, but not snap! A few ties with some twine and it's back to it's original position.

Everything gets a good haircut and some organic fertilizer. I til the soil and mix in some great composted manure.
Most of the daffodils, redbuds & plum trees at this point are finishing up in the city. Next round is the cherry trees, dogwoods, late tulips and alliums!
The akebia vines are just about to bud out in a few of my gardens, the lilacs and muscari alongs with the wisteria vine should be amazing this year. Depending on how much sun we get in the next week, we could see a whole new burst of spring colors.

This is a sweet sleepy garden in Tribeca... It's got a great view of the Hudson River but very windy! Most of the terrace is shadowed by the building next door, so things here open up a bit later than the sunny warmer rooftops in the city.

This very tidy shade evergreen, skimmia, will bloom in a week or two.

The large sedum, Autumn Joy, is making it's comeback.

I love this subtle golden paint for the fence and boxes.

The akebia almost ready to bloom a purple bloom

An simple but solid row of evergreens at each window.

I am gathering more of my spring flower photos to post this week... Enjoy the days!

To Do's

2011-03-28T12:57:00.000-07:00

It's the last week of March and I am feeling springs pressure already. I saw lots of daffodils blooming along the highway in Queens yesterday. This means its the time to get myself super organized & begin another season.

Although it's been snowing and is extremely cold out, we have been doing a few miscellaneous gardening things like winter clean ups. Lots of broken branches and compacted soil. A quick list of spring to-do's:

- Take inventory of the tools. Sharpen, oil and clean what needs it.
- Organize soils, plant food, oils/sprays
- Prepare for the cool weather plantings by selecting plants & putting in orders with the farmers.
- Clean out gardens from the winters havoc!
- Enjoy the beginning of spring- forsythias are bright yellow in the city

I found this fantastic veggie garden calendar on veggieharvest.com!

Use it to plan out your edible garden this year!

Speaking of veggie gardens, new gardens:

A great couple in Brooklyn has inquired about a vegetable garden in their back yard. Since my family owns and operates a vegetable farm in Connecticut, Wades Farm Fresh, I'm elated to get back to my roots! The new clients are chefs and host a dinner club so we are hoping to grow exotic and hard to find herbs and veggies. Excited to keep you all posted on our progress...

I'm also helping out a friend who has a great backyard... He's gotten custom planter boxes built to match the mahogany decking. We are bringing in glazed pottery, three amazing trees and a whole slew of shrubs and under plantings. It will be quite the transformation.

We are also reviving a home in Long Island with some fresh curb appeal. Since the 1950's, the large shrubs have grown and gradually hedged together into an undulating mass. Azaleas, acuba, pieris japonica, rhody are all now a "azacupierody." It looks fine but a bit dated. Along with a new planting, we are taking out the old slim path to the street with a 4' wide multi-color stone walkway Photos soon! Project starts May 1st!

Happy spring gardening everyone!

Cape Fear Botanical Gardens

2011-03-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

Fayetteville, North Carolina March 19th, 2011 78 degrees F Sunny skies.

The bearded Irises were in peak bloom!

We walked along the edge of the Cape Fear River... Very raw.

Camellia's were in full bloom. The evergreen shrub collection ranged from pure whites to red mixes... Very beautiful.

a massive saucer magnolia flower

The gardens were very relaxed... Sections were manicured and planned while other sections were completely natural. If you're in the area, swing by. It takes about an hour to go through... prob a lot more color once things start growing this spring!

A growing garden

2011-03-21T02:51:00.000-07:00

This was the first planting from back in 2004...

And this was from this past spring 2010. The climbing hydrangea has grown along the top trellis and the lace leaf maple has filled out... It looks so lush all these years later. The bench looks so inviting!

It may still be cold outside...

2011-02-15T12:27:00.000-08:00

... And perhaps snow is still mounded in the shadowy parts of the city but I can just smell SPRING in the air! Yesterday I walked around with-out my jacket and it felt perfect.

Today, not so much. It was 27 degrees out when I got up this morning. Yikes.

But Groundhogs Day has come and gone... Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow on Feb. 2nd which means an early spring!!

...Which means I need to start dusting off my old gardening tools and saddle up for Spring 2011!

Now is the time to contact me if you are interested in a garden or need help maintaining an existing area. We work with any style & budget.

This season we hope to install more working gardens. These are gardens that focus on edible plants like herbs, vegetables, fruits. They take lots of planning before anything gets planted. Starting now so your veggies and hit your table on time!!

Imagine this growing up on your rooftop, on your balcony, in your back yard!

Stay warm New York!

Food Photo Thanks to: www.vegnews.com/web/articles/page.do?pageId=2406&catId=8

The Royal Horticultural Society, UK, released a new report that found numerous benefits to children who work in gardens.

Punxsutawney Phil Photo from movie Groundhogs Day

Trellis Design

2011-01-23T18:53:00.000-08:00

...Just found these great shots of a trellis I designed a few years ago. A powder coated aluminum frame faced with 1x2's of Ipe on edge. It was lightweight, distracted the eye from the steel unit we were hiding.

We planted an assortment of Seibert & Rice pots with annual vines and herbs. Our carpenters for the job, Nicholas Emmett & Nathan Corbin, designed and built the counter to compliment the trellis.

Another season, another post

2010-12-07T15:27:00.000-08:00

I've competed yet another gardening season... With the cold temps outside and the long winter ahead, I can help but post this wisteria photo! The promise of a beautiful spring will get me through the next few months!

Wow.

I've been gardening, sorry!

2010-08-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

It really has been too long since I last posted.

Things are going well! I'm busy with not only my client's garden work but my very own garden has come together!

Sadly, I had a major computer glitch about a week ago and lost a lot of my current digital photographs. I am looking forward rather than freaking out about all my documentation being gone.
As my garden followers may know, the batesongardens.com was taken down with hopes of rebuilding my portfolio site... I got busy, didn't get around to getting a web designer to commit... so here are some older backed up garden photos while we wait.

enjoy!

early spring.

summer.

interior.

I'll post more soon!
Happy gardening!

Chuggin along

2010-04-08T12:21:00.000-07:00

It's April and it feels like July. Yesterday the weather was 90 degrees!

No matter, work has begun. I have started my season with Wild Pistil. We opened four gardens in Brooklyn and Manhattan earlier this week... two more scheduled for tomorrow and a whole slew for next week.

Things are sprouting, soil is being tilled, things are looking promising.

Photos of our spring adventures soon! Enjoy the beautiful weather... wear your sunscreen!

A long winters nap...

2010-02-24T11:00:00.000-08:00

I'm beginning to wake up a bit from this long winter. I'm moving around more than I have since the cold really set in.

Luckily I was able to escape to some fun places... curios from those adventures to be posted soon!

Along with a new season comes tons of changes in business. Great changes!

First of all, I've decided to change the www.batesongardens.com website all together so the site is officially off the web. I never did like the domain name. It was a pressured, momentary decision...so I will start fresh in 2010.
NEW GARDEN PORTFOLIO WEBSITE SOON. NEW DOMAIN NAME!
Suggestions welcome!
(Some link tags for googlers to find me: missy melissa bateson gardens design brooklyn planting ny landscaping urban gardening)

ALSO, BIG NEWS!

Brooklyn Planting will now be a movement and not my business identity. Yes, it's true.
I had a blast working for myself. Being my own boss was absolutely fantastic! These past three garden seasons have been full of great experiences ! I learned the ins and outs of a do-it-yourself small business and now am happy to take the next step forward.

I will be working with Cary Baker at Wild Pistil Inc. starting spring 2010! Check out the site!
http://www.wildpistil.com/
We have worked together on her big installations and garden maintenance for the past three years. It will be nice to officially be on the team 100%!

The fantastic clients of Brookyn Planting will get the same loving care, if not more than before, just with a new name and more resources. Larger and more interesting garden installations, more efficient visits... we really want to push it this year!

I'm so excited to start the new season!

Winter updates soon.

Wedding floral designer?... just this one time.

2009-11-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, one of my best girlfriends fell in love with a very sweet guy and decided to get married.

We are all young creative and just getting by... So rather than asking for/receiving crystal bowls or Kitchen Aids, the couple asked their artist friends to contribute their talents for the event.

I gave the gift of floral design. We went for a whimsical French country/romantic theme. Mason jars and silver teapots as vases, loose bouquets with pops of warm color.

Making bouquets the night before.

This is sweet Brandy, the bride to be!

This arrangement is my favorite.

There are a few more great photos kicking around the internet... Hope I can track them down.

The wedding was beautiful, the bride was stunning... Everyone had such a great time.

Oh weddings...

Caliente!

2009-09-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

It makes sense. In May when I selected my window box flowers, I was STARVED for color.

It's fine, I enjoy how loud it is.

In the right window, I have a clematis vine that has survived four years in that small container.

Root pruning this plant each spring prevented the vine from becoming root bound and choking itself to death.

If a root system is naturally larger than the container it lives in, root pruning is necessary.

It's also important in this case because I like to plant annuals in the other half of the box.

There seems to be a little bit of everything. The orange flowers are calibrachoas, the yellow are lantanas, the fuchsia are petunias and the vertical light blues are salvia. I have a couple angelonia mixed on the right... it really is packed in there.

Things are tight but it's fine for these kinds of plantings. I will be changing it in a few weeks to the autumn style.

I'm thinking about mounting larger boxes. It would be quite a handsome addition to the facade of my otherwise blah building front.

Some beautiful french iron work perhaps?

We shall see.

Every day is a Saturday

2009-09-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

A quick project kick-starts a new store in Soho's back yard this past week.

Saturdays Surf NYC is a coffee & surf shop at 31 Crosby Street fulfilling your aquatic accouterments and caffeinated desires. It also just so happens to be the only surf shop in Manhattan if your looking!

Grab a cup o' joe and shoot the breeze out back next to one of the few planters I arranged. It's so nice back there, and the folks inside aren't too shabby themselves!

Saturdays used reclaimed wood for their interior shelving systems as well as the containers and benches out back. It looks so sharp!

You may have missed the big opening party last weekend, but Saturdays is open 7 days a week from 8am to 8pm!

I ripped this photo from their Facebook page of the opening party. (thanks dudes) Go on, "become a fan" of theirs!

Stop in, tell em Missy sent ya! Surfs up!

Really, September?

2009-08-31T09:44:00.001-07:00

It is just a day away. The summer is nearly gone... One that started off super soggy and is now somewhat warm, a good amount of seaside adventures (yes, NYC has amazing beaches), picking wild flowers in the rain...

and a good amount of garden maintenance work, Brooklyn Planting has almost completed our 3rd year! It seems like only yesterday that we were a small seed of a company. Now, we look into the future and may be expanding and morphing into a new identity.

There are so many new projects in the "green" urban communities now! Rooftop farms, back yard farms, to raising your own chickens... It has not only become important for our communities and self to get back to the basics but it's also a huge social trend, which I love. If becoming in tune with how your food becomes part of your meal, perhaps an appreciation and interest beyond the simple consumption will create a more interested youth.

The joy people get when they see they can grow a cherry tomato plant or have a whole slew of herbs at their fingertips, it's lovely!

I think of the old "give a teenage student an egg to care for" class in high school (which I never did)... What if each student was given a plant to care for? What about a class on growing your own food? OR a summer vacation project where they grow something!

Start small, both in the plant world and people world.

... Just some things I'm thinking about as we break into September.

I have some nice photos of window boxes in their full glory. It should be fun to see the 1st day planting pics and the three months later shots!

Support your local small farms!!!... oh did i ever post a link to my family farm in CT? My mother is Deb, the cutest little thing around. Wades Farm Fresh Don't mind the silly reporters in the beginning.

Terrarium making over at N.A.

2009-06-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

Check out the blog I write for once a week! Every thursday, something new for New Yorkers to do to enhance their green in such a brown & grey city. This weeks post is a pretty good one, try it out!

The Terrarium Project at Naked Apartments

If your looking for a place to live, or are in real estate, this site links both parties together for an easier way to find a great place to live. The blog just helps you settle in nicely.

ENJOY!

Rainy season

2009-06-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

June Gloom is all the buzz.

We have been having a good amount of rain recently, which is fine by me- I love the rain. But my poor plants are starting to feel the effects.

These containers are planted with colocasia, sweet potato vine, nepeta, and no longer wave petunias. I had a few deep purple wave petunias for a rich color burst but the rain just kept these beds super moist, causing mold to grow and kill off the softer plants.

I'll replace them this week I suppose.

But with all this rain, my Cornus Kousa Dogwood is going NUTS! So many flowers- it's a little unreal.

Spring is on it's way out. I dug up all these pansies and will save them for the fall. Replanting them in rich soil, cutting the back hard ... They should be great in September/October when I am ready for them again.

The pansies below were replaced by bright red calibrachoa, fuchsia wave petunia, yellow lantana, lavender angelonia, blue annual salvia and apricot portulacas.

- But that photo will come when they get nice and established... it's a bit dainty at the moment. Patience, patience.

And finally,

Late in the day downtown.

Brooklyn Planting has some things in the mix. New gardens, possible new business ventures, that new blog I'm writing for!

Which reminds me- Thursdays, check out my urban gardening tips at Naked Apartments !

Dig around!

From Spring to Summer

2009-06-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

I have a new camera, finally.

It works like a dream and I was able to use my original memory card in it so I could view the old photos from my Los Angeles trip through May.

A few days before leaving L.A. I had the chance to visit Huntington Botanical Gardens.

http://www.huntington.org

It was March so most plants were still dormant for the winter- which gave me the opportunity to sit in on an amazing lecture.

It was on the art of Tussie-mussies!

"Tussie-mussie" is a term from the 1400s in England for small, round bouquets of herbs and flowers with symbolic meanings. There were thought to be other bonuses to having a small cluster of sweet smelling flowers. Holding them up to your nose would mask smells and was thought to purify the air a bit.

There is a cute website that has a list of the Victorian flower meanings:

http://victorianbazaar.com/meanings.html

This is a tussie-mussie I made for my friend zack. It lacked meaning because I just wanted to give him a purple and orange burst on his desk.

So here's a bit of Brooklyn Planting that the old camera was holding hostage from this past spring.

This was from the lake house upstate that I occasionally garden at. It is such a pleasure to work there.

...

And these are just a couple shots I will be posting to the other blog I write for... (nakedapartments.com/blog)

Window boxes make even the view outside more enjoyable.

And this one will be about finding ways to get plants up off the floor on on tables. Think vertically in NYC. It's all we have.

Glad to be back blogging.

Lots of fun projects on the horizon. Stay tuned!

Contributing

2009-06-04T20:30:00.000-07:00

Fun new work!

I'm now a contributing writer to a new blog that focuses on making New York a bit more livable.

The company is called Naked Apartments, scandalous- I know, but it's a really cool group that helps brokers and renters make the most of the apartment hunt... sign up at their home page if you are interested.

My first post went up today. I just wanted to introduce the public to a few good places to find plant material. The more you see what is available, you can decide what you are interested in and then start asking questions like light requirements or watering needs.

Check me out! I guess my bio isn't up yet... meh.

http://www.nakedapartments.com/blog/

Thanks Shankar!

P.S. My camera is dead. The battery area is busted and won't turn on anymore. I now need to get a card reader for my March-May pictures as well as a whole new piece. UGH.

Ok, ok...

2009-05-31T20:19:00.000-07:00

I know.

I have totally neglected the blog. I've been easily passing the blame to my camera, which still has photos from March on it. It's easy enough to just go get a new cord to connect it (I think I left that 5 pin to USB cord in L.A.) ...

Man, I missed posting about all the amazing spring projects!

Getting it together for a MAJOR recap will be needed... considering I'm writing for another blog now!

YUP, I'm going to be a "contributer"... I will let you know when and where the first entry will be! The blog is about "how to make NYC more livable"...

So with that, I'm trying to come up with a little bio- which is soooooo hard! I keep doing funny entries and serious ones and rambling nonsense ones.

So let me get back to that- but I will DEFINITELY get that cord or a new camera this week- the thing is falling apart.

Hope to be back soon with some great photos from March- May... oh boy- SLIDE SHOW!

Happy Gardening!

Back in the Saddle

2009-04-06T10:32:00.000-07:00

It has been almost three solid months since my last report! Posting feels almost unfamiliar.

Well, winter is completely over!

Spring is officially here with all our April showers and early spring flowers!

Brooklyn Planting has been up and running for the past few weeks, dusting off the old tools and cleaning out some early garden beds and planting a few small containers here and there.

But before we get ahead of ourselves... lets talk Los Angeles!

I flew out mid January with intentions of volunteering with a friend of mine at Tree People for the Million Tree effort. In the end, I didn't plant as many trees as I would have liked but the completely new environment inspired a whole slew of ideas and directions!

On the flip side, I did some gardening at my friends house where I stayed... I think it inspired them because now they are planting so many new flowers and are constantly sending me updates!

Let the photos begin!

Welcome to Los Angeles, California!

This was my first experience with L.A.

They love/hate their highways out there.

On the Tree People grounds.

www.treepeople.org

LEED™ platinum-certified Conference Center at the top of Coldwater Canyon. Check the website for specifics, there are so many interesting forward thinking projects going on here! The Tree People staff work out of seven all-weather yurts organizing plantings or classes. (A "Yurt" is a round tent like structure. It's a modern interpretation of homes the nomadic people of central asian have been living in for over 2000 years.) Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of those structures...arrr.

It was such an interesting spot!

The grounds were pretty amazing... Look at the view of Studio City!!! The trails take you to the most breathtaking edges of the canyon.

An upside down photo of an upside down sign on a trail.

It says: Air is part of the city forest. People breathe oxygen into their lungs and breathe out carbon dioxide. Trees absorb carbon dioxide into their leaves and give off oxygen.

Looks like they were propagating some pine tree clippings in their huge greenhouse. So many new baby trees!

Off to the nursery.

Boething TreeLand Farms in Woodland Hills, CA.

Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful

Can you believe they sell palm trees at the nurseries out there???

The stock was all pretty familiar, a few things I consider annuals are perennials out there, that's mostly it.

Strapping down the trees to be delivered.

Riding my bike around.

This is a canopy tree and my favorite tree in all of Los Angeles. I think it lives on 4th Street in West Hollywood because that street had a bike lane. (one of the very few)

And a loving shot of my bicycle and the canopy tree. The scale of it was so impressive.

Classic alternating palm trees in Beverly Hills on the ride home.

This shrub has a great story. In the winter, the toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) would be covering most of the hillsides in it's evergreen foliage and bright red bunches of berries. Settlers mistook the plant for a holly and the story has it that the "father of Hollywood", H.J. Whitley, dubbed the area Hollywood on in 1887 due to the abundance of the "holly bush". Variations on the story are all floating around. But more or less, this was what was gathered. Mistaken identity!

Irises bloom in January and February... I'm sure in March and April and May... it's like paradise!

I was admiring this alien of a plant on one of my first days in town when a little old woman approached me. (Californians are incredibly friendly.) She told me it was an agave bloom. This Agave attenuata has a clustered base that can mass up to 4-5 feet. This flowering stalk can be as high as 10 feet! It's a monster!

Hollywood Forever Cemetery

It had the most beautiful unexpected treasures.

Like this bell tower at the front entrance covered in vines!!!

And these beautiful white roses mixed in with equisetum (horsetails).

This is a HUGE hydrangea. Look how little my friend Lauren is underneath that! It sits on the north side of the pond. During the summer months, old time/scary movies are projected onto the side of the mausoleum that sits in the center of that pond!! Oh L.A.

This is just a taste!

More to come! Lots and lots more!

I'm baaaaack!

2009-01-13T14:19:00.000-08:00

Well, it sure has been a while.

Gardening season was going full force through the holiday season. Closing down garden and laying the winter greens over all the flower beds, making garlands, dressing winter window boxes... it was fun. Decembers weather was up and down as per usual. One day was close to 70 and then I remember working one day all bundled up with temps around 25 degrees!

I will have lots of time to go back and post photos, talk at length about what happened in the garden scene in Brooklyn the past few months, as well as fill you in on my personal adventure of taking Brooklyn Planting across the country to Los Angeles, California.

Saturday I leave my office, apartment, pets and plants in the hands of two sub-letters thru March.

My wonderful friend Oscar has invited me to help his group, Tree People (treepeople.org), in planting trees for the city of Los Angeles as a part of the Million Tree LA effort!

I'm thrilled to help with such an important project.

Plant a tree if you can!

www.milliontreesla.org

www.millinotreesnyc.org

-There are so many organizations, publicly & privately funded, look for what you can do where you live... Or have your own adventure helping out our big cities!

Keep on keep'n on!

After the equinox

2008-10-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

A Jacquemontii birch and Bloodgood maple tree went into a garden in Park Slope. These trees were planted along side the stone layers who were installing our blue stone patio.

In my design, a small wall made of brick will separate the stone patio from the lush garden.

I have to get over there this week to see how the brick wall turned out.

Over in Carroll Gardens, I was pleased to see some Rudbeckia still kicking. For winter interest, I leave the black cone centers of the rudbeckia to stand tall and dark against the snow... It is my 2nd favorite winter plant. 1st favorite is a snow dusted plume from a grass.

I planted two buttery white mums along side them in the large front garden bed as well as a mix of deep blue pansies to harden off before the winter. They tend to come back with little effort in the spring.

The Nepeta I planted last year is so happy in this front spot. (The blue gray mass with a few blue/purple flowers still around.)

In the front corner, a mass of the sweet alyssum annual flower makes such an impact with such little effort. These will go for a while longer. Such a good staple annual.

Oh these coleus. They have taken a beating this summer. The children who live in this house have a great time playing, sometimes including the plants in the fun... It's no problem though, the coleus bounced right back! They still look great.
Up on the balcony I removed the sweet potato vine and added a row of multi colored pansies. They are cheerful and fun. The kids can see them up close every time they leave the house and come home. It is a very Alice in Wonderland plant, such personality these little guys!
...

Another garden in Park Slope has me tending to her indoor plant needs. Last winter I installed a succulent tray on her dining table as well as three small floor plants in her heirloom copper pots.

The most difficult thing with indoor plants is the watering. Some plants require more water, some less depending on type of plant, time of year and the climate inside the house.

The succulent tray works well with neglect. These plants store water in their fleshy bodies so not watering is better than over watering which will cause it to rot. Succulents are also great because if you forget to water for a very long time, the stress won't show on the body of the plant as obviously as plants with delicate leaves.

The prayer plant works well to warm up dark corners. The stripes are really lovely and clean looking. It feels tropical without the overwhelming size and need for lots of light. A nice little pot for house, I'd say.

Fall is here. Things are shifting. Winter plans are starting to come together.

Bulbs are ordered and ready to be shipped at the end of October.

Slugs are making a come back in my gardens as the weather becomes cool and wet.

I met a new neighbor who will be opening a garden/flower shop a few doors down from Brooklyn Planting! They seem so sweet, I'm thrilled to have more garden oriented businesses in the area... maybe we could join forces! I will keep you posted with details of their opening.

Order your bulbs now!

In and around the city

2008-09-22T10:29:00.001-07:00

Autumn officially began today.

I purchased my first round of chrysanthemums and asters last week.

This window box has a few osteospermum african daisies, brown sedge grass, herbs sage and rosemary, russian sage, blue aster and an orange blaze chrysanthemum. Two of these new planters were delivered to a brownstone in BedStuy. The collection of perennials and herbs will fill in over time and give winter interest as well as fill the air with the scent of rosemary and sage.

...

I also took a little trip to PS1 in Queens the other day. This is what was up.

"P.F.1 (Public Farm One) is an urban farm concept that evokes the look of a flying carpet landing in the P.S.1 courtyard. Constructed from large cardboard tubes, its top surface will be a working farm, blooming with a variety of vegetables and plants."

Here is the link http://www.ps1.org/exhibitions/view/201

The exhibition runs through October 19th... I would check it out for the chickens at least.

My take on it:

Most of the vegetables look stressed and ready to harvest or die out. It was a competition, this was the winner... It looked so animated and the people to plant interaction felt awkward. It is worth seeing and stimulating the path for more urban farming.

Inside the museum is "That was then... This is now"... one piece specifically stood out.

Daniel Orteg

Controller of the Universe

(photo from the PS1 website)

There were a few things that I use every day in the garden in this amazing installation. Loved it.

...

Looking forward to the beautiful fall colors and bulb selections!