Flatbush Gardener

Eristalis transversa, Transverse Flower Fly

2009-08-16T18:54:00.003-04:00

This beautiful creature is not a bee. It's a fly of the Syrphidae, a family of flies renowned for bee mimics. This is Eristalis transversa, Transverse Flower Fly. I had noticed it in my garden for the first time this summer. yesterday was the first...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Sphecius speciosus, Eastern Cicada Killer

2009-08-18T18:05:00.007-04:00

Although I've lived in Brooklyn since 1992, I didn't encounter Sphecius speciosus, the Eastern Cicada Killer, until we moved to Flatbush in 2005. It was summer, and I was working outside in the garden. Suddenly, here was the biggest wasp I had ever...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Study Guide for BBG Plant ID Class

2009-08-24T18:00:00.010-04:00

Clerodendrum bungei Steud., Rose Glory BowerThis Wednesday I take the final for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Herbaceous Landscape Plant Identification class. [Spelling counts! So please let me know of any typos.] Thursday, I start Urban Garden...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Brine Garden, Pawling, NY

2009-08-29T22:57:00.007-04:00

A path in the Brine Garden in Pawling in Dutchess County, NY, north of New York City. Last Sunday, Blog Widow and I drove up to Pawling, NY and spent the day with a friend of ours. I also got to meet Julia and Duncan Brine. In their landscape...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Flatbush Frolic 2009

2009-09-15T19:13:00.003-04:00

Sunday, I tabled for Sustainable Flatbush at the Flatbush Frolic. For the second year, Sustainable Flatbush presented an Environmental Fair at the Frolic, partnering with organizations that represent their four main initiatives: Energy Solutions,...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Cortelyou Road Park, this Friday, 9/18

2009-09-15T22:50:00.003-04:00

Cortelyou Road Park, Flatbush, Brooklyn, Park(ing)Day NYC 2008 On Friday, September 18th, from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, a park will be born: Sustainable Flatbush will transform a single 8’x15’ parking spot into a green space, complete with grass,...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Happy September Equinox 2009

2009-09-22T17:18:00.047-04:00

Bas-relief in Persepolis. On the day of an equinox, the power of an eternally fighting bull (personifying the Earth) and that of a lion (personifying the Sun) are equal. The September equinox marks the first day of Mehr or Libra in the Persian...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Cortelyou Road Park, Park(ing) Day NYC

2009-09-18T12:00:00.014-04:00

Park(ing) Gnome, Cortelyou Road Park, Flatbush, Brooklyn, 16:42 (4:42 pm) Worms!, 16:26 (4:26 pm) Bulldog Puppy, 15:27 (3:27 pm) Solar-powered Boom-box Experiment, 13:24 (1:24 pm) Ronny Wasserstrom and his amazing egg-juggling egg...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Bring me the head of the Juniper Valley Tree-Killer

2009-09-16T23:20:00.008-04:00

Over the weekend, 12 newly planted trees were destroyed at Juniper Valley Park in Queens. This incident marks the fourth case of tree damage this year at the park and a $2,500 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Brooklyn Leaf Composting Project

2009-10-02T11:17:00.005-04:00

A Brooklyn-wide effort to organize locally and restore leaf composting to Brooklyn! There's a brainstorming meeting TOMORROW, Saturday, October 3, at Ozzie's Cafe in Park Slope. See below for full details. Please join your fellow community gardeners...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Trees for the Future, Blog Action Day 2009

2009-10-15T21:51:00.000-04:00

Like Garden Rant, global warming and climate change is a recurring topic on this blog: It's too late, but it's not too late, is it?, 2008-01-16 Gardening as if our lives depended on it, 2007-11-23 Barbara Corcoran Hates the Earth, 2007-11-18 The...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Fall Approaches, 2009

2009-09-26T18:27:00.005-04:00

September Dogwood, Beverly Road, Flatbush, Brooklyn, 2009 My clear signal for the onset of Spring is the blooming of Snowdrops, Galanthus species. The reddening leaves of Dogwoods, Cornus species, tell me that Fall has really begun in my...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Daffodil Project 2009

2009-10-14T21:00:00.002-04:00

Update 2009.10.18: Kensington date of 10/18 was rained out. Rain date is 10/25. The Daffodil Project 2009 distribution at the Greenmarket in Grand Army Plaza, outside Prospect Park, Saturday, October 10, 2009 The Daffodil Project was originally...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Saturday, October 24: Meet the Trees

2009-10-17T00:14:00.004-04:00

Fraxinus americana, White Ash, one of the street trees that will be on the tour. On Saturday, October 24, Sustainable Flatbush will host its first Fall Street Tree Walking Tour. And I'm looking forward to once again be one of the guides for the...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Blessing of the Animals, Chelsea Community Church

2009-10-11T22:28:00.006-04:00

Update 2009-10-12: Added story about Smokey. Blog Widow and Annie, the new kitten, at the Blessing of the Animals service at Chelsea Community Church earlier today. An off-topic, i.e. non-gardening, post. In some recognition of National Coming...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Save the Campus Road Garden in Flatbush

2009-10-07T23:02:00.007-04:00

Update, 2009-10-09: The Daily News has picked up the story, a few days after it's been in the Brooklyn Blogosphere. Campus Road Garden, South Midwood, Flatbush, Brooklyn, August 2008 The fate of the Baltic Street Garden in Park Slope was,...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

We Are the Champion ... Trees!

2009-10-26T18:16:00.001-04:00

Via Press Release from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Brooklyn, New York—October 26, 2009—On Tuesday, October 27 at 2:45 p.m., the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will award two trees at Brooklyn Botanic Garden “State...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Prospect Park South Halloween Parade 2009

2009-11-01T09:49:00.002-05:00

Slideshow [bit.ly] Related ContentFlickr photo set

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Flatbush Daffodil Project - 11/14 & 11/15

2009-11-13T06:53:00.002-05:00

11/14 ONLY - CANCELLED due to rain (remains of Hurricane Ida). Join us Sunday, 11/15, for a beautiful day of Daffodil bulb planting! Join Sustainable Flatbush and your fellow urban gardeners to beautify neighborhood tree beds by planting daffodil...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Ginkgo Gone Wild

2009-11-18T08:08:00.001-05:00

The Ginkgo Walk at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, November 2008. Another Brooklyn blogger reports: One crisis I've been tasked with dealing with [from a co-op board meeting] is one of our ginkgo trees in the front of our building has apparently...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

BK DECAY: Brooklyn Community Leaf Composting, 11/7&8, 11/14&15, & 11/21&22

2009-11-05T22:30:00.008-05:00

Update 2009-11-21: In just 4 hours over 2 days, the Flatbush CommUNITY Garden diverted 1,740 lbs of leaves from landfill to compost which will enrich the Garden and more of Brooklyn's urban farms and gardens. As Director of the Urban Gardens and...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Names, World AIDS Day (Off-Topic)

2009-12-01T08:19:00.000-05:00

In observance of World AIDS Day, I thought I would re-publish this list of names from my old (neglected and needing to be retired) Web site. These are some of the people, all men, I lost, nearly all to AIDS. I stopped actively maintaining this list...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Standing Still, Looking Ahead

2009-12-21T07:56:00.000-05:00

Illumination of Earth by Sun at the southern solstice. This season's Solstice (Winter in the Northern hemisphere, Summer in the Southern), occurs at 17:47pm UTC on December 21, 2008. That's 12:47 PM where I am, in the Eastern Time zone. The name...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

It Begins

2009-12-05T11:48:00.003-05:00

Update, 2009-12-26: Holiday Lights 2009 The Wizard of Slocum Place does it again, with help from his next-door neighbor. For best effect, view this photo on a black background. I took this snapshot last night with my little Nikon P&S while...

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Holiday Lights 2009

2009-12-26T03:11:00.004-05:00

A slideshow of houses in my neighborhood. http://bit.ly/7Wfx8u Related ContentHappy Holidays, 2008-12-19

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]