"If it's Tuesday, it must be tumblr . . . " Week Nineteen

  
The last day of January is already here, and my beloved friends from the comic strip Mutts, are already began celebrating one of our February holidays, Groundhog Day, which will take place this Thursday, February the 2nd.

It's a WRAP: Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day!

My attractive ornamental grass, Ophipogon planiscapus, AKA Black Mondo Grass, is also very responsible, and, therefore, he is taking his role of spokes-plant and co-host to yours truly very seriously and, in fact, it was he who told me that today, January the 30th, is Bubble-Wrap Appreciation Day!

Did Mayor Yury Luzhkov tell Bloomberg about spraying the clouds?

When I went out to check on things in my urban (NYC) terrace garden, I found one of my shrubs, the Continus Coggygria AKA Smoke Bush, also known as 'Grace' (pictured above), in the throes of deep prayer, as evidenced by the upright and open position of her sweet little branches in the image seen here. 

'Grace' confided in me that she was inspired to "lift (her) arms to pray" because she had remembering hearing of Joyce Kilmer's poem, where the quote is from, in past postings here on this blog which you can find by clicking here as well as here and here.

My Continus Coggygria is not prone to prayer, but she confided in me that she felt if trees can lift their arms to pray, why couldn't shrubs? And she said that she felt the need to pray because of the lack of snowfall we have had in New York City this year, as she is very worried about global warming!

"If it's Tuesday, it must be tumblr . . . " Week Eighteen

Just a quick note to say that the flower in the image posted above is named Tropaelum majus (Nasturtium). Meanwhile, another Tuesday is here again and, as  TLLG readers know, if it's Tuesday it must be tumblr! Please click here to go there.

Snow Day

Today, January the Twenty-First, NYC (where I live) had the first snowfall for the year of 2012. In fact, we had no snow in December of 2011, and the snow for November of 2011, was a "residual" from our Halloween 2011 snowstorm.

One of my ornamental grasses, Ophipogon planiscapus (Black Mondo Grass) triplets, pictured here, and who, as you know if you follow this blog, recently won a coin toss in my urban (NYC) terrace garden in which the prize was being the solo host and or co-host with yours truly to a number of year-end review segments (details available by clicking here and here), was so thrilled by nature's gift topping its black tufts and the brilliant green blades of his friend, Mr. Blue Shag (pictured below),

as well as the squiggly blades of his playmate, Ms. Juncus effsus (Unicorn Soft Rush), 

that he declared it a snow day for a year in review segment (ie he and I are not doing one today).

But he hopes, as do I, that you have enjoyed the ones we have done so far here on TLLG's blog for my Physocarpus opulifolius (Coppertina) and for my Tropaelum majus (Nasturtium), and my Phlox Subulata, as well as the segments in movie format we have done for my Echinacea (which is called Echinacea Elaborates and was posted on nybg's – New York Botanical Gardens –  tumblr and my Hyssop with its visiting bees, whose movie was featured on TLLG's Facebook Page. 

However for those of you who "don't do FB", you can view the Hyssop's movie on Vimeo by clicking here.

Meanwhile, the Ophipogon planiscapus spokes plant and I are in the throes of creating other movies, which we like to call Virtual Stories; so stay tuned.

P.S. For those of you who are not familiar with Blue Shag or Juncus effsus look like without snow, see images below.

Blue Shag

Juncus effsus

Humpty Dumpty Honors Penguin Awareness Day

With all the "year-end review talk" going on in my urban (NYC) terrace garden, the Humpty Dumpty figurine in my indoor succulent garden (pictured above, and you might recognize his face from other entries here on TLLG) is now feeling nostalgic.

In honor of Wiki's Going Dark: Pausing for Station Identification on The Last Leaf Gardner

Of course, when Dr. Seuss (who has been mentioned in a prior post here on TLLG, which can be found by clicking here), said, "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go,” he was talking about reading books, and not reading things on the Internet, and while I read many things on the Internet for my small business, I am certainly one who enjoys reading books.

In fact, once upon a time, when I was about to have a surgical procedure on my knee, which would require a hospital stay, a dear friend gave me some money to buy "an appropriate nightgown to wear in the hospital." After she handed me some rumpled bills, she  gave me a stern warning, "Don't buy books with this!"

"If it's Tuesday, it must be tumblr!" Week 19

As I announced here on TLLG yesterday, one of my Ophipogon planiscapus (Black Mondo Grass) triplets (pictured above) won the coin toss in my garden and, hence, will either be the spokes-plant or my assistant in "show-casing" year-end reviews for some of the 80+ things which I grow in my urban (NYC) garden. 

The Tropaelum majus (Nasturtium) managed to receive its year-end review on the last day of 2011, but many of the other things that I grow here will have their year-end reviews between now and when they wake up in April of 2012. We began yesterday with my Phlox Subulata, and today we are featuring my Echinacea, with a mini-mini movie (Virtual Story), called An Echinacea Elaborates, but since it's Tuesday it must be tumblr, so you'll need to view it there by clicking here.

Ophipogon planiscapus to Host (or Co-Host) Year in Review!

In spite of the fact that this past Saturday I informed Ms. Apple of your Eye, "looking in the direction you are heading is far better than looking backwards", I realize that many folks, especially at the beginning of a new year, do like to look back, and I am fully aware that a number of media outlets pay homage to the old year by providing a year-end review feature, such as Reuters has done, and  whose "picks" for the highlights of 2011 may be viewed by clicking here.

Moreover, many of the 80+ things that I grow in my rooftop garden here in NYC have been imploring me to do a year-end review, where they wanted me to highlight the events that occurred within my garden in the 2011 year. 

But now that most of the things which I grow in my terrace garden have been bundled up for the winter — making them look like kids wearing poofy jackets — and they are taking their winter's season's nap (as indicated in the photograph posted above today's entry), I was hoping that they had forgotten about the "plan" we had made (a plan that I discussed in a post here on TLLG, on December 31st of 2011, which is a date when most "normal" folks do, or have done, their year in review).

As you may recall, dear reader, in our December the 31st of 2011 "plan", we (yours truly and the things I grow) decided to start our year-end review for 2011 on January 6th of 2012. However, as you may also remember, when Friday the Sixth of January arrived, all the things I grow seemed to agree, that our chosen date to begin the "review" should once again be postponed – or at least shared with paying our respects to Three Kings Day also celebrated on the Sixth of January.  

New York City's weather was much milder then, so everyone was in a good mood and quite agreeable about the postponement of our year-end review. But it has gotten much colder, and most of things I grow are all fast asleep, so, I figured I could let our plans for a year-end review slide.

My Visiting Apple has Agenda (And I have another guest post to announce!)

Who's that lady? As you can see in the photograph above, I have another newcomer to my indoor succulent garden! And she calls herself Ms. Apple of Your Eye. (If you follow my blog, you know that figurines always add seasonal amibence to my succulent garden – please click here to see related posts on TLLG, and you may also be aware that recently I guest posted on My Square Foot Garden about indoor succulent gardens).

In any event, Ms. Apple of Your Eye, resembles Lady Prickly Pear in "body color" only, and, moreover, she has told me that, like Lady Prickly Pear, she will be with my succulents until spring when other figurines are due to return! 

Additionally, Ms. Apple of Your Eye, informed me that, although she will share my "succulent garden space" with my orange (as in the fruit) figurine, who was featured yesterday on TLLG's Facebook Page (and also on nybg's — New York Botanical Gardens — tumblr), with a narrative accompanying the following image,

she detests the expression, "comparing apples and oranges" . 

When I asked Ms. Apple of Your Eye why she was so adamant in her opinion regarding the apples and oranges expression, she brought up an old childhood wound, that she experienced when she was not cast in a school play, and she pointed out other apples have experienced this also, as indicated in the following image from Wiki:

I understand Ms. Apple of Your Eye's attachment to childhood wounds. I, like most others, have plenty of those, but, I seldom look back after having the following insight.

Every time I ride the train, I always make an attempt to choose a seat that is facing the direction the train is traveling, because riding backwards and looking where I have been makes me physically ill. This should be a warning to me, as I have a tendency (although not nearly as bad as it once was), to analyze the past, and the physical nausea I experience from riding on trains — when facing the opposite direction of which I am heading – is a good indicator that it is much better for me to always face the direction I am going.

Friggatrtishtkaiedekaphobia: One of my Larix Kaempferi's Demons!

Today is the first Friday of 2012 in Ordinary Time, as well as the second Friday of the new year, and it happens to be Friday the Thirteenth, a day when some folks suffer from Friggatrtishtkaiedekaphobia.

"Here we go round the prickly pear . . . "

My succulents (pictured above) are having a great time with Lady Prickly Pear, a new arrival to my indoor succulent garden. Various figurines, as you may recall, from my previous posts here on TLLG, as well as on nybg's (New York Botanical Gardens) tumblr, come and go in my succulent garden, but, while they are here, they always add an atmosphere that causes my succulents to thrive.

As you can see in the image at the top of today's post, a few of my succulents seem to be dancing around Lady Prickly Pear. Moreover, early this evening, I thought I heard them gleefully quoting one of the stanzas from T.S. Eliot's 1925 poem, The Hollow Men, which, as you may know, is far from joyous. 

But joyous my succulents were, as they surrounded Lady Prickly Pear, singing the following famous stanza:

"Here we go round the prickly pear,

Prickly pear, prickly pear

Here we go round the prickly pear

At five o'clock in the morning"

Thank goodness my succulents were not singing at five o'clock in the morning, but perhaps it was there way of remembering T.S. Eliot. My succulents know that Elliot has been mentioned in a number of blog posts here on TLLG, including one this past April, where I referenced his famous observation that "April is the cruelest month", and, they also know that yesterday marked the thirty-seventh year and one week anniversary of his death, January 4th, 1965. 

"If it's Tuesday, it must be . . ." tumblr. Week Sixteen

My little hot pepper Christmas ornament has left my succulent garden, and is checking herself out, to see if she gained weight during the holidays, when she partied with the other ornaments and figurines that spend time there, when they indulged in a few glasses of Chateau Du Chatelard. Meanwhile, yours truly doesn't put a damper on any holiday festivities by worrying about the gaining of weight. How about you, dear reader? Meanwhile, as Ms. Hot Pepper primps herself for an appearance in a future blog post, I'd like you to check out what I've been posting on nybg's (New York Botanical Gardens) tumblr, because today is Tuesday, so it must be tumblr! Here's the link!

We Three Lemon-Limes join Three Kings Bringing Peace to one Physocarpus opulifolius

Today is the first Friday of the New Year, which means it is a day the things (80+) which I grow in my urban (NYC) terrace garden, and I, "earmarked" for part of the 2011 year-end-review. As you may recall, this will occur over a number of Friday Follow-Up posts in January, and these posts will cover the brief "highlights" of the "activities" that occurred in my garden last year. What the things which I grow in my garden, and I, did not realize — when we agreed on today's date to begin our review — was that today is also the Feast of the Three Kings. This is an "event" that I wrote about last year on TLLG in a post that you may refer to by clicking here.

However, because I wrote about The Three Kings on TLLG last year (where I included an image similar to the one at the top of today's blog entry), and because I have recently shared information about celebrations regarding this feast day on both nybg's (New York Botanical Gardens) tumblr as well as TLLG's Facebook Page, we have concluded that the Three Kings would not mind sharing the limelight today in regard to the scheduled year-end review.

Be that as it may, the question raised by my Lemon-Lime Cypress triplets — who, given their name, know a thing or two about limelight — and who can be seen in the second image above today's blog entry (more on this later***), was this: while the Three Kings might not mind sharing the limelight with the things that I grow, would the things that I grow be willing to share the limelight with the Three Kings? In particular would my Physocarpus opulifolius (Coppertina) have problems doing this?

Star of Wonder, New York City Front Windows, and a Window of Opportunity for TLLG

" . . . O Star of wonder, star of night

Star with royal beauty bright

Westward leading, still proceeding

Guide us to thy Perfect Light . . . "

Tomorrow is the Feast of the Three Kings, a day, when the aforementioned lyrics to the hymn, We Three Kings are sung. In New York City, the feast will be honored by a number of celebrations throughout the boroughs including an annual parade in East Harlem. And, as I posted on TLLG's Facebook Page this morning, "This year will mark the 35h anniversary of this parade. The route begins at 106th Street and Madison Avenue, and it ends at 115 Street and Park Avenue. Although I've never been, I am aware that the parade features 12 feet Magi Puppets and live animals, such as camels and sheep.  I am not sharing the info as an endorsement but am doing so because I think it sounds like an interesting event."

As you undoubtedly know, dear reader, The Three Kings are always associated with the star of wonder, and, hence the presence of a star is a big part of holiday decor, or at least it is for the tenant who lives in the brownstone across the street from my building. The image of the star in a window, which is posted above today's blog entry, was taken on my camera by my neighbor's boyfriend on December the 30th 2010. He took the image for me when I told him that I had admired the star from the street.

Remembering Hitchcock's Rear Window

Image Credit  for Rear Window Poster is Here

Nearly fifty-eight years ago in the month of September,  the famous Alfred Hitchcock film, Rear Window, was released. The film's movie poster can be seen at the top of today's blog entry in an image credited with Wiki. Wiki's intro to the film's plot is this, "after breaking his leg during a dangerous assignment, professional photographer L.B. "Jeff' Jefferies (James Stewart) is confined in his Greenwich Village apartment, using a wheelchair as he recuperates. His rear window looks onto a small courtyard and several other apartments. During a summer heat wave, he passes the time by watching his neighbors, who keep their windows open to stay cool . . . " 

Like "Jeff", I have a rear window in New York City, and like "Jeff", my window faces a small courtyard and several other apartments. The apartments that I face are in a high-rise building directly north of where I live, and the rear windows of that building are in close proximity to my rooftop garden, as seen in the image below which shows a partial view of my garden as it looked this past September. I have included it here to give you a perspective.

During the growing season my garden is always lush and thriving, so I rarely think about what my neighbors are doing behind their rear windows. Aside from the fact that what they are doing is not my business, I don't have the time or inclination to think about it, as my work and my gardening are extremely time consuming. Moreover, I have very poor eye-sight and would not be able to see what they are doing even if I wanted to.

"If it's Tuesday, it must be . . ." tumblr. Week Fifteen

A new figurine arrived in my succulent garden this past Saturday, which happened to be not only the last day of 2011, but it also happened to be the sixth day of Christmas, when one's true love gives to them, "six geese a layin' . . . ", and I was given one sheep a layin' . . ;  as seen here in the image above today's blog entry. 

Today, when I asked him if he'd like to say a few words about his arrival to my succulent garden, his reply was, "If it's Tuesday, it must be tumblr, and I'm feelin' shy and I'd rather slumber . . . "

Maybe I have a wolf in sheep's clothing? In any event, he's right, it is Tuesday, so it must be tumblr, and here's the link to take you there and I'll see you tomorrow.

"We have gotta say good-bye for the winter."

Mama Reindeer, seen in the "middle" of the image posted above, is someone whom you may recognize, dear reader, as she came with her twins (standing to her right in the aforementioned image), to spend the 2011-2012 Christmas season in my urban (NYC) garden, and as of today's posting, January 2nd 2012, they are still here. 

Happy 2012!

Happy 2012 from ALL OF US (the succulents, the herbs, the vines, the ornamental grasses, the plants, the flowers, the salad greens, the sedum, the shrubs and the trees that grow togeher in my urban – NYC – garden) at TLLG. And we invite you to view this sweet movie of The Clangers, with a message that can resonate throughout the years to come. (If The Clangers sound familiar to you, a different video – than the one posted below – of them was featured this past Thanksgiving on TLLG.)