Where have all the flowers gone?

The beautiful peony petals have fallen away in my urban terrace garden but the elegance still remains, as seen in the image above, of a peony-seed-pod. Because of its beautiful texture, it  can be used in cut flower arrangements. 

April Showers

"Raindrops keep falling on my petals....."

Juan's Installation

I now have a vine trailing up that wall, and it is jumping on trivets that have been placed on the wall by the artist, Juan. I had seen Juan’s “installation” of trivets on a wall at a shop on the Upper West Side of New York some years ago and had long admired their placement. 

This year Juan has been working with me in my urban garden because, in addition to being an artist, he is a gardener extraordinaire. Since I had so many trivets from years gone by, I asked him to do an “installation” on my brick wall so that my Clematis paniculata (Sweet Autumn Clematis) would have a place to play. The Clematis is loving it! This vine is somewhat of a newcomer (one year old) to my outdoor space.

The H.F. Young Clematis Keeps on Giving

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, and like a new mother joyful over moments of her new child's life (the first time she sees a smile or hears her child's first utterance), so am I with my H.F. Young Clematis that I have in my urban garden (another great find from the USQ  - Union Square Green Market. From the moment a bud first appeared on the vine, it traveled boldly up the pole,

to its magnificent unfolding,

and even now, when petals have fallen has left me with sweet memory.

Ta Da!

Ta Da! We did the Five Boro Bike Tour once again, and this time there was no rain, only extreme heat.

The convo between a couple of chocolate bunnnies (seen in the image posted above), may give you an indication of how cyclists who participated may be feeling today.

I’ll be back on schedule this Saturday, May 8th, with my weekly posting. In the meantime, I encourage you to heed the sentiment in the cartoon posted below:

Lookin' SWEET Upon a Seat of a Bicycle Built for Two

Tomorrow is the annual Five Boro Bike Ride which follows an interesting route, but for now I’d like to spend a few moments telling you how I am (as well as others who are visually challenged or blind) are able to enjoy cycling in spite of being legally blind. I have always enjoyed bike riding, and I did learn to ride a bike as a child despite my physical challenges, but years later because of my struggle with vision (especially in relation to depth perception and lack of visual fields), I had to stop bike riding completely. Therefore I was elated to receive an e–mail from The Achilles Club — an organization normally associated with running — in June of 2008, inviting folks who were totally blind, or who had other visual challenges, to participate in The Twin Tandem Program that it was starting. Twelve tandem bikes had been donated for this purpose.

On the first day of the Achilles Meet–Up Series that June, we met at Engineer’s Gate in Central Park, where everyone was offered the opportunity to participate in riding loops within the park. There were a dozen captains and stokers. We even had a captain named Juliet and a stoker named Romeo. There was also a stoker named Daisy, and her presence was not lost on us as we sang the “traditional” twin tandem song, Daisy Bell.