Scarlett O'Hara and the wonderful herb, Aloysia triphylla (Lemon Verbena)

In Gone With The Wind, Aloysia triphylla (Lemon Verbena), is mentioned as Scarlett O'Hara's mother's favorite herb. The scent is a luscious addition to my urban terrace garden. It is not a showy plant, but it does have delicately textured white flowers that appear mid-summer. Its pointed leaves are great to put in an ice-cube tray before filling it with water. A single leaf looks lovely in the cube which in turn can be used in Gin and Tonics. I recommend using Blue Coat Gin with a splash - just a splash - of  "Q" tonic.

parsley, sage, rosemary and THYME

The scents from my herbs remind me that I have much more in my urban (NYC) garden than my Paeonia suffruitticosa, Clematis lanuginosa, and H.F. Young Clemantis. In fact, the number of my trees, shrubs, flowering plants and herbs totals a little over fifty. 

My variety of herbs grow with a sense of purpose, providing heavy aromas which often attract honey bees - especially the lavender and thyme. Thymus, the last of the "Simon and Garfunkel herbs" (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme) is certainly not last with me. I have three types of thyme in my garden. My Thymus vulgaris (English thyme) has small with gray green leaves. It is excellent in a liqueur.

Continus Coggygria

The above image is of a shrub that has been with me, in my urban terrace garden, since 2006. It is known as Continus Coggygria 'Royal Purple' and is also known as Smoke Bush or Grace. If you like garden texture, you will love this shrub's branches. 

The leaves are oval and measure 1.5" by 3.5" long. The standard is waxy green, but the variety that I have has purple leaves. In the fall, leaves turn shades of red, purple, and orange. Stay tuned to this blog, and in the fall, I'll show you photographs of the changed leaf color. 

Meanwhile, for the deep purple leaf, I have created a beautiful, single-sided note-card (posted below).

FALL 2018 ADDENDUM: 

I no longer actively produce event program covers, invitations and the types of greeting cards described here or on my website but arrangements might be able to be made under certain circumstances. My focus is on the Words In Our Beak book series, pictured below...

MY BOOK SERIES

...whose stories are told from the point of view of Cam, a female cardinal, whose photo is on the cover of each book. Words In Our Beak’s goal is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment. Set in my rooftop urban garden in New York City. Words In Our Beak is directed to children and adults who are curious about birds, and want to learn about them from a unique perspective. The books include hundreds of images of flora and fauna, links to movies, as well as to informative narratives that have been created by the author.

Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books.

Additionally,  I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available via Fine Art America (FAA). Some of my other photographs (Black & White Collection, Kaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.

Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens' (Black Mondo Grass)

(oh-fee-oh-POE-gon-plan-iss-KAP-us)

The magnificent plant, an ornamental grass known as Ophinopogon planiscapus ('Nigrecens' or Black Mondo Grass,) has shiny black foliage which grows into precious little tufts where tiny bell shaped white flowers grow. I have a set of triplets in my urban (NYC) rooftop garden; each individual is growing in a beautiful container. They bring tremendous joy to me, and to those who visit my garden!