"another year over AND a new one just begun . . . " PART ONE

GARDEN WINTERIZED AND HOLIDAY DECOR 2011-2012

GARDEN WINTERIZED AND HOLIDAY DECOR 2012-2013

Today is the first Saturday of 2013! The date is January the Fifth, the Eve of Epiphany, which is also the Twelfth Day of Christmas, and it is the day I've chosen for my urban garden's 2012 year in review as well as a great opportunity for me to return here to Blogger after not posting since "the Monday after Thanksgiving," as I have been contending with some health issues as discussed briefly on TLLG's tumblr and Facebook venues.

I realize that most accountings of a given "year in review" take place in late December of the year being reviewed; but since this review will solely be dedicated to my urban garden, I have chosen this particular date, because last year on this day, Juan V came over to help me complete my garden winterizing for the winter of 2012! Hence January the 5th 2012 through January the 5th 2013 was the last full year in my garden!

"God gives every bird its food, but he does not throw it into the nest."

The quote, "God gives every bird its food, but he does not throw it into the nest," which is attributed to Josiah Gilbert Holland (an American novelist and poet), is layered with meaning; but since this is not a dissertation, but rather it is a blog post (albeit a belated one as it was scheduled for yesterday) I am only focusing on one aspect of the quotation, and that is the literal translation.

Since God does not throw food into the birds' nests and since I can't see their nests, I provide food for birds that visit my rooftop garden in a variety of ways; and this blog entry is a pictorial account of some of the ways I do this as well as some of the ways my visiting birds respond to my efforts, and one of my visiting mourning doves is sitting atop my one of my urban hedges and staring at me through my window as I write this because he wants to make sure his brood is included in the photo-ops within this entry. Due to the fact this posting is about birds that eat in my garden it would be hard not to include him, as the mourning doves nosh here more than any other visiting bird and often I'm concerned that their overwhelming presence will deter other feathered creatures from enjoying a bite to eat on my roof extension garden!

"The groundhog is like most other prophets; it delivers its prediction and disappears."

If, dear reader, you are familiar with the Bill Vaughn quote,"The groundhog is like most other prophets; it delivers its prediction and disappears," (which is "serving" as the title for today's blog entry), you may find yourself wondering if yours truly is like the groundhog, as I have "disappeared" from being "on the air" here on TLLG since February 2nd 2012 (Groundhog Day), which was the last time I posted here, letting you know that the things that I grow in my rooftop garden were poking their heads out of their winter gear to see what the groundhog had to say.

Wednesday's Wisdom: " . . . black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is perfect harmony."

Today's LLG blog segment on Wednesday's Wisdom, is being authored by a guest blogger, who happens to be my prolific Ophipprolificogon planiscapus AKA Black Mondo Grass, featured in a photograph that I took of him yesterday in my urban (New York City) terrace garden, and this image can be found in the top lefthand corner of today's blog entry. 

The Ophipprolificogon planiscapus shown here is one of the three of the Black Mondo Grass triplets, which I have had for many years in my garden, and he is the most vocal of the three. Therefore, he wanted to voice his opinion regarding something that I posted both on nybg's (New York Botanical Garden) tumblr page as well as TLLG's Facebook Page. (He will get into that later.)

For now, it is sufficient to say that my Black Mondo grass is no stranger to voicing his views on the Internet.

In any event, since today's LLG post has the distinction of being authored by my eager-to-weigh in Ophipprolificogon planiscapus, please allow me, without further ado, to hand my keyboard over to him.

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

Tuesday is here again, and you know what that means, dear reader — if it's Tuesday, it must be tumblr. However,  before I send you there, I would like to share a few thoughts about November, since today is also November First.

This past Thursday, when I was walking home to my studio apartment in the Upper Westside of Manhattan, the rain was falling heavily, and even though it was only somewhere between five-thirty and six in the evening, it was quite dark, prompting me to think that soon we'd be changing the clocks  (fyi, the date to do this is the second Sunday in November to leave daylight savings time), and that it would be getting darker much earlier in the evening.

It's St. Thérèse de Lisieux's Feast Day!

Happy October! It's the month when the leaves on the trees will be changing colors (at least in the northeastern part of the United States where I live), the month featuring Oktoberfests, and the month that ends with Halloween, a holiday for which I have a designed unusual greeting cards. 

My cards for this occasion are very unique as they are a petite wrap-around variety, which means that they fold out into a picture which is suitable for framing.

Today is also the feast day of St. Thérèse de Lisieux. She is the saint who is often referred to as "The Little Flower." 

I thought of her this morning, as I was in my rooftop garden, where I was reflecting on the fact that I had moved into my apartment eighteen years ago today, and what a blessing it is for me to have a garden (especially since I live in NYC)!

Standing outside in my garden, in the wee hours of this Saturday morning, when most of New York City is sleeping (even though it claims to be a city where no one sleeps), I noticed one of my Helichrysum bracteatum (Strawflowers), striking an odd pose —  just as it was beginning to awaken for the day — and it was an almost prayerful "pose" at that, as evidenced in the photograph which I took of it and posted below.

This prompted me to think of one of St. Thérèse de Lisieux's quotes which is this: "I had wondered for a long time why God had preferences and why all souls did not receive an equal amount of grace […] Jesus saw fit to enlighten me about this mystery. He set the book of nature before me and I saw that all the flowers He has created are lovely. The splendour of the rose and whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. I realised that if every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness and there would be no wild flowers to make the meadows gay."

I am sorry to say that I barely have even a fraction of the faith that St. Thérèse de Lisieux was known to possess. Her picture (seen below) hangs above my desk as a reminder.

St. Thérèse de Lisieux

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.

. . . and so now we've got to say goodbye TO the summer . . .

The title ". . .  and so we've got to say goodbye TO the summer", for today's blog post, is not a misprint, for I am well aware of the Brian Hyland lyrics, to the "Bobby Vinton classic", Sealed With A Kiss, are, " . . . and so we've got to say goodbye FOR the summer"; however, since today is the second day of autumn and the last Saturday of September, it seems appropriate to put a spin on the lyrics.

Perhaps, my tendency to put a spin on lyrics comes from my departed father who often did this with a number of songs as discussed in a previous post which you may refer to by clicking here. 

His "spin" on Hyland's song was, ". . . and so we've got to say goodbye to the plumber."

"Gaze up at the stars knowing that I see the same sky and wish the same sweet dreams." — Elizabeth Barrett Browning

September is passing quickly. Labor Day, the "unofficial" end of summer, and a day, among other things signifying the time that one is "supposed to stop wearing white" (until Memorial Day of the following year as I discussed in a previous post which you may refer to by clicking here) was ten days ago.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Autumn Equinox will take place next week on Friday, September 23rd 2011 at 4:05 in the morning, and even though the Autumn Equinox (marking the "official" end of summer) is eight days away, the sun is already rising later now, and nightfall comes upon us sooner and sooner with each passing day. It is a time in many gardens — urban (like that of yours truly) and otherwise — in which many things are past their grandeur, but, in spite of this, an impressive, twining vine with a sensuous scent is in its glory, and its splendor is truly a signal that summer is passing, and that Autumn is barreling down on us.

Nyctinasty: A Flower's Moment of Silence

Because my last posting to this blog commemorated September the Eleventh, it seems disrespectful on some levels to forge ahead (in terms of today's entry), without making some type of segue. Since this is the second Tuesday of September, which is when the attacks took place ten years ago, it seems, on some levels, more of an anniversary of the terrorist attacks than this past Sunday (which was the actual date, and of course, is when the various Memorial Ceremonies to honor those who died in the terrorists' attacks took place). 

Perhaps I find myself thinking this way because Sundays and Tuesdays are very different days in Lower Manhattan: on most Sundays it's nearly a ghost-town, while on Tuesdays, especially in the morning hours (the time of day that the planes flew into the World Trade Center), the area is bustling with thousands of people hurrying to work, school, or other obligations. Therefore, this past Sunday when the Memorial Ceremony occurred in Lower Manhattan, while it was a day set aside for solemn remembrance — as it should be — it might have been hard for those who are not from the New York City area to have a sense of the effect that the September the Eleventh had on those who were not working at the World Trade Center, but who by way of their daily routine witnessed the horror: the ones who worked in areas surrounding the World Trade Center, or who went to school near there, or who were there for other obligations. They were also deeply affected upon seeing the devastation and witnessing persons jumping out of the burning Twin Towers.

REPRISE: "Love thy neighbor — but don't pull down your hedge."

The photograph posted above shows my Cardinal Climber AKA Ipomocea  multifida or "CC" thoroughly enjoying its somewhat new (six weeks) digs in my urban terrace garden. 

As you may recall, the Cardinal Climber was a gift from a friend, who gave me some CC Plants near the onset of the last week of July.

Smiling Faces

Some folks say as opposed to tending a garden, if it came down to a choice, they'd rather have a cat or dog, whose cute face would be there to greet them when they came home. 

All I can say to those folks is this: Who says herbs, vines, plants, flowers, shrubs and trees don't greet you with a cute face? 

For example, just look at the face of the first flower produced by the new-comer to my garden, the Cardinal Climber vine (shown in the photograph posted above.)

This vine, as you may recall, dear reader was planted by Juan V —  just a week ago — which was discussed in blog entries that you may refer to by clicking here and here.

Friday Follow-Up

The radio announcer says it's 108 degrees at Newark Airport and 104 degrees in Central Park (which is less than a block from where I live and have a terrace garden in New York City) this afternoon, and since the thermometer in my terrace garden only registers 101 degrees, I am extremely thankful to report that the things that I grow in my terrace garden including herbs, plants, flowers, vines, shrubs, and trees — over sixty in total — are faring well with my hand watering (an activity that I have discussed in blog postings, including ones which you may refer to by clicking here and here). 

Today I am mainly following up on the planting of my "newcomer vine", the Cardinal Climber (Ipomea sloteri), as I promised I would in yesterday's blog entry.

Juan V and I did our work fairly early in the morning in an effort to beat the heat, however, we were not finished until a little before 9:00 A.M. An overview of what my terrace garden looked like after the work was finished can be seen in an aerial photograph which Juan V took for me and that I have posted below.

If you zoom in on the photograph, or squint enough, you will be able to see two of the three clay pots (below the bamboo trellis) that are now filled with the Cardinal Climber, the third is off camera (and has its own trellis) but is indeed standing in the most southwest corner of my terrace garden.

Welcome Back, Welcome Back, Welcome Back! Another Cardinal Climber (aka Ipomoea sloteri) Has Returned!

The newcomer to my urban (NYC) terrace garden today is a vine which is currently "divided" into nine small planters that are sitting in a Mixed Nuts carton (given to me by the grower) on top of the marble table that I have in my terrace garden, as seen in the photograph posted above today's blog entry. 

They are waiting for Juan V to help me plant them into their new home. It is only 7:43:10 in the morning,  and already the temperature indicated on my little garden thermometer (a thermometer that I wrote about this past Tuesday) is quickly moving past the 80 degree mark , as seen in the photograph posted below.

The temperatures, in New York City, where I live and have my terrace garden, are predicted to pass the 100 degree mark, with a "real feel " of at least 105 degrees; and so at this point, in the summer of 2011, New York City officially joins the number of states in America, that are being plagued by prolonged periods of heat and humidity.

I realize my blog is not an NYC-Accu-Weather blog, nor am I a meteorologist, and instead I am a photo-artist, writer, as well as an urban gardener, but, the "connect" is this: gardening and weather conditions, as you are undoubtedly aware dear reader, are very much interrelated. If I didn't love the things which I grow in my terrace garden so much, I might spend a hot and humid day, like today, on the boardwalk at the Jersey shore standing under the watering can (such as the one pictured below)

and enjoy being watered; instead of hand watering my sixty plus beloved herbs, plants, flowers, vines, shrubs, and trees. For now, to cool off, instead of going to the beach, I will have to bring the beach to me, and picture myself being under the boardwalk's watering can's cool spray.