"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.

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.

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.

ek-in-AY-see-uh's the name . . .

"Ek-in- AY-see-uh", my lovely and playful coneflowers (shown above), said, after the herbs, vines, plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees which I grow in my urban terrace garden wondered how the new arrivals pronounced their name. These new-comers to my terrace garden snuggled easily into their new home; however, their entrance was bittersweet. 

The Echinacea plants were a gift from a dear friend, who gave them to me as a form of consolation, because my Honeysuckle Vine, a vine which I have discussed in a number of posts, including ones which you may refer to by clicking here as well as here  and here, was attacked by mildew; possibly caused by an exhaust fan that was put in the window of someone who lives in the building directly west of me. 

There is no space in between the buildings, so it is likely that the recently installed fan blew fumes onto my Honeysuckle Vine, which was vulnerable to such an appliance. Hence, there was no way to protect my sweet Honeysuckle Vine —  such is one of the tribulations of maintaining an urban garden, where things grow in containers, making them very susceptible to the consequences of man-made things. 

In any event, the Honeysuckle Vine had to be pulled down immediately because, as any gardener knows, mildew, such as the variety that attacked my vine, would spread quickly and destroy other things that I grow in my garden. 

Happy Half Year's Eve to You! (PART THREE May and June 2011 Follow-Ups)

As  promised, I am continuing with my follow ups in honor of the half-year.

In terms of May 2011 follow ups, as you may recall, dear reader, I spoke about The Five Boro Bike Tour, at the onset of that month (in blog posts that you may refer to by clicking here and here). In the latter of these posts, I expressed gratitude for Max Osso being able to step in that the last minute when my regular captain, Zoe Waldron, hurt her Achilles tendon, but thankfully, she graciously loaned us her tandem, so that we could participate in the event. Fortunately, she ultimately recovered for the most part, and has cycled "solo" as well as with me on a tandem on a number of occasions since that time. 

Additionally, since my May 2011 posting, I have received photographs, purchased by Achilles from Brightroom, of Max Osso and yours truly in various stages of The Five Boro Bike Tour, and I have posted one of them above today's blog entry that shows us cycling in Central Park, and one below which was taken early on in the tour.

Also in May, on May 11th, to be exact, my flowers quoted Dr, Suess saying, "Today was good, today was fun, tomorrow is another one", and now in this  half-year follow-up, I can attest to the fact that indeed, they are having fun as evidenced by the photographs of some of my honeysuckle flowers posted below..

...enjoying the trellis which, as you may recall, dear reader, was installed (to serve as a hedge) on  May 17th 2011.

In another posting, this past May, the birth of my H.F. Young Clematis's flowers was announced in an entry that you may refer to by clicking here. 

My H.F. Young Clematis's flowers were indeed a beautiful asset to my terrace garden; however, they have a short life. Since their departure, they have left me with beautiful, yet playful, "hairy" pods, as evidenced in the collage featuring one of them in both flower and pod which is posted below.

The follow ups for June  2011 include news on my Anethum graveolens (Dill), which I wrote about approximentaly ten days ago. (This may be referred to by clicking here.) Since that time, a change has already occurred, it is sporting little yellow flowers as seen in the image  seen below. (I am in the process of rendering this image into a note-card and will release details as soon as they are available).

A Tribute to Juan V and The Don-Man: Great Gardening Minds Thinking Alike

Yesterday, Juan V came over to help me with some gardening work, and I told him about the D–Man’s garden, and that I had given him my left over bamboo stakes so that he could build a trellis, since the D–Man had commented on my blog about the smoking/gawking neighbors that we have in common — the neighbors who tend to invade our respective gardens, much like the ants that we both appear to have. 

If you’d like to reread any details regarding garden invading neighbors spurring on the need for an urban trellis, or combating garden ants, or the D–man, please click on these respective links: gawking neighbors as impetus for a trellis to train Honeysuckle Vines, pesky ants that make themselves at home on my Paeonia suffruiticosa (Tree Peony), and, of course, the D–man, a young gardener, whom I mentioned in yesterday's blog entry.

Upon hearing about the D–man’s endeavors, Juan V was as touched by his efforts as I am, and so, when Juan V photographed yesterday’s aerial view of my garden, he took one of the D–man’s garden. The resulting images have been posted at the top of today's blog entry. 

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Juan V and me, the D–man was apparently busy at work on his computer uploading his second video to You Tube which you can view by going to this link: My little Pumpkin Plant: Patio garden update!

It is exciting to learn of the D–man’s adventures with his garden. It is also most touching to know of the D–man’s sensitivity in expressing appreciation (as he did for the extra bamboo stakes and watering cans that I gave him for his garden) because such attention to detail will surely make his garden flourish. However, while I appreciate the D–man’s giving a “shout” out to my blog and garden, I can assure you, dear reader, as you most likely know, that in giving, we receive. Seeing the enthusiasm and excitement of D–man’s reaction to all of the nuances in his garden will surely help other gardeners to grow in their efforts to embrace the smallest pleasure one receives when he/she gardens.

It is somewhat serendipitous that evidently at the same time that I was telling Juan V about the D–man, and perhaps even while Juan V was photographing the gardens, that the D–man was inside his home posting about our mutual gardens. Indeed, proved once again, that great minds such as those of Juan V and the D–man think alike.

Thursday's Testimony: "Loving the art in yourself and not yourself in the art . . "

The image posted above shows a sideway view of the trellis that Juan V built (in May of 2011), using bamboo stakes that I had left over from 2006, when I used them to manage a tomato plant that had gotten out of control. 

You may recall, dear reader, that in my posting, "Love thy Neighbor — but don't pull down your hedge," I not only discussed Juan's structure, but I also wrote about a terrace on a building two doors west of me, which is used by folks whose sole reason to go outside seems to be to pull up a chair and stare at my terrace, which often makes me feel vulnerable when tending to my garden. 

Their behavior was my motivation to put up an "urban hedge" — a bamboo trellis which will hopefully soon be filled with flowers from the  Honeysuckle Vines that are being trained to crawl on the trellis. 

In any event, I have received a heartfelt comment on that blog entry from D-Man, which reads, "Very nice garden!  I wish I could get privacy from those neighbors also. They just stare at me and smoke when I tend to my garden." D-Man is a young boy who lives in the building which is in between my building and the building that has the terrace where gawkers and smokers abide. He maintains a garden on a terrace one level below mine, and he is new to gardening.

This Season's Charming Lavandula angustifolia

Perhaps, you recall, dear reader, that over three weeks ago (May 14th 2011), I posted an entry titled "I've NEVER seen a billboard lovely as a tree . .  " (which you may refer to by clicking here).

You may also recall that an antique sign bearing the word "SODAS", was the subject of that post, and was an item that used to be placed where I now have Lavandula angustifolia, growing in a window box placed inside an old fireplace fixture that has been located in almost every area of my terrace garden over the years.

My "Shakespearean" Urban Terrace Garden Flowers: "They have their exits and their entrances . . . "

It's May 31st which means this "merry merry month" of May (as I referred to it just thirty days ago) is coming to a close, and so are my tulips,

"Love thy neighbor — but don't pull down your hedge. " (Benjamin Franklin)

The folks who live in an apartment two buildings west of me have an outdoor terrace that faces north just as mine does. 

Admittedly, their west view of the aluminum siding that has been placed over their brick wall is not appealing, and their northern view would be the entrance to and from their apartment to their terrace, but must they pull up a chair and sit there facing me in my terrace garden which is their eastern view?