Saturday's Sequel (to my garden's flora and me being violated).

Yesterday Juan V came by my rooftop garden to assess the damage my landlord (FA) did to my flora this past Saturday evening (which I discussed in my 5-18-2021 post here on Blogger. It turns out he has really damaged my Beech tree. I’ve had her since the mid 2000’s and she can be seen within the rectangle affixed to the image of directly above posting. FA hacked at her so badly that he split her top in two. 

Moreover he took such a huge hunk off of her that the container she lives in now seems oversized. 

Additionally he ripped a good portion of my Autumn clematis’s (featured within the circle affixed to the aforementioned image) buds, flowers and foliage right off the vine and threw everything to the floor of my garden. I’ve had these vines for a bit longer than I’ve had the Beech tree and I included them in my garden-themed movie, The Kiwi Speaks! Fifteen Minutes of Fame… almost.

[This movie can be viewed within my Vimeo and/or You Tube Channels.]

I am truly grieving re the loss of these flora varieties whom never hurt anyone. Plus I’m shaken up by the violence and invasion that I’ve experienced.

Just as one might do when they lose a pet or a loved one, I’ve been going through my photos of the Beech tree. It looks like that even though I’ve had her since the mid 2000’s, I did not take a picture of her until 2010 (a copy of it can be viewed directly below and I've affixed a rectangle to the picture to indicate her location.

I got her at a nursery in Brooklyn and carried her home on the subway. She thrived in my place and her container had to be replaced a few times as she out grew it. I’ve had her in various places of my garden and had she been in another spot during the attack, FA would not have been able to reach her.

I’m truly frightened by the fervor of FA’s hate-filled mission as it is very dangerous on our building’s rooftop and easy to fall off — especially if you use a cane which he does.

On another note, I’ve spent my grieving time going through photos of her, which I guess is what one does upon losing a living “thing.”

A Recent Visit By Cardinals

Last Monday, shortly after Juan V left from working with me in my garden, I had a visitor who happened to be a male Northern cardinal. He is featured in the image atop this entry which is very aimilar to the ones included in this past Tuesday's (5-4-2021) blog post.

As I stated in thse entry, "This incident was most welcome after having made my place more beautiful with yesterday's plantings. In any event the handsome creature is featured in the sequence of images atop this entry which serve as a play-by play to his discovering peanuts I had placed in a small petri-dish-style bird feeder, that hangs in close proximity to my lush pair of kiwi vines."

In any event this male cardinal's visit was followed by a visit from an array of other avian creatures including a very young female cardinal.

Arbor Day 2021

I’ve had my dear crabapple tree (a detail from her foliage is featured in the image atop this entry) growing in my garden since March of 2016 and she continues to bring me pleasure. 

This year after a rough winter, she came back in March and I wrote about this fact here on Blogger. Moreover, I published another post about her this past Friday.

She is one of the the four trees growing in my place (the others are a Beech Tree, a Japanese Larch and a Japanese Red Maple).

Out like a lion?

Today, in NYC, March is kind of going out like a lion, albeit not all that of a ferocious one, just chilly and rainy. But — as evidenced in photos atop this entry — she is leaving behind some colorful buds bursting from my crabapple tree. Buds are also appearing on my other trees as well as my shrubs and they are appearing on my kiwi vines as seen in the next set of pictures.

I have had my kiwi vines for 11 years! They have bragging rights for being featured in my first garden-themed movie, The Kiwi Speaks! Fifteen Minutes of Fame....almost. 

It can be viewed on Vimeo and/or You Tube. Moreover as some of you may know, my garden is the setting for my three volume book series, Words In Our Beak. 

MY BOOK SERIES

My stories are told in the voice of Cam, a female cardinal, who visits it. 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. 

Another 2020 Snow Day

MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR MY BOOK SERIES

In my last posting here on Blogger, which was last Thursday, December 10th, 2020, I mentioned that we were having a snow day. That incident was a wet snowfall and the accumulation was not much, nor did snow stick on the ground. 

Yesterday, December 16th 2020, six days after the aforementioned event, we had another snowfall in NYC. According to news repors, including NY1, "This is the biggest December snowfall since 2009, when we [NYC] recieved 10.9 inches that year.  It also doubled New York's total winter snowfall from last year, with 10.5 inches at Central Park." 

Most of the snowfall has ended as of this blog post.

The atmosphere it created in my garden was truly magical as you might surmise from the photograph atop this entry which I took late last night. In the next image you can see how my garden looked in relation to the buildings in close proximity.

MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR MY BOOK SERIES

Unfortunately, the weight of the snow caused a portion of my string lights to detatch from the pole which as evidenced in the follwing photo.

MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR MY BOOK SERIES

Hopefully once things melt, Juan V can stop by and reattach them.

ADDENDUM:

On 12-23-2020, Juan V was able to stop by and fix the broken zip tie (as seen in the next image)....

JV MAKING A REPAIR IN MY GARDEN
(THE PLACE WHERE WIOB* IS SET)

...which had caused the lights to come down.

Once he fixed that, he added lights to my a portion of the branches of my kiwi vines (as seen on the lefthand side in the next picture).

MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR WIOB*

*WIOB is the abbreviation for the title of my book series, Words In Our Beak where the stories are set in y rooftop garden.

MY BOOK SERIES

The crocuses's flowers are in bloom again! (Friday Followup)

CROCUSES ARE FEATURED IN V1

CROCUSES ARE FEATURED IN V1

This past Tuesday here on Blogger, I  mentioned that my white crocuses which share a home with my kiwi vines* are in bloom again.

The white crocuses are in bloom again! (Tuesday's Truths 166)

CROCUSES

On Sunday afternoon, March 8th, while in my garden, I noticed the crocuses that are planted in the large container housing my kiwi vines were beginning "wake up" from their winterized state of being mulched.

JULY 30th: That was the day that was! Tuesday's Truths WK 138

IMAGE CREDIT

Two weeks ago (July 30) in my 136th segment for my Tuesday's Truths series, I stated, "....As for my completing my projects, my work was truly disrupted by an unexpected major upheaval in my rooftop garden and at this time, I cannot even write about it, but I will do so in a few days, dear reader, after I've had time to deal with today's unfortunate situation..."

Now, before too much time passes, I'm using this week's Tuesday's Truths "episode" to catch up where I left off in that posting and tell you a little bit more about that unfortunate situation, which for now (and hopefully for the long term been resolved).

The situation I referred to in my July 30th entry is the fact workmen showed up on that day to replace the building's gutters (a repair that had been long overdue) under my rooftop garden (which is atop a roof extension). Their plan had been to attach a ladder to the railing around my garden, remove the old gutter and replace it.

In Honor of Ellen McConnell Blakemann

As I mentioned in a post I published one year ago today, "Normally on this day of August 3rd, I would be calling Ellen Rachel McConnell Blakeman to wish her a happy birthday. However, she died earlier this year and is missed very much by Cam and yours truly.

As some of you may know, volume two of the Words In Our Beak book series is dedicated to her.

I think of Ellen [who can be seen in the photograph atop this entry] often, but especially today and my thoughts are also with her family (including her mother, her sister Martha, Douglas McConnell, Susan McConnell and Bennett Paul) as well as her friends, especially Loris Damerow, whom Ellen often spoke about whenever we discussed various topics."

The last time she and I spoke by phone was late January or maybe early February 2018.

Everything's TRYING to come up crocuses...

THE STORIES IN MY BOOKS ARE SET IN MY GARDEN

I'm modifying the title of a song (Everything's Coming Up Roses) made famous by Ethel Merman for the title of today's blog post for  I'm inspired by the appearance of a lone white crocus flower (from the Jeanne d'Arc family) poking out of her home (which is a container she shares with my kiwi vines in my garden).

Crocuses are considered to be a sign that spring has sprung and they've been appearing throughout Central Park, but they seem to be hesitant to wake from their slumber in my place, as evidenced by the photo atop this entry, where you this flower type standing alone amongst the "pin-striped" foliage of other crocus flowers who may still be sleeping.

FLOWERS & FOLIAGE ARE FOR THE BIRDS! (Wednesday's Wisdom)

HOUSE FINCHES ARE  FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

EMILY'S STORY IS IN VOLUME THREE

It is rather common knowledge that "birders who hope to see hummingbirds often plant nectar-bearing flowers to attract them, but hummers aren't the only birds attracted to flowers."

This truism (or wisdom) is certainly evidenced by the photos directly above (taken in my garden a few years ago) where a male house finch seems to be enamored by my blooming Crabapple Tree while a female Baltimore Oriole is spending her time in the midst of my roses.

HEY! HEY! HEY! It's Garden Meditation Day!

MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

Earlier today I posted my tandem tale for the week and since that time it has been brought to my attention that today is Garden Meditation Day.

According to Holiday Insights (HI), "Per C.L, Fornari, the creator of this special day: Garden meditation day honors the fact that when we're working in the landscape we have the opportunity, if we choose to take it, to let the rest of the world fall away." 

Therefore. in honor of Garden Meditation Day, I've posted an image atop this entry which features a partial view of how my rooftop garden looks on this "holiday."

Birds + Cold Feet ("bomb cyclone" Follow-Up)

MALE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1

MALE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1

MALE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1

As of today, January the twenty-sixth, it has been a little over three weeks since a winter snowstorm that has been categorized as a "bomb cyclone" hit NYC with a vengeance. The three photographs atop this entry were taken during that storm.

They feature the same lone male cardinal perched upon the branches of the kiwi vines growing in my rooftop garden; alighting upon a metal railing that surrounds it, and "standing" on the ledge of one of my bird feeders (which is a "House Feeder" variety).

Upon seeing these images, dear reader, you may be asking yourself the same question that I asked myself: Why Don’t Birds Get Cold Feet?

My question led me to do some research on the matter and I found a number of helpful articles, including one posted by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which you may refer to by clicking here.

One of the facts the aforementioned article points out is: "... songbirds do get very cold feet: the surface temperature of their toes may be barely above freezing even as the bird maintains its core body temperature above 100°F (38°C). But most birds don’t succumb to frostbite because there is so little fluid in the cells of their feet, and their feet are mostly tendons and bones with little muscle or nerve tissue..."

In any event, we've had some very cold days here in NYC since that storm, but that hasn't stopped wild birds from getting out and about. I can almost here them mimicking Frank Sinatra singing the lyric lines from the song, New York, New York: "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere, it's up to you, New York, New York..."

MALE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1

Tuesday's Truths are FROM the birds! (Especially the House Sparrows)

CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK"

Hello, and welcome to week seventy-second segment of my Tuesday's Truths series, where I'll be telling you why house sparrows make such good birders.

During the "bomb cyclone," a winter storm that hit NYC with a vengeance a little over two weeks ago, I did a lot of bird watching from windows in my apartment which look out on to my rooftop garden; and it seemed a Northern cardinal was doing some people-ing at the same time (as evidenced in the photograph atop this entry).

Those of you who have read, Words In Our Beak Volume One,

SEE PRESS RELEASE

might recall, that the term, "people-ing," is one coined by Cam, a female cardinal, (and the story teller of this book), when she explained that it is a term which birds use when they watch people.

In any event, as you can see in the image atop this entry, in addition to people-ing, birds also do birding, and re this activity, house sparrows know just what to wear, did you notice a male one in the image atop this entry? He's perching on some vines to the left of the cardinal and truly blends in with his surroundings, which is what everyone who watches birds needs to do.

Saturday's Sentiments

 MALE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

FEMALE CARDINALS ARE FEATURED IN MY BOOKS

The photographs atop this entry featuring a male and female Northern cardinal (respectively) in my rooftop garden, where they are alighting on the branches of my kiwi vines. They are two of many pictures that I took during the "bomb cyclone" (a winter storm which occurred on 1-4-2018 here in NYC).

On another note, do you notice a little house sparrow at the bottom of the second image? Under any "normal" weather conditions, these bird types do not tend to get along as evidenced by the You Tube video posted below.



I discovered the video (which is featured on a web-page for The Cornell Lab of Ornithology) when I was researching a different topic about wildbirds on the Internet.

As you can see, this clip features a "battle" of the Northern cardinal and the White-throated sparrow, but I have witnessed "battles" between an array of one type of avian species against another type, when they are spending time at my place.

Tuesday's Truths WK 69: "Dreary Days and Mondays..."

STORIES IN "WORDS IN OUR BEAK ARE SET IN MY GARDEN"

As of now, Verizon has fixed the Internet snafus that have been occurring, so, I'm back to my posting here on Blogger, and I'm just in time for week seventy-one of my Tuesday's Truths series.

I come to it with this thought: a well known pop song, Rainy Days and Mondays, which was sung by the late Karen Carpenter is on my mind, because yesterday was a very dreary Monday in NYC.

Part of the lyrics in Carpenter's song state, "... Hangin' around Nothin' to do but frown. Rainy days and Mondays always get me down..."

While it wasn't rainy in NYC yesterday, it certainly was dreary (and still is today), but I couldn't afford to let dreary days and Mondays get me down, or let any day get me down for that matter; and that is this  truth for my seventy-first posting in this series!

Today's WW* is influenced by St. Francis's love of animals (*Wednesday's Wisdom)

The young cardinal who is facing forward in the photograph atop this blog entry, is named Frannie for Saint Francis of Assisi, whose feast day is today, October the fourth.

He is the patron saint of animals, ecology, as well as merchants; and he is represented in my home by a small statue which is on the book shelves above my desk (this can be seen in the next picture, where his figurine is at the far left).

In any event, Frannie was given this name by her mother, Cam; and within the image above this posting, Frannie can be seen spending time in one of her favorite places, the container which is home to my 'Tamukeyama', and on either side of her are house finches.

The green foliage that you see belongs to my Actinida kolomikta and Actimida (Kiwi Vines), who are the stars of my first urban garden-themed movie, The Kiwi Speaks! Fifteen Minutes of Fame...almost; which can be viewed within my You Tube channel. Cam, as you may know is the author of the book, Words In Our Beak Volume One. 

Thursday's Thoughts

On this last day of August for 2017, I'm finding it difficult to write about anything because it seems my content is unworthy in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which has devastated so many lives in Texas. As I compose this posting Harvey is on his way to Louisiana to wreak havoc and his demise is occurring during the anniversary week of Hurricane Katrina, which occurred during the time period of August 23, 2005 – August 31, 2005.

Jazz, the dog pictured above was rescued during Katrina, but ultimately abandoned at an animal shelter because he is blind. Someone I know (TT) here in NYC is from New Orleans and her family was there during that hurricane. The mother (Mrs. T) of TT (who lives near to me) was supposedly working at the aforementioned shelter and she adopted Jazz. 

Ultimately Mrs. T died of cancer, unrelated to Katrina, and TT bought Jazz to NYC. She was not always able to care for him and I introduced TT to someone who has been able to help her care for Jazz.

In any event, I certainly am keeping the folks impacted by these hurricanes in my mind, and I have yet to find out how Juan V's family is faring. They live in Texas, but I'm not sure what part, and, I don't usually communicate with Juan in between the days we work together in my urban garden.

The next time I see him, which will be a week from today, I will be able to ask him if his loved ones were affected by Harvey.

Climbing Roses Create Another Urban Hedge!

The image atop this entry of my white climbing roses, is very similar to one I included in an FB entry for my author page, as well as in my post here on Blogger, this past Saturday.

As I indicated in both of the aforementioned cyber-venues, these rose are in a box-style container and trail up a trellis which has been attached to the railing that surrounds my rooftop garden. They are in between my Avellana corylus AKA Contorted Hazelnut (which is to their left) and my Continus Coggygria AKA Smoke Bush (which to their right). It was the intent of Juan V and I to create an urban hedge to give me some privacy in my garden.

In bygone years I wrote a series of posts for hometalk which discussed various ways to construct urban hedges; and I thought my urban and non-urban dwelling friends who have and/or appreciate gardens, might enjoy reading this series.* For as you know, Benjamin Franklin once said, "Love thy neighbor — but don't pull down your hedge. " 

*LINKS to my Urban Hedge series:
Part One:
SHELVING
Part Two:
BAMBOO TRELLIS
Part Three-A:
KIWI VINES
Part Three-B:
KIWI VINES

One Reason that "April is the cruelest month."

The sweet dark-eyed junco seen in the images atop this entry where the creature seems to be eyeing me from atop the ledge which surrounds my rooftop garden, is one of the reasons that I think the poet, T.S. Eliot, may have been correct in saying, "April is the cruelest month."

As you may know, dear reader, that particular line comes from Eliot's poem, The Waste Land, which I've referred to in bygone years in entries here on Blogger. And indeed, April can be cruel for those who live in the United States, as that's when taxes are due.

But for me, the main reason this month is cruel, at least in the area where I live (NYC), is that it is the month when the dark-eyed juncoes, after spending every day in my garden since the prior November, leave town, and do not return again until the following November.

The pictures posted above as well as the one directly below,

were taken on the first of April, which the last time I saw a junco at my place. Not a nice April Fool's joke — this bird type usually stays until the middle of the month, but I had a feeling based on their behavior that they might leave earlier than is their standard.

And even though they have returned in November (sometimes they even do so in late October), for the past four and a half years, I always have a fear that they won't survive their journey and I might not see them again! In any event, the reason I had a feeling that the juncoes were going to leave early this year is that they spent the last two days of March doing some serious flora-ing in my garden.