Bulb Planting 2021

This past Wednesday was unseasonably warm for November which was a perfect time to plant tulip bulbs. Nearly every November for a number of years (and often under nasty weather situations),  Juan V has planted an array of tulip bulbs in my garden (a partial view of it can be seen in the image atop this entry).

In any event over the years the bulbs he has planted have produced extraordinary and unusual tulips, many of which are included in volume one of my book series, Words In Our Beak as well as in posts within this blog.

On occasion, once my tulips have had a blooming period, certain varieties have come back the following year or even years; but for the most part, in spite of them growing in awesome containers, filled with rich soil, they have a short duration in my place.

We were not able to plant bulbs in 2019, and then, because of the long lasting lockdowns in 2020 due to consequences of the coronavirus pandemic; nothing was planted.

Therefore, this year's bulb planting was quite special. The bulbs we chose  — if all goes well — will produce tulips at different times so the activity in my garden should be on going.

Facts About Sparrows (Wednesday's Wisdom)

The other day when I was on Broadway I noticed some tulips swaying in the wind, but it was not until I put my camera’s memory card in the computer that I noticed a young female House sparrow had been catching some rays alongside those flowers.

It's the pits!

In the photo directly above, a few daffodils are catching some shade from the sun's rays by being within a sturdy, masterfully crafted tree pit. CURBED reporter Diana Budds calls these structures "micro-Edens," but the city's parks department calls them "tree pits."

Sightings in Theodore Roosevelt Park

"Adjacent to the American Museum of Natural History on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Theodore Roosevelt Park is rated one of the top five small parks in New York City," states a web-page.

Today I passed through there after dropping off my compost at the nearby greenmarket.

I came upon many lovely sights, including a squirrel.

Thursday's Tale: Certain Central Park Tulips Now Have a Georgia O'Keefe Look

This is the first year that I do not have tulips in my garden as I was not able to plant new bulbs in 2020 because of the pandemic. In general, my tulip bulbs don't winter-over well even with my diligent garden winterizing. I truly miss having them this year but memories of my tulips sustain me. I have had such amazing varieties during the many years of my having a garden. Be that as it may when it comes to not having tulips in my garden this year, I have been able to appreciate them in tree pits as well as in Central Park. The tulip seen in the photo atop this entry is one I saw there five days ago.

Tuesday's Truths WK 185: Red + White = Pink (Honoring N'tl Pink Day)

IMAGE CREDIT

In an earlier entry today on Blogger, I wrote about the 84th session of #ClapBecauseWeCare, an event that began occurring shortly after Governor Cuomo shut down New York state.

As you may know, re-openings across the state have been gradual and in NYC, PHASE ONE began on June 1, 2020;  while PHASE TWO began yesterday.

These lockdowns and COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic concerns coupled with these new logistics of re-openings have had an impact on my content within this blog, as I've focused primarily on those issues.

I plan to change that and begin to return to other content, starting with today's holiday which is National Pink Day. As you may know, dear reader, I have post entries about the holiday here on Blogger in bygone years.

According to a wikiHow web-page, "Pink is a color beloved by many. It’s popular on clothing, bakery decorations, and flowers, but oftentimes pink dye cannot be found in stores. The truth is that pink is a tint of red and in nature is a combination of red and violet. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to make pink paint, icing, or more by combining red and white."

In last year's post, I included fauna and flora that have pink in their coloring. As a follow up to that post, I published an entry re the coloration of pink in nature.

Currently have some pink geraniums growing ui my garden as seen in the next photo-ops.

GERANIUMS IN MY GARDEN VIEW ONE

GERANIUMS IN MY GARDEN VIEW TWO 

And one of my Heuchera plants is exercising her bragging rights on this National Pink Day because she has pink flowers aa seen below.

OTHER HEUCHERA VARIETIES ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1

Other Heuchera varieties are featured in volume one of my three volume hard-cover book series, Words In Our Beak.

MY BOOK SERIES

Now, in honor of this holiday coinciding with Tuesday's Truths (this will be episode 185) and because the colors red and white are associated with pink, I'd like to point out aspects of nature who have red and/or white in their physical appearance (hence the image atop this entry).

Of course you won't mix their colors to get pink, but seeing red and white coloring in nature makes observing our natural world even more interesting than it  already is; as evidenced in the following pictures of nature with red and/or white in their coloring.

Saturday's Scenario: Reflecting on the 5/1/2020 #ClapBecauseWeCare Session

RED RIDING HOOD TULIP

Just as the petals of a Red Riding Hood tulip in my garden are trying to hang on to their stem as evidenced in this photo directly above) despite being knocked around by all the rain and wind we have had in NYC; our first responders, health care professionals and essential workers are hanging in there for us during this pandemic, in spite of the life-threatening challenges they face in doing so.

Meanwhile, people (some can be seen in the next set of pictures) continue to show their appreciation by participating in #ClapBecauseWeCare sessions and last night (May 1st 2020) was no exception.

A #ClapBecauseWeCare Participant

A #ClapBecauseWeCare Participant

JULIE, THE WOMAN WHO TOOK PHOTO-OP S OF MY GARDEN
SEE THEM BY CLICKING HERE AND HERE 

ONCE AGAIN, PLEASE ALLOW ME TO SAY BRAVO, FIRST RESPONDERS, HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS AND ESSENTIAL WORKERS, BRAVO!
----------------
On another note, when it comes to tulips a number of their varieties are featured in volume one of my book series, Words In Our Beak.

MY BOOK SERIES

To reiterate what I've been saying here on Blogger, "During this time where many people are confined to their homes due to lockdown restrictions (re the coronavirus pandemic), these books (whose stories are set in my rooftop garden) are great to have around as a reminder that there is still so much beauty in our fallen world."

Moreover, the books make a great gift for Mother's Day which is coming up soon (a week from tomorrow on May 10th 2020)!

A Report re The 22nd #ClapBecauseWeCare & Belated Observance re Haikus

#ClapBecauseWeCare Participants

#ClapBecauseWeCare Participants

#ClapBecauseWeCare Participants

A#ClapBecauseWeCare Participants

The twenty-second #ClapBecauseWeCare session that took place last evening. A couple who lives in the building directly across my courtyard did some "jamming" during last night's 22nd session of #ClapBecauseWeCare (as seen in photos atop this entry).

TGIF (Thank God it's Flowers)

"WORDS IN OUR BEAK"  IS SET IN MY GARDEN!

"What a difference a day makes," are lines from the song popularized by Dinah Washington.

And that wisdom is certainly known to anyone who has a garden! Just a little over a week ago, I posted a photo here on Blogger, which features a northern view of my garden (from the vantage point of my doorway) and many tulips known as the Day Dream variety (primarily orange in color) could be seen. A copy of that photo is featured atop this entry. 

Within the aforementioned post, I also include a view of my garden from the vantage point of my facing the doorway and a copy of it showing how the garden looked at that time can be seen directly below.

"WORDS IN OUR BEAK"  IS SET IN MY GARDEN!

In any event, in the days following that posting, it rained (heavily) almost non-stop and those tulips lost their petals. BUT passing days make a difference and another tulip variety known as Elegant Lady (pale pink) are now blooming; which is evidenced in the next two pictures (taken yesterday).

"WORDS IN OUR BEAK"  IS SET IN MY GARDEN!

"WORDS IN OUR BEAK"  IS SET IN MY GARDEN!

As I've said before, an array of tulip types are featured in volume one of my book series, Words In Our Beak, where the stories are set in my rooftop garden and told from the perspective of Cam, a female cardinal, whose picture is featured on the cover of all of the books.

On Mother's Day consider giving the books to someone whose a mom and she'll have tulips and many other flowers throughout the year via the photo-ops in this series.

THE WORDS IN OUR BEAK BOOK SERIES

April's Last Day Tuesday's Truths WK 124

CLICK FOR IMAGE CREDIT AND POEM INFO

It's the last day of April, the month T.S. Eliot deemed (in The Wasteland) as "the cruelest" and the month Mary Oliver described (in her poem Blossom which is posted atop this entry) as one where "...the ponds open like black blossoms..."

As for me, I've often referred to April as the month where April Showers take away May flowers as they have been doing this month; evidenced in the following pictures(respectively) of the Spring Green, Red Riding Hood and Day Dream tulip varieties).

OTHER TULIPS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1

OTHER TULIPS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1

OTHER TULIPS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 1

Many tulip types (other than the ones featured in this entry) are featured in volume one of my book series, Words In Our Beak, where the stories are set in my rooftop garden and told from the perspective of Cam; a female cardinal.

Exits and Entrances Reprised from 2011 (Tuesday's Truths WK 124)

A copy of the Mutts comic strip that's posted atop this entry was in my In Box this morning causing me to recall a joke that I heard a few years ago:

Q: If an April shower brought a May flower; what did the May Flower bring? 
A: Pilgrims!

But if truth be told, imho, April showers take away May flowers and I've mentioned my observation re this occurrence in prior posts here on Blogger. Welcome to the 124th segment of my Tuesday's Truths series...

NYC has been receiving heavy rains for several days now and many of the tulips in my garden that I wrote about in this past Tuesday's blog post (where I included photographs of them) have lost their petals.

Remembering Tiny Tim Again

The performer known as Tiny Tim was born eighty-five years ago on this day of April 12, and ultimately died on November 30th in 1996. This is a fact that I've referenced in prior posts here on Blogger (including one I published last year) where I've featured a copy of the mini video (from the collection in my Vimeo Library) which is featured a top this entry.

Now, in honor of his birth anniversary, I've posted it again and am accompanying the mini movie with an update on how the tulip bulbs Juan V (JV) and I planted this past December are doing. My last reference to them was nine days ago (April 2) and they have made a lot of progress since them, as evidenced by the aerial photo of my garden which I took the other day.

"WIOB'S" STORIES ARE SET IN MY GARDEN

Many thanks to Martha B for opening the hatch leading to the rooftop of the building where I live. It is much too heavy for yours truly to manage and I wanted to take an aerial shot of how my garden is looking in these early days of spring 2019. As you can see, the tulip bulbs that were planted this past December, as well as in bygone years, are "waking up" from their winter's nap and nearly ready to show their flowers.

I have a wide variety of them and the ones in this PARTIAL VIEW of my place are members of these families: Spring Green, Day Dream, Red Riding Hood and Elegant Lady; these four types are late spring bloomers.

#ThursdayThoughts for 4-4-2019

Hoping this (the "narrative" included in the Mutts comic strip which is posted atop this entry) is not FAKE NEWS; for in the past, as far as my garden goes, Aprils showers have often taken way any possibility of May flowers;

Not everyone appreciates tulips (unlike me). Tuesday's Truths WK 120

The figurine (picture above) who was intent on planting some bulbs (within my indoor succulent garden) and I were comparing notes re our experiences with flowers that are produced by them including; Muscari, crocuses and tulips. Over the years (more than ten) of maintaining my rooftop garden with the help of JV, bulbs for many varieties of the aforementioned flowers have been planted in my place.

It's beginning to look a lot like Spring in my garden. (Tuesday's Truths WK 118)

For Snoopy, it is Woodstock returning from the other side of the doghouse that causes him to think Spring must be near, for me its the fact that my crocuses are poking their heads out from under their mulch that makes me think the season is truly upon us.

Recalling an Event from June 4th 2016 (Throwback Thursday)

ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN VOL 3

Yesterday for the first time in this new year, a lone American robin came to visit my rooftop garden and he can be seen in the picture atop this entry.

"For the beauty of the earth..."

It's now Earth Day 2018 and in last evening's entry here on Blogger, I promised to post photographs of some of the "beauty of the earth" that I came upon when walking (yesterday) along the Greenway that's parallel to the Hudson River, as well as some of the beauty of the earth that I came upon when walking in Central Park.

The Influence of Douglas William Jerrold + Mutts: A Shelter for New Born Flowers!

Douglas William Jerrold, the English dramatist and writer, is reported to have said, "He was so benevolent, so merciful a man that, in his mistaken passion, he would have held an umbrella over a duck in a shower of rain."

I featured this quotation (as well as the Mutts comic strip that is posted atop this entry), in a 2011 post here on Blogger; where I discussed my concern for a small Japanese Larch (Larix Kaempferi) that I was growing at that time.

This comic strip came to my mind today due to the weather patterns which have been (and still are) occurring in NYC, causing me to feel the need to bring certain flowers inside my home to protect them from losing their brand new petals!

These include Elegant Lady Tulips (seen in my home in the first three images below where the latter picture features her with Hot Springs Water Lilies) as well as Monte Orange Tulips (shown in in my home in the fourth image).

OTHER TULIPS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 1

OTHER TULIPS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 1

OTHER TULIPS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 1

OTHER TULIPS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 1

Here's why these flowers are currently inside my home taking shelter from my urban garden:

On Sunday, temperatures were thirty degrees lower than they had been the previous day, Saturday, April the fourteenth.

In fact it was so warm this past Saturday, Juan V suggested I de-winterize (unwrap the containers) where certain flowers were thriving, as evidenced in the following photographs.

GARDEN WINTERIZING IS DISCUSSED IN VOL 2

GARDEN WINTERIZING IS DISCUSSED IN VOL 2

As you can see the only difference in these two images is that I've added text to the latter of them to indicate the flower types who were beyond ready to shed their winter gear.

No Friggatriskaidekaphobia for Monte Orange Tulips! (Just like the H.F. Young Clematis!)

OTHER TULIP TYPES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

OTHER TUILP TYPES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

Today is Friday the Thirteenth and a cool fact worth remembering, is that when any month begins on a Sunday, the thirteenth of that month will fall on a Friday. It is a date that can occur up to three times a year (at maximum), which is the case for this calendar year of 2018. It is now our second Friday the Thirteenth.

This past January is was when 2018's first Friday the Thirteenth occurred; and the third and the last one, will be in July. The fact that Friday the Thirteenth can occur up to three times a year, may have been how the rumor that "bad things happen in threes" got started — that is if one fears this date.

Many people truly fear it! Their apprehension has been labeled Friggatriskaidekaphobia.

But what if one is born on Friday the 13th? Does this mean he/she is destined to a life of bad luck?

I have heard an array of answers to that question, and my favorite answer is, “aren’t you lucky just to be born?” 

Be that as it may, it has been my observation that when it comes to varieties of flowers, they do not tend to suffer from Friggatriskaidekaphobia, for they are willing to wake up from their long winter's nap on Friday the Thirteenth!

My first mention of this was in a 2011 blog post where I discussed the numerous and humongous H.F.Young Clematis flowers which opened up on a Friday the Thirteenth in May.

I thought of those H.F. flowers this morning, when I saw a Monte Orange Tulip in the process of waking up from her "winterized womb," and I have featured my discovery in the images atop this entry, where a wrapped "box" full of this particular tulip type can be seen. (The Monte Orange whom I saw rising from her sleep, is indicated by a circle that I've affixed to the second image.)

A few hours after I took pictures of this Monte Orange Tulip, who seem to have disregarded any negative associations with Friday the Thirteenth, embraced the sunshine, as seen in the following set of photographs.

OTHER TULIP TYPES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

OTHER TULIP TYPES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

OTHER TULIP TYPES ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME ONE

I'm excited to see the fearless tulips pop up today!

Honoring Tiny Tim & Tulips (Thursday's Tale)

TULIPS

TULIPS

TULIPS

The four images atop this entry feature Elegant Lady Tulips that are just beginning to bloom in my urban garden, which is still in its winterized state, as evidenced in the photographs that are directly above. These images are very similar, I admit, but I chose to include all of them because I'm excited to see them come to life.