In the spring, becomes the geranium....

When I am in my garden on a cold January day and notice few geraniums who are poking their heads through the mulch (as that flower type is doing in the photo directly above) that was put there to protect them during a cold winter days, I think of some lines from a The Rose, a song written by Amanda McBroome. 

Her song was made popular by Bette Midler and the lyrics I'm thinking of go like this, "...just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snow, lies the seed that with the sun's love, in the spring becomes the rose."

In this instance, my geraniums weren't lying beneath the bitter snow (although they were doing that last month), they are lying beneath layers of mulch put in their container when iI did my annual garden winterizing ritual.

Turning the Tables in Garden Decor

A SCENE IN MY ROOFTOP GARDEN

The ability to define my goals in salient points does not come easily to me. It never has. I tend to view most matters in layers and get caught up in possibilities. As a young junior high-school student, I agonized over the standardized PSAT when it came to multiple choice questions. The traditional choices for those test questions was usually something like this: Sometimes option "a" but never option "b" when "e" and "f" are present. On one occasion, when I questioned the teacher about various scenarios (which were delaying me from being able to go on to the next page), I was put out in the hallway, with masking tape bound over my mouth, and told "when you are ready to stop asking questions and make a quick choice you, can come back to the classroom."

This problem of taking too much time to weigh the answers in multiple-choice test questions occurred in test-taking again, when I was in high-school and took the SAT. There was a test question about how many clothes-pins it would take to hang laundry on a clothes-line. I found myself thinking, 'hmmmm, that depends . . . is the clothing heavy jeans and towels, or is it something light such as under garments?' I lost all my test taking time on those types of test questions, and since SAT scores are based on time as well as knowledge.

Fortunately, I passed the SATs with a score high enough to get into college, and I used my layered thinking to my advantage, graduating from the university with honors. My graduating from college, and my deliberating over option A and option B in relation to test questions, was a number of years ago, but the inclination to consider various scenarios of a given issue still prevails. 

Sunday's Sequel (Re my 7-8-2020 Blog Post)

Squirrel Visiting My Rooftop Garden
(which is the setting for my book series)

Squirrel Visiting My Rooftop Garden
(which is the setting for my book series)

As I mentioned in a recent entry, A Day in the Life of my Pyracantha coccinea (7-8-2020), here on blogger, I've had a new visitor to my rooftop garden and he/she can be seen in the images atop this entry.

During all the many years that I've had my garden, I've never seen a squirrel here, nor have I seen one in the trees within my courtyard. Upon my seeing this quirky character, I did some research to see what poets as well as scholars have said about squirrels, and I was thrilled to come upon the following words of Saint Francis of Assisi:

Severe Weather Did Not Stop Session 19 (Tuesday's Truths WK 171)

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

A massive storm pounded New York City Monday (April 13 2020) morning and afternoon with heavy rain and speedy gales that caused flooding and power outages across the five boroughs.

Because my crabapple tree toppled over this past Friday and no one can come to help me tie it to the railing until our lockdown is over, I secured it by placing a couple of my garden chairs around it (as seen in the image atop this entry).

Throwback Thursday: "When this old world starts getting me down," I can rarely go "up on the roof" (and now Juan can't either)!

This past Thursday (October 5th, 2017), Juan V came to do his magic in my rooftop garden; and he took the photograph posted atop this entry. As you can see, it's beginning to look a lot like autumn in my garden. The foliage on my Continus Coggygria (Smoke Bush), indicated by the number one in the photo below, as well as the foliage on my Avellana corylus (Contorted Hazelnut), which is indicated by the number two; and the foliage on my Crabapple Tree (indicated by the number three) are beginning to wear their autumn colors.

The circle affixed to the aforementioned image is indicating Juan's shadow as he photographs my garden from the rooftop of the building where I live.

Juan has been taking aerial views of my garden on a bi-monthly basis (during the growing season) since the year 2010. In order to do this, he has to climb up a ladder that is my hallway and thrust open a latch which leads to the building's rooftop.

My Malus 'Prairfire' (Prairfire Crabapple)

MY ROOFTOP GARDEN

Ever since I helped rescue Super, a migratory bird who is a Northern Flicker, all of my postings, except for one, have been about that injured bird. It is my intention to visit Super at least once a week until he is able to be released from the bird rehabilitation facility on NYC's Upper Westside to Central Park. I would gladly see him more often, but the facility where Super is recovering is very busy. I don't want to interfere with their efforts to help Super or the other injured birds they are treating.

Meanwhile, I am doing my best to maintain my urban rooftop garden and  keep it a haven for the urban birds who have visited it over the years. My garden can be seen in the photograph atop today's Blogger entry. I took the image from the vantage point of a nearby penthouse garden. The picture was taken in 2015 during the late summer or early fall; and Cam, a cardinal who visited me during that time, insisted we include it in the ePub (Kindle) version of our book Words In Our Beak Volume One.

A Pictorial Tale of Two Pigeons

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

PIGEONS ARE FEATURED IN WIOB

These two pigeons spent time together in my garden the other day. For your information, this bird one of many types featured in my three volume book series, Words In Our Beak.  The stories are set in my rooftop garden.

MY BOOK SERIES

Warning to Linus (Wednesday's Wisdom)

The Peanuts garden series strip (created by Charles M. Schulz ) that's featured atop today's blog entry was initially published on February 22, 1982.

I'm including it in this second day of May posting in honor of the fact that this month is considered to be Gifts from the Garden month as I discussed in yesterday's entry here on Blogger.

In any event, regarding the aforementioned comic strip:

According to the FB Page for the Charles M. Schulz Museum, it is "one of Jean Schulz’s favorite series of strips about gardening. In the Museum’s My Favorite Peanuts exhibition, Jean explains that in the early 1980s after she and Charles Schulz moved into a new home, the garden was of great interest to her, and Schulz often lent a hand. 'He always responded positively to my interests and was willing to help with my projects. He was ahead of his time emphasizing the simple tasks of gardening and rock wall construction, and for a couple of years he participated enthusiastically.'"

It's nice to hear that Schulz was supportive of his wife's endeavors, but if gardening isn't for you, dear  reader, beware of a gardener who hands you a spade when you are in their garden.

It's N'tl Gardening Week!

MY ROOFTOP GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR WIOB

According to many sources, the first full week of June is National Gardening Week.

Their consensus is, "National Gardening Week is a wonderful, week long event. It is both a celebration, and an educational opportunity. National Gardening Week celebrates one of America's most popular hobbies. Tens of millions of Americans, young and old alike, grow a garden of some size. This week is a great opportunity to get out into your garden and tend to it, along with enjoying your garden's peacefulness and beauty. Regardless of whether your garden is big or small, show it off to family and gardening friends...

...National Gardening Week is also a great time to promote this hobby, and offer educational programs to the general public Garden clubs, 4H groups, schools, and even business can get ito the act, providing some form of educational programs, demonstrations, or seminars. As individuals, gardeners can encourage others to start gardening."

As my Blogger community knows, I have a garden here in a hood on the UWS. It can be seen in the picture atop this posting. The photo was taken four years ago and my garden has changed dramatically (in a positive way) since then; so I'd love to take a photo from that vantage point again but the woman who let me do it from her terrace is not likely to find the time to let me do that anytime soon.

Wednesday's Wisdom: There's NO Place Like Home for the Halloween Holiday

Halloween is six days away (including today), and the characters who are visiting me for the upcoming holiday, continue to impress me with their costumes and the personal stories associated with them. Those who read entries within this blog know that I have an annual ritual of writing about the characters who visit my home for the Halloween holidays. This began about five years ago when a few stragglers came to visit my succulent garden which is indoors, atop a pantry-style cabinet in my kitchen. Over the years, more and more characters have heard about my place and have come to spend time here in honor of Halloween.

A similar scenario happened in my terrace garden which is on a roof extension in NYC. It is a place where I have grown an array of cacti, flowers, herbs, ornamental grasses, plants, shrubs, trees and vines. 

In the case of my rooftop garden, Cam, a female cardinal began visiting it during the year of 2012.

When word got out about the flora I grow in my garden as well as the bird feeders I have here, more and more birds came to visit. To date, nearly twenty different types of birds have visited my place. 

Cam did not appreciate this fact for it meant she had some competition at my bird feeders, which is something she confesses in her book, Words In Our Beak, Volume One. 

Cam's story is set in my rooftop garden. But I've digressed! My intended topic for today is not covering the antics of birds who visit my urban garden, rather, my intention is to cover the antics of a few of the characters who are visiting me for Halloween.

Monday's (Garden) Madness! GRRRRR and GREAT

According to Holiday Insights, today, August 20th, is National Radio Day, and besides the fact that I enjoy listening to the radio as opposed to watching television (I've not had a TV since the 1980's), I want to honor this "holiday" by once again thanking radio announcers who have interviewed me about how my eye conditions have affected my work as a photo-artist. (My only other involvement with media associated with radio was as a film extra in Woody Allen's Radio Days.)

"Rosemary is for rememberance"

HERBS IN MY ROOFTOP GARDEN

This is the 363rd day of 2010, and there are only two more days of this decade (in the Gregorian calender) after today passes. The promise of the onset of a new year is an occasion for me to send a card to people who bring meaning to my life. 

While you may not have time to go on my on-line viewing sources to choose a card for you to do the same, I do have a beautiful selection of cards in the store-front pages of my web-site, and I hope you will make it a New Year's resolution to reach out to your colleagues, friends and family from time to time by sending them a card for the array of events that  are bound to occur during the course of  the new year for all persons.

"I've NEVER seen a billboard lovely as a tree. " Odgen Nash Words of Wisdom Inspire Terrace Garden Renovations!

If you have been following my blog for a while, or even if you just started reading it yesterday, you may realize that something is missing in the photograph posted above of my rooftop garden, and I’ll give you a clue. 

It is an object that is bigger than a bread box, and has always been located at the northern end since I began my garden, which is the vantage point of many photographs which have appeared in many of my blog entries. (The object is also a focal point in some of the aforementioned creations, including those titled Serene and Before Brunch in the Terrace Garden, which can be found in the store–front pages of my website).

Big clue: this object is known by two words, the first word begins with an “S” and ends with an “S” and the second word has four letters.

Wednesday's Wisdom: Listen to the Birds!

I live near to Central Park, which can be seen in the photograph (from a web-page) atop this entry. 

During the dozens upon dozens of years in my travels to work places or medical facilities, I have gone to and from my destinations by walking on several different paths within the park. Yet, it is only over the past couple of years, that I’ve heard any of the numerous birds who visit there, in the act of singing.

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.

Monday's Musings for May 7th 2018

The PEANUTS comic strip that I've posted atop this entry was published 39 years ago today, and upon my seeing it, I was reminded of my initial experience of hearing birds sing in my rooftop garden.

Tuesday's Truths WK 16: "A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter....."

Hello. Welcome to week sixteenth of Tuesday's Truths, which happens to coincide with the day after Halloween. For those of you who follow me here on Blogger, Facebook, tumblr or hometalk, you know that I've discussed I use Halloween decor in my rooftop garden. And you know that I've also created many story-lines re the whimsical characters who have visited both my indoor succulent garden and main living area during the time of Halloween prep; the Halloween holiday itself; and Halloween aftermath. Today's Blogger post content touches on Halloween aftermath among other subjects. The photograph atop this blog features a partial view of what hangs above my kitchen stove.

It's May! It's May! (Tuesday's Truths Week 82)

OTHER TULIPS ARE  FEATURED IN VOLUME 1

OTHER TULIPS ARE  FEATURED IN VOLUME 1

Welcome to the eighty-second week of my Tuesday's Truths series, which this week is coinciding with the beginning of the month of May, and as has been the case in bygone years, a song (It's May! It's May!) from Camelot is on my mind.

Saturday's Story The Bird Feeding Area (Within Central Park & My Rooftop Garden)

There is a portion of The Ramble in Central Park called The Bird Feeder Area and the name does not refer to people who feed birds, rather it refers to an area which has numerous bird feeders hanging from trees. A partial view of it can be seen in the picture (which I took yesterday) atop entry.

During the time I was there numerous American Goldfinches were congregating (and noshing from) a feeder which can be seen is at the extreme right of this photograph. The following set of  images feature both male and female varieties engaging in activities at or near to the aforementioned feeder.

Saturday Night's Alright for Clapping/Cheering (A Briefing on Session 47)

As many of you may know, in compliance with our mayor and governor's wishes during this coronavirus pandemic, I have been sheltering in place (since the evening of 3/21/2020), and only leaving my apartment building on a handful occasions to do essential errands and keep medical appointments that could not be done via tele-med.

On one of those occasions, I saw a sign posted under some scaffolding in my hood and it can be seen in the photo atop this posting.