The Dendranthema Rubellum AKA Korean Mum IS the word....

The flowers seen in the pictures (taken in my rooftop garden) atop this blog entry are a type of mum known as Mum koreana Sheffield AKA Korean Mum, Dendranthema Rubellum.

Mushroom Madness

This past Sunday, August 20th 2011, as I prepared my blog entry for this Tuesday's publication, rain — severe rain — with thunderstorms was predicted. That weather report caused me to think back to the prior Sunday's (August 14th) torrents of rain.

While Texas remained under a severe drought, on Sunday, August 14th of 2011, the amount of rainfall in New York City set a record. 

According to radio reports, newspapers, and countless Internet materials, including one found at this link, "New York's Kennedy Airport received 7.8" of rain, its soggiest day since records began in 1948. Its single-day rainfall output was about twice its average monthly total."  As a result of this immense rainfall, there were "scattered power outages and transit disruptions. Cars got caught in flash floods, and the Long Island Railroad reported localized flooding and trees on the tracks, delaying several dozen trains....in the subways, water flooded into the tunnels, knocking out seven lines of power . . . "

Besides the rhetoric, newspapers were, if you will excuse the pun, flooded with images of this occurrence, but the only photograph which I took of my terrace garden on that rain-filled day is one of a tiny watering can (obviously not one that I use to water my garden) that rests on the the second of three bamboo shelves which are attached to my terrace railing by copper-wire to provide me with an "urban hedge." 

The EXIF info on this photograph tells me it was taken at 16:57:13; which, from my military time conversion, means I took it a little after 4:57 P.M. — most likely the only small window of time on that Sunday in which rainfall was not occurring, as I am not camera savvy enough to shoot pictures in the rain.)

The first  bamboo shelf of of these "urban hedge" can be seen in the photograph below.

This photograph was not taken during the rainstorm, but has been included in this blog entry to give you an idea of what I mean by my "urban hedge" of bamboo shelving.

These shelves serve as one of my "urban hedges" — giving me privacy from voyeur neighbors as discussed in a few previous posts, including ones which you may refer to by clicking here and here. These particular bamboo shelves are located at the extreme southwest corner of my garden, which means they are to the immediate left of the door that leads from my apartment to my terrace garden, and therefore I did not have to venture very far into my garden to take either of the photographs of my bamboo shelving. An orange arrow has been added to the image directly above, to show you, dear reader, just how close the neighbor's window is to my urban garden.

However, the point of today's blog entry is not solely dedicated to "urban hedges" or to sensationalizing August 14th's rainfall, rather it is to shed light on the prevailing belief that the things which urban gardeners — or at least ones with container gardens — grow truly thrive as a result of such downpours. At times of heavy rainfall, many folks — as most of them know that I hand-water over sixty things that grow in my terrace garden — always say to me, "well at least you don't have to water . . . "

And with that assumption, I want to clarify something that I may have alluded to in a blog entry, in which I discussed hand-watering my terrace garden. First of all, rain does not always fall into the many containers that "house" the herbs, plants, flowers, vines, shrubs, and trees which I have in my terrace garden, so at times, even in heavy rainfall, I still have to water it. 

Secondly, if the rainfall is heavy enough to do damage to subway systems, think what it can do to the root systems of things living in garden containers. A number of years ago it rained every day in the month of June, and a few of my shrubs that I had successfully wintered over, and that had thrived beautifully for part of that spring season, succumbed to mold and mildew brought on by their roots being unable to dry out. Since mold and mildew can spread, I had to get rid of the afflicted shrubs, and replace them with other things.

Hence, the type of rain New York City experienced on Sunday, August 14th, because it was followed by heavy rain on Monday the 15th, Wednesday the 17th, Thursday the 18th, had the potential of endangering some of the things which I grow in my terrace garden; but as you can see by the photograph posted below (which was taken by Juan V on Thursday the 18th), fortunately that was not the case.

The things that grow in my terrace garden – so far — do not seem to be in danger of mold or mildew, which is a good sign, especially since it has continued to rain after Juan V took the photograph.

Unfortunately, another problem has come up in my urban terrace garden as a result of so much rainfall: Since the days following the time that Juan V took the aerial photograph of my urban garden, it has rained heavily again, and that rain, or rather my herbs, vines, flowers, plants, shrubs and tree's inability to dry out from that rain, has caused unsightly (in my humble opinion) mushrooms to make their home in the container which houses my Continus Coggygria (Smoke Bush) as seen in the photographs posted below.

I use the term "humble opinion" in conjunction with my observation that mushroom are "unsightly" because when I saw them on Sunday morning, August 21st, their sudden appearance nearly gagged me; and it sent me straight to Google for answers, where I came upon a mushroom lover's web-site by someone named Michael Kuo which you may refer to by clicking here.

Before I go any further, I will confess that this is not the first time I saw a mushroom in my urban garden, I did see a "lone" mushroom "hidden" beneath the delicate foliage of my Thom-Thumb shrub, but I dug it out immediately —  out of a reflex reaction — rather than photographing it. A few days later, I spotted a mushroom growing in my Creeping Phlox, and this time, I took a photograph, (posted below), and then I pulled the mushroom out!

Unlike Mr. Kuo, I do not appreciate their presence, and upon reading what he has to say about getting rid of them, I am quite discouraged. Here is what Kuo has to say about removal of mushrooms:"Mushrooms are roughly comparable to apples on apple trees; they are the fruiting body the organism creates when it wants to reproduce. The apple tree's "plan" (I know; I'm giving human thoughts to trees and mushrooms, but it's the easiest way to talk about this) is to put its seeds in a nice, plump morsel that will fall to the ground and attract a hungry animal who will then, um, pass the seeds to new territory for germination and a new apple tree."

Mr. Kuo continues, "Mushrooms have similar plans. Their seeds (microscopic things called spores) cover parts of the mushrooms; one of the best ways to understand mushrooms is to think of them as 'spore factories'. The entire structure is an excuse to get spores out into the world . . . the 'real' organism – the part that corresponds to the apple tree, rather than the apple — is called a mycelium (pronounced so it rhymes with 'my helium'), and is found in the mushroom's substrate: the ground, leaves, a log, woodchips, and so on. It is a mesh of tiny threadlike cells that plow through the substrate, consuming nutrients . . . "

"Now it should be obvious why you can't get rid of your mushrooms; you would have to get rid of the mycelium rather than the mushrooms. If you have been picking or stomping on your mushrooms to make them disappear, you might as well have picked every apple in an orchard , trying to make the trees go away."

"HUH?," says yours truly to the blinking monitor.

"You would need to remove all the soil and natural debris in your yard or garden, and replace it with something inorganic like concrete or plastic — in which case you would 'probably' be mushroom free. I say 'probably' because Pisolithus tinctorius, Scleroderma, and other mushrooms might still erupt through your concrete."

And I thought bamboo shelving would shield me from unsightly things! The blinking monitor hears me wince!

"What I haven't mentioned yet is your mushroom is an integral part of your yard or garden's ecosystem. Its mycelium is probably doing one of two things, either which is crucial to the health of your yard."

But, I have a container garden!

"  . . . mushrooms are involved in a symbiotic relationship with plants and trees. The plant's rootlets are surrounded and protected by the mushroom's mycelium which help the plant absorb water and nutrients . . . "

Not convinced that their value is worth the eye-sore!

I will concede that I am willing to consider Mr. Kuo's view, because, after all, anyone who presents their argument by "giving human thoughts to trees and mushrooms" has a way of winning my heart, for as you know, if you follow this blog, there have been a number of occasions when one of my plants, flowers, shrubs or trees have expressed themselves by authoring blog entries. My Paeonia Suffruiticosa's (Tree Peony) self-expression is here, my Tulips "two-cents" can be found here and here; my Physocarpus opulifolius (Coppertina) views are here, my Roses weighed in here; while my Helichrysum bracteatum (Strawflowers), took the helm here.

Moreover, my Actinida kolomikta and Actimida (Kiwi Vines) were cast — although my Actinida kolomikta did all the talking — as narrators of my first garden movie, The Kiwi Speaks! Fifteen Minutes of Fame . . .  almost; which is now on Vimeo, and is accessible at this link.

And, not to be on done, my Hens and Chicks insisted on giving a thumbs up to a colleague of mine (which you can see at this link), while my Echinacea and Tropaelum majus (Nasturtium) insisted their placement in my Flickr Galleries be announced by them. They made their announcements in these respective links (here and here).

I am still not too pleased to have unsightly mushrooms invading my Continus Coggygria (Smokey Bush) and my Creeping Phlox, but if it doesn't bother them, I'll try to take the same attitude and let things take their course. Besides, once upon a time, I thought mushrooms were cute, well, at least ceramic ones, such as the variety yours truly is sitting on in the photograph posted below. The picture was taken on my fifth birthday, at Santa's Village, a place that was filled with amusement, and mushrooms (the purple double-sided  arrow on the photograph is pointing to two of the many) and now, as I celebrate my (ahem) birthday tomorrow, I will make a wish to be childlike and not childish about mushrooms.

"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!

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

My Pumpkin Patch

PUMPKINS ON MY URBAN HEDGE VIEW ONE 

PUMPKINS ON MY URBAN HEDGE VIEW TWO

I now have a pumpkin patch in my rooftop garden! The photo atop this entry shows views of pumpkins atop one of my urban hedges.

"If it's Tuesday, it must be tumblr . . . " Week No. 36 (But First The Birds Survive Hurricane Sandy)

Today, October the Thirtieth, or rather the eve of today, is what is known as Corn Night or Mischief Night, and according to Holiday Insights, “Mischief Night appears to have roots in England back to the nineteenth century.” It occurs the night before Halloween and typical acts on this day include, “soaping windows, egging houses [as well as] cars, tossing a few rotten tomatoes, toilet papering house trees et ceteras, (and) knocking on doors, then running away.

I never really understood honoring mischief, but even if I did, New York City, where I live, has already endured enough “mischief” through the perils of Hurricane Sandy, which slammed us (and our surrounding areas) yesterday, which is why I did not post here on Blogger, which is normally what I do on Mondays.

Sandy wreaked havoc, which has resulted in (among other catastrophes) power outages, including damage to a back-up generator at a prestigious New York City hospital, causing them to have to relocate all their patients by ambulance to other hospitals!

My Hens And Chicks Give A Surya Namaskara (Sun Salutation)

The beautiful, sweet flowers seen in the images posted above are from my wonderful succulent known as Hens and Chicks. I have spoken about succulents in prior posts discussing how folks use them in indoor gardens which you may read by clicking here as well as here to read about them. 

As for my Hens and Chicks, they live outside (although they make fine houseplants too), and they are a plant whose leaves "form around each other forming a rosette and propagate by offsets".

"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!

Another chance to test out your powers of observation!

Two weeks and one day ago, in my blog entry for October 15th 2021, I posted a copy of the image which is atop this entry and I stated:

A few weeks ago, Juan V was here and arranged pumpkins and squashes which I received from a program at the Greenmarket. 

They are included in the photo on the left (which features one of my urban hedges aka garden shelving).

However, this past Wednesday he added something to the "installation."

Check out the photo at the right. Can you tell what's new?

By the way my garden is the setting for all versions of my books that have "Words In Our Beak" in their title.

Juan was here again today and made an "adjustment" to what is on the bottom shelf. 

Check out the photo directly below and see if you notice the chsange that was made. 

Tuesday's Truths WK 190: Hot Temperatures May Not Be For the Birds (certain birds)

MY ROOFTOP GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR WIOB

Welcome to my one hundred and ninety-ninth segment of Tuesday's Truths series; which I am offering on another day of a second July 2020 heat wave taking place in NYC.

Even in the the southwest corner of my garden where temperatures are at their most coolest it was stiflingly hot, the temps were nearly one hundred degrees, as evidenced in the photo posted directly above which features a thermometer that hangs in that area.

Meet Wink: The Tenacious Finch!

I am in a bit of a funk over something that may be occurring re the health and well being of one of the birds which visits my garden, and, therefore, in my (unsuccessful) attempts to clarify what is going on with her, I was unable to post here on blogger yesterday as is my norm on Fridays!

The bird which I am concerned about is one of my house finches, who, as you can surmise from the images posted above, seems to be having an "issue" with her right eye!

TEST YOUR POWERS OF OBSERVATION!

A few weeks ago, Juan V was here and arranged pumpkins and squashes which I received from a program at the Greenmarket. 

They are included in the photo on the left (which features one of my urban hedges aka garden shelving).

However, this past Wednesday he added something to the "installation."

Check out the photo at the right. Can you tell what's new?

By the way my garden is the setting for all versions of my books that have Words In Our Beak in their title.

"another year over AND a new one just begun . . . " PART TWO-H-1 (Oct 1st — Oct 10th 2012)

Today's entry here on Blogger is part two-H-1 of a series of posts pertaining to a year-end review for special occurrences in my urban garden for the year 2012 (the schedule for this series is described in part one as well as part two-A of this topic) and, because October 2012 was the month Hurricane Sandy hit the area near to where I live, my garden went through another upheaval, so I will be posting the review for October in three parts.

WEDNESDAY'S WISDOM: Is there really "Much Virtue in Herbs [and] Little in Men"?

The photograph above today's blog entry was recently posted on The Last Leaf Gardener's 'Facebook (FB) Page, and I am including it with today's post for my readers who "don't do Facebook" as this image relates to today's content (however I said something else about it on FB).

This picture shows bundles of some of the herbs (which I grow in my urban — NYC — terrace garden) hanging out to dry, before I grind them and put them into jars to give to those near and dear to me for the holidays.

I grow an array of herbs in containers placed throughout my garden, and, I confess, that their scent appeals to me, as well as the classy way in which they appear in their "terra-cotta homes" as evidenced by this photograph of one of my types of Rosmarinus officinalis AKA Rosemary pictured below.

This fact often makes it difficult to cut them, much less harvest or grind them for "fresh herb" culinary purposes! However, I concede that, just as humans have to trim their fingernails and toenails as well as cut their hair, herbs, too need to be clipped and pruned. Usually, the delight that my fresh herbs bring to my friends and colleagues is worth the discomfort that I have in relation to cutting them. If I give folks fresh herbs, I package them in attractive clear bags and then put unique labels on them.

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.