Wreath Making

I had a little "Martha" moment this weekend when I was home in Connecticut for Thanksgiving. Every year my mom hosts an advent wreath making event at our church and I thought I would share how you could make one for yourself at home. For space strapped New Yorkers, wreaths are the perfect alternative to Christmas trees and a great way to decorate for the holidays.

We used a collection of evergreens that my mom ordered or clipped in the yard, but you could purchase some of these at bodega flower stands or ask the sidewalk Christmas tree sellers for their scraps. Look for a mixture of textures to make the wreath more interesting. I used fir, holly, pine and boxwood.

For the wreath itself you can purchase a foam circle at any craft store and, for this advent wreath, I used four, plastic candle holders and some ribbon.

Dampen the foam wreath form with a paper towel so that it is easier to puncture with the greens. If making an advent wreath, place the four candle holders at 12, 3, 6, and 9, as if it was a clock. Then start from the bottom and work your way up. I usually do a layer of fir since it is the most basic evergreen I am using and makes a good base.

Peel off the needles at the bottom of the branch in order to puncture the foam easier.

Once you have a good base, start to add some of the other evergreens. Here is a layer of pine.

Next, some boxwood.

And then more fir. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Just try and keep a circular shape by inserting each piece at a slight diagonal and the foliage will do the rest of the work.

Now, it is time to start to fill in the top. Just like the first layer at the bottom, I like to start with a clean base of fir.

If some of the pieces you insert in the top are too long, do not be afraid to give them a little trim in order to achieve the desired look. I then added some holly and used the boxwood to fill in any gaps.

This is where my wreath went totally Advent and I added some pink and purple ribbons to the candle holders as well as some plastic holly berries.



Ta-da! Here is mine from last year too.

For further wreath design inspiration and instructions check out the mother of crafts: Martha Stewart.



CANstruction

In a totally different, unrelated topic to gardening and horticulture, this is how I spent my Wednesday night:

Every year I participate in CANstruction which is a nonprofit organization that holds annual design and build competitions to construct giant structures made entirely out of canned food. At the close of the design competition all of the canned food used in the structures is donated to the local food banks for distribution to community emergency feeding programs. Just in time for Thanksgiving!

The eyebrows were the hardest part! It had to look CANgry!

Our structure will be up until November 21st at The World Financial Center in downtown Manhattan. The public is invited to bring canned foods to the exhibit to donate to City Harvest. For more information check out CANstruction.



Perennial vs. Annual

When preparing his fire escape garden for the coming winter months, my friend Reilly wasn't sure which plants would come back next year and which ones were ready for the compost pile. Here is a handy list for him and you to decipher which plants constitute as "Perennials" and which ones are "Annuals."

Definition:

per·en·ni·al

[puh-ren-ee-uh'l]

adjective

1. lasting for an indefinitely long time; enduring: her perennial beauty.

2. (of plants) having a life cycle lasting more than two years.

3. lasting or continuing throughout the entire year, as a stream.

4. perpetual; everlasting; continuing; recurrent.

noun

5. a perennial plant: Daffodils and tulips are perennials.

6. something that is continuing or recurrent.

We are more concerned with definition number two: a plant having a life cycle lasting more than two years. Perennials are the plants that bloom year after year. So in one growing season it emerges from the ground, grows and flowers, then dies back to the ground. Its roots are still alive, but dormant, in the winter and come spring it starts the whole growing-flowering-dying cycle over again. Trees and other woody plants count as perennials, but some other common perennials that you might have in your garden are:

artichoke (some varieties), asparagus, basil (some varieties), black pepper, broccoli, chives, dill, eggplant, fennel, garlic, ginger, hops, horseradish, lavender, leek, mint, okra, onions, oregano, potato, radicchio, rhubarb, rosemary, sage, shallot, spinach (some varieties), sweet potato, and thyme

Any plant that germinates, flowers, and dies in one season is then considered an annual. A lot of the flowers you can buy at garden centers and hardware stores are annuals as well as many food crops like corn, wheat, lettuce, rice, peas, and tomatoes. Whenever you purchase a plant, it should say it on the label.

And just to confuse the whole thing, there are biennial plants too! These are plants that in the first year of their life grow the basics: leaves, stems, and roots. They then become dormant in the winter and during the second year of their life, flower, produce seeds, and die. Some examples of biennials are parsley and carrots. Hope this helps!

Watercolors by Alison Hilary Corbalis

Aleebird

In Season: November

Halloween has come and gone, it already snowed in New York City, Thanksgiving is around the corner, and Starbucks is already shilling their Christmas-themed cups. The days of fruit and foliage are slipping away from us in New York City and we are instead left with root vegetables and squash. It is not as depressing as it sounds though. Root vegetables like beets, radishes, turnips, and carrots are extremely good for you and are amazing when roasted in the oven. Also, there is a new cookbook out from Melissa Clark at The New York Times called, "Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can't Wait to Make." The book is divided by seasons and then by month so you can be sure to cook seasonal meals with fresh ingredients, even in the dead of winter. It's on my Santa list. :)

So what's in season in November? Beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, radishes, turnips, winter squash. Stay warm and enjoy!

mmmmm purple.

Pygmy Bamboo

I am a zone gardener at Brooklyn Bridge Park which means I am responsible for a small part of Pier 1 near the entrance (outlined in purple below). I tear out weeds, pick up trash, remove fallen debris, tell people where the bathroom is...you know, just overall park maintenance.

For those of you who have not been to Brooklyn Bridge Park yet, I highly recommend it. There are two lawns to picnic and play, a number of pedestrian and bike paths, as well as wetland and rain water gardens. And the views of Manhattan are breathtaking! There are events all year round that you should check out too: Brooklyn Bridge Park. OK now back to my zone.

Horticulturally speaking, my zone is pretty simple. There are a lot of shrubs like hollies, hydrangeas, and witch hazel and some trees like maples, lindens, and magnolias. Right now, the fall color is starting to poke through the leaves and it is a really pretty mix of greens and reds.

However, there is one plant that is terrorizing my zone! Pleioblastus distichus or Pygmy Bamboo. It is an invasive ground cover that is spreading like crazy and suffocating my other beautiful shrubs.

Bamboo grows shoots in the spring and roots in the fall. From September until now I have been pulling the bamboo's roots, called "rhizomes," out of the ground in order to try and control their spread. It's not an easy task as these rhizomes spread pretty far from the mother plant and create a tangled latticework five inches beneath the surface.

Scary right? I've pulled out some runners that are three feet long and counting. At the end of these "runners," the tips are extremely sharp and help to navigate quickly through the soil. Overall, it is a handful to contend with and if you choose to plant bamboo I highly recommend that it gets planted in a container. Or else you will have to eventually pull out these tentacles and I promise you will curse yourself for planting it in the first place.