If I had a backyard...

...I would totally make a cinder block garden wall!

For some inspiration check out: Potted, Digging, and Urban Gardens .

Graduation!

I did it! I officially graduated from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden with a Certificate in Horticulture!

I took night classes at the Garden for almost two years and they were AMAZING. Anything I talk about or do on this blog I learned in theses classes:

Botany for Horticulturists

Soil Management

Urban Garden Maintenance

Herbaceous Landscape Plant Identification

Woody Landscape Plant Identification

Pest Management

Plant Propagation

Urban Garden Design

If anyone is interested in taking classes you can check out the BBG's website: Classes & Workshops at BBG

And then eight classes later, this could be you:

A person shaking someones hand in a very dark photo!

All kidding aside, taking these classes have been a very special experience for me and I highly encourage everyone to take at least one class and expand your knowledge of the natural world.

Bulb Planting

As I have mentioned before I am a Zone Gardener at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Even though it is currently winter and there is not much going on horticultural-wise, we can still do small things to prepare the Park for spring. This week we planted 8,000 Spanish Bluebell bulbs in the hope that, come spring, my zone on Pier 1 will be filled with a vibrant blue.

So, how do you plant 8,000 bulbs?

With a small shovel, a pair of gloves, and some hot chocolate.

First, I cleared some of the fall debris away to make it easier to dig in the ground and also mark where I already put bulbs.

Because we want these bulbs to naturalize, or return year after year, we had to make sure that we planted the bulb right-side up. Like a clove of garlic, the bottom is discernible by small hairs and the top is usually marked by an emerging stem.

Next, hold the shovel like a dagger or ski pole and dig into the earth. Then pull the shovel towards you creating a hole about four times as deep as the bulb's size.

Drop the bulb in oriented the correct way.

Start your next hole directly in front of the bulb you just planted and follow the same dagger/dig move. The soil you remove from your second hole will automatically cover your first hole, eliminating any need to cover it yourself. Magic!

Here are some of my fellow volunteers digging away.

Hopefully by May this area will be full of bright, blue petals!

Check out Brooklyn Bridge Park's blog for more information and photos! Brooklyn Bridge Park

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.