Posts categorized as Gardening

His appearance is what you’d expect: utilitarian. The Wildman is wearing a long-sleeved blue windbreaker and khaki pants with multiple pockets. A strap holds a shovel and an iPad. A safari hat shades his face. His fingernails have already been in the soil.  “Take a quick look at my books and then we’ll get started,” he says. Several cooking and foraging books are laid out on the front window of his dusty car. As the parents get their kids’ jackets zipped and the snacks packed up, the Wildman breaks out […]

My friend Maggie Scott works for the NYC Parks Dept.  Every time we hang, it turns into a deep garden-talk session. Last week, I ran into her at a girl’s dinner hosted by our mutual friend Jodi Jordan Mulvanerty. I mentioned how beautiful the Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus Carota) looks right now by the 100th precinct and she agreed. Queen Anne’s Lace is a wildflower in the northeast but it’s generally considered a weed. You’ll find it growing in a crack on the sidewalk or in a vacant lot. I’ve […]

A garden is a reflection of its caretaker and their unique creativity. I love seeing someone’s personal expression reflected in this way. This week I’m taking you on a garden walking tour, stopping at quirky, beautiful gardens worthy of praise in Rockaway Beach. Holland Ave. btw 91st and 92nd – The Psychedelic Garden Wall. This is the perfect backdrop for a selfie! The mural is above and beyond – “wow factor”! Many people feel they don’t have the space for a garden but this design proves that anyone can make […]

My vegetable garden is flourishing. I planted tomatoes (no-brainer), basil, dill, cilantro, peppers, chives, eggplant and kale. The kale has exploded, thriving with minimal care! Kale is a hearty green containing high amounts of vitamin A and C. It’s rich with antioxidants including beta carotene. Kale is high fiber and a great source of calcium, potassium and magnesium. Researchers have also discovered chemicals in kale that may inhibit cancer cell growth. So yeah, this veggie is a superfood that everyone is still obsessed with. For the past few weeks, I’ve […]

A few weeks back, my co-worker Mark Hogan told me he crushed a snail in his garden by mistake. We both felt bad for it. (Ugh… that crunching sound.)  Since then, I’ve noticed tons of snails in my own garden. Now I’m so worried about stepping on them when I’m weeding. But then I thought, how harmful are all these snails? Land snails (terrestrial molluscs) are herbivores mostly. They eat a range of host plants – fruit trees, vegetables, roses, and other flowers. Ok, so this doesn’t sound good. They […]

I first learned of sedum sarmentosum last year. It crept into my garden from my neighbor’s yard. It didn’t seem like a weed, so I looked it up and learned it’s a perennial flowering succulent that is used as a ground cover. It reaches six inches in height and tiny yellow flowers emerge in July, changing the color to a lime hue. It’s drought tolerant, can handle full sun, and will grow just about anywhere, from a crack in the sidewalk to a a bit of sand. Because it spreads […]

There was a paper shredder explosion in front of my house after recycling day last Thursday. It inspired me to get outside and clean up. I couldn’t pick up each tiny piece of paper so I started clearing out leaves and cutting back all the old plant debris from last year. I got the rake and shovel out. It felt so good to be in the garden! With a sweater, it was comfortable outside. After some clearing, I noticed my perennials have begun to sprout! The Daylilies are two inches […]

  Todd’s Dad’s’ Christmas Cactus Last week I wrote about the iconic poinsettia many give to family and friends over the holidays. This week, I’m discussing the other seasonally appropriate gift-plant: the Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera). Like it’s holiday competitor the poinsettia, you can buy a Christmas Cactus  just about anywhere and since the holidays have passed — they’re on sale now! The plant is called a Christmas cactus because a drop in temperature is needed to produce blooms, therefore it’s most showy in December. It’s a welcome surprise to see […]

I’m obsessed with decorative gourds. I can’t help buying them anywhere I see them – at the supermarket, at the garden store, at Home Depot. Can you blame me? There’s such a wide variety of colors, patterns, bumps, shapes and sizes. They’re perfect. In a way, Decorative Gourd Season makes me not even miss summer. My husband doesn’t feel similarly. Last week he asked “So, how much money are you going to spend on gourds this year??” I responded, trying to look really cute, “Oh, did you see this wonderful […]

I’ve been outside in the garden so much I feel like my indoor plants, of which I have many, have suffered. This past week I gave them all a tune-up, adding compost to the soil and cutting back dead and straggly leaves. It’s always hard cutting back the long trailing vines of the pothos plant but mine were leggy, thin on top, and unhealthy looking. Pruning the vines encourages new growth and my cuttings would not go to waste. I propagate from them and create new plants!  I’ve been doing […]