March 29, 2006
Buds!
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Pleasurable anticipation is one of the great joys of spring. Fat juicy buds with the promise of blooms to come are everywhere this week. The magnolias particularly are ready to pop. Maple trees appear to be in bud- but they are actullay blooming. Experts say that the female flower has a more intense color than the male....so this tree must be all girl.
Posted by gardenguidenyc at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
March 23, 2006
Ladies' Border
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Most of New York Botanical Garden is still more or less asleep, with fattening buds but not many flowers to report. But the Ladies' Border Ladies' Borderis a stunning exception. Thanks to a very protected southern exposure, which generates its own microclimate, the 260-foot-long garden bed is dedicated to growing unusual half-hardy plants that can survive our Northern winters. First designed in 1933 by the great Ellen Biddle Shipman, the garden was re-designed in 2002 by public garden designer par excellence Lynden Miller. It manages to offer year-round interest, but the early spring display is particularly successful. Look for some of our favorites that are blooming right now: a large and spectacular Prunus mume, several varieties of Hamamelis (witch hazel),viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn,' edgeworthia chrysantha, and viburnum farreri.
Posted by gardenguidenyc at 11:19 PM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2006
City Trees
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Most of the year, we walk past the great trees in our city parks without much sense of their shape and structure. But in fact winter is the best time to really see and admire our trees, before their leaves obscure their shape--like this elegant, vase-shaped elm on the east side of the Great Lawn.The European beech has massive silver branches, that are almost entirely invisible when the tree is in leaf. Other than shape, look at the bark of trees--the mottled light-brown-and-tan bark of the sycamore stands out against the dark trunks of most other trees; the peeling bark of the kousa dogwoods and Heritage birches create interesting, multi-colored trunks. An excellent guide to all our city trees can be found in almost any bookstore: Edward Sibley Barnard's New York City Trees: A Field Guide for the Metropolitan Area.. Get yourselves a copy and go out for a walk on a mild end-of-winter day.
Posted by gardenguidenyc at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)