2023-04-14 17:56
Please visit the new site for Flatbush Gardener at https://www.flatbushgardener.com/.All updates and additions will be done only on the new site. This site remains, for now, as an archi… Read More
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Urban Gardening with Native Plants
2023-03-15 21:56
The Xerces Society, in collaboration with the IUCN SSC Firefly Specialist Group and New Mexico BioPark Society, has launched the Firefly Atlas project: The Firefly Atlas is a collabora… Read More
2023-03-09 20:19
The annual New York Restoration Project Tree Giveaway starts in a month. This year, they're offering the largest variety of native tree, and some shrub, species I've seen yet. Consider the m… Read More
2023-02-28 20:37
Originally published as a Guest Rant on Garden Rant, November 4, 2009. Recovered from the Internet Archive. I replaced the photo snapshot with a link to the high-res photo on Flickr. I… Read More
2022-12-21 21:47
Maybe I am more like Demeter, weeping for the hold darkness has over others, while reaching and hoping for a time when we can bring everyone back into the light. - Standing Still 2021:… Read More
2022-11-30 05:00
As in past years, I'm limiting this list to northern North America for two reasons:Restricting this list geographically is in keeping with my specialization in plants native to northeastern… Read More
2022-10-20 16:44
These are some of the Eastern North American species suitable for groundcover, most of which I have grown in my gardens over the decades. Some of these prefer shade, some prefer sun. Most of… Read More
2022-09-13 03:54
Next Tuesday, September 20th, I will be the guest speaker for Green-Wood Cemetery's Death Cafe. Next week is also Climate Week; the topic is "Grief and Gardening", that title taken from the… Read More
2022-05-02 16:55
This Sunday, May 6th, I will be hosting and facilitating a workshop on gardening for habitat with native plants in my home garden. The main workshop is from 12noon to 2pm. From 11am to n… Read More
2022-04-15 14:53
It's a busy season for me this Spring! NEXT WEEK is New York City NYC's GreenThumb community gardening program annual conference, known as GrowTogether: Part 2 of the GreenThumb GrowTo… Read More
2022-04-05 17:52
This year's City Nature Challenge (CNC) is barely three weeks away! I put together a brief overview of New York City's participation in CNC. Related Content City Nature Challenge2018-04-9:… Read More
2022-03-17 19:42
I am proud to announce that I will be co-presenting, with Zihao Wang, a Lecture of the Torrey Botanical Society on Wednesday March 30 at 6pm. The title of the talk is "City Natur… Read More
2022-03-12 04:15
I could probably talk about Amelanchier until my voice gave out (at least an hour!). It's such a great multi-season plant in the garden, and brings so much value to wildlife, as well. I… Read More
2022-01-03 10:41
Observing the diversity of life that coexists in one place is one of the rewards of visiting the same natural area over a long period of time. My garden not only offers myself and passersb… Read More
2021-12-21 23:04
Today is the December solstice: the winter solstice in my hometown Northern hemisphere, summer in the Southern. Persephone and her Pomegranate
The millenia-old story of Persephone and he… Read More
2021-12-15 03:21
Adapted from a tweet thread.
In a guest post on the ASLA's "Dirt" column, Alden E. Stone, CEO of Nature Sacred, writes: [Our new report] is part research and part practical guide, and shares… Read More
2021-12-01 06:15
These are some of the people, all men, I have lost over the years, nearly all to AIDS. With the exceptions of those additions noted, I stopped actively maintaining this list in 199… Read More
2021-11-30 05:00
As in past years, I'm limiting this list to northern North America for two reasons:
Restricting this list geographically is in keeping with my specialization in plants native to northeastern… Read More
2021-11-20 03:29
My garden is registered as both a National Wildlife Federation Backyard Wildlife Habitat and Xerces Society Pollinator Habitat. The insects have cretainly gotten the message. Durin… Read More
2021-11-14 04:13
Our dear cat Annie passed away less than an hour ago.
We adopted her from Sean Casey Animal Rescue at the age of 5 or 6 months in September 2009. We brought her into our home to be a c… Read More
2021-10-29 19:01
2021-10-29: Transcribed and updated my October 20th tweet thread on this topic.
I'm an active contributor to iNaturalist. While I'm not a "super-observer", I expect to surpa… Read More
2021-09-13 18:51
I'm pleased to announce that Saturday, September 25th, I will be leading two iNaturalist Workshops "in the field" at The High Line. This is one of several workshops, and many other events, t… Read More
2021-09-11 23:50
Written spontaneously as a Twitter thread, and transcribed to this blog post. I'm avoiding the news today. As well as the retraumatizing snuff porn documentaries. I've written about a… Read More
2021-06-14 12:41
I'm proud to announce that Sunday, June 27th, I will be leading two Native Pollinator Walks at Wave Hill in the Bronx. This is one of several events they have scheduled for their Native Poll… Read More
2021-03-27 13:40
2021-03-27: Initial listing. I will continue to update this throughout the season as I learn of more events.
This season's native plant sales in and around New York City. Events are listed b… Read More
2021-02-05 01:52
Creating Urban Habitat from Flatbush Gardener Related Content Links
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Read More
2020-12-03 22:41
Living in New York City most of my life, I'm not in what one would think of as "maple country". But the northeast is rich with sugarbushes - the forests of maple trees from which sap is… Read More
2020-11-30 20:01
As in past years, I'm limiting this list to northern North America for two reasons:
Restricting this list geographically is in keeping with my specialization in plants native to northeastern… Read More
2020-09-30 22:09
My mother passed away peacefully at home this morning around 5:30 am, Eastern Time. She'd been in home hospice for the past week. She'd been living at home with my sister since 2009, where s… Read More
2020-09-29 03:06
2020-09-26 21:50
I said my last goodbye to my mother today. I don’t think she heard me. I whispered, because I didn’t want to disturb her, and she’s hard of hearing as it i… Read More
2020-09-26 03:27
We’re nearing the end. Mom hasn’t eaten anything, not even a popsicle, in two days. The “comfort” drugs are powerful, blunt instruments that can only do so much to re… Read More
2020-09-24 03:16
While the world burns down around us, I am sitting in a darkened room, with just the sounds of a small table fan and an oxygen concentrator, watching over my mother. My only company is Raja… Read More
2020-05-15 01:59
A month ago, Carrie Seltzer (@carrieseltzer) created the "Home Projects" iNaturalist Umbrella Project - a Project of Projects - for "personal" Projects of people's homes, gardens, or ya… Read More
2020-05-11 23:45
I've been seeing a lot of misidentifications - or perhaps wishful ones - of the invasive Chelidonium majus, greater celandine as the Eastern U.S. native Stylophorum diphyllum, celandine popp… Read More
2020-05-06 13:53
Normally, this time of year would be busy with garden tours, workshops, talks and lectures, plant swaps and sales. In past years, my garden has been on tour for NYC Wildflower Week. Two year… Read More
2020-04-13 23:48
I received an unexpected, and much-welcomed, message from a colleague, asking how I was doing. My response ran a little long, so I thought I would reproduce it here. Annotated with links, wh… Read More
2020-04-07 02:01
It's been barely a month since the first handful of COVID-19/SARS-CoV2 cases were reported in New York State. On March 4, there were 6 confirmed cases.
As I write this:
There are nearly 5,0… Read More
2020-03-27 12:24
As a child, even as I watched rockets launch from my bedroom window, the news kept us apprised of the ever-rising (American) casualties from the Vietnam War. As an adolesecent, I was fascina… Read More
2020-03-20 03:28
"The Return of Persephone", Frederic Leighton, 1896 (four years before his death)
The March Equinox - Spring or Vernal, in the Northern Hemisphere - occurs at 11:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time… Read More
2019-12-06 01:42
A friend just asked me for my spice cookie recipe. I was surprised to find my current recipe wasn't already up on the blog - the last time was in 2008! So, here it is ...
King Arthur Flour… Read More
2019-12-03 05:02
My alarm wakes me Saturday morning. I go downstairs to the kitchen, nuke myself a cup of coffee, and get a fresh batch going. I didn’t sleep well. Today is the Remembrance Day for Lost… Read More
2019-07-12 01:15
Walking from my bus stop to work in the morning takes me across Broadway in Downtown Manhattan, the site of some celebration or other yesterday morning. Still this morning, littering the sid… Read More
2019-06-08 15:42
I'm pleased to announce that I'll be hosting a pollinator-focused garden tour and citizen science workshop in my garden for Pollinator Week, in association with NYC Wildflower Week.
Event De… Read More
2019-02-12 21:12
Over the weekend I was inspired to write a little tweet storm. I thought it would make a good blog post.
It started with a blog post by entomologist Eric Eaton, who goes by @BugEric … Read More
2018-12-21 22:43
These days, I feel like a single candle, cursing the darkness, both literal and figurative.
The Anthropocene weighs heavy on my mind, and heart:
Global atmospheric CO2 (carbon dioxide)… Read More
2018-12-02 14:33
Today is World AIDS Day. By coincidence, the 41st president also just died, reminding me - and the cohort of survivors from his dark reign - how many more of us died on his watch from inacti… Read More
2018-11-30 12:06
I'm limiting this list to northern North America for two reasons:
Restricting this list geographically is in keeping with my specialization in plants native to northeastern North America.The… Read More
2018-11-02 02:28
On November 1, 1918, the worst transit disaster in New York City history occurred just outside Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The wooden cars of the Brighton Beach line of th… Read More
2018-08-20 02:05
A small patch of biodiversity - i.e.: weeds - from my driveway.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal has people talking about it, e.g.: on the Twitter. The term "plant blindness" ha… Read More
2018-06-17 23:10
Following is the outline, speaker notes, and references of my talk at this year's Native Plants in the Landscape Conference. This was to have been published as a speaker handout for attendee… Read More
2018-06-08 19:47
I spoke this year at the Native Plants in the Landscape Conference at Millersville University in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The organizers asked speakers for a list of books we recommen… Read More
2018-04-29 15:26
The "weedy" remnants of my front lawn, where Viola sororia, common blue violet, has taken charge. Easily overlooked, it seeds itself readily without any help from me (or any other gardener)… Read More
2018-04-22 19:12
Today I made my way to my first Gowanus Canal Conservancy Native Plant Sale. Today is Earth Day 2018, and today's sale was held at their nursery location, the Salt Lot where Second Avenue en… Read More
2017-10-28 19:18
Terrible news.
Until this announcement, Agrilus planipennis, emerald ash borer, or EAB for short, had been found throughout New York state, but the locations closest to NYC were in Wes… Read More
2017-10-28 01:21
Rockaway Beach Boulevard, between Beach 113th & 114th Streets, Rockaway Park, Queens, November 4, 2012
The storm surge flooded this block to at least five feet. Fire broke out and was q… Read More
2017-04-30 16:17
NYC-Native SpeciesAsarum canadense, wild gingerFragaria virginiana, Virginia strawberryGeranium maculatumGeum rivale, purple avensPodophyllum peltatum, mayapplePolygonatum biflorumRhododendr… Read More
2016-12-21 13:33
Persephone with her pomegranate. Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Proserpine (Oil on canvas, 1874) - Tate Gallery, London
This season's solstice (Winter in the Northern hemisphere, Summe… Read More
2016-12-04 03:49
This is an updated version of a recipe I published 3 years ago. This version reflects the adjustments I've made since then. I feel like I've perfected this one. If you try this recipe, let m… Read More
2016-08-07 18:09
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
- Juliet, Romer and Juliet, Wiliam ShakespeareA rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.
- Gertrude Stein, vari… Read More
2016-06-25 03:15
New York State Gardeners: You can help re-introduce our state insect! See Links below.
A decade ago, shortly after I launched this blog, I wrote the following:
[Coccinella] novemnotata was… Read More
2016-05-28 14:04
I started to reply to a Facebook post and quickly realized I had enough content for a blog post.
Hello from Long Island NY..looking for suggestion for ground cover that won't eat my plants… Read More
2016-05-17 01:59
10 years ago today, I wrote the first post of Flatbush Gardener, a reflection on my first garden in NYC, started in 1981 in the East Village. I don't think I can summarize all the changes I… Read More
2016-05-10 01:45
The Gardener's Nook this weekend
10 years ago, on May 16, 2006, I wrote the first post for this blog. To celebrate my 10th Blogiversary, on Sunday, May 15, I'm opening my garden for a tour… Read More
2016-04-02 19:26
Seasonal sales are one of the best ways to acquire a wide variety of native plants. It's best to do your homework before you go, so you have an idea of your conditions, the kinds of plants t… Read More
2016-03-12 18:02
I moved to NYC the first weekend of 1979. By Spring, I had moved to the East Village, an epicenter of what was first called "gay cancer," then "Gay-Related Immunodeficiency Disease," or GRID… Read More
2016-02-21 04:37
These cookies have been taste-tested recently at a going-away party and after-church coffee hour. Adults rave about this cookie. You will have no leftovers, even from a double batch.
I've b… Read More
2016-01-22 03:07
David Joseph Wilcox at Wigstock in Union Square, early 1990s. Scan from original slide, date unrecorded.
20 years ago, on January 22, 1996, my friend, David Joseph Wilcox, died from AIDS… Read More
2015-12-22 04:02
Persephone with her pomegranate. Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Proserpine (Oil on canvas, 1874) - Tate Gallery, London
This season's solstice (Winter in the Northern hemisphere, Summe… Read More
2015-11-29 17:13
I'm limiting this list to northern North America for two reasons:
Restricting this list geographically is in keeping with my specialization in plants native to northeastern North America.The… Read More
2015-09-11 11:49
Want to build next to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens? This might be your one and only chance.
- Development Site Adjacent to Brooklyn Botanic Gardens Hits Market, Terrance Cullen, Commercial O… Read More
2015-09-02 03:19
Sunday, while cutting up edited plants into my compost tumbler, I caught sight of something unusual out of the corner of my eye. It turned out to be Bombus fervidus, golden northern bumblebe… Read More
2015-07-07 12:18
2015-09-19: Added Homeosoma, observed 10 days ago and just identified, bringing the total to 23.
2015-09-13: Two more Hymenoptera species identified from the last weekend in August: Bombus f… Read More
2015-07-01 12:24
Pyrrhalta viburni, the viburnum leaf beetle, or VLB for short, is native to Europe. It was first discovered in North America barely two decades ago, in Maine in 1994. Both larvae and adults… Read More
2015-06-23 01:40
Notice anything different about me? Until a few minutes ago, the by-line at the header of this blog read:
Adventures in Neo-Victorian, Wild, Shade, Organic and Native Plant Gardening, Garden… Read More
2015-06-14 22:30
Saturday, June 13 was the last open day in 2015 for the Long Island Native Plant Initiative (LINPI) Plant Sale. I picked up another 13 species to add to my list, which has already grown this… Read More
2015-05-21 07:20
Our Ripley died with us around 1:30 this morning.
It's still the middle of the night. We had an 8am appointment with the vet for an ultrasound exam to find out what was going on. Instead, I… Read More
2015-05-14 14:56
This is a checklist of just the plant species native to New York City I'm growing in my garden. I'm posting this for the benefit of anyone attending the NYC Wildflower Week tour of my garden… Read More
2015-05-13 12:07
At last night's meeting of the Long Island Botanical Society, I spoke about my experiences gardening with native plants in an urban setting. These slides accompanied my talk.
Related Cont… Read More
2015-05-09 14:04
I had a visceral (in a good way) reaction to Adrian Higgins' writeup of a visit, with Claudia West, to Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve.
I think I'll adopt "ecological horticulturist" to d… Read More
2015-05-03 13:54
A species new to me that I picked up at yesterday's plant sale for the Manhattan Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society (MCNARGS). Since I don't know anything about it, I research… Read More
2015-04-26 19:07
Yesterday, I transplanted a small piece of Carex pensylvanica, Pennsylvania sedge, from my sister's property in Ocean County, New Jersey. This species is common on her property.
She lives… Read More
2015-04-18 23:41
2015-04-26 Update: Finally finished planting everything.
Took me most of the day to figure out where all of the 63 plants I received this week are going. Better late then never.
Bog Planters… Read More
2015-04-03 00:48
Lots of native plant events from April to June which I hope to attend. And I'll be speaking, hosting, or tabling at three of them.
Me in my front yard last year, hosting a NYC Wildflower We… Read More
2015-02-24 03:58
Revised 2015-02-23: This was one of my earliest blog posts, first published in June 2006. I've overhauled it to 1) meet my current technical standards, and 2) improve the content based on th… Read More
2015-02-23 13:35
I was moved to write this by a short missive from Reverend Billy:
When I go to pray, which is sometimes difficult being so without any god, I think of that time in my life, because the natur… Read More
2015-02-21 04:29
I got a query from a reader:
I’m working on a school garden project and we’d like to develop a pollinator garden in several raised beds. Can you recommend some native plants that… Read More
2015-02-03 02:52
Not only is it Imbolc, aka Groundhog Day (Flatbush Fluffy did NOT see his shadow today. You're welcome.), it's also World Wetlands Day. After seeing some of the photos shared by others on Tw… Read More
2015-01-04 01:15
[First in what I hope will be a series of Frequently Asked Questions, FAQs. If you have any questions for me, I invite you to leave a comment, or ping me on Twitter.]
Question: Where do you… Read More
2014-12-21 21:54
This season's solstice occurs at 11:03 UTC, 6:03 Eastern Time. It's winter in the northern hemipshere, summer in the southern.
Illumination of Earth by Sun at the southern solstice.
Etymolo… Read More
2014-11-30 15:31
Updated 2014-12-22: Added years of extinction, where known. Started section for Extinct in the Wild (IUCN Red List code EW).
I'm limiting this list for two reasons:
Restricting this list geo… Read More
2014-11-09 04:09
Update 2014-11-23:
Completed Step #4 today, nearly injuring myself in the exertion. Did I mention that established grasses have deep and extensive roots?Also completed Step #5, replacing th… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
After all their protests that eliminating their research staff in August 2013 was not "the end of science" at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, BBG's Board of Trustees quietly voted at the end of Sep… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
A few weeks ago, I had a craving to do some baking with cardamon (cardamom). A few Google searches later, I found a recipe for lemon cardamon sugar cookies.n
Other than doubling the recipe… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
Updates:
2013-10-05: Guest post on Garden Rant.
2013-09-26: Thanks to the Brokelyn link, the petition surges past 2,500, adding 800 new signatures in two days, nearly all of them from Brookl… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
Updated 2013-09-05: CORRECTION - The white-flowering plant is Eupatorium hyssopifolium, Hyssop-leaf Throughwort, not E. perfoliatum, Common Boneset, as I misidentified it.
At a glance - say… Read More
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