Petition Against Science Hiatus at Brooklyn Botanic

                                     Native bee at home in this city that doesn't even stop to sleep

In the upside down world that we live in, science is going on a hiatus at Brooklyn Botanic and Flatbush Gardener, (a gardener and blogger) has started a petition along with some others for folks to sign if they perhaps think this is not such a fantastic idea.

For kicks I looked up the definitions of science and hiatus:
Science:
- knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observation
-a particular area of scientific study
-a subject that is formally studied
And as a synonym: knowledge.

Hiatus:
-a period in time when something is stopped

In other news, Gateway National Recreation Area has released a draft EIS for their new General Management Plan for folks to comment on, where oddly enough their preferred "alternative" is not the alternative that has been identified by them as environmentally preferable.

"In accordance with the NPS NEPA Director’s Order 12 Handbook, the NPS identifies the
environmentally preferable alternative in its NEPA documents for public review and
comment (NPS 2001, section 4.5 E[9]). The environmentally preferable alternative is the
alternative that causes the least damage to the biological and physical environment and
best protects, preserves, and enhances historical, cultural, and natural resources. The
environmentally preferable alternative is identified upon consideration and weighing by
the Responsible Official of long-term environmental impacts against short-term impacts in
evaluating what is the best protection of these resources. In some situations, such as when
different alternatives impact different resources to different degrees, there may be more
than one environmentally preferable alternative (43 CFR 46.30).

Alternative C has been identified as the environmentally preferable alternative based on
the analysis of impacts, which identified it as least damaging to the biological and physical
environment and best at protecting and enhancing natural and cultural resources."

So what is going on hiatus over at Gateway? Logic?

First Azure Bloom

I managed to catch the first bloom of this Salvia (azurea, for its color) by chance in the last hour of daylight late Tuesday and this plant's botanical name is apt. This picture is a bit tinted from the sunlight, but the flower is indeed blue just like a clear sky.

Where the Echinacea Came Up This Year

Everywhere.

And so of course then, what I had was some to give away.

I Was Chasing a Hummingbird Moth

But wound up with a skipper and a wasp. (The hummingbird moths outwit the smartphone camera's capabilities, with their rapid wing movement.) The wasp, I believe is Monobia quadridens, a returning visitor in the garden. I can't remember when the hummingbird moths were flying at Floyd Bennett last year. But one summer I did see them in July, another mid to late august. This year, this weekend was the first I saw of these clearwing moths that fly by day visiting flowers. It's encouraging to see and then recognize at least a few returning pollinating visitors in the garden.

I think Monobia quadridens wasp with a backful of pollen on Monarda punctata, Floyd Bennett Field

Making Themselves at Home

 In this case, the bees in the plant and the plant in my commmunity garden plot.  I'm hoping the Monarda punctata will be sowing itself around like the echinacea seems to be and that this year isn't just a fluke. Because, I could swear these plants were not in this same place this year as last year. (and for Joe and Martha I think this was true too.) If this really turns out to be a native that likes where it is and is happy to move around and make itself at home, I would be pretty happy.

Not Enough Bouquets So Far This Year

But this one got me back in the mind. I miss this. Watching plants. Growing and tending something. The garden this year is tending itself in large part with large patches of welcome volunteers filling in the spaces. (this year chamomile a top contender for volunteer of the year and the love in a mist, which i should catch before it goes to seed again.) Though I haven't been experimenting myself I noticed that the coolness of this spring had flowers Joe brought home from the garden lasting a good long while in the vase.

Today's Park Quote from Mayor Bloomberg and One from the Past

Part of a smaller metering and regulating station in an industrial park not a recreational park

Parkland is “not the only thing people need,” Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday as he defended plans to build a soccer stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. “It’s not irreplaceable.” I get a real kick out of Boss Bloomberg's statements on parks. But this quote from the NY post gets even better. “In fact, there’s an old airport, Flushing Airport, which is going to be turned into a park. So the total parkland would be the same,” added the mayor. “On balance there’s an enormous amount of new park land,” he said. “But it’s not the only thing people need. A lot of people want a stadium to enjoy soccer.” This is a 2013 quote. I don't know what the ratio is of people who want to enjoy soccer is versus the people who use parks is, but I think what the mayor actually means is there is some money to be made by some people by building a stadium.

Back in 2011 --“Here in New York, we feel such a strong sense of pride for our parks, I want to thank Secretary Salazar and the rest of the Obama administration for their ongoing support of the city’s parks and other national jewels within the five boroughs,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “As part of the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, we look forward to working with the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service to enhance the largely undiscovered beauty of the Gateway National Recreation Area.” http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Salazar-Bloomberg-Launch-Great-Urban-Park-Vision-for-New-York-City.cfm

One of my favorite parts of that DOI press release is this whopper: "The National Park Service will undertake urban design plans for Floyd Bennett Field on Jamaica Bay that is surrounded by the most dense and diverse population in any national park area. NPS will also work to revitalize the community gardens at Floyd Bennett Field as a tool to increase urban residents’ access to fresh vegetables, and to the outdoor gardening experience." And by that I think what was really meant was that they were getting ready to push a bill through Congress to build a pipeline through the park and place a metering and regulating facility in Floyd Bennett Field next to a community garden that seems pretty vital all on its own.

Meanwhile over at the Rockawave they have taken to giving Gateway a new nickname, Gateway National Disgrace Area, which I like, but they seem to think that the city is actually going to be an improvement over NPS, which I think might mean that they are dreaming.  The park is for sale.

Guy's Salad Bar

 and the tulip I crushed below weeding. I'd never had so many weeds in my community garden plot before or started the season so late. I usually mulch with straw over the winter. But I also have never seen so manylady bugs in my garden in early spring before while weeding, so maybe it's a fair tradeoff after all. Maybe it means my garden was meant to be just a litte bit more on the fallow side this year and that's ok.

(Guy's salad bar though I believe could rival Trader Joe's. I kid you not ever.  My neighbors rock the garden. Now is that a pretty cold frame you could line up with a plate at or what? It's April.)

What to Focus on this Year?

I wouldn't say that every year since I started gardening that I have had just one true focus for the year. Probably exactly the opposite has been true. The moments outside always feels like a mad dash to try and take everything in all at once. To follow a favorite throughout the seasons, learn the name of the blooming thing in front of me in the moment by name, whether common or botanic or spot a new a pollinator in the garden, whether bee, wasp or other. What is true I think is that the focus has always been on something outside of myself, something tangible, real and alive that I hadn't spent enough time getting to know or pay attention to closely before beginning to garden.

I miss this.

Spring Afternoon at the Casey's with Anne

A decidely rosey affair. The hellebores reportedly began their show in the snow with some in full bloom, others post and still others about to bloom. On the way I passed blooming daffodils but in the Casey's yard the bulbs planted late fall with Anne last year still have some time left to grow. The good fun to be had though was pushing past the mulch to see what appears to be the variegated Solomon's Seal just emerging up out of the ground.  

Jonesing

For some flowers and grass in the sun. In a month or so hopefully on a bright day it will be time for planting peas.

On Seeing The Forest And Seeing The Trees

(But I was not in the forest, only the park.)

They say that you cannot see the forest for the trees meaning that you are paying too much attention to the details to see the larger picture.  I get the gist of the idiom, but to really see the forest you must also see the trees. There is no either or. The mind is like the eye in its amazing capacity to switch focus from near to far, and to perceive also, however dimly, those things just sneaking up off to the side and at the edges.

Joe dragged me to Prospect Park to see the blooming witchhazel and I so I went out for the flowers (yay!) but also saw the trees. Joe also brought home a book from the library which I have swiped out from under him, The Man who Planted Trees by Jim Robbins with a subtitle Lost Groves, Champion Trees and an Urgent Plan to Save the Planet. I expect it will switch back and forth from specific beetles and regional forest die-offs to global perspectives, particular species and things in between, notably one man's quest to clone the world's champion trees (I read the bookflap). I expect to oscillate between being sad and hopeful, wanting to read it whole and taking my time with it. There is no either or.

On the books cover is an image of a tree cutting in a test tube presumably one of those cuttings from a Champion tree. Or to put it another way, there is an image of a small piece of one big tree.

Back in the Park Again

Aster, winter, Floyd Bennett Field

 

I have written many nerdy posts about this garden in this old airfield and happy moments here. But I haven't gone so long without seeing this place though as I have recently, so this first moment this year at the garden this weekend might be the happiest yet. (and there was snow)

Come January

 

Come January and the community garden at Floyd Bennett Field mostly belongs to the birds.

 

Sometimes the snow.

 

 

And what lingers from last season's blooms.