Memories

Bouquet in the bathroom at Chanticleer

The picture above is of a bouquet in the bathroom at Chanticleer. It was taken on a Brooklyn Botanic horticulture intern field trip last year on a ridiculously hot day in early July. What was I thinking? I was thinking "this place is so awesome, even the bathroom rocks", and also "who needs flowers, when leaves and branches are so beautiful?". But probably mostly "I hope I remember how much I loved this moment." I do. The memories of beautiful moments studying plants remains. Essentially that is really the whole of what most posts of this blog contain. I didn't know it would be so when I started, but the act of focusing, photographing and recording these moments has proved to be an amazing tool for remembering and learning for me.

I couldn't tell you for certain if one of the talented gardeners at Chanticleer made this bouquet from plants onsite or not, but Chanticleer has a plant list that's accessible online and it's here.

Handmade Plant List Box, Chanticleer

Seeds in Pretty Packages

Paeonia obovata seed heads, Chanticleer Garden in July 2010

It's the time of year to think about seeds so why not think about some of the pretty packages they come in? This year I'll be trying out some vegetable seeds from Hudson Valley Seed Library in really pretty packages that I got at The Horticultural Society of New York. They're pretty cool, but their real test will be in the tasting. The truth is you really can't beat plants when it comes to packaging seeds with style. Two plants that pack them with style are the Japanese Woodland Peony at Chanticleer pleasure garden above and the night-blooming Moonflower Vine below in Brooklyn Botanic's rose garden.





















Ipomea alba (Moonflower vine), Cranford Rose Garden, Brooklyn Botanic, September 2010

Field Trip to Chanticleer & Longwood Gardens

Chanticleer charmed us all right away. Even in the parking lot, we were admiring the plants and the place. I loved how this garden had all these little pockets of awesomeness, whether a handmade wooden bench or fence or plants growing in pockets carved out of stumps, all made by the gardeners/artists working there. Longwood was perhaps its perfect contrast..a serious machine of a place with a nightly lightshow and fountains and hoses that pump out fertilized water or treehouses shaped like cathedrals and beehives. The gardeners working at both places though were pretty generous with filling us in on their doings. The only complaint really was the weather, which was blazing.