Allium and Iris - Madison Square Park

Rainy Tulips

Wisteria Lane

Each year this huge wisteria (on 10th St. between Fifth and Sixth avenues) provides an incredible spring show of blossoms. I'm not sure I'd want one quite this large climbing on my multi-million-dollar, 19th century townhouse, but it's certainly lovely for the rest of us!

Weekend Flowers, Part 2

 

 

 

 

Weekend Flowers, Part 1

The weather hasn't been consistently warm, but the flowers are starting to open and a few trees are showing green. It's supposed to be 80 this weekend, so perhaps we've turned the corner. The bottom two photos are of camelias, which I don't often see in the city. One usually sees them farther south. My parents, for example, have grown camelias for ages, and they always provide an early spring show of rose-like blooms.

Signs of Spring around the neighborhood . . .

Finally!

Fall Mums

I spotted these beautiful mums in the Poconos the other day. It was early in the morning, so one can see the dew collected on the flowers. I love their vivid colors, perfect complements to the pumpkins and gourds that so often make up traditional autumnal displays . . . but I always lament their November demise, when they fade and become "leggy," their stems drooping over to touch the ground.

Jefferson Market Garden - Roses

Walking through the Jefferson Market Garden on Greenwich Ave., one can tell that autumn is here, despite the warm weather and sunny skies. The garden seems "sleepy," as if sensing the approaching cold of winter. The plants appear diminished, tired. The mature trees that shade much of the garden have even started to shed a few leaves, although serious fall "color" is still a month away. Many of the roses, however, are providing a final late-summer display, one of the obvious advantages of more recent hybrids. Enjoy!

Sunflowers

Ah, Sun-flower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done:

Where the Youth pined away with desire,

And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow
Arise from the their graves, and aspire
Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

WILLIAM BLAKE

New Flowers

I haven't photographed many flowers of late, but encountered these little late summer gems over the last couple of days. The marigold (2nd photo) reminds me of my first gardening efforts as a child. I remember starting marigolds and zinnias from seed in our back yard. (I've recently learned that the marigolds are edible, with the blossoms providing a substantial dose of lutein.) Fairly easy to grow, the flowers proved resistant to our best efforts at neglect. Still, I remember watching the dirt impatiently - like watching a pot of water that refuses to boil - for the first green evidence of sprouts. Part of the problem was that typical annuals and perennials just didn't fit into the design scheme of my parents' yard, a yard dominated by low-maintenance pine trees, azaleas, and boxwoods, with a couple of dogwoods added over the years. The most colorful residents of the pine straw covered beds were the camellias, which still provide a beautiful display of blooms each year. The half-hearted attempts to grow roses were quickly stifled by black spot and moles. Thus it's no surprise that when I finally had my own garden in Tennessee, I was determined to have more variety, with annuals, perennials, dozens of tulips and roses, as well as plenty of shade-loving favorites.