Text and photographs are © by Ellen Spector Platt & Ellen Zachos, all rights reserved.


Tuesday, January 12, 2010

BABY IT'S WARM INSIDE

Enough of the cold. Let's talk about warm gardens in NYC.
When the outside temperature was in the teens, I had the pleasure of exploring the vertical gardens at the new David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center. While classical music provided the sound track, I could snack at 'wichcraft cafe, use the WiFi service, admire a huge wall tapestry, or buy same-day discount tickets for LC performances including South Pacific. Currently, the Atrium is offering free live concerts on Thursday evenings. (Be careful; the box office is closed on Mondays though the Atrium stays open).

I could also watch the floor to ceiling fountain, and even better, discover the patterns in the two vertical walls of plants, each 21' high by 34' wide planted with over two thousand tropicals.
These grow under natural
light from above, and
warm artificial lights
that bathe the gardens.
Plants grow in felt
pouches with no soil,
just water and fertilizer
provided by drip at
intervals throughout
the day.

One of my first posts to this blog was about an outdoor vertical garden on E. 86th St. It looked great until building scaffolding went up blocking the light. It's been over a year now. The construction is still there; those plants are DEAD.

There are a few bare patches on the Atrium walls at Lincoln Center, a great way to see the mechanics of planting, but I hope someone's paying attention to the constant needs of the plants and will keep the garden in
the great shape it deserves.

12 comments:

Shady Gardener said...

Isn't this wonderful? I seem to remember seeing a kit for a home version somewhere this Fall or early Winter. I'd have loved to have seen this in person. :-) Thanks for the post!

Ellen Zachos said...

I can't believe you went without me! I'm so upset I think I'll go cool my heels in the Yucatan for a week. Perhaps I will have forgiven you by the time I return and we can celebrate our birthdays together.

Ellen Spector Platt said...

Shady, Go see for yourself, open seven days a week. esp

Ellen Spector Platt said...

Other Ellen, You're going to the Yucatan and you're complaining because I went to 63rd and Broadway?
Puh-leeze!

Saturejka said...

I wish I could see vertical garden in Poland... For now I know about one. One verical garden in whole country. We have long, long way ahead...

Urban Gardens said...

These are fabulous! I love what people are doing with these green walls and vertical gardens. There are some cool DIY products out there. One I like for the simplicity of it is Wooly Pockets:
http://bit.ly/w5FXU

Thomas said...

Oh WOW! This is spectacular! I wish our office building utilized a green wall. I wonder how difficult it would be to utilize this vertical growing technique at home.

Lushe said...

Nice close up of the vertical garden felt pockets. Thanks

Lushe
http://www.lushe.com.au

Ellen Spector Platt said...

Welcome Sorsha, How did you find us?

Ellen Spector Platt said...

Thomas, I know a garden writer from Quebec who boasts a wall of plants in his master bath. other ellen & I have been invited many times but somehow never got there.I'll try to get a picture to post.

Ellen Spector Platt said...

Lushe, Looks like you have some nice ones as well. Any in public spaces in NYC?

Saturejka said...

I was looking in the internet for good gardening sites and I've found Garden Bytes :-) I'm really impressed and inspired by your blog.


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