WHAT GOES AROUND...

photograph by ©Alan& Linda Detrick, all rights reserved.
Pussy willow, my favorite for spring arrangements. Wind stems inside a glass container, no water; this only works when stems are fresh-cut. Add mimosa at the base of the pitcher. It will dry in place. That's it; a no brain arrangement.
When I had my farm, I had a shrub big enough to prune and fill every vase. Here in Manhattan, I bought a bunch 5 years ago and rooted them for a month in water.

They were ready to plant when leaves started to push forth and roots looked like this...

I stuck a few in the soil of various containers on my roof garden and promptly forgot about them.
When I bought new containers and transplanted almost everything, these sticks got dumped, except one planted in an old teak container that I kept.
This March, five years later my New York born and bred pussy willow shrub looks like this...

and some new branches are ready to grace my living room.
Whether you buy them at a flower show or the Boston wholesale flower market as did my friend, floral designer, writer, and herbalist Betsy Williams, you can make something wonderful.

Here I made a table wreath of fresh pussy willow and  mimosa and filled the center with egg shells.

 photo © Alan & Linda Detrick, all rights reserved.

THE PHILADELPHIA FLOWER SHOW:STILL TIME

 "Brilliant" is the theme, and brilliant is the execution at the Philadelphia Flower Show on until Sunday 3/10 til 6:pm. All things British are celebrated, particularly the gardens.

Lots of glitz and glamour,

not exactly my style, but for simpler folk there's always the Philly Water Department who brings visitors back to earth with their not-so-British all-sunflower exhibit, The Power of Poop, extolling the virtues of recovering waste water for alternative energy.

My favorite garden entry (above) is by Raymond Evison Clematis, a well-known breeder from the UK, showing selections for multi-blooming vines which flower throughout the summer. The display is medium sized, modest in scope, calming yet amazing. Evison forced me to add  clematis to my mental list for purchase this spring, and I'll certainly go to his site to see where I can buy them here.
www.raymondevisonclematis.com.

Before I leave the show I must pay homage to Roberston's Flowers of Chestnut Hill, designers near and dear to my heart for sending me brilliant flower bouquets (as pre-ordered by Ben) every two months during that awful year when he served in Vietnam.(Robertson's display, below)

After wandering the floor, when you're ready to sit, check out one of the free lectures at the show. As luck would have it, on the day I went Ellen Zachos fit right in with the Flower Show theme by giving a brilliant lecture on the topic of her new book,"Backyard Foraging". She signed many books after her talk, but were people really after the book or those yummy cookies with foraged ingredients that she offered with each purchase?

To learn more about what's on at the show for the last few days visit the Pennsylvania Hort. site.

SPECTACULAR ORCHID SHOW, NYBG

Writers, photographers and videographers vied for position at the annual Press Day at the New York Botanical Garden Orchid Show, opening March 2 through April 22, 2013 in the Bronx.

I was in danger of being pushed into the reflecting pool at the entrance but managed to keep my footing.

Designed by Francisca Coelho, V.P. for Glasshouses and exhibitions who has opted for a naturalistic approach, this year's show is particularly pleasing as it meanders through most of the conservatory, combining orchids with other lush tropical flowers and foliage.
The jade vine in the pool room cooperates by bursting into bloom in time for The Orchid Show. And yes, it really is this aqua color, highly unusual in the plant world.

As we walk through the show, finishing touches are still being added by staff on ladders and on their knees.

I'm impressed with the way Ms. Coelho incorporated rare and unusual orchid specimens into the show by binding them to trees downed at the Garden by Hurricane Sandy. Equally impressive are the large, readable signs with commentary about the plants, with extra material available by smart phone. If you want to know how orchids can grow on rocks,

or on trees,

 the answers are right there.

Our guide points out the extremely rare Darwin star orchid, placed well back from the path where itchy fingers might damage it. The relevant sign explains....

At the end of the show, plants that are not part of the permanent collection but were brought in specifically for this display, are donated to about 40 community groups who request them.
For information about tickets, special events, hours, tours, visit the NYBG website.

MANHATTAN ROSE

Walking on E. 81st after the last snow, I stop in my tracks. Can it be? There's a stick-like thing in the compacted soil of a treewell across from Antonucci's Cafe. A close look confirms my diagnosis.

There are the thorns, the greenish colored stems and the sharp cuts that indicate careful pruning. It's a rose bush, under a tree, roots weighted down by stone pavers. Ugh!

Pat Shanley, Founding President of the Manhattan Rose Society, and now V.P. of the American Rose Society goes around the country lecturing about rose growing. She says that her most frequently asked question is where on earth roses grow in Manhattan. I've lent her a few of my images for her talks. Now I have a new one for her.

I go inside Antonucci's and even though it's early, the lone guy setting up responds to my rap on the window. Yes, it's a pink rose that drew lots of attention last spring, planted by the landlord or the restaurant owner, he doesn't know which. I'll be checking out it's progress this year.
Other Places in Manhattan to See Roses

Climbing up a typical brownstone facade...

In a community garden in Chelsea...

 at the Central Park Zoo...

  in the Historic Rose District of Upper Manhattan, a Rosa 'Harison's Yellow'...

 on Park Avenue, with Will Ryman's sculptures in 2011...

up on The High Line, Rosa 'Mutabilis' blooming in summer, later with hips...

on Ann Kugel's 12th floor terrace...

Hanging in the basement of my building where the super Super allows me to dry perfectly in the heat...

and on the rooftop garden which I plant for my building, and where Annabelle and Lucy Platt thought the deliciously scented 'Graham Thomas'  rose was named for their Grammy...

and where 'All the Rage' blooms freely all summer.

LET IT SNOW IN NYC

The latest blizzard forced me to flee Boston, abandon the New England Grows wholesale garden trade show, a Garden Writers meeting and my book-signing demo at the Andover Bookstore. All were cancelled because of this latest force of nature.
On my return to NYC I head out in the fresh snow to check on my own plants and those in a one block radius of my home (all I could manage before the sidewalks were shoveled).

I see my surroundings with fresh eyes.  It had been bitterly cold; above, the coral bark Japanese maple (Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku') had turned, of all things, bright coral, something I wait for all year. Then the snow dust highlighted the color against the brick of my building where I had sited it.

The conifers in my roof garden looked particularly handsome,

while a block away, heavy snow on this yew tried to impede the progress of every passerby. I had never noticed this shrub before, yew being my least favorite evergreen. Now I was forced to pay attention.
And in the always serene garden of All Souls Unitarian Church, the snow highlighted a grouping of three wise men I hadn't seen before.

Leaving the garden, yet another enhanced site, the welcoming arch and gate, propped open even at 7am when I went out to photograph.

 And on my way home, more metal with snow.

VISIONS OF NATURE

Where are we on a frigid Superbowl Sunday?
Need another clue?

Gardening New Yorkers will immediately recognize the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
We're at the Steinhardt Conservatory Gallery for the opening reception of the show "Visions of Nature". It's the annual showcase for adult students and instructors of the popular art classes at the BBG.
After  years of teaching gardening classes there, I led my first art workshop this fall, in conjunction with the publication of my new book, Artful Collage from Found Objects. Two of my students entered works in the show, as did I, their Garden Memories in Collage.

Above, Season Transition by Laura V. Osorio, collage with papers, bark, pressed plant materials.

 Above, Light in the Forest  and detail by Gail R. Levine, collage with papers, bark, cones, pressed plant materials.

Above, Greening the Westside Rooftops by Ellen Spector Platt, photo collage with found papers and netting, mixed media. I'm always trying to add roofgardens to the city, one way or another.

Also much admired was PD Packard's Wild Black Eyed Susan, ink and watercolor on Kozo Paper, from the Chinese brush painting class.

These guys and I admire the photos from Karen Bell's classes in nature photography at the Garden. In fact I'm scheming how I could take one of her classes myself.
For more information and a link to this show, see the article top left of this blog in the BYTE NOW
column.
And if you need another excuse to visit the garden now, the important bonsai collection in the same conservatory building offers this cherry in bloom among the specimens.

Click on any image to enlarge.