I'M DECLARING SPRING

The glum view from my office window this a.m. is anything but springy. But on my sill, Giant Zinnia seeds, planted 4 days ago, are sprouting in their 36 cell Burpee Greenhouse Kit. Next to the greenhouse, for comparison, a recycled salad container, covered with plastic wrap containing chive seeds.(above, greenhouse top removed for photo)
Burpee is sponsoring Ellen and my class in seed-starting on 3/28 and I wanted to try their system as I'm more frequently using something like this...which works fine but I must punch drainage holes in the bottom and steal a tray from my toaster-oven to catch the runoff. Also I need fresh seed starting soil-less mix and last Sunday when I wanted to plant, my only bag of mix was behind the frozen doors of my rooftop shed. I actually recycled some used mix I had in the apartment for the chives (BAD GIRL!), because I'm lazy and the Jets were playing the Steelers in the AFC final.

I've never used anything as complete as the Burpee Greenhouse Kit with the bottom watering try, seed tray, germination cover, plant marker and growing cubes (which are compressed round pellets until reconstituted with water). I was a little skeptical about the need, but I was ecstatic to have it ready to go with everything complete, instead of running around the city gathering supplies, and I'm thrilled with the speed of germination.

Below, Burpee's lavender, Lavandula 'Lavender Lady' grown from seed at my flower & herb farm. I learned that even when my seedlings don't look like the picture books, they'll catch up and be successful.

SUSTAINABLE ROSE GROWING

The scoop on growing roses sustainably in a new book of essays written by international rose experts, edited by Pat Shanley, Peter Kukielski and Gene Wearing from Newbury Books, a division of Casemate Pub. U.K. $34.95

Although an unschooled gardener myself, I've contributed "Memoirs of a Condo Rose Grower and Composter" to the book. above, 'All the Rage' blooming on my rooftop with drip irrigation

Always looking for the New York connection for Garden Bytes readers, of particular interest are pieces by Kukielski and Karl McKoy, curators of roses at the NYBG and Queens Botanic Garden respectively, and Stephen Scanniello, former curator of roses at the BBG, now President of the Heritage Rose Foundation. Other local gardeners Pat Shanley and Marjorie Marcallino have written pieces as well, but the book's crucial message of sustanablitiy applies to us wether the expert is from India or California.

John Starnes a rose hybridizer from Florida, contributed "Probiotic Rose Growing" and offers a recipe for Poop Soup for roses. A necessary ingredient is a gallon of fresh horse poop. My immediate thought is that since I no longer have my farm, this ingredient will be impossible to obtain in Manhattan; second thought crowding in on the first is an image of me shovel in hand, on Central Park South & Fifth Ave. where the horse carriages await their fares. Can I add horse pooper- scooper to my current title of trash scavenger?

This book of individual essays would be improved a thousandfold if there were an Index at the end.

Growing with Garden Bytes!

(photo by B. B. Platt)

Save the date(s)!

For the first time Ellen Spector Platt & Ellen Zachos are offering gardening classes in Manhattan. Between us we've written 13 books, hundreds of articles, and taught more than 50 certificate classes in gardening and floral design at both the NYBG and BBG. Join us for a line-up of hands-on workshops where you're guaranteed personal attention and a finished project to take home, not to mention groovy gardening goody bags.

Classes are centrally located at 22 E 30th Street (between Madison & Fifth) at the New York Open Center, convenient to the N, R, W, & 6 trains. Class size is limited and students will be accommodated on a first come, first serve basis. Enrollment closes one week before class.

The early bird gets the discount! Students who enroll for all 3 classes by 2/28/11 receive a 20% discount: only $120 marked down from $150. Students enrolling for all three classes between 2/28/11 & 3/28/11 get 10% off. There are no discounts for individual classes.

Et voila les details:

Monday, 3/28/11 (6 - 8 pm)

Get a jump on Spring by starting seeds at home. Learn how to plant and nurture your seedlings as you experiment with germination, thinning, hardening off, and transplanting. Students plant 2 trays in class: a 36 cell Burpee Greenhouse Kit w/multiple seed types, and a recycled container w/Ball pelletized salad seed. Students also take home 5 packets of seed to plant on their own. ($39)

Tuesday 4/12/11 (6 - 8pm)

Herb gardens don't need much space: a small window box (indoors or out) can provide kitchen herbs for the avid cook, and nothing beats the freshness of home grown. Students plant a window box with herb plants and seeds suitable for a sunny spot. ($47)

Monday 5/2/11 (6 - 8 pm)

The danger of frost is past and it's time to decorate your terrace, balcony, stoop, or porch. Students plant lined hanging baskets with annuals from the Southern Living Plant Collection to create a lush, flowering basket of beauty. We'll also review professional tips and tricks for maintaining hanging baskets (fertilizer, irrigation, grooming) all season long. ($54)

You may send a check payable to Acme Plant Stuff to POB 622, Milford, PA 18337; please include your contact information: telephone AND email. If you prefer paying via Paypal, email Ellen Zachos at acmeplant@gmail.com. Tell us how many classes you're enrolling for and we'll send you a Paypal Request with the correct amount. (Paypal charges a small fee which we must, regrettably, pass along to you.)

Please note: the above photographs are examples of the KINDS of things we'll be doing, not exact replicas! E.g., we may not be using nasturtiums in our hanging baskets, but we WILL be planting a basket from all sides. Questions? For more information, please call Ellen Spector Platt at 212-861-3913, or email her at esp@ellenspectorplatt.com. We hope we'll see you soon.

Edible Manhattan

So I'm standing on line at Grace's Marketplace, waiting to pay for my halloumi when a familiar image catches my eye.


We made the cover!

Back in October, Marie Viljoen (of 66 Square Feet Gardening fame) wrote an article about my wine making for The Alcohol Issue of Edible Manhattan. I'm thrilled and grateful to Marie for her interest and skill. And to think, we met through the blogosphere.

I'm told the magazine will be on line soon, but since I am pathetically impatient, I'm posting it below. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do this, and if it turns out I'm not, I'll take it down pronto. (Hopefully links to the article will be live by then!) To make the pages legible, double click, then move your cursor over the text and click again.


You can subscribe to Edible Manhattan here, or request a free issue. And it's available, free, at lots of high end grocery stores and food joints across Manhattan (Kitchen Arts & Letters, Eli's, Grace's Marketplace, to name a few).

P.S. (1/12/11) The mag is now online; to read the article, click here.

YOU'RE INVITED

The images in this post are of my own work. All include recycled or re-purposed objects, some found on the streets of NY; many include plant materials. Click on any image to enlarge.

Above: "Water Towers NYC" by Ellen Spector Platt, digital images, painted and pasted paper, pressed Japanese maple and yarrow leaves, glue. The view from my living room window;in this collage I'm greening the rooftops.
Above: "Westside in Autumn" by Ellen Spector Platt, cut digital images, torn paper, mesh bag, pressed leaves. Here I'm greening the rooftops of the west side in autumn.

Above: "Building Bridges", cut digital images, torn paper, watercolor paints, gold pen.
Above: "Design/Build"cut blueprints, torn paper, acrylic paints, wood coffee stir sticks, parts from a wine box. The landscape here is made of found,torn green papers.

Above: "The Crown Jewels", from the streets of New York City, locust pods, acorn caps, and fir cones; also magnolia leaves, sorghum pieces, paper fasteners, legal seals, newspaper, gold and copper paint, glue. Above: "Grandma Roses", pressed roses and rose leaves, old fabric, old botanical and advertisement, on bamboo paper, paper, paint, glue. Above: "Temple of the Gods", found birch bark, Japanese maple twigs from my garden, cardboard wrapping from egg carton delivered by Fresh Direct, wooden yard-stick give-away, embroidered leaves, paper, paint, glue.Above: Night on the Town, cut digital images, paper, paint, glue, found metal and fabric.
Above:"Grandma's Sewing Box", old buttons, thread, bobbins and other findings, ribbon, name tapes all from my mother's sewing box; papers from a late 19th C. fashion newspaper; cotton boll I grew on a NYC rooftop in a container. Above, "Waterlilies", handpainted paper, cut photos, gold foil, gold wire, brass tacks, piece of file folder.
Above: "Black & White & Red All Over", cut and painted recycled papers, coffee filter, sanding disc, paper doily.
Above: "Historic Deco District", cut digital images, cut recycled paper, Florida beach sand.
Above: "Still Life in Black and White": cut and torn recycled papers, cancelled postage stamps, pressed home-grown elephant ear leaves and flowers of Montauk daisy.

yes, yes, it's a lot of snow

But really people, it's December, it's the northeast, it's not like it's a TOTAL surprise!

I walked through the Park to get to work today. Outdoor gardens may be sleeping but indoor plants still need care.

I saw kids sliding down hills, pedi-cabs slipping and sliding, and pedestrians refusing to relinquish the road. Some sidewalks weren't shoveled and many were treacherous; I, too, stuck to the streets. Still, I know Manhattan is lucky compared to our sister boroughs.

I'm pretty sure there's a motorcycle under there.


Eight months out of the year I curse the expense of the parking garage. Not today.


I'd like to say this is a mouse or a vole, but let's face it, it's probably a young rat. A hungry young rat whose food is covered with snow.


Pretty picture to take your mind off the rat.


Here's wishing everyone speedy melting, easy digging out from under, and Happy New Year!

FROM ONE, MANY

My first boyfriend, age 10, went with me to empty lots to help me cut 'free' flowers to bring home. I loved him.
Last week when the SunflowerGuy.com offered me a free bouquet of my choice in exchange for a review, I jumped. I've grown about 20 varieties of sunflowers from seed; used them for seed snacks, for drying, for cut arrangements and in the garden. Can you tell I love them?

SunflowerGuy says that through their parent company Dos Gringos, they are the largest grower of ornamental sunflowers in the world; I'm the smallest, so it's a match.
The overnight flower delivery from SunflowerGuy came on the date requested, in an ingenious shipping box that included a simple, tasteful container and the stems wrapped in rubber bands to keep the bouquet intact. See above.I followed all of the instructions for removing and discarding the wet flower foam that kept flowers healthy during shipping, cutting the bottom of the stems, adding the cut flower food. I smiled even without the instructions at the cleverness of the packaging and the cheery sunflowers within. Then I spied the red-painted seeded eucalyptus. The online catalog had said nothing about painted flowers. ugh! It was probably because the red pepperberry was still green and some designer thought the red element was necessary. Not for me.
One Makes Four
While many people, if not most, love an arrangement that is complete, fun for me is doing my own. In fact most florist designed arrangements have enough flowers & foliage for 4-6 arrangements, so I always divide them up and scatter them around the apartment, even the bathroom.
Having fresh flowers wherever I turn is a wondrous thing. When you scroll to the bottom of the post you'll see how I handled the dreaded painted eucalyptus.The five sunflowers went in a collection of glass vases made from recycled soda bottles, one or two stems to a vase. How easy is that? The good looking container that came with the arrangement will not languish but will become part of my varied collection of useful vases.The St. John's wart and a tiny bit of pepper berry went in two small bud vases on a bathroom shelf.These three stems lean gracefully in a contemporary vase in the living room. They look like they'll last well beyond the guaranteed 8 days.In the tree wells in front on my building (this one where the dead tree was chopped down) I lay fresh greens, with additional prunings from the roof garden, including some stems of aronia berries, dried sorghum seed heads and the red painted eucalyptus that even I have to admit doesn't look half bad there. I hope The Sunflowerguy approves.
As I write this post I'm on my seventh day and all flowers are still in excellent condition. If you need an overnight flower delivery, especially for sunflowers I think you'll be well satisfied.