Monday, September 10, 2007

History of the Garden
(I posted this as a comment but now am posting it as a post. I think. We are all just learning how to do this)

Wow, this is fantastic! Well, there is a lot to say about the garden this summer. Where to begin?! One important development is the new iron fence, which is very beautiful, has a large center gate, and entices passerbys to feast their eyes on our haven of resplendent beauty. No more barbed wire!!

Dave and Joann did a heroic job of removing the large vine that was growing on the old fence. We (mostly Lisa!) then did a lot of work on the area along the new fence line. We worked peat & compost into the soil and then Lisa dug up a bunch of lirope plants from her garden, which we schlepped over and planted just inside the new fence. They love this shady area and are absolutely thriving! Thank you, Lisa!!

Lisa, Alba and I took a trip to Shannon Nursery, where Lisa purchased two rudbekia plants (black-eyed Susans) and a euonymous, and also a rhododenron (this might have been two separate Shannon sojourns, I don't quite recall). And Alba purchased a lovely clematis. The rhododenron and clematis are just inside the fence as you go down the steps. The rudebekia and euonymous are interspersed with the re-planted hostas in the area along 6th Ave.

Finally, we planted some bright impatiens in the corners (pink in the south and red in the north), and planted about 10 caladium ("elephant ears") that we were grateful to receive from our friends at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Fabulous! Some critters have been chomping on the caladium, but about half of them are still intact and they look lovely.

That's it for the moment, but stay tuned for more. Ellen, thank you for setting this up! This is going to be a wonderful communication tool for us. Now we have to figure out how to get Lisa's photos in!!

2 comments:

Ellen Kirby said...

A great review of the progress in summer of 2007. The fence is incredible. All the hard work of so many people is really impressive and the garden looks very colorful and vibrant. Ellen

Nancy C. said...

Thank you, Ellen. This is but one chapter on "summer 2007". I will wrote more, and also hope that Beverly, Zoe, Susan J. and others will find time to write about the sections of the garden that they oversee.

Resources (Books and such) List

  • Community Gardening Guidebook, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, www.bbg.org
  • The End of Nature by Bill McKibben