My Life In Brooklyn

Progress photo from my back yard garden, yesterday.

Yes, insanely wild this year! As evidence, view these two images.

The image above this text is an arch/trellis we have in the back yard.  What you see here is the top, the plants have somehow managed to extend the height of the arch itself by a couple of feet.  This is really only two – or possibly three – plants.  The second image is that of the “pee tree” in the front yard.  We planted morning glories there in the hope of not only adding some interest to the tree pit, but also as a deterrant for potential tree-climbers and other tree-pit abusers.  The plants have to be 15 feet tall at this point, the photo was shot looking up into the tree.  Both photos by Llewellyn.

Nice little slide show of my garden spanning April through August.

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/polychrome/sets/72157594248432339/

Click on “View as slide show” for full effect.

The first year I started to working with my back-yard garden and the front-yard containers it was an experiment.  I wanted green and beauty and life around me and each of those were indeed the results of what was really a little effort and some money.  And care of course.

After a year of gardening, the unexpected happened also: my discovery that nurturing plants through weeding, watering, feeding provided food for my soul too — a sense of serenity and well-being.  Now my garden is a haven of (usually) quiet: a place to read or meditate, or sit with Llewellyn to speak about our respective days.  Sometimes coffee and newspapers in the morning, othertimes watching the sun set and seeing the lightening bugs flash around us.  For me there is a sense of continuity being in the garden.  It takes me to many childhood days — whenthe honeysuckle blooms the fragrance reminds me of my grandmother’s house in Holyoke. And so on.

That is why this morning when I looked at my front yard containers and saw one missing it broke my heart.  This was the container of Rudbeckia, nutured from seed I love their fuzzy foliage and the brilliant blooms were just beginning.  But, someone stole the entire container, which was large (20″ pot, 3′ high with plants) and quite heavy — my guess is premeditated with a car.  I went inside and had a good cry, called Llewellyn, had another good cry, walked around the neighborhood streets in case it was a stupid thief (no luck) then returned home and moved everything else into the back yard.

Thanks for ripping out my soul, asshole. I hope you rot in hell.

This is the Latin name for the Sweet Potato Vine, a plant gracing most all Brooklyn streets these days.  The gorgeous foliage adds color and the lengthy vines (some of mine are 6 feet long at this point) add a sense of life and vitality to the garden — as if they really want to be there.  They definitely show the strength of botanic life in a brick and concrete world.

Last year I saved the tubers the bright lime green plants produced and was able, after a slight struggle, to get them growing again this spring. However, at one point in this growing season, thinking the tubers were never going to sprout again, I also ordered 6 plants of three varieties from Park Seed (”Blackie”, a deep purple; a pink/maroon color and the typical chartreuse green).   I am hoping there will be many tubers to harvest in order to avoid a similar purchase in 2007.

These plants have been growing at an amazing rate, managing to actually deal very well with the horrible heat wave of last week.   I have one empty container remaining and was thinking of rooting some cuttings to see how much they would grow between now and the end of the season.  These plants propagate so easily: snip off a vine, bury it and keep it watered – usually within a week you will see new growth.

And so I was eyeing the front yard container of Ipomoea for the purpose of acquiring some cuttings for the empty container and was very surprised to see the “blackie” variety in bloom.  Okay, it is only one blossom thus far, tucked into the foliage cascading over the stairs. Having a container filled with similarly colored impatiens next to this plant, I nearly overlooked it.  I will keep watch for more flowers and hopefully seed pods will form.

Purdue states “flowers rare, especially in United States, like common morning glory, white or pale violet, axillary, funnel-shaped, borne singly or in cymes on short peduncles; pods round; seeds 1–4 per pod…”

As a novice gardener I can’t state whether flowering is actually rare, however my Ipomoea batatas have never blossomed before and it is kind of cool to see this in my own front yard!  Looking at the flower, you can see the similarity to the flowers of Ipomoea’s cousin, the Morning Glory.

Thunbergia alata Sunrise Surprise, or Black-Eyed Susan Vine is fast becoming my favorite plant this season.  This is an annual, at least in this zone, and was described by Park seed as a sun-loving prolific bloomer and climber.  I need sun/heat hardy plants in the front yard and decided to test this one in a container.

A packet of ten seeds cost $2.50 from Park – I sowed them all in two large containers.  Of the ten seeds, about half germinated and are now growing profusely, four of the plants are in a container in the front yard, climbing on the iron fence, one plant is in the back yard using the chain link fence for support. 

The foliage is interesting, the leaves have an unusual stem.  I need to research it a little, I don’t think I have seen this particular morphology before.  Today the first blossom appeared.

Looking forward to seeing the “big bounty of rosy color” Park claims will appear as it continues to grow and blossom. As of this moment, this plant will be on the list for next season. Photo by Llewellyn.