Holiday Garden Calendar of Events

Garden Calendar of Events in around Gotham:

Horticultural Society of New York - HSNY

Wednesday, December 8

New York City Gardens

A talk with Betsy Pinover Schiff

Leave the pavement behind and enjoy thirty of New York's most outstanding gardens including luxurious roof gardens and private courtyard oases in this illustrated presentation by photographer Betsy Pinover Schiff. Her new book, written with Veronika Hofer, features gardens designed by noted landscape architects (Hideo Sasaki, Ken Smith and Halstead Wells) and some very talented home owners. Sam Roberts of The New York Times writes: "Readers get rare, lush glimpses" of city gardens in this "ambrosial paean to public and private spaces." A book signing will follow.

Doors open at 6pm; Talk starts promptly at 6:30

Hort Members $10; Non-members $20

REGISTER ONLINE or call (212) 757-0915 x100

Thursday, December 9

Contemporary Heirlooms

Art from the Hudson Valley Seed Library

On view December 9 – 23, 2010

Opening Reception

Thursday, December 9, from 6:30 to 8:00pm

Free and open to the public.

Reception sponsored by Tuthilltown Spirits.

The exhibition showcases for the first time in New York City original artworks commissioned by the Hudson Valley Seed Library for their unique Art Pack seed collection. Each season, the Seed Library looks for a diverse range of artists to interpret the herbs, flowers and vegetables from their catalog for the designs of their seed packets. The focus this year was on the heirloom varieties currently available through the Seed Library. All sixteen artworks from the 2011 collection will be on view. Drawing from a range of different styles, materials, and experience, Contemporary Heirlooms includes works in a variety of mediums, including collage, encaustics, oil, ink, watercolor and digital art by a diverse selection of artists. The diversity of the artwork and artists chosen is meant to reflect the genetic and cultural diversity of the varieties offered by the Seed Library.

Preview Party & Exhibition Walkthrough

Join us for an intimate reception with local hors d'oeuvres from Katchkie Farm and Great Performances and drinks from Hudson Real American Whiskeys.

A talk and guided tour of the exhibition will be led by Ken Greene, co-founder of the Hudson Valley Seed Library.

Thursday, December 9th, 5:00 to 6:30pm

Hort and Seed Library members $10;

Non-members $20 online, $25 at door

Purchase tickets online or call 212-757-0915 x121

Thursday, December 16

A Tribute to Mark Lewis

The Natural History of the Chicken and

Cane Toads: An Unnatural History

Unlike many other producers of nature films, Mark Lewis makes films that do not attempt to document the animals in question or their behaviors, but rather the complex relationships between people, society and the animals they interact with. We have chosen two such films that both endear and edify us to the human/animal condition. Join us for a double feature screening of The Natural History of the Chicken and Cane Toads: An Unnatural History.

The Natural History of the Chicken

The humble chicken finally gets the big-screen tribute it so richly deserves in this documentary, which offers an inside look at America's $40 billion a year poultry industry, while also casting a gently humorous eye on domesticated chickens and the people who care for them.

Cane Toads: An Unnatural History

Cane toads - Bufo marinus, natives of central America - were imported by the sack-load to Australia in 1935 in an attempt to rid the country of the Greyback beetle, which was rapidly destroying the sugarcane crop. The cane toads adapted beautifully to their new surroundings. Problem was, the beetle could fly and the cane toad couldn't. What the cane toad is unusually proficient at, however, is making more cane toads - thousands upon thousands more. Cane Toads: An Unnatural History tells the story of this amphibious assault - warts and all. Join us for the screening of this cult classic.

Doors open at 6pm; Film starts promptly at 6:30

Holiday Special: FREE admission

RSVP to gpisegna@hsny.org

Wave Hill Garden

Gather your loved ones and celebrate the season at Wave hill! Drop by this weekend to create your own gifts and holiday decorations inspired by the gardens and galleries at Wave Hill. Children eight and older welcome with an adult. Registration not required. First come, first served while supplies last. 11AM—3PM

Amaryllis Gift Pot
Pot up a bulb in a terracotta pot, cover it with a saucer and decorate the "kit" for a beautiful, unique and environmentally friendly gift. $15 Member/$20 Non-member per project.

Natural Wreaths and Swags
Create one-of-a-kind holiday decorations using fresh greens harvested from Wave Hill's extensive gardens. Each participant designs a verdant wreath or swag accented with natural materials and elegant accessories. $25 Member/$30 Non-member per project.

Felted Soaps 
Artist Teresa Berger guides you through the process of creating a felted bar of soap. Roll up your sleeves and practice the art of felting—bonding and shrinking the fibers using water, heat and agitation. $9 Member/$12 Non-member per project.

Nature in the Garden: Discovery Walks

SUNDAYS, DECEMBER 12, 26, JANUARY 9, 23, FEBRUARY 13, 27   

Explore Wave Hill’s woodlands and gardens and discover the world of insects, trees,

birds and their fascinating habitats on these naturalist-led walks, offered jointly by

Wave Hill and NYC Audubon. Ideal for ages five and up and their curious adult companions. Light rain, snow or shine, so dress for the weather!

Free for Wave Hill

Members/$5 Non-members. Free for NYC Audubon Members

with two-for-one admission to the grounds. Registration recommended, at

www.wavehill.org, by calling 718.549.3200 x305 or at the Perkins Visitor Center

when you next visit.  Severe weather cancels. Call 718.549.3200 x245 by 8AM, day of,

for weather-related updates. 9:30–11:30AM

Horticulture Lecture Series

Wednesday, January 19, John A. Gwynne, a Harvard-trained landscape architect with a long career at the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Mikel Folcarelli, a sculptor with a fine arts degree from Rhode Island School of Design and now global head of visual identity for Façonnable,trace the stages in developing their own garden in coastal Rhode Island, beginning with fiendish plant collecting, then designing the space and learning to better grow plants there and now starting to develop a wild meadow garden with native flora.

Wednesday, February 23, Potter Frances Palmer discusses her work, her process and how botanical interests influence the classic, one-of-a-kind vases and bowls that she hand-throws for a wide array of clients, each piece a perfect vessel for the myriad dahlias and other flowers lovingly grown in the spectacular, organic cutting garden adjacent to her sunny, windowed studio.

Wednesday, March 16, Margaret Roach, until three years ago EVP/Editorial Director of Martha Stewart, settled upstate, fulfilling a craving for solitude, a daily connection to nature and her first passion, the weekend garden she’d nurtured for 20 years. Her blog AWay to Garden.com has been called the best garden blog by The New York Times.

Order online or call. This is a great series!  http://tiny.cc/u0xw5

Full a full December Wave Hill calendar: http://tiny.cc/hukdq

Longwood Gardens

The holidays shine like never before. Imagine half a million brilliant lights strung with over 39 miles of cord.

Lit trees the soar 75 feet, dancing fountains that reach the sky:

Throughout the Christmas season, beginning November 25, dancing fountain shows are set to holiday music once every hour from 10:00 am–4:00 pm. From 5:00–9:00 pm, shows run frequently, with 2-5 minute delay between each show (weather permitting). The shows illuminate the night with vibrant colors and a glittering backdrop of snowflakes. 

And a 4.5-acre heated indoor Conservatory, featuring a giant Art Nouveau tapestry made from pink poinsettias and ferns, and the richest floral displays imaginable.

A Longwood Christmas is a celebration months in the making—with hundreds of amaryllis, cyclamen, narcissus and literally thousands of poinsettias.

And if all the must-sees aren't enough, there is plenty of must-hears, too—with special performances throughout the holidays.

Holiday music performances every day.

http://www.longwoodgardens.org/2010HolidayPerformances.html

Horticultural highlights this season: 
General Indoor Highlights 

Amaryllis

Begonias

Calla-lily (Zantedeschia)

Coleus (Solenostemon)

Cyclamen coum (Cyclamencoum)

Euphorbias

Heaths (Erica)

Heathers (Calluna)

Lilies

Narcissus

Orchids

Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima)

Primroses (Primula)

Red Stem Dogwoods (Cornus stolonifera)

Roses

Winterberry Hollies (Ilex verticillata)

General Outdoor Highlights 

Topiaries

Conifers

The New York Botanical Garden

The Train Show, The Train Show, The Train Show! 

Not to be missed! This traditional display is as much a part of the New York Holidays as the tree in Rockefeller Center.  Plus every year there are new, incredible New York building icons to astonish!

Conservatory Exhibition

Saturday, November 20, 2010, through Sunday, January 9, 2011

The Holiday Train Show in The New York Botanical Garden’s Victorian-style Conservatory beckons visitors to enter a magical world under glass brimming with history and enchantment. Experience the wonder of large-gauge model trains and trolleys wending their way past more than 100 replicas of New

York landmarks, including the original Penn Station and Yankee Stadium, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, and Radio City Music Hall—all created from plant materials such as bark, moss, twigs, berries, and pine cones. Debuting in the 19th edition of this favorite family outing is a re-creation of Eero Saarinen’s icon of modern design, the Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight Center at JFK International Airport.

Everett Children’s Adventure Garden Program

Gingerbread Adventures

Saturday, November 20, 2010, through Sunday, January 9, 2011

Vibrant vignettes of a gingerbread town deck the halls of the Discovery Center, where children smell, touch, taste, and view under a microscope the spices and other plant ingredients that go into a classic gingerbread recipe. A gingerbread jazz band, ice skaters, and a farmer are among the colorful characters providing a festive atmosphere as participants also plant up wheat seeds, develop field research notebooks, and decorate their own gingersnap cookies in the Gingerbread Adventures program. The entire family can enjoy the display of elaborate gingerbread creations by renowned bakers: Lauri DiTunno, Cake Alchemy, Manhattan; Irina Brandler, Sugar and Spice Bake Shop, the Bronx; Kay Hansen, Riviera Bakehouse, Ardsley; Patti Paige, Baked Ideas, Manhattan, Kate Sullivan, Lovin Sullivan Cakes, Manhattan; and Mark Tasker, Balthazar Bakery, Manhattan.

Puppet Show

The Little Engine That Could™ Puppet Show (©Penguin Group USA)

Tuesday–Thursday, November 30–December 3, and December 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 11:30 a.m.

Daily, December 27–31 at 1, 2, and 3 p.m.

The Arthur and Janet Ross Lecture Hall is the site for this whimsical production of the classic tale, presented by New York City’s puppet master Ralph Lee. Trains and fun go hand-in-hand as the story comes to life through old-fashioned steam engine puppets, each with its own eccentric personality.

For more information on dates and times, please visit http://www.nybg.org/hts/

 

Ongoing

Have you ever wanted to talk to the Garden's staff and learn more about the Garden's plants or collections? Now you can by listening to the Garden's audio tours, which cover a breadth of subjects from horticulture to garden history. Learn more about the research scientists are doing at the Garden, find out what's in bloom, and leave your comments for Garden staff. 

There are over 100 stops to choose from; enjoy them at your own pace and in any order. The tour can also be accessed by phone by calling 718.362.9561.

The New School

President's Forum:

An Evening with Bill Shore, Founder of Share Our Strength

Tuesday, December 7, 6:00 p.m.
Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, 55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor
Admission: Free, but RSVP required.

New School President Bob Kerrey engages in a one-on-one discussion with Bill Shore, founder and executive director of Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit working to end childhood hunger in the United States. The forum features Shore's most recent book, The Imaginations of Unreasonable Men, which profiles a group of scientists' effort to develop a malaria vaccine despite tremendous odds. Their persistence and hope reveal the entrepreneurial strategies and qualities of character required to solve problems affecting people so voiceless, vulnerable, and economically marginalized that the solutions themselves have no market.

Holiday Decor That Won't Make You See Red!

Save some "green" on your holiday budget and make your home, office or apartment a bit more garden-like by doing it yourself (DIY)
Most of our holiday traditions grew out of or stem from (love the garden puns!) an environmental need or solution.
For example, pre-winter pruning helps the shrubs or trees.
It makes them happy.
Bringing in the armloads of cut holly or red-twigged dogwood or box or andromeda will fill your rooms with joy. It will make you happy.
It will look beautiful matched with your vases, candles, and bows.
And it will save you money - which is especially important this year when everyone is making their list and checking it  -- not twice but maybe like 12 times...

I've always relied on mother nature to decorate for the winter and Christmas Holidays.  (see last year's holiday decorating post: http://tiny.cc/9bio4)

There is so much beauty all around if we just dream - and use our imaginations.

Of course Martha Stewart can always be counted on to tickle our creative juices.
And my friend Stephen Orr is now the Garden Editor for Martha Stewart Living Magazine (yeah!) and blogs too, so don't miss Stephen's magical writing.

as can my friend Suzy Bales.  Especially inspiring is her latest book, "Garden Bouquets and Beyond: Creating Wreaths, Garlands, and More in Every Garden Season."















Every year I take my poinsettias outside to the garden and then bring them back inside to the garden room just before Thanksgiving.  They soon turned their brilliant red.
I attended Spanish school in Cuernavaca, Mexico some years ago.
I promise I was paying attention ^:^ but at the same time, I couldn't help be seduced by the enchanting poinsettia plants that dotted the surrounding hills like brooches on a festive outfit.

I since learned somewhere along my horticultural studies that this most definitive of holiday plants was named for our first ambassador to Mexico: Joel Robert Poinsett - who first brought the plants to the United States.

Celebrate the poinsettia's very own national holiday, December 12th!
The idea behind this act of Congress (bipartisan support, I hope!) is to give someone a poinsettia plant.

If the thought of giving this ubiquitous plant or the now similarly seen everywhere paperwhites makes you break out in a rash, then think about decorating with cut evergreens, birch, berries, steed hollies, herbs, and conifer cones.
I did.

If you are in town and can't walk out the door to borrow from Mother Nature, head to the Greenmarket and/or the corner bodega.
Green pin cushion cut flowers, eucalyptus, or hypericum berries are all good choices to decorate with. I also used  with water resistant LED lights I order from http://www.acolyte.com


I used silver serving pieces filled with steed holly to accent the Advent wreath.
Then I took small cut twigs to fill a ball that nestles into two garden urn candleholders. (The greens replace the candle.)

 

For one of my most favorite garden aficionado, Maria, I used small conifers, wrapped with "icicle" garland and silver balls for the urns and finished with an icy blue and white and silver bow.
The coolly elegant colors highlight Maria's love of all things white in her garden.

Full view with myrtle topiaries in iron planters line with burlap - a great juxtaposition of design elements.  I placed a few gold balls and green-glitter pine cones in the planters too.

I did red holly and red ribbons and balls for another container garden.  Photos to follow.

At my place, I kept the tuteur in the front of the Garden State house and cut holly leaves to fill the planter.

I wrapped sparkly white lights on the mini boxwood in its planter.
I added pine cones and cut birch to a red planter, white twigs and red holly to the corner planter.

And the piece de resistance - is the whimsical, evergreen-filled skate I hung from the front door.
I did this for the Gotham apartment door too.

Both door decorations have garnered unsolicited and most welcome feedback.
It's so nice to make people happy!

The skate was a very old pair that belonged to my husband.  He hasn't skated since the last ice age (ha!) so when I spotted them earlier this year when tidying up the garage I made a mental note that I could do something with them.

So have some fun.  Save some money.  Bring nature inside.  Enjoy the beauty of the season.

Green Roof Garden Design

Green Rooftop Garden

I belong to the Landscape Design Alumni group through the affiliation with The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG).

The most recent meeting featured Barbara Geller, Gardens by Barbara, LLC, www.and a member of the group, who provided a top-notch presentation about the creation of a green roof at her country house in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. 

It ‘s a beauty.

I knew it was going to be a good lecture when Barbara started off by saying she had a “story” about Green Roofs. 

I respect and relate to a garden designer who emotes this way.  

I can feel their artistic soul.

I tell my garden design clients and lecture audiences, that every great garden tells a story. 

So no tutorial from Barbara, but rather, a story.  A compelling garden story.  The challenges and the triumphs. 

Barbara has told this story on several previous occasions. 

You immediately sense she is knowledgeable and passionate about this subject. 

Maybe it was from her previous job as an IT director at Deutsche Bank or just maybe it is her devotion to the subject and self-described attention to details.  

Or a combination of these elements.

Whatever the motivation, the presentation benefited from her professional research and documentation. 

She also brought samples of the green roof construction materials.

And provided informational handouts,  complete with resources that she secured from an NYBG symposium on Green Roofs, plant lists, roofing materials and growing medium – and costs.  And reference books: “Green Roof Plants – A Resource and Planting Guide” by Edmund C. Snodgrass, Lucie L. Snodgrass from Timber Press.

It was all very impressive.

And so is the green garden roof she produced. She and her architect, Jane Wilson, who are now friends, hails from Ford3 Architects, LLC, won an award for its sustainable design.
The garden has been a feature stop on local garden tours.

She began her story -- at the beginning! 

She started by defining what a green roof is. 

It is not a painted “green color” roof as one of her construction managers first guessed she wanted!

Green roofs are insulation. They improve the aesthetics of the environment. 

She pointed out that most people don’t think of the flooding that occurs in towns and cities when it rains because of the storm water run off and impermeable surfaces.

And of course, the green roofs sporting their plant profile much as a fancy hat shows off its saucy, sexy accoutrements.

Green roofs also reduce the Heat Island effect by 15-20 degrees.  The Green roof reduces cooling needs by 25% and in winter cuts heating loss.

Barbara showed amazing infrared photos that showed the difference in temperature

From the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to hospitals and corporate green roofs, and the preponderance of successful green roof design in Europe, particularly Germany where 10% of residences sport green roofs according to Barbara.  

She demonstrated it’s good business and good aesthetics to produce more green roofs. They are a major solution for a sustainable future.

She had me at Green.

Barbara told us she wanted to be able to look out her home office window and enjoy looking at the green roof garden.

She wanted the shape to mimic the undulating landscape.

She wanted to be able to see the green roof garden as she walks up to the house from the garage.

She told us how she searched to identify an architect who would even take on the project.

If green roof designs are all still new now, imagine the challenge of locating a pro who could it in 2008! 

She showed us the design and construction stages of the addition to the their once-upon-a-barn home. 

I love all that indigenous Pennsylvania stone that supports the walls and homes -- so gorgeous.  

And that stone is Barbara’s home and the addition where the green roof is the jewel in the crown.
The builder bought a local retaining wall, took it down and reassembled on site in order to match the existing stone. 

She walked us through the procedure of constructing the curved glulam beams: stronger than wood. These beams provided just the right pitch for the design too.

She suggested every vertical inch of green roof growing medium requires six pounds of square foot structural support.

"You will need a structural engineer," Barbara advised more than once. 

There are many elements that go into a smart green roof and Barbara had done it all: separation fabric, mesh layer, rubber layer, plywood, plastic anti-slip cleats to “hold” and stabilize the 4-6 inch layer of growing medium.

The cleats were secured from a German resource.

A green roof needs to be watertight. No holes from nails. 

The roof must be able to withstand the weight of the plants and snow - in our area. 

She had samples of everything for us to see firsthand.

She passed around a sample of the growing medium that we could touch.  It was selected specifically for the shade tolerant plants on her green roof.

It is gravel that is 25% compost and 75% expanded mineral aggregate or shale.

It’s expensive at $110 per cubic yard.  It is lightweight.

The way the growing medium is produced is fascinating.  It is put in a kiln to create cracks and fissures so the compost will “settle in” there. 

A typical green roof uses about 5% compost, she commented. 

She said she knew she needed more organic matter, as the plants she was using in the design were not the typical sedums that need less organics. 

Her green roof is what is referred to as “Semi Intensive.” 

See?  Every artistic genre has its own nomenclature.

The “Intensity” here refers to the depth of the soil.

How to get up to the roof, you ask? 

Initially, she had the builder provide her with a scaffold. 

(Curiously, she admitted she doesn’t like heights ^:^)

Later, and with obvious pride, she was beaming as she showed the spiral staircase she found on eBay for $500. 

Nice

The plants she chose for the green roof garden are a combination of native and tried plants from her garden cuttings that would provide a full, four-season display of color and bloom.
The plants needed to have fibrous roots. She used a lot bulbs.

She only has 2-4 hours of sunlight on the roof so that was a consideration too.

She was able to produce a “naturalized design.”

The plant palette included ajuga, phlox stolonifera or creeping phlox, geranium macrorrhizum or bigroot cransebill and yes, some sedum.

Almost all the green roof designs I’ve seen include sedum exclusively. 

It was refreshing and inspiring to see Barbara’s bold foray toward using a mix of seasonal plants – and using them to great success.

She is a leader in residential green roof design. Her home was a test. 

She passed with flying colors.

Her design is elegant.  The plants and the green roof complement the native landscape.

Contact her for your design. 

Green roof gardens are so glamorous.  (Just don’t tell them they are efficient too)

Another Green Roof source guide, according to Thomas Powell's "The Avant Gardener" is Green Roofs for Healthy Cities www.greenroofs.org  and at 416-971-4494.

Our finished cornucopia centerpiece by Nancy Burton from @int... on Twitpic

Our finished cornucopia centerpiece by Nancy Burton from @int... on Twitpic