I scattered a bunch of crimson clover seed a while ago as a nitrogen-fixing ground cover, but I wasn’t quite prepared for how pretty the flowers are.
Crimson Clover
Author: Matthew
Compost Top-Dressing
My thanks to the Columbus-Amsterdam BID for providing more than thirty pounds of compost produced by Big Reuse as part of GrowNYC’s community composting program.
This rich organic material will be scattered in a light layer over the surface of the soil in tree beds and sidewalk planters here on 106th Street to provide a slow but steady trickle of nutrients to the trees and flowering plants that protect and brighten our neighborhood.
Over the last decade, I’ve received more than three thousand pounds of compost from the Big Reuse composting facility under the Queensborough Bridge to be applied to sidewalk treebeds all over our neighborhood — which is why I’m incredibly disappointed to learn that the NYC government is killing it off with a one-two punch: eliminating all funds for community-composting programs from the city budget, and revoking the license for the under-bridge space so that it can be converted to a parking lot.
I hope that those short-sighted policies are reversed, or that our city finds another way to fill the gap that will be left by this tragic loss.
Allium Starbursts
The giant alliums have put up their starbursts of flowers in our sidewalk treebeds — mostly purple, plus this one even-larger white specimen. These bulbs were planted a few years ago and seem quite happy to come back every spring.
A Gardener’s Portrait
My thanks to NY Times photographer Jeenah Moon for sharing this lovely picture she took of me in front of the azaleas on our sidewalk.
With all of the chaos surrounding us, it’s nice to have this little oasis of calm to pass through every day.
Paper Wasps
There are a handful of these paper wasps visiting the garden this week; they’re hunting through the leaf litter for insects to massacre and bring back to the hive, where they will be shared with the queen and brood.
These tiny carnivores will help keep other insects from multiplying out of control, and both will in turn provide food for birds. It’s part of the natural cycle, so I’m happy to have it playing out here on our sidewalk.
Scaffolding Extension
I spent more than an hour last week, rearranging all of the planters on our sidewalk, dragging them back and forth to create a pleasing arrangement for the season ahead — then looked out my window the next morning and discovered that the facade-repair project next door was extending their scaffolding twenty feet further to cover part of our building, blocking the sunlight to that end of the garden.
And they say the scaffolding will likely remain in place for a full year!
I’ve now managed shift most of the planters down the block, but still need to tackle the espaliered tree that has its branches woven inextricably into the iron fence… moving it will require cutting off a significant number of branches, but if I leave it in place, it will probably die due to lack of light.
It’s very frustrating.
Pollinator-Friendly Seeds
Thanks to our neighbor Anne who donated a pint of seeds harvested in her own garden last season from pollinator-friendly flowering plants: yarrow, coreopsis, echinacea, joe pye weed, black eyed susan, and sage.
These have been scattered into planters and tree beds throughout the garden and I expect to see some of them later this summer, with others remaining dormant and cropping up in subsequent years.
Thanks again, Anne!
Violets in Bloom
Our violets are not shrinking — in fact, they’ve fully established themselves in one corner of our sidewalk treebeds and come back in full force every year — although admittedly you do have to slow down and look in order to notice their blooms.
Daffodils on Broadway
The daffodils I planted in the giant barrel on the corner of 105th Street have made a small but decent showing this spring.
After cleaning out some litter, I spent a few minutes digging in a couple dozen sunflower seeds in the open spaces in hopes of having another big display later in the summer.
Spring Bulbs in Bloom
With our weather pattern shifting from daytime high temperatures in the 40s a few weeks ago to now 50s and even 60s, the perennials in our sidewalk garden have woken up and kicked into gear. The crocuses were the first to bloom, followed a week or so later by the daffodils and now hyacinths.
