My eyes were first drawn to a large trumpet vine - and then to a cavern of shade and green. The day was humid, hot and too bright for not having sunglasses.
This garden looks like a combination of many hands, many years and many plants. It does not seem to be a city sponsored plot, just an area taken over by local gardeners, maybe from the adjoining bulding. I was surprised to find the gate unlocked and decided to have a look around...
As strangers ran by, many scowling in the heat, this space stopped to greet me. Judging from the care labels from plants long gone, there has been a long procession of plant donations to this plot. The space feels alive, a happy home (or orphanage) to terracota and tin vessels. It is a homegrown effort, complete with postings on the chainlink fence about flower poetry from Donald Hall and congratulations on a child's batting average in little league.
This garden space was the most refreshing respite from the mid-day heat and humidity. For all of this it easily gets this week's Flowerbox Award.
- Matt N.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
matt, lovely as usual. that close up of the trumpet vine is gorgeous. i loved the pot filled with plant labels as well. it's always distracting when gardeners put the labels right next to each plant. like here's the picture and here's the plant. i keep all my labels in a large envelope and refer to them if i need to. let the plants speak for themselves i say.
I really enjoyed the slideshow. So beautiful...I think I must find a way to have a garden inside my apartment. (It's my husband, myself and our baby boy living in a 550 square foot apt. with no balcony) Any suggestions would be great for a way to create some type of garden. Again, thanks for sharing this beautiful garden.
There are no real city-sponsored gardens... all of the community gardens started as neighbors wanting to grow things and just doing it.
A few gardens on city property (open lots where the city demolished buildings seized typically for non payment of taxes) have been "preserved" as gardens, but that only means they city will not sell off the property to developers (as Guliani did in the east village).