Lean & Green

Things To Do

2008-07-03T20:10:00.003-04:00

Move healthy morning glory seedlings to pot with dead tree--so they can climb it.

Divide up young snapdragon plants and use to fill in other planters.

One day: divide campanula & coreopsis.

Trim foliage of nasturtiums.

Reorganize planters, retiring spent plants and showcasing others.

Stage Sweet Pea protest.

Water/Fertilize.

Post photos of client garden on steroids.

Make rustic twig trellis; become millionaire selling rustic twig trellises to wealthy Brooklynites.

--L&G

The Bathroom Series Continues

2008-06-29T21:02:00.003-04:00

Rose, Zinnias, Pinks, Poppies, etc. Like this one.

The "Body Bag" Rose

2008-06-29T20:47:00.003-04:00

This is a new term I learned on I believe, GardenWeb. Of course, invoked derisively. I bought two last year--why? unclear. One died, but that's not surprising as I treated them, uh, poorly. This red climbing rose wasn't having any of it, and has returned, as you can see, quite vigorously. What is it? Wish I knew. I have made a point of saving all plant tags to reference, and I seem to have them all...except the ones I really need. At this point, I'm doing my best to contain this sucker. (To my credit, I did transplant this this spring, ammend with bone meal and fertilizer, and mulch well. Beyond that, I think the conditions--i.e. where it is on the deck--are ideal, kind of by accident. The thing is, I'm going to move it...)

Lean & Green!

Actually Current Photos!

2008-06-29T20:33:00.002-04:00

Just took these, after a hard rain--lots of hard rain going on right now...

Peonies, etc.

2008-06-29T17:57:00.003-04:00

So this is a little late, but whatever. Some shots of the peonies as they were opening. Delightful. Also, another impromptu arrangement for my office featuring some poppies. Lovely flowers, those.

A musing, albeit not a very original one: The thing about gardens and plants is that they do amazing, wonderful things. But so often, they are not the things we try to make them do, lovingly coax them to do, etc. Good stuff is happening in the garden now (pics, as always, to come...) but as usual, the garden has a mind of its own. The planter that was artfully arranged and labored over becomes totally jammed and chaotic; the plant that was supposed to climb and cover something (a trellis, a fence, an obelisk) poops out and is (literally) not up to the challenge; the easy-to-grow seeds are suprisingly not all that easy to grow. (Nevermind the cilantro that insists on flowering EVERY YEAR at the expense of tasty leaves.) It is maddening. Meanwhile, the "body bag" climbing rose, bought at Home Depot on a whim last year, after a bout with aphids, is large and in charge; the orphaned mail-order plants stuffed in a container in a hodge podge are thriving, and the hastily transplanted Bee Balm are just fine. (You know what I don't need? More Bee Balm.)Screed on sweet peas to follow...

Reason #952 To Have A...Oh, you know....

2008-06-16T23:00:00.002-04:00

Bounty from the garden: fresh lilies, et. al...again, in the bathroom...

And Now, A Word From Our Sponsors...

2008-06-16T22:17:00.003-04:00

So, our major client (Nick in Carroll Gardens--we continue to love you!) is really into birds. He really loves the birds. (And why not?) Many feeders, lots of seed, and they do come in droves. Hoping to encourage more feathered friends to stop by his garden, we planted some shrubs and other goodies this season over at his place. (Researching how to do that was actually very enlightening: shelter, food, water is the killer combo.)

Anyway, he inspired us. We thought--"Why don't we have any birdy stuff?" So, thanks to an Amazon gift certificate from Ed and Alaine O'Connor (full disclosure: dad and step-mom) we acquired some lovely birdy accessories: a bird feeder and birdbath. I love them, and the birds have already found their way to these items. (Watching birds is actually very relaxing--who knew? And seeing a bird take a drinky drink from a little birdbath one has set out is actually very rewarding! Who knew, once again.)

For all of YOU who are inspired: for some reason all of the Strathmore brand of garden goods (what I bought) at Amazon are deeply discounted right now--many with free shipping! Cheap but classy, and classic looking! Lean & Green!

Misc. pics

2008-06-16T22:04:00.002-04:00

Some more shots from the Bergen Homestead...

Before the heat, before the storms

2008-06-16T21:50:00.002-04:00

For those of you in the Land of Brook, you know it's been all kinds of crazy in terms of the weather over here. 105 degrees with the humidity, followed by strong winds and heavy downpours. (But still, the heat does not really subside for long after these rains.)

Anyway, I've taken lots of pics, so am not really sure what I'm about to post--perhaps the Iceberg rose I bought at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden sale...perhaps some overview shots with the yellow coreopsis and the campanula starting to bloom...perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

More soon...in the meantime, enjoy. (or really, just look at these pics.)

Reason #853 To Have A Garden

2008-06-04T22:11:00.002-04:00

So, I went to this scrapbooking convention last weekend. (Have I mentioned that I'm a writer and am working on an awesome book about the exploding scrapbooking phenomenon? Probably not. Anyway--publishers--call me!)

So I stayed at this hotel and look at what was in my hotel bathroom. High class.

Kidding! This is my bathroom, adorned with peonies, roses, and sage from my garden. Word up.

The Mysterious Client

2008-06-04T21:52:00.004-04:00

So yeah, someone paid me to garden.

Some shots here for all (two of) you Lean & Green fans...

Hello June

2008-06-04T21:28:00.005-04:00

So, obviously the season is up and running. This is really the honeymoon period, when the spring bloomers are doing their thing, or have just past, and plant friends returning are starting to come into their own. (Before they lose their minds and get crazy in July.)

Anyway, I ordered some plants from Spring Hill Nursery online--seduced by some one cent sale--for my client's garden. Well, the shipping got delayed...and then delayed again. And I tried to cancel the order, but when they got back to me--the order had already shipped! Quel surprise!

So I got this box of random things....pictured here. What the hell was I supposed to do with this?

One plant was DOA, but I planted most of the others, and they are suprisingly...doing well. pics to follow soon...

Continued Growth

2008-05-17T12:10:00.004-04:00

Less than a week later, significant changes are already afoot. The indestructible Niobe clematis is starting to bloom. (it fell over last night, doesn't seem to care...), the Wigela is covered in blossoms, even with its weird leaning habit (I have tried to stake it to be more upright; anyway, the pverall effect is interesting and I can go with it); the whiskey barrel planter with its dianthus and ribbon grass is looking lovely, especially with the purple sage next to it, and the nasturtiums continue to come up from seeds. Also, the (pair?) of clematis that bloomed late last year seemed to really want to go up, so I moved it to where the Niobe was in previous years. BOY did it want to go up: it's climbed the trellis and is now looking for more places to go. Need to train that sucker.

A pic of the Million Bells haul from the BBG sale, along with a couple Zinnias I'm looking forward to integreating into some containers. Meanwhile, we're keeping an eye on the edge of the container that housed Million Bells last year, hoping the seedlings coming up are, in fact, more Million Bells. (They did reseed last year--FREE PLANTS!--so we're optimistic.) A zillion--or perhaps, we should say, "million" small seedings are coming up in various other containers, so we're keeping our fingers crossed on those. reagrdless, they appear to be something good, and not weeds.

The SECOND Triumphant Return of Lean & Green!!!

2008-05-12T21:13:00.004-04:00

OK, so we kind of crapped out last year, even after promising to be better about posting. The good news is that this happened because someone actually paid us to design and install their garden for them. (Nick in Carroll Gardens! We love you!)

Anyway, that took up a lot of our gardening energy and time.(Altho that is not to say that the L&G homestead didn't look lovely. It did, we have photos--you know, a few--but that is in the past! New L&G horizons await in '08!)

The garden is coming back strong this year. A certain coreopsis did not return, and this irritates us. But the peonies, the clematis, the salvia, the bleeding heart, the lillies, the sedum, the wiegela, the veronica and more--even a rose--is in the house.

There appears to be a lot of self seeding action as well, which L&G is into for a variety of reasons: it takes things up a notch in terms of a challenge, plus, we're in a fiscally conservative period. But really, we don't have a lot of room for new plants, as our investments in perennials have really paid off. (Our upstairs neighbor commented that he was envious of our garden, saying he hadn't even started yet, and was surprised to learn everything he was looking at just came back on its own...)

So we're into the idea of seeds this year. We have started a seed/transplant lab, to see what we can actually get, and bought a bunch of seeds from Renee's Seeds, which we also planted in our client's garden. (Sweet Peas--which we covet, but are skeptical of--and some nasturtiums.) We're hoping some of the Million Bells we planted last year are self seeding, which would be fab, but we also spent a good deal of our Brooklyn Botanic Garden Member sale budget on several of these plants, which have taken center stage since we fired petunias. (Our mother recently confessed to buying some at the public market in Rochester. Buyer beware, is all we can say....)

We've said too much, and will post more recent pics soon--things have already changed, of course.

But in closing, I want to send a organic-matter filled shout out to my former fellow gardener Josh, who is toiling the soil at Proviplot in Rhode Island! (link to, uh, come.)

Developing...

2007-05-25T15:21:00.000-04:00

Things continue to take off here, and I have almost gotten everything planted. I'm very pleased with the pot combos so far this year; it will be interesting to see how they grow into their mature states.

As you may have noticed (or not) we still don't have the tent up. Yeah, well, you know what I said about the tent I bought on sale at CVS with my ExtraCare card? Go CVS and all? Cancel that. To call it flimsy would be an overstatement. I cannot imagine that tent suiting ANYONE's needs, but it sure doesn't suit mine. Hello: no internal frame, just two sorry excuses for an arching roof frame. so we out it up, and we took it right down. problem is, we really want the 10x12 dimensions we had last year, and apparently no one wants to make them. all I can find are 10x10 tents, or ones that are a million dollars. But I'm boring myself with this. A goal of the holiday weekend is to solve the tent issue.

Anyway, the plants are loving the weather. some shots from the lovely, uh, 90 degree day.

A brand new car!!!!

2007-05-13T18:08:00.000-04:00

As I have mentioned, we're behind with things this year over at L&G. a.) I am no longer a woman of leisure and actually have to work, and I've been doing a lot of that. b.) after 2 to 3 years, some of the plywood we bought as a foundation was starting to look (and be) pretty jacked. we're talking disintegration. something had to be done, and it involved going to Home Depot and getting more wood.

so we did that...I guess last weekend? having tried to use deck paint to protect the plywood from the elements in (what I thought was) a nice pleasing light green, we discovered it did an ok job of doing so, but not great. plus, the green (celedon, perhaps?) did a great job of showing every speck of dirt that landed on it. and it wasn't so easy to clean. whatever. we made due.

our plan this year was to get even more hard core and try some sort of industrial varnish...we were going for an outside of a boat product, because, hey, boats are always in the water. and we thought something shiny might be more cleaning friendly.

at the Depot, bf jonah inspected wood options as I bought, uh, more plants in the garden center. when we met up, he said, "I've found some very interesting things..." In ye old wood section he led me to a plywood with, I guess what you would call, a grooved finish. it was a risk, but what if it worked? with a stain to make it pretty, plus our varnish, it might look, as jonah said "kinda good." (a shout out must be had for jonah, who let me build this roof deck when I moved out of my old place with a huge garden to live with him here at chez bergen, and has since helped me build this make-shift thing every year. he doesn't even use the deck that much, but he knows I love it and need it to keep me sane.)

ANYWAY, we have been staining and varnishing our new wood, and today, we put three pieces into place--one more to come, when we get more rubber to put down underneath it. and so, this unveiling is like when contestants on The Price is Right learned they had the chance to win an automobile, for some reason, the best thing you can ever win on that show, at least in a one-off, non-showcase showdown scenario...

behold, our new seating area for our deck, which at least right now, makes the floor of our deck way nicer than the floors in our apartment...

ps: lest we forget the Lean angle of this blog--I bought plants and much of the supplies for this with $200 in Home Depot gift cards that I got from my "Chase Leisure Rewards" bank card. (Chase--call me. I'm available for endorsements.)

More....

2007-05-11T13:04:00.000-04:00

Wow

2007-05-11T12:56:00.000-04:00

I have to say, I'm very proud of the columbine. too bad the deck isn't set up so I can sit and enjoy it. We hard hard rain about 6am this morning, but now it is sunny and the plants are digging it. Below, some early planting up efforts, the nemesia, the revived clematis, and the trooper clematis (the dark purple one.) and, more evidence of firing regular petunias.

ps: my mother assures me she will water this year because of her automatic sprinkler sysatem. now nice for her.

Progress

2007-05-09T08:48:00.000-04:00

A few quick shots of happy plants. still working on orientation issue....

Rockin' and Rollin'

2007-05-08T21:14:00.000-04:00

A lot is happening over here. Consulting this blog, I can see by that at this time last year we had set up our tent. Not so this year. Whatever--I've been busy. But I have acquired the tent, from CVS, getting a $10 price break using my ExtraCare Card. Go CVS. As a side note, I'm noticing the cheapo tents this year are not so cheapo, and that the 10x12 rectangular form are harder to find than the 10x10, which I now reject for our space. But CVS carries rectangles, so I am pleased.

In other news, went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden members only preview plant sale last week. As always, a freakout, and at one point the lines to pay were so insane I wanted to blow my brains out. Additionally, while I was inching my way to the register, one of my boxes of plants toppled over...kind of traumatic, but all seemed fine.

As I think all gardeners do every year, I tried to plan to make some decisions to improve things, my choices, and behavior. (My mother said to me the other night on the phone "This year, I'm really going to water and fertilize" and I reminded her she says that every year.) For me, it's about making "healthy" plant choices (as in, accepting that I would really like regular petunias to work, but the truth is they get infested with slugs, poop out too early, and aren't worth the money or trouble.)

ERGO, I fired them, and am going full force with million bells and the like, which look great, perform great, and don't really need deadheading. This is one of my new rules.

Which leads me into my BBG plant acquisition. As I have more perennials, I always think I will buy less plants, and to some extent I do, but I also just freaked out. The list, with pics to follow, as well some updates on the progress of plants already here.

What I bought:

purple fountain grass
magillas, vanilla and the perilla, the purple one
million bells in red, pink, white, purple, orange (I told you)
the black elepant ear things
small campanula
mimulus in orange
ribbon grass in pink, green and white
buttercup (?) coreopsis
nemesia--excited about this for some reason

more, that I can't remember, but inspect photos if you wish.

The Triumphant Return of Lean & Green!

2007-04-21T18:40:00.000-04:00

Yes, we're back. After the near-flood a week or so ago, it is now 70+ degrees and sunny here in Brooklyn. Lean & Green took the opportunity to brush off the leaves and winter residue from the inventory, take stock, and generally see how things are doing.

Bulbs planted last fall showing some kind of life--I planted about 15 daffodils, 15 tulips and 8 hyacinth. As you'll see, some tulips are coming up, and there are signs of some daffodils. Hyacinth...not sure.

The tale of two clemati, which kicked off this blog last season with a bang, has a new twist. For one, there's another clematis in the house, which is coming back, but it's unclear if it's doing so in the "right way" to bloom. We'll see. The clematis that bloomed magenta flowers last year is rocking and rolling, and I believe there are already buds on it. The truly exciting news is that the oldest clematis, which did not bloom last year, and only grew from the bottom up, is sprouting on upper vines, which I take as a very good sign and I am anticipating blooms. Can you feel the excitement? I can.

In other news, there are lots of signs of life from perennials and other hardy types. Among those showing strong early growth are:

lilac (didn't bloom last year, cut back in fall, now, tons of buds, more than ever. yay.)
campanula
veronica
columbine
various dianthis
peonies--including new one bought last year
sedum
sage
lillies
strawberries
pansies
coreopsis (I think that's what it is)
two indestructible variegated groundcoverey things
bleeding heart
yarrow...? no that's not it. can't remember name....

anyway, some shots. welcome back...all two of you...

(you'll see that I'm a little rusty on the blogging and can't figure out how to flip my images to make them vertical...working on it...)

Veronica...

2006-07-27T20:32:00.000-04:00

You know, I just realized I haven't given much play to the Veronica, which is performing like a trooper this season:

Thumbnail Madness

2006-07-27T20:18:00.000-04:00

Little Goodness.

More Dogs Days

2006-07-27T19:52:00.000-04:00

More pics...

Dog Days Update

2006-07-27T19:03:00.000-04:00

So, things have come and gone. Some things have been moved around. And a few new things have been planted. Oh, and some things have grown! Plus, we got a sweet deal on Craigslist: a big glass table (now in place), a couple small plastic tables, 4 chairs and a Pelligrino umbrella that has seen better days. (This last item not in pics.) All for $30. Had been comtemplating a new glass table as our plastic one was getting increasingly hard to clean and was small--hard for entertaining and game night. (Geek out!)

Had a BBQ on Sunday, and it was grand success. Weather cleared up just in time and the garden performed beautifully.

Inside the "tent"

2006-06-13T20:06:00.000-04:00

We Have Achieved Lilly

2006-06-12T15:26:00.000-04:00

The lillies have started to bloom. Huzzah.

The Back Wall

2006-06-10T21:50:00.000-04:00

Have been working on the back wall. put up the hanging baskets and did a few more plantings. trying to bring some color, while avoiding making it crazy and conflicting.

Lean & Green: The Free Edition

2006-06-10T20:24:00.000-04:00

Because I'm a big giant garden geek, sometimes I sit around on the deck and revel in all the plants I got "for free." i.e., plants I bought a season, or several seasons ago, that return, and often do better than the year before. (God bless perennials.)

It is not unusual for me to count them. I never tire of this exercise; always extremely satisfying. (This is not counting the many fab containers I got at Odd Job--RIP Odd Job, we miss you--which I obsessively researched online to see how much of a bargain I was getting. Again, always extremely satisfying to go to Lowe's or Home Depot and see similar, or the same containers for mind-blowing prices. ps: Closeout Connection on Court Street near Borough Hall has many contianers and gardening stuf for cheap right now.

When I moved out of my apartment where I was graced with a GIANT garden, I went back and took plants out of the earth, because they were mine, and they contained my history, as well as a sentimental moss-covered brick. . (I left the bulbs, as a gift to the next residents.) It was my first real garden. I loved it.

Anyway, in a recurring feature, I present some of the plants I've gotten for "free."

The Long View

2006-06-10T20:17:00.000-04:00

Some overview shots...

Hi. I Killed it.

2006-06-10T18:48:00.000-04:00

OK, maybe not killed, but this is a case where the photos reveal negative progress. The Purple Bells vine is growing, sending out some bells and whatnot, but clearly, it's not loving life. Perhaps not sunny enough. The rest of the basket seems to be faring well. Let's go to the videotape:

Up Close & Personal

2006-06-10T18:36:00.000-04:00

More In Progress Photos

2006-06-09T12:05:00.000-04:00

Already, things are getting a bit, um, unruly. In a good way, but still, pruning is becoming all the more important.

Bounty from the Garden

2006-06-08T20:27:00.000-04:00

First of all, this rain has to stop. Ix-nay on the Ain-ray. It's good for the garden, but COME ON! All the moisture leads to fungus and slugs, and just bad times overall. I once took a class at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and I was really looking forward to knowing where the hell slugs came from. Especially on a roof garden two stories up! I mean, what do they slither up the side of the building? The woman teaching looked at me when I asked and said "From hell. They come from hell." Great. Thanks. So much for that. Internet research provided little enlightenment, at which point I became extremely fascinated with slugs. I mean, I guess their eggs (?) are in the soil already or something. I am already beginnning to find them this year. and yes, I know about beer and trapping them.

anyway...went out to the garden to get some flowers for the living room. My results.

Mystery Plant Update

2006-06-08T13:34:00.000-04:00

A kind and knowledgable reader over at GardenWeb has revealed the identity of the mystery plant:

"Paulownia tomentosa. A very fast growing tree with lovely purple flowers."

Further research shows that it's known for growing in all sorts of inhospitable places, like cracks in gas staiton pavement, etc. Was source of packing material in China--the hulls of the seeds, or something--prior to synthetic replacements. Traditionally planted when a baby girl was born, and used to make gifts when she was married. Also, according to legend the only tree a phoenix will land on, which signifies the era of a great leader or something. (I could be remembering that incorrectly. All of that, as a matter of fact.)

The upshot is this thing IS growing really fast, and I am torn as to whether or not I should yank it. It's starting to encroach on the Clemtatis...but then again, I supposed it's keeping the Clematis' "feet" cool, as they're supposed to like. The current state of the mystery plant:

The Magic of Before and After: In Gardens and in Blogs

2006-06-07T21:24:00.000-04:00

And here we have one of the reasons I created this: to actually see the progress that can go unnoticed in the garden.

A sample, that I was amazed to see myself. Mission accomplished. (Yo, plants are amazing. Give it up for plants!)

More potting up

2006-05-11T21:34:00.000-04:00

We purchased a new tent, set it up, and I have begun potting up. More on details later, but here are the
results, as well as some in progress photos....

Flora and Fauna

2006-05-03T20:51:00.000-04:00

My doggie Cuomo likes to come out and hang out on the deck when I'm working...or really just when anything is going on. He particularly enjoys the sticks he finds on the roof, which he then proceeds to chew quite enthusiastically. Cuomo is constantly adjusting his body temperature by moving around the deck--basking in the sun, getting too hot, finding the shade (of anything: a tree, a table, etc) and then moving to the sun again. And so, I present Cuomo in the wild:

BBG Plant Sale Spoils

2006-05-03T20:31:00.000-04:00

So, as promised, I attended the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Plant Sale last night--member's only preview at that.

And as expected, it was a complete and total freakout. Carts of plants falling over, nowhere to move, people lunging at plants, the works. People are crazy, me included. I made it out alive and without breaking the bank--spent about half what I have in previous years, having made the decision to spend on perennials to maximize my return investment, as well as on some quality annuals. The grasses I can buy at Lowe's or Home Depot.

Seeing all these people buy all these plants, or even TREES, made me think of the little Edens they have squirelled away behind their brownstones...and made me crumble with envy. Whatever.

So, the list includes, but is not limited to:

Magilla Perilla Vanilla--had a Magilla a couple seasons ago and it got huge, loved it. High hopes for this.
Similar Coleus variety, apparently gets to 3'. We'll see.
Some Cosmos--hoping they'll self-seed
A Columbine...I think
Some million bells petunias. love these.
A clover like thing with black accents, low-growing
A bright green low-growing thing with white flowers
A small hanging plant that the BBG woman had never seen. Purple Bells. High hopes for this if I can keep it watered.
Lewisia--saw this at the farmer's market. Perennial that has vaguely succulent looking foliage. Pink blooms.
A couple Confetti Lantana, because I love this plant and always have them. Magical. But they do smell.
A couple Phlox. Saw these in the neighborhood and wondered why I didn't have them. Pink and candy stripe. Fun.

The booty:

Um...whoops.

2006-05-03T17:25:00.000-04:00

So, we have our answer regarding the Rite-Aid $20 tent. Submitting for evidence, this photo, taken earlier this week at about 8am. We were awoken by the sound of the bricks weighing down the tent sliding across the deck, and apparently, the whole friggin' thing flipping over to the roof of the building next to ours. Whoops indeed. The good news is our anchoring system prevented it from taking off. Experiment complete.

The Tale of the Two Clematis

2006-04-30T20:34:00.000-04:00

So, we have two Clemati--one, that's three years old, grew year one, no blooms, thrived year two, many blooms...year three (this year)....vines, no leaves on them, BUT new growth from the base, that I at this point am thrilled to see, as I thought it was just dead.

Second plant, at least two years old--I admit to having ignored it and can't recall when I got it--bascially, all I can remember is that it was hanging out somewhere on the deck and I think it produced a couple blooms last year. THIS year, it is rockin' and rolling, sprouting from old wood, producing new shoots, and about to burst with blooms, I believe. It is positioned by a trellis that I hope it will overtake. Have a pot positioned with Morning Glory seeds nearby just in case not. Let's go to the videotape (Note aforementioned Mystery Plant to the right of the thriving Clematis. My mother, a master gardener, thinks this is a Foxglove, which I have had in my garden, but not in this pot. I am discouraged, as when I went to the bank in downtown Brooklyn, I thought I spied the Mystery Plant growing out of a crevice in the pavement. Boo. Sorry Mom.) :

More Photos of Deck First Phase

2006-04-30T20:24:00.000-04:00

Deck in Place

2006-04-30T19:29:00.000-04:00

So we've set up the deck, at least in some preliminary fashion. Went for the $30 canopy that was on sale for $20 at Rite Aid. It's, um, lightweight. We'll see how it does. (It is anchored down.)

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden plant sale is Tuesday, so I will attend the freakout and I'm sure come back with things I never intended on buying. It's always so overwhelming and I go into sort of a trance. After that, I plan to head to Lowe's to get some cheap annuals and maybe some impulse-buy perennials, as well as tomatoes and herbs. Although I do plan on buying some herbs at the farmer's market at Borough Hall, from the wizened old plant man who I love and think rocks. (And have never spoken to other than when buying plants.) Anyway, at Lowe's they had a bargain rack last year of kind of busted up plants that were way cheap and in some cases, capable of rehabilitation. Score.

Filed under experimentation: bought some elepant ears bulbs (is that what they are?) at Lowe's (ok, I went to preview the goods a couple weeks ago). Hoping I can have some huge glorious, tropical action. Planted one today, with some Morning Glory seeds I harvested from last year's vines. Together, we will track the progress.

Please Help Identify Mystery Plant

2006-04-25T16:46:00.000-04:00

So I have this plant growing in a pot with a Clematis. No idea what it is. Looks like it might actually be something..but does not look familiar to me. It has sort of fuzzy leaves. Anyone?

First Photos

2006-04-25T16:10:00.000-04:00

In the Beginning

2006-04-25T15:55:00.000-04:00

Ok, so we haven't set up our deck yet, but many plants are starting to shoot up. Among them: Clematis (although the Pink Anemone Clematis has not started leafing out; I fear it is cooked as far as flowers), the strawberries, pansies, lilies, Bleeding Heart, Hosta, Burning Bush, salvia, peonies, roses, Lilac bush/tree and couple things I can't remember the names of.) This is where we're at.

Welcome to Lean & Green!

2006-04-25T15:44:00.001-04:00

Hello, and Welcome to Lean & Green.

I'm a rooftop gardener in Brownstone Brooklyn. My plan is to document the progress and literal growth of my garden in the '06 season. For myself, and any others who'd like to stop by. Hopefully there will be many successes, and there will probably be a few failures. (But this is how we learn, no?) To the garden!