Sources of Plants for Brooklyn Gardeners

Posted on 2008-04-29 by admin

Left to right: Gowanus Nursery, Liberty Sunset Garden Center, Chelsea Garden Center, and Brooklyn Terminal Market

Flats and racks of annuals at Whitey Produce, Brooklyn Terminal Market

Just a timely pointer to my post from last year, Sources of Plants for Brooklyn Gardeners, May 24, 2007. Since Blogspot doesn’t give me any means of creating a standing topic page, I continue to keep that post up to date.

Liberty Sunset Garden Center, July 20, 2007
Brooklyn Terminal Market is NOT Closed, June 22, 2007
Chelsea Garden Center, June 16, 2007
Sources of Plants for Brooklyn Gardeners, May 24, 2007
Opening Day at Gowanus, March 31, 2007
A Visit to the Brooklyn Terminal Market, May, 2006

Governor’s Island: What Might Have Been

Posted on 2007-12-31 by admin

Governor’s Island, Detail, 1911 New York Dock Dock Company Lithograph

When we bought our house about three years ago, one of the attractions was “old house romance.” The previous owner believed the house had been in her family since it was built in 1900. I’ve written previously about finding a 1911 lithograph of the New York Dock Company in the basement. Earlier this week, Peter Miller, the new owner of Freebird books in Columbia Waterfront/Red Hook, contacted me by email asking for permission to use one of my photos of it:

Anyone living in the neighborhood, particularly Red Hook, will be familiar with the New York Dock Company’s remnants–hulking gray warehouses that must make Dumbo-drooling Corcoran agents weak in the knees. Seldom however do we get a chance to see a bird’s eye view of their domain, which once sprawled over two and a half miles of waterfront. The lithograph provides a rare peek at the commerce that transpired along the banks of Governors Island and Brooklyn.
– December 28, 2007, Peter Miller, Freebird Books

Miller goes on to write more about the history of Governor’s Island, and how it was nearly lost to infrastructure development.

In 1898 (the year Brooklyn became a borough of New York City), an assemblyman proposed using the island as a center span anchor for a bridge between Red Hook and the Battery. Proof that real estate value has never been far from New York’s beating heart, the assemblyman argued that the bridge “would cause a phenomenal development in South Brooklyn.”

That cheap promise would be reprised forty years later when Robert Moses demanded the very same public works project–but on a far grander scale. Given wide-ranging powers by La Guardia in 1938, Moses tried to reallocate the money meant for a tunnel to build a monumental (in all senses of the word) bridge that would hopscotch across Governors Island.

Today we have this view from Valentino Pier of both Governor’s Island and Downtown Manhattan.

This view was saved, in part, by opposition from community leaders in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, and, in part, by none other than Eleanor Roosevelt:

Moses’s threats and ultimatums cowed city and state officials into submission. All he needed was the federal government’s rubber stamp. But, unforeseen, Eleanor Roosevelt publicly questioned the bridge’s impact: “Isn’t there room for some consideration of the preservation of the few beautiful spots that still remain to us on an overcrowded island?” The bridge’s opponents had infiltrated the White House. FDR allowed the War Department to kill the project and favor a tunnel out of national security concerns (but more likely out of spite).

1911 New York Dock Company Lithograph

Links

Freebird Books, 123 Columbia Street (GMAP), Brooklyn, New York 11231

December 8, Red Hook: Observing the Edge

Posted on 2007-11-30 by admin

This looks interesting:

Brooklynites know better than anyone the havoc that development can wreak on a habitat. So on Saturday, Dec. 8, the Kentler International Drawing Space in Red Hook will host an artist’s talk on “Observing the Edge,” the gallery’s current show, which features works on paper relating to flora and fauna with habitats threatened by progressive development.

… anyone who has seen plants, or any other living creatures, displaced by development will surely want to take notice.
– Cutting ‘Edge’, Daniel Goldberg, The Brooklyn Paper

(Note: The Brooklyn Paper gave the date incorrectly as 12/4.)

Contact

Kentler International Drawing Space
353 Van Brunt Street
Red Hook/Brooklyn, New York 11231
Tel: 718-875-2098
Email: info@kentlergallery.org

Gowanus Nursery under threat

Posted on 2007-09-04 by admin

Updated 22:00 EDT: Added links, maps, and legend.

Gowanus Nursery, as it appeared on their opening day this Spring

I received the following email this afternoon through the Gowanus Nursery mailing list.

On Wednesday August 22, a small group of business owners, employees and clients attended a city planning meeting that was to decide the fate of a few parcels of land located on Summit and Carroll streets.

The likely outcome is that Gowanus Nursery (45 Summit Street) will be forced to move, once again.

Remarkably, this change is a thinly disguised ‘spot zoning’ to allow for a residential development in a grandfathered commercial zone. This action, in the words of Community Board 6, has been the most aggressive use of ULURP (re-zoning) procedures that the current board has ever seen, forcing out active and flourishing businesses to make way for residential development.

Borough President Marty Markowitz’s recommendations suggest that the nursery occupied lot provides property owners the opportunity to lease under-developed land with minimal investment (part true since the only investment came in the form of our own labor and financial funding.) There seems something fundamentally wrong with labeling well-used open ‘green’ space as ‘under-developed’.

On a personal note, I am frustrated not only by the futility of the work we have already logged here, but also by the casual way that zoning change is happening in ‘our’ neighborhood. Last year, you, my customers and colleagues came to offer your services during the first move. Now, I ask for your help to help save this ‘green oasis’ from perishing in the changes affecting all of Brooklyn.

One of the questions asked by the city planning commissioners was “We have heard a lot of testimony about how this is the ‘best’ nursery, could you please give some definite examples to support this statement?” Well, we hope that our garden making has been successful; stimulating ideas and offering advice, suggesting different ways of seeing plants and how they affect our environment directly and indirectly. Of course, something akin to a mission remains: providing to gardeners experience-based knowledge and the broadest selection of perennial plants for Brooklyn gardens.

We hope that you can take the time to email the following parties to let them know in a few words what makes us an important part of the neighborhood and the whole Brooklyn experience.

Council representative – Bill de Blasio, deblasio@council.nyc.ny.us;
City Council Speaker – Christine Quinn, quinn@council.nyc.ny.us;
Land Use Committee Chairperson – Melinda R. Katz, katz@council.nyc.ny.us;
Mayor Michael Bloomberg

The following are some statements to paste into your appeal:

It’s impossible to run a nursery without land.

Businesses such as these provide necessary services to the community, and are the reason we choose Brooklyn.

Please help Gowanus Nursery to remain a Brooklyn institution.

I located a map of the proposed zoning change. This was certified to begin ULURP as far back as May 14th of this year.

The area enclosed by the dotted line is proposed to be rezoned by changing from an M1-1 District to an R6 District. The heavy solid lines indicate where the Zoning District Boundaries would like after the proposed zoning change. To become effective, the proposed changes must be approved first by the City Planning Commission, then the City Council.

Here’s a map, courtesy of OASIS-NYC, that shows the current uses of 45 Summit Street and nearby properties:

Legend:
Legend image 1 & 2 Family Residential
Multi-family Residential (3 or more Residential Units)
Mixed Use (Residential and Commercial)
Commercial
Institutions
Transportation & Parking
Industrial (corresponds to Zoning’s “Manufacturing” designation)
Vacant Lots

Comparing these two maps, it appears that most of the properties along Carroll Street within the proposed zoning change are already in residential use. The proeprties along Summit Street, however, are in industrial use, consistent with their M-1 Zoning designation.

The question of whether or not Gowanus is “the best” nursery is a red herring. This seems like a suspiciously convenient carve-out for someone. Who is going to reap the windfall from eminent domain-style tactics that strip privileges from one group and class of residents to benefit another?

Links:

Liberty Sunset Garden Center

Posted on 2007-07-20 by admin

Liberty Sunset Garden Center, Pier 44, Red Hook, Brooklyn

Last Saturday I got to visit the Liberty Sunset Garden Center for the first time. Come for the selection. Stay for the views.

Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor viewed from Liberty Sunset Garden Center on Pier 41 in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

They have the best selection of plants I’ve found at any nursery in Brooklyn. They have a lot of space, which they’ve put to use by providing greater variety. They had many perennials and annuals I couldn’t identify without looking at their tags, which is saying something. (Woodies, not so much; I’m notoriously bad in their identification.)

The plants – even annuals – were all in good shape, clearly well-tended and cared for. Their prices also seemed generally lower than those at the nearby Chelsea Garden Center and Gowanus Nursery.

This orange Echinacea spoke to me, so I bought it.

A couple more views. More photos available in the Flickr set of my visit.

I walked through the Pier 44 Waterfront Garden on my way to Liberty Sunset.
While I was at Liberty Sunset, the Crown Princess cruised by.

Red Hook Pier 44 Waterfront Garden

Posted on 2007-07-16 by admin

Pier 44 Waterfront Garden, North Entrance, Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Saturday, when Blog Widow and I journeyed to Red Hook, he offered to drop me off at Pier 41 for the Liberty Sunset Garden Center before he went off to the Fairway. I told him I’d get out at Fairway with him, because I wanted to walk through a garden on the way to Pier 41.

I’d only seen this space in late winter, when I visited the Waterfront Museum as part of the Historic District Council’s Red Hook Walking Tour. The garden was closed at that time, but I could see some of its promise. That glimpse really didn’t prepare me for the summer lushness I encountered on Saturday.

Leaving the Fairway parking lot by the North exit brings you to Conover Street. Crossing the street brings you to a gated entrance with several signs for the Waterfront Museum and the Garden, the only hint of what lies beyond.

Continuing through the entrance brings you to a narrow corridor, fenced with chain link, and graced with industrial oil drum planters. We’re not there yet.

Ah, now we’re starting to see something.

Walking to the left brings us alongside this seaside meadow. This is mostly weeds right now, but has the potential to become much more over the years.

I continued walking to the left around the perimeter. The small grove of trees in the center will eventually provide shade for the benches and lounging boulders placed in the center.

Here’s the view in the other direction.

And we’re walking … and looking back whence we came.

Here we’re looking back along the “shortcut” path we could have taken from the entrance instead of walking the long way around the meadow.

Keep walking and look back again.

One of the gardeners was watering. I spoke with her briefly, and saw her again a little later, when she was working at the Liberty Sunset Garden Center. She said the gardens were about four years old. Just coming into maturity. The garden designer had worked on many other public projects, including gardens in Madison Square Park and Bryant Park in Manhattan.

I love big red Hibiscus. I want this.

Bzz. BZZ, BZZZ, BZZZZ!

All good things must come to an end. Ahead is the exit, and Pier 41 awaits us.

Liberty and the Princess in New York Harbor

Posted on 2007-07-15 by admin

The views from Liberty Sunset Garden Center on Pier 41 in Red Hook, Brooklyn are unsurpassed. They also have a huge plant selection, and I’ll have more on that later. But first, a serendipitous observation of the Crown Princess cruise ship leaving New York Harbor for the Caribbean.

As I was assembling my final purchases to check out, this came into view. The photos don’t convey the massiveness of this ship. It seemed to be moving slowly, only because of its size.

It’s at least 15 stories tall. If you look at the largest images, you can see people on the decks. That’s the only reference for conveying the scale.

Links:

Liberty Sunset Garden Center

Posted on 2007-07-14 by admin

Update 2007.07.20: Read about and see photos from my visit.

This afternoon I have an opportunity to visit Liberty Sunset on Pier 41 in Red Hook for the first time. The last time we got to Red Hook, our car started smoking just as we were leaving, so I didn’t get to visit on that trip.

So if this afternoon you see some geeky guy wandering around taking too many photographs, say hello!

Chelsea Garden Center, Red Hook

Posted on 2007-06-16 by admin

Shrubberies, Chelsea Garden Center

Last Saturday I visited the Chelsea Garden Center in Red Hook.

It was part of our day of car errands. While the roof was getting replaced, the driveway was in use as a warehouse and shop; the car stayed in the garage for three weeks. That may have contributed to our car problems later in the day.

I’d built up a shopping list of outdoor tools and supplies to acquire. We visited Lowes first. They did not have plain cedar mulch, only the “decorator” varieties. They also didn’t have any large bags of Holly-Tone. I passed on the smaller bags, thinking I could get a large bag at Chelsea. I regretted this decision later; Chelsea only had the smaller bags as well, and their prices are much higher than Lowes.

Chelsea’s strength is in woody plants. They had a wide variety of choice shrubs, trees and vines. All were in excellent condition. They were also artfully displayed, as you can soon from the photos.

I didn’t buy any woodies. I bought some unusual shade perennials: an unidentified Ligularia, a beautiful silvery Pulmonaria, and a bright white-variegated Liriope. These will go along the shady path on the north side of the house.

I also picked up some annuals. My preference is to go to one of the larger Greenmarkets for annuals. But I wanted to plant our window boxes before the Victorian Flatbush House Tour the next day. I had also hoped to plant the hell strip between the sidewalk and the street with some drought-tolerant annuals. I bought 18 plants for these two projects. Again, pricier than they would have been at a Greenmarket; only one, maybe two, of the six different species I chose would not have been available there.

So overall, Chelsea is certainly a pleasant visit. Staff was helpful, if a bit stressed by the business they were getting; it felt like they were still getting into their weekend groove. Noone was able to identify the species, let alone variety, of the sole specimen of Ligularia I found. If you have an eye for them, they have a few unusual perennials. I didn’t take but a cursory look at their woody stock, but that seems to be a specialty of theirs, just based on the quantity, variety, and staging.

PS: When you see a car stalled in the non-shoulder area of the Prospect Expressway, honking at them does not help. They already know they are stalled in a dangerous location. And trust me, they want to be there even less than you want them there.