The Beds. . .

. . .bereft of all their colorful flowers from spring and summer. . .

. . .are being put
       to bed
           for winter.









So, until next spring. . . 

Nighty, night. . .

In the Heart of Midtown...

. . .a different kind of pulse.

GuestPeek: Butterfly Garden

My friend Karen and her daughter, Kalena created a butterfly garden in their back yard!

Karen is a Librarian (woo hoo!) at Riverview Branch Library in Florida and she'd hosted a Master Gardener program on butterfly gardens at her branch a couple of months ago. She thought it sounded like an easy gardening project for non-gardeners as well as being good for the environment, so decided to gave it a try!
 

Why is this exciting?

Due to destruction of their native habitats or the plants they eat, butterfly populations are decreasing or even going extinct. The creation of a butterfly garden represents an intentional act to try and create or restore habitats favorable to their life cycle and survival. 

Since butterflies also happen to be flower and plant pollinators, they are an essential part of the food cycle. Environments that attract butterflies also tend to attract other types of insect pollinators. 

Basically, if WE want to keep eating,
we need the pollinators!

As you can see, Karen and Kalena already have a few visitors!

Hat tip to Karen and Kalena for taking on this project, and thanks so much for sharing, with us here at Permie Peeks! If you live down in that area, and want to learn more about the Master Garden Extension programs, click here.

Flowers in Fall

GuestPeek: Fresh From the Balcony!

My friend Jennifer and her boyfriend, grow edibles on their balcony.  I'd been asking her to send pix for while and she finally did!

Pictured here are lettuce and kale.

Thanks Jennifer!

GuestPeek: Neighborly Gardening

A brief but unexpected break between posts at the Empathic Writer blog (authored by Erik Harris) prompted some concern on the part of her listeners/readers. In response, Erika was quick to assure us that all was well. Not to worry!

With the arrival of the warmer weather she had turned some of her attention to a few outdoor projects, one being several vegetable and herb beds she and her neighbors had planted in a shared residential yard.

 



Engagement with nature and one's neighbors in the real world, is a wonderful excuse for taking a break from the virtual one!

Erika, thanks so much for sharing these shots of your shared
gardening space with us here at Permie Peeks!

Path to Paradise

The future site. . .

. . .of my Indoor Edible Garden Paradise. . . !

. . .bringing a little bit of the outdoors inside. . .

Stay tuned!

Bird's Eye View

RePeeks:* Paved Paradise

 

The whimsical little curbside garden is gone! (see The Curb Repurposed)




Although seemingly enduring, circumstance can often be quite fleeting.

Here one moment, gone the next. 

In some cases this is part of a natural cycle. . .


. . .In others, it can be an abrupt or unexpected change.

Whatever the case, enjoy your encounters with delight and whimsy, however long or brief!

*The "RePeeks" series, will occasionally revisit former Peeks that have disappeared or changed in some way.

Beantown Serenity

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few days at a conference in Boston.

Respite. .  .

Amidst the Prudential Center's complex comprising of 3.2 million sf of office, retail, hotels and a ginormous convention center, was this wonderful little open air park and garden. Read more about it here.

click image to enlarge

In NYC, during a comparable weekday, a delightful place such as this would have been filled to the brim with people, but in Boston (at least while I was there), incredibly, it was almost always empty.  Go figure!

. . .Habitat

It combined both straight edges along with curvy, rounded ones. . .and had two fountains (nice Feng Shui!), one in the shape of a spiral!

But what I found really exciting were the

         beautiful plantings

                           gently sloping grass area

                                                           winding gravel pathway

                                                                                      slate pavers

. . . Permeable Paradise!

Down in Front

One of my neighbors is nice enough to take the time to plant flowers in the front of our building. 

They're just a couple of small planters. . .

 

. . .on either side of the entrance,



but I still enjoy them and that he makes this effort. 

Green on the Go

This weekend I volunteered at the New New York DIY Block Party.

One of the vendors there was the Biobus. That would be interesting enough, but what really caught my eye was a little patch of green on the roof at the back of the Biobus.

It's called Bus Roots and was conceived of by Marco Antonio Castro Cosio. His idea is to create a fleet of mobile green roofs on the tops of city buses!  Read more about it at here).

Sounds like fun to me!

Subversive Blossoms

Sometimes a solution cleverly disguises itself
as a problem or adversity.

Some may view these plants tucked away behind bars with dismay, but I choose to look at it another way . . .

. . .as an unequivocal statement on the part of the residents

 on this block to include beauty and nature on their street. . .

One. Way. Or. The. Other.

YOU GO!

GuestPeek: Along the Edge

My friend Okolo sent me these images.

Where edges meet something wonderful happens. . .

. . .It really just depends on how you look at it.

Thanks Okolo! :-)

The Curb Repurposed

When I saw this little garden tucked away here, it just tickled me.

Need I say any more?!