reviving the garden

its finally warm enough to take my indoor-wintering plants outside again. they made the move this weekend...right in time for a windy rainstorm. but they seem to have survived! all the dead grass and leaves also got cleared over a productive afternoon. here's a quick look at the progress so far:

those lovely pink and orange ranunculus (ranunculi?) are actually newcomers this season. the spring colors make me instantly happier. the rubber plant was sheltered from the freeze in our guest room and looks happy to be back outside. the leaves of the climbing hydrangea come back each year without fail, but i'm keeping my fingers crossed for blooms this year.  

no idea what this lush thing is, but it looked tropical so it went indoors too. it's grown some since the fall too! i've returned it to its shady spot on the table right outside the door. 

these grasses are coming right back! I'm soo pleased.  

the ones next to it aren't doing as well though. I've been anxiously examining it daily for new shoots.  

the cherry tree always looks so good in the spring and early summer, only to succumb to mildew in august. hope i can avoid it this year!

I loove these mini "blooms"...the stonecrop turns purple later on but they are a nice green now. so glad to see they survived this year's crazy temps. 

willa lounges in a sun patch while i work... 

what else should I plant this year? I need to put in my herbs soon...i'm thinking rosemary, thyme, parsley, and basil. the mint is of course coming back by itself (weed that it is) and so have the garlic chives (super excited about that since i didn't expect it). I also picked up a little pot of oregano at the farmer's market. man do I love spring. 

grass!

i don't like lawns. maybe there has been too much written about the uselessness, wastefulness, and general horror that is lawn-ness for me to ignore. perhaps i was persuaded by this 2008 new yorker article, which laments that "the essential trouble with the american lawn is its estrangement from place: it is not a response to the landscape so much as an idea imposed upon it—all green, all the time, everywhere." or possibly: lawns epitomize the suburbs, which i enjoy visiting (such an exotic way of life!) but where i don't intend on ever putting down roots.

it might be weird to say, then, that i love grass. i recently acquired a carpet of astroturf, inspired by some i saw at the nyc home design show, and had also been eyeing the wild, colorful, feathery grasses that are so plentiful on the highline. so yes to fake grass and yes to ornamental grasses, but no to boring, over-fertilized expanses of sameness. 

they are green now but will develop flower plumes and turn white and pink.

after doing some research online, i deduced that the grasses i was drawn to are varieties of feather reed grass. these are non-invasive, clumping grasses with a lot of height and can thrive in full sun. they are also perennial in new york city, which is key since i don't want to buy the same plants over and over each year.

sedum cauticola 'lidakense'

in addition to the grasses, i got some lovely purple-y green sedum, another maple (it's tiny!), and dwarf japanese knotweed. sadly, the yard is currently a demo zone, so these plants have been living in their quart-pots since they arrived. it's not ideal, but they seem to be doing okay (although there is some yellow). 

the baby maple.

the dwarf japanese knotweed will have clusters of pink flowers in the summer. 

here's to keeping them alive!