Last Minute Gift Ideas

It's the night before the night before Christmas. Still stumped and in need a little gift guidance? Help a fan of Mad Men channel his inner Don Draper with a trayful of martinis. The tray itself is incorporates contemporary design and metallic foils with centuries-old Vietnamese lacquer techniques. Sorry -- gin and olives not included.


When you just need a little something. These charming glass bulbs come nestled in a padded box (like two gifts in one!). Chinese character on one side, English on the other. Who couldn't use a little peace and love?

So the warmth of a Russian sable is out of the question this year. This gorgeous lacquerware bowl radiates warmth. And besides, a sable makes a lousy salad bowl.


Give a little light and a fragrance so enticing it was a FIFI finalist this year for home collections. Le Cherche Midi candles combine cotton wicks, all natural essential oils and the highest quality hand poured wax. The boxes, made from recycled wood, are silk lined, perfect for storing little treasures and trinkets.

Look for us in Chic in Paris

We're delighted to be among the three florists in Susan Tabak's Chic in Paris blog. Check out Get Festive with Florals. Besides gorgeous arrangements, we've been busy making kissing balls and garlands, decorating wreaths, potting up delightful orchids and helping customers pick out fabulous gifts. We should note that Susan was erroneously promoted to owner; Kevin Esteban is still the owner and Susan remains the jack-of-of-all trades. Or is that jill?

Birch Bark Birds

These handmade birds just flew in from the West Coast today, trading sunny climes for the first snow showers of the season here in New York. Six different species, each charmingly unlike anything we've seen in Central Park.

Deck the Walls

There's no end to what one can do with a simple circle of greenery.

Dried hydrangea and beautiful ribbon.

A sumptuous covering of rose hips and pepperberries

Traditional pine cones enlivened with magnolia leaves, leucadendron, juniper berries and more.

Twists of steel grass and sparkly, icicle garlands.

Multiple shades and textures of green: hydrangea, magnolia, seeded eucalyptus and cedar.

We're Dreaming of a White & Peaceful Christmas

Sometimes you want "holly jolly" Christmas flowers. Sometimes you want something more in the line of "heavenly peace." The gorgeous white ranunculus we've been getting seem to be asking for a calm, serene, gracious treatment. Here's we've paired them with the magical green puff balls called "Green Trick." They're seriously cool and no one ever guesses they're part of the much maligned carnation family.

A Two Tree Year

Fraser firs are a fabulous choice if you're looking for a short needle tree that'll hold on to its needles. We decorated ours with vintage ornaments and live poinsettia plants. The tree has a lightness and levity we're especially enjoying during this grey, rainy weather. In the back of the store our flocked tree is back for its third annual, decorated all in red, white and silver with red poinsettias.

The Shop Diva

"Make it work, designers! Make it work." "Gather 'round, designers!" No, it's not Tim Gunn you're hearing in the store. It's Margo, the shop's African Grey parrot, who lately has been channeling the Project Runway mentor. We have no idea why she latches onto certain phrases for months at a time. For one period her favorite line was, "I'd like a martini ... extra dry." Margo is definitely a diva who refuses to perform on command. Visitors to the shop try fruitlessly to coax her to talk. As soon as they leave, she'll chatter away. She commutes to and from work in a special bird backpack, complete with perch.

The Very Versatile Tea Light Log

How many uses can you find for a tea light holder? Given space issues in New York City apartments, it's always a pleasure to find objects that can do double duty. This one looked gorgeous with floating orchid blooms and now with an assortment of botanical elements takes on an entirely different style. The larger 5-light holder would look especially beautiful on holiday tables. For special events, we're envisioning flickering candlelight punctuated with fresh flowers stretching down the long lengths of banquet tables. 

Cocktails overlooking St. Pat's

What a magical place for a party. The 620 Loft and Garden at Rockefeller Center overlooks two essential NYC attractions: St. Patrick's Cathedral and Saks Fifth Avenue. (Some us have enjoyed the reverse view from dressing rooms at Saks.) The purple and gold color scheme continued indoors with window boxes full of golden callas with clematis cascades and arrangements of delphinium, roses, lilies and more orchids. 

Miniature melons for a long-lasting arrangement

Fill a glass baking dish with attractive rocks. Add water. Take one cucurbitacea diplocyclos palmatus vine and place on top in a casual fashion. Garnish with several stems of yellow gloriosa lilies. Occasionally check water level and recut gloriosa stems. Even after the gloriosas fade, the vine will continue to provide an unusual and colorful accent piece.

The shape and markings on its fruit clearly declare this to be a member of the same family as cucumbers, melons and squash. Don't be tempted to eat one. We're told this exotic relative  is foul-tasting at best and potentially poisonous at worst.

Cockscomb for Color

For a weekly client who absolutely loves color, masses of celosia with graceful arcs and tendrils of bittersweet usher in October. Kids are fascinated by celosia, also known as cockscomb. You know it's high praise indeed when an 8 or 9-year old boy says with admiration, "Eew, gross. It looks like brains!" A favorite of gardeners (Thomas Jefferson included) for its vivid colors -- scarlets, magentas, yellows, oranges, pinks, greens and golds, we absolutely love its weird shapes and textures.

Dahlias: Beauty from Late Summer into Fall

Nowadays many flowers are available all year around. Yet there's something special about the flowers with definite seasons. Dahlias bridge the period when the lazy days of summer wind down, the calendar picks up after Labor Day and the signs of fall become unmistakable. Herewith, some of our favorites.

Beloved by Hummingbirds ... and Shamans

Perhaps the hummingbirds spotted over in Strawberry Fields this week will venture over to enjoy the plants one of our favorite suppliers just delivered. The orange flowers of Leonotis nepetifolia, aka lion's ear, are supposedly the hummingbird version of liver treats for dogs. The flowers emerge from spiky balls that form as the slender stems shoot up. A fascinating late summer, early fall bloomer, it's one of two leonotis varieties with some intriguing properties that we are unable to verify personally. The dried leaves are used in shamanistic rituals and, reportedly, for other more recreational pursuits. Hmmm. Suppose those hummingbirds are getting a buzz on?

Potato, Potahto, Tomato, Tomahto

As Ira Gershwin wrote and Fred Astaire memorably sang, "You say eether and I say eyether, you say neether and I say nyther, Eether, eyether, neether, nyther." But how do you say V-A-S-E? Whether you rhyme it with C-A-S-E or C-A-U-S-E, you'll find somewhere here at Gotham Gardens who agrees with you. Some of us learned from our mothers (who learned from their mothers who learned from mothers) to pronounce it VAHZ, reflecting, we suspect, a Victorian era penchant for equating British English with culture and class. Some of us just always figured the word was no different than c-a-s-e, b-a-s-e, l-a-c-e, and so on. And some of us are inconsistent, depending on how the mood strikes us. Yet when it comes to the work of Adam Aaronson, the astonishing English glassblower who uses precious metals, or Colin Schleeh, the Canadian artist determined to find out how thin he can shape wood, the word inevitably comes out as VAHZ. 

Get Your Vegetables

In flower arrangements, color, shape and texture don't always have to come from flowers or foliage. We've been having great fun with this botanical element. Can you guess what it is? Southerners will probably recognize it sooner than those of us who live north of the Mason-Dixon line. If you don't like okra on your plate, use it in your vase.

The Dahlia: New Name for a Celebratory Cocktail?

Major cause for celebration! After three years, the scaffolding in front of the shop finally came down this week. Sunlight flooded the store once again. We rejoiced. The fish in our window fountain freaked out. All but one disappeared under the rocks until this shocking experience was no longer deemed a threat. We toasted with a refreshing blend of Campari, orange juice, club soda and fresh lime and orange slices, then realized the color exactly matched some of our gorgeous dahlias. Should we christen this luscious drink the Dahlia? 

Sunflowers of Summer

The petals on this "Ring of Fire" sunflower are still unfurling yet you can still see the distinctive circle behind the name. We're still trying to get a decent photo of another favorite: the black sunflower. Maybe it's our lighting but, once downloaded, it looks red.

The Flowers of Summer: Not your Ordinary Sunflower

What is it about Teddy Bear sunflowers that makes them, dare we say, adorable? Even people who find regular sunflowers ho-hum are charmed by these fluffy, furry monsters. Maybe their feathery yellow petals subconsciously evoke the feel-good qualities of a certain beloved big yellow bird.

The Flowers of Summer: Echinacea

We love this native American wildflower as much without its petals as with them. The name comes from the Greek echinos or sea urchin for its spiny center. It's great for adding both texture and a splash of color to arrangements. We've never taken the time to count each individual bristle but we expect, like sunflower seeds, the total would be a Fibonacci number, familiar to fans of The DaVinci Code.

Sidewalks of New York

The Upper West Side can boast of a bumper crop of scaffolding this summer.  We've been gratified by the number of people who stop in just to thank us for the artful treatment of the sidewalk shed we've been living under. This summer's airy Japanese lanterns have been a particular hit. Other crowd-pleasers: a salute to Savannah with tree branches dripping with Spanish moss arching across the sidewalk; the dancing moss balls; and Ribbonfest.

The Flowers of Summer: Love-in-a-Mist

Formally known as nigella damascena, this ethereal flower surrounded by lacy foliage is a favorite in the garden. We love it for garden-style arrangements and wedding bouquets. Used with bolder elements -- and without its feathery foliage -- the innocent-looking bloom reveals a weirder side. Originally from the Mediterranean area, this is another plant of many names: love-in-a-puzzle, lady-in-a-bower, wild fennel and, intriguingly, devil-in-a-bush are just a few. Perhaps that's why The Language of Flowers, a facsimile of a handwritten book from the Victorian era, gives its meaning as "perplexity."

Beautiful Flower, Not So Beautiful Name

A name like scabiosa just doesn't do justice to this delightful summer blossom with its charming frills and ruffles. Besides blue, it comes in shades of pink, white and lavender. As for the name, in medieval times the plant was used to relieve the itch of scabies.

The Plant of Many Names

Cuban oregano. Spanish thyme. Mexican mint. Indian borage. Oregano brujo. Broadleaf thyme. Tropical oregano. Of the multitude of common names used for Plectranthus amboinicus, perhaps "three-in-one spice" is the most appropriate since oregano, thyme and mint pop up most frequently in its many monikers. It's definitely not a true oregano, a European native; the Amboinicus in its name points to an island in the Pacific. Whatever you call this plant, its fleshy leaves and fragrant aroma make it a delightful addition to the garden. A tender perennial in our area, it's a popular seasoning in the Caribbean and other parts of the world. 

Thank you, Mr. Jefferson

Besides the debt all Americans owe to Thomas Jefferson for crafting the Declaration of Independence, gardeners, plant and flower lovers owe him a particular debt. An ardent gardener, plant collector and record keeper, he fostered our fledgling country's interest in everything that grows, from the specimens collected by the Lewis and Clark expedition to the importation of specimen plants from abroad. Celebrate this Independence Day holiday with a look at what Jefferson nurtured in his own gardens. You might discover that some of your favorites were also his. The photo above, courtesy of the Monticello website, shows the flower garden originally tended by Jefferson's daughters and granddaughters.

Nepenthes: A Definite Conversation Piece

We wouldn't be surprised to hear the plea "Feed me, Seymour" emanating from this impressive Nepenthes specimen. This weird and wonderful pitcher plant is definitely not the plant for everyone. Those who like a perfectly manicured myrtle topiary might find this exotic a little too ... well, this voluptuous beauty reminds us that carnal and carnivorous share the same Latin roots. These Asian natives get their nutrients by trapping and digesting insects. Richard Attenboroughe explains in this fascinating albeit kind of creepy BBC clip just how these pitchers form.

Meerkats in Manhattan

Even before Meerkat Manor: The Next Generation got underway, most of our meerkats had already flown the coop ... or, rather,  beat it from the burrow. The best we can say about the extended heat wave in New York? Nice weather, if you're a meerkat.

Sorry, These Shrimp Won't Make it On the Runway

Our apologies for not getting a better picture of an EcoSphere. The tiny shrimp refused to take direction. All the microorganisms may have put on quite a show, but, since they're invisible to the naked eye, we'll never know. The algae did sit still and look green for the photo. These mesmerizing EcoSpheres are entirely self-contained ecosystems. Only light -- not food, nor water, nor air -- gets in. The residents somehow all cooperate to sustain their environment. Our dads should be so lucky.

An Ecosystem for Dad?

Tip Sheet in the current issue of Newsweek asks "Looking for something new and interesting to give Dad this year?" First up on their list of suggestions:the Ecosphere, a self-contained ecosystem based on technology developed by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We'll put up a photo tomorrow. In the meantime, since we started carrying Ecospheres in February, they've won a devoted following of New Yorkers looking for a pet that never needs to be fed, walked or have the litter-box changed.

Finding Inspiration in Absinthe

Frequent visitors to the shop know we occasionally partake of cocktail hour. Some of us, intrigued by the news that absinthe, the drink of choice of 19th-century bohemians, is now legally available, procured a bottle. (Given that it's a distillation of the wormwood variety of artemisia, anise, fennel and often other herbs such as melissa, hyssop, veronica and angelica, we considered it 'research.') Our legs did not turn into tulips as Oscar Wilde legendarily reported. If the "Green Fairy" cast any enchantment on us, it was as much for its intoxicating color and the bottle itself. While we heartily encourage our customers to partake of our fabulous selection of vases, we also believe in creative "repurposing." Got a great vase hiding in your home?

From Garden to Vase

Gardeners love Solomon's Seal, a native American woodland plant, for shady spots. We love it on its own or mixed with other blooms in arrangements. Tiny floral bells dangle from its gracefully arched stems, followed in late summer by dark blue berries. Solomon's Seal is related to another of our spring favorites -- lily of the valley.

Happy Memorial Day

Gotham Gardens will be closed Sunday, May 25th to allow our staff to enjoy a two-day holiday. The Great Flower Flag, a graceful design with 34 stars arranged to form the petals of a flower, was popular during the early years of the Civil War. One like it flew over the New York Mercantile Exchange from 1861 to 1863, when West Virginia was admitted to the Union.

Henry Bockstoce, the Energizer Bunny of Peonies

Henry just keeps opening and opening and ... We started watching Henry last Friday when he was just an unprepossessing bud. Today he's reached 7" in diameter and still has more unfurling to do. Will this one make it to 10" as some do? Henry Bockstoce peonies are routinely described as awesome, massive, and dinner-plate sized. So far we can attest to the awesome and massive.

Tulips and Peonies and a Peony Tulip

This new tulip variety looks like it's part artichoke.

Leaves edged in cream add to to this tulip's charm.

The classic Sarah Bernhardt.

Known as a bomb, this type opens to reveal an "explosion of irregular petals."

Tons of petals give peony tulips their lush, peonyish look.