Tulips and Pansies: The Headdress Affair

Thursday night we took part in Village Care of New York's incomparable benefit where top fashion and floral designers are paired for a truly unique trip down the runway. Jordi Scott, who combines a love of art, glamour and a definitely rocking spirit, designed the perfect dress to wear with a petite bonnet of cymbidum orchids, erynginum, lilies and other blooms. And what could be a more glamorous accent than a fringe of hanging amaranthus? Simon's inspiration? "Vargas girl meets punk rock," he replied. Extra kudos to Simon for designing a headdress our fabulous model didn't have to hold in place while strutting her stuff. Just a slightly different look than last week's hat for the Central Park Conservancy's Hat Luncheon. Read more about the event on Fashion Wire Daily and Style Guru.

Flowering Kale that Actually Flowered

We stopped to investigate a riot of yellow blooms in window boxes along Columbus Avenue several weeks ago only to discover it was a planting we had done for a client last fall. None of us had even seen a picture of kale actually flowering let alone in real life. It's a great plant for fall color with its rich green, red, white and lavender leaves. It thrives in cool weather yet rarely survives the winter without looking raggedy if it doesn't completely crater. We'd have replaced this weeks ago except our client has moved and the space is currently unoccupied. Passers-by never realized what an uncommon show they were enjoying.

Many Events, Nothing to Show!

Last week we did a benefit for Phoenix House at the newly reopened Plaza Hotel ballroom. A wedding at Tribeca Rooftop. A Bar Mitzvah at the Georgian Suite. A hat for the Central Park Conservancy's Frederick Law Olmsted awards, better known as the "hat luncheon." All this and Mother's Day, too. And did we manage to get a photo of any of them?

Give Mom a Rollicking Good Time

One rarely hears gardening books described as "high-spirited, riotously funny, and, at times, deliciously malicious." Unless, that is, the writer in question is Beverley Nichols, a prolific writer, journalist, actor, songwriter, bon vivant, cat lover (he eventually settled on numbers rather than names) and gardener. Green Grows the City: The Story of a London Garden, originally published in 1939, recounts his travails in turning "the ugliest, most desolate strip of ground ever trodden by human feet" into a thing of beauty (and source of serious envy by the neighbors). After the war, Nichols and Gaskin, his Jeeves-like manservant, tackled the restoration of a Georgian manor house and garden. Given the delight of Merry Hall, the first of a trilogy as much about life in an English village as gardening, we should all be grateful. 

Coral Peony: Like Two Flowers in One

What's not to love about a peony? They can be dramatic like the saucer-sized tree peony; fluffy like the Sarah Bernhardt; intensely rich and mesmerizing like the Bowl of Cream or magical like the Coral Charm. It starts off as a colorful ball, then unfolds to reveal a center of golden fringe. Eventually the petals slowly fade to soft pink and finally a rich ivory. 

Peony Season: Tree Peonies!

Peony season is under way! Tree peonies have been flying out of the shop but we finally managed to grab a photo of one. As the name suggests, this peony variety grows on woody shrubs. We've seen some blooms open almost completely flat to the size of a dinner plate. We'll also be posting plenty of photos of the more readily available herbaceous peonies that die to the ground come winter.

A Rhubarb by Any Other Name ...

... would still be one strange flower. We couldn't resist when these turned up in the flower market.

Two flowering heads are just emerging from their flower pouches while the third is still under wraps. The word rhubarb, by the way, is related to barbaric which is how some may describe these flowers. We're fascinated by the shapes, shades and textures. We think the dozens of communities that throw rhubarb festivals every year might agree with us. Should you happen to be in Lancaster County on Saturday, May 17th, you can catch racing rhubarbs at their semi-world-famous Rhubarb Derby. This just in! Can't get to Beijing? Starting training now for the Rhubarb Olympics in Minnesota.

Echeverias: Easy on the Watering

They're colorful. They're fun. And, best of all, they're very forgiving. Echeverias, native to Mexico and South America, will do just fine if you forget a watering. In fact, let them dry out completely between waterings. Like all succulents, the fleshy leaves hold water. The plant's ready for watering when the leaves start to feel soft.

Masdevallias: Small Size, Mega Charm

These are two masdevallias we had in the shop recently. Many orchid varieties have pseudobulbs that hold nutrients and waters. Masdevallias don't. Forgetting to water them can be fatal. That said, don't treat these little jewels like creatures of the bog. In the wild, these Victorian favorites grow on trees. Let the potting medium dry out slightly between waterings. 

The Man Who Wrote the Book on Masdevallias

Ron Parsons stopped in the shop while on a lecture tour of the East Coast. He not only co-wrote but took all the photographs in the definitive book on masdevallias. These vibrant orchids originated in the cool mountainous regions of South America. To keep them happy, keep them cool and moist with good drainage and good air circulation.

HSNY, Part II

Was it the park benches or that Savannah magic? A photograph of our table is now on BizBash: http://www.bizbash.com/newyork/content/editorial/e10654.php#photosanchor

Next week visitors to Savannah can enjoy the real thing -- eight private gardens will be open during the annual garden tour, April 18th and 19th.

Horticultural Society of New York Benefit

Every year the HSNY invites designers to do tables based on a theme. For this year's A Garden Party, we celebrated the quirky, gracious, ready-for-a-good-time spirit of Savannah. You can see the full table, evocative of the town's historic squares, at http://newyorksocialdiary.com/node/4710.

Here the iconic "Bird Girl" is hoisting a pair of Absolut Vodka martinis while a tiny bottle of Absolut sits on a stone bench, recalling writer Conrad Aiken's final resting spot in Bonvaventure Cemetery. The guests, seated underneath a tree dripping with Spanish moss, received copies of "The Book," as Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is known in Savannah, autographed by John Berendt. Helpful hint: Should you be tempted to collect Spanish moss as a souvenir of Savannah, be forewarned. It may contain chiggers. The locals zap it in the microwave before using it as decoration.

Rare & luscious orchids

These incredibly beautiful Disa orchids are rare as a cut flower, even rarer as a plant. African natives, they're named after a character in a Swedish folk tale. African doesn't always mean tropical. These orchids prefer a cooler climate. They're terrestrial, which means you'll find them growing in the ground, like lady slippers.

Castanets or Cricketballs?

We think the pods of hakea platysperma, a shrubby plant native to Australia, look like castanets. The Aussies, though, nicknamed this variety "cricketballs." It's just one of over 130 varieties of hakeas, which grow all over Australia. It's also related to two of our other Aussie favorites: grevillea and banksia, both of which have slightly weird bottle-brush flowers. 

Tending to your Tulips

Here's how to extend the vase life of your tulips. Give the stems a fresh cut. Use cool water. Don't fill the vase completely full of water ... two or three inches is enough. Tulips are water hogs. If left to their own devices, they'll drink too much and the petals will turn transparent. That said, don't let them go dry. Change the water every other day. Keep them in a coolish part of the room -- definitely not on top of the radiator.

The less you do with them, the better. Think of tulips as the terriers of the flower world. They're basically going to do what they want to do. They'll turn their heads to follow the sun. Continue to grow after they're cut. (If you're going to mix them with other flowers, cut the tulips shorter than the rest.) Bend and sometimes flop the way they want. Trying to tame tulips isn't hopeless, but do you really need the frustration? Let them be and enjoy.

More Tulipmania

Though we associate tulips with flat-as-a-pancake Holland, they're actually mountain flowers, originating in the foothills of the Himalayas. The sultans of the Ottoman Empire were responsible for the first wave of tulipmania. These "exotic" blooms reached Holland by way of Prague in the 1590's. By the 1630's, they were no longer reserved only for royalty and the rich and the second wave of tulipmania was in full force.

Weird, wonderful Italian Ranunculus

We've nicknamed these "lettuce ranunculus." The first ones we got were red with ruffly green centers. Then we started to get them in orange. Now we're getting some that look like they're on steroids. Folks have been coming in to ask about the strange flowers in the window. All we know is that somewhere in Italy a bunch of horticulturists are having way too much fun developing "magnifico, stupendo ranucoli."

Tulipmania, Part 2

Often we'll get a tulip described as "rem" -- shorthand for Rembrandt. Even though Rembrandt rarely painted a tulip, a variety popular during his lifetime bears his name. Rems are known for their vertical streaks of color. A virus caused the originals; modern rems are the result of tulip tinkering.

Tulipmania

Tulipmania lives on! Today a mind-boggling 4000 registered varieties exist. This is one of our favorites. Fully open, it's almost completely flat. On its own or mixed with other flowers, it's a stunner. It must have a formal name but our supplier just calls it Leo.

Breathtaking Water Lily

Of all the flowers we get, water lilies are perhaps the most amazing. Many people have never seen them outside of a pond. You might think they'd be beautiful floating in a shallow bowl but, as a cut flower, they are usually happier with their stems kept long and submerged in water up to their necks. Even as a cut flower, water lilies maintain their circadian rhythm, closing when it gets dark, then opening in the morning. They're not always readily available; perhaps that is part of their magic.

A Very Happy Easter

A very Happy Easter from all of us at Gotham Gardens.