Gotham Gardens in Transition

This week we're saying farewell to our home for the past 10 years here on Amsterdam Avenue. The space in the neighborhood we hoped to move into isn't ready yet. In the meantime, we'll continue to do fabulous flowers and garden design in a temporary studio. The phone number is the same: 212 877.8908 and you can reach us by email: info@gothamgardens.com. We'll miss seeing all of you who visit the shop regularly. We'll also miss our good friends at Levain Bakery, Freddy & Peppers Pizza, Beacon Hardware, Andy's Deli, Crumbs, and all the other retailers, big and small, that give this neighborhood so much character. Years ago, who would have dreamt that Amsterdam Avenue would have been filled with so many interesting places to shop and eat.

For the moment, we'll leave you with these words from people wiser than us.

"Earth laughs in flowers." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers also feed the soul." The Koran

"Can we conceive what humanity would be if it did not know the flowers?" Maurice Maeterlinck

Another Reminder Why Mothers Deserve Beautiful Flowers

Today's "For Better or For Worse"

A Reminder of Why Mothers Deserve Beautiful Flowers

Because mothers try so hard to make sure siblings manage to survive one another.

(Especially mothers of boys. And especially mothers of boys like Tucker and Brad. Their YouTube video surely makes their mom proud of her hard work.)

The Shoveling Samaritan Works Here!

The bus stops right outside the shop. During that last heavy snowfall, people getting on or off the bus had to climb over a perilous mountain of snow and significant pile-up of slush. We try to do our civic duty when we can. This time one of our people has earned the sobriquet "the shoveling Samaritan." Here's the piece that lead off yesterday's Metropolitan Diary in the New York Times.

DEAR DIARY:

As I climbed a multi-foot snowbank in late February to wait for the uptown M7 bus, I noticed a thin, middle-aged woman wearing an open jacket and no gloves, shoveling snow away from the submerged curb.

She was wearing what appeared to be a Metropolitan Transportation Authority-issue shirt underneath, with the colored circles of various bus and train routes.

Me: “I can’t believe they make you do this, with no gloves either! I have enough problems with the M.T.A. as it is.”

Woman: “Oh, I don’t work for the M.T.A.”

I motioned to her T-shirt. She opened her jacket more so I could better see: the colored circles were part of a design that spells something out.

Woman: “This? This is my New York City Marathon T-shirt. I work in there [she pointed to the flower shop behind the bus stop] in the basement, and I was just so hot!” Dan Heching

What are those Olympic medal winners holding aloft?

We have to admit it's not the most telegenic bouquet we've ever seen. The designers, June Strandberg and Margitta Schulz, said they wanted the bouquets to reflect British Columbia and "look natural, like something you would see if you drove up the mountain." As you can tell from the medal ceremonies, that's not the look the design panel wanted. The powers-that-be chose a rather severe design that includes green spider mums, green hypericum berries, aspidistra leaves, leatherleaf fern and monkey grass. Between 80 and 150 bouquets are being made each day, many by novice florists trained by Ms. Strandberg in a program she runs for women who are in recovery, victims of violence or ex-convicts. By the time the last medal is awarded, they will have turned out a total of 1,800 bouquets. Having dealt with some difficult clients in our time, we'd like to award a gold medal for perseverance to Ms. Strandberg and Ms. Schultz. By the time the design panel had finished tweaking their original design, they'd gone through 23 samples.

Designers June Strandberg and Margitta Schultz deserve their own gold medal for endurance and perseverance.

Upper West Side Pick of the Week

We were surprised and delighted to discover My Upper West, the Upper West Side Blog has chosen Gotham Gardens as their Pick of the Month for February. We especially liked what they had to say about Valentine's Day, which is fast approaching. "... if you are thinking about what to get your sweetheart as a token of your love, consider one of the unique arrangements from Gotham Gardens. The flower and plant shop on Amsterdam offers some innovative designs so that your arrangement is more than the phone-it-in-red-roses-in-plastic-wrap."

Last year a woman confessed that, while she didn't want to seem ungrateful for the dozen red roses she knew she'd be getting, she really envied the women getting our lush arrangements of roses, peonies, ranunculus, orchids, sweet peas and other gorgeous blooms.

So, gentlemen, why not really dazzle them this year?

Think Ahead for a Really Special Valentine's Day

In need of inspiration this Valentine's Day? Take a tip from those Victorians who knew romance and flowers were as intertwined as, well, figure skating and sequins.

Though Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday this year, consider kicking off the celebration on Friday. There's always a special thrill in getting flowers at the office. (And so what if part of it is the look of envy on colleagues' faces.)

Catch your Valentine off guard with breakfast ... or at least, coffee -- in bed on Saturday morning and roses on the tray. (And scatter the petals where you may.)

Brunch on Sunday? You'll knock their socks off if you arrange with us ahead of time to have a lovely centerpiece waiting on your table. No additional cost for all the looks of envy cast your way.

In hibernation mode, especially with the Olympics underway? We can deliver a gift basket to your door, pairing a gorgeous bouquet with special treats from our neighbors: the infamous chocolate chip cookies from Levain Bakery, Wicked Hot Chocolate from Jacque Torres, cupcakes from Crumbs, wine from Pour, or salumi and cheese from Salumeria Rosi.

Six More Weeks of Winter

As anyone who has ever seen the movie "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray knows, there is only one genuine, authentic groundhog prognosticator and that's the one in Punxsutawney, PA. According to Phil, we're in for six more weeks of winter. All the more reason to wrap oneself in thoughts of love and warmth.

Here at Gotham Gardens, we've turned to some of our favorite writers for a little illumination on the subject.

Some of us who seem to have been in hibernation this winter liked this gem from Zora Neale Hurston: Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.

The gardeners couldn't resist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Love does not dominate; it cultivates.

Those of us who remember the enchantment of Il Postino are immediately swept away to a sunny Mediterranean island thanks to the words of Pablo Neruda:

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way
than this: where I does not exist nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Are your bulbs tucked in for their long winter's nap?

The Gardens of Baghdad

We know how plants and gardens revive stressed-out New Yorkers. Just imagine what they can do for war-weary Iraqis. There's a story in Sunday's New York Times about the resurgence of gardening, especially topiaries, in Baghdad. As Muhi Mohammed Hussein, the man shown here manicuring the eagle in front of his home, explained, "Iraq has suffered for a long time, so now I'm trying to give a smile back to Iraq with beautiful plants." Another gardener noted that taking care of his garden allowed him to forget the war. His "refuge from violence" isn't quite so well maintained now. "When the situation is good, you're too busy with work," he said, an observation many New Yorkers can agree with.

Not your Typical Bar Arrangement

This summer we did a wedding at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers, a beautiful event space right smack on the Hudson River. Some couples come in with only a hazy idea of what they want. Not so Adam and Laura. This has to be the first time our crew assignments included a designated fish wrangler.

New Bus Stop Bench

We're still amazed that someone managed to run off with our old bus stop bench -- it weighed a ton. And even after the city finally put in a bench, people would still come into the shop asking why we stopped putting out our bench. So here's our new contribution to everyone's comfort . A friend of the shop dragged in a dreary bench missing several slats. We birched it up, gave it a zippy coat of paint, and added a lock for good measure.

Eat your Vegetables, Drink your Flowers?

A story in this week's New York Times dining section headlined How to Sip a Flower Garden led us to wonder whether we should add a bartender to the staff. As visitors to the store know, we do enjoy the occasional cocktail hour. We hadn't realized that this is the summer of the floral cocktail; that flowers are being "deployed as much for their delicate flavors as their visual appeal." The cocktail shown is flavored with elderflower liqueur and, as readers of our 4th of July post will spot, garnished with a nasturtium bloom

One of the Creatures of Gotham Gardens

Remember the old song Froggy went a-courtin'? This froggy went a-hitch-hikin' and arrived in the shop over a year ago hidden in a plant shipment.  A Cuban tree frog, his is considered an invasive species. Even if he could be released into the wild, New York winters would not be to his liking. He's grown considerably in the warmth and humidity of his own terrarium (complete with pool), feasting happily on crickets. Given tree frogs are nocturnal, we were delighted to find him awake and willing to pose. Meanwhile, the song has been covered by everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Bob Dylan to Elvis Presley. We especially like this version by everyone's favorite frog, Kermit.

Monsoon Summer

We got off to a late start planting our window boxes this spring. For a time, all we had was bare dirt as customers bought the plants we had planned on planting. But thanks to New York City's second rainiest summer (which August may push into the record book), the window boxes have more than made up for lost time. On the left you can see our crop of Swiss chard, more than overdue for harvesting. Alocasias, the elephant-ear plants on the right, have overshadowed a nasturium vine but are bringing much delight to passers-by.

Double-Duty Containers

We originally got these lanterns to use, well, as lanterns. Then we thought, what a great idea for a gift. The recipient gets to enjoy a gorgeous arrangement, then gets a delightful lantern to enjoy on the terrace or in the park. We only have a few left.

The Most Plant-Friendly Voice in Britain Chosen

You've got to love those garden-loving Brits. This spring the Royal Horticultural Society's garden at Wisley held auditions to find "the most plant-friendly voice" in Britain. Ten finalists, reflecting a range of voices, were chosen and their recorded voices played through headphones attached to the pots of tomato plants. The winner? Sarah Darwin, a botanist at the Natural History Museum and Charles' great-great-granddaughter. Appropriately enough, she read a selection from On the Origin of Species. During the month-long, her tomato plant grew 1.6 cm higher (nearly 2/3") than the next contender.

Colin Crosbie, Garden Superintendent and curator for ‘The Voice of Wisley’ experiment said, "There is something wonderfully pleasing about a plant responding to a story about how its kind came into being."

Given the influence of British TV on the U.S., can "American Plant Idol" be far behind?

Nasturtiums: A Charmer with Many Virtues

Nasturtiums are one of those garden stalwarts that always seem to bring out smiles. How can you not love a plant with so many virtues? Nasturtiums are fast growers. Low maintenance. ("Benign neglect" is often prescribed in gardening books.) The colorful flowers bloom all summer long. Even the leaves are cheery, nearly round and reminiscent of tiny lily pads. Thomas Jefferson included nasturtiums in the kitchen garden at Monticello for the peppery zest both leaves and blossoms add to salads. The writer of one herbal helpfully noted that, should one run out of capers, pickled nasturtium seeds are an excellent substitute. Enjoy them scampering up a trellis or cascading from a windowbox this holiday weekend, knowing that, in the Victorian language of flowers, nasturtiums signify patriotism.

What is that?

Think of a fern and this probably isn't the image that springs to mind. The hapu'u, a tree fern native to Hawaii, sends forth giant fronds. The fuzzy brown stuff is pulu, a wool-like fiber once used for stuffing pillows and mattresses. We once had a bride who saw this and immediately cancelled her order for a regular bouquet. Ferns, of course, have ancient roots and it's takes little imagination to picture the hapu'u's ancestor in prehistoric times. We were reminded of this link at the opening night of the World Science Festival where we had the opportunity to meet Frans Lanting, one of the world's premiere nature photographers. His lyrical multimedia exploration of natural life on earth, LIFE: A Journey Through Time, set to music by Philip Glass, traces the evolution of life on earth. As life emerged from the sea, club moss and ferns were the first plants to take root. Like horse shoe crabs, which haven't changed in 150 million years, Lanting photographed the hapu'u as a way of "seeing the past in the present." 

Cutting the stem revealed this delicate pattern.

Portrait of Ephemeral Beauty

There's something to appreciate in every stage of a blossom's life. Yet occasionally the beauty revealed in details isn't revealed to us until the very end.