a maitake mushroom kit

this is what a maitake mushroom growing kit looks like: a wet bag of slimy white oak substrate. Over one month till crop:

moss bed

I just put moss down on the Hibiscus for the winter and Cedric immediately claimed it as his bed. He seems happy with his new territory:

Ibirapuera Park

I was first interested in visiting Ibirapuera Park because there are two buildings by Oscar Niemeyer and a little park area that Roberto Burle Marx designed. We saw them and we were impressed but the real show stopper was the gardening area in the back - there are dozens of green houses, nurseries, a botanical info center... Everything gets propagated and grown in the park and planted across the city. I think any public space could learn from this - there has been many times that I've seen the Central Park Conservancy truck out in long island purchasing plant material. I hate to sound like a hippy but a Rhododendron that is grown in Oregon, shipped to Dix Hills, NY and then planted in NYC doesn't make much sense to me. My new favorite city park:

Sink

This beauty is in an antique shop in a little old town called Embu, just outside of Sao Paulo. I think my life would be better if I could wash my hands in this sink everyday.

love carrots

seasonal review of central park

mums

everything i do - everything i see - everything i smell..is mums (at least at work for the last week)

padded silk bathroom

No time for a steam room?

Today for the first time I respected the poinsettia after wandering around outside at a cold Long Island nursery. I stumbled upon this greenhouse of teenager plants living in amazing warmth... about 80 degrees Fahrenheit and very humid. My ideal room temp.

Another senseless killing in Bedstuy

The Murderer

















The Victim (didn't get eaten and is still in our backyard with rigamortis)

I'm glad that's settled

I'm about to share something that is very personal and silly:
Call me a fanatic, but my favorite author over the last 3 years or so has been Jim Harrison. Last night I had a very vivid dream that I finally met him. There was a table between us and we were talking...I was very nervous. I asked him why he never answered a letter I wrote (not a dream) about a year and a half ago that was hand delivered by Terry McDonnell, who I do not know, but it was all coordinated by some other wonderful writers who are old clients of mine. I haven't thought about that letter in a long while and it wasn't really written for a reply, it was just genuine fanmail... I guess. In my dream Jim told me he never got it and I'll take that as a decent response.

66 W 97th street

It's Kiku time!

Chrysanthemum's are so boring... but not when they look like the ones below (the 1st one is from Atlantic Nursery in Long Island). Check out the Japanese Kiku exhibit at the NYBG in October it will make you look at Mums very differently...

Handpainted - 'cleveland' made in England

this is what old ladies do

For the last year or so I've been a little crazy about collecting old plates and glasses. Especially ones with gold paint or detailing. I'm going to start posting some plates that I love and should be remembered because my plates tend to break. I love this new one - hand painted gold detail.

Llareta

A co-worker of mine just got back from a trip to Peru and Bolivia and recently posted a picture of an amazing Llareta mound. I did some searching and found these mounding plants grow only in the Andes, in full sun and they only grow 1mm / year. Structurally - might be the most beautiful things I've ever seen:

Harvest Season

Upper West Side, 17th floor. Grafted apple tree: 1/2 Golden Delicious 1/2 Granny. Finally...a productive year (this tree has been dormant for 4 years)

Upper east side animal masonry

The softer side of the creatures that protect our buildings:

lip ring

Sorry for the shitty reflecty photo but yes those are lips and you wear them on your finger(s) and I'm totally in love with them. I forgot to write the name of this place down but it's on Madison around 68th street.