6.23.2009

Best nursery in NY

ok, so it's not the most impressive website but the Suburban Water Garden in Dix Hills, NY is the most incredible garden nursery I've ever been to. I was on the hunt for a Sacred Lotus and came to a hole in the woods place that has an amazing selection of aquatic plants and also fish. I didn't take any greenhouse pics but it's a nursery of a hobbyist, all of the plants have been nursed and maintained like a botanical garden and the tanks and ponds are pristine. It's expensive, but if you own a backyard you need to build a pond and go to this place.



6.22.2009

The Highline

The new Highline park is pretty amazing, I mean amazing by aesthetically amazing, but I don't think that NY is really quite ready for such a thing. It definitely looks and feels really good but the problem is, is that although it is a public space, it's not going to be a space for everyone. You cannot play ball in this park. I don't think you can even smoke in this park.
It doesn't work for several reasons; for one, it's in the meatpacking district and the luxury apartments that have been built to have access and a special view of the highline make the public park feel kind of private and two, only a fraction of NYC will even see this park...this park is for tourists.
I don't know that anyone will fully appreciate the native plants like the wild and weedy Ailanthus, because how can you really appreciate a wild landscape when it's been planted in a really beautiful, geometric and very expensive precast piece of concrete tiling. I like contrast but this just seems offensively expensive. I think when our public school system makes sense then this park will make sense. Until then, if you look into the Standard Hotel you WILL see naked people.