tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-147311452024-03-13T10:18:11.659-04:00Flatbush GardenerAdventures in Neo-Victorian, Wild, Shade, Organic and Native Plant Gardening, Garden Design, and Garden Restoration.Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.comBlogger1079125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-32111064073268031872023-04-14T13:55:00.001-04:002023-04-14T13:56:45.948-04:00We've Moved!<h1 style="text-align: left;">Please visit the new site for <a href="https://www.flatbushgardener.com/">Flatbush Gardener</a> at <a href="https://www.flatbushgardener.com/"><span style="font-family: courier;">https://www.flatbushgardener.com/</span></a>.</h1><div>All updates and additions will be done only on the new site. This site remains, for now, as an archive.</div><div><br /></div>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/52279040138/in/photolist-2nDHKg1-2nDK1Tc-2nL7g3a-2mgPgs2-2mgPgzb-2mgTbuc-2mgUnv5-2mgWWB7-2mgYkWH-2mgYm2s-2nnqvbL-2nwW5gU-2nwW5hv-2nwYw3X-2nwYw5q-2nHTDLo-2nJeHEM-2nJt6uz-2nJD21P-2nJLjoh-2nPoiEt-2nPuitk-2mcJGR6-2mcKLcV-2mfauhh-2mfauiK-2mfaujB-2mfaumf-2mfaumR-2mfaunc-2mfei4w-2mffsQq-2mffsRx-2mfi4XX-2mfi4YU-2mfjuQr-2mfjuQS-2mfZafy-2mfZafU-2mg43pa-2mg43LY-2mg43NS-2mg5bnV-2mg5bBN-2mg7Psd-2mg7PEH-2mg9dVV-FXnRrv-Mgcey3-MXGaTW" title="Female monarch butterfly visiting flowers of swamp milkweed in my front yard, 2022-08-07"><img alt="Female monarch butterfly visiting flowers of swamp milkweed in my front yard, 2022-08-07" height="640" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52279040138_24cde6a7c3_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-53381561753325412042023-03-15T17:56:00.001-04:002023-03-15T17:56:16.051-04:00U.S. Firefly AtlasThe <a href="xerces.org" target="_blank">Xerces Society</a>, in collaboration with the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/our-union/commissions/group/iucn-ssc-firefly-specialist-group" target="_blank">IUCN SSC Firefly Specialist Group</a> and <a href="https://www.bioparksociety.org/main/" target="_blank">New Mexico BioPark Society</a>, has launched the <a href="https://www.fireflyatlas.org/">Firefly Atlas</a> project:
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/52197452320/" title="Lucidota atra, black firefly, found on milkweed along my driveway, 2022-07-05"><img alt="Lucidota atra, black firefly, found on milkweed along my driveway, 2022-07-05" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52197452320_6c48d92639_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<blockquote>
The Firefly Atlas is a collaborative effort to better understand and conserve the diversity of fireflies in North America.
Launched in 2022, the project aims to advance our collective understanding of firefly species’ distributions, phenology, and habitat associations, as well as to identify threats to their populations.
<br />
<br />
Although the Atlas tracks all species described from the US and Canada, we are currently prioritizing efforts for a subset of <a href="https://www.fireflyatlas.org/firefly-species/focal-species" target="_blank">13 threatened and data deficient species</a> found in three focal regions of the US: the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Southwest.
These priority regions were chosen based upon having a high number of threatened species and/or a high number of data deficient species.
- <a href="https://www.fireflyatlas.org/about" target="_blank">What is the Firefly Atlas?</a>
</blockquote>
<span><a name='more'></a></span><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/52750062463/in/dateposted/" title="Focal Regions for Firefly Surveys"><img alt="Focal Regions for Firefly Surveys" height="484" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52750062463_0cdda2f982_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
<br />
Their mid-Atlantic focal region encompasses Atlantic coastal areas: marshlands, dunes, beaches, and barrier islands.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/52749894736/in/dateposted/" title="Focal Regions for Firefly Surveys - Mid-Atlantic"><img alt="Focal Regions for Firefly Surveys - Mid-Atlantic" height="589" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52749894736_8abb986eb2_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
<br />
In NYC, it covers the southern shores of Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/52750391133/in/dateposted/" title="Focal Regions for Firefly Surveys - NYC"><img alt="Focal Regions for Firefly Surveys - NYC" height="413" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52750391133_078175ff3f_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
<br />
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<h4>Links</h4>
<a href="https://www.fireflyatlas.org/">Firefly Atlas</a>
<br />
<a href="https://www.fireflyatlas.org/firefly-species/firefly-species-checklist" target="_blank">Firefly Species Checklist of the USA and Canada</a>
<br />
<a href="xerces.org" target="_blank">Xerces Society</a>
<br />
<a href="https://www.iucn.org/our-union/commissions/group/iucn-ssc-firefly-specialist-group" target="_blank">IUCN SSC Firefly Specialist Group</a>
<br />
<a href="https://www.bioparksociety.org/main/" target="_blank">New Mexico BioPark Society</a>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-7019702317201418262023-03-09T15:19:00.004-05:002023-03-09T15:19:23.853-05:002023 NYRP Tree GiveawayThe annual <a href="https://www.nyrp.org/en/get-involved/tree-giveaways/" target="_blank">New York Restoration Project Tree Giveaway</a> starts in a month.
This year, they're offering the largest variety of native tree, and some shrub, species I've seen yet.
<br />
<br />
Consider the <strong><em>mature</em></strong> size of each species.
The larger trees will grow too large for most urban yards.
I highlighted shrubs and smaller tree species that max out at no more than around 50' high and wide, without considering existing vegetation, outdoor structures, etc.
Your conditions will vary!
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/10511830893/in/photolist-h1T2M1-h1TT6F-J57QZn-2hhXrnT-2kXozBh-2kXt1n3" title="Oxydendrum arboreum, Sourwood, Tree Giveaway, Compost for Brooklyn"><img alt="Oxydendrum arboreum, Sourwood, Tree Giveaway, Compost for Brooklyn" height="530" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7350/10511830893_ea116c7b1e_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
<span><a name='more'></a></span><h4>Shrubs and Smaller Trees</h4>
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Allegheny-Serviceberry.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Alleghany-Serviceberry.pdf">Allegheny Serviceberry</a> </span></li><li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-American-Hornbeam.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-American-Hornbeam.pdf">American Hornbeam</a> </span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-American-Persimmon.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-American-Persimmon.pdf">American Persimmon</a> </span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-American-Plum.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-American-Plum.pdf">American Plum</a> </span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Eastern-Redbud.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Eastern-Redbud.pdf">Eastern Redbud</a> </span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Elderberry.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Elderberry.pdf">Elderberry</a> </span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Flowering-Dogwood.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Flowering-Dogwood.pdf">Flowering Dogwood</a> </span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Highbush-Blueberry.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Highbush-Blueberry.pdf">Highbush Blueberry</a> </span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Swamp-White-Oak.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Swamp-White-Oak.pdf">Swamp White Oak</a> </span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Sweetbay-Magnolia.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Sweetbay-Magnolia.pdf">Sweetbay Magnolia</a> </span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Washington-Hawthorn.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Washington-Hawthorn.pdf">Washington Hawthorn</a> </span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-White-Fringe-Tree.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-White-Fringe-Tree.pdf">White Fringe Tree</a> </span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Winged-Sumac-1.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Winged-Sumac-1.pdf">Winged Sumac</a> </span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Witchhazel.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Witchhazel.pdf">Witchhazel</a> </span></li>
</ul>
<h4>Larger Trees</h4>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-American-Beech.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-American-Beech.pdf">American Beech</a>
</li>
<li>
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Bald-Cypress.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1678473263438000&usg=AOvVaw1eGzUjc-EG4m1Qkexl89Ht" href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Bald-Cypress.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Bald-Cypress.pdf">Bald Cypress</a>
</li>
<li>
<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Basswood.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1678473263438000&usg=AOvVaw0jlgt6va0d0YImIKqDl4nx" href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Basswood.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Basswood.pdf">Basswood</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Black-Cherry.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Black-Cherry.pdf">Black Cherry</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Black-Gum.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Black-Gum.pdf">Black Gum</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Black-Locust.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Black-Locust.pdf">Black Locust</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="”https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Eastern-Red-Cedar.pdf”" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Eastern-Red-Cedar.pdf">Eastern Red Cedar</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Honey-Locust.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Honey-Locust.pdf">Honey Locust</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Northern-Red-Oak.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Northern-Red-Oak.pdf">Northern Red Oak</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Pin-Oak.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Pin-Oak.pdf">Pin Oak</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Red-Maple.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Red-Maple.pdf">Red Maple</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Sycamore.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Sycamore.pdf">Sycamore</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Willow-Oak.pdf" target="_blank" title="https://www.nyrp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Tree-Bio-Willow-Oak.pdf">Willow Oak</a>
</li>
</ul>
<strong>Advance registration is mandatory</strong>.
You select your preferred species when you register. Note that each location will only have 6-8 species.
Some locations, especially smaller sites, are already "sold out" of some species.
<br />
<br />
Here are this year's Brooklyn sites and pick-up dates.
<ul>
<li>April 15:
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/en/get-involved/events/tree-giveaway-red-hook-farms-2/" target="_blank">Red Hook Farms</a>
(Red Hook, Brooklyn)
</li>
<li>April 15:
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/en/get-involved/events/tree-giveaway-wyckoff-house-museum-2/" target="_blank">Wyckoff House Museum and State Senator Kevin S. Parker</a>
(Canarsie, Brooklyn)
</li>
<li>April 29:
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/en/get-involved/events/tree-giveaway-i-s-318-project-roots-community-garden-and-councilmember-lincoln-restler/" target="_blank">I.S. 318 Project Roots Community Garden and Councilmember Lincoln Restler</a>
(Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
</li>
<li>May 6:
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/en/get-involved/events/tree-giveaway-bpl-marcy-library-and-councilmember-chi-osse/" target="_blank">BPL Marcy Library and Councilmember Chi Ossé</a>
(Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn)
</li>
<li>May 13:
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/en/get-involved/events/tree-giveaway-bpl-brownsville-library/" target="_blank">BPL Brownsville Library</a>
(Brownsville, Brooklyn)
</li>
<li>May 20:
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/en/get-involved/events/tree-giveaway-citizens-brooklyn/" target="_blank">Citizens</a>
(Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn)
</li>
</ul>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
2008-10-14: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2008/10/tree-giveaway-this-saturday-in-sunset.html">Tree Giveaway this Saturday in Sunset Park</a>
<br />
2010-04-08: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2010/04/put-down-roots-million-trees-nyc-tree.html">Put Down Roots: Million Trees NYC Tree Giveaway</a>
<h4>Links</h4>
<a href="https://www.nyrp.org/en/get-involved/tree-giveaways/" target="_blank">New York Restoration Project Tree Giveaway</a>
Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-11718026873858173182023-02-28T15:37:00.001-05:002023-02-28T15:37:48.951-05:00Who Cares About Honeybees, Anyway?<p>
Originally published as a Guest Rant on Garden Rant, November 4, 2009. Recovered from the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091208001102/http://www.gardenrant.com/my_weblog/2009/11/colony-collapse.html" target="_blank">Internet Archive</a>.
I replaced the photo snapshot with a link to the high-res photo on Flickr.
I've replaced archive links with current, active links where possible. Those that have since link-rotted are noted.
</p>
<hr />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/4074282673/in/photolist-yxvEyc-LWSEQr-LWSESF-M1Jb6z-6LVGNv-6LZSxh-7d2LhZ-29BtMPN-2aCvudL-2iDYJnj-2iDYJnz-2iE2uxh" title="Subgenus *Agapostemon*, male, on NOID *Helianthus*, perennial sunflower, along my driveway, August 2009"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/2665/4074282673_a2103272bb_c.jpg" width="800" height="478" alt="Subgenus *Agapostemon*, male, on NOID *Helianthus*, perennial sunflower, along my driveway, August 2009"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has been making the news rounds for a few years now. It's old, if still current, news. Dire outcomes from the loss of honeybees have been proffered. For example, PBS recently introduced an online "ask the expert" feature with this:</p>
<blockquote>
Since the winter of 2006, millions of bees have vanished, leaving behind empty hives and a damaged ecosystem. <a href="#Note1">[1]</a>
</blockquote>
<p>Really? The ECOSYSTEM?! Did they not notice that honeybees aren't part of the ecosystem?</p>
<p>Honeybees are livestock. They are animals which we manage for our uses. We provide them with housing and maintenance. We even move them from field to field, just as we let cows into different pastures for grazing.</p>
<p>Perhaps, if CCD can neither be prevented nor cured, disaster would come to pass. However, the underlying cause would not be the loss of the honeybees but our dependence on them as a consequence of unsustainable agricultural practices.</p>
<p>The old ways of farming include hedgerows, uncultivated areas between fields. The biodiversity of these patches provide substantial habitat for native pollinators, as well as other beneficial insects. When even these rough “unproductive” patches of land are cleared, we set the stage for the patterns that have come to dominate agriculture: more herbicides, more pesticides, more machinery. All of these also damage the soil food webs that support both soil fertility and agricultural ecosystems. Although manufactured inputs provide temporary relief, they reduce the ecological functions of the land, requiring more and greater inputs to achieve the same effect. This is the definition of addiction, and it’s a clear sign that this way of doing business is unsustainable.</p>
<p>Why do we need to ship and truck pollinators around? There are plenty of native pollinators to do the job, where we haven't decimated their habitats. There are 4,000 species of bees alone in North America. 226 species are known in New York City. Many of them visit my gardens in Flatbush, Brooklyn; some have even taken up residence <a href="#Note2">[2]</a>. Many native bees are ground-dwellers which need only some open ground in which to dig their nests. When every patch of ground is cultivated, plowed under or paved over, native pollinators disappear. Suddenly, we “need” honeybees for pollination.</p>
<p>I care about the honeybees. I like my honey and beeswax candles. I support efforts to legalize beekeeping in New York City. But not at the expense of the biodiversity that is all around us, even in the city, if only we care enough to look for it, value it, and nurture it.</p>
<h4>Dig Deeper</h4>
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091124080211/http://greatpollinatorproject.org/" target="_blank">The Great Pollinator Project</a> [original link defunct]<br />
<a href="https://www.pollinator.org/nappc" target="_blank">North American Pollinator Protection Campaign</a>
<br />
<a href="http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/saving-bees-what-we-know-now" target="_blank">Saving [Honey] Bees: What We Know Now [About CCD]</a>, NY Times, 2009-09-02
<h4>Notes</h4>
<span id="Note1">[1]</span> Ask “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091219151202/http://www.pbs.org/engage/blog/ask-%E2%80%9Csilence-bees%E2%80%9D-expert-dr-diana-cox-foster" target="_blank">Silence of the Bees</a>” Expert Dr. Diana Cox-Foster, PBS Blog [original link defunct]<br />
<span id="Note1">[2]</span> “<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2009/05/cellophane-bees-return.html">Cellophane Bees Return</a>”, 2009-05-02 [sic, correct date below]<br />
<hr />
<p>End of original guest rant.</p>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2009/05/cellophane-bees-return.html">Cellophane Bees Return</a>, 2009-05-09 [cited in the Notes above]<br /><a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2009/06/bee-watchers-needed-in-nyc-and-rant.html">Bee Watchers Needed in NYC (and a rant)</a>, 2009-06-09 [This was the original blog post which led to the Guest Rant]<br /><br />
All my <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/search/label/Bees">Bees</a> posts
<h4>Links</h4>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-78098405727777450852022-12-21T16:47:00.001-05:002022-12-21T16:47:00.219-05:00Standing Still 2022: From Darkness<a href="https://ecoevo.social/@xris" rel="me"></a>
<blockquote>
Maybe I am more like Demeter, weeping for the hold darkness has over others, while reaching and hoping for a time when we can bring everyone back into the light.
<br />
- <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/12/standing-still-2021-demeter-waiting.html">Standing Still 2021: Demeter Waiting</a>
</blockquote>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/52478944216/in/photolist-2nXoiM3-2nXoiTv-2nXoj7M-2nXojhG-2nXpHwy-2nXpHEE-2nXpHZ7-2nXpJoJ-2nXpJpf-2nXqEuk-2nXqEDD-2nXqEKq-2nXqFa3-2nXqFfD-2nXqFyp-2nXqFCN-2nXqFKM-2nXr7Z2-2nXJjU2-2nXJPiV-2nXeUnz-2nXhtNn-2nXhtUE-2nXiTAD-2nXjwdp-2nXjRLL-2nXkhzG-2nXkhES-2nXn68c-2nXn6hv-2nXoj8D-2nXojc1-2nXovfS-2nXovnf-2nXpsqT-2nXpszF-2nXpJMu-2nXqG2U-2nXr8cB-2nXr8rV-2o3udbA-2nXhtYc-2nXiTEB-2nXiTPK-2nXjSca-2nBFvJB-2nC5naM-2nC8LmG-2nC8YDL-2nC98qd" title="Green-Wood Cemetery, early November 2022"><img alt="Green-Wood Cemetery, early November 2022" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52478944216_b14061c5c7_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
I write again for the solstice. The sun "stands still", as do I.<span><a name='more'></a></span>
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I continue to grieve for the many lost to darkness, their own and others'. Though amplified over the past several years, it's not new in my lifetime. From civil rights in the 60s to trans rights in the 20s, resistance and liberation are always met with hatred and violence.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/238056850/in/album-72157667501226655/" title="Grieving Angel on Headstone in Trinity Church Cemetery"><img alt="Grieving Angel on Headstone in Trinity Church Cemetery" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/94/238056850_ada3b9caac_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
<hr />
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Out of that grief, I am resolute.
<br />
I resist.
<br />
I will not quench joy.
<br />
I will not subdue celebration.
<br />
<br />
I will not hide our light from darkness.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/52351423999/" title="Striped green sweat bee (Agapostemon) visiting Vernonia noveboracensis flowers in my front yard, 2022-08-31"><img alt="Striped green sweat bee (Agapostemon) visiting Vernonia noveboracensis flowers in my front yard, 2022-08-31" height="640" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52351423999_a282387a53_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
All my past Winter <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/search/label/Solstice" target="_blank">Solstice</a> posts:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/12/standing-still-2021-demeter-waiting.html">2021</a>: Standing Still 2021: Demeter Waiting
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2018/12/standing-still-in-2018.html" target="_blank">2018</a>: Standing Still in 2018</li>
<li>
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2016/12/standing-still-2016.html" target="_blank">2016</a>: Standing Still 2016
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2015/12/standing-still.html" target="_blank">2015</a>: Standing Still
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-sun-stands-still.html" target="_blank">2014</a>: The Sun stands still
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2010/12/from-dark-to-dark-eclipse-solstice.html" target="_blank">2010</a>: From Dark to Dark: Eclipse-Solstice Astro Combo
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2009/12/standing-still-looking-ahead.html" target="_blank">2009</a>: Standing Still, Looking Ahead
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2008/12/stand-still-dona-nobis-pacem.html" target="_blank">2008</a>: Stand Still / Dona Nobis Pacem
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/12/solstice-sun-stands-still.html" target="_blank">2007</a>: Solstice (the sun stands still)</li></ul>
<h4>Links</h4>
Wikipedia:
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice" target="_blank">Winter solstice</a></li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persephone" target="_blank">Persephone</a>
</li>
</ul>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-6646873847051652542022-11-30T00:00:00.009-05:002022-12-21T15:47:08.206-05:00Grief and Gardening: Extinct Plants of northern North America 2022<a rel="me" href="https://ecoevo.social/@xris"></a>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/10855430535/" title="A Single Candle"><img alt="A Single Candle" height="512" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7381/10855430535_d2eae5217f_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>As in past years, I'm limiting this list to northern North America for two reasons:<br /></p><ol><li>Restricting this list geographically is in keeping with my specialization in plants native to northeastern North America.</li><li>There are many more tropical plants, and plant extinctions, than I can manage.</li></ol><p>In 2020, this paper:<br /><br />
<a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13621" target="_blank">Vascular plant extinction in the continental United States and Canada</a>
<br /><br />caused me to expand my list from 6 to 59 species, including 7 extinct in the wild. The summary is terse, and grim:
</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><blockquote>
Given the paucity of plant surveys in many areas, particularly prior to European settlement, the actual extinction rate of vascular plants is undoubtedly much higher than indicated here.</blockquote><div>Note that they only examined vascular plants. So their list excludes <i>Neomacounia nitida</i>, Macoun's shining moss. It remains on my full list, below.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've highlighted those which appeared prior to 2020 with an asterisk *. Everything else was added in 2020. If you have additions or corrections to this list, please let me know, and provide a link which I can research.</div><h4>Extinct</h4><ul><li><i><a href="http://floranorthamerica.org/Agalinis_caddoensis" target="_blank">Agalinis caddoensis</a></i>, Railroad near Shreveport, Louisiana. last observed 1913</li><li><i>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Astilbe_crenatiloba&action=edit&redlink=1" target="_blank">Astilbe crenatiloba</a></i>, Roan Mountain false goat's beard, Roan Mountain, Tennessee, 1885</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Astragalus_endopterus&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Astragalus endopterus (page does not exist)">Astragalus endopterus</a>, near Cameron, Coconino County, Arizona. Last observed 1947</li><li><i>Astragalus kentrophyta </i>var. <i>douglasii</i>, Washington/Oregon?, 1883</li><li><i>Astragalus robbinsii</i> var. <i>robbinsii</i>, Vermont, 1894</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atriplex_tularensis" title="Atriplex tularensis">Atriplex tularensis</a></i>, California, 1891</li><li><i>Blephilia hirsuta</i> var. <i>glabrata</i>, Manchester, Bennington County, ermont, 1932</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boechera_fruticosa&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Boechera fruticosa (page does not exist)">Boechera fruticosa</a></i>, Yellowstone, Wyoming, 1899</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brickellia_chenopodina" title="Brickellia chenopodina">Brickellia chenopodina</a></i>, Grant County, New Mexico, 1903</li><li><i>Brickellia hinckleyi</i> var. <i>terlinguensis</i>, Brewster County, Texas, 1937</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calochortus_indecorus" title="Calochortus indecorus">Calochortus indecorus</a>, Sexton Mountain, Josephine County, Oregon, 1948</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calochortus_monanthus" title="Calochortus monanthus">Calochortus monanthus</a>, Yreka, Siskiyou County, California, 1876</li><li><i>Calystegia seium</i> ssp. <i>binghamiae</i>, Santa Barbara, California</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Castilleja_leschkeana&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Castilleja leschkeana (page does not exist)">Castilleja leschkeana</a>, Point Reyes, Marin County, California, 1947</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Castilleja_uliginosa&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Castilleja uliginosa (page does not exist)">Castilleja uliginosa</a>, Pitkin Marsh, Sonoma County, California, 1984</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cirsium_praeteriens&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Cirsium praeteriens (page does not exist)">Cirsium praeteriens</a>, Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, California, 1901</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Corispermum_pallidum&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Corispermum pallidum (page does not exist)">Corispermum pallidum</a>, Washington, 1931</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crataegus_austromontana" title="Crataegus austromontana">Crataegus austromontana</a>, Sand Mountain region and Cumberland Mountains, Alabama and Tennessee, 1916</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cryptantha_aptera&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Cryptantha aptera (page does not exist)">Cryptantha aptera</a>, Grand Junctino, mesa County Colorado, 1892</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cryptantha_hooveri&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Cryptantha hooveri (page does not exist)">Cryptantha hooveri</a></i>, California, 1939</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cryptantha_insolita&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Cryptantha insolita (page does not exist)">Cryptantha insolita</a></i>, north of Las Vegas, Nevada, 1942</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dalea_sabinalis&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Dalea sabinalis (page does not exist)">Dalea sabinalis</a></i>, Texas, 1950s</li><li><i>Digitaria filiformis</i> var. <i>laeviglumis</i>, Hillsboro County, NH, 1931</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diplacus_traskiae&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Diplacus traskiae (page does not exist)">Diplacus traskiae</a></i>, near Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, California, 1901</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eleocharis_brachycarpa&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Eleocharis brachycarpa (page does not exist)">Eleocharis brachycarpa</a></i>, Tamaulipas, Mexico (1959) and Texas, 1834</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elodea_schweinitzii&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Elodea schweinitzii (page does not exist)">Elodea schweinitzii</a></i>, New York and Pennsylvania, 1832</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erigeron_mariposanus" title="Erigeron mariposanus">Erigeron mariposanus</a></i>, California, 1900</li><li><i>Eriochloa michauxii</i> var. <i>simpsonii</i>, Florida, 1966</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Govenia_floridana" title="Govenia floridana">Govenia floridana</a></i>, Miami-Dade County, Florida, 1964</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hedeoma_pilosa&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Hedeoma pilosa (page does not exist)">Hedeoma pilosa</a></i>, Old Blue Mountain, Brewster County, Texas, 1940</li><li><i>Helianthus nuttallii</i> ssp. <i>parishii</i>, Orange County, California, 1937</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helianthus_praetermissus" title="Helianthus praetermissus">Helianthus praetermissus</a></i>, Arizona (likely) or New Mexico, 1851</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isocoma_humilis" title="Isocoma humilis">Isocoma humilis</a></i>, Washington County, Utah, 1971</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Juncus_pervetus&action=edit&redlink=1" target="_blank">Juncus pervetus</a></i>, Lewis Bay, West Yarmouth, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1927</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lechea_lakelae&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Lechea lakelae (page does not exist)">Lechea lakelae</a></i>, Collier County, Florida, 1987</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lycium_verrucosum&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Lycium verrucosum (page does not exist)">Lycium verrucosum</a></i>, Arroyo Cliffs, San Nicolas County, California, 1901</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshallia_grandiflora" title="Marshallia grandiflora">Marshallia grandiflora</a></i>, North Carolina, 1919</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Micranthemum_micranthemoides&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Micranthemum micranthemoides (page does not exist)">Micranthemum micranthemoides</a></i>, Mid-atlantic United States, 1941</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monardella_leucocephala&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Monardella leucocephala (page does not exist)">Monardella leucocephala</a></i>, California, 1941</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monardella_pringlei&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Monardella pringlei (page does not exist)">Monardella pringlei</a></i>, San Bernardino County, California, 1941</li><li><i>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Narthecium_montanum&action=edit&redlink=1" target="_blank">Narthecium montanum</a></i>, Appalachian Yellow Asphodel, East Flat Rock Bog, Henderson County, North Carolina, 1919</li><li><i>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neomacounia_nitida" target="_blank">Neomacounia nitida</a></i>, Macoun's shining moss, Belleville, Ontario, 1864</li><li><i>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orbexilum_macrophyllum&action=edit&redlink=1" target="_blank">Orbexilum macrophyllum</a></i>, bigleaf scurfpea, Polk County, North Carolina, 1899</li><li><i>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbexilum_stipulatum" target="_blank">Orbexilum stipulatum</a></i>, large-stipule leather-root, Falls-of-the-Ohio scurfpea, Rock Island, Falls of the Ohio, KY, 1881</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paronychia_maccartii&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Paronychia maccartii (page does not exist)">Paronychia maccartii</a></i>, Rio Grande Plains, Webb County, Texas, 1962</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plagiobothrys_lamprocarpus&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Plagiobothrys lamprocarpus (page does not exist)">Plagiobothrys lamprocarpus</a></i>, Grants Pass, Josephine County, Oregon, 1921</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plagiobothrys_lithocaryus&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Plagiobothrys lithocaryus (page does not exist)">Plagiobothrys lithocaryus</a></i>, Mayacamas Mountains, California, 1899</li><li><i>Plagiobothrys mollis</i> var. <i>vestitus</i>, Petaluma, Sonoma County, California, 1880</li><li><i>Polygonatum biflorum</i> var. <i>melleum</i>, Lake St. Clair, north of Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, 1937</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Potentilla_multijuga&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Potentilla multijuga (page does not exist)">Potentilla multijuga</a></i>, South Coast Ballona Marsh, Los Angeles County, California, 1893</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Potentilla_uliginosa&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Potentilla uliginosa (page does not exist)">Potentilla uliginosa</a></i>, Cunningham Marsh, Sonoma County, California, 1947</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proboscidea_spicata" title="Proboscidea spicata">Proboscidea spicata</a></i>, Rio Grande, Texas, 1967</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_tardifolia" title="Quercus tardifolia">Quercus tardifolia</a></i>, Chisos Mountains, Brewster County, Texas, 2007</li><li><i>Ribes divaricatum</i> var. <i>parishii</i>, California, 1980</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rumex_tomentellus&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Rumex tomentellus (page does not exist)">Rumex tomentellus</a></i>, Willow Creek, Mogollon Mountains, Catron County, New Mexico, 1954</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesuvium_trianthemoides" title="Sesuvium trianthemoides">Sesuvium trianthemoides</a></i>, Kenedy County, Texas, 1947</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sphaeralcea_procera&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Sphaeralcea procera (page does not exist)">Sphaeralcea procera</a></i>, Deming, Luna County, New Mexico, 1943</li><li><i>Tephrosia angustissima</i> var. <i>angustissima</i>, Pine Rocklands, Florida, 1947 (1985?)</li><li><i>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thismia_americana" target="_blank">Thismia americana</a></i>, banded trinity, Lake Calumet, Cook County, Illinois, 1916</li></ul><h4>Extinct in the wild (IUCN Red List code EW)</h4><ul><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctostaphylos_franciscana" target="_blank">Arctostaphylos franciscana</a></i>, Central Coast, San Francisco County, California. Last observed in the wild 2009</li><li><i>Crataegus delawarensis</i>, Delaware, 1903</li><li><i>Crataegus fecunda</i>, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, 1930s</li><li><i>Crataegus lanuginosa</i>, Webb City, Jasper County, Missouri, 1957</li><li><i>Euonymous atropurpurea</i> var. <i>cheatumii</i>, Dallas County, Texas, 1944</li><li>* <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/30408/0"><i>Franklinia alatamaha</i>, Franklin Tree</a></li><li><i>Prunus maritima</i> var. <i>gravesii</i>, beach plum, groton, New London County, Connecticut, 2000</li></ul>
<p></p>
<h4>Related Content</h4><div><a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/search?q=extinct+plants" target="_blank">Extinct Plants of northern North America 2020</a>, 2020-11-30</div><div><a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2019/12/grief-and-gardening-ashes-remembrance.html" target="_blank">Grief and Gardening: Ashes (Remembrance Day for Lost Species)</a>, 2019-12-02</div><div><a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2018/11/extinct-plants-of-northern-north.html" target="_blank">Extinct Plants of northern North America 2018</a>, 2018-11-30</div><div><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2015/11/extinct-plants-of-northern-north.html">Extinct Plants of northern North America 2015</a>, 2015-11-29<br /><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2014/11/extinct-plants-of-northern-north-america.html">Extinct Plants of northern North America</a>, 2014-11-30<br /></div>
<h4>Links</h4><div><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13621" target="_blank">Vascular plant extinction in the continental United States and Canada</a>, 2020-08-20, Authors: Wesley M. Knapp, Anne Frances, Reed Noss, Robert F. C. Naczi, Alan Weakley, George D. Gann, Bruce G. Baldwin, James Miller, Patrick McIntyre, Brent D. Mishler, Gerry Moore, Richard G. Olmstead, Anna Strong, Kathryn Kennedy, Bonnie Heidel, Daniel Gluesenkamp</div><div><br /></div><div>Wikipedia: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extinct_plants#Americas" target="_blank">List of extinct plants: Americas</a></div><div>Wikipedia: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recently_extinct_plants" target="_blank">List of recently extinct plants</a><br />IUCN Red List: <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/link/5402e9ac-368e453a">List of species extinct in the wild</a><br /><a href="http://www.npsoregon.org/kalmiopsis/kalmiopsis03/kagan_vrilakas.pdf" target="_blank">Extinct and Extirpated Plants from Oregon</a> (PDF, 5 pp)</div>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-34398159852894857912022-10-20T12:36:00.007-04:002022-11-29T18:10:29.963-05:00Eastern North America Native GroundcoversThese are some of the Eastern North American species suitable for groundcover, most of which I have grown in my gardens over the decades. Some of these prefer shade, some prefer sun. Most of these will spread by runners, stolons, and the like, as "true" groundcovers. Others are effective as groundcovers because of their habit and crown expansion over time.<br />
<ul><li><i>Asarum canadense</i>, wild ginger<br />
<a data-context="true" data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/27210782452/" title="Asarum canadense, wild ginger, growing in my urban backyard native plant garden and wildlife habitat, May 2016"><img alt="Asarum canadense, wild ginger, growing in my urban backyard native plant garden and wildlife habitat, May 2016" height="360" src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7310/27210782452_384791268d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><span><a name='more'></a></span><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></li>
<li><i>Athyrium filix-femina</i>, lady fern</li>
<li><i>Carex</i>, sedges, hundreds of species, e.g.: <i>Carex pensylvanica</i>, Pennsylvania sedge<br />
<a data-context="true" data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/5640497368/in/photostream/" title="Carex pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Sedge"><img alt="Carex pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Sedge" height="424" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5267/5640497368_0e8865a5e4_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></li>
<li><i>Chrysogonum virginianum</i>, green-and-gold<br />
<a data-context="true" data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/3516277497/in/album-72157626545189568/" title="Chrysogonum virginianum"><img alt="Chrysogonum virginianum" height="426" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3361/3516277497_5d700cb9fb_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></li>
<li><i>Geranium maculatum</i>, wild geranium<br />
<a data-context="true" data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/26892024691/" title="Geranium maculatum, wild geranium"><img alt="Geranium maculatum, wild geranium" height="360" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7734/26892024691_c781ffc29d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></li>
<li><i>Heuchera americana </i>(sunnier)</li><li><i>Heuchera villosa</i> (shadier)</li><li><i>Onoclea sensibilis</i>, sensitive fern<br />
<a data-context="true" data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/14248099225" title="Onoclea sensibilis, Sensitive Fern, High Rock Park, Staten Island, May 2014"><img alt="Onoclea sensibilis, Sensitive Fern, High Rock Park, Staten Island, May 2014" height="424" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/3/2937/14248099225_1ffc4092ec_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></li>
<li><i>Pachysandra procumbens</i>, Allegheny spurge<br />
<a data-context="true" data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/3857919616/in/album-72157622033923310/" title="Pachysandra procumbens"><img alt="Pachysandra procumbens" height="426" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3436/3857919616_2449604608_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></li>
<li><i>Packera aurea</i>, golden ragwort. Many other species native to North America.<br />
<a data-context="true" data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/9223708158/in/album-72157634507535965/" title="Packera aurea (Senecio aureus), Heart-Leaved Groundsel"><img alt="Packera aurea (Senecio aureus), Heart-Leaved Groundsel" height="360" src="https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7324/9223708158_6fedb091dd_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></li>
<li><i>Phlox subulata</i>, mosspink, for sun.<br />
<a data-context="true" data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/17311648595/in/album-72157663550503993/" title="Morning Glory: Phlox subulata"><img alt="Morning Glory: Phlox subulata" height="361" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7677/17311648595_a9b8ab90e3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></li>
<li><i>Phlox stolonifera</i>, creeping phlox, for shade.<br />
<a data-context="true" data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/7122340497/in/album-72157626018022211/" title="Phlox stolonifera, Creeping Phlox"><img alt="Phlox stolonifera, Creeping Phlox" height="424" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7129/7122340497_be08d40114_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></li>
<li><i>Sedum ternatum</i></li>
<li><i>Thelypteris noveboracensis</i>, New York fern</li>
<li><i>Thelypteris palustris</i>, marsh fern</li>
<li><i>Tiarella cordifolia</i>, hearttleaf foamflower<br />
<a data-context="true" data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/26866305492/in/photolist-GW5QBE" title="Tiarella cordifolia, heartleaf foamflower, May 2016"><img alt="Tiarella cordifolia, heartleaf foamflower, May 2016" height="640" src="https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7307/26866305492_97efb989e9_z.jpg" width="360" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></li>
<li><i>Zizia aurea</i>, golden alexanders. Also <i>Z. aptera</i>.<br />
<a data-context="true" data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" data-header="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/7122377883/in/album-72157626903306190/" title="Zizia aurea, Golden Alexanders"><img alt="Zizia aurea, Golden Alexanders" height="424" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7186/7122377883_e81a605244_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></li>
</ul>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">Related Content</h4>
<br />
2009-05-11: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2009/05/wildflowers-in-flatbush-backyard.html">Wildflowers in a Flatbush Backyard</a>
<br />
2007-08-06: <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/07/growing-native-plant-garden-in-flatbush.html">Growing a Native Plant Garden in a Flatbush Backyard</a>Wildflowers in a Flatbush Backyard
<br />
<br />
This list replaces the one I wrote <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2016/05/eastern-native-groundcovers.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">6 years ago</a>.
<h4>Links</h4>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-23688702521982941852022-09-12T23:31:00.003-04:002022-12-01T11:58:31.482-05:00Grief and Gardening: Index<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51122556925/in/album-72157717915745118/" title="Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY, April 2021"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51122556925_ae879d9d32_c.jpg" width="800" height="360" alt="Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY, April 2021"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<br />
Next Tuesday, September 20th, I will be the guest speaker for Green-Wood Cemetery's Death Cafe. Next week is also Climate Week; the topic is "Grief and Gardening", that title taken from the long-running series of blog posts here.
<br />
<br />
Listed below are my related blog posts, grouped by topic. For now, I'm omitting all the eulogies and remembrances for the deaths of family, friends, and pets.
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2019/12/grief-and-gardening-ashes-remembrance.html" target="_blank">Grief and Gardening: Ashes (Remembrance Day for Lost Species)</a>, published 2019-12-02, is one of my favorite writings on the subject of grief. It weaves together nearly all the topics below.<br />
<h4>Biodiversity Loss<span><a name='more'></a></span></h4>
Remembrance Day for Lost Species Day, aka Lost Species Day, is November 30th. Many of these blog posts are on or near that date.
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/11/extinct-plants-of-northern-north.html">Grief and Gardening: Extinct Plants of northern North America 2021</a>, 2021-11-30
<br />
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/search?q=extinct+plants" target="_blank">Extinct Plants of northern North America 2020</a>, 2020-11-30<br />
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2018/11/extinct-plants-of-northern-north.html" target="_blank">Extinct Plants of northern North America 2018</a>, 2018-11-30
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2015/11/extinct-plants-of-northern-north.html">Extinct Plants of northern North America 2015</a>, 2015-11-29
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2014/11/extinct-plants-of-northern-north-america.html">Extinct Plants of northern North America</a>, 2014-11-30
<h4>Climate Change</h4>
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/02/ipcc-report-grief-gardening-6.html" target="_blank">The IPCC Report: Grief & Gardening #6</a>, 2007-02-04
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/10/gardening-as-if-our-lives-depended-on.html" target="_blank">http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/10/gardening-as-if-our-lives-depended-on.html</a>
<h4>COVID-19</h4>
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2020/03/grief-and-gardening-dissetling-spring.html" target="_blank">Grief and Gardening: A Dissetling Spring</a>, 2020-03-19<br /><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2020/03/drumbeat.html" target="_blank">Drumbeat</a>, 2020-03-27<br /><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2020/04/grief-and-gardening-feast-of-losses.html" target="_blank">Grief and Gardening: A Feast of Losses</a>, 2020-04-06<br /><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2020/04/correspondence.html" target="_blank">Correspondence, April 2020</a>, 2020-04-13<br />
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2020/05/grief-and-gardening-defiant-gardener.html">Grief and Gardening: The Defiant Gardener</a>, 2020-05-06
<br /><br />I adapted some of what I wrote on the blog, and several of my tweets on this subject, for a short post on McSweeney's: "<a href="https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-force-outside-myself-citizens-over-60-speak#Kreussling" target="_blank">Do Not Deny What You Feel</a>". The McSweeney's piece was later picked up by <a href="https://www.yesmagazine.org/health-happiness/2020/04/21/coronavirus-elders-share-stories/" target="_blank">YES! Magazine</a>. Search for "Flatbush". or "AIDS".<br />
<h4>9/11</h4>
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/09/grief-gardening-20-years.html">Grief and Gardening: 20 Years</a>, 2021-09-11
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2019/07/grief-and-gardening-remains-of-day.html">Grief and Gardening: Remains of the Day</a>, 2019-07-11
<br /><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2010/09/grief-gardening-nine-years.html">Grief & Gardening: Nine Years</a>, 2010-09-11<br /><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2008/09/seven-years.html">Seven years</a>, 2008-09-10<br /><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/08/in-shadow.html">In the Shadow (How shall my heart be reconciled to its feast of losses?)</a>, 2007-08-08<br /><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/09/grief-gardening-2-five-years-after-ths.html">Grief & Gardening #2: Five Years After, "Ths Transetorey Life"</a>, 2006-09-09<br /><a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/09/grief-gardening-1-1-5-and-25.html">Grief & Gardening #1: 1, 5 and 25</a>, 2006-09-04<br /><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2001/10/without-god.html">Without God</a>, 2001-10-15<br /><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2001/09/this-week-in-history.html">This Week in History</a>, 2001-09-14
<h4>AIDS</h4>
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/12/names.html">Names</a>, 2021-12-01 (World AIDS Day)
<br />
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2016/03/off-topic.html">Off-Topic: The Conversation</a>: 2016-03-12 (on Nancy Reagan's death)
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/08/in-shadow.html">In the Shadow (How shall my heart be reconciled to its feast of losses?)</a>, 2007-08-08
<h4>Miscellaneous</h4>
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/10/grief-gardening-3-nihilism-and.html" target="_blank">2006-10-08: Grief & Gardening #3: Nihilism and Squirrels</a>
<br />
<a href="https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/nihilism.png"><img src="https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/nihilism.png" /></a>
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/10/gardening-matters-death-of-takeo.html" target="_blank">Gardening Matters: The death of Takeo Shiota (Grief & Gardening #4)</a>, 2006-10-29<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/11/daffodil-project-grief-gardening-5.html" target="_blank">The Daffodil Project: Grief & Gardening #5</a>, 2006-11-26
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/06/grief-gardening-7-garden-of-memory.html" target="_blank">http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/06/grief-gardening-7-garden-of-memory.html</a><<span><!--more--></span><span><!--more--></span><span><!--more--></span>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-47222204728082331542022-05-02T12:55:00.008-04:002022-05-13T11:08:01.298-04:00Sunday, May 22: Habitat Gardening Workshop for NYC Wildflower Week<b>2022-05-13 UPDATE</b>: A second session is now available for Sunday, May 22, 12 noon to 2pm! Registration links below now point to the new event.
<br />
<b>2022-05-09 UPDATE</b>: Due to the rainy, windy, <em>cold</em> weather yesterday, we will be scheduling another session of this workshop for later this week, most likely for the afternoon of Friday, May 13th. Will update here when confirmed!
<hr />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/14574297435/in/photolist-UznvPz-zS4FrG-pdGm1R-pdGmEB-oWdacS-ocT5Sg-nGrLJb-nXJZwU-ncyMmw-k16zW8-h9uuqG-bZT5uC-aGV654-amd7XF-afon5P-afnSW8-4iX1CB-4j24sw-4uDqzY-53QJYy-53QJTs-53QJVA-qdCRbe-KFEMJ-pgT2di-pWcnAV-pWcnTZ-pVTnQg-qcR5gk-ncTUCe-J3fHDc-24WvgQh-27BQ9WS-24WvgVC-24Wvh7j-J3fGQD-27BQ9h5-24WvgTo-27BQ9Go-24WvgM1-24WvgYy-5FZMip-6HWDAk-24Wvie9-R5WAUX-24Wvh2Q-24Wvi7L-24WvihA-24WvibJ-24WvhKy" title="Me hosting the NYCWW Pollinator Week Safari in my Front Yard, June 2014. Photo: Alan Riback"><img alt="Me hosting the NYCWW Pollinator Week Safari in my Front Yard, June 2014. Photo: Alan Riback" height="351" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3878/14574297435_e53e9bde1c_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
Sunday, May 22nd <strike>6th</strike>, I will be hosting and facilitating a workshop on gardening for habitat with native plants in my home garden.
The workshop is from 12noon to 2pm.
Space is limited, so please register at the Eventbrite link below.
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
Learn how to garden with native plants to create wildlife habitat, even in small urban gardens.
In this interactive garden tour and workshop, Chris will use his garden to highlight the importance of native plants for sustaining urban wildlife, and how to create and maintain a garden for its ecological value.
With nearly 200 NYC-native plant species, and over 400 documented insect visitors, you are sure to learn something new and find inspiration for improving habitat wherever you garden.
</p>
<p>
Presented by Chris Kreussling.
Chris is an urban naturalist and advocate for urban habitat gardening with native plants.
He has led numerous native plant and pollinator walks and workshops, for NYC Wildflower Week, Wave Hill, the High Line, and others.
His garden is a registered habitat with the National Wildlife Federation, Xerces Pollinator Society, and other organizations.
He’s documented this ongoing transformation on his gardening blog, <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Flatbush Gardener</a> and on Twitter as <a href="https://twitter.com/xrisfg" target="_blank">@xrisfg</a>.
</p>
- <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/habitat-gardening-with-native-plants-registration-339438598987" target="_blank">Eventbrite</a>
</blockquote>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2022/01/insect-year-in-review-2021.html" target="_blank">Insect Year in Review 2021</a>, 2022-01-03
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/11/hot-sheets-habitat.html" target="_blank">Hot Sheets Habitat</a>, 2021-11-19
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/10/documenting-insect-plant-interactions.html" target="_blank">Documenting Insect-Plant Interactions</a>, 2021-10-29
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/02/presentation-creating-urban-habitat.html" target="_blank">Presentation: Creating Urban Habitat</a>, 2021-02-04
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2020/05/home-of-wild.html" target="_blank">Home of the Wild</a>, 2020-05-13
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2019/06/sunday-623-pollinator-safari-urban.html" target="_blank">Pollinator Safari: Urban Insect Gardening with Native Plants</a>, 2019-06-08
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2019/02/charismatic-mesofauna.html" target="_blank">Charismatic Mesofauna</a>, 2019-02-12
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2015/02/pollinator-gardens-for-schools.html" target="_blank">Pollinator Gardens, for Schools and Others</a>, 2015-02-20
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2014/06/event-saturday-621-nycww-pollinator.html" target="_blank">NYCWW Pollinator Safari of my Gardens</a>, 2014-06-14
<br />
<h4>Links</h4>
<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/habitat-gardening-with-native-plants-registration-339438598987" target="_blank">Eventbrite registration page</a>
<br />
<a href="https://www.nycwildflowerweek.org/" target="_blank">NYC Wildflower Week</a>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-66240816709597519332022-04-25T09:40:00.001-04:002022-04-25T09:45:19.358-04:00City Nature Challenge 2022 - New York City<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51152354079/in/photolist-2kW7mGY-2kWabKi-2kWbPAr-2kW6aKh-2kW7mwT-2fFdwA7-2fFdwGu-2fFdww9-2fFdwD3-2fFdwxG-2fFdwpA-2fFdwrQ-2fFdwnw-2fFdwtJ-2fFdwn1-2fFdwjq-2fFdwfY-RYBvWx-2em7ovM-RYBvVF-2em7oxF-2em7oq6-2em7ojK-2em7omi-2em7ooH-2em7orP-2em7oi2-2fEs857-2em7ona-2em7oue-2fEs821-2fEs7Ww-2fEs7Z7-2fEs7My-2fEs7Hf-2fEs7RG-2fEs7PY-2fEs7E9-2fEs7TW-2fEs7Bd-2fEs7zQ-2fEs7xf-2fEs7yN-2fEs7s5-2fEs7u9-2fEs7vw-2fEs7qw-2fEs7nA-2fEs7kG-23SGYf5/" title="Botanizing along the Gowanus, May 2021"><img alt="Botanizing along the Gowanus, May 2021" height="600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51152354079_8e6c5ea0f0_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
The annual City Nature Challenge (CNC) is this weekend, from Friday April 29 through Monday May 2.
I put together a presentation on Slideshare with a brief overview of New York City's participation in CNC.
</p>
<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/2NB67H4QN08qwW?hostedIn=slideshare&page=upload" width="476"></iframe>
<p>
I'm one of the Brooklyn Borough Captains for the NYC Battle of the Boroughs, a friendly inter-borough competition among the boroughs to promote CNC participation across NYC.
Following is a list of all the planned events and participating greenspaces in Brooklyn.
You can also find this list on the <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022-brooklyn/journal/63496-brooklyn-cnc-2022-events-and-locations" target="_blank">Brooklyn CNC 2022 iNaturalist Project Journal</a>.
</p>
<span><a name='more'></a></span>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">Friday, April 29, 2022</h4>
<strong>Calvert Vaux Park<br /></strong>
<br /><strong>CNC BioBlitz: Birds, Plants, and Pollinators!</strong>
<br /><strong>Time</strong>: 12pm-2pm
<br /><strong>Host</strong>: <a href="https://www.torreybotanical.org/" target="_blank">Torrey Botanical Society</a><br /><strong>Description</strong>: Calvert Vaux Park is an under-explored park in Brooklyn with several trails and a waterfront view of the Verrazano Bridge. The event will take place during low tide to take advantage of the exposed shoreline. Participants of all levels are welcome! Local naturalists with expertise in plants, birds, and insects will share their knowledge on the biodiversity of the park and how to make meaningful observations. The bioblitz will be led by Chris Kreussling, Jen Kepler, and other local urban naturalists.
<br /><strong>Registration</strong>: <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/calvert-vaux-park-bio-blitz-city-nature-challenge-2022-tickets-310138581847" target="_blank">Eventbrite</a><br /><strong>Starting Location</strong>: [Pollinator Place Garden](https://goo.gl/maps/sZL2cotYE5vJ7cXt9), Calvert Vaux Park, near the pedestrian bridge over Shore Pkwy
<h4>Saturday, April 30, 2022</h4><strong>Ridgewood Reservoir (Highland Park)<br /></strong>
<br /><strong>Birds and Insects Walking Tour</strong>
<br /><strong>Time</strong>: 10a - 12p
<br /><strong>Host</strong>: NYC H2O
<br /><strong>Description</strong>: Let's put Highland Park and Ridgewood Reservoir on the map! Our first walk will be led by Ken Chaya - a consultant for the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), perhaps best know for mapping the location of all 19,933 trees in Central Park to produce the prolifically illustrated "Central Park Entire" map.
<br /><strong>Registration</strong>: <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/city-nature-challenge-ridgewood-reservoir-birds-insects-id-walking-tour-tickets-294933984487" target="_blank">Eventbrite</a><br /><strong>Starting Location</strong>:
<br /><br /><strong>Plants and Herbals Walking Tour</strong>
<br /><strong>Time</strong>: 12p - 2p
<br /><strong>Host</strong>: NYC H2O
<br /><strong>Description</strong>: Let's put Highland Park and Ridgewood Reservoir on the map!
Our second walk will be led by Jocelyn Perez-Blanco - a local educator, conservationist, and Herbalists Without Borders (HWB) NYC Queens Chapter Coordinator.
<br /><strong>Registration</strong>: Via <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/city-nature-challenge-ridgewood-reservoir-plant-id-walking-tour-tickets-294953843887" target="_blank">Eventbrite</a>: <br /><strong>Starting Location</strong>:
<h4>Sunday, May 1, 2022</h4><strong>Green-Wood Cemetery</strong>
<br /><strong><a href="https://www.green-wood.com/event/city-nature-challenge-green-wood-bioblitz/" target="_blank">City Nature Challenge: Green-Wood BioBlitz</a></strong><br /><strong>Time</strong>: 10am-12noon
<br /><strong>Host</strong>: <a href="https://www.green-wood.com/" target="_blank">Green-Wood Historic Fund</a><br /><strong>Description</strong>: Join Sigrid Jakob and Potter Palmer, the project leads of Green-Wood’s Fungi Phenology Project, and Sara Evans, Green-Wood’s manager of horticulture operations, on a guided bioblitz.
<br /><strong>Registration</strong>: https://www.green-wood.com/event/city-nature-challenge-green-wood-bioblitz/
<br /><strong>Starting Location</strong>: inside the Main Entrance at Fifth Avenue and 25th Street<div>
<br /><strong>Fort Green Park</strong></div><div>
<b><br /></b><strong><a href="https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2022/05/01/city-nature-challenge-spring-blossoms" target="_blank">City Nature Challenge: Spring Blossoms</a></strong><br /><strong>Time</strong>: 11a-12:30p
<br /><strong>Host</strong>: Urban Park Rangers
<br /><strong>Description</strong>: NYC Parks is participating in the City Nature Challenge and is recruiting you to help. Join the Rangers as we walk the park to observe and collect data for the City Nature Challenge, a friendly competition taking place April 29-May 1 between cities around the world to see which is most biodiverse. This program will focus on identifying spring blossoms. Participants are encouraged to download the iNaturalist app to collect data.
<br /><strong>Registration</strong>: None needed. For more info, visit: https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2022/05/01/city-nature-challenge-spring-blossoms
<br /><strong>Starting Location</strong>: Fort Green Park Visitor Center
<h4>Monday, May 2, 2002</h4><strong>Prospect Park</strong>
Nothing scheduled, but if you want to meet up for an informal CNC, let me know.
<h4>Parks and other Green Spaces</h4>
Other Brooklyn Parks and Green Spaces that are participating without any scheduled events:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022-naval-cemetery-landscape" target="_blank">Naval Cemetery Landscape</a></li><li><a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/scsp-city-nature-challenge-2022" target="_blank">Shirley Chisolm State Park</a> (SCSP)
</li></ul><h4>Related Content</h4>
<b>City Nature Challenge</b><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>2018-04-9</b>: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2018/04/city-nature-challenge-2018.html" target="_blank">City Nature Challenge 2018</a></li></ul><b>iNaturalist</b> <ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>2022-03-17</b>: <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2022/03/torrey-lecture-wednesday-march-30.html" target="_blank">Torrey Lecture, Wednesday March 30</a></li><li><b>2022-01-13</b>: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2022/01/insect-year-in-review-2021.html" target="_blank">Insect Year in Review</a></li><li><b>2021-11-19</b>: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/11/hot-sheets-habitat.html" target="_blank">Hot Sheets Habitat</a></li><li><b>2021-10-29</b>: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/10/documenting-insect-plant-interactions.html" target="_blank">Documenting Insect-Plant Interactions</a></li><li><b>2021-09-13</b>: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/09/inaturalist-workshops-high-line.html" target="_blank">iNaturalist Workshops, The High Line, Saturday September 25</a></li><li><b>2021-06-14</b>: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/06/native-pollinator-walks-wave-hill.html" target="_blank">Native Pollinator Walks, Wave Hill, Sunday, June 27</a></li><li><b>2020-05-14</b>: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2020/05/home-of-wild.html" target="_blank">Home of the Wild</a></li><li><b>2019-06-08</b>: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2019/06/sunday-623-pollinator-safari-urban.html" target="_blank">Sunday 6/23: Pollinator Safari: Urban Insect Gardening with Native Plants</a></li><li><b>2018-08-19</b>: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2018/08/plant-blindness-and-urban-ecology.html" target="_blank">Plant Blindness [Phytoagnosia] and Urban Ecology</a></li></ul>
<h4>NYC CNC iNaturalist Projects</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022-new-york-city" target="_blank">NYC CNC 2022</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022-nyc-battle-of-the-boroughs">NYC CNC 2022 - Battle of the Boroughs</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022-greenspace-race" target="_blank">NYC CNC 2022 - Greenspace Race</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-new-york-city" target="_blank">NYC CNC - All Years</a></li>
</ul>
<h4 style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://citynaturechallenge.org/">City Nature Challenge</a></h4>
<h4>NYC CNC iNaturalist Projects- Past Years</h4>
<b>Battle of the Boroughs - Past Years</b>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2019-nyc-battle-of-the-boroughs" target="_blank">2019</a></li><li>2020 - skipped</li><li><a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2021-nyc-battle-of-the-boroughs" target="blank">2021</a></li></ul>
<b>Parks and Green Spaces</b>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2021-park-by-park-competition"></a><a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2021-park-by-park-competition" target="_blank">2021</a></li>
</ul></div>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-85244489083020685752022-04-15T10:51:00.003-04:002022-04-25T09:46:26.802-04:00iNaturalist Workshops at GrowTogether, 4/22 & 4/23<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/48070240177/in/photolist-2geN1xk-2geNxEb-2geNxEr/" title="Eristalis arbustorum (left) and and Syritta pipiens (right), thick-legged fly, on NOID Lamiaceae, 6&B Community Garden, East VIllage, Manhattan, July 2012"><img alt="Eristalis arbustorum (left) and and Syritta pipiens (right), thick-legged fly, on NOID Lamiaceae, 6&B Community Garden, East VIllage, Manhattan, July 2012" height="392" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48070240177_d657cd791e_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
It's a busy season for me this Spring!
NEXT WEEK is New York City NYC's <a href="https://greenthumb.nycgovparks.org/" target="_blank">GreenThumb</a> community gardening program annual conference, known as GrowTogether:
</p>
<blockquote>
Part 2 of the GreenThumb GrowTogether conference will be hosted in-person in community gardens in all five boroughs in celebration of Earth Week.
Join us for workshops about growing food, healthy eating, native pollinators, flower arrangement, planting seeds, screen printing garden swag, volunteer projects, and more.
All the activities are free and open to the public!
<br />
<br />
...
The theme of this year’s GrowTogether is “Deeply Rooted: Growing Community Connections.”
Community gardeners from across New York City have been gathering at the GrowTogether conference each spring since 1984 to celebrate the start of the garden season with a day of learning, networking, and reconnecting with friends. - Ibid.
<br />
<br />
- <a href="https://greenthumb.nycgovparks.org/news.html?news_id=525" target="_blank">38th Annual GreenThumb GrowTogether Conference Part 2 Conference Guide</a>
</blockquote>
<p>
As noted above, all GrowTogether workshops are open to the public.
Please register, as some workshops have limited capacity.
</p>
<p>
This is my first time participating in GrowTogether.
I'll be giving two different workshops on how to use iNaturalist, Friday in Brooklyn, and Saturday on Staten Island.
</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/using-inaturalist-for-community-gardens-greenthumb-growtogether-tickets-306592475347" target="_blank">Using iNaturalist for Community Gardens and Gardeners</a></p>
<b>Friday, April 22</b>
<br />
<b>Time</b>: 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
<br />
(Rain Date: Saturday, April 23, same time)
<br />
<b>Location</b>: Vernon Cases Community Garden, 42 Vernon Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
<br />
<b>Description</b>:
<blockquote>
iNaturalist is a community/citizen science platform where anyone can record their observations – photos or audio recordings – of any living thing anywhere in the world.
Community gardeners and visitors can use iNaturalist to document and keep records about their gardens,
such as flowering and fruiting times;
identify and keep track of common weeds;
and identify insect visitors, whether pests, predators, or pollinators.
<br />
<br />
In this workshop, we will use iNaturalist “in the field” to make observations of plants and insects and upload them to iNaturalist, creating a record of the biodiversity in a community garden.
If you have access to a smartphone, please download the iNaturalist app in advance and bring it to the workshop!
</blockquote>
<h4><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-and-greet-new-york-citys-native-pollinators-greenthumb-growtogether-tickets-306448775537" target="_blank">Meet and Greet New York City’s Native Pollinators</a></h4>
<br />
<b>Saturday, April 23</b>
<br />
<b>Time</b>: 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
<br />
(Rain Date: Sunday, April 24, same time)
<br />
<b>Location</b>: Hill Street Community Garden, Staten Island
<br />
<b>Description</b>:
<blockquote>
New York City is home to hundreds of species of pollinating insects.
While butterflies and bumblebees are easily-spotted inhabitants of our community gardens, meet a few of New York City’s lesser known pollinators—including wasps, flower flies, and specialist bees— during this workshop with Sarah Ward from National Wildlife Federation and Chris Keussling (aka Flatbush Gardener).
During a walk through the garden, participants will learn tips and tricks for observing pollinators and welcoming them into our gardens.
Participants will also learn how to use the community science app iNaturalist to identify pollinators and contribute valuable data about pollinators in New York City.
</blockquote>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<br />
Torrey Lecture, Wednesday March 30, 2022-03-17
<br />
<h4>Links</h4>
<p>
For more information, or to register, for either/both workshop:
</p>
<ul><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-and-greet-new-york-citys-native-pollinators-greenthumb-growtogether-tickets-306448775537" target="_blank">
</a><li><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-and-greet-new-york-citys-native-pollinators-greenthumb-growtogether-tickets-306448775537" target="_blank">
</a><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/using-inaturalist-for-community-gardens-greenthumb-growtogether-tickets-306592475347" target="_blank">Using iNaturalist for Community Gardens and Gardeners</a>, Friday 4/22, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., Vernon Cases Community Garden, Brooklyn
</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-and-greet-new-york-citys-native-pollinators-greenthumb-growtogether-tickets-306448775537" target="_blank">Meet and Greet New York City’s Native Pollinators</a>, Saturday, April 23rd, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., Hill Street Community Garden, Staten Island
</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://greenthumb.nycgovparks.org/news.html?news_id=525" target="_blank">38th Annual GreenThumb GrowTogether Conference Part 2 Conference Guide</a>, Greenthumb News
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://greenthumb.nycgovparks.org/" target="_blank">GreenThumb</a>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-5899360320797901062022-03-17T14:09:00.004-04:002022-04-07T12:22:59.566-04:00Torrey Lecture, Wednesday March 30<b>2022-04-07</b>: The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZRIk81Z5s0" target="_blank">recording</a> is online on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/TorreyBotanicalSociety" target="_blank">Torrey Botanical Society YouTube channel</a>.
<hr />
<p>
I am proud to announce that I will be co-presenting, with Zihao Wang,
a <a href="https://www.torreybotanical.org/lecture-schedule/" target="_blank">Lecture</a>
of the <a href="https://www.torreybotanical.org/" target="_blank">Torrey Botanical Society</a>
on Wednesday March 30 at 6pm.
The title of the talk is "City Nature Challenge (CNC) 2022: For Plant-lovers and Botanists Alike."
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51944617199/in/datetaken-public/" title="Screenshot of top 30 Species Observed during NYC's CNC 2021"><img alt="Screenshot of top 30 Species Observed during NYC's CNC 2021" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51944617199_e4b6e37264_c.jpg" width="536" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
Note that the information we present will be applicable to iNaturalist users and City Nature Challenge observers and identifiers anywhere in the world!
So, whereever you are, please join us if you can.
</p>
<h4>Abstract</h4>
<blockquote>
Unlike most other citizen science platforms, iNaturalist allows anyone to record their observations of any living thing anywhere in the world.
As it approaches 100 million Observations worldwide, it has become increasingly important to botany and other biological sciences.
City Nature Challenge, based on iNaturalist,
engages community members in cities and urbanized areas around the world to make observations,
and provides opportunities for taxonomic experts to identify them,
all over the world.
Last year over 400 cities participated, with over 50,000 people documenting over 45,000 species with over 1.2 million observations, the largest bioblitz in the world.
In this Torrey Talk, two iNaturalist experts will show how you can participate in iNaturalist and this year’s upcoming City Nature Challenge.
</blockquote>
<h4>Registration</h4>
<b>Date</b>: 2022-03-30
<br />
<b>Time</b>: 6pm EDT (GMT-04:00)
<br />
<b>Duration</b>: 1 hour
<br />
<b>Registration</b>: <a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkc--rqDgqHtFVESuvHzi2CNuZ8rc1LVf9">Zoom</a>
<p>
The talk will be recorded and made available
on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCto734vmsHWfrEAIlcxWWww" target="_blank">Torrey YouTube channel</a>
sometime after the event.
Please subscribe to our channel and enable notifications so you get updated when we publish new recordings!
</p>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<h4>Links</h4>
<a href="https://www.torreybotanical.org/" target="_blank">Torrey Botanical Society</a>
<br />Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-35667847130829375632022-03-11T17:50:00.014-05:002022-03-12T11:02:24.145-05:00Native Plant Profile: Amelanchier<p>
I could probably talk about <i>Amelanchier</i> until my voice gave out (at least an hour!).
It's such a great multi-season plant in the garden, and brings so much value to wildlife, as well.
It's also a great example of how native plants convey a "sense of place" that is not imparted by conventional, non-native plants in the garden.
</p>
<p>
Although the Genus is distributed across the Northern hemisphere, the greatest diversity is found in North America.
As you can see from the BONAP distribution map, <i>Amelanchier</i> diversity is the greatest in the Northeast.
New York State hosts 14 species, varieties, natural hybrids, and subspecies. And New York City is home to 6 of those.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51932959620/in/datetaken-public/" title="2013 BONAP North American Plant Atlas. TaxonMaps - Amelanchier"><img alt="2013 BONAP North American Plant Atlas. TaxonMaps - Amelanchier" height="643" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51932959620_41ac5fba9c_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4 style="text-align: left;"><i>Amelanchier</i> in my garden</h4>
<p>
Amelanchier was one of the key plants I included in my backyard native plant garden design in 2009.
To fit my design, I needed a tree form with a single trunk and broad canopy.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p></p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/3298365475/" title="Final rendering, backyard garden design"><img alt="Final rendering, backyard garden design" height="530" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3561/3298365475_9e017f1de8_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
Most of the species grow as multi-stemmed twiggy shrubs.
In my design, I specified <i>A. arborea</i>, the only species that would normally grow with a single trunk.
But straight species are difficult to find in the horticultural trade.
Even nurseries specializing in native plants are unlikely to carry this species.
I would likely need to find a "standard": a plant grown with a single trunk that normally wouldn't.
</p>
<p>
In Spring of 2010, I went hunting for a specimen for my garden.
I found one at Chelsea Garden Center on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
It was the second most expensive single plant I've ever bought. But worth it!
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/4590411056/" title="Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'"><img alt="Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4030/4590411056_462eebd49b_c.jpg" width="532" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
What I found is <i>Amelanchier</i> x <i>grandiflora</i> 'Autumn Brilliance', a selection of a horticultural hybrid of two species: <i>A. arborea</i> and <i>A. laevis</i>.
So <i>arborea</i> is in there somewhere!
This cultivar was selected for its vividly colored autumn foliage.
But any of the species will have beautiful fall color.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/4590438048/" title="The new serviceberry, planted and mulched, May 2010"><img alt="The new serviceberry, planted and mulched, May 2010" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4019/4590438048_592850842c_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
Their peak bloom in our area is just weeks away, before the ornamental cherries, and the dreaded callery pear.
We'll follow the seasons, starting with where we are right now, Winter.
</p>
<h4>Winter</h4>
<p>
This is Amelanchier 'Autumn Brilliance' in my backyard, as viewed from a bathroom window, after our January snowstorm.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51809059145/in/album-72177720295922230/" title="Amelanchier in snow in my backyard, January 2022"><img alt="Amelanchier in snow in my backyard, January 2022" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51809059145_69fd9b2912_c.jpg" width="360" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
Winter into Spring.
Here's a lengthening and expanding bud on my backyard Amelanchier, which I shared last week.
It still looks like this.
These terminal buds will become the flowers.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51914631613/" title="Detail, buds, *Amelanchier* 'Autumn Brilliance', serviceberry, shadblow, in my backyard, February 2022"><img alt="Detail, buds, *Amelanchier* 'Autumn Brilliance', serviceberry, shadblow, in my backyard, February 2022" height="533" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51914631613_159a956ed4_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
Bud break.
The emerging inflorescence is covered in dense silvery hairs, which offer protection from late frosts.
The leaves will emerge later from separate buds along the stems.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/6863630416/in/album-72157626739561557/" title="Flower Buds, Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'"><img alt="Flower Buds, Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'" height="530" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7096/6863630416_1057a8bd0c_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4>Spring</h4>
<p>The big show is coming soon! It's the first woody plant to bloom in my garden, early April or even late March in warm Springs. Two common names refer to its bloom time. Shadblow, because it would bloom when the shad are running. And serviceberry, because it bloomed when the ground had thawed enough to bury winter's dead.</p><p>Over the next few weeks, these distinctive furry flower buds continue to expand.</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/6866014434/" title="Buds, Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'"><img alt="Buds, Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'" height="714" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7206/6866014434_17e02db66b_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
As they mature, the inflorescences start to turn more upright and the pedicels lengthen.
The whole tree turns a little less furry and fuzzy.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/7032860621/in/album-72157626739561557/" title="Flower Buds, Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'"><img alt="Flower Buds, Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'" height="473" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7096/7032860621_23cc0d2a31_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/7032860795/" title="Flower Buds, Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'"><img alt="Flower Buds, Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'" height="779" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7136/7032860795_3444ff6c52_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
Finally, the buds start to open, revealing the bright creamy white of the petals.
At this stage, they almost look like flowering peas.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/6886764520/in/album-72157626739561557/" title="Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'"><img alt="Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7080/6886764520_811a138c1f_c.jpg" width="714" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/6886764296/" title="Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'"><img alt="Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'" height="530" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7273/6886764296_f246464bc7_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
When the flowers are fully open, they reveal their true nature.
<i>Amelanchier</i> is in the <i>Rosaceae</i>, the rose family.
Here you can clearly see the five-fold symmetry of rose relatives.
At this stage, the leaves just start to emerge.</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/7044618305/in/album-72157626739561557/" title="Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'"><img alt="Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'" height="530" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/5120/7044618305_6906f53dd1_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/13959490196/" title="Morning Glory: Amelanchier still shy of full bloom in my urban backyard native plant garden"><img alt="Morning Glory: Amelanchier still shy of full bloom in my urban backyard native plant garden" height="451" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/5493/13959490196_490fcaa443_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
In full bloom they are spectacular and conspicuous in the landscape.
This is when you are most likely to notice them, if you haven't been stalking their progress all along, as I might do.
Even at highway speeds, they are recognizable when flowering.
There's a line of them along the McDonald Avenue border of Green-Wood Cemetery.
My commuter bus drove down this road on the return trip from Manhattan.
I would sit on the right side of the bus to soak them in.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/49751345402/" title="Garden hybrid Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance' blooming in the backyard, April 2020"><img alt="Garden hybrid Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance' blooming in the backyard, April 2020" height="450" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49751345402_3a63ed8918_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>NYC is home to many bee species — especially mining bees, <i>Andrenidae —</i> that specialize in flowers of the <i>Rosaceae</i>. Most of our bees are solitary bees, and many of them nest in the ground. They are only active and visible for a month or so, as the females prepare new ground nests and provision their eggs with pollen balls. The rest of the year, the larvae and pupae are underground, slowly maturing, or aestivating through the winter, waiting for next year's Spring.</p>
<h4>Summer</h4>
<p>
Juneberry is descriptive: Berries ripen in the summer, typically June.
Ripening berries on my backyard Amelanchier in 2011.
They turn dark reddish purple when ripe, but good luck getting to them before the birds and squirrels.
Technicaly edible, this cultivar's fruit are mealy and seedy, better left for wildlife.
Other species are used for making jams, or enjoyed right off the bush.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/5787872043/" title="Serviceberries/Juneberries"><img alt="Serviceberries/Juneberries" height="530" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/5229/5787872043_b4555c7b2a_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
When we first bought our house, our next-door neighbors had an old, failing apple tree in their backyard, next to our shared fence.
The fruit never ripened.
Monk parakeets loved to munch on the apples.
</p>
<p>
They were also visited by cedar waxwings, another bird I had never seen before
They seemed to love picking insects off the flowers in spring, presumably to feed to their young, as much as they enjoyed the fruits in summer.
After our neighbors had their tree taken down, we rarely saw the monk parakeets, except when they flew overhead.
And we never saw the waxwings again.
I hoped another <i>Rosaceae</i> would bring them back.
</p>
<p>
This intent has been successful.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/41391525090/" title="Cedar waxwing in my Amelanchier, juneberry, June 2018"><img alt="Cedar waxwing in my Amelanchier, juneberry, June 2018" height="540" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/836/41391525090_87896f1907_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
The berries are enjoyed by many different birds in my backyard.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/49637753161/in/album-72157626739561557/" title="Catbird in my Amelanchier, juneberry, June 2018"><img alt="Catbird in my Amelanchier, juneberry, June 2018" height="269" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49637753161_81c036bb22_w.jpg" width="400" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/49823056887/in/album-72157626739561557/" title="Zonotrichia albicollis, white-throated sparrow, in my backyard Amelanchier, serviceberry, April 2020"><img alt="Zonotrichia albicollis, white-throated sparrow, in my backyard Amelanchier, serviceberry, April 2020" height="300" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49823056887_c64c597f9f_w.jpg" width="400" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/49814561832/in/album-72157626739561557/" title="Turdus migratorius, American robin, juvenile, in Amelanchier, serviceberry, in my backyard, June 2019"><img alt="Turdus migratorius, American robin, juvenile, in Amelanchier, serviceberry, in my backyard, June 2019" height="268" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49814561832_6ddfca2a55_w.jpg" width="400" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/50920809632/in/album-72157626739561557/" title="Turdus migratorius, American robin, in my backyard Amelanchier, January 2021"><img alt="Turdus migratorius, American robin, in my backyard Amelanchier, January 2021" height="400" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50920809632_f0dc95e950_w.jpg" width="400" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
<h4>Fall</h4>
<p>
<i>Amelanchier</i>'s autumn foliage <i>is</i> brilliant, after all. This is from its second Fall in my garden, a year and a half after planting.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/6365024605/in/album-72157626739561557/" title="Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance', Serviceberry"><img alt="Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance', Serviceberry" height="530" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/6108/6365024605_cec38a1a93_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
This is from November 2014, four years after planting.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/15555153427/" title="Morning Glory: Amelanchier/Serviceberry 'Autumn Brilliance' leaves peak in my urban backyard native plant garden/habitat"><img alt="Morning Glory: Amelanchier/Serviceberry 'Autumn Brilliance' leaves peak in my urban backyard native plant garden/habitat" height="451" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/8266/15555153427_991632e45b_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<br />
<b>Twitter</b>: <a href="https://twitter.com/xrisfg/status/1501727087220113409" target="_blank">#WildflowerHourNYC Twitter thread</a>, 2022-03-09
<br />
<br />
<b>Related blog posts</b>:
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2009/02/woodland-garden-design-plant-list.html" target="_blank">Woodland Garden Design Plant List</a>, 2009-02-18 </li>
<li><a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2010/05/planting-tree.html" target="_blank">Native Plant Profile: Amelanchier x grandiflora</a>, 2010-05-08</li>
</ul>
<b>Flickr</b>, photo album: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/sets/72157623895577115/" target="_blank">Planting a Tree</a>
<br />
<br />
<h4>Links</h4>
<br />
<b>Wikipedia</b>: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier" target="_blank">Amelanchier</a>
<br />
<b>BONAP North American Plant Atlas</b>, county-level species Genus distribution maps: <a href="http://bonap.net/Napa/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Amelanchier" target="_blank">Amelanchier</a>
<br />
<b>MOBOT</b> Plant Finder: <a href="https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderProfileResults.aspx?basic=Amelanchier" target="_blank">Amelanchier</a>
<br />
<b>NC State University</b> Plant Toolbox: <a href="https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/amelanchier/" target="_blank">Amelanchier</a>
<br />
<a href="http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Amelanchier+x+grandiflora" target="_blank">Plants for a Future</a>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://jarrodfowler.com/specialist_bees.html" target="_blank">Pollen Specialist Bees of the Eastern United States</a>, Jarrod FowlerChris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-20549680898753986452022-01-03T05:41:00.005-05:002022-10-19T14:35:46.867-04:00Insect Year in Review 2021<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
Observing the diversity of life that coexists in one place is one of the rewards of visiting the same natural area over a long period of time.
My garden not only offers myself and passersby such an observatory.
It's also a laboratory in which I can research how insects engage with their environment - both biotic and abiotic - and imagine, design, and create habitat to better provide for their needs.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51678865057/in/album-72157720143737408/" title="The Front Garden, November 2021"><img alt="The Front Garden, November 2021" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51678865057_969c046cc6_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<p>
I use <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/" target="_blank">iNaturalist</a> to document the diversity of life in my garden. Although I only posted <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/6589569" target="_blank">my first iNaturalist Observation</a> in 2017, my garden Observations now span more than a decade. As of this year, I've documented <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=125348&taxon_id=47158&verifiable=any&view=species" target="_blank">over 400 insect species making use of my garden</a>.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51791145745/in/dateposted-public/" title="iNaturalist Observations · Flatbush Gardener - Top 25 Species - 2021-12-31"><img alt="iNaturalist Observations · Flatbush Gardener - Top 25 Species - 2021-12-31" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51791145745_9dd13516a5_c.jpg" width="635" /></a>
</p>
<p>
This biodiversity, and my documentation of it, is intentional. And although all of this is by design, all I can do is uncover the latent urban biodiversity in and around my garden. Each new species I find is a surprise to me.
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<h4>Native Plants</h4>
<p>
As I explained in last year's <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2020/05/home-of-wild.html" target="_blank">Home of the Wild</a>, native plants have been a significant focus of my gardening since we bought our home and I started the current garden in 2005. I'm always researching and experimenting with new species. And, like any avid gardener, I'm always killing things off, too.
</p>
<p>
I do my best to track my acquisitions, and failed plantings, in a spreadsheet.
I categorize the species by whether they are native to the five counties of New York City, native to the NYC region - e.g.: within two counties - or are some other species native to eastern North America.
</p>
<p>
This chart summarizes the increase in native plant diversity in my garden over the years. Stacked columns, plotted against the left axis, show the number of species I acquired each year: blue for NYC-native, red for NYC-regional, and green for eastern U.S. native plant species. The large undated bar on the left represents plants I brought with me from prior gardens, or for which I've lost track of when or how I got them.
The lines, ploted against the right axis, show the total number of species: blue for NYC-native plant species, and green for everything else.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51789629837/in/dateposted-public/" title="Native Plants in my Garden by Year - 2021-12-31"><img alt="Native Plants in my Garden by Year - 2021-12-31" height="581" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51789629837_fdcf1bccb2_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<p>
2014 stands out as an exceptional year for plant acquisitions.
That was my first year visiting the Native Plants in the Landscape Conference in Millserville, Pennsylvania.
It has an enormous accompanying native plant sale with vendors from all over the mid-Atlantic, of which I took full advantage.
</p>
<p>
I maintain a Wish List of plants I want to try to grow in my garden. (Anyone know of a NYC-regional source for dwarf prairie willow, <i>Salix occidentalis</i>?!) The past few years I have targeted species for their ecological value in my garden:
</p>
<ul>
<li>Fill in plant families that are missing, or under-represented, in my garden, such as <i>Apiaceae</i>, e.g.: <i>Zizia aurea</i>.</li>
<li>Extend the flowering season, especially early in the year when native plant blooms are scarce. For example: <i>Packera</i> is the earliest-blooming <i>Asteraceae</i> I've found, so I'm trying to establish that in my garden.</li>
<li>Grow more plants to support specialist flower visitors, such as bees.</li>
</ul>
<p>
As of this year, I'm growing nearly 300 species of native plants, over 200 of which are native to New York City.
With that increase in plant diversity, there's been an increase in insect diversity (though habitat needs more than having the right plants).
</p>
<h4>Insect Species</h4>
<p>
Most of the insects that have visited my garden over the past decade fall into one of six groups:
</p>
<ol style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Diptera</i>, flies: 103 species</li><li>Wasps. i.e.: other <i>Hymenoptera</i>, excluding bees and ants: 70 species</li><li><i>Coleoptera</i>, beetles: 57 species</li><li>Epifamily <i>Anthophila</i>, bees: 55 species</li><li><i>Lepidoptera</i>, butterflies, moths, and skippers: 55 species</li>
<li><i>Hemiptera</i>, bugs: 43 species</li></ol>
<p>
That's where things stand today. But this didn't happen all at once. This chart shows how I've accumulated species records in my garden for each of these groups over time. We can see that the slope of the lines increased sharply over the past three years, from 2019 through 2021.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51791356535/in/dateposted-public/" title="Insects in my Garden - Cumulative Species at the end of each Year by Taxonomic Group - 2021-12-31"><img alt="Insects in my Garden - Cumulative Species at the end of each Year by Taxonomic Group - 2021-12-31" height="581" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51791356535_72c4a35c38_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<p>It's a little easier to see which taxa contributed most to the increases if we look instead at just the <i>new</i> species, instead of the total number of species. This stacked column chart shows the number of new species I've found each year in my garden, for each of my six focus taxa. Again, the last three years stand out as being responsible for most of the increase.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51790618916/in/dateposted-public/" title="Insects in my Garden - New Species each Year by Taxonomic Group - 2021-12-31"><img alt="Insects in my Garden - New Species each Year by Taxonomic Group - 2021-12-31" height="581" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51790618916_067d5d361b_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<p>
The color codes of the stacked column segments are the same as the lines in the previous chart to make it easier to draw comparisons between the two:
</p>
<ol>
<li>I've seen most of the fly species in just the past two years.</li>
<li>It's the same for the wasp species.</li>
<li>Beetles saw a spike in new species observed in 2017 and again in 2020. Otherwise, a fairly steady uncovering of new species each year.</li>
<li>Bees have seen a remarkably steady discovery of new species over the years. The first few years found lots of new species. More recent years not so much. </li>
<li>Butterflies, moths, and skippers have also shown up mostly over the past three years.</li>
<li>Most of the bug species were found during the three year span from 2018-2020. Not so much this past year.</li>
</ol>
<p>
I believe that at least some of these increases reflect success in creating habitat for diverse insect species.
But my observing behaviors have not been consistent over the years.
Am I seeing more species just because I'm spending more time looking for them?
And — if so — how much observation do I need to do to be confident I'm adequately sampling my garden?
</p>
<h4>Insect Observations</h4>
<p>
I ramped up my Observations the past two years - 2020 & 2021 - to increase my contributions to two iNaturalist Projects:
</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/71686" target="_blank">Home Projects Umbrella</a>, a collection of iNat "Home Projects" from aronud the world.</li>
<li>The <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/16395" target="_blank">Empire State Native Pollinator Survey</a> (ESNPS), and its <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/30959" target="_blank">Collection Project</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>
As mentioned above, I wrote about the first Project, and the history of my garden as insect habitat <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2020/05/home-of-wild.html" target="_blank">on my blog last year</a>.
ESNPS was originally scheduled to run only three years, from 2018 through 2020.
Of course, the pandemic changed those plans;
they decided to extend the iNaturalist portion another year, into 2021.
</p>
<p>
By concentrating on these two efforts, I increased my Observations in my own garden by a factor of 8.
This year, I also invested in better macro equipment.
So I was spending a lot more time in my garden, and was able to capture many more individuals with photographs good enough for identification.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51773719305/in/dateposted-public/" title="Insects in my Garden - Observations per Year by Taxonomic Group - Chart"><img alt="Insects in my Garden - Observations per Year by Taxonomic Group - Chart" height="581" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51773719305_baec909bf3_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<p>
The Empire State Native Pollinator Survey includes bees and <i>Syrphidae</i>, flower and hover flies, among its focal taxa.
Although my increased observation found more of everything, bees and flies took up a greater proportion of the total observations.
</p>
<p>
How many observations do I need to make to have high confidence I have found most of the species present in my garden?
This chart compares the number of species <i>observed</i> against the number of observations for the four most diverse taxa: flies, wasps, bees, and beetles. I've added labels for the two most recent years, to highlight that not only did they have the most observations, they are also the years I found the most species.<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51772847376/in/album-72157685146653143/" title="Insects in my Garden - Number of Species by Number of Observations - Chart"><img alt="Insects in my Garden - Number of Species by Number of Observations - Chart" height="581" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51772847376_5ba3efa2ae_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<p>
Last year was not a pace of observation I can sustain indefinitely.
There's a lot of effort in taking high-quality, identifiable macro photographs of insects in the garden to uploading them as verifiable observatinos in iNaturalist.
Some days it took most of my waking hours, spread over multiple days, just to process all the photographs from a single day of observation.
</p>
<p>
My iNaturalist activity the past year was artificial, driven by the gamification offered by the two Projects in which I was actively "competing".
But this past year gave me a strong foundation for continuing to make effective observations.
I look forward to being surprised by future discoveries in my garden.
</p>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/11/hot-sheets-habitat.html" target="_blank">Hot Sheets Habitat</a>, 2021-11-19
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/10/documenting-insect-plant-interactions.html" target="_blank">Documenting Insect-Plant Interactions</a>, 2021-10-29
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2020/05/home-of-wild.html" target="_blank">Home of the Wild</a>, 2020-05-13
<h4>Links</h4>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-3360741540487537542021-12-21T16:19:00.006-05:002022-12-20T17:58:05.607-05:00Standing Still 2021: Demeter Waiting<p>
Today is the December solstice: the winter solstice in my hometown Northern hemisphere, summer in the Southern.
</p>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">Persephone and her Pomegranate</h4>
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti_-_%22Persephone%22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 'Proserpine', 1874" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="338" height="800" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti_-_%22Persephone%22.jpg" width="338" /></a>
<p>The millenia-old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persephone#Abduction_myth" target="_blank">story of Persephone</a> and her pomegranate, in all their incarnations, strikes me as a deeper analogy this Winter. Persephone was abducted, held hostage in hell, and starved. Only under this extreme duress did she eat anything she was offered: a few seeds of the pomegranate to stave her hunger.
</p>
<p>
I can relate to "being held hostage in hell". I feel as though I've endured six years of it. I know others do, as well.
</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>While our personal histories may provide us with tools and resources to endure, so much of our resiliency is shaped by systemic forces. Conservative forces of this country have worked for decades, all my adult life, to destroy all social supports - health care, housing, education, food, transportation - that should be our common responsibility, "privatizing" them into for-profit enterprises available only to those who can afford it, and parasitizing what should have been our collective wealth into the hands of fewer and fewer.</p><p>The past six years has broken people.</p>
<p>
Endurance trauma takes unique forms in all of us. We can become numb. We can become paralyzed by fear. We might take risks we would not have accepted before. We may lash out, seeking targets for our rage. It can lead us to embrace the dark places. I have lost friends and colleagues to those places throughout all this, especially over the past year.</p><p>
Maybe I am more like Demeter, weeping for the hold darkness has over others, while reaching and hoping for a time when we can bring everyone back into the light.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/10855430535/in/album-72157637667037344/" title="A Single Candle"><img alt="A Single Candle" height="410" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7381/10855430535_d2eae5217f_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script><br />
<h4>Related Content</h4>
All my past Winter <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/search/label/Solstice" target="_blank">Solstice</a> posts: <div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2018/12/standing-still-in-2018.html" target="_blank">2018</a>: Standing Still in 2018</li><li><a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2016/12/standing-still-2016.html" target="_blank">2016</a>: Standing Still 2016</li><li><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2015/12/standing-still.html" target="_blank">2015</a>: Standing Still</li><li><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-sun-stands-still.html" target="_blank">2014</a>: The Sun stands still</li><li><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2010/12/from-dark-to-dark-eclipse-solstice.html" target="_blank">2010</a>: From Dark to Dark: Eclipse-Solstice Astro Combo</li><li><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2009/12/standing-still-looking-ahead.html" target="_blank">2009</a>: Standing Still, Looking Ahead</li><li><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2008/12/stand-still-dona-nobis-pacem.html" target="_blank">2008</a>: Stand Still / Dona Nobis Pacem</li><li><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/12/solstice-sun-stands-still.html" target="_blank">2007</a>: Solstice (the sun stands still)</li></ul>
<h4>
Links</h4>Wikipedia:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice" target="_blank">Winter solstice</a></li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persephone" target="_blank">Persephone</a></li></ul></div><p></p>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-34154802266853086802021-12-14T22:21:00.003-05:002021-12-15T13:38:56.666-05:00Garden Design Pattern LanguagesAdapted from a <a href="https://twitter.com/xrisfg/status/1470852450303229952" target="_blank">tweet thread</a>.<p>In a guest post on the ASLA's "Dirt" column, Alden E. Stone, CEO of <a href="https://naturesacred.org/" target="_blank">Nature Sacred</a>, writes:</p>
<blockquote>[Our new report] is part research and part practical guide, and shares key insights gained through having co-created more than 100 Sacred Places across the country in communities, many under-resourced; in prisons, at universities, and in hospitals. A handful of these sites were also implemented as part of an expansive, decade-long design, build, and research project. ...
<br />
<br />
For the research portion of this paper, we focused our attention on four domains: nature’s impact on individual, community, economic and ecological health. ...
<br />
<br />
for many of the individual and community health benefits to kick in, people must engage with nature. Spend time in the green space.
And this is where Nature Sacred has spent a lot of energy over the past two decades — looking at how to best engage the community and how to best design so that the community embraces, and spends time in, their green space.</blockquote><p></p><p>
She describes four "design elements":
</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Portal</li><li>Path</li><li>Destination</li><li>Surround</li></ul>
<p>
These design patterns recur in many different types of gardens, whether intentionally healing/sacred or not.
</p>
<p>
My backyard embodies all four elements. What follows is an exploration of the history of my backyard, from inception to its current state, viewed through the frame of those four design elements.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/2054423090/in/album-72157720289969735/" title="The Backyard, House Opening Party, October 2005"><img alt="The Backyard, House Opening Party, October 2005" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/2030/2054423090_8f373cc11f_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51220528887/in/album-72157720289973125/" title="The Backyard, ready for visitors, June 2021"><img alt="The Backyard, ready for visitors, June 2021" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51220528887_578a7a390b_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<a name='more'></a>
<h4>2005</h4>
<p>
My first sketch of the backyard, just after we bought our house. You can see portals/transitions, paths, seating as destinations, and the surround of enveloping plants. (Even though we had just moved in, I was also fantasizing about changing out the whole back of the house and adding a rear porch to better connect it with the backyard. That never happened.)
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/690999932/in/album-72157720289969735/" title="Backyard Garden Design Sketch, 2005-06-22"><img alt="Backyard Garden Design Sketch, 2005-06-22" height="770" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1140/690999932_5d19fcb049_o.jpg" width="657" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<h4>2006</h4>
<p>
By our second Spring, I better understood how light and shade shifts over the garden throughout the year. The plan is refined and made more specific, less conceptual. The Gardener's Nook is now defined. The driveway-backyard portal shows up: the garage and house both connected and separated by a fence and trellis through which one would pass to enter the backyard from the driveway.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/690134051/" title="Backyard Garden Design Sketch, 2006-04-30"><img alt="Backyard Garden Design Sketch, 2006-04-30" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1075/690134051_01522cddac_c.jpg" width="704" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<p>
Using the sketch as a guide, the loose circle shown in the opening photo gets tightened up, better defined. Bringing the sketch to life, the desination Gardener's Nook - the upper left of the sketch directly above - makes it first appearance with a pair of Adirondack chairs and some decor. Plants in containers begin to define the surround. An umbrella substitutes for the missing tree canopy.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/690965252/" title="The Backyard, May 2006"><img alt="The Backyard, May 2006" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1069/690965252_bba484d7c8_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<h4>2007</h4>
<p>
A year after that, things are really coming together. A trellis establishes the portal entrance from the driveway into the backyard. This filters the line of sight into the backyard, which beckons one to venture through, and past.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/880706855/" title="Filtered View into the Backyard from the Driveway, July 2007"><img alt="Filtered View into the Backyard from the Driveway, July 2007" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1058/880706855_212f2a42f6_c.jpg" width="532" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<p>
The center of the circle gets filled in. A table both provides central desination, and defines a circular path around itself, echoing the initial concept sketch. Logs double as seating and a layer of surround. The plants are now getting large enough to provide a second layer. My rear neighbor thankfully provided a fence, closing off the backyard and completing the surround.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/880716305/" title="The Backyard, July 2007"><img alt="The Backyard, July 2007" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1244/880716305_77693c5b6f_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<h4>2009</h4>
<p>
Winter 2009: My Garden Design class final project is my backyard, striking a balance to maximize planting area - a deep surround - while retaining space for people. Curved borders echo the original spiral.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/3298365475/in/album-72157647593173433/" title="Final rendering, backyard garden design"><img alt="Final rendering, backyard garden design" height="530" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3561/3298365475_9e017f1de8_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<p>
Although the built environment of that design is never realized, the plan and its rough dimensions inform all later changes. Later that year, <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2009/04/viburnum-dentatum-arrowwood.html" target="_blank">I transplant a large shrub</a>. This gives the backyard a sense of enclosure, the "surround".
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/3458468723/" title="After transplant"><img alt="After transplant" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3646/3458468723_f22cd4fe24_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<h4>2010</h4>
<p>
I plant an "understory" tree which will provide overhead enclosure, a vertical surround. As I had specified in my garden design, I selected an <i>Amelanchier</i>, which goes by many wonderful phenologically evocative common names. It serves as a replacement for the old apple tree my north-side neighbors had in their backyard, adjacent to our shared fence. Eventually, it brings back the cedar waxwings I enjoyed seeing amongst its flowers.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/4590438048/" title="The new serviceberry, planted and mulched, May 2010"><img alt="The new serviceberry, planted and mulched, May 2010" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/4019/4590438048_592850842c_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<h4>2011</h4>
<p>
The portal/entrance to the backyard gets a major makeover. I register with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat. My garden itself becomes a destination, and welcomes its first public visitors.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/5792835707/in/album-72157697619263645/" title="Arbor entrance"><img alt="Arbor entrance" height="530" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3632/5792835707_cd854fff96_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/5792835965/in/album-72157697619263645/" title="Certified Wildlife Habitat sign"><img alt="Certified Wildlife Habitat sign" height="530" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3464/5792835965_dd9810d151_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<h4>2014</h4>
<p>
The garden hosts a wedding, its first use as an intentionally sacred space.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/15678286505/in/album-72157649043725601/" title="Ancestor's Altar, Jay & Syd's Big Fat Queer Wedding, October 2014"><img alt="Ancestor's Altar, Jay & Syd's Big Fat Queer Wedding, October 2014" height="530" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7566/15678286505_d23c0ac9e8_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<h4>2016</h4>
<p>
Five years later, the shrubs and other plantings have matured, and the surround of enveloping greenery and flowers has been realized. The Gardener's Nook is now a fully-sheltered spot, a desination tucked into the larger embrace of the garden.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/26965726730/" title="Morning Glory: My urban backyard native plant garden & wildlife habitat"><img alt="Morning Glory: My urban backyard native plant garden & wildlife habitat" height="450" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7702/26965726730_81ee9d0ed2_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<h4>2018</h4>
<p>
This garden continues to be a sacred/healing space for many over the years. It was sanctuary for our dear friend David. After he entered home hospice, he would call a car service to deliver him to the garden. Here he is in the Gardener's Nook two weeks before he died.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/29975161668/" title="David Charles Ashley, in my backyard, July 2018, 2 weeks before he died"><img alt="David Charles Ashley, in my backyard, July 2018, 2 weeks before he died" height="534" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1811/29975161668_5477d9d2e6_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<h4>2021</h4>
<p>
Today, 16 years after that first sketch, the backyard has realized its final form. Visitors say they feel like they've walked into the woods, the highest praise.
<br />
<br />
Portal, path, destination, surround - all embodied, and felt, in the garden.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51221237951/" title="Entrance through the arbor to the backyard, June 2021"><img alt="Entrance through the arbor to the backyard, June 2021" height="360" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51221237951_74d236e215_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/11/hot-sheets-habitat.html" target="_blank">Hot Sheets Habitat</a>, 2021-11-19
<br />
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2020/05/home-of-wild.html" target="_blank">Home of the Wild</a>, 2020-05-14
<h4>Links</h4>
<p>
Alden E. Stone, <a href="https://dirt.asla.org/2021/12/14/new-research-and-roadmap-for-creating-healing-green-spaces/" target="_blank">New Research and Roadmap for Creating Healing Green Spaces</a>, ASLA Dirt Guest Column, 2021-12-14</p>
<p>
<a href="https://naturesacred.org/" target="_blank">Nature Sacred</a>
</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Report: <a href="https://naturesacred.org/new-report-the-power-of-sacred-places/" target="_blank">The Power of Sacred Places</a></li>
</ul>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-9394400259168439662021-12-01T00:32:00.008-05:002022-12-01T12:14:56.294-05:00Names<b>2022-12-01 (World AIDS Day)</b>: Added more <a href="#related">Related Content</a> links.
<br />
<br />
<b>2022-09-20</b>: Where available, added locations of panels in the AIDS Quilt.
<br />
<br />
<hr />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/25097069484/in/photolist-EeK3oy-f3iPKK-CPbfac" title="Book Cover, "The AIDS Epidemic," 1983, anthology of a NYC symposium"><img alt="Book Cover, "The AIDS Epidemic," 1983, anthology of a NYC symposium" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1603/25097069484_84d3232c42_c.jpg" width="450" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> <div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>These are some of the people, all men, I have lost over the years, nearly all to AIDS. With the exceptions of those additions noted, I stopped actively maintaining this list in 1994. In alphabetical order.<br />
<hr /><ul><li>William "Wolf" Agress, a lover, died in 1990</li>
<li>Andre, a bartender at the Tunnel Bar in the East Village, now defunct</li>
<li>Vincent Barnes</li>
<li>Jerry Bihm</li>
<li>Bobby</li>
<li>Colin Curran</li>
<li>Erez Dror, co-owner and -founder of the Black Hound Bakery in the East Village, New York City, now defunct (AIDS Quilt Block #3452)</li>
<li>Jeffrey "Jeff" Glidden, 1958-1987, a lover (AIDS Quilt Blocks #0912 and #5320)</li>
<li>Paul "Griff" Griffin</li>
<li>Martin Noel Jorda</li>
<li>David Kirschenbaum, 1962-1993, community organizer with the New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project</li>
<li>Art "Artie" Kohn, 1947-1991, founder of the BackRoom BBS in New York City, now defunct (AIDS Quilt Block #2324)</li>
<li>John Larsen, a lover, died 2007 (Added 2021-12-01)</li>
<li>Jim Lewis</li>
<li>Luis</li>
<li>John Mangano, 1955-1991 (AIDS Quilt Block #3613)</li>
<li>Jeffrey Martin</li>
<li>Morris Matthews</li><li>David Mayer (Added 2021-12-01)</li>
<li>Karl Michalak, 1958-1997</li>
<li>Mark Melvin, 1962-08-27 - 1992-06-03 (AIDS Quilt Block #2828)</li>
<li>Norm</li>
<li>Tony Panico, my first lover in New York City, and the first person close to me to die from AIDS. His name appears twice on the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the first on Panel 05A when it was displayed in 1988. (AIDS Quilt Blocks #0046 and #0652)</li>
<li>Charles Pope, barfly extraordinaire</li>
<li>Gordon Provencher, 1955-1992 (AIDS Quilt Block #2291)</li>
<li>Tom Raleigh</li>
<li>Craig Rodwell, 1940-1993, founder of the Oscar Wilde Bookstore in Greenwich Village, NYC</li>
<li>Tony Rostron</li>
<li>Jurgen Schmitt</li>
<li>Giulio Sorrentino</li>
<li>Buddy Volani</li>
<li>Jeremy Wells</li>
<li><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2008/01/david-joseph-wilcox-1957-1996.html">David Joseph Wilcox</a>, 1957-1996</li>
</ul>
<a name='more'></a>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51716915428/in/dateposted-public/" title="Tony's Quilt"><img alt="Tony's Quilt" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51716915428_c061b50440_c.jpg" width="799" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<hr />Most of these men - including three of my lovers - died before I was 35 years old. There are countless scores, hundreds, more whose names I did not know, whose fates I never learned, or who died since I stopped maintaining this list in 1994.<br />
<h4 id="related">Related Content</h4>
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2019/12/grief-and-gardening-ashes-remembrance.html">Grief and Gardening: Ashes (Remembrance Day for Lost Species)</a>, 2019-12-02
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2016/01/one-score-years-ago.html" target="_blank">One Score Years Ago</a>, 2016-01-21
<br />
An earlier edition of this list: <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2009/12/names-world-aids-day-off-topic.html" target="_blank">Names, World AIDS Day</a>, 2009-12-01
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2008/01/david-joseph-wilcox-1957-1996.html" target="_blank">David Joseph Wilcox, 1957-1996</a>, 2008-01-22
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/08/in-shadow.html" target="_blank">In the Shadow (How shall my heart be reconciled to its feast of losses?)</a>, 2007-08-28
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/05/back-in-day.html">Back in the Day</a>, about the Backroom BBS, my first online community, in the 1980s.
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/09/grief-gardening-1-1-5-and-25.html">Grief & Gardening #1: 1, 5 and 25</a>, 2006-09-04
<br />
<h4>Links</h4>
<br />
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/14/obituaries/david-kirschenbaum-30-leader-against-violence-to-homosexuals.html">NY Times Obituary for David Kirschenbaum (PAYWALLED)</a>
<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Rodwell">Wikipedia: Craig Rodwell</a>
<br />
<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Reagan-s-AIDS-Legacy-Silence-equals-death-2751030.php" target="_blank">Reagan's AIDS Legacy / Silence equals death</a>, Allen White, SFGate, 2004-06-08, following Ronald Reagan's death
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.worldaidsday.org/">World AIDS Day</a></div>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-9438268828240132902021-11-30T00:00:00.004-05:002022-02-24T23:51:09.108-05:00Grief and Gardening: Extinct Plants of northern North America 2021<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/10855430535/" title="A Single Candle"><img alt="A Single Candle" height="512" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/7381/10855430535_d2eae5217f_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>As in past years, I'm limiting this list to northern North America for two reasons:<br /></p><ol><li>Restricting this list geographically is in keeping with my specialization in plants native to northeastern North America.</li><li>There are many more tropical plants, and plant extinctions, than I can manage.</li></ol><p>Last year, this paper:<br /><br />
<a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.13621" target="_blank">Vascular plant extinction in the continental United States and Canada</a>
<br /><br />caused me to expand my list from 6 to 59 species, including 7 extinct in the wild. The summary is terse, and grim:
</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><blockquote>
Given the paucity of plant surveys in many areas, particularly prior to European settlement, the actual extinction rate of vascular plants is undoubtedly much higher than indicated here.</blockquote><div>Note that they only examined vascular plants. So their list excludes <i>Neomacounia nitida</i>, Macoun's shining moss. It remains on my full list, below.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've highlighted those which appeared prior to 2020 with an asterisk *. Everything else was added in 2020. If you have additions or corrections to this list, please let me know, and provide a link which I can research.</div><h4>Extinct</h4><ul><li><i>Agalinis caddoensis</i>, Railroad near Shreveport, Louisiana. last observed 1913</li><li><i>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Astilbe_crenatiloba&action=edit&redlink=1" target="_blank">Astilbe crenatiloba</a></i>, Roan Mountain false goat's beard, Roan Mountain, Tennessee, 1885</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Astragalus_endopterus&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Astragalus endopterus (page does not exist)">Astragalus endopterus</a>, near Cameron, Coconino County, Arizona. Last observed 1947</li><li><i>Astragalus kentrophyta </i>var. <i>douglasii</i>, Washington/Oregon?, 1883</li><li><i>Astragalus robbinsii</i> var. <i>robbinsii</i>, Vermont, 1894</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atriplex_tularensis" title="Atriplex tularensis">Atriplex tularensis</a></i>, California, 1891</li><li><i>Blephilia hirsuta</i> var. <i>glabrata</i>, Manchester, Bennington County, ermont, 1932</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boechera_fruticosa&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Boechera fruticosa (page does not exist)">Boechera fruticosa</a></i>, Yellowstone, Wyoming, 1899</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brickellia_chenopodina" title="Brickellia chenopodina">Brickellia chenopodina</a></i>, Grant County, New Mexico, 1903</li><li><i>Brickellia hinckleyi</i> var. <i>terlinguensis</i>, Brewster County, Texas, 1937</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calochortus_indecorus" title="Calochortus indecorus">Calochortus indecorus</a>, Sexton Mountain, Josephine County, Oregon, 1948</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calochortus_monanthus" title="Calochortus monanthus">Calochortus monanthus</a>, Yreka, Siskiyou County, California, 1876</li><li><i>Calystegia seium</i> ssp. <i>binghamiae</i>, Santa Barbara, California</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Castilleja_leschkeana&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Castilleja leschkeana (page does not exist)">Castilleja leschkeana</a>, Point Reyes, Marin County, California, 1947</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Castilleja_uliginosa&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Castilleja uliginosa (page does not exist)">Castilleja uliginosa</a>, Pitkin Marsh, Sonoma County, California, 1984</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cirsium_praeteriens&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Cirsium praeteriens (page does not exist)">Cirsium praeteriens</a>, Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, California, 1901</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Corispermum_pallidum&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Corispermum pallidum (page does not exist)">Corispermum pallidum</a>, Washington, 1931</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crataegus_austromontana" title="Crataegus austromontana">Crataegus austromontana</a>, Sand Mountain region and Cumberland Mountains, Alabama and Tennessee, 1916</li><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cryptantha_aptera&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Cryptantha aptera (page does not exist)">Cryptantha aptera</a>, Grand Junctino, mesa County Colorado, 1892</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cryptantha_hooveri&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Cryptantha hooveri (page does not exist)">Cryptantha hooveri</a></i>, California, 1939</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cryptantha_insolita&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Cryptantha insolita (page does not exist)">Cryptantha insolita</a></i>, north of Las Vegas, Nevada, 1942</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dalea_sabinalis&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Dalea sabinalis (page does not exist)">Dalea sabinalis</a></i>, Texas, 1950s</li><li><i>Digitaria filiformis</i> var. <i>laeviglumis</i>, Hillsboro County, NH, 1931</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Diplacus_traskiae&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Diplacus traskiae (page does not exist)">Diplacus traskiae</a></i>, near Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, California, 1901</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eleocharis_brachycarpa&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Eleocharis brachycarpa (page does not exist)">Eleocharis brachycarpa</a></i>, Tamaulipas, Mexico (1959) and Texas, 1834</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elodea_schweinitzii&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Elodea schweinitzii (page does not exist)">Elodea schweinitzii</a></i>, New York and Pennsylvania, 1832</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erigeron_mariposanus" title="Erigeron mariposanus">Erigeron mariposanus</a></i>, California, 1900</li><li><i>Eriochloa michauxii</i> var. <i>simpsonii</i>, Florida, 1966</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Govenia_floridana" title="Govenia floridana">Govenia floridana</a></i>, Miami-Dade County, Florida, 1964</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hedeoma_pilosa&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Hedeoma pilosa (page does not exist)">Hedeoma pilosa</a></i>, Old Blue Mountain, Brewster County, Texas, 1940</li><li><i>Helianthus nuttallii</i> ssp. <i>parishii</i>, Orange County, California, 1937</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helianthus_praetermissus" title="Helianthus praetermissus">Helianthus praetermissus</a></i>, Arizona (likely) or New Mexico, 1851</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isocoma_humilis" title="Isocoma humilis">Isocoma humilis</a></i>, Washington County, Utah, 1971</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Juncus_pervetus&action=edit&redlink=1" target="_blank">Juncus pervetus</a></i>, Lewis Bay, West Yarmouth, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1927</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lechea_lakelae&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Lechea lakelae (page does not exist)">Lechea lakelae</a></i>, Collier County, Florida, 1987</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lycium_verrucosum&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Lycium verrucosum (page does not exist)">Lycium verrucosum</a></i>, Arroyo Cliffs, San Nicolas County, California, 1901</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshallia_grandiflora" title="Marshallia grandiflora">Marshallia grandiflora</a></i>, North Carolina, 1919</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Micranthemum_micranthemoides&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Micranthemum micranthemoides (page does not exist)">Micranthemum micranthemoides</a></i>, Mid-atlantic United States, 1941</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monardella_leucocephala&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Monardella leucocephala (page does not exist)">Monardella leucocephala</a></i>, California, 1941</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Monardella_pringlei&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Monardella pringlei (page does not exist)">Monardella pringlei</a></i>, San Bernardino County, California, 1941</li><li><i>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Narthecium_montanum&action=edit&redlink=1" target="_blank">Narthecium montanum</a></i>, Appalachian Yellow Asphodel, East Flat Rock Bog, Henderson County, North Carolina, 1919</li><li><i>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neomacounia_nitida" target="_blank">Neomacounia nitida</a></i>, Macoun's shining moss, Belleville, Ontario, 1864</li><li><i>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orbexilum_macrophyllum&action=edit&redlink=1" target="_blank">Orbexilum macrophyllum</a></i>, bigleaf scurfpea, Polk County, North Carolina, 1899</li><li><i>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbexilum_stipulatum" target="_blank">Orbexilum stipulatum</a></i>, large-stipule leather-root, Falls-of-the-Ohio scurfpea, Rock Island, Falls of the Ohio, KY, 1881</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paronychia_maccartii&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Paronychia maccartii (page does not exist)">Paronychia maccartii</a></i>, Rio Grande Plains, Webb County, Texas, 1962</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plagiobothrys_lamprocarpus&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Plagiobothrys lamprocarpus (page does not exist)">Plagiobothrys lamprocarpus</a></i>, Grants Pass, Josephine County, Oregon, 1921</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plagiobothrys_lithocaryus&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Plagiobothrys lithocaryus (page does not exist)">Plagiobothrys lithocaryus</a></i>, Mayacamas Mountains, California, 1899</li><li><i>Plagiobothrys mollis</i> var. <i>vestitus</i>, Petaluma, Sonoma County, California, 1880</li><li><i>Polygonatum biflorum</i> var. <i>melleum</i>, Lake St. Clair, north of Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, 1937</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Potentilla_multijuga&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Potentilla multijuga (page does not exist)">Potentilla multijuga</a></i>, South Coast Ballona Marsh, Los Angeles County, California, 1893</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Potentilla_uliginosa&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Potentilla uliginosa (page does not exist)">Potentilla uliginosa</a></i>, Cunningham Marsh, Sonoma County, California, 1947</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proboscidea_spicata" title="Proboscidea spicata">Proboscidea spicata</a></i>, Rio Grande, Texas, 1967</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_tardifolia" title="Quercus tardifolia">Quercus tardifolia</a></i>, Chisos Mountains, Brewster County, Texas, 2007</li><li><i>Ribes divaricatum</i> var. <i>parishii</i>, California, 1980</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rumex_tomentellus&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Rumex tomentellus (page does not exist)">Rumex tomentellus</a></i>, Willow Creek, Mogollon Mountains, Catron County, New Mexico, 1954</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesuvium_trianthemoides" title="Sesuvium trianthemoides">Sesuvium trianthemoides</a></i>, Kenedy County, Texas, 1947</li><li><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sphaeralcea_procera&action=edit&redlink=1" title="Sphaeralcea procera (page does not exist)">Sphaeralcea procera</a></i>, Deming, Luna County, New Mexico, 1943</li><li><i>Tephrosia angustissima</i> var. <i>angustissima</i>, Pine Rocklands, Florida, 1947 (1985?)</li><li><i>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thismia_americana" target="_blank">Thismia americana</a></i>, banded trinity, Lake Calumet, Cook County, Illinois, 1916</li></ul><h4>Extinct in the wild (IUCN Red List code EW)</h4><ul><li><i>Arctostaphylos franciscana</i>, Central Coast, San Francisco County, California. Last observed in the wild 2009</li><li><i>Crataegus delawarensis</i>, Delaware, 1903</li><li><i>Crataegus fecunda</i>, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, 1930s</li><li><i>Crataegus lanuginosa</i>, Webb City, Jasper County, Missouri, 1957</li><li><i>Euonymous atropurpurea</i> var. <i>cheatumii</i>, Dallas County, Texas, 1944</li><li>* <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/30408/0"><i>Franklinia alatamaha</i>, Franklin Tree</a></li><li><i>Prunus maritima</i> var. <i>gravesii</i>, beach plum, groton, New London County, Connecticut, 2000</li></ul>
<p></p>
<h4>Related Content</h4><div><a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/search?q=extinct+plants" target="_blank">Extinct Plants of northern North America 2020</a>, 2020-11-30</div><div><a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2019/12/grief-and-gardening-ashes-remembrance.html" target="_blank">Grief and Gardening: Ashes (Remembrance Day for Lost Species)</a>, 2019-12-02</div><div><a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2018/11/extinct-plants-of-northern-north.html" target="_blank">Extinct Plants of northern North America 2018</a>, 2018-11-30</div><div><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2015/11/extinct-plants-of-northern-north.html">Extinct Plants of northern North America 2015</a>, 2015-11-29<br /><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2014/11/extinct-plants-of-northern-north-america.html">Extinct Plants of northern North America</a>, 2014-11-30<br /></div>
<h4>Links</h4><div><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13621" target="_blank">Vascular plant extinction in the continental United States and Canada</a>, 2020-08-20, Authors: Wesley M. Knapp, Anne Frances, Reed Noss, Robert F. C. Naczi, Alan Weakley, George D. Gann, Bruce G. Baldwin, James Miller, Patrick McIntyre, Brent D. Mishler, Gerry Moore, Richard G. Olmstead, Anna Strong, Kathryn Kennedy, Bonnie Heidel, Daniel Gluesenkamp</div><div><br /></div><div>Wikipedia: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extinct_plants#Americas" target="_blank">List of extinct plants: Americas</a></div><div>Wikipedia: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recently_extinct_plants" target="_blank">List of recently extinct plants</a><br />IUCN Red List: <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/link/5402e9ac-368e453a">List of species extinct in the wild</a><br /><a href="http://www.npsoregon.org/kalmiopsis/kalmiopsis03/kagan_vrilakas.pdf" target="_blank">Extinct and Extirpated Plants from Oregon</a> (PDF, 5 pp)</div>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-45215779384355116322021-11-19T22:28:00.013-05:002021-11-21T11:05:40.408-05:00Hot Sheets Habitat<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/29523047567/in/album-72157720163212942/" title="A mating pair of NOID Dolichopodidae, long-legged flies, in my backyard, September 2018"><img alt="A mating pair of NOID Dolichopodidae, long-legged flies, in my backyard, September 2018" height="535" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1869/29523047567_7f16708273_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">My garden is registered as both a National Wildlife Federation <a href="https://www.nwf.org/certify" target="_blank">Backyard Wildlife Habitat</a> and Xerces Society <a href="https://xerces.org/bring-back-the-pollinators" target="_blank">Pollinator Habitat</a>. The insects have certainly gotten the message. During 2021, I've been able to document 14 different species of insects mating in my garden.</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Acanthoscelidius acephalus</i>, minute seed weevil</li><li><i>Epitrix fuscula</i></li><li><i>Harmonia axyridis</i>, multi-colored lady beetle (introduced)</li><li><i>Eumerus</i></li><li><i>Orthonevra nitida</i>, wavy mucksucker</li><li><i>Syritta pipiens</i>, compost fly (introduced)</li><li><i>Toxomerus geminatus</i>, Eastern calligrapher fly</li><li><i>Toxomerus marginatus</i>, margined calligrapher fly</li><li><i>Xenox tigrinus</i>, tiger bee fly</li><li><i>Jalysus</i>, stilt bug</li><li><i>Lygaeus kalmii</i> ssp. <i>angustomarginatus</i>, Eastern small milkweed bug</li><li><i>Hylaeus modestus</i>, modest masked bee</li><li><i>Xylocopa virginica</i>, large Eastern carpenter bee</li><li><i>Danaus plexxipus</i>, monarch butterfly</li></ol><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><h3><i>Coleoptera</i>, beetles</h3>
<h4><i>Acanthoscelidius acephalus</i>, minute seed weevil</h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51696019790/in/datetaken/" title="Mating pair of *Acanthoscelidius acephala* in *Oenothera biennis* in my front yard, July 2021"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51696019790_a9e72ec87c_c.jpg" width="800" height="532" alt="Mating pair of *Acanthoscelidius acephala* in *Oenothera biennis* in my front yard, July 2021"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<h4><i>Epitrix fuscula</i></h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51365481012/in/album-72157720163212942/" title="Mating pair of leaf beetle on Solanum along my driveway, August 2021"><img alt="Mating pair of leaf beetle on Solanum along my driveway, August 2021" height="600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51365481012_3711869f4e_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4><i>Harmonia axyridis</i>, multi-colored lady beetle</h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51239028668/in/datetaken/" title="Mating pair of *Harmonia axyridis*, multi-colored lady beetle, on *Asclepias syriaca* in my garden, June 2021"><img alt="Mating pair of *Harmonia axyridis*, multi-colored lady beetle, on *Asclepias syriaca* in my garden, June 2021" height="601" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51239028668_239e0c66b8_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h3><i>Diptera</i>, flies</h3>
<h4><i>Eumerus</i></h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51593164437" title="Mating pair of *Eumerus*, hoverflies, in my front yard, October 2021"><img alt="Mating pair of *Eumerus*, hoverflies, in my front yard, October 2021" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51593164437_f7d4cc044e_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4><i>Orthonevra nitida</i>, wavy mucksucker</h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51670166543/in/album-72157720163212942/" title="Mating pair of *Orthonvera nitida*, wavy mudsucker syrphid flies, on *Ageratina altissima* in my front yard, November 2021"><img alt="Mating pair of *Orthonvera nitida*, wavy mudsucker syrphid flies, on *Ageratina altissima* in my front yard, November 2021" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51670166543_ca57168169_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4><i>Syritta pipiens</i></h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51328632756/in/album-72157720163212942/" title="Mating pair of Syritta pipiens on Pycnanthemum muticum along my driveway, July 2021"><img alt="Mating pair of Syritta pipiens on Pycnanthemum muticum along my driveway, July 2021" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51328632756_a29dfae799_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4><i>Toxomerus geminatus</i>, Eastern calligrapher fly</h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51628645443/in/datetaken/" title="Mating pair of *Toxomerus geminatus*, Eastern calligrapher syrphid fly, in my front yard, October 2021"><img alt="Mating pair of *Toxomerus geminatus*, Eastern calligrapher syrphid fly, in my front yard, October 2021" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51628645443_985ba4070d_c.jpg" width="799" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4><i>Toxomerus marginatus</i>, margined calligrapher fly</h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51329367499/in/album-72157720163212942/" title="Mating pair of Toxomerus marginatus on Erigeron annuus in my front yard, July 2021"><img alt="Mating pair of Toxomerus marginatus on Erigeron annuus in my front yard, July 2021" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51329367499_819e211d80_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4><i>Xenox tigrinus</i>, tiger bee fly</h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51368875669/in/datetaken/" title="Mating pair of *Xenox tigrinus*, tiger bee fly, outside my porch screen, August 2021"><img alt="Mating pair of *Xenox tigrinus*, tiger bee fly, outside my porch screen, August 2021" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51368875669_d45284efa2_c.jpg" width="799" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h3><i>Hemiptera</i>, bugs</h3>
<h4><i>Jaylsus</i>, stilt bug</h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51367247230/in/album-72157720163212942/" title="Mating pair of Jalysus on Solanum along my driveway, August 2021"><img alt="Mating pair of Jalysus on Solanum along my driveway, August 2021" height="450" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51367247230_a681df00e8_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4><i>Lygaeus kalmii</i> ssp. <i>angustomarginatus</i>, Eastern small milkweed bug</h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51261944755/in/datetaken/" title="Mating pair of *Lygaeus kalmii* ssp. *angustomarginatus*, Eastern small milkweed bug, on *Ascelpias syriaca* in my garden, June 2021"><img alt="Mating pair of *Lygaeus kalmii* ssp. *angustomarginatus*, Eastern small milkweed bug, on *Ascelpias syriaca* in my garden, June 2021" height="582" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51261944755_2e2c06c9aa_z.jpg" width="582" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h3><i>Hymenoptera</i>, Epifamily <i>Anthophila</i>, bees</h3>
<h4><i>Hylaeus modestus</i>, modest masked bee</h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51399779655/in/album-72157720163212942/" title="Mating pair of *Hylaeus modestus* on *Boltonia asteroides* in my front yard, August 2021"><img alt="Mating pair of *Hylaeus modestus* on *Boltonia asteroides* in my front yard, August 2021" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51399779655_14153a5b91_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4><i>Xylocopa virginica</i>, large Eastern carpenter bee</h4>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51392278359/in/album-72157720163212942/" title="Mating pair of *Xylocopa vorginica* on *Clethra alnifolia* in my backyard, August 2021"><img alt="Mating pair of *Xylocopa vorginica* on *Clethra alnifolia* in my backyard, August 2021" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51392278359_a16def7d87_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h3><i>Lepidoptera</i>, butterflies</h3>
<h4><i>Danaus plexippus</i>, monarch butterfly</h4>
My garden is also registered as a butterfly and monarch habitat, and monarch waystation. It proved its worth this year. I observed multiple couplings, in addition to the usual egg-laying.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51357080688/in/album-72157720163212942/" title="Pair of monarchs mating in my garden, August 2021"><img alt="Pair of monarchs mating in my garden, August 2021" height="450" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51357080688_4665141e79_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<p>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/albums/72157720163212942" target="_blank">Flickr photo album</a>
</p>
<p>
<b>iNaturalist</b>:
<a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2021-01-01&place_id=125348&verifiable=any&view=species&field:Behavior:%20mating=yes" target="_blank">Insects mating in my garden during 2021</a>
</p>
<h4>Links</h4></div>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-70138125071964855262021-11-13T23:13:00.005-05:002021-11-15T23:20:11.088-05:00Annie, 2009-2021<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51607496090/in/album-72157622504015432/" title="Annie on Daddy's chair"><img alt="Annie on Daddy's chair" height="600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51607496090_5ba5a32e0b_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<br />
<p>
Our dear cat Annie passed away less than an hour ago.
</p>
<span><a name='more'></a></span>
<p>
We adopted her from Sean Casey Animal Rescue at the age of 5 or 6 months in September 2009.
We brought her into our home to be a companion for our elder rescuer cat Ripley.
She was a good little sister to him for several years before he died in 2015.
</p>
<p>
She had a recent health scare last month for which we took her to veterinary emergency care.
She was there for a few days and was stable before we brought her home.
</p>
<p>
She started having the same symptoms earlier today, but she deterioriated quickly today.
John and I discussed it and decided that, if it was her time, she would be better off with us than putting her through that stress again.
</p>
<p>
It was the right decision.At least one of us was with her all evening so she would not be alone. When she died, both John and I were by her side. She took her last breath while I was petting her.
</p>
<hr />
<p><b>2021-11-15</b></p>
<p>
This morning I brought her body to the vet for pet cremation. She was always so skinny. But today she was heavy.
</p>
<p>
She liked to get in bed with me when I went to bed, yelling at me if I stayed up too late.
I missed her the past two nights.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/48960228176/" title="Annie under the covers"><img alt="Annie under the covers" height="450" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48960228176_24f3485259_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>
These nights are the hardest. It's when I feel her absence the most. She's not coming to me to tell me to go to bed. She won't stalk me until I get under the covers, then join me, laying her body against mine, finding her niche beween me and the pillows.
</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51248126010/" title="Annie laying on my arm in bed, June 2021"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51248126010_50c62bd926_c.jpg" width="800" height="360" alt="Annie laying on my arm in bed, June 2021"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/sets/72157622504015432" target="_blank">All my photos of Annie</a> (Flickr photo album)
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2009/10/blessing-of-animals-chelsea-community.html" target="_blank">Blessing of the Animals, Chelsea Community Church</a> (Annie's "Coming Out" party after we adopted her), 2009-10-11
<br />
<br />
<a href=" http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2008/04/meet-mr-ripley.html" target="_blank">Meet Mr. Ripley</a>, 2008-04-14
<br />
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2015/05/ripley-2000-2015.html" target="_blank">Ripley, 2000-2015</a>, 2015-05-21
<h4>Links</h4>
<a href="https://www.nyanimalrescue.org/">Sean Casey Animal Rescue</a>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-62019088447964114802021-10-29T09:15:00.008-04:002021-11-10T11:32:11.480-05:00Documenting Insect-Plant Interactions<b>2021-10-29</b>: Transcribed and updated my October 20th <a href="https://twitter.com/xrisfg/status/1450977128921669641" target="_blank">tweet thread</a> on this topic. <hr />
<p>I'm an active contributor to <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/home" target="_blank">iNaturalist</a>. While I'm not a "super-observer", I expect to surpass 11,000 Observations by Halloween, two days away.
</p>
<p>Insect-Plant interactions are the majority of my iNaturalist Observations. I use the Observation Field: <i>Interaction->Visited Flower Of</i> to record which flowers insects are visiting, or lurking upon. Roughly <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=xris&verifiable=any&view=species&field:Interaction-%3EVisited%20flower%20of=" target="_blank">1/3 of my Observations use that field</a>.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51639583239/in/datetaken-public/" title="Partial Screenshot of my most recent Observations with the Visited Flower Of Field - 2021-10-29"><img alt="Partial Screenshot of my most recent Observations with the Visited Flower Of Field - 2021-10-29" height="1024" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51639583239_8843b2fbfe_b.jpg" width="550" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p><p>Both the <a href="https://www.gbif.org/" target="_blank">Global Biodiversity Information Facility</a> (GBIF) and <a href="https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/" target="_blank">Global Biotic Interactions</a> database (GloBI) automatically import iNaturalist Research Grade observations with an appropriate Creative Commons license. I'll use one of my iNaturalist Observations as an example to show how it all works together.</p>
<span><a name='more'></a></span>
<p>In August I <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51448629887/" target="_blank">photographed</a> an Eastern bumble bee, <i>Bombus impatiens</i>, on New York ironweed, <i>Vernonia noveboracensis</i> growing in my garden in front of my garage. Check out those bustling pink <i>corbicula</i> (pollen baskets)!
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51448629887/in/photostream/" title="*Bombus impatiens* on *Vernonia noveboracensis* in front of my garage, August 2021"><img alt="*Bombus impatiens* on *Vernonia noveboracensis* in front of my garage, August 2021" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51448629887_c3afc6d834_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></p>
<p>
I uploaded that to iNaturalist as an <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/94168809" target="_blank">Observation</a>, and added the Observation Field "<b>Interaction->Visited flower of:</b> <i>Vernonia noveboracensis</i> New York Ironweed".
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51638238822/in/datetaken-public/" title="Partial Screenshot of my an Observation of Bombus Impatiens on NY ironweed"><img alt="Partial Screenshot of my an Observation of Bombus Impatiens on NY ironweed" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51638238822_48667b8086_c.jpg" width="744" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<p>To make my Observations accessible for import into scientific databases, I assign the Creative Commons License <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" target="_blank">Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)</a> to my iNaturalist Observations. Since enough time has passed since it reached iNaturalist Resarch Grade status, the Observation has since been imported into both GBIF and GloBI.
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51639317428/in/datetaken-public/" title="Partial Screenshot of Data Quality Assessment section of an iNaturalist Observation showing exports to GBIF and GloBI"><img alt="Partial Screenshot of Data Quality Assessment section of an iNaturalist Observation showing exports to GBIF and GloBI" height="498" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51639317428_6603e87784_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/94168809" target="_blank">iNaturalist Observation</a> becomes a <a href="https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/3355376529" target="_blank">GBIF Occurrence</a>. All fields are transcribed from iNat to corresponding GBIF fields, with some values interpreted, e.g.: GPS coordinates are rounded, GBIF Occurrence Status = "PRESENT".
<br />
<br />
</p>
<p>
To also make it into GloBI, the iNaturalist Observation also has to have one or more Observation Fields that GloBI recognizes. Per GloBI's <a href="https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/contribute" target="_blank">"Contribute" page</a>, their GitHub repo <a href="https://github.com/globalbioticinteractions/inaturalist/blob/main/interaction_types.csv" target="_blank">maps iNaturalist Observation Fields</a> to GloBi's "Interaction Type". Any of the listed iNat Fields show up in GloBi with the corresponding "Interaction Type". There are already >170!
<br />
<br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51638181342/in/datetaken-public/" title="Partial Screenshot of GloBI GitHub Repo iNaturalist mapping CSV file - 2021-10-29"><img alt="Partial Screenshot of GloBI GitHub Repo iNaturalist mapping CSV file - 2021-10-29" height="680" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51638181342_79194d8b37_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
</p>
<p>
For example, Row 45 of that table shows that the iNaturalist Observation Field "Interaction: Visited flower of" corresponds to the GlobalBiotic Interaction Type "visits flowers of".
<br />
<br />
</p>
<p>
The <a href="https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/?accordingTo=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.inaturalist.org%2Fobservations%2F94168809&interactionType=interactsWith" target="_blank">GloBI link</a> on my original <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/94168809" target="_blank">iNaturalist Observation</a> lists all iNat obs showing that:
</p>
<ul>
<li><i>Bombus impatiens</i></li>
<li>visits flowers of</li>
<li><i>Vernonia noveboracensis</i></li></ul>
<p>
I seem to be the only person to have documented this interaction on iNat!
</p>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<h4>Links</h4>
<h5>Data Sources</h5>
iNaturalist
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.gbif.org/" target="_blank">Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)</a></b>
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/" target="_blank">Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI)</a></b>
<h5>Collections Management</h5>
<b><a href="https://www.idigbio.org" target="_blank">Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio)</a></b>
<br />
<b><a href="https://scan-bugs.org/portal/index.php" target="_blank">Symbiota Collections of Arthropods Network (SCAN)</a></b>: provides a web-based collections database system for those that want to curate their data directly in SCAN and serve data to GBIF.
<h5>Data Standards</h5>
<b><a href="https://www.tdwg.org/" target="_blank">Biodiversity Information Standards (formerly known as the Taxonomic Databases Working Group, TDWG)</a></b>:
<ul>
<li>develops, ratifies and promotes standards and guidelines for the recording and exchange of data about organisms</li>
<li>and acts as a forum for discussing all aspects of biodiversity information management through meetings, online discussions, and publications.</li>
</ul>
<br />
TDWG Biological Interaction Data Interest Group, GitHub Repo: https://github.com/tdwg/interaction
<br />
<b><a href="https://www.tdwg.org/standards/dwc/" target="_blank">Darwin Core (DWC)</a></b>: Maintained by TDWG, a standard glossary of terms intended to facilitate the sharing of information about biological diversity by providing identifiers, labels, and definitions. Darwin Core is primarily based on taxa, their occurrence in nature as documented by observations, specimens, samples, and related information.
<br />
The Relations Ontology (RO) captures many species interaction terms (e.g., purl.obolibrary.org/obo/RO_0002455)<div><br /></div><div>Darwin Core Resource Relationship Extension<br /> <div><a href="http://www.ontobee.org/ontology/RO?iri=http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/RO_0002437" target="_blank">Relations Ontology</a></div></div>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-57586267608825929152021-09-13T14:42:00.007-04:002021-09-25T11:45:23.847-04:00iNaturalist Workshops, The High Line, Saturday September 25<p>Updated 2021-09-25: Added Links and QR Codes to "Getting Started with iNaturalist".</p>
<hr />
<p>I'm pleased to announce that Saturday, September 25th, I will be leading two iNaturalist Workshops "in the field" at <a href="https://www.thehighline.org/" target="_blank">The High Line</a>. This is one of several workshops, and many other events, they have scheduled for <a href="https://www.thehighline.org/art/projects/insectageddon/" target="_blank">Insectageddon</a>, which runs from 3-6pm that Saturday afternoon.</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/50124058366/in/album-72157649073533689/" title="Self-Portrait of an iNaturalist as an old man"><img alt="Self-Portrait of an iNaturalist as an old man" height="716" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50124058366_d5288bf8d3_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p>I'll be doing two walks:
</p>
<ul>
<li>3:15-4:15 pm</li>
<li>4:45-5:45 pm</li>
</ul>
<p>When not out on one of the walks, I'll have a table in The High Line's Chelsea Market Passage, between 15th and 16th Streets. Please sign up there for one of the two workshops, as space will be limited. Each walk will start out from that location.</p>
<blockquote>
<b>iNaturalist Workshop</b>
<br />
<b>Hosted by Chris Kreussling, aka “Flatbush Gardener”</b>
<br />
Join Chris Kreussling for a walk on the High Line to explore plant and insect interactions and learn about the citizen scientist observation gathering tool iNaturalist. Tours begin at 3:30 and 4:45; please sign up upon arrival at Chris’s table in Chelsea Market Passage. Chris is a Brooklyn naturalist and gardener specializing in gardening with native plants to create habitat for pollinators and other invertebrates.
</blockquote>
<h4>Visiting the High Line</h4>
<p>Note that there are weekend restrictions in place for visitors to The High Line. <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/saturdays-sundays-registration-151492394831?aff=visit" target="_blank">You must register for timed entry</a>; pre-registration is highly recommended. The only weekend entrances open are at Gansevoort Street, 23rd Street, and 30th Street.
</p>
<p>Please give yourself plenty of time to get to my table in Chelse Market Passage for the start of the walk. The 14th Street entrance is exit-only on weekends. The closest weekend entrance is Gansevoort Street, at the corner of Washington Street, the southern end of The High Line. This entrance is just three blocks south of 14th Street.
</p>
<h4>Getting Started with iNaturalist</h4>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Sign up at <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/signup"><span style="font-family: courier;">https://www.inaturalist.org/signup</span></a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kjw1LT3KmiM/YU9DMyG5ilI/AAAAAAAA9tY/j6Z9tx5BP5YzVfrAs797tAOGOooUtVMzgCLcBGAsYHQ/iNaturalist%2B-%2BSignup%2B-%2BQR%2BCODE.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kjw1LT3KmiM/YU9DMyG5ilI/AAAAAAAA9tY/j6Z9tx5BP5YzVfrAs797tAOGOooUtVMzgCLcBGAsYHQ/iNaturalist%2B-%2BSignup%2B-%2BQR%2BCODE.png" width="240" /></a></div><br /><ul>
<li>You must be 13 or older.</li>
<li>You can link to your existing social media account, such as Twitter or Facebook</li><li>If you don't have an existing social media account you want to link to, you can create a new account with a valid email address</li></ul><ul>
</ul>
</li>
<li>If you have existing photos you want to identify, you can begin uploading them to iNaturalist through your Web browser.</li><li><b>Recommended</b>: Also install the iNaturalist app on your Android phone or iPhone or other Apple device. Be sure to link it to the account you just created. You can then take photos on your phone and upload them directly to iNaturalist.<br /><br /><b>Android</b>:<br /><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.inaturalist.android"><span style="font-family: courier;">https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.inaturalist.android</span></a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-J3Viaz_tCK4/YU9DSCESYnI/AAAAAAAA9tc/9Ibrq5rDGK0lfSuzhDY8sx5U5ZTuvf3NACLcBGAsYHQ/iNaturalist%2BApp%2B-%2BAndroid%2B-%2BQR%2BCODE.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-J3Viaz_tCK4/YU9DSCESYnI/AAAAAAAA9tc/9Ibrq5rDGK0lfSuzhDY8sx5U5ZTuvf3NACLcBGAsYHQ/iNaturalist%2BApp%2B-%2BAndroid%2B-%2BQR%2BCODE.png" width="240" /></a></div><br /><b>Apple/iPhone</b>:<br /><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inaturalist/id421397028?mt=8"><span style="font-family: courier;">https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/inaturalist/id421397028?mt=8</span></a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a9e9sUdjBSY/YU9DbwiYxXI/AAAAAAAA9tk/2uuXTLjxc18zqZGQu02Kqyley1VqAHXhgCLcBGAsYHQ/iNaturalist%2BApp%2B-%2BApple%2B-%2BQR%2BCODE.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a9e9sUdjBSY/YU9DbwiYxXI/AAAAAAAA9tk/2uuXTLjxc18zqZGQu02Kqyley1VqAHXhgCLcBGAsYHQ/iNaturalist%2BApp%2B-%2BApple%2B-%2BQR%2BCODE.png" width="240" /></a></div><br /></li>
</ol>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2021/06/native-pollinator-walks-wave-hill.html" target="_blank">Native Pollinator Walks, Wave Hill, Sunday, June 27</a>, 2021-06-14
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2019/06/sunday-623-pollinator-safari-urban.html" target="_blank">Pollinator Safari: Urban Insect Gardening with Native Plants</a>, 2019-06-23
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2016/05/event-sunday-515-nycww-tour-of-my.html" target="_blank">NYC Wildflower Week Tour of my Gardens</a>, 2016-05-15
<br />
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2014/06/event-saturday-621-nycww-pollinator.html" rel="noreferrer nofollow">NYC Wildflower Week Pollinator Safari of my Gardens</a>, 2014-06-21
<h4>Links</h4>
<h5>iNaturalist</h5>
<a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started" target="_blank">Getting Started</a>
<br />Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-52451762126287415392021-09-11T19:50:00.001-04:002022-02-24T23:51:09.109-05:00Grief & Gardening: 20 YearsWritten spontaneously as a <a href="https://twitter.com/xrisfg/status/1436711487574319104" target="_blank">Twitter thread</a>, and transcribed to this blog post.
<hr />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/234455301/in/album-72157594269337218/" title="Anti-war graffiti on base of statue, Union Square Park, September 24, 2001"><img alt="Anti-war graffiti on base of statue, Union Square Park, September 24, 2001" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/89/234455301_3316df7ebd_c.jpg" width="600" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> <div>I'm avoiding the news today. As well as the retraumatizing snuff porn documentaries.
I've written about all of it before. I don't feel the need to day to write any more. <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/09/grief-gardening-1-1-5-and-25.html">I wrote this</a> 15 years ago about Anniversaries, my first "Grief & Gardening" post:
<blockquote>The ways we observe anniversaries is arbitrary. For example, I was shocked to tears for weeks by the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, which killed 100 times more people than Katrina [1st Anniversary]. The earthquake which precipitated it left the entire planet ringing like a bell. The observation of "25 Years of AIDS" at this year's World AIDS Congress is pinned only to the first official report of a cluster of unusual deaths by the Centers for Disease Control in June of 1981. The timelines of epidemics don't follow our categorizations of them.
<br />
<a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/09/grief-gardening-1-1-5-and-25.html">Grief & Gardening #1: 1, 5 and 25</a>, 2006-09-04
</blockquote>
<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/234454290/in/datetaken/" title="Fallen"><img alt="Fallen" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/93/234454290_f16f74f77f_c.jpg" width="600" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> </div><div>At the time, I didn't have the blog yet. I wrote a lot in my journal. I transcribed some of it to back-dated blog posts. <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2001/09/this-week-in-history.html">This was the first</a>:
<blockquote>Like an earthquake, the initial shocks have affected each of us differently, and to different degrees. The aftershocks will continue for months. The effects will ripple out for decades. If I believed there was anyone to listen, let alone, answer, I would pray that each of us gets whatever we need to come through healthy and whole. I would pray that, individually and collectively, we respond to this violence with compassion, wisdom, courage and strength.
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<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2001/09/this-week-in-history.html">This Week in History</a>, 2001-09-14
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/234454363/in/datetaken/" title="Roadside Sentiment, Hudson, New York, September 16, 2001"><img alt="Roadside Sentiment, Hudson, New York, September 16, 2001" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/79/234454363_e78e76a505_c.jpg" width="600" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script> </div><div>The second back-dated blog post transcribes <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2001/10/without-god.html">a letter I wrote</a> to Rev. Joanna Tipple, then pastor of the Copake, NY church, which had been my husband's church when he was growing up:
<blockquote>Again, and still, horrors are committed in the name of God. A month ago, more than five thousand people lost their lives in a smoking crater, killed in the name of God. It makes no difference to me whether the banner reads "Holy War" or "God Bless America." This crisis has brought out both the best and worst in people. Like any tool, the idea of God is used for evil as well as good. Then what good is God?
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<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2001/10/without-god.html">Without God</a>
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/238056941/" title="Grieving Angel"><img alt="Grieving Angel" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/81/238056941_e1c1ec19eb_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
I worked in downtown Manhattan for 35 years before retiring two months ago. As the 5th Anniversary approached, Ground Zero was still just that, a wound. Everywhere were commemorative signs and symbols. You could feel it just walking around.
<blockquote>I have been feeling this one, the 5th anniversary of 9/11. The city is feeling it, too. Peoples' grief is closer to the surface, more accessible. Mine certainly is. I've also been remembering a lot of what it was like in the city right after. There are reminders of it everywhere, on the news, in the papers, special exhibits and events, and especially, at Ground Zero.
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<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/09/grief-gardening-2-five-years-after-ths.html">Grief & Gardening #2: Five Years After, "Ths Transetorey Life"</a>, 2006-09-09
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/1271107869/" title="Haddadada"><img alt="Haddadada" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1035/1271107869_29f79aed47_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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I moved to NYC, to the East Village, in 1979. Though I survived, many did not. It's why grief and loss pervade my writing, including my blog.
<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/08/in-shadow.html">I wrote this in 2007</a>, after learning of the death, from AIDS, of yet another of my last lovers.
<blockquote>Reminders of the upcoming 6th Anniversary of 9/11 are piling up. My first day back at work from my [recent] trip, I walked by the Deutsche Bank building - ruined in the attacks, condemned, and only now being dismantled - where two firefighters had lost their lives the day before. I could see the blackened scaffolding and walls of the building. I smelled the smoke, startled for a few minutes, taken back to the months after the attacks, when the fires burned for months, when we walked every day through the crematory of downtown Manhattan.
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<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/08/in-shadow.html">In the Shadow (How shall my heart be reconciled to its feast of losses?)</a>, 2007-08-08
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/2849742126/" title="Bulldog 6"><img alt="Bulldog 6" height="800" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/2230/2849742126_3165e5da56_c.jpg" width="532" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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On the 7th Anniversary, I wrote my name on a beam that was intended to become part of the Memorial at Ground Zero. I was briefly interviewed by a local radio reporter from 1010WINS. I met a good dog.
<blockquote>Flags, flags, flags ... flags waving everywhere. I understand the impulse, yet I don't feel it as a defiant gesture. It feels like a concession to me. That we have no greater symbol than our nation's flag makes me sad. What evil has been committed in the name of that flag?
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<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2008/09/seven-years.html">Seven years</a>, 2008-09-10
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/234454129/" title="Skytop and tower, Mohonk, New York, September 10, 2001"><img alt="Skytop and tower, Mohonk, New York, September 10, 2001" height="600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/98/234454129_79630b781e_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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On the 9th Anniversary, with some perspective of years, I was able to write coherently about what our experience had been that day, that week. I worked downtown, through the months of smoke and ash that followed. And year after year in NYC.
<blockquote>We decided to hold to our vacation plans for the week, somber though it was. There was nothing we could do back home. My workplace downtown, blocks from Ground Zero, would not reopen for two weeks. Reminders met us everywhere we went. And everywhere we went, we were ambassadors for New York City. When we told people where we were from, as often as not, they broke down crying. We were their reminders.
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<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2010/09/grief-gardening-nine-years.html">Grief & Gardening: Nine Years</a>, 2010-09-11
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/238057848" title="St. Paul's Enshrouded"><img alt="St. Paul's Enshrouded" height="532" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/83/238057848_0de9c9eccb_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
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I avoid "ticker tape" parades.
<blockquote>The gutters were thick with shreds of paper, and ash, for weeks and months after 9/11. The gray ash was the last to go. Living and working in downtown after 9/11 was being in a crematorium.
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<a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2019/07/grief-and-gardening-remains-of-day.html">Grief and Gardening: Remains of the Day</a>, 2019-07-11
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So, I don't feel a need to write anything new today. I'm going to spend the day away from television, and news, and commemorations. I will instead hug my husband, squish our cats, and spend time in the garden photographing bugs, observing and celebrating the diversity of life.
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/51448307720/in/datetaken/" title="*Agapostemon* on *Pycnanthemum muticum* in front of my garage, August 2021"><img alt="*Agapostemon* on *Pycnanthemum muticum* in front of my garage, August 2021" height="600" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51448307720_e92d0cd681_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
In chronological order.
<b>2001-09-14</b>: <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2001/09/this-week-in-history.html">This Week in History</a>
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<b>2001-10-15</b>: <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2001/10/without-god.html">Without God</a>
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<b>2006-09-04</b>: <a href="https://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/09/grief-gardening-1-1-5-and-25.html">Grief & Gardening #1: 1, 5 and 25</a>
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<b>2006-09-09</b>: <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2006/09/grief-gardening-2-five-years-after-ths.html">Grief & Gardening #2: Five Years After, "Ths Transetorey Life"</a>
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<b>2007-08-08</b>: <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2007/08/in-shadow.html">In the Shadow (How shall my heart be reconciled to its feast of losses?)</a>
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<b>2008-09-10</b>: <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2008/09/seven-years.html">Seven years</a>
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<b>2010-09-11</b>: <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2010/09/grief-gardening-nine-years.html">Grief & Gardening: Nine Years</a>
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<b>2019-07-11</b>: <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2019/07/grief-and-gardening-remains-of-day.html">Grief and Gardening: Remains of the Day</a>
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<b>2021-09-11</b>: <a href="https://twitter.com/xrisfg/status/1436711487574319104" target="_blank">Twitter thread</a>
<h4>Links</h4></div>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-60469871423806645642021-06-14T07:57:00.007-04:002021-06-23T18:56:51.338-04:00Native Pollinator Walks, Wave Hill, Sunday, June 27<p style="text-align: left;"><b>Update, 2021-06-23</b>: These walks are now FREE with your admission to Wave Hill! Pre-registration is no longer required, but space is limited. Register on-site, the day of the walks, at the Perkins Visitor Center.</p><p style="text-align: left;">-----</p><p style="text-align: left;">I'm proud to announce that Sunday, June 27th, I will be leading two Native Pollinator Walks at <a href="https://www.wavehill.org/" target="_blank">Wave Hill</a> in the Bronx. This is one of several events they have scheduled for their <a href="https://www.wavehill.org/calendar/native-pollinators-day" target="_blank">Native Pollinators Day</a>, at the end of Pollinator Week.</p>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/14574297435/in/photolist-2jCELvu-2jCBi7p-2jAa3xT-2jCELvE-2jCFyYf-2jCBi7Q-2gPTHKb-24nAiUD-2eZ4G5V-2eZ4Fma-2eZ4E1V-2dAenSH-Kaq5sE-25hj3uA-UVUkeE-Mgcey3-KfQPwG-HGLBhZ-HGL1kV-GTh6PS-HGL7ED-HGLiWM-GTgH27-HP9ExF-HDbkJW-oSKHTS-oBsx4Z-HDbm3m-2etbCTw-AMsHp5-zV95sv-zU976v-xf2vcU-uHn9hf-ridWF9-qHkB6S-ocT5Sg-fBSFjJ-fBCnfp-eVXf9T-cjdz7C-abj1Qc-9RvLnZ-8cQYdP-8cQYbD-7YmVgt-52K5AF-4ReqQL-4RadWv" title="Me hosting the NYCWW Pollinator Week Safari in my Front Yard, June 2014. Photo: Alan Riback"><img alt="Me hosting the NYCWW Pollinator Week Safari in my Front Yard, June 2014. Photo: Alan Riback" height="351" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/3878/14574297435_e53e9bde1c_c.jpg" width="800" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>
<p style="text-align: left;">I'll be doing two walks:</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.wavehill.org/calendar/native-pollinators-walks" target="_blank">11 am to 12 noon</a></li><li><a href="https://www.wavehill.org/calendar/native-pollinators-walks-1" target="_blank">1 pm to 2pm</a></li></ul><div>FREE with your admission admission to Wave Hill's grounds.</div><p></p><blockquote><p>Flowers attract the attention of both human and animal visitors. Honeybees, bumblebees, and butterflies are easily spotted in the garden but solitary bees, beetles, and other native pollinators are often overlooked. Learn about pollination and observe native pollinators busy at work in the garden with naturalist and gardener <b>Chris Kreussling</b>. <em>Ages 10 and older welcome with an adult. Native Pollinators Day event.</em></p><div><p><i>Registration required</i>, onsite on the day of the walk, at the Perkins Visitor Center. Space is limited. Questions? Please email us at <a href="mailto:information@wavehill.org" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">information@wavehill.org</a> or call 718.549.3200 x251.</p></div></blockquote><h4>Related Content</h4>
<div><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2019/06/sunday-623-pollinator-safari-urban.html" target="_blank">Pollinator Safari: Urban Insect Gardening with Native Plants</a>, 2019-06-23</div><div><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2016/05/event-sunday-515-nycww-tour-of-my.html" target="_blank">NYC Wildflower Week Tour of my Gardens</a>, 2016-05-15</div><a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/2014/06/event-saturday-621-nycww-pollinator.html" rel="noreferrer nofollow">NYC Wildflower Week Pollinator Safari of my Gardens</a>, 2014-06-21<h4>Links</h4>
<a href="https://www.wavehill.org/calendar/native-pollinators-day" target="_blank">Native Pollinators Day</a>, <a href="https://www.wavehill.org/" target="_blank">Wave Hill</a><div><br /></div>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14731145.post-67552311761239414622021-03-27T09:40:00.004-04:002021-06-09T21:40:23.371-04:00NYC Regional Native Plant Sales, Spring-Summer 2021<div>2021-06-09: Added Tufts Pollinator Initiative Native Plant Sale</div><div>2021-03-27: Initial listing. I will continue to update this throughout the season as I learn of more events.</div><div><br /></div>This season's native plant sales in and around New York City. Events are listed by date. For year-round sources of native plants, see <a href="http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/p/native-plant-nurseries.html" target="_blank">Sources for Native Plants</a>.<br /><div><br /></div><div><a data-flickr-embed="true" data-footer="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/41627786311/in/photolist-26qvhzD-GNgGce-Ji15jw-J91Ffm-2hhUQKM-2hhUQUz-2hhWto2-2hhWthA-2hhUQL3-2hhXr3z-2hhXqTB-2hhWt7L-2hhXqUo-2hhXr7Y-2hhXqUU-2hhXr8V-2hhXqVv-2hhXr8u-2hhWtoH-2hhWt9u-xXQv6F-x6Uqt5-xnHZUJ-x72haP-wMAWgd-wMAV31-wPVDWt-wxjaaQ-wQrtM6-vSUpaf-wPcx6q-wxj8HJ-wPVJjX-wxr8PR-wxj2iY-wPcdrS-vT4hqK-wPccbq-wPVDe6-wMB4qJ-wQrrSp-wPVF2e-wPcnGq-wxj1KU-wxrsrR-vSUrtd-vT43gT-wxiXUf-wMAQEo-wMAPzs" title="Native Plant Acquisitions, Gowanus Canal Conservancy Plant Sale, April 2018"><img alt="Native Plant Acquisitions, Gowanus Canal Conservancy Plant Sale, April 2018" height="450" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/887/41627786311_98cea57512_c.jpg" width="800" /></a>
<span><a name='more'></a></span>
<h4>Tufts Pollinator Initiative - Native Plant Sale</h4>
<ul>
<li><b>Date</b>: Sunday, June 20th (start of Pollinator Week) - Rain Date Sunday, June 27th</li>
<li><b>Time</b>: 9am - 4pm</li>
<li><b>Address</b>: 574 Boston Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h3>Past Events</h3>
<h4>Native Plant Center at Westchester Community College</h4><div>DEADLINE FOR ORDERING: March 31</div><div><a href="https://nativeplantcentershop.org/" target="_blank">https://nativeplantcentershop.org/</a></div><ul>
<li>Pre-order only</li><li>Minimum order $200</li><li>They will schedule your pickup for mid-May</li></ul>
<h4>NJ Pinelands Preservation Alliance Online Native Plant Sale</h4>
<a href="https://pinelandsalliance.org/explore-the-pinelands/pinelands-events-and-programs/spring-native-plant-sales/" target="_blank">https://pinelandsalliance.org/explore-the-pinelands/pinelands-events-and-programs/spring-native-plant-sales/</a><div>
<ul>
<li>Virtual Native Plant Sale from April 22nd to April 28th</li>
<li>Plant sales managed by Pinelands Direct</li>
<li>Curbside pickups at Pinelands Direct</li>
<li>Smaller items can be directly shipped</li>
</ul>
<h4>Gowanus Canal Conservancy, Brooklyn</h4><div><a href="https://gowanuscanalconservancy.org/nursery/" target="_blank">https://gowanuscanalconservancy.org/nursery/</a></div>
<ul>
<li>Saturday, April 24th, 10:30am - 1:30pm</li><li>Saturday, May 8th, 10:30am - 1:30pm</li><li>Saturday, May 22nd, 2:00pm - 5:00pm</li></ul>
<h4>Related Content</h4>
<h4>Links</h4></div></div>Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)http://www.blogger.com/profile/08467595231097695124noreply@blogger.com0