Emerald Ash Borer Discovered in Prospect Park

Terrible news.

Until this announcement, Agrilus planipennis, emerald ash borer, or EAB for short, had been found throughout New York state, but the locations closest to NYC were in Westchester County. This is quite a leap. One of the ways invasive forest pests get spread is through moving firewood. I wonder if that was the case here.

I live 1/2 mile south of Prospect Park. I am going to visit the ash trees in my neighborhood. They may not be here next year.


Press release from Prospect Park Alliance, 2017-10-27:

Today, the New York State Departments of Agriculture and Markets (DAM) and Environmental Conservation (DEC) confirmed the first-ever discovery of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in New York City in Prospect Park. Of an initial survey of 10 suspected trees in Prospect Park by Prospect Park Alliance—the non-profit that cares for the Park in partnership with the City, three were confirmed to be infested by this invasive pest by a Cornell University researcher.

Remembering Sandy, Five Years Later

Rockaway Beach Boulevard, between Beach 113th & 114th Streets, Rockaway Park, Queens, November 4, 2012

The storm surge flooded this block to at least five feet. Fire broke out and was quickly spread by 80-mph winds. These buildings burned down to the water line.

This was the site of a heroic rescue by FDNY Swift Water Team 6 and other firefighters attached to this unit for rescues during the storm. Firefighters Edward A. Morrison and Thomas J. Fee received awards for their actions during these rescues.
www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-166/issue-5...
www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/pdf/publications/medal_day/2013/Med...

Investigators later determined this fire was caused by downed electrical wires falling onto 113-18 Rockaway Beach Boulevard. 16 homes were destroyed by the fire.
www.nydailynews.com/new-york/sea-water-surge-behind-serio...

There was worse destruction than this on Beach 130th Street, between Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Beach Channel Road. That fire started at 239 Beach 129 St. and destroyed 31 buildings.

Related Content

Links

Remembering Sandy 5 Years Later, National Weather Service
Saved by Sand Dunes, Cool green Science blog, Nature
Five years later, AN looks at the impact of Hurricane Sandy on New York’s built environment, Audrey Wachs, The Architects Newspaper, 2017-10-27

Land of the Free: A Civics Lesson

[Transcribed from a 2017-09-16 Twitter thread and back-dated.]


I originally wrote this as a linked group of posts on Twitter in response to an article about a teacher put on leave after "manhandling" (violently snatching from his chair) a student who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

A billion yrs ago, I was in high school. I was gay, atheist, and figuring out my personal conscience and integrity against the injustice I saw in the world.

I spent a lot of time in the school library. There I found a copy of an ACLU handbook on students' rights. Among the chapters, there was a section about reciting, or even standing for, the so-called "Pledge of Allegiance." That was the practice in my high scool's "home room": the first "class" of the day, where attendance was taken, and Pledge recited. I had been standing only, not reciting, for weeks.

After reviewing the ACLU handbook, I wanted to exercise my conscience, and my right. One morning, I remained seated. The teacher, calling me by my last name, told me to stand. I refused. He asked why. I explained. I was lying if I recited it. There was no "liberty and justice for all." I was atheist, and did not believe in a nation "under god."

He moved on that 1st day. The 2nd day, he brought in the school's disciplinarian to glare at me from the doorway, to intimidate. I sat. There was the visit to the principal's office. I explained my reasons again. I remained seated.

This gave other students license to attempt intimidation, push my chair while I remained seated, shove me in hallways outside class. One student called me a "godless, commie fag." He didn't know I was gay. It was just the worst insult he could think of.

Related Content

Links

"Farmington teacher accused of mistreating student put on leave", Charles E. Ramirez and Mark Hicks, The Detroit News, 2017-09-15

Blooming Now

NYC-Native Species

Asarum canadense, wild ginger

Fragaria virginiana, Virginia strawberry

Geranium maculatum

Geum rivale, purple avens

Podophyllum peltatum, mayapple

Polygonatum biflorum

Rhododendron periclymenoides

Thalictrum thalictroides

Vaccinium angustifolium, lowbush blueberry

Vaccinium corymbosum, highbush blueberry

Viola lanceolata, bog white violet

Viola sororia, dooryard violet (several different varieties)

Zizia aurea, golden alexanders

Eastern Regional Native Species

Dicentra eximia

Fothergilla major

Phlox stolonifera (in bud)

Polemonium reptans, Jacob's ladder

Sedum ternatum

Stylophorum diphyllum, woodland poppy

Tiarella cordifolia, foamflower

Trillium grandiflorum, great white trillium

Standing Still 2016

Persephone with her pomegranate. Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Proserpine (Oil on canvas, 1874) - Tate Gallery, London


This season's solstice (Winter in the Northern hemisphere, Summer in the Southern), occurs at 10:44 UTC, December 22, 05:44 Eastern Standard Time (UTC-05:00), December 21. Etymology: Latin solstitium (sol "sun" + stitium, from sistere "to stand still")

The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, its apparent movement north or south comes to a standstill.
- Solstice, Wikipedia

This year feels darker than most. Yesterday, as expected, the U.S. presidential electorate election was affirmed. "Standing Still" takes on a different meaning if there's a chance the light won't return.



So we light a candle against the darkness, and try to keep it lit. If I'm feeling hopeful, I might reflect on these lyrics from Peter Gabriel's song written in memory of Stephen Biko, who would have been 90 this past week:

You can blow out a candle
But you can't blow out a fire.
Once the flames begin to catch
The wind will blow it higher.

Wishing for peace, wishing you peace, these dark days.

This page has a little MIDI file which bangs out the tune so you can follow the score.

Illumination of Earth by Sun at the southern solstice.

Related Content

Solstice: 2015, 2014, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007

Links

Wikipedia: Solstice

Lemon-Cardamon Sugar Cookies

This is an updated version of a recipe I published 3 years ago. This version reflects the adjustments I've made since then. I feel like I've perfected this one. If you try this recipe, let me know what you did and how it turned out in the comments!

A milkweed by an other name ...

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
- Juliet, Romeo and Juliet, Wiliam Shakespeare

A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.
- Gertrude Stein, various

I started to get into a little tiffle on a post (since removed) on one of the insect ID groups in Facebook. The original poster was trying to ID a tight cluster of orange eggs on a leaf of a plant she identified as "milkweed vine." One of the responders commented: "Milkweed vine? Not likely." And then we were off.

Coccinella novemnotata, nine-spotted lady beetle, aka "C9"

New York State Gardeners: You can help re-introduce our state insect! See Links below.

A decade ago, shortly after I launched this blog, I wrote the following:

[Coccinella] novemnotata was once common. How did New York State get to have a once-native-but-no-longer-resident state insect?

Not just common; C. novemnotata, or C9 for short, was once the most common lady beetle in the eastern U.S.

Eastern Native Groundcovers

2022-10-20: Please refer to the new, updated list.

---

I started to reply to a Facebook post and quickly realized I had enough content for a blog post.

Hello from Long Island NY..looking for suggestion for ground cover that won't eat my plants. I would like somthing a bit tamer the vinca . The area is slightly damp..part sun/part shade. Any suggestions. See posted pics! Thanks!!

The accompanying photos show a mix of young trees, shrubs, and perennials in a nice non-lawn streetside garden. The photos show a lot of sun, with some shade. The shade will increase over time as the trees and shrubs fill in.

Another commenter suggested Lamium and Galium, neither of which I would describe as "tame." Either can take over an area in the right conditions.

These are some of the Eastern North American species I've grown and can recommend as groundcover. 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.

10th Blogiversary

10 years ago today, I wrote the first post of Flatbush Gardener, a reflection on my first garden in NYC, started in 1981 in the East Village. I don't think I can summarize all the changes I, and the gardens, have gone through over the past decade. Blogging itself is nearly a lost art, monetized and franchised, aggregated and amplified

Still, the gardens endure, transformed and transforming, embodying and expressing my evolution as a gardener.

The Back Yard


The Front Yard

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