Finally! The USDA Hardiness Zone Map Changes

When I teach certain plants, I often find myself qualifying their hardiness.  I'll say things like, "Well, when I was in college, we were taught that Crape Myrtle would never survive in NY.   It's considered a solid zone 7 plant.  Yet, more and more, we see it in Manhattan gardens and in the Hamptons."  This was perplexing because New York was considered Zone 6 until yesterday.

On January 25, the USDA introduced an updated hardiness zone map, showing an upward shift of average lowest temperatures and thus generally making each zone shift north.  For example, whereas New York was Zone 6, it is now marked as Zone 7. 

The map itself debuted in 1960, and was revised in 1965.  In 1990 the map was updated, using data from 1974-1986.  This revision actually caused zones to skew lower, as during those years winters were particularly colder.  The current edition includes data from 1976-2005, and thus should have better average temperatures reflected in the map. The map is also clickable- so you can view insets of your state.

Finback Whales

Yesterday, I was in Ocean City, New Jersey for a meeting regarding the rain garden I'm designing for the intermediate school.  I actually spent the preceding weekend there with friends, as there's nothing better than a wintry weekend at the beach in front of the fire.    Yesterday morning, I finally mobilized to go for a long run.  While normally I run along the boardwalk, I feared the damp rainy weather would make the boards too slick, so I opted for running north along through the salt marshes north of town and to the neighboring town beyond (I took a photo on the way, and will post on an actual plant tomorrow or Wednesday). 

It's probably just as well I avoided the boardwalk, as I would have only had my iPhone when encountering this:

This is a fin or finback whale, which washed upon the shore of Ocean City, New Jersey early yesterday morning.  I heard the news at my rain garden meeting and quickly went to see the whale myself when the meeting concluded.  

Authorities from the Marine Mammal Stranding Center identified the species and estimate that this animal measures approximately forty to forty five feet long.  That makes it an juvenile, as mature fin whales reach lengths of seventy feet, making them the second longest whales and the sixth largest living animal in the world (after other whales, of course).  Their narrow bodies account for their discrepant rankings in length and size, it also is why some refer to them as 'greyhounds of the sea' -- they are incredibly agile and fast. 

Unfortunately, this whale washed to the shore dead, which anyone could surmise the instant they got of their car a few blocks away.  The smell hung in the air, and yesterday's heavy fog almost seemed like tangible evidence of the odor. A similar whale was sighted a week earlier in New York harbor; it's likely that the whale was struck by a ship in the harbor, died and slowly drifted with the currents until it ended up in Ocean City. Fin whales are endangered.  Like many others of their relatives, the fin whale was heavily hunted during the 20th Century.  Wikipedia cites that between 1904 and 1979, 750,000 species existed in the southern hemisphere alone.  Today the total fin whale population is closer to 15,000.  Though the International Whaling Commission bans the hunting of fin whales, Japan, Iceland and Greenlanders continue to hunt the species. 

Despite the odor, I'm pretty sure every year-round resident of Ocean City (and perhaps others from further away) made it to the beach at one point yesterday, in order to see the whale.  Parents brought their children, excited for them to see such a large living thing.  Of course, some kids (like the boy two photos up) are more interested in playing with the sand -- some people are just never impressed. By the way, that cop in the foreground, on the right, yea... he's totally yelling at me to get off the jetty.

I thought it was literally awesome to see such a large animal, particularly now that I know it was barely over half its mature size.  We all learn that the ocean is inhabited by strange, massive animals and certainly that's why there is no shortage of wonderful organizations to preserve our ocean ecologies, but to really witness, with my own eyes, physical proof of such a massive mammal is moving.

I've already linked to a few organizations that make it their mission to protect whales and or the ocean, but let's not forgot Save the Whales - even if the pins aren't as popular!

Latin Making an Exit in Botanical Descriptions

Some of you may have noticed Adrian Higgins' piece in the Post yesterday -- frankly I'm surprised more people didn't send it to me, especially current and former students who loathe using botanical nomenclature during my classes!

Since the modern binomial system began (remember Linnaeus?) those wishing to document discovery of a plant were required to write the descriptive text in Latin.  As of January 1, those descriptions can be written in English.  It's a good change and on January 5 the New York Times issued an editorial supporting it.  That does not mean though that plant species will abandon their botanical names (I am always reluctant to refer to as 'Latin names' since just as often the botanical name is Greek, or derivative of ancient Greek).

I have to admit, when I first heard about this, I panicked, thinking that they were abandoning scientific nomenclature which would have been a major change for designers, nurserymen, botanists, teachers, etc.

Higgins adds that the change will also affect, 'the pretentious gardener who, trug in one hand, pruners in the other, can wax on about the Syringa (lilac), Salix (willow) or Solidago (goldenrod), et cetera,' which I think is a little cruel, since there are 25 species of Syringa, 400 species of Salix, 100 species of Solidago, et cetera.  In many cases, the species refers to critical differences among plants of the same genus.  Not to mention that, to many, understanding what's behind the nomenclature can be fascinating - otherwise my etymology tags on Planted Cloud and NYPAOS wouldn't be so highly viewed!

Fairytale Architecture

In case you missed it a few days ago The Design Observer Group posted a series of renderings by architects developing designs for various Fairytale structures.  It's a fun link.

The first is a house that should look like a chicken and thus is on impossibly high 'legs.'

The second installment is my favorite -- a drawing of Rapunzel's tower, complete with performance specifications like "Thorn Bushes Will Be Large Enough to Prevent Climbing by Infatuated Princes."

Finally, a very modern interpretation of Jack's Beanstalk House.

A fun exercise, I'd love to see more design studios have levity in their projects by incorporating something like this.  And those of us who have taken design studio courses know that, with an absence of budget or client, many of our studio projects already have a fairytale quality as it is!

Et cetera

I've been blogging a bit less frequently lately, but that's not to say I haven't been writing. 

Please check out a piece I wrote for the American Society of Landscape Architects Spring 2011 Residential Landscape Architecture Newsletter.  It details some work I had done on my parents' property this autumn.  The perennial gardens we established are beginning to green up and as soon as things start blooming I'll be posting some new photos.

I also have my newest contribution to my friend John's blog, Grown in the City.  It provides a bit of history behind the Cherry Blossom Festival, which has now begun in DC.

More tomorrow!

Check out my Contribution to Yesterday's 'Grown in the City', also Daffodils

I've mentioned my friend John's blog 'Grown in the City' before and I've begun a regular contribution to it, which debuted yesterday.  The subject: Hamamelis or witch hazel.

I've written about witch hazel on NYPAOS several times before, but yesterday's post is a touch more in depth, so definitely check it out!

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Another plant that is in bloom right now, which I've also covered on NYPAOS is the cheery daffodil.  Check out last year's post on Narcissus here to learn more about the different categories of daffodil and how to determine them.

More later!

My First Interview!

My friend John writes a great blog here in DC called Grown in the City.  He published an interview with me as part of his "Five Questions For...." series.  It was published on February 24 and those who know me or read regularly will figure out that my grandmother died that day so sharing the link here got lost in the mix.  In any case, check it out!

The Lawn in Landscape Design

Check out Todd Haiman's great post today on the evolution of the lawn.  Like most landscape architects today, I try to help clients on establishing their lawn areas as sensibly as possible.  Too often, an estate has a lawn that seems to roll endlessly along hillsides and besides pastures.  These clients, I think, were heavily influenced by Merchant Ivory films like Howard's End. Which in turn were loosely documenting the English Garden landscapes of Capability Brown and Humphry Repton.  Those two, among others, were largely influenced by the picturesque landscapes of Claude Lorraine.


Now, don't get me wrong, a lawn is a wonderful part of any landscape - it provides a place for vista, scale and play.  My only goal is that when a lawn is designed, it's established with sensible boundaries.  Those boundaries can be programmatic (i.e., you simply don't want to mow too much lawn), ecological (you don't want to use too much fuel for your mower or water for irrigation) or physical (because, really: who wants to mow a lawn that is on a 3:1 slope?). 

The lawn in American landscapes is indeed iconic and not at all a bad thing.  But when we look at a picturesque landscape (perhaps, most famously Stowe House in Buckinghamshire), we should temper our reaction to the gorgeous landscape with the knowledge that countless numbers of workers (both animal and human) are hiding behind those copses of trees, waiting to furiously fight back the turf's growth.

From New York

Wow, it's 10am and I haven't published a post yet.  What am I thinking?  Well, an excuse: I had counted on the bolt bus I took yesterday to have wifi and sadly, it was out of order.  So no chance to publish on my way to New York and then once I got here, it was a busy agenda of meetings and then a very nice dinner with my good friends, an evening far too nice to worry about self-imposed deadlines...

Anyway, here I am and before I head out for another busy day, I'll post a few links I'd like to recommend, to feed your horticultural cravings.

Alice Joyce writes Bay Area Tendrils and her most recent post marks her two year "Blogoversary."  Alice's blog has been a favorite of mine since I began blogging. 

Second, this afternoon I'm looking forward to checking out the new David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center.  It features a green wall that I'd like to check out.  Speaking of green walls, don't wonder why I've been blogging so much about Longwood Gardens and haven't written about their new green wall, the largest in the US.  That's to come sometime next week. 

Happy Friday!

In case you missed it... (Weekend re-cap)

Serenity in the Garden connects this week's solstice and lunar eclipse to the Hidden Gardens in Glasgow, Scotland.

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Cottage and Vine decorates a winter entry for the holiday, replacing frost-killed annuals with leyland cypress, fir and nadnina.

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Growing with Plants details the use and history of various citrus plants indoors, specifically featuring the kumquat.  The post includes great photos and a comprehensive introduction to this wonderful little fruit. 

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I recently discovered Meaningful Landscape - a great blog with recent sketches illustrating landscape concepts. The most recent post details a pretty good graphic drawing exercise I may recycle to classes in the future. 

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Landezine posted Strootman Landschapsarchitecten's contribution to the French garden festival in Chaumont-sur-Loire.  The concept is an homage to Billie Holiday and the photos are luscious.  It gives me a craving for a summer afternoon in Giverny.

My *Own* Holiday Gift List (...if you like plants)

On Monday, I included a link to a gift guide for garden lovers.  I thought that I may as well share a few of my favorite books from 2010.  These aren't necessarily books that were published in 2010, it's simply that I discovered them then.

When I was traveling to Arizona, I was overwhelmed by the number of plants I encountered and at a loss to where to begin identifying them.  At the Montezuma Castle gift shop, I found these wonderful gems: Flowers of the Southwest Deserts and Shrubs & Trees of the Southwest Deserts.

The books are very easy to read and simple in content.  At the same time, the images (line drawings) are very clear.  I wish I had them on the first day of my trip, instead of my last.

Another book, which I picked up at the Grand Canyon, was
 Naturalist's Guide to Canyon Country.  This was a fun addition, since although the plant information was a bit simple, it also included information on wildlife, as the cover implies.

Before Arizona, I was lucky to spend quite a bit of time in Hawaii.  Hawaii's Plants and Animals: Biological Sketches of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is a wonderful read.  Very comprehensive, dividing the book into sections based on ecosystems, which makes perfect sense for a place with such a rich variety of landscapes.  Again, the images in this book were all line drawings, which is always my preference for plant books.

Finally, those of you who read NYPAOS know that I launched my own business this year.  A surprisingly dense and easy to read book that serves as a guide for setting up a business was Freelance Design in Practice.  The book is more geared to graphic designers, but it's easy enough to translate those services to those a landscape architect offers.  It also deals frankly with conflict that most designers (who can obsess for hours, even days, on getting a design "perfect") struggle with: avoiding becoming submerged in their designs at the sake of their business or personal life. 

Invasive Insects in the News

I feel like I decided to leave New York City just in time to avoid the near-panic about bedbugs that's taken place in the past six months or so.  There's no doubt that bed bugs (or more locally, stink bugs) have dominated the press lately, as far as articles about insects go.

That's why I was pleased to see an article in the Post today about the invasive insects that don't threaten our bedrooms, but instead, our local forests and greenswards.  The article briefly reviews the recent attention paid to combating the Asian longhorn beetle (or ALB in industry shorthand), the emerald ash borer and the Asian gypsy moth. 

New York has been vigilant in keeping the ALB at bay.  They have developed "wanted" posters that are frequently seen at the subway stations and provided more information elsewhere. (Check out infographic's breakdown of one such poster -- the information is a very comprehensive but condensed description of the ALB threat.) My favorite anti-ALB propaganda is a card that mimics a metrocard and has an ALB identification checklist on it, with a scaled shothole you can use to inspect the trunks of your local trees for boring damage.  Chicago has also been a leader in educating the public about these insects and protecting their trees and even has it's own (anti) EAB blog. 

At NYPAOS, I blogged about the intricacies in forming an only-native plants stance or not.  One reason people advocate using only native plants is that foreign plant materials can bring foreign pests or diseases.   But with the pests mentioned above, they have stowed away on pallets and other ornamental stock and are not a by-product of the ornamental use of exotic species.  Unfortunately, our global economy dictates that materials are shipped from one end of the planet to the other, and there are (ahem, sorry for this) inherent bugs in the system.  What's most important to me is not selecting native plants but instead, advocating for municipalities and state and federal government to strengthen its surveillance of shipments and be prepared to respond as quickly and comprehensively as possible when an threatening pest is detected.  

In case you missed it... (Weekend re-cap)

Speaking of wreaths, this weekend the Horticultural Society of New York and the Garden Club of Virgina both posted about holiday decorations. 

The Garden Club's post features various wreaths found about town in Williamsburg, Virginia.  No opportunity for ornamentation seems to be missed -- in one shot, lemons are placed in between wooden louvers.  Apples, pineapples, pomegranates and even shoes are used to creative festive trimmings.

HSNY's Water Daily post on wreaths is a bit more esoteric -- in fact using the word "wreath" may be a bit of a stretch.  But that's to be expected - the photos are from the New York City Department of Park and Recreation's annual Wreath Interpretations exhibit (on display at DPR's headquarters at the Arsenal Building on 5th Avenue).  My favorite appears at the end of the link - it's a wreath made from concentric circles of wine corks.  Some of us could make that wreath faster than others, I'm sure.
 

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My friend Jess rues the day she once said she'd like a small collection of snow globes, because it's now become the go-to gift when relatives think of her each holiday season (from the looks of it, her snow globe count is approaching 35).  If you're a plant enthusiast, you've probably received a fair share of kitschy, vaguely embarrassing garden-themed gifts.  Luckily I've never received a cross-stitched pillow with 'Compost Happens' written on it, but if you're deprogramming an aunt or cousin, send them to Garden Design Online.  The past few days they've been posting some creative, affordable and tasteful gift ideas. 

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The Art of The Garden has a lovely post about the Musee Rodin in Paris -- it includes photos of landscape architectural details, plant combinations and of course, a sculpture or two. 

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Finally Serenity in the Garden posted a talk by Denis Dutton at last February's TED conference.  Dutton discusses the origins of society's definition of objective beauty.  Jan's posted the lecture and the graphics are very entertaining.  At about 7 minutes in, you can see him deconstruct a universally-regarded "beautiful" landscape, which is quite interesting.