Less than 3 months until we see blooms!

I'd like to get everyone together in March to start planning our next season so start thinking about what we want to accomplish this year. Perhaps, fences, benches, plaques and grants? And don't forget composting!

Lots to do! Pencil in the first or second weekend in March. I might try and get an expert to come and give us some advice on plants and planting. If you have anyone in mind, let me know and I can collar them.

Flower Power!
Missy

A Host of Golden Daffodils

Sunday's bulb pickup and planting was a big success. At 1 pm the Daffodil Project gave us two thousand bulbs (500 for the block associations) and by 6 p.m. we had planted more than a thousand (one tends to lose count after twenty) bulbs in two dozen pits. So if you want to imagine what West Chelsea will look like next April, think of Wordsworth:

I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Flower Power!

Annual Chelsea Community Meeting Tues., Oct. 18th

Once a year everyone in Chelsea is invited to meet with neighbors,
police, elected representatives & local resources at the

ANNUAL CHELSEA COMMUNITY MEETING
Tuesday - OCTOBER 18th - 315 WEST 22 STREET
ST. PAUL’S GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH

doors open at 6:30 guest speakers beginb at 7:00 pm:

The 10th Police Precinct on Community safety

NYC Compost Project in Manhattan & TreesNY
Tree care on composting.

The Jack-O-Lantern Composting Project

Free daffodil bulbs & leaf collection bags will be given out.

Chelsea Then & Now video: http://vimeo.com/20312192
http:/www.jack-o-lantern-composting.blogspot.com

Fall Colors

Callen-Lorde's pit on 18th Street is looking particularly beautiful lately!

Everyone, don't forget the bulb planting this Sunday (Oct. 16) at 2pm NE corner of 22nd and 9th Avenue. I'd like every pit to have at least a few daffodil bulbs so the neighborhood will have Spring daffodils. We're getting 1,000 bulbs so come by and pick up yours!!
Flower Power!

Highline events

Johnny Linville, the Horticulture Foreman of the Highline sent this:
For more see www.thehighline.org

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 7:00PM - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 8:00PM
Rail Yards Talks: Rick Darke

In this public talk, entitled The High Line’s Wild Gardens: Past, Present, and Future, author, photographer, and landscape ethicist Rick Darke will talk about his experience photographing the High Line, and discuss the park’s impact on landscape design and urban planning across the world.
Rick Darke first visited the High Line in 2002, when Joshua David and Robert Hammond invited him to see the self-seeded landscape that had taken over the structure. Since then, Darke has been documenting the landscape as it changes in color and texture throughout the seasons. An internationally recognized expert on grasses, Darke has visited the High Line with Piet Oudolf, Melissa Fisher and other staff to talk about the roles these unique plants play on the High Line.
In this talk and slideshow, Darke will take the audience on a visual tour of the High Line, discussing its past, present, and future. A short Q&A will follow the presentation.
LOCATION
14th Street Passage
On the High Line at 14th Street
This High Line Program is free and open to visitors of all ages. No RSVP required. Seating is available on a first-come, first served basis.
This is the second of three talks about the High Line at the Rail Yards. Friends of the High Line Co-Founder Robert Hammond will speak on Wednesday, October 5.

http://www.thehighline.org/events/all/2011/9/rail-yards-talks-rick-darke

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, October 1, 2011 10:00AM - Saturday, October 1, 2011 11:30AM
Learn to Compost in the City

Learn how to nourish your plants and cut down on household waste with urban composting. The High Line gardeners will teach the basics, and review options for composting in a dense, urban environment like New York City. Participants will take home their own worm composting bin.
LOCATION
14th Street Passage On the High Line at 14th Street
This High Line Program is free and open to visitors ages 16 and up. RSVP is required.

September Pit Maintenance

September Gardening Tips from the NY Botanical Garden

Planning
* Complete ordering spring-flowering bulbs and other plants for fall planting
* Continue to assess areas in the garden that may need additional planting
* Continue to take garden notes and/or photographs to plan future plantings

Chores and Maintenance
* Collect seed from perennials and annuals
* Remove and compost spent annuals and fallen leaves
* Continue to aerate and moisten compost pile to speed decomposition
* Continue to check for insect pests and treat accordingly
* Continue to remove any fallen leaves and debris that can harbor insect pests and disease organisms
* Continue to apply deer repellent (or maybe rat repellent in NYC)
* Begin to feed birds

Planting
* Continue to propagate herbs from new growth and transplant into pots for winter use
* Continue to divide and transplant early-blooming perennials
* Divide daylilies after flowering
* Plant lilies
* Sow hardy annuals in prepared planting beds
* Plant late-season annuals like ornamental kale and cabbage for fall color
* Sow parsley, radish, lettuce, carrot, and onion
* Complete planting out seedling biennials

Pruning/Fertilizing
* Prune rambler roses
* Prune to remove any diseased and dead rose canes
* Add organic matter such as manure, compost and/or leaf mold to improve soils
* Fertilize roses one last time

Free daffodils Sunday October 16 at 2pm

Mark your calendars and bring some bags.

The Daffodil Project is generously giving us 1,000 bulbs for our pits. Phyllis and I will pick them up around noon and we'll distribute them soon after. It would be nice if we could also plant them that afternoon so we could help each other.
Let's say pick up will be around 2pm. Location to be announced.
Flower Power!