Autumn Chill

The last few weeks of August are bittersweet for me. Preferring summer above all the seasons, the onset of fall comes too soon. I suppose it's a nostalgic time of year for many people, but I think more so for some New Yorkers.

It's a beautiful time of year; warm season grasses (like Chasmanthium latifolium, or northern sea oats, below) begin to bloom,


Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) fruits ripen,


Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium species) blooms,


and Autumn Joy sedums set their flower buds.


Monarchs begin their trip to Mexico,


And sunflowers (Helianthus annus) are peaking.


Finally, there is a chill in the air -- a crispness -- on days like today. I feel that coolness astutely at the end of each August, in the lengthening shadows of two buildings which stand now only in our memories.

Hudson River Park

In late July, the Tribeca portion of the Hudson River Park was opened to the public. I finally got over there on a Saturday to take some photos. This leg of the Park was designed by Sasaki Associates and Mathews-Nielsen Landscape Architects.


I liked the space and the planting quite a bit. Visitors are provided with benches, lawn and different tiers of pathways.


The boulders above are used for seating, but in other parts of the park, they are used to berm up soil, establishing an area of higher elevation.


At this upper tier, a boardwalk path meanders east and west as well as up and down. (Saturday was such a perfectly clear day, that these photos almost look --to me at least-- like the type of photoshop renderings you would see during a presentation. Does anyone else get that vibe?)


Along the boardwalk, nodes for seating and conversation are punctuated with wooden benches. I would love to know why composite was not used for decking. On a public job like this, it is unfortunate that a more environmentally-progressive material was not used. The planting is primarily warm season grasses which makes sense: they look great in the summer during the park's peak usage period, and the dried out grasses can persist through the winter (if the maintenance crew does not cut them down too soon), so the boardwalk will not look too barren too often.


Above is a clever edge detail for the boardwalk. 2x2s were warped into a curve as much as possible and 6" interruptions helped complete the appearance of an edge that has the same radius as the path itself.

Another little detail that goes a long way is the ADA curb cuts so that the lawn itself is wheelchair accessible:


Finally, this part of the design irked me:



It just seems insane to put such a climbable sculpture like this in the park, and then tack on a sign that says "no climbing." I mean, if I didn't want to climb the damn thing before, I sure want to now. The cynic in me has visions of Rosa rugsosa or Poncirus being planted around the sculpture's base as a way to ward off energetic and rebellious children.

Hosta

Here are a few shots of Hosta, most likely a cultivar of Hosta plantaginea, in Battery Park. Hostas are shade garden mainstays, despite the fact they are beloved by deer, slugs and snails.

I am assuming this is a plantaginea species because these flowers were quite fragrant and other species of hosta are typically scentless. The scent, though pleasant, is largely superfluous, as are the flowers. People primarily plant hostas for the foliage, which vary in size, shape and color. Typically, the lighter-colored cultivars are more readily damaged by slugs and snails since they typically have thinner leaves (all the easier for these pests to chew through).


Whenever I have used a hosta in a planting plan, I am placing it primarily for the foliage. Some of the leaves are quite oversized and thus provide a great texture contrast in a garden. But, when I see this mass planting in bloom, I realize the flowers do add a lot to a space this time of year.


The fragrance on these cultivars was quite strong -- it smelled similar to honeysuckle. Hostas used to be part of the Liliaceae family, though have since been transferred to Agavaceaee.

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