instructions for pruning and care of blackberry bushes

times article about a beautiful home/garden....

Musing on how the most beautiful gardens are models of an ideal universe whose source of beauty is "that chain of connectedness, whose linkages bind together history, land, animals, plants, people and home"

Interesting article: How the meaning of wealth varies by region, from the WSJ

Interesting story

Article: Green market and youth employment for Lafayette Gardens

Cool image (thanks to Mike for the find)



(double-click for full image)

seasoning and caring for cast iron cookware

"Jail-themed playset at public complex is repainted" March 25, 2010, NYT

I decided to write up a list of the plants I'm tending

forsythia
dogwood
rose of sharon (hibiscus)
red bud tree
english ivy
hostas, multiple varieties
sedum, regular and autumn glory
toadlilies
echinacea (coneflower)
japanese anenome flower
ferns
oakleaf hydrangea
bleeding heart
sweet woodruff
lady's mantle
creeping jenny
wild mustard (?)
sedum makinoi
the clover-like ground cover
the succulent-like ground cover
honeysuckle
tulips
daffodils
hyacinths
variegated rush grass (juncus effusus, "Goldstrike")
dwarf spruce
dwarf juniper
another dwarf conifer (?)
a holly bush (Ilex meserveae 'Blue Princess')
the perennial with little white flowers and minty leaves
fine fescue
creeping red fescue
several varieties of perennial ryegrass
jade plant
aloe
succulent unknown identification
asparagus plant
pothos
blackberry bush ("Thornless Chester")
astilbe (false spirea)
lettuce ("simpson elite")
bamboo
a sapling pear or cherry tree (non-fruiting)

Annuals:

Petunias (white, red, purple)
Lobelia
New Guinea Impatiens (red)
Begonia
Ageratum
Alyssum
Geranium
French Marigold ('Antigua' yellow and orange)
Dusty Miller 'Silver Dust'

And here are some of the fauna who live in or visit the yard (so far this spring):
starlings
sparrows
robins hunting for worms in the grass
a pair of bluejays gathering twigs (May 13)
one cardinal
a bumblebee
a lady bug
two cats (they're black with white on their paws and their neck, almost identical)
the next door neighbor's dog "Stella"
the downstairs neighbor's dog "Rosie"
spiders
centipedes
lots of ants (boo...)
slugs (boo...)

so cool

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

Cool website

Lawnreform.org

Psst... Spring has sprung

I shouldn't be surprised if we have one more blast of wintery weather (knock on wood). But there's a hint of spring in the air. I did a little bit of cleaning up in the yard this morning, and some of the green things are starting to grow again.... :)

the shape of the net

Here's a fun article from the Times: "Scientists strive to map the shape of the shifting net"

and....

this comment posted on Talking Points Memo is interesting:

"I live in Juhsey (NOT "Joisey"): specifically Newark. I went to school in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and live in New York. Does that make me an expert?

The word "corrupt" is a funny one. Each state has its own political culture. I remember when calling yourself a "Republican" in Rhode Island only meant that you weren't a love child of Raymond Patriarca. There were some liberal Republicans; some conservative Republicans. There were even some Republicans on the take. But at least a Rhode Island Republican wasn't a certified made Mafioso. Or at least some weren't. The pond scum of Narragansett Bay were insulted when compared to Freddy St Germain. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse are destroying a fine old Rhode Island tradition.

There were some echoes of this in CT, but it didn't really compare to RI.
New Jersey? Our politicians don't take much salary; they work on the commission system. However, they do provide reasonable services in return for their commissions. Sharpe James was a good example. (Jon Corzine and Cory Booker, neither of whom need commissions, are not. Corzine didn't need commissions because he made so much money at Goldman Sachs. Some say the same is true of Booker, at least insofar as his campaign financing goes.)

The politicians don't take many commissions in New York. But that's not because they're particularly honest; it is because New York has many many many many many la(w)yers of control. There is so much control that very little gets done in NY, unless you can find a rabbi who can circumvent the lawyers. It's kind of like late Soviet Communism, except that some of the New York rabbis are actually Jewish."

As I've lived and worked in New York for eight years, I've observed a little bit about urban politics. Sam Roberts wrote an article in today's Times on the decline of the Harlem based old gaurd of black political power that was puntuated by the disgrace of David Paterson, here. It's a great article that sketches the history of demographic shifts and old-style urban machine politics centered around powerful county leaders.

Reading this article also inspired me to collect a few old posts from Changing the Court under a label, "Learning about large public bureaucracies and urban politics."

Here's the key trend reflecting increased partisanship in the US Congress (double-click to enlarge):

So true

A city that was designed for travel by foot and horses loses some of its charm with modern traffic congestion. A deep snowfall is the perfect antidote, as it adds beauty, muffles sounds and discourages automobiles. The broad streets and sidewalks reveal their grandeur when covered with snow instead of cars.

From a blog post by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore), here. (thanks to Talking Points Memo for the link).

One of my favorites...

For a cold winter Sunday and a group of friends:

"Best Vegetarian Chili"

[I omit the vegi-burger crumbles, and reduce the amount of jalapeno]

Cool picture that Karen found: a "bat flower"