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Made From 100% Recycled Materials
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Issue 2, October 2008
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GREAT GIFT IDEA!!!
Handmade flower pots make excellent gifts, and now, happily, The Gotham Gardener is also a potter whose services are available to you.
My flower pots can be custom designed in any color, shape, or size you want. You can add a personal detail as well -- choose from butterflies, ohm symbols, lotus flowers, dragonflies, sunflowers, calla lilies, irises, suns, moons, and virtually anything else you want.
Place your orders now for Christmas gifts and just let me know if you would like to include a plant, such as an orchid, Christmas cactus, poinsettia, or amaryllys bulb with your order.
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Gardening Links
Amber Freda Landscape Design
Gotham Gardener Blog - Comments Always Welcome!
GIFT CERTIFICATES
Send Amber an e-mail if you would like to purchase a gift certificate.
Design Plans
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A Passion for Bulbs
Few things delight the senses like spring bulbs. Maybe it's because we've been cooped up indoors all winter, surrounded by shades of white and grey, when all of a sudden there they are in all their unlikely, ephemereal glory -- like little bursts of hope and sunshine lighting along our path and brightening our day. October is an ideal time to plant tulips, daffodils, crocuses, and other spring-flowering bulbs. We plant spring bulbs in fall because they need to experience a good, long winter chill before they can grow and bloom -- an apt metaphor for life, perhaps.
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 Viva la viola!
I love violas. Call me sentimental, but just look at how adorable that little blue and yellow face is with its voluminous eyelashes that would surely make even a cosmetics model envious. Sure, pansies are pretty, but violas have a certain irresistible charm that I just can't get over. It also turns out that if you'd like to have your viola and eat it, too, you can, since the flowers and leaves are edible and make a colorful top-dressing for salads, cakes, and ice cream. You can also candy the flowers in a coating of egg whites and sugar for that extra sweet touch. To learn more about turning flowers to candy, click here.
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Edible Eden
Flowering cabbages and kales are another wonderful edible addition to the fall garden. They do best in full to part sun (5 hours+ per day) and cool temperatures. These make a really lovely garnish to plates at a dinner party. Until the end of the Middle Ages, kale was one of the most common green vegetables in all of Europe. Kale freezes well and actually tastes sweeter and more flavorful after being exposed to a frost. Ornamental kales and cabbages are grown more for their decorative leaf colors, and so are less flavorful than the varieties that are grown and sold as vegetables, though still edible and a great garnish item.
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Mum's the Word
Ah, what folly lies in the hearts of men! Millions of potted mums are sold at nurseries each year, and how many of them actually survive? The chrysanthemum is a perennial flower, related to asters. They were in cultivation in China as far back as the 15th century BC. The flower was introduced to Japan in probably the 8th century AD, and the emperor adopted it as his official seal. There is a "Festival of Happiness" in Japan that celebrates the flower. Chrysanthemums are broken into two basic groups, Garden Hardy and Exhibition. Garden hardy mums, the type you would most likely buy from a garden center or landscaper, are perennials capable of being wintered over in the ground in most northern latitudes. Exhibition varieties, the type you would generally buy from a florist as large and sometimes elaborate looking cut flowers, are not usually as sturdy. When in doubt, check with your vendor to make sure the type of mum you are buying is a perennial in your area.
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Upcoming Events
October Garden Maintenance Visits - Week of October 13
The Gotham Gardener is now also a certified yoga instructor -- Amber will be substitute teaching for Chris Loebsack at Sundari Yoga Studio in Stroudsburg at 9:30 a.m. on October 16 and 21 and November 4 and 6. Amber is also available for private yoga instruction in the comfort of your own home.
Pottery Show & Sale - Amber will be exhibiting her handmade flower pots at The Dutot Museum's "Holidays Art Show & Sale" on Route 611 in the Delaware Water Gap on November 28th, 29th, and 30th and December 6th, 7th, 13th and 14th
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Happy Gardening!
Thank you for subscribing to The Gotham Gardener newsletter. If you have any questions or topics you would like to see addressed in the next newsletter, please let me know, and, if you have any friends who love gardening or who are new to gardening and would like to learn more, please forward this to them as well. |
Contact Info
The Gotham Gardener
aka Amber Freda
amber@amberfreda.com
646-546-1592
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Save 25% |
All DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS are on sale through the winter months. Our fully automated irrigation systems run on black polyethylene mainline tubing, connected to smaller lines that run discreetly along the backs of your planters and into your pots. Once at the soil level, we use a combination of soaker drip line and adjustable spectrum sprayers that are perfect for container plants.
The polyethylene system is guaranteed for a period of up to 5 years. Any parts that break or otherwise prove defective within that time period will be promptly replaced. Timers must be brought indoors during freezing weather.
We do offer maintenance on all of our irrigation systems, including a winter shut-down at the end of October through early November and spring turn-on in the middle of April.
The benefits of drip irrigation systems are numerous and include:
- Saves time -- keeps you from having to water by hand every day
- Reduces stress on plants. Plants on irrigation systems are less likely to contract diseases because the slow, regular, and uniform application of water produces robust, consistent plant growth.
- Doesn't waste water because water goes directly to the roots and can be set on a timer to the exact amount needed. Can cut water waste by as much as 50%.
Most systems are set to run approx. once a day in summer and once every other day in spring and fall except during rainy periods when it can be shut off, and in winter when the system should be shut off and drained so it won't freeze.
Irrigation systems can be easily installed in winter when we have more flexibility in terms of scheduling. Even though they won't be set to run until the following spring, the savings to you in terms of overall cost may make a winter installation ideal.
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Offer Expires: March 2009
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