Gardens in the City: New York in Bloom (Hardcover)

Gardens in the City: New York in Bloom (Hardcover)
By Mary Jane Pool

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Review & Description

Gardens blooming in the sky. Vegetables growing 59 stories above the city streets. Botanical gardens working to protect the world's natural environment. Community gardens, courtyard gardens, dining gardens, gardening in parks and along the avenues, gardens in offices and museums. All these are captured in stunning color photographs taken expressly for this first book on the gardens of New York City, which is packed with ideas for gardeners everywhere. Some of America's finest landscape designers and horticulturists share their secrets and plant lists in this unique volume. Nearly 120 gardens of every style and type are pictured, form Donald Trump's private rooftop garden and the Cherry Esplande at the United Nations to a backyard garden in Queens and the Japanese Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. All five boroughs of the city are represented, and a useful map shows the location of all the gardens that can be visited.New York, a city of skyscrapers and gardens, has much to teach the rest of the world about making gardens--despite, or perhaps because of, limited space and difficult conditions. In Gardens in the City: New York in Bloom, the juxtaposition of concrete and steel with the lush green of gardens makes a dramatic statement, in photos showing an amazing range of gardens, from public to private, from estates to pocket parks. What is most startling is the realization that it is in just such an inhospitable environment, fraught with daunting challenges, that plants and gardens are most needed and appreciated.

And these gardens do look appreciated. The smooth surface of the lily pool terrace at Brooklyn Botanic Garden reflects an ornate glass conservatory, the cherry walk at the United Nations is a frothy cloud of pink fluff, and wisteria clambers up the columns on a Carnegie Hill townhouse. Trees grow happily up the sides of Trump Tower, each on its own little terrace; neighborhood pea patches are squeezed between old brick buildings; and dining terraces awash in plantings look out over the city.

Many of the gardens are hidden away on rooftops or enclosed in courtyards, offering sanctuary and respite in the midst of a bustling city. These gardens have a feeling of quiet calm created by using lush, enveloping plantings, artworks, and monochromatic or simple, soothing color schemes. Fountains and ponds add water music to the mix. New York is truly a city of gardens, so in the hope that between the theater and the shops people will make time to visit the gardens shown in the book, the author has included a map noting locations of all the public gardens featured. --Val Easton Read more

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