a wildflower border in the East village
before
Several years under scaffolding due to Local Law 11 facade work left much of the garden ravaged and lifeless. Watching a garden get destroyed like this is always frustrating, but it also provides and opportunity to start fresh and build something new. And in a way, this garden was fairly lifeless before it got squashed by construction; with the exception of the Magnolia grandiflora, this was a shrub border full of generic, big box store plants that were not providing any habitat resources for wildlife. Now that they’re gone, we are planning a garden that will be chock full of nectar and pollen providing native plants, and we hope it will become an oasis for pollinators from earliest spring to latest fall.
Coming in fall 2022
Our goal for this garden was to create a romantic, warm perennial border that fit the overall character of the informal courtyard plantings while pushing them in a slightly different direction. We relied heavily on familiar natives that are already garden staples—plants like coneflower, black-eyed Susan, coral honeysuckle and gaura. It takes its color cues from the existing plantings in the rest of the courtyard—yellow Stella D’Oro daylilies, Nikko Blue hydrangeas and magenta crape myrtles. The succession of blooms will start as early as March with Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) kicking off the show, and two species each of aster and goldrod closing out the season as late as November. Many of these plants will stand through the winter, providing crucial seed resources for our resident birds and stems for solitary bees to overwinter in.
This garden will be installed in October 2022, and we will post updates as the project progresses!
Like what you see? Get in touch :)
hello@studiohumelim.com
857-719-2938 (text or call)