NYC Terrace Garden

[dvdmsy]

I thought I would document the growth of my plants over the spring and summer. The collection has rules: I must find the plants in their native or naturalized habitat and grow them from a cutting (except for the columnar ones - they're purchased mostly at farmers markets in NYC). Each box has a different variety of opuntia. Next update in a month or so...if we get any sun in May, which is very questionable.

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These started from three pads found near Umatilla, Oregon:

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Does anyone know what this is? It's all I could find on the ground near the cactus in the next photo (from which it comes):

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[K.W.]

Good evening,

fascinating, a roof terrace in NYC !!!
50 years ago I read in a book about greenhouses on a roof in NYC.
So this was, what I wanted to have.
I got it on the roof of my company in Köln. . .

But you have it in NYC, makes me jealous.
But you are not Nero Wolfe?

Wishing you lots of success with the culture!

Best wishes

K.W.

[dvdmsy]

Although we've had very, very little sunshine in NYC - with none in the foreseeable future - the plants are thriving though perhaps a little more slowly than they might otherwise. April, May, and now June have brought almost exclusively gloom and rain. A few blooms managed to time it right with a couple of sunny days strung together last week.

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This one is a native New Yorker, found around Jamaica Bay, Queens.

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Opuntia columbiana on the right...

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Opuntia spinossisima...I'm pretty sure. A rare plant, I've read.

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Consolea moniliformis...I think

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This lot lives outside year-round, holding up the fence.

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[jfabiao]

A very nice collection indeed, and those wooden box planters are adorable. In picture #7, is that Opuntia santa-rita in the center?

[dvdmsy]

Hi jfabiao, yes, I believe that is right. I took a leaf from a plant growing by an empty lot on a side-street in Tucson. Same goes for the smaller relative on the left side of photo 8.

[jfabiao]

Thank you. That's one to look out for...

[Vipassana]

Very neat collection given your location. They all seem to be doing really well. What's your plan for the winter?

[dvdmsy]

I know it's not the most exciting collection, but it's rather unique in NYC I'd imagine. Also, it's constrained by my rules to only collect by my own hand -- no purchases.

In the winter, anything greater than zone 6 or 5b (a landscape architecture professor of mine claimed 7B, but I would rather get that question wrong on a test than pretend it's true) comes inside. They suffer a bit in the winter with the dryness and lack of light, but they experience their winter in March when they go outside for 40 highs and 30 lows.

[Vipassana]

The no purchased plants is a neat goal. You need to find yourself again in Mesa or Tucson and you can come take some samples from my yards.

[dvdmsy]

Thanks, Vipassana! That would be cool.

[Vipassana]

Thanks, Vipassana! That would be cool.

I suppose I could mail some too in a flat rate box or something similar. Let me know if there is anything you are after in particular.

[Brontosaurus]

Spectacular! I love it!