Katie's Folly Making the city more beautiful, one (s)pot at a time.

I was incredibly shocked and saddened to see the amount of damage at NYBG by the recent hurricane… perhaps one of the most dramatic examples was of the 100+ year old black oak in the parking lot. It apparently hit the research building, miraculously glancing off and creating just a small dent in the roof line. When it finally came to rest, I was amazed to see how small the root mass was, proportionate to the size and age of the tree. Notoriously persnickety, I was surprised to see that it had taken root against a major rock formation – thus not allowing it to drive down a tap root. Instead, a network of fairly small roots had fanned out and filled the limitations of the space the rock allowed the tree. It’s incredible that the tree had grown to the size and age that it had; it probably should have fallen down many years ago.

Can you believe it… snow just a few days ago – and today, the temperatures hit 65+ degrees! It’s no wonder the plants are going a little haywire…

Driving up the Henry Hudson Parkway this morning towards NYBG, and as I looked over the Hudson River, I realized that it was completely socked in with fog. Not entirely surprising, given the unseasonable warm temperatures with more typical river conditions. Wish I could stop and take a picture… but not wise when you’re behind the wheel on a 2 lane bridge!

I’m so glad to see that some of the snow is still hanging on, despite the much warmer temperatures. All along the west side of Manhattan, I can glimpse the whiteness clinging to the tops and ridges of the Palisades.

Ironically, the warm weather is prompting several plants to bloom at the Garden… today I was blown away by the hardy camellias!

Looks like the Nor’easter has arrived… and, while they projected just a chance of snow… it looks like the first snowfall of the year has finally arrived at 1:55pm!

I sincerely hope that this won’t be as bad as last year… the trees are still fairly leafed out – though not nearly as much as 2011. I’m sure there’ll be some trees that are already weakened by the hurricane – so let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Just walked through Central Park today – and the trumpet honeysuckle is in bloom! Pretty touch of pink and green, especially since a lot of the leaves have been blown off by Sandy.

There is another plant that is blooming, closer to the 79th Street crosstown drive (@ 5th Avenue) that I’m going to have to look up. Seems it might be similar to a rhododendron, since it’s a sizeable bush, with leaves that appear to be the same color and shape… just have to do it when I’m not on the bus or sitting in the back of a cab!

Just heard the news: Today is the first day when temperatures have dipped below freezing since March 2012. Very interested to know how this compares to years past…

Today I saw something a little unusual near the Watson building at NYBG:  One of the Cornus kousas continues to bloom, despite the fact that its leaves have now changed to scarlet and yellow. Bright white bracts, against the red foliage… stunning! Such an unusual treat –

Well, maybe not THAT bad… but it is the first day when the temperatures finally feel like they’re falling. It’s still very windy today… so I took the hubster and the inlaws to the Museum of Natural History.

First, I couldn’t believe the size and quantity of trees that had fallen in the park area along 81st Street! Huge trees… but all with incredibly small root balls. I marvel at how they’ve managed to eke out an existence from the rocky landscape that is Manhattan!

But all of the upended, cut-down tree, nothing was as incredible as the trunk that’s on display in the Museum!  There is a horizontal slab cut from the Mark Twain Redwood in the late 1800’s – they estimate from the rings, that the seedling likely started in 550AD. They just don’t make ’em like that any more!

Walking Riley along Riverside Park today, taking a look at the aftermath of Sandy.

Almost all of the leaves have been blown off of the trees in the park – yet the roses and asters are still blooming!

It appears that the largest amount of damage was literally on the waterfront – some of the docks at the 79th Street Boat Basin were lifted and stacked neatly like collapsed dominoes.

It was kind of interesting, walking through the streets that are closed to traffic, with deep puddles and fast-moving clouds above. Lots of people out, walking around – some stir crazy, others just crazy!