The Monday Garden, December 12, 2004, Issue 142a
Eco-gardening at its best
Taking a walk in the woods or along the water can be wonderfully relaxing, spiritually renewing, invigorating -- whatever you, and the day, feel like. However, how many of us sub/urbanites get to do this every day?
For me, the trick is to find nature to enjoy in our everyday places: in the alley, behind the parking lot, next to the dump, along the highways. So, here’s a walk through parts of downtown Stamford in early December 2004.
picture: A European import, now a “weed”, common mullein growing wild along in the shadow of a high-rise on Bedford Street, a multi-lane highway, Stamford CT, December 2004. Once, probably where this street now runs, Euro-colonists and Native Americans alike used mullein leaves to line their winter foot coverings. Snapdragon family.
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pictures: Critters in the Hoyt Street Alley: an enterprising squirrel has incorporated a plastic bag into his nest; the winter “moss mice” glowing on the wall after heavy rain, and outdoor cats, possibly ferals, annoying the squirrel. There are 5 squirrel nests in the wild part the Alley and 3 more in the row of young ornamental pear trees by the low-rise condos at the north end of the alley. All Stamford CT, December 2004
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pictures: Also in Hoyt Street Alley, the native juniper (red cedar) has shed last year’s berries and the invasive rosa mulitflora berries are almost ripe. Around the corner on Morgan Street, in the yard of an apartment complex, a squirrel lunches on hawthorn berries (apple family) despite a strong wind whipping his/her tail around; and back on Bedford near a parking lot for local shopping, pokeberry fruit after hard frost has killed off the plant’s leaves.. All these berries are winter survival food for the birds and squirrels. All Stamford CT, December 2004
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pictures: fruit of the “noxious weed” horse nettle (tomato family) and buds of the ailanthus in Hoyt Street Alley, Stamford CT, December 2004. The horse nettle’s seeds are critter-spread but the invasive ailanthus, that no one eats, has to depend on the wind to blow its samaras (winged seeds) around.
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pictures: Norway maple and Douglas fir buds in a vest pocket park at Strawberry Hill and Hoyt Street; English ivy berries and euonymus seeds, in yards of commercial buildings along Bedford Street. The buds, seeds, and berries are all winter bird and squirrel food. Stamford CT, December 2004
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pictures: majestic horse chestnut “street tree” on 5rd Street, Stamford CT, December 2004; close up of its giant, shiny, maroon buds
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pictures: a young ash tree’s bud, Norway spruce flowers, and the fruit of the invasive Asiatic bittersweet fruit along Strawberry Hill. Stamford CT, December 2004. By late February, most of the bittersweet berries will be gone.
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pictures: On 5rd Street, a young American beech grows wild by a stone wall bordering church property; lichen on the wall, and across the street, a young American sycamore (or its plane tree descendent--can not tell which) and American holly in a yard of an old house, now much closer to the street than when it was built. Stamford CT, December 2004,
picture: pile of pear branches, pruned by the Parks Department, Homer Lee Wise vest pocket park, Bedford Street, Stamford CT, December 2004,
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pictures: Fungi in a yard on 3rd Street; moss and euonymus seeds in the wall on 5th Street. Stamford CT, December 2004,
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pictures: Fungi on a geriatric red maple street tree, Strawberry Hill; exposed Norway maple roots repeatedly damaged by the Park’s Department mower, Homer Lee Wise vest pocket park, Bedford Street, Stamford CT, December 2004. Under the invasive Norway maples, in this park, the “lawn, is mostly moss.
Photo credits: Sue Sweeney
© Sue Sweeney 2004
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