Let the Trees Grow (Early May)

05/03/2025

Let the Trees Grow (Early May)

In an era of political turmoil marked by the active dismantling of the government, I allowed myself a few minutes of unbridled joy and redemption as I watched a crew install sidewalk trees on our block. Admittedly, there were some 'issues': they only installed trees on one side of the block (and were vague about plans to return for the other side) and I'm worried that one of the trees they planted is already dead :( Still, it was very nice to be reminded that the government is capable of using public money to help beautify the landscape (even though our horrible mayor has consistently underfunded the parks department, which administers the sidewalk-tree program).

In private garden news, we've had a good camellia season.

We pruned our birch tree over the winter, which means more sunlight reaches the ground.

Our dicentra -- aka 'bleeding hearts' -- has also done well this year.

As have the epimedium, whose flowers look like flocks of birds.

Our wild geranium are flowering for the first time.

Along with our crested iris, another plant that (in theory) does well in the shade. Ours could be doing better -- we have some very shady spots in our garden that are notoriously difficult for even shade-loving plants -- but we'll see what happens.

We planted a columnar gingko, which in ten years (if the world is still here) will be fifteen feet tall and provide a nice screen from the neighboring buildings. We placed the gingko next to our dawn redwood with the hope that the trees would become friends, given that both species are hundreds of millions of years old.

The flowers of the camellia are cheerful and a little hallucinogenic.

'What are these strange, pink clouds doing everywhere?' -- Clio

I'm a bit sad that camellia season is already over.

It's nice to spend a few seconds with the flowers, which are oblivious to what's happening in the world.

Gardens and parks bring a lot of happiness to the world, but we only spend a fraction of a percent of our public money on parks (compared to thirteen percent for 'defense' and six percent for roads and highways). In New York City, each year police officers get paid almost three times more in overtime alone than the budget for the entire parks department.

Camellias for mayor, 2025.

Posted at 09:56 AM in Expression, Science Projects | Permalink

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Music: Death Culture at Sea and Saturnine

Listen or download songs and records from my indie-rock past with Saturnine here and Death Culture at Sea here.

Music Video: Remembrance of Things Past

Watch the rock opera Remembrance of Things Past written and performed by Saturnine and Frances Gibson, starring Bennett Madison and Sheila McClear.

Video: The Chaos Detective

The Chaos Detective is a series about a man searching for 'identity' as he completes assignments from a mysterious organization. Watch the first episode (five parts) on YouTube.

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Expression//Reaction//ScienceProjects

05/03/2025