Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer
Ever seen this view as you rocket along Lincoln Drive? I'm not talking about Pat Moran, a civic-minded guy from Mount Airy with a keen interest in "at-risk" buildings and structrures in his neighborhood. I'm talking about the stone pier behind him. It was one of four, now one of two, on the drive where it intersects with Johnson Street. Each pair had a wooden pergola on top, very similar to the one at Germantown Avenue and Cresheim Valley Road at the entrance to Chestnut Hill.
The Mount Airy piers and pergolas were underwritten at the turn of the 20th century by philanthropist Edward T. Stotesbury (yes, he of regatta fame), but all but two piers have been lost. For the last three years, Moran and a large group of volunteers have been raising money and giving up untold hours to clear the site of nasty invasives and begin to replant it with natives, using a planting plan devised (pro bono) by landscape architects Claudia Levy and Doris Kessler and an architectural plan to replace the pergolas drawn up by architect Peter DiCarlo.
Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer
Flower show madness has begun. The folks at PHS are calm and organized, the exhibitors have their stuff together, all seems ready for "Brilliant!"... so why is it so crazy chez moi? Every year the month before the show (it runs March 2-10) is a race for me. Although I start interviewing key people weeks ahead, around this time I have to pull everything together for stories that will run in several sections of the paper before the show opens and while it's on.
I try to make these stories real, ones that readers will learn from and enjoy, which means they take a lot of work. You wouldn't think so 'cause there's so much stuff out there that reads like a press release. Although there are a lot of great things about the flower show, I try to avoid that.
Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer
Never underestimate the power of the people - in this case, the city's community gardeners and farmers. They've successfully fought an attempt to place restrictions on their ability to grow fresh food in neighborhoods all over Philadephia. City Councilman Brian O'Neill has backed down from his proposal that growers in certain areas (mixed-use commercial) be required to get permission from the Zoning Board of Adjustment to use the land some of them have been growing on for decades. The idea was met with disbelief, then anger, and by this week the opposition had become very organized. The lobbying - and email traffic - was intense.
Last night O'Neill quietly let his fellow council people know that when they convene tomorrow, he'll exempt community gardens and farms from his proposed amendment, which still covers other land uses. That means gardens and farms in mixed-use commercial zones (among them the Village of Arts and Humanities in North Philly, Grumblethorpe on Germantown Avenue, Las Parcelas in Norris Square and many others) are allowed as a matter of right, as the new zoning code that O'Neill wants to amend states.
Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer
Community gardeners and urban farmers across the city are gearing up for a fight at next Thursday's City Council meeting, where a proposed amendment to Philadelphia's brand new zoning code is slated to be voted on. The amendment would require gardens and farms in mixed-use commercial zones to get a permission known as a special exception from the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Advocates for the growers believe this will be a tremendous burden for existing (and future) farms and gardens, which would have to prove they either own the land they're growing on or have permission from the owner to do so.
Anyone who's been part of a community garden or farm in the city knows that establishing ownership is very tough. Most of the land involved has owners who long ago either moved away or died. Sometimes one of a handful of city agencies owns it, which is an adventure of another sort. There are back taxes to deal with, liens, often contaminated soil (hence, the proliferation of raised beds in these gardens) ... It's no mystery why neighbors typically are delighted when gardeners take over.
Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer
This strange looking thing is a tropical pitcher plant (Nepenthes), a flesh-eating weirdness that fascinates many, including Drew Ells, a Wissahickon High School sophomore from Blue Bell, who is featured in my story in the paper's Home & Design section tomorrow. Check it out - and be sure to go online to see the marvelous photos taken by staff photographer David Swanson.
Carnivorous plants never quite got my juices going, but I'm told that the story's different for teenage boys. They think of these plants as action figures. The Venus fly trap actually moves! I know this is true because I put my finger into one of the traps at Drew's house during our photo shoot. No, it didnt hurt but it was pretty creepy.
Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer
I actually did that - popped in to the pop-up holiday store at 8232 Germantown Ave. in Chestnut Hill on Friday. Not a lot of action when I was there, but a good bit of merchandise available. Most of it looked like stocking stuffer stuff to me - soaps, ornaments, food. Lots of wreaths and other decorative items.
This is the latest pop-up from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Check it out, or make it one of many stops along the avenue. It's across from the Chestnut Hill Hotel.
Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer
It's only Dec. 5 and I'm already tired of holiday hoo-ha, but a Sunday outing to Morris Arboretum's holiday railway turned into a fun little adventure for the granddaughters, who were visiting from Colorado and feelng restless. At ages 4 and not quite 2, they were enchanted by the tiny railroad cars loaded down with mini-presents (and, oh dear, coal), the lights inside the dining cars, and the historic houses and buildings decorated with Christmas-y greens and lights.
This was our second trip to see the miniature trains in four months. Last time was a beastly hot day in early August and we had the place to ourselves. Sunday's mild temperature - so comfortable - brought out a nice crowd.
Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer
That's often a bunch of .. well, you know! But it sounds true of seed-saving and herbs, at least as far as Nancy Wygant is concerned. Nancy is an assistant gardener at Bartram's, where she's collected hundreds, thousands, of seeds over the years. Some of the most interesting are sold in the garden's visitor center, but she also has a basement full of many others. I visited her Bartram's stash recently for a story on seed-collecting and -saving that will be in the paper's Home & Design section, and on philly.com, this Friday.
It was fun to see the brown paper bags full of stems loaded down with seed heads from cilantro, lettuce, cannas, alliums, soybeans and others. Best to start with the easy ones - for example, herbs like cilantro and dill, Nancy says. They're uncomplicated. You just need to make sure you let them bolt and get really dry before gathering, and all you do is shake them upside down into a bag. Easy peasy, as they say.
Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer
Yes, Brenda Sullivan saves avocado skins! Once you start foraging for natural materials to make miniature gardens, you see possibility in everything, she explains. Hence, this tree swing made of dried avocado skin, red cotton string and - for a soft seat - some moss she retrieved from a low-hanging roof at her Fort Washington home.
Brenda filled this container with potting soil and planted a tiny hosta, a pint-sized arborvitae and other small plants, a bench and table made of bark from the yard. "I think it's adorable," she says.
Virginia A. Smith, Inquirer Staff Writer
Brenda Sullivan loves Champagne and sparkling white wine for two reasons. One - obvious. Two - she takes those big fat corks and uses them in her miniature garden designs. Now I admit, I'm not a fan of fairy gardens. Too cute for my taste. But Brenda's managed to convince me that the miniature world is larger than fairy gardens, though she takes pains to emphasize that there's NOTHING WRONG with fairy gardens. Just so all you fairy fans - and there are a lot of you - don't get on her case (or mine).
This is something she cooked up during my visit to her Fort Washington home yesterday. Talk about cute! She contorted a Champagne cork into a a maitre d' chair (top of picture), made more chairs out of ordinary wine corks (bottom of picture), made a "pond" out of a little bowl (even dumped a couple of guppies in there), added some tiny plants and set it all in the potting soil that fills a clementine box. Thin tapers became torches and voila, you have a romantic scene.
