New York City’s New Green Space

Derelict Pier 54 in Manhattan has been reimagined as Little Island, a new Hudson River installation that adds an almost three-acre green space to the city.

On my recent visit, I found an abundance of stellar flora, though it seemed everyone else seemed to be captivated by selfies.

Spending just an hour climbing the undulating landscape of Little Island and concentrating my attention on the many-hued blooms is a rejuvenating experience.

I noticed dazzling blooms and creative hardscape structures everywhere, even along the stairs and beside the railings.

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More Wanderings Across the Pennsylvania Border from Wilmington, Delaware

 This is the last of my three posts documenting my nature-based findings while visiting Wilmington, Delaware, President Biden’s hometown, as well as the surrounding Brandywine Valley and across the Pennsylvania border. 

Longwood Gardens is draped with a rainbow of brilliant colors — beyond the tulips that the crowds sought.

Though a springtime visit to Longwood Gardens means you’ll find the venue thronged with those who came for the showy flowers, I chose to stroll along paths that bordered the expansive and picturesque Meadow Garden that exuded nothing but a sense of calm.

Seeking to avoid the masses at Longwood Gardens who came for the tulips, I discovered serene woodlands.

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Springtime in New York City - Astoria

Riding the East River Ferry is the scenic way of escaping my New York City neighborhood that’s mostly devoid of nature. The other day I took the relatively new route to Astoria, Queens where I found an abundance of showy blooms (and coffee shops, such as the adorable and yummy Chateau Le Woof that appeals to pets and their humans). 

The ferry is a delight: It’s scenic, inexpensive and efficient. Myriad routes criss-cross the East River, and every week or so I’ll be exploring green spaces and coffee shops in a different neighborhood.

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Enjoy A Flower-Centric Menu in Bangkok

Anyone who has a love affair with flowers and gardens as I do will want to visit a new restaurant dedicated to edible flowers. Midnight Moon recently opened in Bangkok on the property of the Museum of Floral Culture. The latter museum is ringed by a stunning garden, and the museum honors Queen Sikirit of Thailand who has long been a proponent of preserving gardens. Reserve a table at Midnight Moon for the multi-course, flower-centric menu and you'll also be treated to a guided tour of the garden at night. Find out more about the Museum and Midnight Moon in the article I recently wrote for ForbesLife.

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A Historic New York City Garden

I’m always on the lookout for green spaces and discovered one just 40 minutes by subway from Grand Central Terminal in the Bronx. Built along a rocky hillside in Fort Tryon Park, the Heather Garden is home to some 500 different plant varieties, with flower blossoms that attract a host of creatures, from bees to butterflies.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gifted the entire park to New York City in 1935. He also bought up the land across the Hudson River in New Jersey, thereby preserving the bucolic views. The Olmsted brothers -- their father, Frederick Law Olmsted, was Central Park’s architect -- designed the garden, relying on an abundance of heather, low foliage that maintained the open views of the Hudson River.

Sadly, in the 1970s, the economic crisis transformed the tidy garden into a jungle. Ten years later, the park tamed the unruly foliage, and then renowned landscape designers Lynden B. Miller and Ronda M. Brands provided a much-needed refurbishment. More than 500 different varieties of plants grow in the garden; 99%  of the flowers are perennials.

It’s especially worth visiting this three-acre garden in the fall when Japanese Anemone, Autumn Crocus, Lion’s Tail, dahlias, and other blossoms provide a welcome sweep of brilliant colors; and also in the winter when heath carpets the landscape with bright pink hues. (Heathers are at their best in the summer.) 

On one of my recent visits, I prowled around, spying a chubby woodchuck -- one of several -- who I’m told keeps the weeds down, gazed up at the tall American elms rimming the garden (they are original plantings, along with the yew), noticed blossoms springing up in the cracks of granite boulders, and admired the spectacular views of the Palisades and the George Washington Bridge. Delicate roses -- the garden boasts 14 different varieties -- were still in bloom, as was Blue Mist Flower, Salvia, Beautyberry, and numerous other blooms that provided a tapestry of color, transforming a gloomy Sunday into a vibrant oasis.

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London's Less Visited Greenspaces

There's no lack of parks and gardens in London but it seems that four -- Hyde Park, Regent's Park, Kew Garden and Kensington Gardens -- seem to attract all the attention. In fact, when I told a friend who recently relocated to London that I would be visiting a roof garden and a medicinal herb garden, he wanted to tag along. He had no idea what I was talking about.


• The Kensington Roof Gardens literally sits on the top of a building down the street from Kensington Gardens. Once you get off the elevator and walk through the doors, you'll hear the sound of cascading water in this garden that's said to be the largest roof garden in Europe. Part of the garden sports an English woodland as well as Tudor and Spanish gardens, the latter reminiscent of the Alhambra.

• The Chelsea Physic Garden, founded in 1673, sits on four acres and features more than 6,000 species, including medicinal plants that allow visitors to trace the history of medicine. (Because I have a background in biology and medicine, exploring the plants that were used to make various drugs was oh, so fascinating.) This is also London's oldest botanical garden.


• There are parts of Green Park, next to the Ritz Hotel, where you won't run into anyone. Named for the dominant color, Green Park has no flower beds. Instead, you find rolling fields of grass and hawthorne, silver maple and black poplar trees.

• Sixty different species of wild birds have been spotted in 50+ acre Holland Park. Walk the woodland paths to the tranquil Japanese Kyoto garden with its small lake and stone lantern. (I always enjoy finding a Japanese garden in an unexpected locale.) You may even spy a white peacock. (I did.) Or visit the formal garden with geraniums and blue salvies.
• Just across the Thames from Kew Gardens sits Syon Park with its conservatory housing exotic flowers, such as banana and pineapple plants. You can walk along the lakeside, and pass a woodland of oaks, maples and sweet gum.

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