Category: fun

Sculpture The Roses, and Park Ave. N.Y.C.

Roses and Bugs Park Ave. NYC
The Roses (and Bugs) Park Ave. NYC Thanks to: Will Ryman (artist) , Paul Kasmin Gallery, NYC.gov/parks and The Fund for Park Ave.

RUSH to NYC if you can to see these 38 larger than life Roses!  These GREAT BIG WONDERFUL Roses, and all the LITTLE CREATURES, on them will only be around a bit longer on Park Ave. If you missed them you truly miss a delightful art display and fabulous installation of public art! The art made me smile every time I went by them. They will be wilting away on May 31.

The art is from Will Ryman, who is a Bowery-based playwright turned sculptor. The octet of blossoms and each petal are made of plaster, wire mesh, PVC tubes, stainless steel, yacht-grade fiberglass resin, automotive paint, and brass designed to withstand the elements and be enjoyed by passersby. They are between 57th and 67th Streets.  The Height of each bunch is approx. 25 feet high (i.e. 4 or 5 NY stories high.) I got to see the flowers in the winter, in the snow, and they were delightful and surreal. An oddity that my brain knew was seasonally wrong, but my heart loved seeing! When I went back in the spring it was glorious again. My soul was so happy to see the real tulips and other flowers blooming, the reality of it being a bit early for roses didn’t bother me one iota. It was a splash of color and life – a sight to be seen, and a scene to be experienced.  ART that makes me smile, lifts up my spirits and soul, is available to all – that is good stuff!

Many of the roses are already sold, if you want one then be quick to come up with $200-400,000. Or, just buy a petal; you can use it as a chair- really! It will only set you back $25-$30,000. According to Ryman (in Jan. when The Roses went up)

“About half of the works on view have already been sold. The proceeds from these sales made the installation a reality because the $800,000 in expenses were covered by the artist. Whatever isn’t sold by the time they come down in late May will probably be put on loan by the Paul Kasmin Gallery, said Ryman. “

I was talking to my Dad not long ago, and were chatting about The Botanical Beauties and Beasties. One of the things he said was ” they make me smile.” A friend also recently told me the same, she said ” Your creations make me smile every day.”  I thought how great is that!  I was thrilled.  As I reflected on these very kind and wonderful words to my ears, I remembered a mission I had set out for myself when I started creating the Beauties and Beasties. This mission had sort of been forgotten by me lately. Thanks to Dad and to Chris for reminding me. I wanted, and still want,  The Beauties and Beasties (who BTY were called The Critters at that time) to make people smile, and feel good! The world seems like a pretty hostile place often and it seems important to sooth those rough edges a bit if I can. I am honored, thrilled, delighted, and proud that one of the missions of  The Botanical Beauties and Beasties has come to fruition.  Now that is REALLY GREAT STUFF!

In the near future I am planning on telling you all some of the other goals that the Gang at Botaniumus and I have. We have big plans! In the meantime, Enjoy NYC, Park Ave on a near perfect spring 2011 day!

To read an interesting article from, of all places, The New York Social Diary, the first month the Roses bloomed on Park (Jan.)

Naturally the NYTimes had a review in Jan as well.

To see them in the snow The Huffington Post. or a slideshow from Paul Kasmin Gallery 

The Sign for “The Roses” 

As promised, a great idea for Container Gardening for the Home Cook.

Start your seed/Herb Garden NOW – tips and tricks.

“Each spring, I fill an old wooden wine crate with a cluster of my favorite organic herbs. (Most high-end wine shops will give the cedar boxes away as they typically get tossed once the bottles are unpacked. Drilling a few holes on the bottom for proper drainage is easy, but keep in mind that the wood will only hold up for a few seasons.) I pinch off sprigs of thyme and rosemary for roasted veggies and use spearmint for iced tea. Purple sage adds some lovely color to the overall planting and gives me an excuse to brown butter with my eggs. Bottom line, I’m convinced that having a nice selection of fresh herbs at my finger tips has made me a little more adventurous in the kitchen. Each spring, I fill an old wooden wine crate with a cluster of my favorite organic herbs. (Most high-end wine shops will give the cedar boxes away as they typically get tossed once the bottles are unpacked. Drilling a few holes on the bottom for proper drainage is easy, but keep in mind that the wood will only hold up for a few seasons.) I pinch off sprigs of thyme and rosemary for roasted veggies and use spearmint for iced tea. Purple sage adds some lovely color to the overall planting and gives me an excuse to brown butter with my eggs. Bottom line, I’m convinced that having a nice selection of fresh herbs at my finger tips has made me a little more adventurous in the kitchen.”  Rest of Article, and find other great tips on Practically Green blog. These words from  Estelle Hayes. She lives in Silicon Valley where she blogs at www.underapinkmoon.com. She’s also published regularly on Huffington Post. Estelle’s Herb box below.

Here’s a link for ordering Organic seeds  http://eartheasy.com/blog/2011/01/vegetable-garden-seed-ordering-tips/ ” When the nights are long, and the days dark and cold, gardeners seek inspiration in their online and mail order seed catalogs. Looking at the colorful pictures of vegetables and flowers stimulates optimistic ideas for the spring garden. This is a fine time of year to connect with fellow gardeners to share seed recommendations. These friends may want to order seeds together, thereby saving on shipping and handling fees and perhaps splitting large packets of seed ” Originally published on Eartheasy.com

Estelle's herbs in a recycled box
Estelle's herbs in a recycled box

Spring into your Garden – Get Growing!

♥ Go Green & Get Growing ♥
We are announcing and sprouting off our Start your own Herb Garden Campaign with a CONTEST! Everyone can do this – either virtually or in “real-time.”  Tomorrow I (and Milly) will give you a great idea on how to get going with a physical Herb Garden indoors – no big space requirements here!  Kitchen cooks take note,  a great way to start organic is with your own herbs easy peasy!

For the contest… how much more exciting can it get than to watch the seed grow (ha ha ha) – but wait, there really is more….

WATCH the herb grown in its pot as a sign of springtime.
Milly is the official watcher for us.  First important event is for the seed to pop out of the soil. Next important time and event is when it is big enough and warm enough to go into the ground.  That will call for  a celebration, a party with home-grown organics! Now, here is the party part  for you the viewer. Watch for Blog postings about Milly and her Herb growing/watching/waiting …For every 5th viewer  comment on one of those new post, or the 5th DM from Twitter (@BotanicalB_B) with #MillyHerb,  you will get a package of your own Herb Seeds from the Botanical Beauties and Beasties. For the viewer who guesses WHAT KIND of Herb it is, and when it will be ready to go into the great outdoors – 2 free greeting cards from the Botanical Beauty and Beasties Collection.  Contest starts today and ends – well, now that would be too big a clue!  Stay tuned!

Imagination and food – now that is always fun!

New great Restaurant in NYC  called LAUT, located in the Union Square area. The Blossoms went, well actually just Tanka went, Sakura was shopping as they were visiting NYC.  How could a girl resist!  However, Tankas meal was so good they are going back (together) soon. The reviews are amazing.  NYT states “Lurking in all the fusion in this restaurant near Union Square is some of the best Malaysian food in Manhattan.”  Address: 15 E. 17th St. (bet. B’way & 5th Ave.) Manhattan, NY 10003 (and for the local New Yorker, yes they do delivery!) (Food Photo from LAUT) Laut Website

Question? Food Porn? What?!?
Is the body  you want just a figment of your imagination? Here’s the site for you! http://www.tastespotting.com/ “Sarah Gim certainly didn’t invent food porn. But she’s perfected it.

Gim runs TasteSpotting, a virtual buffet showcasing some of the most arresting food images available online with a collection that tops 140,000 stunning photos. The majority of the 5 million clicks logged each month come from visitors who graze with their eyes and gobble up kitchen inspiration and recipes. They drool. They lose themselves in the aspiration of it all. A red beet salad adorned with chives that were sprinkled just so. A snowflake cookie with impossibly perfect pink icing. And a plump fig, torn open and lovingly captured in a photo that is so simple, so transporting that it borders on heartbreaking.” Article from the LA Times

I just picked the first image ( easter is coming up and ….) for it’s fun factor – but the site is full of  fun, funky, serious foodie images and links!  This one is from aspicyperspective.com. Recipes included!