Hudson River Park continues to be one of the most vibrant spaces in New York City.
The 550-acre riverfront park and estuarine sanctuary spans four miles along the west side of Manhattan, from the northern boundary of Battery Park City in Tribeca to West 59th Street in Hell’s Kitchen. The largest open space in Manhattan since the completion of Central Park, Hudson River Park is transforming decaying industrial waterfront into a beloved, urban recreational paradise. I am very proud to be on the Board of Hudson River Park Friends - an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the development, care, and enhancement of the space, and the designated fundraising partner of the Hudson River Park Trust.
Not long ago, HRPF held the Playground Committee 8th Annual Luncheon to raise funds for hundreds of free public education and environmental sustainability programs, including special events for families and children, and the Park's sports courts and fields where countless children have learned to play team sports. This includes the maintenance and care of the new 4,000-square-foot Pier 26 Science Playground that opened in January. This playground advances the Park’s environmental programming and invites children to learn about local ecology and fish anatomy up-close while climbing, exploring and having fun.
Enjoy these photos.
Over the years, my family and I have spent lots of time at the Hudson River Park. Pier 84 is a popular pier with its spacious lawn and trees. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
This is historic Pier 57. The public rooftop, with its incredible views of Little Island and New York Harbor, opened in 2022. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
This is the southwestern tip of Manhattan. The Hudson River Park offers breathtaking panoramic views. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
Interesting and beautiful specimens are all over Hudson River Park. This is a portion of the Greenwich Village Esplanade planted with Zelcova trees, a hardwood tree in the elm family. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
This is the eastern end of Pier 45 in Greenwich Village, an 850-foot-long pier that offers shade structures and seating areas. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
The Hudson River Greenway is one of the busiest bike paths in the United States. It runs the entire length of Hudson River Park from Battery Place at the southern tip of Manhattan to midtown. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
Millenium Garden, located at Charles Street, is the home of The Apple, designed by Stephen Weiss, the late husband of world-renowned fashion designer, Donna Karan. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
And this is the new Pier 26 Science Playground which features custom-made play structures in the shape of two endangered sturgeon species native to the Hudson River — the Atlantic sturgeon and shortnose sturgeon. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
Inside each of the structures, children can explore and learn about fish “anatomy” and other local wildlife that live in the Hudson River Park’s 400-acre Estuarine Sanctuary. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
Designed by OLIN, the award-winning landscape design firm, this new playground offers children an educational and recreational space. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
Earlier this month, Hudson River Park Friends held an an important fundraising event to support the newest children’s space, the Park’s fifth playground at Pier 97. (Photo by Edith Ann Claudio)
300-guests attended the 8th Annual Playground Committee Luncheon at Current, a 6,000-square-foot venue at Chelsea Piers. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)
Meteorologist and TODAY Show host, Dylan Dreyer, welcomes guests to the event and talks about how much she and her young children have enjoyed the Park and all it has to offer – the sports fields and courts, the hands-on learning experiences at field trips and summer camps, and the free programs that are offered year-round. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
TODAY Show host, Hoda Kotb, shares her love of the Park and talks about her journey to motherhood. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Guests raise their glasses in support of the Park and to celebrate all it has become for New York City residents and visitors. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Entrepreneur Maria Maria Duenas Jacobs and Hoda are both honored at this year’s event. (Photo by Edith Ann Claudio)
The luncheon menu included burrata and heirloom beet carpaccio, Branzino Provencal, and a variety of tarts for dessert. (Photo by Edith Ann Claudio)
Dylan and Maria hold up stars, which were used for the event’s LIVE auction. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)
The Park’s Playground Committee made a call to action to increase its membership by 100-members. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
I encourage you to visit the next time you’re in the area – you will see why Hudson River Park is so special. (Photo courtesy of HudsonRiverPark.org)
As an avid gardener, I am always looking for rare and unusual plants.
Over the years I've amassed quite a large collection of potted plants - orchids, begonias, succulents, and other tropical specimens. I enjoy finding and learning about new and different varieties and then caring for them in my greenhouses. Recently, I added a few more interesting cultivars to my growing assortment.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Many of my plants are used for television and photography shoots. I use them for how-to gardening segments and as background set dressing. Most of them are from my greenhouses, but occasionally we bring in new specimens from our favorite growers. These plants were recently used in a shoot and need to be repotted.
For houseplants, the best soil mix is fast-draining, which will prevent root rot and allow good air flow so roots can take up air and water.
There is a hole at the bottom of each pot. A clay shard is placed over the hole to help with drainage. We always save the shards from any broken pots – it is a great way to reuse those pieces.
The pot is filled half way with soil mix before Wendy loosens the root ball with her hands and transfers the plant from its original container.
Then she adds additional soil mix – she fills to just below the top of the pot’s rim. The pot should be slightly larger than the plant’s previous vessel.
Wendy then makes sure the plant is centered before she tamps down lightly to establish good contact between the plant and the soil.
Wendy fertilizes all the newly potted plants. Remember what I always say, “if you eat, so should your plants.” We use Osmocote – small, round coated prills filled with nutrients.
This is called Ficus pumila ‘Quercifolia,’ sometimes called String of Frogs or Miniature Oakleaf Fig. It’s a dwarf evergreen houseplant with tiny half-inch bright green leaves that resemble frogs and grow on trailing stems.
Senecio succulents are prized for their unique foliage which can look like chalk sticks, miniature bananas, and even pearls. These plants are known for their adaptability and can be trailing, spreading ground covers, or large shrubby plants.
This is pilea, a tropical plant known for its tiny silvery green leaves. It features a low, bushy growth habit and is an easy-to-maintain houseplant that prefers bright, indirect light from an east-facing window or several feet from a south- or west-facing window.
Albuca spiralis, commonly called the corkscrew albuca or frizzle sizzle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to South Africa. It is a bulb succulent that can grow up to eight-inches tall. This is the base…
… And this is the top. Its large, yellow green flowers emerge on robust stalks and have a strong vanilla fragrance when in bloom.
‘Angelina’ Creeping Sedum, Sedum rupestre, shows off foliage in chartreuse to golden yellow. It spreads quickly as a drought-tolerant ground cover. Bright yellow star-like flowers bloom in summer and the foliage turns golden-orange in autumn.
Here’s a closer look. This plant is fast-growing and colorful.
Muehlenbeckia axillaris, also known as creeping wire vine or sprawling wire vine, is a low evergreen shrub, forming wiry mats up to three-feet in diameter. It has thin, red-brown stems, with glossy squarish to roundish leaves.
This big-leafed plant is Ligularia, a genus of about 150 ornamental perennial plants native to Central and East Asia and some parts of Europe. They have glossy, deep green foliage that can be quite large and round to thin and deeply serrated.
Creeping fig is a broadleaf, evergreen, woody, climber in the mulberry family. It is native to central and southern China and eastern Asia. This plant is a vigorous grower and can climb up to 15-feet high and spread up to six-feet wide.
Climbing Onion, Bowiea volubilis, is a large, exposed, green, scaly succulent perennial bulb with slender, twining, leafless, green stems and small, green-white flowers.
Some of the potted plants are top dressed with small gravel. This can help contain moisture and stop evaporation. This can also add weight to taller, slender vessels, so they don’t tip over.
I am very pleased with these additions to my greenhouse. I am looking forward to seeing them mature and thrive.
The weather is finally warm enough to start planting outdoors.
Yesterday, my gardeners planted the first of our flower seeds - sweet peas. The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is a garden classic producing beautiful blooms with the most amazing scent. Sweet pea seeds can be sown into small pots of compost in autumn and overwintered indoors, or planted directly into the ground come spring. We planted several sweet pea varieties from some of our favorite seed companies including Botanical Interests, Johnny's Selected Seeds, Sweet Pea Gardens, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Renee's Garden, Roger Parsons Sweet Peas, and Owl's Acre Seed in Northern England. These flowers will give us lots of fragrant color this summer.
Here are some photos - enjoy. And be sure to follow my new Instagram page @MarthaStewartBlog.
The old-fashioned varieties of sweet pea are grown for their vibrant colors and intense fragrances. Most sweet peas will begin blooming in late spring or early summer.
The flowers feature one large, upright rounded petal, two narrow side petals, and two lower petals. Luckily, the stems are sturdy enough to hold up their profuse flowers.
This one is a bright salmon to peach color. Originating in the southwest of Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean, sweet pea has been cultivated for use in gardens since the 17th century.
Sweet peas offer one of the widest color ranges in the plant kingdom, including crimson reds, navy blues, pastel lavenders, pinks, and the purest whites. These colors are found as solid colors, bicolors, and streaked or flaked flowers.
The leaves are pinnate with two leaflets and a terminal tendril, which twines around supporting plants and structures, helping the sweet pea to climb.
Here are the tendrils they use to grasp anything that’s a quarter-inch or less.
This season, we’re planting many different varieties from a number of seed companies.
I always encourage my crew to bring “the right tools for the right job.” Here are the three tools Wendy is using for this planting project – a hoe, a cultivator, and a rake.
Once the area along the garden fence is cultivated, Wendy drops some good fertilizer. Sweet peas are heavy feeders, so it is important to ensure the soil is nutrient-rich.
We’re planting the sweet peas along one side and the back fence of my old vegetable garden down by my chicken yard. Wendy uses a hoe to create a shallow trench – just a couple inches deep.
These are some of the seeds – large enough to see when dropping them into the trench.
Wendy drops the seeds into the shallow furrow. Sweet peas are happiest in the sun with their roots in cool, moist soil.
These seeds are planted just a couple of inches apart. Look closely and you can see the seed.
Then the seed is pressed lightly into the soil.
As each section of seeds is planted, a marker identifying the variety is placed accordingly.
Wendy uses a small garden soft rake to cover the seeds with two inches of soil.
Using a rake also makes the area look neat and tidy.
And here is a lovely pink variety called ‘Angela Ann.’ This sweet pea has an attractive rose pink on a white background. It’s an excellent sweet pea for the garden or to use as cut flowers.
And here is a crisp white sweet pea. These flowers are rich in nectar and pollen and attract lots of bees and hummingbirds.
It takes about 50-days in cooler temperatures under 60-degrees Fahrenheit, for sweet peas to develop and bloom. I am looking forward to lots of colorful and fragrant flowers come May.
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