Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Wave Hill; "making pictures"

After I recovered from the disappointment of both the Wave Hill conservatory and the visitor's center/garden shop being closed during my October visit, I managed to pull it together and walk on...soon to be charmed by this monarch as it worked its way around the aster blooms.

Such a great color contrast.

This next part of the garden is divided into three sections, three rectangles that work their way up the hillside; the herb garden, dry garden, and the T.H. Everett Alpine House. 


Photos above and below were taken as I walked up the wide paved pathway bordering the herb garden.

Naturally I also had to turn and peer into the backside of the conservatory.

Sonchus canariensis, I believe.

 I would have so liked to see what was going on in there.


Oh wow, I wasn't expecting that! I guess you never know what you'll see through the windows.

Turning back to explore the garden.

That's the Alpine house at the end of the walkway.


I paused in the dry garden and turned back towards the river. I thought the agave and teasel would frame an interesting shot. What I didn't know was just how differently my camera (a point and shoot) vs. my iPhone would see the scene. Here's my camera shot...

And here's the same image as my iPhone recorded it. Interesting.

Once I realized my phone camera caught the setting sun I played around a bit with the foreground of the shot.


This one was taken with the camera.

Recently I watched a great video on the Wave Hill website: "Wave Hill's Gardens: Past, Present & Future; Founding Director of Horticulture, Marco Polo Stufano, and former Director, Louis Bauer, take a tour of the garden and discuss its history and future" (here).

I pulled a quote from that video that really speaks to the way I experienced the garden. From Marco Polo Stufano: “Gardening, really good gardening, is about making pictures”






Making pictures, indeed. This garden was a series of stunning pictures for my mind's eye.


Moving on to the Alpine house now...

I didn't go in, it didn't seem to be open, even though many of the large windows were.

The containers on the surrounding patio were fabulous.




I only had a half-hour left to explore a bit more of the garden, and that will be Friday's post...

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11 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 10, 2023

    I love it when an unplanned stop turns into the highlight of the day, or even the entire trip. The visit to Wave Hill garden is such an instance.
    The Aster and Monarch photo is a visual delight and would make a perfect 'Wordless Wednesday' contribution.
    The containers on the patio are amazing, the cactus combo especially stunning and the mossy close ups inspiring.
    Chavli

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    1. Well said Chavli (unplanned stop...).

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  2. Wow, you made great use of the limited time you had available! I'm guessing that the next time you visit NY, you'll give this stop a higher place on your itinerary. I like the idea of creating a garden by "making pictures" too.

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    1. I wonder if I'll visit NYC again? But you're right, If I do I will plan an entire day here.

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  3. This is a perfect garden ecosystem, I am overwhelmed by the plants here.

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  4. Some great "pictures" there, for sure!

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  5. I visited Wave Hill in 1990 or '91. The bones were nice then, but it was looking pretty tired and forlorn. Obviously it has been significantly cleaned up and improved since that time, as your photographs and narrative demonstrate. Thanks for sharing them!

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    1. Interesting. I don't know the history of the place well, but looked up the tenure of Marco Polo Stufano (Founding Director of Horticulture) and he was there at that time. Glad you enjoyed the post!

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  6. The cactus and succulent shots are my faves, as are the troughs and the alpine house. The lighting is just perfect. I admit I squeaked a little when I saw the side view of the brain cactus with the other colorful cacti and succulents. So many well designed elements.

    I find photography to be very frustrating. My eye sees one thing, the iphone or camera sees another. And no matter how much I think something is in focus, 90 times out of 80 it seems to be out of focus once I upload to my computer (yes, I did the math that way intentionally). Seems like I am always heading back to try and retake, and retake, and retake the photos trying to show what I want.

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