Gardens

I've mentioned before that I like reading 19th century novels, and lately I've been rereading some favorites from my childhood and adolescence - most recently, Jane Eyre.  The amazing thing about a book like Jane Eyre is that while it provides a very detailed account of a world that does not exist any longer, the narrative voice, characterizations and emotions described are still absolutely relevant, revelatory and true.

But I do also enjoy the detailed account of the world that no longer exists - I think if I were to be a historian, I would be a cultural historian, as I'm endlessly curious about what people used to do / read/ eat / wear... and these books provide such a wealth of information about all of those things.  And one element that comes up again and again is walking and (in English novels) the English countryside. Reading about people walking for miles on a regular basis, among fields and rolling hills, can bring on bouts of the Manhattan-induced claustrophobia that I often complain of.

So the other day I went for out a walk, and I decided that while I had neither boundless countryside to explore, nor access to an estate with ample grounds and gardens, I could still enjoy some of the benefits of the latter by paying a visit to the conservancy gardens in Central Park on 5th Avenue and 105th Street.  It's the only formal garden in Central Park, and while there are a lot of weddings there during the weekends, on weekdays it's very quiet.  In fact there were only a few elderly people there, sitting on benches, and two other young women like me.  All three of us younger ladies were, amusingly enough, taking photographs of flowers with our digital cameras.  Maybe if we lived in the 19th century, we'd have brought our watercolors instead...

One of the things that I thank whoever landscapes these gardens for, is that they're allowed to be a bit unruly.  So, here are banks and banks of chrysanthemums that someday soon will be blooming - they're allowed to grow up tall, not just groomed into ice-cream scoops:

There are also pink dahlias that I find to be very spectacular in their shape and symmetry - they remind me of the flowers that are embroidered on asian fabrics

There were these strange, furry buds that I noticed a few weeks ago - they looked to me as though they might be a venus flytrap or otherwise scary plant...

But it turned out to be what I think is a rose of sharon, though I've never seen one in yellow.  Strange that a flower with such thin, fragile petals should require such an enormous bud!

So - those are the highlights of my garden tour.  I walked southwards from the garden into the rest of Central Park, where I found a muddy field, complete with construction equipment and plastic webbed fence that led me back to the 5th avenue sidewalk.  And there I was, back in the big city...

Comments

[Amanda]

Pretty! I need to remember that places like this *do* exist in the city. :) Thanks for the reminder!