Since 1981, I've gardened in New York City. I've included plants native to eastern North America in in each garden since. In 2005, we bought a home in the central Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush. By gardening with native plants, I've transformed a barren urban yard into lush gardens and wildlife habitat. These slides accompanied my talk about these experiences at the Long Island Botanical Society on May 12, 2015.

1. Place, Purpose, Plants:
Urban Gardening with Native
Plants
Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener)
Long Island Botanical Society
2015-05-12

2. Place
Where I garden

3. Long Island
Bennington, J Bret, 2003. New observations on the glacial
geomorphology of Long Island from a digital elevation model (DEM).
Long Island Geologists Conference, Stony Brook, New York, April 2003.
HHm: Harbor
Hill Moraine
My Garden
op: Glacial
Outwash Plain
Rm: Ronkonkoma
Moraine
Rpm: Roanoke
Point Moraine

4. Central Brooklyn
My Garden
Greenwood
Cemetery
Grand Army Plaza
Prospect Park
Prospect Lake
Prospect
Expressway
Gowanus
Canal
B/Q Subway
Line
HHm
op
op

5. Flatbush: Etymology, Land Use History
 Anglicization of old Dutch:
 “vlachtebos” (vlacke bos, vladbos, flakkebos)
 “wooded plain” (“flat woods”)
 “Settled” in early 1600s
 One of five townships consolidated into the City of Brooklyn (Kings
County) in 1890s.
 Primarily used for agriculture: woodland -> pasture, meadow
 Railways provided access from “the city” (Brooklyn) through “the country”
(Flatbush) to beach resorts, e.g.: Coney Island
 1870s: Prospect Park
 1880s: Brooklyn Bridge
 Excursion railways converted to commuter lines
 Last farms converted to residential in 1890s, early 1900s:
pasture/meadow -> savannah

6. From Space
My Garden
Greenwood
Cemetery
Prospect Park

7. From the Air
Prospect Park
My Garden

8. Ground Truth

9. Purpose
Why I garden, and why I garden with native plants

10. Why I Garden
 Beauty:
 More than pretty flowers!
 Study:
 Learn the flora, practice my id skills
 Experiment with garden uses of native plants
 Practice observation, learn plant-insect associations, garden ecology
 Education:
 Demonstration gardens
 Garden tours, e.g.: NYC Wildflower Week
 Community workshops on botany, weed ID, pollination
 Retreat, Balance
 Contrast to day job!
 Connection to something larger than myself
 Genius loci – the spirit of a place

11. Backyard, April 2005

12. Backyard, May 2011

13. Front Yard, April 2005

14. Front Yard, this morning

15. Front Yard, July 2014
Urban gardening:
•Plus: I don’t have to deal with deer.
•Minus: There is the occasional car driving through the front yard.

16. Plants

17. Plant List
 Species, Family, Nativity, Habitat, Wetland Indicator
 Date/Year acquired, Retail & Wholesale source
 142 species native to Eastern North America
 ~90 species (64%) native to NYC, 7-12% of NYC’s Flora

18. Some Favorite NYC-natives

19. Adiantum pedatum,
Maidenhair Fern

20. Aquilegia canadensis,
Eastern Red Columbine

21. Asclepias incarnata,
“Swamp” Milkweed

22. Ilex verticillata,
Winterberry

23. Lonicera sempervirens,
Trumpet Honeysuckle

24. Pycnanthemum muticum,
Clustered Mountain-Mint

25. Plant-Insect Associations
Pollinators

26. Insect Visitors, and Residents
 Hymenoptera: 36 species
 Bees: 19 species
 Wasps: 17 species
 Lepidotera: 19 species
 Butterflies: 13 species
 Moths: 4 species (daytime only)
 Skippers: 2 species
 Diptera, Flies: 11 species
 Coleoptera, Beetles: 7 species
 Other insects: 4 species

27. Pollinators

28. Pycnanthemum muticum,
clustered mountain-mint

29. Bombus impatiens, Eastern bumblebee, on
Monarda fistulosa, beebalm

30. Vanessa atalanta, Red Admiral, on
Viburnum dentatum, Arrowwood

31. Tiny NOID bee on Zizia aurea, golden
alexander

32. Agapostemon, Jade Bee, on Helianthus

33. Herbivores

34. Battus Philenor, Pipevine Swallowtail,
on Aristolochia tomentosa

35. Nesting and Shelter

36. Leafcutter Bee on Rhododendron viscosum,
swamp azalea

37. Signs of Leafcutter Bees on Wisteria

38. Colletes thoracicus, cellophane bee

39. Colletes nest entrances

40. Closing Remarks

41. Planting is meditation.
Weeding is meditation.
Watering is meditation.
There is spirit
In leaves
In insects
In soil.
Gardening is prayer.
- June 24, 1997 waiting for F train to work, ~9:45am

42. Contact
 Blog: Flatbush Gardener
http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/
 Twitter: xrisfg
https://twitter.com/xrisfg
 Flickr: flatbushgardener
https://www.flickr.com/photos/flatbushgardener/
 Email: xrisfg@gmail.com