Berlin: Taking spring into his own hands

Snow is still on the ground a week after Easter. Most Berliners are busy complaining about the total absence of spring, but my neighbor Herr Mischke has taken matters into his own hands. On the mountain of old snow in front of his bookshop, Atlantis, he’s throwing this spring’s first garden party on the icy peak.

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Geografische Buchhandlung Atlantis is an independent bookshop ‘for reading travelers and traveling readers,’ with maps, travel guides, and general interest books (mostly in German). Karl-Marx-Allee 98, Berlin-Friedrichshain.

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Berlin: Ice cream tree

Spotted this morning on Modersohnstraße, summer’s single last blossom on the ice-cream tree.

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Berlin: A summer’s worth of wild growth

Things are lushest at the end of summer, especially this summer in Berlin. Weeks of rain alternating with a few super-hot days mean plants growing prodigiously and in more places than I’ve ever seen – or am I just noticing them more? Above, arugula elbows in next to the stinging nettle near the Modersohnbrücke in Friedrichshain, the bridge where young folks gather to watch the sunset. Now they can have a little snack with their cheap beer.

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Berlin: Gardener fighting a losing battle

…with the invincible trees of heaven among the roses on Karl-Marx-Allee in Friedrichshain.

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Berlin: Heaven on earth

Baby tree of heaven on Mainzerstraße, Berlin-Friedrichshain.

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Berlin-Friedrichshain: Belted hedge

Spotted on my walk yesterday: a hedge wearing a belt.

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Berlin: Plants in a cement donut

Today I just have one modest little plants-on-the-ground photo from me, a mini-post before I take leave of the urban plants to spend the weekend in the woods with the big trees, mushrooms, frogs, fishes and foxes. I spotted this cement donut yesterday at the subway construction site in front of my house, which has been a very tumultuous habitat for those brave plants who have dared to grow there during the past two years.

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Berlin: Hazelnuts, hazelnuts, everywhere!

There are so many Turkish hazelnuts showering down onto Berlin’s streets and sidewalks these days, I just don’t know how I overlooked them before reading Berlin Plants’ informative hazelnut article. Now I see them everywhere!

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Berlin: Rogue pansies, wild on the streets

Growing wild on the sidewalks of Adlershof, these sour-faced pansies were photographed by long-time Urban Plants reader Marko, who posted them on Flickr with the caption “My, are we angry!” It seems to be rogue pansy season in Berlin, as we spotted more frowning flowers here in Friedrichshain…

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Berlin: Lavender Scavenger, Karl-Marx-Allee Fountains

What is a Lavender Scavenger, besides a bad name for an indie band or a misguided cocktail idea? Well, it describes the person doing some urban foraging on Karl-Marx-Allee, while I was enjoying a sparkling rhubarb juice on the front terrace of Café Tasso…

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