San Francisco stumps

Marina District

West Portal

 

Japantown

Read Full Post »

Denver plants don’t mind the gaps

Hollyhocks and few other plants are thriving in the tiny gap between the buildings and sidewalks of Denver (though a few look like they’ve been pruned).

Min Li Chan of San Francisco send this photo-report from her travels to the RiNo arts district, which she described as “an industrial area turned hipster art neighborhood, not unlike Williamsburg five years ago.” Perhaps we should compare Brooklyn plants to Denver plants?

Thank you to Min Li for stopping to observe some urban plants and share them with us!

Read Full Post »

Mysteriously multiplying Christmas trees in Brooklyn

“How did my seven-unit building produce ten dumped trees? Don’t ‘miracle of Christmas’ me, Brooklyn, you’ve got some explaining to do,” says playwright and keen-eyed New Yorker Mike Lew.

Any theories?

Read Full Post »

San Francisco: moss grows on a rolling bike

Ever seen an old bicycle, repurposed as a planter, in a quaint grandmother’s garden, with pots of trailing vines attached to every available spot? These little grasses and weeds seem to aspire to the same romantic arrangement. Props to eagle-eyed Ms. Hustrulid, who just spotted this amazing interaction between sidewalk flora and sidewalk paint in San Francisco. For more of her photos, please visit her Instagram feed: @glovecompartment.

Read Full Post »

San Francisco sidewalks: steep, lush, vivid, wacky

When the fog lifts from gray San Francisco and Indian summer sun floods the up-and-down streets, the plants and buildings suddenly show their true colors in all their vividness. Some plants are painted on, others are trimmed into submission, while others grow into their own forms, whether creating sidewalk tunnels or two-dimensional trees. Here’s a little photo walk around San Francisco’s Mission and Noe Valley neighborhood back when the sun was shining.

Read Full Post »

Berlin: tiny lawn

Tiny lawn spotted on the street. Toes shown for scale (and keep in mind, these toes aren’t very big either).

Read Full Post »

Berlin-Friedrichshain: Club kids

Big bro and kid bro dandelion hanging out in front of the techno club ://aboutblank. Giving them a once over: cool couple hops and Ailanthus altissima.

Read Full Post »

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.

—

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.

Read Full Post »

California: suburban plant research by Phoebe

Do you see urban plants in this picture? What about graffiti?

My sharp-eyed sister Phoebe did. She observed some interesting sidewalk phenomena during a recent visit to our childhood home:

Read Full Post »

Berlin: Moss real estate

Moss house in Berlin.

Read Full Post »