Urban Garden

Maybe "sustainable bird garden" isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you think about downtown Newark, NJ, but did you know that we have not one, but two of them on the Rutgers campus here?

These gardens were planted and enlarged over the past several Earth Days with the help of student volunteers, the Greater Newark Conservancy, and campus staff. Our very own Professor Claus Holzapfel helped choose plants that would attract and feed the birds that regularly fly over campus on their migratory paths.

Right now both gardens are in full bloom in the Norman Samuels Plaza. Helen Paxton took these great photos of the plants (and bumblebees) this week.

The signage on our first garden, the smaller of the two, describes the project.

Our larger bird garden includes a sign with photos and descriptions of a few of the many bird species (over 100!) that have been spotted on campus.

Close up of a bumblebee on an echinacea plant - if you click on the photo for the larger version, you'll see some amazing detail on the wings. I love this photo (and no, I'm not just saying that because the photographer happens to be my boss!)

A Little Green in Winter

Ever wonder what's in those greenhouses on campus? You've probably walked by them dozens (or if you've been here a while like me, even hundreds) of times, and never been inside.

Germaine Benemile, RBS '09, sent these photos from inside the greenhouse, where plants are flourishing even as the rest of Newark is still covered in snow. (photo on the left is a view from above)

Germaine wrote: Most of these were taken during my General Horticulture lab, which is an undergraduate class in the Biology department. I just thought it might be interesting because most people walk right by the greenhouses (next to Boyden) but never get to see inside!

Below, the class learns how to create roots on the stem:

Some beautiful orchids (I used to have one of these at home, they're gorgeous, but flowers have a tendency to die around me and after a while mine stopped flowering)

Germaine wrote that You feel you're in a jungle when you're in here. The bottom photo really does look very jungle-like. It must be a welcome change from the freezing temperatures outside!

You can go to the entire set on flickr to see more.