The High Line Blog

  • Plant of the Week: Sweetclover

    By EM Rodriguez June 4, 2018
    Sweetclover, Melilotus officinalis, can be found growing on the Interim Walkway by the Western Rail Yards. It is an annual, sometimes biennial, ranging in height between two feet in poor, dry soils to eight feet tall in richer, moist soils. The leaves are in alternate arrangement on the st... read more

  • Plant of the Week: Northern maidenhair fern

    By Ayumi Akimoto May 23, 2018
    Adiantum pedatum, also called northern maidenhair fern, is one of my favorite plants that you can find here on the High Line. It is a deciduous perennial plant, and like many ferns, it is in the Pteridaceae family. This fern can grow to 2.5 feet tall and 1.5 feet wide. In the wild, they are na... read more

  • Plant of the Week: Twinleaf

    By Ayumi Akimoto May 7, 2018
    Jeffersonia diphylla, also called twinleaf, can be found at the Gansevoort Woodlands and Tiffany & Company Foundation Overlook. Jeffersonia was named by the botanist Benjamin Smith Barton to honor the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, and it is in the Berberidaceae fa... read more

  • Plant of the Week: Pagoda yellow dogtooth violet

    By Ayumi Akimoto April 19, 2018
    As spring bulbs emerge, the glossy, mottled leaves of a plant called Erythronium 'Pagoda', also called Pagoda yellow dogtooth violet, can be seen. They bloom from mid-April to May. It is in the lily family (Liliaceae), and is also known as trout lily. The common name comes from the trout fi... read more

  • Plant of the Week: Purple prairie clover

    By Yuki Kaneko April 5, 2018
    During our 2018 Spring Cutback, some selected plant species are intentionally left uncut, keeping their dried stems in the plant bed. This experiment is to provide more nesting opportunities and increase habitat for pollinators in the park. Some plants with slender stems are ideal for wild be... read more

  • Plant of the Week: Visions in Pink Chinese astilbe

    By Orrin Sheehan March 16, 2018
    Astilbe chinensis is a rhizomatous perennial belonging to the Saxifragaceae family. As its specific epithet implies, this plant is native to China and usually found growing along streams, rivers, and forest edges. Astilbe prefers consistently moist soil that is high in organic matter. They wil... read more

  • Plant of the Week: Common snowdrop

    By Orrin Sheehan March 6, 2018
    If you find yourself lucky enough to be strolling through the High Line gardens in late winter, you may notice the white nodding blooms of Galanthus nivalis, the common snowdrop. While other spring ephemerals and perennials are still slumbering away, this little bulb seems unaffected by freezi... read more

  • Plant of the Week: Midwinter Fire bloodtwig dogwood

    By Taryn Cunha February 21, 2018
    Each winter season on the High Line brings new discoveries and challenges that the gardeners must work with to keep the plants healthy and beautiful until March cutback. Between the high winds, frigid temperatures, ice, and snow storms, some of the plants can look slightly tattered by mid-Febr... read more

  • Plant of the Week: Gibraltar bushclover

    By John Gunderson February 9, 2018
    Lespedeza thunbergii 'Gibraltar', or Gibraltar bushclover, is a medium-sized, shrub-like, late-flowering perennial in the pea family (Fabaceae). Originally native to Japan and China, Lespedeza thunbergii has naturalized throughout much of the Northeast United States. The cultivar 'Gibraltar' w... read more

  • Plant of the Week: Grey birch

    By Rachel Hokanson January 31, 2018
    Grey birches give us so much to discuss! Ornamental gardeners may first point out the unique form and chevron-marked bark (both on display this season). Or perhaps they will focus on the foliage-glossy green leaves that move well in the wind and turn an attractive yellow in fall. The practical... read more