I’m a native New Yorker and I’ve lived here my whole life. Green spaces—especially publicly accessible ones—are hard to come by in New York City. Having not been exposed to enough nature during my childhood, the discovery of public horticulture was so shocking and so valuable to me. It literally changed my life.

My first career was in finance and it was during some of my first dates with my partner—of ten years now—that I fell in love with greenspace and decided to make a career change. We walked the High Line on one of our first dates. I remember there was a wedding at the 22nd Street Seating Steps and a guy was just belting out “Nessun Dorma,” the opera aria.

It was magical to experience this combination of things—people, gardens, the city backdrop, this lively moment—that only seems possible at the High Line.

Shortly after my first High Line visit, I decided to leave my corporate life behind and join a professional horticulture program at New York Botanical Garden. It seems serendipitous that my first full-time horticulture job out of school was at the High Line—everything came full circle. I love public horticulture. I love the knowledge that I am able to bring to the public and the community. I especially enjoy sharing the seasonality of the High Line. Even through the colder months of the year, our plant material stays up in its winter form, providing habitat for wildlife into the spring. We are able to create not only beauty but also ecological benefits through all four seasons. The gardens have so much to offer.

I’ve been with the High Line for 4.5 years now. The section of the park I’m responsible for—between 18th and 20th Streets—is primarily a prairie palette of plants. After Spring Cutback, when we cut back all of the dead plant material from the previous season, this section looks almost barren. But within a few weeks’ time, the plants bounce back with new growth, becoming the dense, leafy garden you see now. Today, I can just disappear into the garden beds as I work; the plants are so lush.

This time of year, some of my section’s star blooms are New York City native plants. I think New York City native plants make the High Line’s gardens feel even more so authentically New York. (And, bonus: they also provide food and habitat for native insects and pollinators, like the Carolina mantis you might spot along my garden.)

I hope you’ll stop by to see my stretch of the garden at its peak this summer. And if you do—please say hi.

Giselle, High Line Horticulturist

Here are some of my favorite plants in bloom right now:

New York ironweed
This New York City native has a bold, architectural form, which complements the skyscrapers of Manhattan you can see from my section. Its purple blooms pop up in late July and last through the summer.

Culver’s root
This native flower is another tall, structural, statuesque plant. When they’re at full height and full bloom in my garden, I think, “This is very New York!” It’s especially beautiful against the Empire State Building, which you can see from my section.

Butterfly milkweed
This native wildflower provides nectar for many butterflies, pollinators, and beneficial insects. Milkweeds are the only food source for the caterpillars of the endangered monarch butterfly. It’s also the High Line’s chosen Manhattan nominee for official wildflower for New York City.

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