GARDENS OF THE HIGH LINE ELEVATING THE NATURE OF MODERN LANDSCAPES Piet Oudolf Rick Darke Timber Press CONTENTS PREFACE 11 INTRODUCTION by Robert Hammond 17 ELEVATING THE NATURE OF MODERN LANDSCAPES 40 GARDENS OF THE HIGH LINE 316 ENDNOTES 317 SUGGESTED READING 317 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 318 INDEX 41 Map 42 GANSEVOORT WOODLAND 91 WASHINGTON GRASSLANDS 122 HUDSON RIVER OVERLOOK 130 SUNDECK & WATER GARDEN 144 NORTHERN SPUR 165 10th AVENUE SQUARE 175 CHELSEA GRASSLANDS Cutback 221 227 CHELSEA THICKET 245 23rd STREET LAWN & SEATING STEPS 251 MEADOW WALK 259 FLYOVER 273 WILDFLOWER FIELD & RADIAL PLANTINGS 283 RAIL YARDS 295 Gardening 303 Life Line 309 Seasons I feel very strongly in the sort of planting that I do, that you feel the changes all the time It is a changing beauty: from beauty into beauty — piet oudolf Chelsea Grasslands, mid-November PREFACE The idea for a book dedicated to the High Line’s gardens originated with co-founder Robert Hammond Robert’s offer to write the introductory chapter and provide the support of Friends of the High Line staff added immense appeal to the project Others who’d played essential roles in making and shaping the High Line also offered to share their knowledge and insights When our friend and graphic designer Lorraine Ferguson agreed to join us, we felt we had the team needed to produce a book that would portray the gardens beautifully and meaningfully This is the result of that collaboration For readers just discovering the High Line and others who already know it, this book presents a journey through its gardens in all their seasons, illustrating in great detail their design, evolution, care and context Though the journey can begin at any of the entry points, the original design intention was that it would begin by ascending the Gansevoort stair at the south end and continue north We’ve organized this book to match that order Robert’s introduction is followed by a chapter titled “Elevating the Nature of Modern Landscapes.” Its purpose is to assess and illustrate revolutionary developments in industry, urban aesthetics, horticulture and ecology that led to the creation of an unprecedented urban landscape that has unique global resonance The next section, “Gardens of the High Line,” makes up the majority of the book It begins with a map and follows with chapters devoted to each of the High Line’s garden areas These south-to-north portraits of place are augmented by chapters devoted to the gardens’ care, habitat value and seasonality, titled “Cutback,” “Gardening,” “Life Line” and “Seasons.” We believe, as landscape architect James Corner has suggested, that the High Line in its totality is irreproducible: “You just can’t take it anywhere else Its life, and the energy it has, are drawn in large measure from unique context.” At the same time, we know its design ethos, the patterning of its plantings and the enlightened stewardship devoted to them is highly reproducible and broadly worthy of emulation We hope this book will serve as a beautiful memory of a great place, as guide to the infinite opportunities it presents to practice the art of observation and as an inspiration to all who, publicly or privately, seek to elevate the nature of modern landscapes Heart-leaved aster (Aster cordifolius), hairy alumroot (Heuchera macrorhiza ‘Autumn Bride’), Dale’s alumroot (Heuchera americana ‘Dale’s Strain’) and wild-oat (Chasmanthium latifolium) thrive between steel rails and riveted railings at a corner of the Northern Spur in late September Top left: Sparrows balance on flower stalks of prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) in October Top right: A mockingbird sings atop coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens ‘Major Wheeler’ ) and American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens ‘Bailumn’ ) in November 306 Right center: A baby mockingbird peeks from its home at the Rail Yards Photo by Steven Severinghaus Right bottom: A palm warbler forages at the Rail Yards Photo by Steven Severinghaus Left bottom: A yellow-bellied sapsucker alights on a redbud in February Photo by Erika Harvey, Friends of the High Line Top left: House finches share food with a kiss amid shadbush flower buds Photo by Steven Severinghaus Top right: Dawn viburnum (Viburnum xbodnantense ‘Dawn’ ) provides a perch for a white-throated sparrow Photo by Mike Tschappat Bottom right: A mockingbird feasts on winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata) Photo by Mike Tschappat Bottom left: Aster seeds sustain a ruby-crowned kinglet on the Northern Spur in late October 307 Left center: A sparrow feeds on juicy berries of black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa ‘Viking’) Photo by Steven Severinghaus LIFE LINE 308 Seasons Children growing up in temperate northeastern North America are taught to count only four seasons, and this is simply wrong Anyone of any age who rejects this convention knows there are as many seasons as the mind’s eye can discern Is it sensible to recognize a season of icy seedheads or a season of long shadows, a season of new greens or a season of unfurling fronds? Celebration of fleeting, barely perceptible events in the landscape’s living cycle is absolutely sensible and profoundly sensual With each recognition comes the ability to see more deeply, and with this a world of beautiful, meaningful detail is continually revealed These revelations are incidental keys to universal processes The passings of seasons large and small, long and short, account for the greatest dramas of the High Line’s gardens, and a sensitivity to ephemera is elemental to the ethos of their design Japanese culture recognizes this as mono no aware, which may be translated as the awareness of impermance or the inevitable transience of all things The concept accommodates a gentle lament for passings but is primarily focused on the notion that awareness of the transitory nature of existence is all the more reason to celebrate each present moment as a gift The gardens’ free access invites frequent and spontaneous visits, and the complexity of their layering ensures there’ll always be worlds of detail awaiting discovery Contrary to the increasing push of digital technology, the gardens remain a decidedly pull medium No visitor is pushed to record the number of days redbud blossoms require to open, or how long they remain colorful after falling to the ground, but all visitors are free to pull such insights from experience Fall in love with last year’s coneflower, ice-capped in February, and the bud-tobloom details of its floral morphology will be on full display beginning in May The emerging stems of maidenhair fern are so coiled, so slight and so strongly red-brown in color it’s hard to imagine they can transform themselves into bright green fluttering fronds held aloft on ebony black stalks—unless you take time to bear witness Despite, or perhaps because of the fixity of its peripheral architecture, the High Line is an intensely seasonal landscape Changing sky colors and moods reflect off glass and steel, off woods and grass, inviting capture with a sharp lens or sharp eyes Contemplative visitors know to watch the layers—vertical, temporal and cultural—entwining to endless effect as moments pass in the seasons of the gardens’ living characters It’s not what you see, but what you see in it It’s not a flower arrangement It’s something original and organic It plays on the senses, and that is its strength When choosing the living “characters” in my designs, the structure and sculptural quality of each plant are more important than flowers or color — piet oudolf After a February snowstorm, ice-capped seedheads of purple coneflower stand tall enough to cast long shadows 309 In April, new fronds of maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) begin as fragile coils, their red-brown color bearing no resemblance to the bright green hue they’ll attain by May 310 The flowers and foliage in the background belong to Eurasian fumewort (Corydalis solida), a true spring ephemeral that goes completely dormant by late spring In contrast, the maidenhair fern remains green and persists until late autumn 311 SEASONS Sunset and silhouettes of a July evening are a reminder that understanding the mood of many moments warrants a skyward glance SEASONS 312 Opposite: The resting beauty of bigleaf magnolia leaves constitutes a season worthy of recognition 313 SEASONS 314 For me, garden design is not just about plants, it is about emotion, atmosphere, a sense of contemplation You try to move people with what you That is the big part A garden isn’t a landscape painting that you look at, but a dynamic process that’s always changing You must keep in touch with it all of the time —piet oudolf The sculptural qualities of Marianne Vitale’s Common Crossings are enhanced by a heavy snowstorm in early March 315 SEASONS ENDNOTES From September 4, 2013, discussion with Isabel Castilla, James Corner, Rick Darke, Annik La Farge, and Lisa Switkin; transcribed by Annik La Farge 11 James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro The High Line (New York: Phaidon Press, 2015) Adam Gopnick, “A Walk on the High Line,” The New Yorker (May 21, 2001) 12 Ingo Kowarik and Stefan Körner, Wild Urban Woodlands (Belin: Springer, 2005), 290 Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space (Boston: Beacon Press, 1969), 61 13 Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen, Droomplanten: de Nieuwe Generatie Tuinplaten (Houten, Netherlands: Terra, 1990) Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space (Boston: Beacon Press, 1969), 183 14 Paula Scher, “Great Design Is Serious, Not Solemn” (TED talk for the Art Center Design Conference, May 2008) James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro The High Line (New York: Phaidon Press, 2015) 15 James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro The High Line (New York: Phaidon Press, 2015) William Robinson, The Wild Garden (London: John Murray, 1870) 16 James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro “The High Line Phase Report” (unpublished, 2005) William Robinson, The Wild Garden (London: John Murray, 1870), 16:2 17 James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro The High Line (New York: Phaidon Press, 2015) Karl Foerster, Einzug der Gräser und Farne in die Gärten (Radebeul, Germany: Neumann Verlag, 1957) Richard Stalter, “The Flora on the High Line, New York City, New York,” Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 131, no (October–December 2004) 10 James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro The High Line (New York: Phaidon Press, 2015) 18 James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro The High Line (New York: Phaidon Press, 2015) 19 James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro The High Line (New York: Phaidon Press, 2015) 316 20 New York Central Lines, West Side Improvement: Initial Stage Dedicated June 28, 1934, pamphlet 21 James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro The High Line (New York: Phaidon Press, 2015) 22 Kenneth Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985) 23 From September 4, 2013, discussion with Isabel Castilla, James Corner, Rick Darke, Annik La Farge, and Lisa Switkin; transcribed by Annik La Farge 24 From September 4, 2013, discussion with Isabel Castilla, James Corner, Rick Darke, Annik La Farge, and Lisa Switkin; transcribed by Annik La Farge 25 From September 4, 2013, discussion with Isabel Castilla, James Corner, Rick Darke, Annik La Farge, and Lisa Switkin; transcribed by Annik La Farge 26 From September 4, 2013, discussion with Isabel Castilla, James Corner, Rick Darke, Annik La Farge, and Lisa Switkin; transcribed by Annik La Farge 27 From September 4, 2013, discussion with Isabel Castilla, James Corner, Rick Darke, Annik La Farge, and Lisa Switkin; transcribed by Annik La Farge 28 Richard Stalter, “The Flora on the High Line, New York City, New York,” Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 131, no (October–December 2004) 392 29 New York Central Lines, West Side Improvement: Initial Stage Dedicated June 28, 1934, pamphlet SUGGESTED READING Bachelard, Gaston The Poetics of Space Boston: Beacon Press, 1969 Darke, Rick The American Woodland Garden: Capturing the Spirit of the Deciduous Forest Portland: Timber Press, 2002 Darke, Rick The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes Portland: Timber Press, 2007 Darke, Rick, and Doug Tallamy The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden Portland: Timber Press, 2014 David, Joshua, and Robert Hammond High Line: The Inside Story of New York City’s Park in the Sky New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011 Jackson, Kenneth Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States New York: Oxford University Press, 1985 James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro The High Line New York: Phaidon Press, 2015 Kingsbury, Noel, and Piet Oudolf Planting: A New Perspective Portland: Timber Press, 2013 Kowarik, Ingo, and Stefan Körner Wild Urban Woodlands Berlin: Springer, 2005 Oudolf, Piet, and Henk Gerritsen Dream Plants for the Natural Garden Portland: Timber Press, 2000 Oudolf, Piet, and Noel Kingsbury Oudolf Hummelo: A Journey Through a Plantsman’s Life New York: The Monacelli Press, 2015 Robinson, William, and Rick Darke The Wild Garden: Expanded Edition Portland: Timber Press, 2010 Stalter, Richard “The Flora on the High Line, New York City, New York.” Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 131, no (October–December 2004), 387–393 Sternfeld, Joel Walking the High Line Göttingen: Steidl, 2001 Stilgoe, John Borderland: Origins of the American Suburb, 1829–1939 New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988 Stilgoe, John Outside Lies Magic: Regaining History and Awareness in Everyday Places New York: Walker and Company, 1998 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We wouldn’t have had anything to write about if not for Friends of the High Line, the remarkable organization founded in 1999 by Robert Hammond and Joshua David that provided the vision, assembled the design team, developed support, implemented construction, and now manages and operates the park, and raises all of the funds and provides all of the personnel required to care for the High Line’s gardens We are grateful to so many Friends of the High Line staff, board members, patrons and volunteers who shared their knowledge, and give special thanks to staff members Andi Pettis, Erin Eck, Erika Harvey, John Gunderson, Kaspar Wittlinger, Nathan Bartholomew and Yuki Kaneko This book would not have been possible without the generous contributions of the following individuals, organizations and institutions: Joel Sternfeld and Luhring Augustine, New York; James Corner, Lisa Switkin and all at James Corner Field Operations; Matthew Johnson and all at Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Paula Scher; Phaidon Press; Whitney Museum of American Art; Gifford Miller; Elizabeth Gilmore; Patrick Cullina; Tom Smarr; Melissa Fisher; Annik La Farge; Steven Severinghaus; Barry Munger; Doug Tallamy; Mike Tschappat; Melinda Zoehrer; and Jeff Bennett La Farge, Annik On the High Line: Exploring America’s Most Original Urban Park New York: Thames & Hudson, 2014 317 INDEX Acer triflorum, 165 Achillea filipendulina ‘Parker’s Variety’, 251 Actaea pachypoda, 264 Adiantum pedatum, 264, 310 Allegheny pachysandra, 269 Allium, 179 Allium christophii, 273, 275 Allium nigrum, 273, 275 Allium obliquum, 183 Allium stipitatum ‘Mount Everest’, 189 Amelanchier, 48 Amelanchier ×grandiflora, 52 American bittersweet, 306 American holly, 227 American smokebush, 91 Amorpha canescens, 276 Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’, 66, 96 Amsonia hubrichtii, 96 An Evening in July, 2000, 12 Andrews, Kathyrn, 117 Andropogon, 27 Andropogon gerardii, 175 Anthropocene era, 28 Aristida oligantha, 291 aromatic aster, 77, 127, 202, 304, 305 Aronia melanocarpa ‘Viking’, 227, 307 Aruncus ‘Horatio’, 97 Asarum canadense, 234 Asclepias incarnata, 130 Asclepias purpurascens, 165, 170 Asclepias syriaca, 286 Asclepias tuberosa, 305 Ashe’s magnolia, 259 aster, 179 Aster azureus, 144 Aster cordifolius, Aster oblongifolius, 77 Aster tataricus ‘Jindai’, 111 Astilbe chinensis ‘Visions in Pink’, 97, 189 Athyrium felix-femina ‘Minutissima’, 75 Aurora hybrid dogwood, 227 autumn moor grass, 66, 91, 94, 98, 175 azalea, 269 Bachelard, Gaston, 17 balloon flower, 27 Bartholomew, Nathan, 301 bees, 185, 231, 273, 278, 285, 303, 304 Belamcanda chinensis, 252 bench, 68, 122, 130, 141, 142, 187, 262, 273 Berggarten, 26 Betula nigra, 47 Betula pendula, 29 Betula populifolia, 29, 47, 298 ‘Whitespire’, 47 big bluestem, 175, 177, 212 bigleaf magnolia, 259, 261, 312 birds, 150, 196, 287, 303, 306–330 318 bitter panicgrass, 130 blackberry-lily, 251, 252, 254 black cherry, 287, 291 black chokeberry, 307 black garlic, 275 Black Star, 118 blazing star, 127, 193, 194, 273 block plantings, 35–37 Blocks, 118 bloodtwig dogwood, 243 Bluemel, Kurt, 24 bluestar, 66, 96, 118 bluestem, 27 bluestem goldenrod, 144, 158 boneset, 144 Borderland: Origins of the American Suburb, 1820–1939, 245 Bouteloua curtipendula, 273 Bridge of Flowers, 34 bristleleaf sedge, 227, 233 broad-leaved garlic, 275 bromelike sedge, 227, 233 Brownies hairy alumroot, 187 Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’, 266 bulbs, 48 bumblebee(s), 303, 304, 305 Bunny Blue sedge, 227, 237 burr oak, 183, 206 bushclover, 108 butterflies, 138, 186, 275, 286, 287, 303, 305 butterfly milkweed, 305 cabbage looper, 304 Calamagrostis acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, 273, 279 Calamagrostis brachytricha, 132, 251 Calamintha nepeta, 251 callery pear, 299, 301 canopy layer, 48, 91, 122, 227, 259, 261 cardinal flower, 130, 132 Carex bromoides, 227, 233 Carex eburnea, 227, 233 Carex laxiculmis, 75 ‘Hobb’, 227, 237 Carex pensylvanica, 55, 144 cattail, 137 Celastrus orbiculatus, 291 Celastrus scandens ‘Bailumn’, 306 Cercis canadensis, 42, 45, 48, 59 ‘Appalachian Red’, 45, 59 ‘Forest Pansy’, 59 Chaenomeles speciosa ‘Toyo-Nishiki’, 227 Chaenomeles superba ‘Jet Trail’, 227 Chasmanthium latifolium, 9, 144, 221 Chelone glabra, 130 Chelsea, 14, 17, 71, 111, 262 Chelsea Grasslands, 6, 165, 172, 175, 179, 183, 187, 191, 211, 219, 227 Chelsea Pier 54, 122, 129 Chelsea Thicket, 219, 227, 259 Chinese witchhazel, 241 Chionanthus virginicus, 97 Chionodoxa sardensis, 150 Christmas fern, 75, 267 Claire Grace bergamot, 191, 305 Clethra barbinervis, 48 Coach tower, 165 coastal azalea, 269 common cattail, 130 Common Crossings, 253, 257, 315 common evening primrose, 289 common milkweed, 286, 291 compass plant, 99, 103, 199, 213, 216 coneflower, 273, 309 coral honeysuckle, 186, 306 Coreopsis ‘Full Moon’, 251 Coreopsis tripteris, 273 Corner, James, 14, 32, 33, 42, 251, 260 Cornus florida, 48, 59, 62–63 Cornus ‘Rutban’, 227 Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’, 243 Cortaderia, 24 Corydalis solida, 227, 234, 310 Corylopsis spicata, 227, 229 Cotinus coggygria, 91 Cotinus ‘Grace’, 91, 112, 298 Cotinus obovatus, 91 Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States, 245 crocus, 179, 273 Crocus tommasinianus, 179 Cullina, Patrick, 47, 259 Culver’s root, 181, 191 Cunard Lines Pier 54, 129 Cutback, 221, 222, 224, 296 cutleaf lilac, 227, 234 daffodil, 55, 179 Dalea pupurea, 199, 304 Dale’s alumroot, Darke, Rick, 26–27, 32 Daucus carota, 286 David, Joshua, 11 Dawn viburnum, 48, 49, 227, 232, 307 daydreaming, 17 Deball, Mariana Castillo, 130 Descottes, Hervé, 105 design competition, 12, 130 Dewey Blue bitter panicgrass, 132 Diblik, Roy, 26 Diboll, Neil, 26 di Lampedusa, Giuseppe, 13 Diller, Elizabeth, 29 Diller Scofidio + Renfro, 12, 42 “dream plants,” 36 dwarf cattail, 130 dwarf lady fern, 75 dwarf mondo grass, 269 dystopia, 29 early crocus, 179 eastern redbud, 59 Echinacea pallida, 273, 278 Echinacea paradoxa, 27 Echinacea purpurea, 99, 273, 279 Eck, Erin, 296, 297, 300 ecological succession, 37, 301 Einzug der Gräser und Farne in die Gärten, 24 elevated lines, 21 Ellis Island, 165 Emerald Sentinel red cedar, 227 Empire State Building, 11 Eremurus himalaicus, 273, 275 Eryngium yuccifolium, 99, 193 Eupatorium, 127, 130, 158 Eupatorium altissimum, 289 Eupatorium dubium, 200 Eupatorium perfoliatum, 144 Eupatorium rugosum, 144 Euphorbia corollata, 144 Eurasian fumewort, 227, 234, 310 European birch, 29 European smokebush, 91 fernleaf yarrow, 251 ferns, 24, 48, 75, 259, 264, 267, 269, 309, 310 Fisher, Melissa, 296 flannel plant, 289 flower fly, 77 flowering dogwood, 48, 59, 62–63, 65, 78 flowering quince, 227 flowering times, 59 Flyover, 94, 257, 259, 261, 262, 264, 266, 267, 270, 273 foamflower, 144, 237 Foerster, Karl, 24, 25 Fothergilla intermedia, 234 fountain grass, 24 14th Street, 91, 122, 125, 127, 130 foxglove beardtongue, 285 foxtail lily, 273, 275, 277 Friends of the High Line, 11, 14, 37, 121, 283, 295–298 fringetree, 97 Frosted Violet coral bells, 233 Full Moon tickseed, 251 Galanthus, 179 Gansevoort, Peter, 88 Gansevoort Street, 42, 73 Gansevoort Woodland, 56, 61, 77, 87, 94 entrance into, 42, 45 gray birch in, 47, 83, 227, 300 herbaceous plantings in, 65, 66 layered structure of, 48, 49, 93 redbuds in, 59 shadbush in, 52, 55 vines in, 71 Gardening, 295–301 gayfeather, 99 Geerlings, Gerald K., 20, 21 Geranium maculatum, 144 Geranium ‘Spinners’, 285 Gerritsen, Henk, 36 Geum triflorum, 278 graceful cattail, 130 Grace smokebush, 91, 112, 115, 118, 298 Grand Central Terminal, 245 grape hyacinth, 179 grasses, 13, 17, 24–27, 28, 29, 36, 48, 175–220 Gravetye Manor, 22, 23 gray birch, 29, 47–48, 85, 187, 234, 243, 298 green roof, 94 Greenlee, John, 26 Gunderson, John, 300 Gymnocladus dioicus, 283 habitat, 303–308 hairy alumroot, 9, 144, 153 Hakonechloa macra, 227, 237 Hakone grass, 227, 237, 269 Hamamelis intermedia ‘Jelena’, 227, 241 Hamamelis japonica, 241 Hamamelis mollis, 241 Hammond, Robert, 9, 11, 14 Handroanthus, 165 heart-leaved aster, Helenium ‘Rubinzwerg’, 304 Helianthus salicifolius, 273 Hendricks, Dale, 32 herbaceous layer, 48, 55, 65–66, 77, 295 Hermannshof garden, 27 Heuchera americana ‘Dale’s Strain’, Heuchera ‘Frosted Violet’, 233 Heuchera macrorhiza ‘Autumn Bride’, 9, 144 Heuchera villosa ‘Brownies’, 187 Hibiscus moscheutos, 130 Hoboken Terminal, 122 holly, 243 honeybee, 304 house finch, 307 house sparrow, 196, 307 Hudson River, 11, 273, 283 Hudson River landscapes, 78, 98, 103, 115 Hudson River Overlook, 122, 125, 127, 129, 130, 300 Hudson Yards, 165, 259, 283 Hummelo hedgenettle, 66, 78, 98 hummingbirds, 186 Ilex opaca, 227 ‘Dan Fenton’, 227 ‘Jersey Night’, 227 Ilex verticillata, 307 ‘Red Sprite’, 227, 238 ‘Southern Gentleman’, 227, 238 Indian grass, 175, 177 Indian physic, 144, 153, 154, 156, 163, 221 Industrial Revolution, 23, 245 Infield, Katherine, 22 Infield, Richard, 22 insects, 150, 221, 287, 303, 304–305 Interim Walkway, 283, 288, 299, 301 ipe, 165 iris, 179 Jack Frost Siberian bugloss, 266 Jackson, Kenneth, 245 James Corner Field Operations, 12, 27, 37, 42 Japanese clethra, 48 Japanese hydrangea vine, 71 Japanese witchhazel, 241 Jelena witchhazel, 227, 241 Jeweled City, 20, 21 Joe-Pye-weed, 127, 130, 200, 216 Johnson, Matthew, 103, 165 Johnson, Rashid, 118 Juniperus virginiana ‘Corcorcor’, 227 Kaneko, Yuki, 299 Karl Foerster’s feather-reed grass, 273, 279, 280 Kentucky coffee tree, 283 Knautia macedonica, 185 Koeleria macrantha, 91 Korean feather-reed grass, 132, 251, 257, 280 Lachnanthes tinctoria, 34 Lady Jane tulip, 179 late-blooming asters, 273 Lathyrus vernus, 227, 233 lawn care and maintenance, 245 lead plant, 276, 277 Lespedeza thunbergii ‘Gibraltar’, 108 lesser calamint, 251 lesser glory-of-the-snow, 150 Liatris, 127 Liatris spicata, 99, 193 Life Line, 303 lighting, 105, 129, 216, 262 Linville, Johnny, 298 Listhrop, Ayinde, 299 little bluestem, 91, 127, 175, 198, 296 Little West 12th Street, 42, 91 Lobelia cardinalis, 130 Lonicera sempervirens ‘Major Wheeler’, 186, 306 Looking South towards Chelsea Markets, December 2000, 17 Lusitania, 122 Lurie Garden, 34, 37 Magnolia macrophylla, 259, 261 var ashei, 259 Magnolia tripetala, 259 Magnolia virginiana var australis ‘Green Shadow’, 259 maidenhair fern, 264, 267, 269, 309, 310 Major Wheeler coral honeysuckle, 186, 187 Malus baccata, 287 meadow sage, 183 Meadow Walk, 248, 251, 259 meatpacking, 52, 71, 111 megachile leafcutter bee, 304 Melville, Herman, 88 Merchants Refrigerating Company, 144 Mertensia virginica, 65 Mexican feather-grass, 27 milkweed bugs, 305 Miscanthus, 24, 27 Missouri coneflower, 213 Moby Dick, 88 mockingbird(s), 187, 303, 306, 307 Molinia caerulea, 91, 251 monarch butterfly, 138, 286, 304, 305 Monarda fistulosa ‘Claire Grace’, 191, 305 mono no aware, 309 mountain fleece, 111 mountain mint, 127, 296 Mount Everest Persian onion, 189, 200, 201 Mt Airy fothergilla, 234 Muhlenbergia capillaris, 108 Murchison, Kenneth, 122 Muscari, 179 Muscari armeniacum ‘Valerie Finnis’, 179 Narcissus ‘Hawera’, 55, 94 Narcissus poeticus, 179 Nassella tenuissima, 27 Natur-Park Südgelände, 29, 34, 83 Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’, 251, 252 Nepeta sibirica, 144 New York Central Railroad, 18, 21, 75, 103, 122, 125, 303 New York ironweed, 213 Northern Spur, 9, 122, 144, 146, 148, 150, 160, 165, 298, 299, 307 Oehme, Wolfgang, 24, 26 Oenothera biennis, 289 Olmsted, Frederick Law, 24 onion, 179 Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Nana’, 269 oriental bittersweet, 291, 299 ornamental onion, 273, 275 Oudolf, Anja, 24, 36 Oudolf, Piet, 12, 13, 14, 24, 27, 32, 34, 37, 42, 62, 251, 297, 309, 315 Outside Lies Magic: Regaining History and Awareness in Everyday Places, 52 Oxalis debilis, 153 Pachysandra procumbens, 269 Pagels, Ernst, 24 painted lady butterfly, 303, 305 pale coneflower, 278 palimpsest, 144 palm warbler, 306 pampas grass, 24 Panicum, 27 Panicum amarum, 130 ‘Dewey Blue’, 132 Panicum virgatum, 29, 175 ‘Shenandoah’, 175 Parthenium integrifolium, 185 Pasteur, Louis, 165 Pennisetum, 24, 27 Pennsylvania sedge, 55, 144 Penstemon digitalis, 285 perennials, 13, 17, 25–27, 36, 48, 156 Persian squill, 150 Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’, 111 Pettis, Andi, 297, 298 pheasant’s-eye daffodil, 179 Pierre; or, The Ambiguities, 88 pincushion plant, 185 pink muhly grass, 108 pink wood sorrel, 153 Pinus rigida, 29 pitch pine, 29 plantings, 13–14, 17, 24, 295 plant species, 28, 34 Platycodon grandiflorus, 27 pollinators, 77, 287 Polystichum acrostichoides, 75, 267 Porteranthus stipulatus, 144, 221 “praerie” planting, 26 prairie dock, 179, 212, 214, 306 prairie dropseed, 27, 175, 196, 199, 200, 213, 273, 295 prairie June grass, 91 prairie sage, 273 prairie smoke, 278 prairie threeawn, 291 Promenade Plantée, 34 promenading, 113 pruning, 298 Prunus serotina, 287 purple coneflower, 99, 103, 118, 191, 273, 278, 279, 280, 304, 309 purple milkweed, 165, 170 purple moor grass, 91, 251 purple prairie clover, 199, 200, 304 Pycnanthemum muticum, 127, 296 Pyrus calleryana, 299, 301 Queen Anne’s lace, 11, 286 Quercus macrocarpa, 183 319 Radial Plantings, 273, 283 rail landscapes, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34 Rail Yards, 11, 273, 283, 285, 286, 291, 292, 299, 301, 306 rattlesnake master, 99, 193, 194 Reading Viaduct, 29 red admiral butterfly, 275 red baneberry, 264 redbud, 42, 45, 48, 65, 227, 259, 306 red-leaf rose, 227, 234 redroot, 34 Rhododendron atlanticum, 269 Rhododendron viscosum, 269 Rhus copallinum, 270 Rhus glabra, 125 Rhus typhina, 125 river birch, 47, 91 Robinson, William, 22, 23–24 Rosa glauca, 227, 234 Rubinzwerg sneezeweed, 304 ruby-crowned kinglet, 307 Rudbeckia subtomentosa, 191 ruins, 28, 29 Salvia azurea, 273 Salvia pratensis ‘Pink Delight’, 183 ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, 183 sassafras, 227, 259, 270 Sassafras albidum, 227 Scher, Paula, 21, 37 Schizachyrium, 27 Schizachyrium scoparium, 175 ‘Standing Ovation’, 198, 296 ‘The Blues’, 198, 296 Schizophragma hydrangeoides ‘Moonlight’, 71 Schmidt, Cassian, 26, 27 Scilla, 179 Scilla mischtschenkoana, 150 scrim fountain, 130, 132, 134, 135 Seasons, 309–315 Seating Steps, 245, 247 sedges, 24, 27, 48, 55, 75, 144, 150, 175, 227, 233, 237, 259, 269 Sedum ternatum, 144 Sesleria autumnalis, 66, 175 shadbush, 48, 52, 55, 59, 75, 85, 259, 264, 307 Shenandoah switchgrass, 175, 202 showy goldenrod, 273, 280 shrub layer, 48, 122, 227, 238 Siberian catmint, 144, 153 Siberian crabapple, 287, 291 sideoats grama, 273 signature tree, 47, 227 Silphium laciniatum, 99, 199 Silphium terebinthinaceum, 179, 306 Simon, Hans, 24, 26 16th Street, 144, 165 skyblue aster, 144, 158 “slow stair,” 42 snowdrop, 179 soil, 94, 296 Solidago caesia, 144 Solidago rigida subsp humilis, 27 Solidago speciosa, 273, 280 Sorghastrum nutans, 175 Spinners geranium, 285 Sporobolus, 27 Sporobolus heterolepis, 175, 295 spring ephemeral, 65, 310, 311 spring vetch, 227, 233 squill, 179 Stachys officinalis ‘Hummelo’, 66 Stalter, Richard, 28, 299 star of Persia, 275 Statue of Liberty, 165 Steel Rings, 180, 181 Stella, Frank, 118 Sternfeld, Joel, 12, 14, 16, 17 stiff goldenrod, 27 Stilgoe, John, 52, 245 sumac, 125, 129, 130, 259 Sunbathers II, 117 Sundeck, 122, 130, 134, 141, 300 swamp azalea, 269 swamp milkweed, 130, 137, 138 swamp rose-mallow, 130, 137 sweetbay magnolia, 259 sweet coneflower, 191 switchgrass, 27, 29, 175, 177 Switkin, Lisa, 14, 37, 42, 92, 113, 259 Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, 77 sympodial branching, 63 Syringa laciniata, 227, 234 Tabet, Rayyane, 180 Tallamy, Doug, 287, 305 tallgrass prairie, 175 tall thoroughwort, 289 tall tickseed, 273 tatarian aster, 111 tenements, 211 10th Avenue, 18, 21, 122, 144, 148, 161, 166, 283 10th Avenue Square, 165, 168 “The Flora on the High Line, New York City, New York,” 28, 299 The Leopard, 13 The Poetics of Space, 17 The Standard hotel, 91, 94, 97, 111, 117 The Wild Garden, 23, 24 threadleaf bluestar, 96, 202 Tiarella cordifolia, 144 Tiffany & Co Foundation Overlook, 61, 73, 87, 94 Titanic, 122 toadlily, 108 Tomasi di Lampedusa, Giuseppe, 13 Tricyrtis ‘Sinonome’, 108 trifoliate maple, 165, 168 320 tulip, 179 Tulipa clusiana ‘Lady Jane’, 179 23rd Street Lawn, 245, 247 twisted-leaf onion, 183, 185, 208 Typha latifolia, 130 Typha laxmannii, 130 Typha minima, 130 umbrella magnolia, 259 Untitled (Swan), 103 Urban exploration (UE/UrbEx), 28 Valerie Finnis grape hyacinth, 179 van Sweden, James, 26 Vaux, Calvert, 24 Verbascum thapsus, 289 Vernonia noveboracensis, 213 Veronicastrum virginicum, 181 Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’, 48, 227, 232, 307 Viking black chokeberry, 227 Virginia bluebells, 65 Visions in Pink astilbe, 189, 200, 213, 216 visual acuity, 52 Vitale, Marianne, 257, 315 Walker’s Low catmint, 251, 252 warm-season grasses, 175, 180 Washington Grasslands, 91, 93, 94, 96, 98, 100, 108, 117 Washington Street, 52, 61, 71, 73 Water Garden, 122, 130, 134, 137 West Side Line, 122, 144, 165, 175, 303 white snakeroot, 144 white-throated sparrow, 307 white turtlehead, 130 Whitney Museum of American Art, 49, 100, 118 Wildflower Field, 259, 270, 273, 276, 295, 297 wild gardens, 22–24 wild geranium, 144, 153 wild ginger, 234 wildlife, 91, 103, 150, 221, 287, 303 wild-oat, 9, 144, 153, 163, 221 wild plants, 283 wild quinine, 185 wild spurge, 144 wild stonecrop, 144 Williams, Kevin, 295 willowleaf sunflower, 273 winged sumac, 270 winterberry holly, 227, 238, 307 winter hazel, 227, 229 Wittlinger, Kasper, 300 yarrow, 251 yellow-bellied sapsucker, 306 yellow coneflower, 27, 305 Copyright © 2017 by Piet Oudolf and Rick Darke All rights reserved Published in 2017 by Timber Press, Inc The Haseltine Building 133 S.W Second Avenue, Suite 450 Portland, Oregon 97204-3527 timberpress.com Photography Rick Darke and Piet Oudolf unless otherwise noted Design Lorraine Ferguson Cartography Marty Schnure Printed in China ISBN 13: 978-1-60469-699-8 Catalog records for this book are available from the Library of Congress and the British Library ... management, yet the plants and patterns are ever-evolving, constantly in flux The soul of the High Line is confident of the enduring essence of good design, the transitory nature of gardens and the ephemeral... nature of the High Line’s reinvention will be forever linked to its creative reuse of industrial aesthetics and to the authentic origins of its gardens naturalism The High Line isn’t the first,... powerful as the summer, with the texture provided by dry stalks and seedheads The brown plants against new growth echo the larger contradictions of the High Line: the wilderness in the city, the art