The High Line, situated on an abandoned elevated railroad track along 10th Avenue, is stark contrast from the streets and traffic below on the West Side of Manhattan. During a simple stroll down the park’s pathway, it is easy to be transported away from the fast-paced city to a tranquil garden.
The abundant patches of flowers that line the path of both sides of the park attract a variety of pollinators. During my visit on September 20, it was hard to find any other pollinators other than a variety of bees. The cool breeze, coupled with the fact that I toured the area in the late afternoon (3:30PM-5:00PM), made both finding and capturing pictures of pollinators slightly more challenging. It was easiest to find pollinators in the vibrantly colored flowers in the Wildflower Field between 26th and 29th Streets, the Chelsea Grasslands by 18th Street and the Diller-Von Furstenberg Sundeck and Water Feature by 16th Street, especially uninhibited sunlight shined on the flora.
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- Honey bee seen near the Diller-Von Furstenberg Sundeck and Water Feature
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- Bumble bee seen near the Diller-Von Furstenberg Sundeck and Water Feature
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- A spiderweb among the flowers near the Diller-Von Furstenberg Sundeck and Water Feature
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- Cuckoo/Sweat bee seen near the Diller-Von Furstenberg Sundeck and Water Feature
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- Bald-faced hornet seen near the Chelsea Grasslands by 18th Street
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- Carpenter bee seen in the Wildflower Field
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- Carpenter bee seen in the Wildflower Field
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- Bumble bee seen in the Wildflower Field
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- Me at the 10th Avenue Square
The High Line exemplifies Marris’s idea of a “rambunctious garden” well. According to Marris, the “rambunctious garden is everywhere…in parls. On farms, in the strips of land attached to rest stops and fast-food joints, …even in city traffic circles” (2). The rambunctious garden is one that takes advantage of what an area has to offer and transforms it into a sustainable form of “nature”, or as close to nature as it can become. The conversion of old railroad tracks into what is now the High Line park shows how nature can be created anywhere, even amidst the streets of New York City. With the help of pollinators, including the bumble and honey bees that enjoy the sweet pollen of the planted flora, the various species of plants are able to thrive year after year. Marris supports creating and embracing nature that may not be “pristine”. Despite the fact that the plants in the High Line were placed in the artificially made park, it can still be considered more natural than most any other part of urbanized New York City.
The findings in the Stalter piece show just how successful Marris’s version of “nature” can be in an urban area. With just a bit of hard work, the Friends of the High Line foundation was able to cultivate “161 species in 122 genera in 48 families” of flora (Stalter 388). More than half of these species are native to New York as well, proving that it is possible to recreate conditions to help restore some lost nature. Surprisingly, Stalter’s research found the High Line to have a “species richness…greater than species richness at four nearby New York City sites…[and] may have one of the highest levels of species richness (38.8 sp/ha) of any temperature zone urban environment in the region” (389). Stalter’s data shows how well the flora in the High Line are flourishing and how much it resembles the natural flora makeup of a New York City patch of nature despite the fact that it was crafted by humans.
