The High Line's Newest Gardens

Photo by Mohamed Sadek

I just want to note a wonderful nytimes.com piece called “The High Line Unveils Its Newest Garden” (October 23, 2026). It’s written by Margaret Roach, with visuals by Mohamed Sadek. Roach reports the opening of a new garden on Manhattan’s High Line. Here’s her lede:

There has been no official fanfare yet about the High Line’s newest gardens, no ribbon-cutting or fête. But catbirds and mockingbirds swooped in almost before the plants were in the ground to have a look — and a feast of winterberries.

I read that and just kept going, devouring Roach’s ravishing plant descriptions. This one, for example:

The tall yellow blooms of Mohr’s rosinweed, a Southeastern wildflower, show off against “a beautiful sea” of alkali sacaton, said Richard Hayden, High Line’s senior director of horticulture, describing the airy seedheads of the Western grass. A big bluestem cultivar called Blackhawks will darken to purple and black as the season advances. The three are among 23 kinds of plants added to the High Line palette lately, bringing the total list to 583.

The piece is lavishly illustrated with Sadek’s vibrant photos and video - a sensual feast! 

When there is so much going wrong in the world, as there is right now, it’s tonic to read a piece like this that celebrates beauty and the people who strive to create it.