From January 18 through February 23 the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory will be hosting Tropical Paradise, an exhibition of our permanent collections that encourages you to take refuge from the chilly winter weather and indulge in a tropical retreat! On weekends and select holiday Mondays the Garden will also be hosting Tropical Interactive Encounters, allowing you to see, taste, and smell tropical plants such as coconut, nutmeg, and annatto. During this warming winter treat, visitors are invited to learn the historical and cultural significance of many tropical plants while enjoying the sensory experience of these unique species.
And back again for another year, photographs from the International Garden Photographer of the Year contest will be on display in the Conservatory to highlight tropical plants and landscapes from around the globe. This photography collection, entitled The Beauty of Paradise, will be complemented by our annual Tropical Paradise Photography Contest, where eager shutterbugs can enter their own images for a chance at an NYBG prize!
The Giant Peruvian Daffodil’s fist-sized flower may be simple in yellow, but it’s a stunner—and a fragrant one, at that. I’m wondering where these will land after their stay in the Nolen Greenhouses.
Paramongaia weberbaueri – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Chances are good that you’re already on the road to recovery from the past two weeks of festivities—the feasts, the parties, the revolving door of sweater-clad family members—and coming back around to business as usual. But the holidays haven’t left the Garden just yet, and our conifers certainly aren’t ready to give up their decorations! Throughout January, we’re keeping the holiday cheer afloat with our continuing Holiday Train Show, friendly visits from our pal Thomas the Tank Engine, and all the winter majesty our 250 acres can summon. This is easily one of the most beautiful times to be outside in New York, so don’t let the couch take up all of your time!
This weekend’s highlights, aside from our ongoing seasonal festivities, are definitely of the wilderness variety. Not only will we be having the usual Saturday Bird Walk at 11 a.m. (it’s an amazing time of year to see the birds, what with most of the foliage fallen from the trees), but we’ll also be hosting a Winter Plant & Tree Tour on Sunday, exploring the bright berries and detailed textures of winter in the Garden. And if you’re looking to warm up, don’t miss our tour of the iconic architectural landmarks that make up the NYBG.
The full schedule is below, but even if you don’t follow it, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the NYBG on your own. Anyone who’s spent time walking the quiet trails of our Forest can tell you that!
Winter in the Garden is far from a sleepy season. With the deciduous trees stripped of their leaves and the branches reaching over and across one other, the grounds adopt a new face—one defined by stark lines and contrasts sparked with small bunches of colorful berries. Groups of birds lunch in and around the trees, and if you’re lucky, you’ll catch sight of a hunting raptor, a Red-tailed Hawk or a Great-horned Owl on a diurnal run. In the conifers you’ll see the classic hunter greens of snow-dusted pine needles arching above the first blooming snowdrops.
Once you’ve admired the New York miniatures of the Holiday Train Show with all its twinkling lights, and stopped to sing along with your kids during a performance of All Aboard with Thomas & Friends, be sure to save some daylight for a walk in the 50-acre Forest. It’s about as close as you can get to seclusion in NYC, and well worth the time spent aimlessly wandering the winding trails. And I do mean aimlessly—it’s pretty gratifying to find yourself strolling along a path you’ve never seen before, more so with a little snow blanketing the branches above.
First snowdrops of the season seen in the Azalea Garden! Or at least the first we could get pictures of. Horticulture tells us these little guys had been briefly popping their heads up throughout December thanks to the oscillating temperatures, but they should be a more steady presence around the grounds going forward.
