This post is a bit of an anomaly for our “What’s Beautiful Now” series. Usually, we cobble these together to show our fans and visitors what’s worth slipping into the agenda during a trip to the NYBG; each post is a rundown of what you should go and enjoy at its peak flower or aroma, depending on the season. But some of the collections we have growing here at the Garden aren’t always open for public consumption–not yet, anyway. They’re too early in their growth, or still being primped for coming exhibitions. And most of these plants fall within the purview of the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections, where preparation begins for coming events many months (if not years) before opening day rolls around.

Seeing as I already teased you this past weekend with some of the jungle jewels sprouting up under the glass of the Nolen Greenhouses, I figure there’s no reason to keep the rest of Ivo’s recent photo shoot cooped up in our files. Standouts among the photos taken are easily the orchids, a few of which we expect to steal the spotlight in 2013′s spring Orchid Show. And while we can’t spill the entire layout of the exhibition just yet, I’m all too happy to pass along a gallery of eye candy in the meantime.
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As the Holiday Train Show ramps up, we’ll be highlighting the cultural landmarks of New York City that have come to inspire the NYBG‘s many miniatures, as well as the established organizations behind each one. It’s an opportunity for our readers to not only come away with a fresh understanding of the beautiful architecture in our city, but of the important institutions that have helped to create our rich cultural landscape.

Like so much of New York’s iconic architecture, what would become the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center (WAH) began life as a very different establishment. The Kings County Savings Bank was designed in the French Second Empire style by William H. Wilcox, a bank partner, with ground broken at the corner of Bedford and Broadway in 1860. Construction continued in Brooklyn through the course of the Civil War to see completion by 1868, at which point the building began a century-long run as home to a succession of banks.

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Manolo Valdés may have capped the undertaking of Monumental Sculpture with multi-ton creations ferried by truck, crane, and ship, but that’s not where he began. First, he needed to gel his ideas on a smaller scale. If you happen to stop by the Library Building this winter, you’ll see the artist’s initial inspiration in his maquettes, now on display in the Orchid Rotunda.

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen