Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG’s Gardener for Public Education.

After a week of election post-mortems, the NYBG is now ready to follow suit with the results from our ‘choose your favorite mum’ poll. For those of you not already in the know, I posted a blog on October 26 entitled ‘Mum Madness.’ In it, I explained our breeding program for Korean mums at the Garden.

To make things easy for newcomers, here is the encapsulated version: every year we collect seed from our Korean mum collection and grow them on through the next year to see if we have any new varieties. We look for certain traits–compact growers, flowering time, flower forms, and color. When we find one we like, we keep it to propagate via cuttings.

This year we asked the public to join us in the selection process. We went out to the Korean mum Trial Bed in the Home Gardening Center and chose six mums that differed from our current collection and had great appeal, photographing and displaying them in the October 26 blog. They were also labeled in the garden and, through signage, visitors were asked to vote for their favorite selection by texting in their answers.
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After months of preparation, we’re not only proud, but ecstatic to announce our participation in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Partners in Preservation competition! Beginning today, the NYBG launches its campaign alongside 40 fellow historical places of New York in a race to win the vote.

We like to think of The New York Botanical Garden as more than a cultural institution. It’s a community–of horticulturists, of members, of contributors and fans. It’s thanks to the continued generosity of people like these (and you!) that our gates remain open today, over a century after these 250 acres were unveiled as one of the finest botanical gardens in the world. And if the thrumming excitement winging its way around the office today suggests anything, it’s that we aim to keep that title.
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Vote for Your Favorite Orchid

Nick Leshi is Associate Director of Public Relations and Electronic Media.

Orchid lovers, rejoice! The Orchid Show: Brazilian Modern opens this weekend and runs through April 12. Visitors will have the chance to escape the winter blues and enjoy the thousands of orchids on display at The New York Botanical Garden.

The orchid is the world’s largest family of flowering plants with more than 30,000 naturally occurring species and tens of thousands of artificially created hybrids. Which is your favorite? Let us know by clicking on the Orchid Poll at right. Do you love the amazing shapes of the Oncidium or Paphiopedilum? Are you captivated by the stunning colors of Vanda orchids? Are you a Cymbidium or Phalaenopsis fan? Or does another species or hybrid capture your fancy? Vote now and let us know.

Brilliantly colored orchids and the lush tropical setting of a contemporary Brazilian garden await you at The Orchid Show, now in its seventh year. Miami-based landscape architect Raymond Jungles has created this contemporary Brazilian garden design, inspired by his mentor, the renowned Roberto Burle Marx. The design features fountains, pools, and colorful mosaics combined with graceful palms, delicate orchids, bromeliads, and other native plants of Brazil. The orchids have been selected by Marc Hachadourian, Manager of the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections at the Botanical Garden and Curator of The Orchid Show, and are featured throughout the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.

Let the orchid mania begin! Get your tickets today.

The polls have closed and the final results are in. Voters have made their choice. Time to announce the results of…our Kiku Poll!

Two weeks ago, we asked visitors to select their favorite kiku style and the race was tight. It seems all four display styles have their fans. In an extremely close survey, the dramatic single-stemmed ogiku pulled an upset, coming from behind for the win, earning 30 percent of the votes. In a very close second place was the dome-shaped ozukuri, with 28 percent. The new style, shino tsukuri, and the cascading kengai were tied for third, both with a respectable 21 percent.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote in our fun little election. Be sure to see the displays in real life by visiting Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Chrysanthemum, which runs through November 16. This video gives you a preview of what you’ll enjoy.

Kiku 2008 from The New York Botanical Garden on Vimeo.

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Autumn is here and Kiku returns to The New York Botanical Garden from October 18 through November 16. Time to perform your “civic duty” and vote…for your favorite kiku style.

Is it the majestic dome-shaped array of the ozukuri (“thousand bloom”)? Could it be the colorful kengai (“cascade”) that resemble “waterfalls” of wild chrysanthemums? How about the towering ogiku (“single stem”) arranged in symbolic rows representing the colors of the horse bridles of Japan’s Imperial family? Maybe it’s this year’s new display style, shino-tsukuri (“driving rain”)?

Click the images on the poll to learn more about each variety and then choose your favorite. (P.S. You can vote as many times as you want. We won’t tell anyone!) Spread the word and get others to vote, too. Then, come visit Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Chrysanthemum and see the impressive cultural exhibition and flower show first-hand.

The polling widget will live on the upper right corner of the blog until Election Week (the first week of November), when we will announce the results.