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

Wandflower (Galax urceolata)

I have been spending the past few weeks in the Native Plant Garden, preparing the 2.5-acre site for winter. Most of my time has been spent cutting back foliage, raking leaves for shredding and returning to the garden as mulch, and tying together loose ends by updating the inventory of the collection. While much of the garden is going to bed, there are a few horticultural stars that are still out for the winter, and they look sublime at this time of year.

Three winter woodland wonders that caught my eye the other day were the wandflower (Galax urceolata), it close relative the rare Oconee bells (Shortia galacifolia) and the luscious-looking wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens). All three are evergreen ground covers that do well in woodland shade but probably look their best in part-shade, where the canopy opens up to let in streams of light.

The wandflower (Galax urceolata) has glossy, rounded, heart-shaped leaves that look spectacular all year round. Once the cold weather sets in, the foliage starts to turn red. By the holiday season, the coloring is as intense as Rudolph’s red nose. Wandflower or Galax grow 12 to 16 inches tall with the flower spikes extending above the foliage like a narrow white bottle brush in late spring to early summer.
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The Holiday Train Show is just the beginning of the holiday fun at the Botanical Garden.

New this year, a world of buildings from Applied Imagination, the creative force behind the buildings of the Holiday Train Show. In the expanded Artist’s Studio, kids of all ages will have the opportunity to peer inside the inspired artistic process that goes into creating each meticulous miniature, along with the myriad plant-based ingredients that make them up.

In more train-related fun, the classic tale of The Little Engine That Could™ will be told through puppets, and after the New Year, Thomas the Tank Engine™ and friends will be at the Garden to help celebrate the arrival of 2011. (For a full schedule, click here.)

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The New York Botanical Garden is, first and foremost, a world-renowned collection of flora. But you’d be hard-pressed to spend more than a few minutes walking under the boughs without recognizing the sing-song notes of our most gregarious residents. The birds of the Garden represent some of the most varied fauna in New York City, and not only are we a haven for passersby making the trip to cozier climates, but we’re further home to a menagerie of year-round species in all shapes and sizes.

It so happens that we get the best of both worlds in the fall. Migrating species gather up for the flight south while the locals buckle down for the coming winter, and Debbie Becker, binoculars in hand, is always there to see it; join her for our in-depth NYBG birdwatching course beginning in October and you’re sure to walk away with a new skill.

While the herons and egrets are soon to take flight for the season, and the hummingbirds already have their eyes on the clock, few realize how abundant the wildlife is here in the autumn. Thankfully, Becker has the roll call down pat. She’s been leading Saturday Bird Walks at the NYBG for over 25 years, making her one of the area’s foremost experts on NYC’s winged things. And while newcomers are always welcome to glean what they can from her weekend walks, motivated beginners won’t want to pass up Becker’s primer on birdwatching fundamentals.
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Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Can you believe this weather? I can’t imagine that it can last, and after this week’s earlier cold snap, I have vowed to take advantage of every warm day the winter of 2012 throws at me by getting outside and taking a walk. Today during lunch I took my new favorite stroll through the Forest. The walk takes just under an hour if you really dawdle and take your time to admire the winter landscape. This weather is perfect for this: just chilly enough to make the bare branches not seem out of place, and just warm enough to let me linger and admire all the interesting things in the Forest without getting frozen toes. So, I encourage you to take advantage of this unusual weather, too, and come visit the Garden this warm winter weekend. Come for the Holiday Train Show, but stay for the Forest. This is a rare gift, enjoy it!

My walk starts at Twin Lakes. The lakes–which just a week ago were busy with muskrats and ducks–are finally beginning to show signs of freezing.

See what the Spicebush Trail has to offer winter walkers below.

Figuratively speaking, of course.

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

In the depths of winter, sometimes all I want to do is hunker down in a warm place and read poetry. In February 2011, I took refuge in one particular poem by William Carlos Williams, that helped me find new beauty in the Garden’s winter landscape.

The Disattired Trees

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Before you can learn the trees, you have to learn
The language of the trees. That’s done indoors,
Out of a book, which now you think of it
Is one of the transformations of a tree.

Learning the Trees ~ Howard Nemerov

The Language of the Trees (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)

Everyone knows that April showers bring May flowers. But what do the drizzles of March bring? After a winter like the one we’ve had, March showers bring a gift that might be even more precious than May flowers: Spring’s first blossoms!

Drops

Cornus mas

Corylopsis sinensis var. calvescens

Photos by Ivo M. Vermeulen.

Witch-Hazel isn’t just an effective folk remedy, it’s also a beautiful, early-blooming plant that can provide fabulous color to your late-winter garden.

Hamamelis mollis (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)

Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Orange Peel’ (Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)

Hamamelis vernalis (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)