Written by Genna Federico, a senior at St. John’s University, with additional reporting by Kate Murphy, a junior at Fordham University; both are interns working in the Communications Department this summer.
A few years ago, NYBG made Frank Russo “an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
The Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden asked him to start an Italian Garden as part of its Global Gardens program. Russo had been volunteering in the Family Garden for about four years, so it was a natural fit.
The Global Gardens are planted and maintained by volunteers who take pride in the culture of the countries represented. Frank comes from an Italian background; his parents were born in Italy. But it was his grandparents who sparked his interest in gardening—growing up he liked to help them with their own garden.
At first Frank was hesitant to take on the job of the Italian Garden due to the maintenance required—indeed, during the summer months, he tends to the garden about four to five days a week. He knew it would mean a drastic change from the “come as you please” schedule he had enjoyed as a regular volunteer up until that point. But he soon accepted the challenge.
And he’s done a great job since. The garden is bountiful and full of fresh aromas. He tries to grow 100 percent of it from Italian seeds, most from Italy but also from Italian friends who have brought them over and passed them down to him.
Frank occasionally likes to change things up and try new varieties in the Italian Garden, now in its fourth season. This year he’s growing tomatoes, eggplants, escarole, arugula, string beans, chicory, garlic, basil, and even dandelions, the leaves of which can be used in salads, soups, or as a side dish.
The tomatoes are a sight to see! Colorful and juicy-looking, the seeds date back to 1910 and hold a special place in Frank’s heart. He has named them “Dominick” seeds after his grandson. Then there’s the basil; the leaves were immense and you could almost taste them from their intense aroma. We couldn’t leave without taking a sample of both of these delights home!
Frank makes sure his harvest never goes to waste and says he “absolutely” takes home the bounty to cook with. In fact, this weekend he will show off his culinary excellence at the Italian Garden celebration in the Family Garden, from 1 to 5:30 p.m.
Kate Murphy, a junior at Fordham University, is an intern working in the Communications Department this summer.
When I think of summer, I think of two things: heat and sun. And while I like a summer day just as much as the next person, I prefer summer nights. You get all of the beauty of summer without the humidity and sun in your eyes. So when I heard about the August concert series Evenings at the Garden, I knew I would have to check it out. The first concert, held August 7, featured classical guitarist Mattias Jacobsson and violinist Kristin Lee.
Mattias Jacobsson is classically trained. He studied at both the Malmö Academy of Music, in his home country of Sweden, and the Julliard School, here in New York City. His co-performer, Kristin Lee, also has Julliard experience: She has been there for over a decade, beginning with pre-college programs, and will continue studying the violin in its Masters program this fall. The two met at a birthday party where they both were performing; their concert at the Garden marked the first occasion in which they have performed together.
In addition to the concert, attendees were free to roam the Garden Grounds until 8 p.m.—a rare opportunity to experience everything the Garden has to offer, from the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory to Shop in the Garden, at night!
It’s not too late to experience Evenings at the Garden. There are two more concerts scheduled: The Trinity Singers led by Owen Burdick will perform this evening, August 14, and next week, August 21, jazz with the David Grossman Ensemble is featured. Both concerts begin at 7 p.m.
Nick Leshi is Associate Director of Public Relations and Electronic Media.
Over 40 years ago, Andy Warhol famously turned a can of tomato soup into a pop culture icon. Now photographer Victor Schrager has turned his camera lens on the tomato itself, elevating it to a high art. The September 2008 issue of Veranda magazine features two articles written by Tom Woodham, gloriously illustrated by Schrager’s stunning images of tomatoes from the gardens of Amy Goldman, a member of The New York Botanical Garden’s Board of Managers.
The pictures give justification for one of the magazine’s headlines, “Tomatoes: The Most Beautiful Fruit.” If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I imagine anyone viewing such a variety of shapes and colors would agree that this bountiful produce captured on film is beautiful indeed.
Sonia Uyterhoeven is Gardener for Public Education at The New York Botanical Garden.
Waterlilies come in all sizes; it is important to find one that suits your location. Waterlilies that are appropriate for a tub garden should be up to 3 feet in diameter; a good size for a small pool is 4 to 6 feet in diameter.
One popular small-sized waterlily for those of us living in Zone 6 is Nymphaea ‘Pygmaea Helvola’. It is a free-flowering waterlily that is well-suited for small ponds and containers, with mottled purplish leaves and bright semi-double yellow flowers. If red is your color, the 3-4 feet Nymphaea ‘James Brydon’ is good for a small pond. Prefer pink? Then you might be looking for Nymphaea ‘Joanne Pring’. Nymphaea ‘Chrysantha’, ‘Colorado’ and ‘Josephine’ are a few more small ones that you will find in our pools in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Courtyards.
Plant your waterlilies in an aquatic container (lined with burlap if needed) or a plastic pot. Use top soil to pot them up (potting soils are too light and should be avoided). Cover the container with pebbles or pea gravel and fertilize once a month with aquiform tablets that are pressed into the soil (waterlilies are heavy feeders). Initially, elevate the pot with bricks so that the young plant gets enough light. Six hours of sunlight will keep it blooming prolifically.
Jessica Blohm is Interpretive Specialist for Public Education.
Clearly the theme of the week is color!
Obviously there are tons of flowers in bloom at the Garden with magnificent color!
Look for red roses, orange zinnias, yellow daylilies, green ferns, blue hydrangeas, and purple salvia.
OMG, you have got to get down to the garden to see all this beautifulness.
Really, you wrote an acrostic about color?
Not only are there plenty of colors to see at the Garden, but there are also exhibitions and workshops involving color. For instance, this weekend Sonia Uyterhoeven will explore the color wheel during her Home Gardening Demonstration, Celebrating Color and Form in the Garden, which will help gardeners find effective color combinations for their own gardens. Also, the exhibit Shapes of Nature in the Summer Garden, in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, features many varieties and colors of coleus and caladium, providing inspiration to gardeners looking to add color to those shady garden spots.
And clearly, the many fabulous Henry Moore programs that are going on at the Garden should not be forgotten; as Kate Murphy, our Communications intern says, “There is always more Moore.”
For a full schedule of this weekend’s programming, click on the links below. And for a totally fun look at color in a different way, see Disney cartoon character Ludwig Von Drake talk about the topic these YouTube videos: “The Wonderful World Of Color” and “The Spectrum Song.”
Written by Kate Murphy, a junior at Fordham University, with additional reporting by Genna Federico, a senior at St. John’s University; both are interns working in the Communications Department this summer.
The 2008 Olympic Games open tomorrow in Beijing. And though China’s capital and second largest city seems a world away, you might be surprised to learn you can find a little bit of China right here at The New York Botanical Garden.
The Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden features a collection of Global Gardens—gardens planted and tended by volunteers in the spirit of different cultures and countries. Shirley Cheung, along with her husband, Frank, and her mother, Mrs. Miu, has maintained the Chinese Garden for over 15 years. As a schoolteacher, Shirley gets the summers off and likes to tend the Chinese Garden every day. She and her husband try to come in the early morning, usually before seven, to beat the heat.
The Chinese Garden contains plants both for show and for cooking, but Shirley prefers the latter, using almost everything she grows in her own kitchen. She likes to grow new things every year: This year they’re harvesting kohlrabi, a cultivar of cabbage, which she explains is popular in China and grows easily here. The leaves of kohlrabi, which cannot be found in food markets because they are discarded before being sold, are good for digestion. She suggests growing your own kohlrabi and steeping the leaves to make a tea for this purpose.
Another plant you’ll have to grow at home if you want to enjoy Shirley’s recommendation is garlic. While most everyone can find garlic at a local supermarket, the green tops are harder to find. Shirley insists that this is the best part and tastes great on chicken or fish.
The Chinese Garden also contains three different kinds of beans, tomatoes weighing in at over two pounds, and bitter melon, a fruit that in China is said to “cure 100 diseases.” Another highlight is the pumpkin flower, which can be picked, dipped in egg batter, fried, and enjoyed as a delicious treat.
Shirley calls the Chinese Garden her “paradise,” and her doctor told her to continue, because it’s keeping her young.
“It’s a lot of work, but a lot of fun,” Shirley says. “It’s the best life you can have!”
Genna Federico, a senior at St. John’s University, is an intern working in the Communications Department this summer.
It’s hard to avoid social networking sites on the Internet lately. These sites are ways to rekindle old friendships, consider new ones, find people with common interests, or even discover new business opportunities.
Now you can also add The New York Botanical Garden to the online discussion.
We recently expanded our profiles on Facebook and MySpace to let a broader public stay informed of what’s happening at the Garden. Check out the pages, watch the videos, share your thoughts, spread the word, and maybe decide to become our new BFF!
And for those of you who want to share your photos, don’t forget our Flickr group. It’s already jam-packed with some really stunning shots; will your masterpiece be the next addition?
Sonia Uyterhoeven is Gardener for Public Education at The New York Botanical Garden.
Cut flowers can transform your home in the summer, and many flowers are easy to grow in the garden. When designing your garden, plan for flowering shrubs such as lilacs, hydrangeas, and viburnums; grasses; and foliage plants such as hostas, Rex Begonias, and ferns.
The basic rules of thumb for cutting flowers from the garden are as follows:
Cut early in the morning when the stems are nice and turgid; as the day heats up they start to dehydrate.
Use sharp tools that will make a clean cut.
Cut an inch from the bottom of the stem at a 45-degree angle, providing more surface area.
Place the cuttings in a bucket of water immediately, otherwise the stems will seal up and inhibit absorption.
Remove all foliage that is under water to prevent decay and bacterial growth, which shortens the flower’s vase life.
Use lukewarm water unless you are arranging early season bulbs, which prefer cool water.
Use flower food to increase the longevity of the arrangement. For a homemade version, mix together 1 teaspoon each of sugar, household bleach, and lemon juice.
For flowers that grow on individual stems such as zinnias, dahlias, and sunflowers cut when the flower is open.
For flowers that have multiple buds, use stems with a few buds open and others starting to show color. Snapdragons, delphiniums, phlox, and lilacs are some examples.
A few years ago, NYBG made Frank Russo “an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
