Have you been seeing drifts of what appears to be white, fluffy snow all over New York City lately? Don’t worry, you’re not imagining things, but it’s not snow.
In fact it is millions upon millions (and possibly billions upon billions) of Cottonwood tree seeds trying to make their way to a nice comfy spot to set down roots and grow into one of the City’s most majestic native trees. Want to learn more? Then check out this great Video Plant Profile with NYBG Plant Records Manager, Jon Peter.
Have you been looking for a good reason to visit the Garden this June? Well, if you need some motivation to visit New York City’s greatest garden, consider us your motivators: This weekend is going to be spectacular! We have flowers, food, dancing, music, poetry, and so much more in store!
Start in the historic Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, where the best-smelling exhibition in New York City–complete with flowing fountains and elegant arches–is housed in the Victorian elegance of this landmark building. Be sure to visit the beautiful reflecting pool and its resident koi in the Conservatory Courtyard. A Garden Tour Guide-led guided tour of the exhibition is available Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Meet at the entrance to the Conservatory.
Flamenco Among the Flowers – 1, 2, and 3 p.m. in the Arthur and Janet Ross Lecture Hall The Garden comes alive with the sounds, rhythms, and movements of flamenco. Flamenco: Inside/Out introduces this traditional Spanish art form using live music and performers from various ethnic, cultural, and artistic backgrounds.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
The Food and Culture of the Alhambra – 4 p.m. in the Perennial Garden
Join chef and culinary historian Maricel Presilla for a fascinating, and delicious, exploration of the cuisine and culture of the al-Andalús region of Spain, home to the Alhambra. Presilla, who holds a doctorate in medieval Spanish history from New York University, has received formal training in cultural anthropology, and is a Beard Award-nominated chef, will be talking about several aspects of Islamic agriculture and cooking in al-Andalús. She will focus on vegetables, grains, nuts, olive oil, fermented condiments, aromatic spices (and spice mixes) and flowers, particularly scented roses. Her cooking demonstration may include: a spice mix or sauce; an eggplant dish called alboronía or another thirteenth-century dish with eggplant served with aromatic lamb meatballs (albóndigas), and a rose-scented dessert that shows the connection between al-Andalús and the New World. She will also be talking about the Islamic roots of the popular sweet and sour Spanish dish known as escabeche.
Tour of Library Exhibition Historical Views: Tourists at the Alhambra – Meet at 1 p.m. in the Orchid Rotunda at the entrance level to the Library Building Join a Garden Tour Guide for a tour of Historical Views: Tourists at the Alhambra.
Flamenco Among the Flowers – 1, 2, and 3 p.m. in the Arthur and Janet Ross Lecture Hall The Garden comes alive with the sounds, rhythms, and movements of flamenco. Flamenco: Inside/Out introduces this traditional Spanish art form using live music and performers from various ethnic, cultural, and artistic backgrounds.
The award-winning Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden one of the world’s most sustainable and beautiful showcases for America’s flower, and it is in full bloom right now! Set aside ample time so that you have as many minutes as you need to stop and smell the roses. In the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, the roses smell as good as they look.
Rose Garden Tour – 12:30 p.m. in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden
Immerse yourself in the fragrance, color, and beauty of the award-winning Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden on a tour with a Garden Tour Guide offered each day in June; and with an ASL interpreter on June 18. Learn the differences between heritage and modern roses, and between floribundas and hybrid teas, as well as facts about rose history, cultivation, and folklore.
Q&A Sessions with Rose Experts – 1-4 p.m. at the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden pergola Our rose experts will answer your questions on caring for roses, cultivars to try in your garden, the history of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, and more.
Home Gardening Demonstration: Life is Rosy – 1:30 p.m. in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden
Tour the sumptuous, award-winning Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. Learn standard rose-care practices, from fertilizing to pruning.
The Garden is a great place to get outside and enjoy nature: families can explore the natural world in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden and at the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden; gardeners can gather inspiration for their own gardens throughout the Garden’s 250-acres, and learn about plant varietals in the Home Gardening Center; and naturalists can spot a variety of migratory and year-round birds throughout the grounds.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Bird Walk – meet at 11 a.m. at the Reflecting Pool in front of the Leon Levy Visitor Center
Bring your binoculars and walk the Garden grounds with our bird expert, Debbie Becker. On your walk you will look for the species that live here year-round as well as those just migrating through: owls, hawks, songbirds, and more. Learn about the bird-friendly plants and habitats that provide food, shelter, and nesting sites. Learn more about birding at the Garden in this short video.
Saturday, June 11 and Sunday June 12, 2011
Global Gardens Spring Harvest Celebration – 1:30-5:30 p.m. in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden Travel globally while eating locally! Celebrate the end of spring with our Global Gardeners. Travel to China, Korea, Ireland, Italy, and the Caribbean by visiting each Global Garden plot and earn stamps in your Garden Passport as you learn and explore.
Peter Kukielski is on a mission to rescue the rose’s reputation.
In transforming the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden into one of the world’s most sustainable and beautiful showcases for America’s flower, Peter is preaching a new rose gospel: Roses don’t need to be bathed in chemicals, they don’t need tons of water, and they can smell as beautiful as they look.
Peter is a wonderful evangelist for this misunderstood flower; he’s full of knowledge and always willing to share it. Stop by the Shop to meet Peter and pick-up your copy of this essential volume, then head to the Rose Garden to gain inspiration for your own home. Copy this list of all the garden’s roses onto your phone or iPad (try Evernote or print it out if you must), and mark your favorites. When your head is full of rose-scented dreams, head home, and with Peter’s wonderful book, turn your garden into your own rose-tinted paradise.
Need to escape the urban jungle? A visit to the collections of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory should fix you right up. What can’t a little peace and quiet fix?
Does anyone actually believe that a rose is a rose is a rose? If you know someone who is laboring under this grand misconception, please get them to the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, stat! This award-winning, aromatic, sustainable wonder is in full bloom right now. The Rose Garden is always amazing in June, but this year it seems even more spectacular. Visit it while it’s in its peak!
We talked to some visitors and staff about their favorite birds and why they love birding at the Garden. Take a look, and then tell us (by leaving a comment): What is your favorite bird? Have you had a great birding experience at the Garden?
Have you noticed this awesome little security van tooling around the Garden? It’s powered entirely by the solar panels you can see on the roof. Also, it’s adorable!
As you stroll through the Azalea Garden you will see a large number of North American native species and their closely related Asian cousins. Many of these plants share a genus, but have different species names. For example, the garden contains many interesting Asian Arisaemacommonly known as Jack-in-the-pulpits.
In botanical nomenclature, plants are identified by a two-part, or binomial, name. A plant’s genus denotes that it belongs to one group, while the species name marks it as a member of a sub-group of the genus. There are many Arisaema in the world, yet Arisaema triphyllum refers solely to a specific Jack-in-the-pulpit, one of North America’s native Arisaema.
Why are there so many closely related species on two continents separated by a large ocean? Many of these Asian/North American counterparts come from a common genetic pool. It is possible to imagine that over time seeds have been dispersed by glaciers, wind, birds, or other animals. While this certainly has occurred it would be more likely to have happened on a contiguous landmass.
The most compelling theory for why these closely related floras are found on the opposite sides of an ocean comes from the scientific theory of continental drift, the process by which the continents have moved apart over millions of years. About 250 million to 65 million years ago, during the Mesozoic era, the landmass Pangaea began to split apart; the northern part of the supercontinent broke off into Laurasia (North America and Eurasia). As Asia and North America drifted away from each other, the plants that had been one genus began to evolve. Time, combined with changes in climate, and range fragmentation helped these once related plants to diversify and evolve into new species. Why are there so many Asian Arisaema compared with only two Arisaema native to North America? During the last ice age, parts of eastern Asia remained ice-free. This resulted in a greater diversity in the flora there.
How do botanists know that these plants are closely related? Just looking at the plants can be deceptive, so they also collect evidence from the fossil record and analyze the plants’ genes in order to determine relationships.
In this video Kristen Schleiter, Curator of Outdoor Gardens and Woody Plants, discusses many of the Azalea Garden’s geographically diverse perennials.
Start in the historic Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, where the best-smelling exhibition in New York City–complete with flowing fountains and elegant arches–is housed in the Victorian elegance of this landmark building. Be sure to visit the beautiful reflecting pool and its resident koi in the Conservatory Courtyard. A Garden Tour Guide-led guided tour of the exhibition is available Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Meet at the entrance to the Conservatory.
The Garden is a great place to get outside and enjoy nature: families can explore the natural world in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden and at the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden; gardeners can gather inspiration for their own gardens throughout the Garden’s 250-acres, and learn about plant varietals in the Home Gardening Center; and naturalists can spot a variety of migratory and year-round birds throughout the grounds.
