Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Archive: February 2012
Posted in Around the Garden, Science on February 1 2012, by Matt Newman
You might call it something dramatic–the “Lazarus Quandary,” maybe. It’s the scientific milestone we’re all hoping will be uncovered before we’re pitched off this mortal coil. Each year we read news articles which claim that stopping or even reversing the effects of aging is a trope of science fiction nearly within reach; it’s just beyond the next major research grant. But a simple plant–well past ancient as a species–has already cracked the code.
Calling Pleopeltis polypodioides (pronouncing it is like calisthenics for your mouth) the lazy greenthumb’s plant is an apt description. It doesn’t take much to keep it vibrant. In fact, a glass of water in the course of a century might just do the trick. And if its fronds shrivel up and seem to die off in the interim, don’t fall for the ruse–the “resurrection fern” is only playing opossum.
Read More
Posted in Photography on February 1 2012, by Ann Rafalko
The first week of the Caribbean Garden Photography Contest was a well-fought match with many beautiful photographs entered. But that’s not all we’re here to tell you. We also would like to announce that the Grand Prize in each category–Sense of Place and Macro–will be receiving $100 Adult Education Gift Certificates good towards the class of your choosing at the Garden or at our Midtown Center. The certificate can be used for any class–not just photography! Now that’s a prize worth competing for.
Do you think you have what it takes? Check out this week’s winners! If you think you can do better, become a Friend of the Garden, get a code good for 50% off your Caribbean Garden tickets, and head to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory to start shooting!
Macro Winner, Week One
Read More
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on February 1 2012, by Matt Newman
I had a habit of picking up fallen air plants while bumming around in the woods and swamps as a kid. More often than not it was a clump of Spanish moss clinging to a branch broken from a southern live oak. I would hang these covered branches all around the outside of the house, at least up until the point my dad convinced me the gray-green spirals were full of bats, snakes, and red mites (“chiggers” to a true southerner).
The jury’s still out on how many of his frantic warnings are true, but bring a tangle of the stuff to anyone south of the Virginia state line and there’s a good chance the bystander will keep his distance.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
You might call it something dramatic–the “Lazarus Quandary,” maybe. It’s the scientific milestone we’re all hoping will be uncovered before we’re pitched off this mortal coil. Each year we read news articles which claim that stopping or even reversing the effects of aging is a trope of science fiction nearly within reach; it’s just beyond the next major research grant. But a simple plant–well past ancient as a species–has already cracked the code.