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Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Archive: April 2012

Beano

Posted in Gardening Tips on April 10 2012, by Sonia Uyterhoeven

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

'Yellow Eye' beans

If you haven’t already gone out to buy your seeds for your vegetable garden, now is the time to do it. I have been reading Steve Sando’s ‘The Rancho Gordo Heirloom Bean Guide’ and would like to talk today about an overlooked topic: heirloom beans.

Some of you may sigh and think, “Oh, beans! Why doesn’t she talk about heirloom tomatoes or peppers?” But beans are one of the easiest things to grow in the vegetable garden; as legumes they are nitrogen fixers, so they don’t deplete the soil of nutrients, and they come in a delicious variety of mouthwatering flavors when you grow them from seed (I’m not kidding). Some are nutty, some are buttery, some are starchy, some are creamy and some are meaty.

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Florid Appetizers

Posted in Exhibitions, Gardening Tips on April 9 2012, by Matt Newman

Your vanity garden is scarcely the first place you look for salad toppings. Instead, most turn to the leafy standbys–lettuce, cabbage, kale, spinach. Throw in a few slices of zucchini or a handful of cherry tomatoes, maybe sprinkle the bowl with a few herbs to push the salad toward “exotic.” But what if I told you that eating the florid, elegant blooms that might otherwise end up in a vase is as natural as dousing your Caesar with dressing?

I’m not saying you should go right out and make a trial-and-error buffet of your window planter. There are only certain flowers that you would have any desire to eat, as many are poisonous or taste beyond awful. And that’s all the disclaimer I can give: don’t eat anything unless it is properly identified.

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Morning Eye Candy: Doors are Open

Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on April 9 2012, by Matt Newman

Sorry we’re late with this one–it’s been a hectic weekend for some of us. But with the kids escaping from school for their spring break, it means today is a rare open Monday at the NYBG! Get here while the sun is high.

Delphinium Pacific Giant ‘Blue Bird’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Globetrotting with Coconuts

Posted in Around the Garden, Gardens and Collections, Learning Experiences on April 8 2012, by Matt Newman

Under the glass of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory‘s Palm House grows an iconic tree, commonplace to most tourists of the tropics. In the wild, the fruit dangles in lumpy clusters from a familiar silhouette, bending like an elbow toward the sea, a thin pole with a spray of long green leaves at the peak. Visit any beachside farmer’s market in the islands of the Caribbean and you may see the ubiquitous coconut held out in the hands of stall hawkers, a straw stuck through a bored-out husk for passersby to taste.

But beyond the frosty lip of a piña colada glass, the coconut earns a mixed reputation in the culinary circuit. It clutters cake frosting, makes an appearance in the occasional creme pie, lurks in the most innocuous-looking candy bars–yet how many people do you know who go gaga for the pulpy flesh of this tropical mainstay? I defer to a readily available explanation for the widespread dislike: “It’s not the taste, it’s the consistency.” And with that, I will never again have an opportunity to quote Zombieland, much less Woody Harrelson.

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Morning Eye Candy: Greening

Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on April 8 2012, by Matt Newman

Pixels of spring green are starting to poke through the branches in the Forest. That means a finite wait until we can get out there to revel in the sound of the breeze through leafy boughs.

I’m not trying to wax poetic. I just really want to do this.

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Spring Break Weekend!

Posted in Around the Garden on April 6 2012, by Matt Newman

Cherry blossoms and Easter pastels make for a fair combination, don’t you think? The calendar’s once again rolled into a holiday weekend at The New York Botanical Garden, which just happens to fall in line with the start of spring break for the schoolyard set. That makes for a rare opportunity: a Monday opening! This weather is too marvelous for the kids to sit at home.

The Orchid Show is, of course, the belle of the ball right now, but our 250 acres are making a strong showing as new plants and trees burst into their spring finery with each passing day. Walk among the fields of daffodils and tulips, admire the hellebores, or peek in on the early azaleas–and don’t forget the brilliant cherry and plum blossoms brightening trees throughout the Garden.

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