This Weekend: The Spring Gardening Open House!
Posted in Around the Garden, Programs and Events on May 4 2012, by Matt Newman
We’re entering the weekend of our Spring Gardening Open House, leading a seasonal tour de force through the explosive color of the Azalea Garden, the awakening Rose Garden, and of course, the Rock Garden! It’s a perfect cocktail of the mesmerizing and the serene (though the afternoon wine tastings can’t hurt, either). And more than an opportunity to revel in the spring landscape, it’s a chance to brush up on your gardening techniques.
Meet with expert Garden Tour Guides for a tour through our iconic landscapes, then stop in with our talented gardeners for casual demonstrations on the care of azaleas and Alpine plants. The Rock Garden in particular is the home of New York’s most revered Alpine collection, as well as an integral piece of Nature’s Showplace, so make a point of spending some time there. If anything, it will help you to experience the very thing we’re trying to restore!
As a participant in Partners for Preservation, the National Historic Trust for Preservation’s competition to restore America’s historic places, the NYBG is working hard to push the Rock Garden to the top. Nearly 80 years of existence has a tendency to wear on even the most beautiful landscapes, but you can help us restore this centerpiece of The New York Botanical Garden with a simple click a day. Be sure to vote!
Saturday, May 5
Bird Walk – 11 a.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool
The diverse habitats of the Botanical Garden offer visitors a chance to see dozens of species of birds throughout the year. Bring your binoculars and walk the Garden grounds with our avian expert, Debbie Becker, searching for the birds of the season and learning about bird-friendly plants that provide food, shelter, and nesting sites.
Spring Gardening Open House Weekend – 12 to 5 p.m.
Our expert Garden Tour Guides will lead tours through the Azalea Garden, the Rock Garden, and the Rose Garden. A variety of Home Gardening Demonstrations will instruct on the care of azaleas, alpine flowers, and woodland plants. Shop the plant sale at Shop in the Garden to find the perfect azalea for your home or garden. Sample wines from The Naked Grape, 12 – 4 p.m. each afternoon at the Rock Garden entrance.
Rose Garden Tour – 12:30 p.m.
Meet at the entrance to the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden
Grow your knowledge of roses with this in-depth look at the collection in the Rose Garden. Discover the best blooms, the amazing varieties of color and fragrance, and the history of rose cultivation.
Home Gardening Demonstration: Azalea Anthology – 12 & 2 p.m.
Meet at the Azalea Garden entrance
The Azalea Garden is ablaze with color. Join Gardener for Public Education Sonia Uyterhoeven as she guides you through the newly renovated landscape and points out some of her favorites for the home garden, providing tips on how to grow these Ericaceous beauties.
Azalea Garden Curator Q&A – 12 to 4 p.m.
Meet at the Azalea Garden entrance
Azalea Garden Tours – 12:30, 2:30, & 4:30 p.m.
Meet at the Azalea Garden entrance
Join a Garden Tour Guide for a guided tour of the 11-acre Azalea Garden, which offers an encyclopedic collection of the world’s azaleas planted along a broad hillside punctuated by rock outcrops and shaded by mature native trees.
Rock Garden Guided Tours – 1:30 & 3:30 p.m.
Meet at the Rock Garden entrance
The Rock Garden is a three-acre oasis complete with a pond and waterfall and featuring alpine plants from six of the seven continents. Join an expertly trained Garden Tour Guide for a walking tour to see and learn more about these jewel-like plants.
Gardening Demo: Creating Your Own Rock Garden, Large or Small – 3 p.m.
Meet at the Rock Garden entrance
Sunday, May 6
Spring Gardening Open House Weekend – 12 to 5 p.m.
Our expert Garden Tour Guides will lead tours through the Azalea Garden, the Rock Garden, and the Rose Garden. A variety of Home Gardening Demonstrations will instruct on the care of azaleas, alpine flowers, and woodland plants. Shop the plant sale at Shop in the Garden to find the perfect azalea for your home or garden. Sample wines from The Naked Grape, 12 – 4 p.m. each afternoon at the Rock Garden entrance.
Rose Garden Tour – 12:30 p.m.
Meet at the entrance to the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden
Grow your knowledge of roses with this in-depth look at the collection in the Rose Garden. Discover the best blooms, the amazing varieties of color and fragrance, and the history of rose cultivation.
Home Gardening Demonstration: Azalea Anthology – 12 & 2 p.m.
Meet at the Azalea Garden entrance
The Azalea Garden is ablaze with color. Join Gardener for Public Education Sonia Uyterhoeven as she guides you through the newly renovated landscape and points out some of her favorites for the home garden, providing tips on how to grow these Ericaceous beauties.
Azalea Garden Curator Q&A – 12 to 4p.m.
Meet at the Azalea Garden entrance
Azalea Garden Tours – 12:30, 2:30, & 4:30 p.m.
Meet at the Azalea Garden entrance
Join a Garden Tour Guide for a guided tour of the 11-acre Azalea Garden, which offers an encyclopedic collection of the world’s azaleas planted along a broad hillside punctuated by rock outcrops and shaded by mature native trees.
Rock Garden Guided Tours – 1:30 & 3:30 p.m.
Meet at the Rock Garden entrance
The Rock Garden is a three-acre oasis complete with a pond and waterfall and featuring alpine plants from six of the seven continents. Join an expertly trained Garden Tour Guide for a walking tour to see and learn more about these jewel-like plants.
Gardening Demo: Creating Your Own Rock Garden, Large or Small – 3 p.m.
Meet at the Rock Garden entrance
Ongoing Children’s Programs
Spring Fun!
Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, April 24 through May 18 — Weekdays 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.; Weekends 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Color bursts onto the scene as the season shifts to warmer temperatures. Enjoy the whimsical topiaries in their new spring outfits, pot up a seed to take home and care for, and go on a plant-part scavenger hunt through the winding paths. Wrap up your adventure at the pond spotting frogs and turtles as they emerge from their winter rest.
Hands-On Gardening Activities: Wild, Wiggly Worms
Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, April 21 through May 18 — 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Learn all about our slimy friends and how they are hard at work in the garden. Feed the worms in our worm farm, then sift nutritious worm compost to take home for your garden.
