Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Archive: May 2012
Posted in Adult Education on May 11 2012, by Education at NYBG
Ed. Note: Our delectable cooking adventures, botanical art primers, and flower arranging courses make the NYBG‘s Adult Education program one of the most robust horticultural experiences in the nation. True to form, we will soon offer courses for the amateur perfumer, introductions to what can only be called “plant alchemy.”
Read on for an interview with Julianne Zaleta, who brings her perfumer’s knowledge to the table in Natural Perfume Blending and Aromatherapy 101. Each is an upcoming part of this summer’s Botanical Spa course series, bringing the sensuous and luxuriant side of gardening home.
How did you start and how long have you been making your own scents?
I’ve been making my own scents for about ten years, but my love affair with plants started a very long time ago, in my mother’s garden when I was a child. When I look back I can see that my whole life has been about taking the next logical step to understanding and appreciating the plants around me. I’ve been a gardener, floral designer, herbalist and aromatherapist and I feel it’s all led me to this.
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Posted in Photography on May 11 2012, by Ann Rafalko
The concept of a rock garden sounds amazingly dull, like it would be a garden full of well … rocks. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Plants are imminently adaptable, and those that adapt to the arid, hardscrabble life of grappling for nutrients in a barren biome tend to be, well, really cool. Need proof? Just check out the fractal fabulousness of these Hens and Chicks in the Garden’s WPA-era Rock Garden.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
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Posted in Programs and Events on May 10 2012, by Ann Novak
As the founder and director of the Growing Chefs field-to-fork education program, co-founder of the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, and the Assistant Manager of the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, Annie Novak knows her way around a vegetable plot. Join her on May 17 for The Art of Cooking in the French Garden, bringing the taste and sophistication of this world-renowned cuisine to the NYBG.
Coq au vin, Quiche Lorraine, and vichyssoise—nowhere in the world have culinary artists developed such a reputation for precision, passion and talent as in the French kitchen. From perfectly crusty baguettes to finely flavored vinaigrettes, the art of French cooking seems at first glance like an unachievable alchemy of herbs, creams, and knife skills. But as a green thumb enamored with the precise and beautiful public parks throughout Paris (and a compulsive Googler of Versailles’ vegetable gardens), I became obsessed with the idea that French food could be done well, yet with ease.
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on May 10 2012, by Matt Newman
Euphorbia characias ssp. wulfenii ‘Shorty’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Exhibitions on May 9 2012, by Matt Newman
Claude Monet may have defined his career as a painter with the iconic irises and water lilies that sprung from his palette, but his garden at Giverny offered a menagerie of color and shape that reached far beyond his most common canvas subjects. And it does to this day: over a century later, a crack staff of gardeners still tends the dazzling variety of plants that makes up the Impressionist’s living legacy. This includes a collection of vibrant indigo flowers well-known to home gardeners, cattle ranchers, and one of the 20th century’s greatest creatives.
As May makes its case for cheerful spring weather, a prime example of the Impressionist’s varied tastes blooms at the NYBG‘s Nolen Glasshouses, awaiting the opening of Monet’s Garden. And if ever an eponymous color did its namesake proud, it would be that of “delphinium blue.” There are other hues in the plant’s repertoire, of course–lavender, white, red–but each understated alternate might seem almost banal in comparison.
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Posted in From the Field, Science on May 9 2012, by NYBG Science
Deep in the Forest, Rebecca Policello–a student from Ossining High School–treks through the underbrush. She isn’t a wayward sightseer, but rather a curious student interested in something others normally overlook: Eastern Redback salamanders (Plethodon cinereus). Spending their entire lives on land and even thriving in urban environments such as The New York Botanical Garden, the subjects of Rebecca’s study could reveal new information about the decline that is sweeping over amphibian populations worldwide.
The amphibian decline has been primarily attributed to the disease Chytridiomycosis, which is caused by a pathogenic fungus, B. dendrobatidis. Teamed up with Dr. Jim Lewis of Fordham University and Ms. Jessica Arcate Schuler of The New York Botanical Garden, Rebecca set out to determine if changes in the immediate area due to urbanization are enough to impact the salamanders’ defenses.
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on May 9 2012, by Matt Newman
Remnants of last week’s constant, soaking downpour. It’s so seldom we appreciate the sculpting of a tree trunk under the marquee of leaves and flowers.
Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Monet's Garden on May 8 2012, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.
This year we are celebrating the life of the artist and gardener, Claude Monet. From May 19th until October 21st you will find our show houses, water lily pools, and exhibition galleries re-creating and displaying pieces of the famous Impressionist’s life.
The artist’s palette, photographs, and records of his famous garden–as well as two rarely seen paintings of irises–will be on view in our Library’s exhibition gallery. Our Ross gallery will display photographs of Giverny through the seasons, produced by an American gardener who was involved in the restoration of the legendary garden.
Our show houses and water lily pools will capture the essence of Giverny, including the iconic Japanese foot bridge and his Grand Allée. Throughout the summer we will discuss Monet as an artist and gardener, taking a look at his use of light and color in the garden and exploring some take-home lessons from his design strategies and gardening techniques.
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Posted in Around the Garden on May 8 2012, by Ann Novak
Ed. Note: The beekeeping craze that’s sweeping New York City isn’t just for rooftops in Brooklyn! Annie Novak, Assistant Manager of the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, was kind enough to explain her most recent adventure giving bees a home at the NYBG.
We installed the beehives on top of our garden shed space, so the bees have a clear flight path over the Garden site. As the hives’ populations grow, so do our vegetables. Thanks to the bees, we have higher rates of fruiting on our apple trees and pepper plants.
The bees spend the first part of the spring season building up wax combs to lay eggs in, as well as store honey later in the year. As the Family Garden grows, and the cherries and lilacs just outside the Family Garden bloom, we start to see our bees venture further afield. They’ll fly up to five miles from the hive to gather nectar and pollen, but with a campus as lush as the New York Botanical Garden, they don’t have to go that far to get food.
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on May 8 2012, by Matt Newman
A field like this not even the Wicked Witch has seen before. Look for the poppies to pop up in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory during Monet’s Garden. In the meantime, you can see these high-contrast beauties in the Rock Garden. Don’t forget to vote today in support of restoring it to its original beauty!
Papaver commutatum ‘Ladybird’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
How did you start and how long have you been making your own scents?
