Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Archive: September 2012
Posted in Programs and Events on September 18 2012, by Matt Newman
Tomorrow is Wednesday, and that means one thing and one thing only (if you’re particularly fixated on fresh produce, at least): the NYBG Greenmarket! From what the calendar tells me, we’re looking at the last official summer Greenmarket before we move on toward autumn’s bushels and baskets–spicy apple cider and the like–so you might want to think about hoofing it up here while we’re still savoring the flip-flop weather. It’s been pleasantly cool out until now, but some trees are already coloring for fall; it’s going to be scarves and pea coats before you can say “fare thee well peaches.”
Last week’s tasty loot came in the form of apple-cranberry pies, concord grapes, San Marzano tomatoes, jalapenos, bosc pears, and so much more. But along with the fruits, vegetables, and baked goods, I noticed something else: the Greenmarket staffers work really hard. They’re out there each week, trucking away to keep market events moving smoothly, and striving to get the word out to New Yorkers in all the boroughs. Beyond that, they’re holding events within events, like last week’s cooking demonstration. I’m only disappointed that I missed out on the omelettes!
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 18 2012, by Matt Newman
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Programs and Events on September 17 2012, by Matt Newman
Countless acres of lush flora, over 230 bird species, a virtual menagerie of fish, insects, reptiles, and mammals–and that’s just Central Park. New York City may have a reputation for being the urban jungle, but tucked in and around the buildings are the greenscapes–including the NYBG–that land us in the upper echelons of woodland sustainability. Places where flora and fauna have thrived in spite of the metropolis built up around them. But it’s not as if it was an easy task to get to where we are now, as The Cultural Landscape Foundation‘s (TCLF) president, Charles Birnbaum, recently explained; it was a long and trying process, with green spaces across the city sometimes suffering under a lack of proper management. And that’s a part of the reason that we’re adding our voice to TCLF’s fall conference, Bridging the Nature-Culture Divide II: Stewardship of Central Park’s Woodlands.
On Friday, October 5, the NYBG joins with the Central Park Conservancy and institutions from across the country to examine today’s woodland sustainability, along with natural diversity, the role of people in the care of these landscapes, and public education. Speakers such as the Garden’s Arthur Ross Vice President for Horticulture and Living Collections, Todd Forrest, will offer their expertise on the lessons learned by our park stewards over the years, while accomplished landscape architects and other national experts detail the challenges now faced in caring for these cultural icons.
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 17 2012, by Matt Newman
Here’s to a gratifying Monday, straight from Plant Talk HQ. Seriously, I’m waving from one of those windows.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 16 2012, by Matt Newman
Spend any time outside in the Garden this weekend and you’ll be hard-pressed to miss the work of Manolo Valdés. Trust me. The show officially begins September 22.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 15 2012, by Matt Newman
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on September 14 2012, by Matt Newman
It’s like we blinked and suddenly: fall color! For now, the effect is subtle. You might find a few more leaves than average blowing along the grass under the tulip trees. Make your way into the 50-acre Forest and you’ll see familiar reds, oranges, and yellows lighting up the trees here and there. We’re not complaining about the chill in the air, either. But whether the calendar confirms it or not, autumn is dancing its way into New York City, and the NYBG is the place to be.
This weekend is the perfect time to escape into nature and soak up what feels like a second spring. Saturday’s Bird Walk starts you off with a jaunt around the Garden, binoculars in hand, spotting creatures of every sort with our reigning birdwatcher extraordinaire, Debbie Becker. After that, I can’t talk up the Rose Garden Tour enough, especially now that the fall bloom is underway. We’ve had visitors from the four corners talking up the collection on Twitter, and their awe is not misplaced; it’s one of our most popular autumn displays.
We’ll also be joining Sonia Uyterhoeven on Saturday and Sunday for a wrap-up of water lily season. She’s an expert on the planting and care of aquatic plants, so home growers won’t want to miss these open demonstrations around the Conservatory water lily pool. And I should mention Saturday’s Season in Poetry session in the Perennial Garden, for those of you touched with an appreciation for the lyrical. But whatever you choose to do, think about making an entire day of it. No point in squandering this weather with the cold close on its tail!
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Posted in Mario Batali's Edible Garden, Programs and Events on September 14 2012, by Matt Newman
With autumn so near at hand, you’d think the excitement would be winding down in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden. Most vegetable gardens in New York are offering up the last of their produce right about now, while green thumbs stow their trowels for the next spring planting. But at the NYBG, the best of the season is still ahead of us! In fact, the atmosphere is nearly humming with anticipation for the peak event of the summer: Mario Batali’s Edible Garden Festival. And while the legendary chef’s top culinary minds have inspired plenty of palates during Family Dinners throughout the season, it’s Mario himself that will treat your tastebuds for September’s pièce de résistance.
Now that the Family Dinners have come and gone, I got to wondering what might end up on Mario’s menu. And when you think of Italian cooking, you don’t have to be shy about it: your mind leaps straight to the tomatoes. Plump and delicious, blushing red (or yellow, or purple), they take center stage in so many of the dishes we’ve come to love. Still, while picking my way through the Family Garden in recent weeks, I thought to myself, “Why let the tomatoes hog the spotlight?” They’re delectable–don’t get me wrong–but Italy’s culinary history encompasses so much more! Mario knows this better than anyone. And when his acclaimed chefs first planted their vegetable plots, they dotted the Family Garden with leafy greens, pungent onions, and herbs enough to make your spice rack green with envy. And the peppers! So many peppers, in myriad shapes and colors.
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 14 2012, by Matt Newman
September 22 may be the first official day of fall, but while most of our collections are abiding by the schedule, the Forest marches to the beat of its own drum. You’re supposed to toast the first color of autumn with apple cider, right?
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Exhibitions on September 13 2012, by Matt Newman
We’re suckers for a good surprise (as long as we’re the ones behind it). But it’s a spot more difficult to keep the main event under wraps when it comes to exhibitions this impressive. Manolo Valdés casts a formidable shadow, sparing nothing to create some of the most striking–and colossal–visuals for our upcoming Monumental Sculpture exhibit; for the uninitiated, that’s our next major show here at the NYBG. And this week we jumped headlong into preparation for the September 22 opening.
All told, we couldn’t exactly sneak these sculptures into the Garden. Some of them, such as the Alhambra piece, weigh in at 40,000 pounds with spans reaching nearly 50 lateral feet; they’re not what you’d call statuettes. Arranging these monoliths has proven a spectacle in itself, drawing streams of visitors and employees alike, all snapping away with their cameras as we uncrate and maneuver massive heads and latticework by truck-mounted cranes. It’s a careful and dramatic process that we were able to capture a bit of in the last couple of days.
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Tomorrow is Wednesday, and that means one thing and one thing only (if you’re particularly fixated on fresh produce, at least): the NYBG Greenmarket! From what the calendar tells me, we’re looking at the last official summer Greenmarket before we move on toward autumn’s bushels and baskets–spicy apple cider and the like–so you might want to think about hoofing it up here while we’re still savoring the flip-flop weather. It’s been pleasantly cool out until now, but some trees are already coloring for fall; it’s going to be scarves and pea coats before you can say “fare thee well peaches.”
