Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Archive: April 2013

Urban Container Gardening Classes

Posted in Adult Education on April 24 2013, by Lansing Moore

photo (5)[2]In New York City, where space comes at a premium, it helps to live by the mantra “Great things come in small packages,” even when it comes to gardening. Container gardens, tree well plantings, and terrace gardens are the easiest way to add a small-scale garden to the average city apartment, and they can be beautiful, too.

Over the course of two sessions in March, Daryl Beyers showed his class how to get the most out of placing a few plants in a simple pot. The results were these charming, self-contained gardens, perfect for even the most space-starved New Yorker.

If you would like to try your hand at container gardening, the Garden’s Adult Education program is offering two special Saturday sessions in May! “All About Containers” is a daylong boot camp on May 4 in the Bronx and will cover all the basics of container gardening.

Read More

Resurrecting Forsythia’s Reputation

Posted in Gardening Tips on April 23 2013, by Sonia Uyterhoeven

_IVO7784Forsythias have a bad reputation for good reason. They are ubiquitous and weedy and we bemoan them while simultaneously populating urban and suburban landscapes with them. Forsythia is far too easy and that is a recipe for horticultural disaster in terms of abuse and overuse. It’s a sad story for a shrub with potential but there it is.

We all know forsythia with its dependable bright yellow flowers in spring. It’s an easy shrub to grow, tolerating a wide range of conditions and is free from pests and diseases.  Forsythia flowers best in full sun but tolerates part shade, is fast growing and easy to propagate from cuttings.

Forsythia is indigenous to eastern Asia. While it is hard to distinguish different species–it seems like there is one generic mass market version –different species and varieties do exist.

Read More

Morning Eye Candy: Sugar Rush

Posted in Photography on April 22 2013, by Ann Rafalko

Scrolling through the photos taken by my colleague Ivo this spring is a bit like eating a Parisian macaron; airy, sugary, delicate, delicious, evanescent, amazing. This spring is one of the prettiest I can remember, but unlike the finest confections, it keeps lingering on. It’s just wonderful!

prunus-accolade

Prunus ‘Accolade’ (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)

Bloodroot: An Understandable Misnomer

Posted in Science on April 20 2013, by Carol Gracie

After spending nearly three decades at the NYBG, and working much of that time in South American rainforests with her husband, Scott A. Mori, Carol Gracie has returned to one of her first botanical interests in retirement–local wildflowers. She is the author of Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast: A Natural History and coauthor (with Steve Clemants) of Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: A Field Guide to the Northeastern United States.


An underground rhizome of bloodroot cut to show the bright red sap.
An underground rhizome of bloodroot cut to show the bright red sap.

Both the scientific name, Sanguinaria canadensis, and the common name, bloodroot, of this spring wildflower are descriptive. The generic name Sanguinaria has its roots in the Latin word for blood, and bloodroot describes the root-like rhizome of this plant, which contains a bright red sap. Like other members of the poppy family, Papaveraceae, the sap throughout the plant is colored, which may be seen by breaking a vein in the leaf with your fingernail.

Read More

This Weekend: Earth Day in Bloom!

Posted in Around the Garden on April 19 2013, by Ann Rafalko

weeping-prunusIt’s closing weekend of The Orchid Show and blooms and blossoms abound; inside, outside, simply everywhere! Can you think of a better way to celebrate Earth Day? We can: let’s make it a three-day weekend and open our 250 acres to you on Monday!

While at NYBG every day is Earth Day, Monday, April 22 is the official day to celebrate, and we’re doing it in literal fashion with a focus on the soil that nourishes us all. In the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden kids of all ages can learn about the earthworms that are so vital to healthy, living soil. Speak with a worm expert, meet the earthworms, and take some of the nutrient-rich earth that they have produced to nourish your plants at home.  Explore the newly planted Mario Batali Kitchen Gardens and enjoy special activities. If you can’t make it to NYBG, dine at any of Mario Batali’s restaurants or shop at Eataly and receive a special seed packet with which to grow your own Genovese basil at home.

In the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden and in the Home Gardening Center composting advice and demonstrations abound. Stick around in the Adventure Garden to make a terrarium—based on rich soil and a self-contained microenvironment—to take home.

Read More