This Weekend: Food, Flowers (and Fun, Of Course)
Posted in Around the Garden, Programs and Events on June 7 2013, by Matt Newman
Certainly the biggest news going into this weekend comes about on Monday, when we once again buddy up with Mario Batali for the Edible Academy Family Garden Picnic. For the past few summers, our work with this renowned chef and Friend of the Garden has produced some of the most fun and delicious adventures found in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, and this year’s event is no different! In fact, we’re even raising the bar. Join us on Monday, June 10 for an exclusive picnic dinner as conceived by Mario himself, followed by a book signing with the chef and his always lively cooking demonstration. And there are plenty of family activities to keep even the most tireless toddler occupied in the meantime.
All proceeds from this event will go to the Edible Academy, an NYBG initiative to create a year-round center for gardening education that focuses not only on the practice of being a green thumb, but the important connections between plants, gardening, nutrition, and health. And it’s not just for kids—the Edible Academy will educate families, adults, and teachers as well. Tickets to the picnic are dwindling, so register while you can!
Over the past few days I’ve also been in touch with our Senior Advisor for the Rose Garden, Peter Kukielski, trading numbers at a rapid-fire pace. “90%, 95%, 99%!” The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden went from a subtle collection of buds to a vibrant spread of blooms in the course of a week thanks to the warmer weather, and that sudden explosion of color needed tracking on our Rose Watch page. I could barely keep up! But just yesterday, as I was about to leave for the day, Peter floated me one last message: “Make it 100%! I’m recording peak bloom for 2013 as of today!”
Yeah, that’s a pretty big deal around here.
With the Rose Garden at its height going into this weekend, it makes this Saturday and Sunday absolute prime time for you to pay it a visit. After all, how often do you get to see over 4000 rose plants simultaneously shouting the pinnacle of color? And even as one of the premiere rose displays in the northeast, it’s just one small piece of the NYBG’s springtime puzzle. Wild Medicine is now several weeks into an evolving summer run, with a steady stream of fresh and exotic medicinal plants moving into our Conservatory each week. We can’t forget the peonies, either, blooming like pom-pomsacross the Garden. And the Forest is finally looking like its classic self after that drawn-out winter—spend a few minutes idling along its twisting trails and you’ll make out the start of a lush summer just by looking at the canopy.
These may be some of the last easy, breezy days we have before the heat rolls in, and with some sun promised after today’s cloudy weather, trust me when I say we’re looking forward to being out and about this weekend.
Saturday, June 8
Tour Wild Medicine in the Conservatory
In the Conservatory, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Guides throughout the exhibition help bring the stories of Wild Medicine to life and guide your experience. Learn about featured medicinal plants and their cultural significance, the origin of medicinal gardens, and more.
Bird Walk
Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center, 11 a.m.
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 an expert.
Film Screening: Wild Medicine
In the Ross Hall, 11:30 a.m., 12, 2, and 4 p.m.
This 15–minute introductory film narrated by Sigourney Weaver helps set the tone for your visit, celebrating the beauty of the real Garden of Padua while highlighting the importance of healing plants and the work of Garden scientists.
Music and Dance of the Italian Renaissance
In Ross Hall – 1 and 3 p.m.
Enjoy a rich repertoire of music and dance of the Italian Renaissance period presented by members of The New York Baroque Dance Company.
Home Gardening Demonstration: Life is Rosy
In the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden – 2 p.m.
Join us for a tour through the sumptuous award-winning Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. Learn standard rose care practices from fertilizing to pruning.
Sunday, June 9
Tour Wild Medicine in the Conservatory
In the Conservatory, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Guides throughout the exhibition help bring the stories of Wild Medicine to life and guide your experience. Learn about featured medicinal plants and their cultural significance, the origin of medicinal gardens, and more.
Film Screening: Wild Medicine
In the Ross Hall, 11 a.m.
This 15–minute introductory film narrated by Sigourney Weaver helps set the tone for your visit, celebrating the beauty of the real Garden of Padua while highlighting the importance of healing plants and the work of Garden scientists.
Music and Dance of the Italian Renaissance
At the Conservatory Plaza, 1 and 3 p.m.
Enjoy a rich repertoire of music and dance of the Italian Renaissance period presented by members of The New York Baroque Dance Company.
Home Gardening Demonstration: Life is Rosy
In the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden – 2 p.m.
Join us for a tour through the sumptuous award-winning Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. Learn standard rose care practices from fertilizing to pruning.
Ongoing Children’s Programs
Outdoor Nature Exploration at the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden
Open daily during regular Garden hours; Guided Activities: Tuesdays-Fridays, 1:30 – 5:30 p.m., Saturdays & Sundays, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Explore nature and plant science through seasonally changing programs, themed galleries, and hands-on activities in the William and Lynda Steere Discovery Center as well as through outdoor exploration of the 12-acre Adventure Garden.
Naturally Curious
May 18 – September 8
In the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, adventure abounds for kids of all ages with art and science activities such as mixing paints and creating science notebooks.
Mario Batali’s Kitchen Gardens
In the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden
April 6 – October 11, 2013; 1:30 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Kids can explore with Mario’s Menu Mystery game, featuring favorite vegetables and herbs from nine of his restaurants’ kitchens, including Otto and Del Posto.
Included in any All-Garden Pass.
Cooking Demonstrations
In the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, at the Whole Foods Market® Family Garden Kitchen
May 11 – October 11, 2013: Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays: 2 & 4 p.m.
From late spring into early fall, learn to cook up flavorful new recipes using garden-fresh ingredients, twice a day on Wednesdays and weekends in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden.
Salad Days
In the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden
May 19 – June 15, 2013, 1:30 – 5:30 p.m.
The “salad days” of the Garden year are here! The finale of spring is a bonanza of ripe roots, succulent stems, glorious greens, and a kaleidoscope of colorful—and edible—flowers. Use real plants and flowers to decorate a salad bowl collage. Learn tips on how to combine this array of plant parts into an assortment of salads and prepare a healthy dressing to take home.
Plants and imaginations grow at the Howell Family Garden, where kids are allowed—no, encouraged!—to play in the dirt. Display gardens such as the Global Gardens and the Breakfast Bowl, and daily activities delight and inspire.
