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Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Archive: August 2013

This Weekend: The Summer Harvest Festival

Posted in Programs and Events on August 16 2013, by Matt Newman

The NYBG WeekendOur long-time adventure in multinational growing once again comes to fruition this weekend, which is a big hint to bring the kids along if you’re planning a visit. We’ll be hanging out in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden with our talented team of global gardeners for the Summer Harvest Festival, celebrating the herbs, fruits, and vegetables that form the backbones of cuisines from Ireland, South Korea, the Caribbean, and more.

While you’re meeting the gardeners who have carefully tended these plots for so long, we’ll have activities to explore throughout Saturday and Sunday, including garden passports, cultural crafts, and pickle sampling. And not many people would pass up garden-fresh pickles, in my experience.

Elsewhere in the Garden, our Wild Medicine exhibition continues its summer run with an ever changing display in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory‘s Italian Renaissance Garden planting, as well as a renowned collection of classic herbals in the Mertz Library (see below for our ASL-friendly tour happening Saturday). And with the weather playing nice, I’d suggest setting aside some time to daydream your way along the Forest trails, too—the canopy is a cloud of green right now.

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Nature’s Pharmacy: An IGPOTY Exhibition

Posted in Programs and Events on August 15 2013, by Matt Newman

Each year, thousands of photographers from around the world venture out with cameras in tow—into their gardens, their backyards, their local greenmarkets, and the wilderness at large. They all have the same goal, of course, though their subject matter often differs wildly. They’re after one of the most prestigious nature photography prizes out there: The International Garden Photographer of the Year award.

International Garden Photographer of the Year

For the 2012 judging, The New York Botanical Garden—the exclusive U.S. partner of IGPOTY—threw its hat in the ring with a special photo category geared toward therapeutic plants, challenging friends, fans, visitors and photographers from all over to capture the very plants and garden imagery that we now feature in our Wild Medicine exhibition. Alongside a cash purse and global recognition, the awards for taking top honors in this challenge included a featured place in our “Nature’s Pharmacy” gallery exhibition, viewable now in our Ross Gallery.

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Native Fauna Rapidly Discovers the Native Plant Garden

Posted in Wildlife on August 14 2013, by Thomas Andres

Thomas Andres is an Honorary Research Associate with The New York Botanical Garden.

A male Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) on a hooded pitcher plant (Sarracenia minor)
A male Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) on a hooded pitcher plant (Sarracenia minor)

The Native Plant Garden impresses me in many ways, but from an ecological stand point, what I see as the most exciting aspect is not what was planted or constructed. It is the birds, insects, reptiles, and amphibians who have decided to take up residency. Where did they come from and why are they here? None were intentionally introduced, but build it (or plant it) and they will come. They are indicator species of the quality of the environment.

Each species has its own story. Hummingbirds are attracted to the stunningly bright red cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) and bee balm (Monarda sp.), swallowtail butterflies and bees frequent the coastal plain Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium dubium), etc.

But then there are what I estimate to be over a dozen species of fierce predators that have little interest in the plants except to occasionally perch on them. They are superb flyers, though they are not birds, and, when young, are aquatic without wings. Some are camouflaged, especially the females, while others are brightly colored and highly territorial. All have excellent vision, at least for detecting movement.

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The NYBG Greenmarket: More Than a Place to Buy Food

Posted in Learning Experiences on August 13 2013, by Jennifer Caplan

Jennifer Caplan is an intern for the NYBG Greenmarket this summer season. She is an environmental studies and international affairs double major at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She is interested in gardening and cooking the fruits and vegetables purchased at the NYBG Greenmarket and her local market.

GreenmarketAlthough the food at the market is always fun to taste and look at, the people and the events are probably the best part of all. The New York Botanical Garden Greenmarket is fortunate to have not only a wide selection of seasonal vegetables, fruits, and baked goods, but we also have weekly guests that come to promote healthy living for those in the community, like the Albert Einstein College of Medicine sharing a study on Hispanic community health, or helping locals lead a more sustainable lifestyle with Bronx Green-Up’s Compost Q&As.

GrowNYC is also on location at the market to provide cooking demonstrations and recipes, and to assist customers using debit or credit cards, WIC and FMNP coupons, and EBT payments. The GrowNYC tent is also where you can learn about farmer’s markets in other parts of New York City, each one being unique in its own way.

If you have any questions on any of the goods being sold at the market, make sure you talk to the vendors and farmers who are present—they sure do love to talk! Last week I had a chance to talk to one of the farmers from Gajeski Produce. We discussed what it was like to have a farm on Long Island and how it was affected by extreme weather like Hurricane Sandy last fall and the recent heat wave. He said that when Long Island flooded during Sandy, many of his leafy herbs died from salt damage, hurting the farm’s production. Now, the recent heat has caused them to water more frequently, and their crop yield has been successful.

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