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Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Archive: November 2013

It’s Opening Week for the Holiday Train Show!

Posted in Holiday Train Show on November 13 2013, by Matt Newman

The Holiday Train ShowThe hum and clack of miniature trains fills the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory right now. Familiar bridges made of branches and vines arch overhead, and miniature manors ring the walkways with lights glowing in their tiny amber windows. Okay, so that’s a little bit purple, but how else can you possibly describe our favorite winter exhibition? The Holiday Train Show is just about ready to throw open its doors this Saturday, November 16, and we couldn’t be more ready.

Ivo recently had a chance to peek inside and get a glimpse of the arrangements ahead of the weekend, so I thought I’d pile together some of the photographs he collected in the Conservatory and share them with everyone! With more trains than ever before, a fresh “Streets of New York” dining experience taking place in our Conservatory Tent, and all the ambiance of a perfect holiday season, you don’t want to miss this. (And did I mention Bar Car Nights are back?)

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This Week at the Greenmarket: Three and Counting

Posted in Programs and Events on November 13 2013, by Matt Newman

GreenmarketNovember is always a double-edged sword for us, as it means two things: the Greenmarket is stocked with heaps of fresh, hearty fall fare—some of my favorite foods of the year—and the Greenmarket is nearly over. Including today’s event, there are just three more opportunities to stock up on produce and baked goodies until our vendors close up shop for the year on Wednesday, November 27.

Today’s highlights include onions and peppers and apples galore (Cortland, Jonagold, Macoun, McIntosh, and Red Delicious varieties among them). You’ll also find broccoli, root vegetables in abundance, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, winter squashes of all sorts, tomatoes, and, of course, heaps of pies from Meredith’s Bread. Among them, a newcomer: coconut custard pie! And the usual suspects, too—apple crumb, cherry, pecan, and precious, precious pumpkin.

It was snowing yesterday morning. If that doesn’t tell you you need to stock up on stew ingredients and eat your fill of baked deliciousness, I don’t know what will. The NYBG Greenmarket runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Wednesday through November 27. The market accepts food stamps, EBT, WIC/FMNP, and Senior coupons, in addition to cash and credit or debit cards. Learn how to use EBT, WIC and FMNP at the Greenmarket.

Head below for a cold-weather recipe from our pal Mario Batali highlighting the versatility of the parsnips you’ll find at the Greenmarket today.

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It’s Time to Climb!

Posted in Adult Education on November 12 2013, by Ann Rafalko

_IVO6742When it comes to climbing our trees, we have a hard and fast rule: Never … Except occasionally when we say it is okay. And one of those rare occasions is this weekend!

When you enroll in this Saturday’s Recreational Tree Climbing class, you’ll learn to climb the Garden’s stately trees like our arborists do—with ropes and harnesses—and you’ll have the chance to see the Bronx from an angle that is usually reserved for our resident raptors.

It is a once in a lifetime chance for all tree-loving daredevils! The class is taught by the Garden’s professional arborists, who are all graduates of NYBG’s storied arboriculture program.

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Marta McDowell Authors Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life

Posted in Shop/Book Reviews on November 11 2013, by Joyce Newman

Joyce H. Newman holds a Certificate in Horticulture from The New York Botanical Garden and has been a Tour Guide for over seven years. She is a blogger for Garden Variety News and the former editor of Consumer Reports GreenerChoices.org.

Marta McDowellJust in time for your holiday gift list, Marta McDowell, best known at the NYBG for her lively and informative landscape design classes, has created a wonderful new account of the writer Beatrix Potter and her love of gardening. The richly illustrated book, Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Classic Children’s Tales, reveals the connections between Potter’s beloved characters—Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs. Tittlemouse, and many others—and Potter’s own childhood menagerie of pets; how she so keenly observed them for her pencil and paint drawings; and how much she was influenced by visits to her grandparents’ rural estate north of London and holidays at various country houses in Scotland and England.

The book has the most gorgeous collection of drawings, maps, photographs, and illustrations carefully selected and laid out to complement the narrative. In her preface, McDowell explains that Potter disliked using botanical Latin, so the main narrative of the book avoids identifying plants that way. However, the end of the book provides two extensive charts, covering 18 pages, that not only list all the plants Potter actually grew in her own garden, but also the plants that she drew and wrote about—all with botanical names included.

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