Inside The New York Botanical Garden

This Weekend: Glasshouse Glee

Posted in Programs and Events on January 31 2014, by Matt Newman

This WeekendCue week three of our Tropical Paradise exhibition, and the third round in our ongoing, six-week photography contest! Already we’ve seen dozens of entries from local and visiting photographers hoping to take home the brass ring—a certificate good for one Adult Education photography course of the winner’s choosing. And because we have two categories in which to enter, Macro and Sense-of-Place, that’s two opportunities to win a certificate. Easy! Just check out our photo contest rules page to get a handle on submission guidelines and schedules.

We’ll have the winners of the second round up on Plant Talk as of Monday or Tuesday, but in the meantime you can check out the competition via the announced champions of the first week.

There are still four whole weeks of competition left as of this Saturday, February 1, but if you’re not much of a camera fiend there’s still plenty of interest to be found in our daily events and activities in the Conservatory. You’ll find our permanent collection of tropical rarities and stunning blooms augmented by Tropical Interactive Encounters, hands-on demos that open up the rejuvenating properties of plants like nutmeg and annatto with samples to boot. And for kids, Tropical Wintertime Wonders in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden offer a chance to chase away the winter gloom in the cozy Discovery Center. There they’ll pot up their own specimen plants to take home and use a field notebook to discover the beginnings of new plantlife waiting for spring’s arrival.

If the weather’s got you down, don’t suffer it! Just hop up to our Conservatory and make the instant transition to the tropics, only a step inside our classic glasshouse.


Saturday, February 1

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Tropical Interactive Encounters – 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
In the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Lowland Rain Forest Gallery

See, smell, and taste the rejuvenating and healing powers of tropical plants like coconut, nutmeg, annatto, and banana through interactive demonstrations and samplings. This showcase will provide insight to the historical and cultural importance of various plants throughout the world.

Tropical Paradise Roaming Guides – 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
In the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory

Take a trip through paradise with a Garden guide who will highlight interesting plants of our permanent collection in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Touch and smell samples of featured plants including vanilla, coconut, and nutmeg and get a sense of place through photographs of these plants in the wild.

Bird Walk – 11 a.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center

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 to learn about bird-friendly habitats, migrating species, and birds that make a permanent home at the Garden.


Sunday, February 2

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Tropical Interactive Encounters – 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
In the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Lowland Rain Forest Gallery

See, smell, and taste the rejuvenating and healing powers of tropical plants like coconut, nutmeg, annatto, and banana through interactive demonstrations and samplings. This showcase will provide insight to the historical and cultural importance of various plants throughout the world.

Tropical Paradise Roaming Guides – 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
In the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory

Take a trip through paradise with a Garden guide who will highlight interesting plants of our permanent collection in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Touch and smell samples of featured plants including vanilla, coconut, and nutmeg and get a sense of place through photographs of these plants in the wild.


Ongoing Children’s Programs

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Tropical Discoveries and Wintertime Wonders
In the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden

Inside the cozy Discovery Center, kids of all ages can take a closer look at the differences between tropical and temperate plants. Pot up a specimen plant to take home and compare its characteristics with foliage in your neighborhood. Use a field notebook to explore the Adventure Garden and discover the vital sparks of life that lie just below the surface of this quiet season.