Spring gallops at such a steady pace, I barely have a chance to pause and soak in the sights before the vernal onslaught has passed me by. I often like to capture these colorful, ephemeral moments in writing.
This year, one of my favorite fleeting moments was the eastern redbud ‘Pauline Lily’. The redbuds stay in bloom for several weeks from April into May, lighting up the woodland understory with their cheerful color.
While the majority of the eastern redbuds produce an abundance of pea-like flowers that are either the characteristic purple-pink color or the occasional pure white variety, ‘Pauline Lily’ has demure ballerina-pink blooms. The buds start off as salmon-pink and open to a divine pale cream. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the flowers are edible and they can be plucked off of the tree (your own tree, of course) and tossed into a salad or frozen in an ice cube tray to add a festive touch to your drinks.
Remember that all-important scene in The Wizard of Oz where the Wicked Witch of the West traps Dorothy and her cadre of heroes in a sprawling field of poppies, sure to sleep forever? It was memorable not for the witch’s conniving plan, or the fact that Glinda the Good Witch bails out our adventurers, but for the imagery itself—the smallness of the characters when surrounded by such immense (if deceptive) technicolor beauty is undeniable. And while we’re not quite ready to break out a poppy field of our own, we have something just as grand (and guaranteed to keep you awake) in the Azalea Garden.
At this very moment, thousands upon thousands of cheery azaleas are blooming in their eponymous collection, filling the newly greened forest surroundings with pinks, purples, reds, and whites. Seriously—it’s like we borrowed a rainbow and brought it to earth. Under the shifting net of sunlight cast through the canopy, the colors pop even more! But, as with everything that comes of spring, this dreamlike color can only last so long.
There’s at least a week or so left of this transcendent color before things quiet down, so make a point of stopping by!
Alongside the tools of the gardeners themselves, the camera played an important role in supporting the growth of American landscape design in the 20th century. It was in the efforts of the photographers, several of whom are currently being highlighted during our Groundbreakers exhibition, that the styles of women like Farrand and Coffin met the public eye. Don’t forget to visit our LuEsther T. Mertz Library for an important exhibit on some of the women who made all of this possible!
In the LuEsther T. Mertz Library – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Michael Hagen is the NYBG’s Curator of the Native Plant Garden and the Rock Garden. He previously served as Staff Horticulturist for Stonecrop Gardens in Cold Spring, NY and Garden Manager at Rocky Hills, in Mt. Kisco, a preservation project of the Garden Conservancy.
Wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
Asking a curator to pick a favorite plant is akin to asking a parent to tell you their favorite child—surely an impossible choice. Nevertheless, there are moments when, with plants and children alike, they do something that gladdens the heart and captures otherwise divided affections.
Such a moment is upon us in the Native Plant Garden. A visit this week will reward with the sight of spectacular drifts of the native wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). Their delightfully fine-textured, almost fern-like foliage is a perfect backdrop to the sprays of delicate, red-spurred flowers, with just a light flush of yellow on the petals and a cluster of exerted yellow stamens. A not insignificant bonus is that they are pollinated by Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, and this generous display is sure to offer a welcome sight to any migrating birds that make their way through the garden.
Beginning tomorrow, we throw open the gates to America’s grand estates in Groundbreakers: Great American Gardens and the Women Who Designed Them. This show examines early 20th-century America’s boom in garden culture, with groundbreaking women leading the charge in the fields of landscape architecture, design, and photography.
The centerpiece of this exciting exhibit—a must for aficionados of historic homes and gardens—is Mrs. Rockefeller’s Garden in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. This interpretation of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden in Maine evokes one of the most stunning properties designed by Beatrix Farrand, one of the Groundbreakers examined in the show. Farrand, along with Marian Coffin and Ellen Shipman, represents a pivotal moment in history, from the end of the Gilded Age to the height of the Jazz Age. Their lives, times, and careers will be the subject of exhibition components throughout the Garden grounds.
For a taste of what’s in store, check out Edward Rothstein’s latest write-up of our brand new summer exhibition in The New York Times. Read on for the full list of this weekend’s programs surrounding Groundbreakers, including all-new children’s activities and plenty of musical interludes!
The lilacs spill onto the scene, dressed head to toe in provocative aromas. Purples, pinks, whites—each bundle of flowers is a flag planted in the name of spring perfumes.
Syringa vulgaris ‘Volcan’ in the Lilac Collection – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
