Inside The New York Botanical Garden

This Weekend: The Garden Gets Some Color

Posted in Around the Garden on July 11 2014, by Lansing Moore

hemerocallis fulva daylilyThis humid week is finally giving way to a pleasant weekend, and it is the perfect time to visit NYBG! Groundbreakers continues to guide visitors through the monumental history of America’s gardening culture, and the summer season brings more color to the grounds each day.

Come check out the Perennial Garden and Seasonal Walk as they enter new and ever-beautiful stages of growth. Admire the lotus blossoms and water lilies emerging in the reflecting pools outside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Enjoy a summer walk beneath the pleasant shade of trees in the Native Plant Garden or the Thain Family Forest. There is a wealth of ways to enjoy the Garden this summer for people of all ages. Upcoming after-hours events include Jazz Age Evenings and Family Dinners with Mario Batali’s Chefs. For this weekend’s program offerings, read on!


Saturday, July 12

Native Plant Garden meadow

Forest Tour – 12:30 p.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center
Experience the beauty of the Garden’s 50-acre Thain Family Forest on this one-hour walking tour with an expertly trained Guide. You’ll learn facts about the trees, history, geology, and ecology of this original, uncut woodland.

From Ragtime to Jazz: The Roots of Pop – 1 & 3:30 p.m.
In the Ross Hall
Music from the period of Groundbreakers—ragtime, jazz, Broadway, and beyond to Hollywood—had a great impact on American culture. Enjoy a variety of styles in live performances by a trio of artists, including musical producer, pianist, and historian Terry Waldo, featuring the works of Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, Irving Berlin, and Tin Pan Alley composers such as George Gershwin, George M. Cohan, and Dorothy Fields.

Film Screening: Yours for a Song: The Women of Tin Pan Alley – 2 p.m.
In the Ross Hall
Many popular music standards of the Tin Pan Alley era (1920–49) were written by women, including Dorothy Fields, Kay Swift, Dana Suesse, and Ann Ronell, who were among the most influential songwriters of the time. This PBS documentary includes archival footage, motion picture clips, and rarely seen photographs, as well as performance clips of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Perry Como.

Native Plant Garden Tour – 2:30 p.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center
Join a tour guide for an insider’s view of the newly designed Native Plant Garden. Enjoy a mosaic of nearly 100,000 native trees, wildflowers, ferns and grasses designed to flourish in every season.


Sunday, July 13

water lily

Native Plant Garden Tour – 12:30 & 2:30 p.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center
Join a tour guide for an insider’s view of the newly designed Native Plant Garden. Enjoy a mosaic of nearly 100,000 native trees, wildflowers, ferns and grasses designed to flourish in every season.

From Ragtime to Jazz: The Roots of Pop – 1 & 3:30 p.m.
In the Ross Hall
Music from the period of Groundbreakers—ragtime, jazz, Broadway, and beyond to Hollywood—had a great impact on American culture. Enjoy a variety of styles in live performances by a trio of artists, including musical producer, pianist, and historian Terry Waldo, featuring the works of Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, Irving Berlin, and Tin Pan Alley composers such as George Gershwin, George M. Cohan, and Dorothy Fields.

Film Screening: Yours for a Song: The Women of Tin Pan Alley – 2 p.m.
In the Ross Hall
Many popular music standards of the Tin Pan Alley era (1920–49) were written by women, including Dorothy Fields, Kay Swift, Dana Suesse, and Ann Ronell, who were among the most influential songwriters of the time. This PBS documentary includes archival footage, motion picture clips, and rarely seen photographs, as well as performance clips of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Perry Como.


Ongoing Children’s Programs

Home Gardening Center

Family Adventures: Focusing on Nature 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
In the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden
Children will explore the art of garden photography and will even have the opportunity to become garden photographers themselves. Through a series of stops within the Garden, they will see the world through a new lens as they learn how observations in science and nature have been recorded throughout time. They will also receive tips about perspective, scale, and framing when taking photographs.

Dig, Plant, Grow: Sweet & Stinky — 1:30–5:30 p.m.
In the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden
Aromatic alliums and spicy herbs thrive in the summer heat. Follow the sweet and stinky smells to the Family Garden and discover these culinary champions. Savor the scents and tickle your taste buds with cooking demonstrations and samples, and become a green thumb by planting your very own herb to tend at home.

Mario Batali’s Kitchen Gardens – 1:30–6 p.m.
Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden
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.