Influenced by our culinary experiences, many of us likely think of basil (Ocimum basilicum) as originating in Italy. However, you might be surprised to find that this popular culinary herb is actually endemic to India, where it then spread to Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Basil is simple to sow from seed, and a cheap and easy way to include delicious diversity into your garden. We often combine several different types of basil together for an attractive display in the herb garden, vegetable garden, and sometimes a mixed border. But because basil is sensitive to frost, it is important to wait until the weather has warmed before it’s placed outdoors.
While their May-blooming cousins may get more attention for their all-at-once lightshow, the deciduous azaleas blooming now deserve some praise. As you can see.
Deciduous azaleas (Rhododendron) in the Azalea Garden – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Well, harvest time is just about here, and the whole family is invited to enjoy a nutritious and delicious meal, al fresco, at Family Dinners with Mario Batali’s Chefs! Visiting culinary talents from the Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group’s stellar restaurants—including Otto, Del Posto, and Eataly—will host a series of evenings featuring hands-on gardening and craft activities followed by a a three-course, family-style menu. Each evening will take place under the cool evening sky in the Whole Foods Market® Family Garden Kitchen.
What was it that I said recently about the lotus blossoms not being far behind the Nymphaea? The Conservatory pools are far from the proverbial mud that the lotus is famous for emerging from, yet the persevering beauty of these plants is nonetheless potent.
Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) in the Conservatory Pools – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
By Jen Stengle (Cornell Cooperative Extension, Putnam County), Linda Rohleder (New York / New Jersey Trail Conference), and Jessica Schuler (NYBG).
You might have noticed them crawling in your curtains, or buzzing around your house lamps; alarming numbers of brown marmorated stinks bugs settled down for winter this year. These alien invaders are just one of many invasive species that have taken hold in the Hudson Valley. Perhaps you have noticed Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) in a park or have seen viburnums eaten to shreds by Viburnum leaf beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni). These invasive plants and insects are just the ones we see. There are many others we don’t notice, clinging to the bottom of boats, hiding beneath the bark of trees, nestled in firewood, or attaching themselves to clothes or shoes—as in the case of seeds.
Stephen Scanniello is NYBG’s Curator of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. The author of six books on roses, his latest is A Rose By Any Name. Stephen is the recipient of the Jane Righter Rose Medal from the Garden Club of America. He gardens in Barnegat, NJ.
Shrub rose ‘Alexandra, Princesse de Luxembourg’
During July in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, you’ll find the gardeners and volunteers bent over headfirst into the rose beds filling buckets with faded blooms. We’re deadheading, or as they say in England, “refreshing” the rose shrubs. Deadheading is summer pruning and very easy to do. Simply cut the stem bearing the faded rose to a point where a set of healthy leaves is attached. This is a time-consuming job that will reward you with beautiful new roses in a few weeks time.
There are still plenty of roses to enjoy in the garden. The sweetly scented ‘Alexandra, Princesse de Luxembourg’, a blush-pink shrub rose, and ‘David Rockefeller’s Golden Sparrow’ are both in full bloom. Last week, in Paris, this yellow beauty won the prestigious Gold Medal for Landscape Roses at the International Rose Trials of Bagatelle.
You might have noticed them crawling in your curtains, or buzzing around your house lamps; alarming numbers of brown marmorated stinks bugs settled down for winter this year. These alien invaders are just one of many invasive species that have taken hold in the Hudson Valley. Perhaps you have noticed Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) in a park or have seen viburnums eaten to shreds by Viburnum leaf beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni). These invasive plants and insects are just the ones we see. There are many others we don’t notice, clinging to the bottom of boats, hiding beneath the bark of trees, nestled in firewood, or attaching themselves to clothes or shoes—as in the case of seeds.
