While the exhibit may have ended last Sunday to make way for the forthcoming Orchid Show, this year’s Wild Medicine Photo Contest collected its final round of submissions this past week. We are pleased to announce here on Plant Talk the fourth and final round of weekly winners! Photos uploaded to the NYBG Flickr Group Pool are no longer being accepted for consideration.
Two of the talented photographers previously recognized over the past four weeks will be chosen as our Grand Prize winners—one in the Macro category and another for Sense of Place. The Grand Prize is a free seat in the Adult Education Photography class of their choice. Click through to admire the latest round of beautiful qualifying photos!
We’re at the tail end of one of the coldest Februaries on record, the snow pack on our lawns is thick enough to keep the plants nicely insulated, and you can visit the equator by setting foot in our Haupt Conservatory. One of those things is not like the other—I know. But this Saturday marks the public opening of The Orchid Show for 2015, and it could not be more tropical in there. It’s plenty warm, the humidity’s up (especially compared to what you’re dealing with in your city apartment, I imagine), and everyone is welcome to join us for some much-needed color and life.
There’ll be plenty of additional events and activities open to you when you stop by, too, including tours, orchid care demonstrations for greenthumbs new and old, dance lessons, and fun for kids. Head below for our full weekend schedule, but before you do, check out our first “making of” video of 2015 for The Orchid Show, where Anna Toledano explains the motivations behind this year’s aerially-inspired flower theme.
A somewhat more rarefied visitor to the Garden grounds than our Red-tailed Hawks, Pat tells us the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden and the surrounding Wetlands are often good spots to see these regal raptors.
If you are looking for a forgiving orchid, dancing ladies—or Oncidium—are a good choice for homeowners with decent light. Oncidiums are a species with panache—the dancing ladies have a lower lip or labellum which flares out like an opulent hoop skirt. Their sepals and petals are diminutive in contrast and look like the head and outstretched arms of little ladies. These lovely blossoms perch in profusion on long, branched flower stalks which bob and sway in a gentle breeze.
These lovely ladies use their good looks to their advantage; they are promiscuous and will be happy to hybridize with just about anyone. They hybridize well with Brassia, Miltonia, Odontoglossum, and many more species to create hybrids and complex hybrids that combine the best of both or multiple parents. The Oncidium Alliance is large with many vibrant orchids that are not only stunning, but also easy to care for.
Kristine Paulus is NYBG’s Plant Records Manager. She is responsible for the curation of The Lionel Goldfrank III Computerized Catalog of the Living Collections. She manages nomenclature standards and the plant labels for all exhibitions, gardens, and collections, while coordinating with staff, scientists, students and the public on all garden-related plant information.
A non-horticulturist friend recently asked me “So, what do you do in winter? The Garden must closed because everything is dead, right?”
Wrong! I assured this silly weather wimp that we do not overwinter in any hibernacula and there is actually a lot to see during wintertide, which just happens to be my favorite time of year. For those with a serious aversion to the fourth season, or perhaps suffering from chionophobia, they can always take shelter in the gorgeous glasshouse that is the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. There, they will see the remarkable pageant of tropical gems that will alleviate their shivers, from our most recent exhibition, Wild Medicine in the Tropics, to The Orchid Show: Chandeliers, opening soon, as well as the permanent collection of plants.
However, as someone who particularly enjoys horticulture al fresco, I love to remind the winter naysayers that the sun is actually closer to us these months and that many of our beloved perennials require a period of vernalization in order to flower in the spring. If those fun facts fail to impress, you can (and should!) just get out and see for yourself the many cool plants the Garden’s winter landscape has to offer. Remember, you got to be cold to be cool.
This weekend we want to wish a happy birthday to our friends at Let’s Move! This year marks the fifth anniversary of the First Lady’s initiative to raise a healthier generation of kids, so come celebrate with NYBG at Carla Hall’s Culinary Kids Week through February 22.
This Sunday is also the final day of two popular winter exhibitions, Wild Medicine in the Tropics in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and Flora Illustrata: A Celebration of Botanical Masterworks in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library. Complete your experience of these beautiful exhibitions—highlighting the Garden’s permanent collection of medicinal tropical plants and the Library’s rare manuscripts and botanical artworks—with special tours.
Continue reading for details on the full tour schedule for Saturday and Sunday, as well as the family-friendly cooking demonstrations and workshops happening in Conservatory Tent this weekend at NYBG.
The Wild Medicine Photo Contest is now in its final week, and the deadline for submissions is 6 p.m. tomorrow to qualify for the fourth round of weekly winners and be considered for the Grand Prize. The latest winners in the Macro and Sense of Place categories have been selected, so click through to admire the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory through the eyes of these visionary participants.
There is still time to upload your own shots to the NYBG Flickr Group Pool—tagged “#wildmedicine2015“—to qualify for a free seat in the Adult Education Photography class of your choice. Be sure to check out the contest rules first if you’re not familiar with our annual competition, and good luck to everyone!
Sorry about the misleading title, but I could think of nothing but spring-colored peppermints when I saw these orchids waiting for their moment in the spotlight during The Orchid Show. See them for yourself beginning February 28.
While the exhibit may have ended last Sunday to make way for the forthcoming Orchid Show, this year’s Wild Medicine Photo Contest collected its final round of submissions this past week. We are pleased to announce here on Plant Talk the fourth and final round of weekly winners! Photos uploaded to the NYBG Flickr Group Pool are no longer being accepted for consideration.
