Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Matt Newman
Posted in Programs and Events on October 16 2012, by Matt Newman
No luck digging up your skeletons before sundown, or devils at dusk? You know it’s called “All Hallow’s Eve” for a reason! At The New York Botanical Garden, we’re all about the value of a good after-dark scream, and we’re not going to let New Yorkers go wanting when it comes to finding one. Join us weekends throughout the tail end of October for “Spooky Nighttime Adventures,” a safe opportunity for you and your kids to scare out the ghosts and goblins of the city when they’re meant to be seen. How often do you get to see the Garden in the light of the moon, anyway?
While our evening events and activities are put together for children ages five to 12, kids at heart are more than welcome to join us. We’ll be decorating treat bags near the Reflecting Pool and sniffing out sweet treats along the Whole Foods Market Trick-or-Treat Trail. We’ve got a few bones to pick at the Discovery Center as we Frankenstein our way through some owl pellets, or you can suss out what sort of creepy crawlies slither in the dank, dark world under a forest log. Try your hand at calling for owls at the Boulders, discover the many secretive creatures of the night, or, if your nerve is steeled, take a peek at Ray Villafane’s ghastly pumpkin sculptures; a jack o’ lantern may be a funny fruit in the light of day, but turn on the shadows for a fright larger than life!
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on October 16 2012, by Matt Newman
Hi from the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections! Just wanted to check in on the tropicalia going on behind the glass. We’ll be having more from Nolen as we get into this year’s Kiku displays, which will be viewable there between November 3 and 18, so keep an eye out as we hustle toward the fall exhibitions.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on October 15 2012, by Matt Newman
The neat thing about the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden is that it has no concept of Mondays; no dread of the week to come, or need for three cups of coffee just to clear its inbox. It plugs along, 24/7, looking like a technicolor mosaic until its season is up.
Shrub rose ‘Audubon’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on October 14 2012, by Matt Newman
You’ll catch little flags of transition here and there. It’s not long now until this path puts up eye candy on an entirely different level.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on October 13 2012, by Matt Newman
An early, early, early good morning to our west coast friends. Happy Saturday, everybody.
California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on October 12 2012, by Matt Newman
So how many of you are indulging in the pre-weekend chill like we are? If you’re eying that rack of scarves in your closet with hopeful impatience, I’d say you’re right there with us. And fortunately (for those of us with wool and fleece ensembles on the brain), these brisk October afternoons look to continue through Saturday and Sunday as we dig into The Haunted Pumpkin Garden and everything that rolls along with it. Hint, hint! You’ll want to yank your fall coat off the hanger and walk, drive, or train your way up to the NYBG, with a few easy-going activities to take in on the side, of course.
For the grown-ups, we’re still keeping perfect time with our Saturday Bird Walks, and Debbie Becker is as keen-eyed as she’s ever been. The Red-tailed Hawks have been making a show of things from time to time, but not without showy competition from a certain heron who’s been munching his way through the Rock Garden pond. Whether local or migrant, the bird populations are in full preparation for the winter switch. We’ll also be joining Sonia Uyterhoeven for another weekend gardening demonstration, this time turning our eye on pollinator plants. If livening up your home garden with Snow White-worthy levels of birds, bees, and butterflies is your game, Sonia’s got the know-how to make it happen.
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on October 12 2012, by Matt Newman
Each time I pass a canoe portage site along the river, I mentally frame the spot and consider how I was stepping off the D train not long before. It borders on surreal.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Programs and Events on October 11 2012, by Matt Newman
At the height of my own pumpkin artistry, I splattered the dining room table with gourd guts, plastered seeds in my hair, and stepped back to admire what could have been a crooked smiley face…if you tilted your head a few degrees. And squinted. It also sort of looked like a bear, I guess. And while being 11 years old was an acceptable excuse at the time, I’m not ashamed to admit I haven’t gotten any better. Of course, coaxing out hidden Halloween talents would have been heaps easier with a champion pumpkin sculptor in my corner. Someone like Mr. Villafane.
For those with young gourd gougers in their midst, October’s Priceless® Budding Masters event offers just the kind of tutelage needed to make a masterpiece of an average pumpkin. Ray Villafane is considered by many (especially me and anyone who’s heard me say this) to be the Michelangelo of the pumpkin carving scene, or the Bernini of “Boo!” if you want to be a goof about it. During last year’s Haunted Pumpkin Garden, our staffers were practically picking jaws up off the floor as visitors stopped to watch Ray in action, conjuring skeletons, zombies, and monstrous spiders from nothing more than a few record-breaking vegetables. This year, he’s back to one-up himself several times over, but not before sharing his unparalleled techniques with a class of young carvers in the making.
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on October 11 2012, by Matt Newman
When the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory dome is smack in front of you and the Perennial Garden has your eye wandering, the Seasonal Walk can sometimes go overlooked. It’s a subtle spot, just off to your right if you happen to be facing the main doors of the Conservatory. It’s also one of my personal favorites. The display may not be as plush as that of other collections, but that quality only serves to make stand-out blooms entirely striking.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Programs and Events on October 10 2012, by Matt Newman
A blush in the leaves, a crunch underfoot, and as good a reason as any to pluck your wool fashions out of the closet: fall is here with cool weather in tow! And while the savvy of our horticulturists means we have an exceedingly long growing window in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, it’s time for the harvest to end and our green geniuses to make their way into planning for the future. In the meantime, we’re bidding a cheerful adieu to our one-acre vegetable garden as the area’s native tribes did before us, with knowledgeable preparation that almost anyone can take part in.
Even with temperatures dropping, the fun is only just getting into its swing. Our latest program goes by “Goodnight Garden,” and through October 28 it offers an opportunity to see off the last of our garden edibles with activities to suit autumn’s colorful changes. For that, we look to the Lenape people who once lived in this area year round. We’ll be hosting tried and true seed saving activities to help you prepare for the next planting, as well as cooking demonstrations to send off your late season harvest with a bang.
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No luck digging up your skeletons before sundown, or devils at dusk? You know it’s called “All Hallow’s Eve” for a reason! At The New York Botanical Garden, we’re all about the value of a good after-dark scream, and we’re not going to let New Yorkers go wanting when it comes to finding one. Join us weekends throughout the tail end of October for “Spooky Nighttime Adventures,” a safe opportunity for you and your kids to scare out the ghosts and goblins of the city when they’re meant to be seen. How often do you get to see the Garden in the light of the moon, anyway?
