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Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Matt Newman

Table Top Monet

Posted in Gardening Tips on June 26 2012, by Matt Newman

Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.

From time to time I teach flower arranging. It gives me the opportunity to play with color and exercise my artistic side. It is also rewarding to teach Garden visitors simple tips and techniques for producing colorful displays for their homes. With Monet’s Garden in full swing, I decided last weekend to focus on French floral arrangements.

I wasn’t terribly successful in uncovering the art of French floral design. It seemed like it’s become trendy to designate a floral design as being French, and I have had a hard time deciphering between those who were simply jumping on a marketing bandwagon and the true Francophiles.

I did discover a few sources that discussed the art of French floral design, however, and their bouquets and centerpieces were breathtaking. They were too elaborate for me to recreate, but they provided me with some principles that I could replicate in my simpler renditions.

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Armyworms: A Wriggling Menace Takes New York

Posted in Wildlife on June 25 2012, by Matt Newman

Live in New York City? I’ll hazard a guess you’re not starting your day with a cup of chicory and a thumb through the latest farmer’s almanac (Brooklyn’s urban agriculturists notwithstanding). But for mainland growers in the Empire State’s west end, a crawling menace on the horizon makes for an ugly forecast. Some wheat farmers are already seeing the fallout of this hungry pestilence, blown up from–where else?–the south.

Bear with me. Being a southerner, I get free license to poke fun at the legacy.

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Morning Eye Candy: Not What it Looks Like

Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 25 2012, by Matt Newman

Care to guess this edible? Er, soon-to-be edible. The species in question is native to China, and directly related to something many countries eat (or the song suggests we eat) during the holidays.

Castanea mollissima — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Give up? It’s the Chinese chestnut tree. In the U.S., American chestnuts (Castanea dentata) were devastated by the chestnut blight when it arrived from Asia, but this species evolved alongside the blight to be highly resistant to its effects. Now, scientists are making every effort to breed a deliberate hybrid with the tree size and nut qualities of the American species, and the resistance of the Chinese species.

And that whole thing about roasting chestnuts on an open fire? Mel Tormé wrote “The Christmas Song” in 1944, after finding his music partner’s scribblings of winter scenery on a spiral notebook. It was the middle of a miserably hot summer, and said partner had been trying to cool off by thinking of chilly weather. Might not hurt to try it now.

A Sweet, Stinky Summer Ahead

Posted in Around the Garden on June 22 2012, by Matt Newman

I read in the paper (I’ll give them up the minute subway tunnels offer 4G) that Wednesday’s thermometer topped out at 110 degrees Fahrenheit in Times Square, placing New York City’s temperatures almost on par with those of Dubai. We’re better off at the NYBG, of course; lush grass and acres of shady trees tamp down the heat some. But don’t get me wrong, Manhattanites–it’s not like I’m trying to rub it in or anything. Not really.

There’s an upside to summer in the city beyond fruity cocktails and flip-flops, and it’s none other than “Sweet and Stinky,” launched just this week to celebrate the passing of the solstice. As an amateur chef, albeit one paradoxically awful and ambitious, I feel like this is the kind of hot-weather activity every cook-out fan should get in on. This stuff smells heavenly with some heat behind it.

“If you’re walking around the Garden and you smell sauteed onions, you’ll know it’s us!” said Annie Novak, Assistant Manager of the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden.

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