Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Matt Newman
Posted in Around the Garden, Monet's Garden on June 1 2012, by Matt Newman
The finer nuances of art make their way past the framed edges of the canvas and into the kitchen! Join us this weekend (one of many such adventures in the coming months) for a celebration of all things culinary as we step into the kitchen gardens of France, the salad days of spring, and Monet’s life as not only a painter, but a gourmand. The father of Impressionism took as much pleasure in the abundance of his dinner table as he did his painted garden at Giverny, and Monet’s Garden embraces both!
Showing throughout much of this summer’s exhibition, Monet’s Palate calls talented chefs to bat for the rich culinary traditions of Normandy, a region in the north of France home not only to Giverny, but to a cornucopia of the country’s most esteemed cuisine. Also on Saturday and Sunday, meet up with Gardener for Public Education Sonia Uyterhoeven for an introduction to jardin potagers, or kitchen gardens, a French staple that takes stocking your produce drawer to heights far beyond anything you can pluck from your window sill herb collection.
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 1 2012, by Matt Newman
A box without hinges, key, or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.
And I thought I’d never get to quote Bilbo Baggins on this blog.
Sawtooth Stewartia (Stewartia serrata) — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, People, Photography, Wildlife on May 31 2012, by Matt Newman
What’s a forest without the chatter of songbirds, or a pond without a curmudgeonly duck or two? Tom Andres, an Honorary Research Associate at the NYBG, won’t even consider the possibility. He’s too busy snapping pictures of our avian population.
It’s no great secret that The New York Botanical Garden is a northern birder’s paradise, home to owls, hawks, herons, and woodpeckers. Debbie Becker’s Saturday Bird Walks remain a staple at the Garden, now over 25 years since she began guiding groups of amateur and veteran birdwatchers alike through our 250-acre landscape. Even so, populations change with the seasons–migrants flood the Garden with song and color one week, only to disappear the next.
Tom doesn’t let the fickle nature of the birder’s obsession hamper his photography, much less his fascination. “The Garden plays an important role for feathered visitors,” he writes, “especially as a refueling point during migration season.” The Bronx River Corridor–winding through the Garden–is a major draw for neotropical birds migrating toward northern breeding grounds, or heading south for warmer climates. This explains the sudden influx of loud and bright warblers arriving early in spring, making a much-needed pit stop before they move on.
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography, Wildlife on May 31 2012, by Matt Newman
Look to have a bird-brained afternoon as we set aside this beautiful Thursday to celebrate the treetop tweeters of The New York Botanical Garden! We’re flora people, yes, but there’s a majesty (and, at times, comedy) to the diverse fauna of the Garden. Nothing speaks of elegance and grace quite like a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk fumbling its lunch all over Tulip Tree Allée.
If you’re looking to get better acquainted with our feathered friends, stop by on Saturday mornings for the weekly Bird Walk with resident expert Debbie Becker! Binoculars, cameras, and gasps of awe welcome.
Photo by Pat Gonzalez
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on May 30 2012, by Matt Newman
I have to wonder why we don’t have a spring groundhog popping up to predict six more weeks of chilly mornings and refreshing afternoons. Anyone who spent the Memorial Day afternoon in the boroughs will commiserate (at one point I felt compelled to fashion my jeans into capris–only the lack of scissors stopped me). But there’s relief beyond the swamp that is your conveniently central air-free apartment!
Get to the NYBG, find a patch of shade (there’s plenty), and note that an easy Forest breeze beats that rickety floor fan in your bedroom any day.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on May 28 2012, by Matt Newman
I’ll admit I have a softness for roses, a fondness for orchids, and a weakness for flame-orange poppies. Still, it’s seldom I find an eyeful of flowers so inspirational as an hour spent under the leaves of the trees.
You’ll best understand what I mean while walking the trails of the NYBG‘s Forest around this time of year, arched over in each direction with lacing branches of every shape and angle. The effect is something like slipping a green gel over a stage light. Sun filters down through the canopy and dapples the forest floor with piebald images both cloudy and sharp. It cools you, or seems to, on the most scorching afternoons. And there’s a freshness to the scene that chimes in to remind you–with something resembling pride–of winter’s distance.
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on May 27 2012, by Matt Newman
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on May 26 2012, by Matt Newman
Loitering in the Rose Garden? Not a crime (during open hours, anyway). In fact, there may be no better place to dawdle. Now’s the time, too–the roses are reaching their peak this weekend!
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on May 25 2012, by Matt Newman
Three-day weekend? We’ll take it! After a virtual roller coaster of activity here in the office, we’re as relieved as you are to see that calming stretch of calendar squares laid out before us. Entering the opening days of the year’s most anticipated exhibition was one thing, but biting our nails over the conclusion of the Partners in Preservation competition made for an atmosphere a few notches below peaceful! We’re immensely proud of what we have accomplished, and with smooth sailing from here on out, there’s plenty to celebrate at the NYBG this Memorial Day (yep, we’re open Monday, too!)
Monet’s Garden is dazzling thousands of visitors in its first week. Even with those few dreary days of drizzle, the grounds have been alive with guests taking the tram to see the Conservatory‘s own Giverny, viewing the masterworks of the great Impressionist in the Library, and everything in between. As if we weren’t already enjoying the outcome, the cherry on the sundae arrived Tuesday morning. Thanks to you, our many generous supporters, The New York Botanical Garden will receive a grant of $250,000 from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, being used to restore and preserve our long-treasured Rock Garden. A month of campaigning for votes (not to mention the patience of our fans) paid off with a spot in the winner’s circle!
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on May 25 2012, by Matt Newman
Monet’s Grand Allée — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
The finer nuances of art make their way past the framed edges of the canvas and into the kitchen! Join us this weekend (one of many such adventures in the coming months) for a celebration of all things culinary as we step into the kitchen gardens of France, the salad days of spring, and Monet’s life as not only a painter, but a gourmand. The father of Impressionism took as much pleasure in the abundance of his dinner table as he did his painted garden at Giverny, and Monet’s Garden embraces both!
