Leafers, this is your weekend! And honestly, even if you’re not the type to travel for fall foliage, Saturday and Sunday are worth a peek at what The New York Botanical Garden‘s 250 sprawling acres have to offer. With October nearing its end, the leaves are just now slipping into their colorful groove, and that means no end of reds, yellows, oranges, and every warm, welcoming color in between. It’s a pretty perfect palette for the onset of chilly weather. So to celebrate the changing trees, we’re setting off into our 50-acre Forest with entertainers, activities, tours, and more!
Fall Forest Weekends highlight the beauty of fall with the largest uncut, old growth tract of forest left in New York City. And there’s certainly more than one perspective from which to appreciate the bright transition. For those with their sea legs, so to speak, you’ll want to get in on the canoe trips taking place along the stretch of Bronx River that cuts through our woodland; the program is hosted by the Bronx River Alliance, a group working to reclaim the river for not only the people of the Bronx, but the incredible variety of fish, birds, and even beaver that call this waterway home.
Any time I pass through the Ross Gallery these days, there’s a near guarantee that I’ll run into a couple of visitors stopped by their own curiosity, admiring Allan Pollok-Morris’ prints. The images are arranged on either side of the room in a mosaic of landscapes and architecture, depicting a Scottish countryside seldom seen by those living on this side of the Atlantic. Terraced hills and labyrinthine beach tracings mingle with cottage gardens in a stirring together of different styles by myriad artists, all of which you can see on the pages of the exhibition’s inspiration, Close: Landscape Design and Land Art in Scotland, now available in our Shop in the Garden.
The book itself builds bridges across eras, capturing the old and the new in a landscape known for its mercurial weather and geography—as much rain and unforgiving stone as green pasture and sunlight. We caught up with Allan in our Native Plant Garden during his visit to New York City, part of a well-documented national tour of the country’s gardens that has taken him clear across the continental United States. In his many years photographing gardens and landscapes by renowned international artists, he’s come to his own conclusions on what makes for a grabbing landscape experience, and what will likely be most important to garden design in the future.
With Halloween looming at the end of this month’s calendar (and on a Thursday of all days—what gives?), we’re not about to pass up any opportunities to celebrate the tricks and treats that come once each fall. So this weekend, on both Friday and Saturday nights, we’re doing the holiday of ghouls, ghosts, and goblins proud with the final two evenings of Spooky Nighttime Adventures. It might be the last chance for your kids to scare up the night without having to worry about rolling out of bed for school the next day!
Seeing as we seldom open the gates after dark for a night of creeping about under the trees, we encourage kids of all ages to break out their costumes and dress for the occasion. They’ll start the Haunted Pumpkin Garden festivities by picking up a treat bag to decorate near our Reflecting Pool while Lucrecia Novoa’s fantastical costumed entertainers keep things lively around the Visitor Center. Afterwards, head out onto the Trick-or-Treat Trail for some well-earned edible rewards, or take part in any number of creepy crawly activities in the Discovery Center and elsewhere: digging for decomposers, dissecting owl pellets, calling for the creatures of the night, decorating gourds to take home, and other hands-on fun.
After spending the day at Grand Central Terminal with Ray Villafane and his cadre of carvers, I had no doubt that his emerging work for this year’s Haunted Pumpkin Garden would be as jaw-dropping as ever. Literally. But I didn’t realize just how massively monstrous Villafane’s plans were! With fangs galore and a squadron of buggy targets for its searching tongue, the finished sculpture came together over the course of our Giant Pumpkin Carving Weekend, landing yet another notch on the team’s belt of pumpkin masterpieces. And, of course, doing the record-breaking pumpkins in attendance proud.
This ravenous plant puts even the most impressive of Venus flytraps to shame, trust me on that one!
“Pumpkin King” isn’t a title tossed around lightly (that’s a long-game pun right there). Come to think of it, Danny Elfman’s probably held the honor longer than anyone. But once each year, right around the time the leaves start wandering off their branches and the Forest takes a sudden lean toward apple reds and lemon yellows, a new monarch arrives at the NYBG to wear the crown a while—and there’s always an entourage tagging along. Big, small, squat and tall, a cadre of gargantuan pumpkins are trundling into the Garden for this year’s Giant Pumpkin Carving Weekend, taking place here this weekend on October 19 and 20!
When your prized produce weighs as much as a standard sedan, no one’s going to call out your efforts for lacking heft. Still, in the hyper-competitive world of mammoth produce, every pound counts—even among the giants, one always stands above the rest, especially when the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth is involved. This year’s record-breaking pumpkin hails from Napa, California, where Tim and Susan Mathison primped and preened a young squash into a 2,032-pound behemoth that easily snatched up the world heavyweight title after a stop on the scale. Joining it at the Garden this year are two pumpkins from Dawn and Bill Northrup of New Brunswick, Canada, at 1,813 and 1,024.5 pounds, respectively; and a pair from Dave and Carol Stelts of Edinburgh, Pennsylvania, clocking in at 1,496 and 1,391.5 pounds. Just to add an extra touch of the big and bizarre, we’ll also have Chris Kent’s record-snapping, 350.5-lb. watermelon flying in from Sevierville, Tennessee; and a long gourd from Fred Ansems of Kentville, Nova Scotia, that clocks in at over 11 feetin length.
Our “Nature’s Pharmacy” photo exhibition may have taken its leave from the Ross Gallery just as summer’s Wild Medicine bowed out, but it was only one small aspect of the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition. Meanwhile, the annual, worldwide quest to uncover the best of the best among nature photographers muscles onward, and 2013’s window for entry is swiftly closing. It only takes one pristine picture to gain recognition in the contest, of course, so don’t let the schedule pressure you out of the race!
With only three weeks left until the October 31 deadline, the heat is on for the globe’s up and coming shutterbugs to flaunt their mettle, whether that’s photographing a rustic onion harvest in an idyllic home garden or braving a cavernous woodland for a shot at a family of pallid mushrooms. With over $20,000 in cash and prizes on the line for participants, this challenge isn’t one you should brush off lightly. And whatever your nature photography draws you to, chances are good that there’s an IGPOTY category to accommodate it, including those below.
We’re a bit under two months from the grand conclusion of 2013’s NYBG Greenmarket season, and while the hourglass is winding down for fresh, locally-grown produce at the Garden, the quality, quantity, and variety of just-picked edibles isn’t dwindling in the least. Fall is an amazing time for fruits and vegetables from our vendors, and judging by the enormous cauliflower, bright cobs of corn, and rainbow of sweet and tart apples out on display as I passed by the stalls this morning, the chill in the air should be the last thing holding up your visit.
Today, alongside the Macoun, Empire, Golden Delicious, and other varieties of fresh fall apples, there are Niagara grapes, quince, and of course the fruit juices that Red Jacket Orchards is famous for. Migliorelli Farm is in town today with green and purple kohlrabi varieties, as well as golden beets, Japanese turnips, and flat beans in abundance. And from Gajeski Produce, plan to take home Tuscan kale, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, tomatillos (amazing salsa from these) and at least three colors of gigantic cauliflower. It goes without saying that their mini pumpkins and gourds should also be on your list. Meredith’s Bread rounds out the vendors with cookies, carrot cakes, savory breads and rolls, homemade jams, lots of gluten-free options, and a seasonal specialty known as the “pumpkin explosion.” So if you’ve got a one-pumpkin-flavored-goodie-per-day rule, maybe skip the pumpkin spice latte.
I haven’t traveled to Scotland yet, but in my thoughts it’s a green and airy place, textured with the golems of mountains, cairns, and foggy grasslands. Admittedly that’s a romantic generalization better left to youthful misconceptions. But there’s still something to that old notion when I view the landscapes in Allan Pollok-Morris’ atmospheric photographs, prints of which are now being hung in The New York Botanical Garden‘s Ross Gallery. From what I’ve seen so far, the opening of our visiting Close exhibition should be an escape for any visitor.
Inspired by the outdoor art installations, gardens, and sculpted landscapes that multinational artists have wrought throughout Scotland’s challenging country, Pollok-Morris’ set out over the course of five years to meet these creators and photograph their lasting contributions to the world around them. But the name of the exhibition, “Close,” might warrant a deeper explanation for those without the benefit of a Scottish upbringing.
“No one collective description can be applied to the wide variety of subjects in this group,” Pollok-Morris writes. “Instead, when choosing a name, I opted for a small, unassuming word which, in Scottish dialect, was used to describe a landscape so inspirational that heaven seemed closer to earth in that place. For example, I grew up in MacGregor country, where it is said the most famous member of this clan, Rob Roy MacGregor, was buried in Balquhidder because he had described the glen as ‘close’.”
Leafers, this is your weekend! And honestly, even if you’re not the type to travel for fall foliage, Saturday and Sunday are worth a peek at what The New York Botanical Garden‘s 250 sprawling acres have to offer. With October nearing its end, the leaves are just now slipping into their colorful groove, and that means no end of reds, yellows, oranges, and every warm, welcoming color in between. It’s a pretty perfect palette for the onset of chilly weather. So to celebrate the changing trees, we’re setting off into our 50-acre Forest with entertainers, activities, tours, and more!
