Sweet, savory, and that piquant point right in the middle—the Greenmarket‘s been representing our favorite flavors in equal measures of late. Judging by the number of colleagues snacking on fresh donut peaches last Wednesday, this week’s gathering should have no shortage of the fuzzy fruits out for sale. And the apples aren’t making themselves scarce, either—try the Ginger Golds if you have the chance. We’ve also seen heaps of plums, blueberries, watermelon and nectarines out on the tables of late. On the vegetable front, plan for broccoli, kale, onions, tomatoes of every shape and color, reliable radishes, a few kinds of peppers staggered over the Scoville scale, and some yellow summer squash.
There’s more, of course (fresh-baked bread, anybody?), and with each week there are new entries and exits for the various crops on offer, but this tentative list gives you an idea of what to expect. And how many bags to bring if you’ve got a stock of canvas!
Coaxing our kiku to life is an exercise in daily tedium, sure, but these nurturing hours add up to some of the most breathtaking chrysanthemum displays you’ll ever witness. The end result is easily greater than the sum of its parts.
Don’t worry, not every aspect of the yearly back-to-school crunch has to involve elbowing your way through the school supplies aisle. In fact, with our #NYBGWFM recipe contest, you won’t even have to leave your couch.
Back in July, The New York Botanical Garden and Whole Foods Market teamed up to launch the first in a series of quick and easy recipe contests in our area, asking you all to submit your favorite no-cook cherry recipes for a chance at a Whole Foods gift card. This time around, we’re looking for the unique treats that spruce up your kid’s lunchbox. Whether it’s a tried and true variation on Ants on a Log, a neat spin on ham and cheese, or your student’s favorite cafeteria confection, we want to know what makes your brown bag skills the best on the block!
We make the submission process as pain-free as possible, too. If you’re on Twitter, just tweet your no-cook (that’s an important requirement) recipe or the recipe link using the #NYBGWFM hashtag. If you’d prefer, you can also leave us your recipe in the comments at the bottom of this post. After the August 30 deadline, Whole Foods Market Culinary Demonstration Specialists will pick a winner local to the New York City area to receive a $50 Whole Foods gift card. Better yet, that recipe will be prepared in the winner’s local Whole Foods Market store and made available for visitors to sample.
Again, this particular contest ends on Friday, August 30. We’re planning one more come September, but seeing as you can double up on your chances by participating in both, there’s no reason to miss out on this round!
They say the day is what you make of it, so you don’t necessarily have to have the moody Monday blues. This little bluestem seems destined to it, though. To which musician’s stylings does the aptly-named cultivar best relate?
Schizachyrium scoparium ‘The Blues’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Who says florid beauty has to be limited to petals? The hood (or operculum) of this carnivorous pitcher plant holds its own quite well, I think. You’ll find some in our carnivorous plant collection in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, but now is the ideal time to see North American species thriving in the Native Plant Garden.
Summer’s stint on the calendar may be dwindling, but if you were to spend an hour wandering our 250 acres you’d think the landscape had yet to take notice. Everything is so lush! Even in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, where our Wild Medicine exhibition is winding into its final weeks, the peak of summer’s growth is still very much in vogue. You can also thank our dedicated staff of horticulturists for that one—they haven’t missed a beat all season with their plantings in the Italian Renaissance Garden, and they’ll be keeping everything primped and perfect through the end of the show.
Soaking up as much of the season as you can before the leaves blush is a perfectly good reason to be here. And so is keeping your home gardening skills sharp! On both Saturday and Sunday, we’ll be holding demonstrations in the Home Gardening Center focusing on that ever-present challenge to your backyard’s beauty: deer. Their incorrigible appetites may seem impossible to trump, but our experts have a few tricks they’re willing to share that just might minimize the hassle.
We’ll also be holding cooking demonstrations in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, enjoying the butterflies and bees with Pollinator Pals, and just plain chilling out this weekend. Hope you’ll join us!
Its common name is “sideoats grama,” because the seeds are aligned on one side of the stalk, and the explorers who first recorded it called it grass, or “grama” in Portuguese. So there you go.
Bouteloua curtipendula — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Pat Gonzalez is back this week with a fresh highlight feel from her adventures in the Garden, something I always eat up. As both a guest and a Visitor Services Attendant with the NYBG, Pat has spent the past five years documenting the lives of our raptor residents through the lens of her camera, creating a timeline of activity among the Great-horned Owls, Red-tailed Hawks, Cooper’s Hawks, Kestrels, and other winged wildlife that crosses her path. While I’m sure she’ll laugh off the comparison, I like to think of her as our very own Jane Goodall of the bird world.
Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” is a nice touch, I think, that highlights the streamlined elegance of these birds. Though a brief look back into Pat’s Plant Talk postings will show you just how well it belies their hilarious clumsiness at times. There’s something about seeing a young hawk divebomb a park bench in its efforts to figure out hunting that I can’t help but laugh over.
For the birders and animal lovers out there, Debbie Becker’s long-running Bird Walk returns from its summer hiatus on Saturday, September 7, giving you ample time to prep your notebooks, binoculars, and cameras for some time wandering the Garden. It’ll go a long way toward helping you understand the joy that Pat feels each time she happens across one of her feathered friends.
Sweet, savory, and that piquant point right in the middle—the Greenmarket‘s been representing our favorite flavors in equal measures of late. Judging by the number of colleagues snacking on fresh donut peaches last Wednesday, this week’s gathering should have no shortage of the fuzzy fruits out for sale. And the apples aren’t making themselves scarce, either—try the Ginger Golds if you have the chance. We’ve also seen heaps of plums, blueberries, watermelon and nectarines out on the tables of late. On the vegetable front, plan for broccoli, kale, onions, tomatoes of every shape and color, reliable radishes, a few kinds of peppers staggered over the Scoville scale, and some yellow summer squash.
