Genna Federico, a senior at St. John’s University, is an intern working in the Communications Department this summer.
Whether you refer to it as a giardino botanico, botanischer garten, jardim botânico, or simply a botanical garden, The New York Botanical Garden has been receiving a lot of buzz lately in media outlets around the world.
The very welcomed attention from the foreign press has focused on our distinguished exhibitions Moore in America and Darwin’s Garden, expanding the Garden’s international exposure.
Journalists from around the globe—Germany, Spain, Australia, Great Britain, Japan, Turkey, Canada, and elsewhere—have visited and written about The New York Botanical Garden in recent months.
In one instance, a video crew from Brazil TV’s Cultura Metropolis arts program interviewed Karen Daubmann, Director of Exhibitions, about Moore in America. From Europe, Italian media filmed a segment on Darwin’s Garden for the Pikaia Web site, and the Garden was also featured in the newspaper La Stampa, whose Web site also included dozens of images of Moore sculpture.
In addition to the Associated Press story mentioned in last week’s blog post, “The Bronx Is Blooming,” other stories reported by the International Herald Tribune have been picked up by the foreign press, including a prominent mention in an article about “museum-quality art” exhibitions at botanical gardens in the United States. No doubt the coverage will continue to snowball.
The NYBG clearly has something to offer visitors from near and far, so check it out. Adiós, au revoir, arrivederci!
You’ve been working for it all week long, and now it’s here! This weekend at The New York Botanical Garden is jam- packed with awesome weather and exciting programming. Plus, the magnificent trees provide us city dwellers with a beautiful, shady oasis, a great way to escape the heat and humidity.
If you are a huge fan of daylilies, like I am, then you won’t want to miss the Home Gardening demonstration devoted entirely to daylilies!
For those who love to cook—and to eat for that matter—you will be interested to know about the herbal scavenger hunt taking place in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden. During the scavenger hunt you will get to smell, touch, and even taste some of the herbs.
And, if you haven’t yet seen the massive sculpture of Henry Moore, you’re missing out. There are many ways to appreciate these works, from participating in a walking tour to watching the Henry Moore documentary, the choice is yours.
Last but not least, there is a Native Plant Garden Tour on Sunday. If you’re going native, you must attend.
July finds the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden poised on the threshold of summer’s cornucopia—all promise and no produce. Okay, so there are onions. And sure, there’s rainbow Swiss chard, spicy loops of garlic flowers (scapes), and the last sweet snap peas before summer’s heat hits. But to our staff, without the happy buzz of the Children’s Gardening Program, it’s a two-acre ghost town. The vegetable beds are marked by towers of bolted lettuce. Tomato branches stick out as awkwardly as a scarecrow’s arms, while weeds fill in every available space below. Our beds seem to be groaning with the gangly green adolescence of plants. Looking over at the plots, it’s hard to imagine the bounty of eggplants, squash, cucumbers, and beans we’ll be cooking in a few short weeks. No, right now there are a lot of weeds. And not enough small hands in our plots—120 pairs of hands, in fact.
So with much anticipation, the beginning of our summer gardening program this past week left us both exhilarated and exhausted—nearly 200 children, instructors, volunteers, and parents pack into our two acres every Tuesday and Thursday morning (and another 100 every Saturday). Thankfully, at the end of each day, we feel mostly the former—an enthusiasm that has kept our program attendance burgeoning every year and our garden plots even richer as we continue to grow. Our Garden Sprouts offering is for children ages 3–5, and our Garden Crafters is for children 6–12.
One morning a returning Crafter, bent low between a row of peppers struggling to work through a thick patch of nutsedge, one of our most undesirable weeds, shook her head ruefully. “We stayed away too long,” she said, wiping her brow. “They’re taking over.” Happier news came when her instructor pointed out low-lying purslane, a succulent that snuck in between many of our crops. Popping it into his mouth, one seven-year-old Crafter reached a happy verdict: “It’s lemony!”
His planting partner, looking up from a careful investigation of his own section of the plot, had found an even better treasure: the first Sungold tomato of the season, bright orange among the green tangle. (Photo by Toby Adams)
Over the years, The New York Botanical Garden has been visited by a few of the “boys of summer” who have worn those classic pinstripes and played in baseball’s historic cathedral. Former Yankees center fielder and All-Star Bernie Williams dropped by during the winter of 2004 (seen at right with Bob Heinisch, our VP for Site Operations). Joe Torre, who guided the Yankees through four World Series Championships and was an All-Star player himself during his career, toured the Holiday Train Show with his family a few years ago as well. Other Yankee heroes and All-Stars who have enjoyed a visit to the Botanical Garden included Joe Pepitone and Willie Randolph (seen below, again with VP Bob). Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay even served as Master of Ceremonies for the Garden’s Holiday Tree Lighting ceremony in 2007.
This is the last year people will be able to step foot inside the “House That Ruth Built”—the new stadium opens next year. But you can wax nostalgic and still see a replica of the original Yankee Stadium—made of plant parts—at the Garden’s Holiday Train Show, which opens November 23.
Another week has come and gone at the Garden. Don’t fret though; there’s plenty of summer left to go around. The delicious weather in store for us seems like the perfect situation to see the monumental works of Henry Moore. There’s also Home Gardening demonstrations, guided tours, kids programming, and much more.
Educator Anabel Holland is giving guided tours of Moore in America at The New York Botanical Garden
This summer’s Henry Moore exhibition at the Garden has me coming back again and again. The large sculptures hulk quietly throughout the grounds, not imposing themselves upon you but waiting to be discovered. Some hide behind trees or in enclosed gardens only to be revealed when you fully take in both the sculpture itself and the setting around it. For me the most breathtaking is Large Reclining Figure, 1984. As you follow the path up toward the Rose Garden, it slowly takes shape. The brilliant white of the fiberglass contrasting against the vivid green grass is a sight to be seen.
The most amazing aspect of Moore in America is its ability to transform. While walking around with tour groups, my view of each sculpture is constantly changing. In one group everyone sees elephant bones in many pieces, while in another the focus is on the texture and the way it affects the light that reflects off the surface. Not only do the subtle changes in landscape transform the pieces, as Moore would have wanted, but seeing them through someone else’s view is unbelievably eye opening. This exhibition is definitely a must see for the summer!
Kate Murphy, a junior at Fordham University, and Genna Federico, a senior at St. John’s University, are interns working in the Communications Department this summer.
Any time you visit the Farmers Market at NYBG, you’ll find seasonal recipes that incorporate the locally grown foods available. These recipes are provided by Community Markets, which co-organizes the Garden’s weekly event and is dedicated to “supporting local agriculture, strengthening local communities, and making fresh produce available to neighborhoods with limited access.”
We tried out the recipe for Blueberry Blast Smoothie this past weekend. It’s a great energizing start to the day or a cool treat on a warm summer night. A delicious alternative is adding in some blackberries and strawberries. It takes on a mix of sweet and tart and even gives the smoothie a new color. We also added bananas to kick up the fruity flavors. The recipe worked great with soy milk or almond milk, too. Try making the recipe when all the ingredients are nice and cold.
Check out some great recipes for yourself after the jump, and make your way to the Farmers Market to stock up on the delicious ingredients!
In the summer of 1977 the Bronx was literally burning. In the midst of a devastating blackout, New Yorkers were faced with looting, bankruptcy, municipal layoffs and the very real threat of the Son of Sam killer.
You’d have to be Rip Van Winkle to not notice that much has changed in the 31 years that have followed, but to some the rugged, urban stigma of the Bronx remains. No longer, says Associated Press Travel Editor Beth Harpaz. In her article, “The Bronx Is Blooming,” she celebrates the more than 7,000 acres of park land, and in particular, The New York Botanical Garden. As one of the many luscious “green spaces” in the borough, Harpaz credits the Garden and others as instrumental in revitalizing tourism in the Bronx.
The article is generating a lot of buzz and has been picked up by major outlets such as USAToday.com, CNN.com, AOL.com, NYPost.com, AMNY.com, Newsday.com, CBSNews.com, the Poughkeepsie Journal.com, and more.
The weather forecasters have good things in store for us this holiday weekend, so why not spend our nation’s birthday at one of the best getaways NYC has to offer? If you’re not scarfing down hot dogs and “ooh” and “ahh”-ing at the fireworks display, there’s plenty of stuff to keep you busy at the Garden all weekend long.
Guided tours, screenings of The Art of Henry Moore, edible herbs and flowers, and much more are on tap.
Whether you refer to it as a giardino botanico, botanischer garten, jardim botânico, or simply a botanical garden, The New York Botanical Garden has been receiving a lot of buzz lately in media outlets around the world.
