Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 7 2013, by Matt Newman
Even for a group of specialized rose varieties bred for “roughing it” without the micromanagement that many popular roses need, the flowers in the Earth-Kind® Rose Trial beds are holding their own like you wouldn’t believe.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 6 2013, by Matt Newman
We’re covering Thoreau’s seasons at a lightning pace.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on May 31 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Step outside and one word springs to mind: Summer! And all signs point to it too–Memorial Day is in the rear view mirror, Manhattanhenge has graced the city’s famous grid, and the cicadas are appearing around the region. What does that mean at the Garden? It’s time to hang out in our gardens, that’s what! No need to hurry-scurry around; take a Tram ride, sit in the shade, stroll around an Italian Garden, loll by the waterlily pools, stop and smell the roses (literally), and saunter around in the shade of the Forest or the Native Plant Garden. Good times, I promise you!
If that’s not enough, and you’re looking for some brainiac mental stimulation instead, we’ve got that too! As part of this weekend’s World Science Festival we’re offering tours of our science facilities, special lectures, and concerts. Yep, that’s right, a science-based, cicada-centric concert! It doesn’t get more geektastic than that!
Posted in Around the Garden on May 29 2013, by Carol Gracie
After spending nearly three decades at the NYBG, and working much of that time in South American rainforests with her husband, Scott A. Mori, Carol Gracie has returned to one of her first botanical interests–local wildflowers. She is the author of Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast: A Natural History and coauthor (with Steve Clemants) of Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: A Field Guide to the Northeastern United States.
Although many of our northeastern violets are lovely to look at, there is only one that is intensely fragrant—the tiny, white-flowered Viola blanda, commonly called sweet white violet. The delicate little flowers are well worth kneeling down and placing your nose right next to them to inhale their sweet scent.
While there, take the time to observe the structure of the flower. Like other members of its genus, the flowers have five petals, the lowest of which is modified into an extended spur to hold the flower’s nectar. Rather than aroma, most of our violet species attract pollinators with their pleasing colors of purple, white, or yellow. To reach the nectar in the deep spur requires a long proboscis such as that of butterflies. By patiently observing a patch of violets, you may be lucky enough to witness one of these pollinators visiting the flowers. In the case of the accompanying photograph, a West Virginia White butterfly visited several species of violets, among them this long-spurred violet, Viola rostrata. The same species of butterfly may also be seen depositing its eggs on nearby toothwort plants (Cardamine spp.), which serve as food plants for its larvae.
Sweet-scented violets have played a notable role in history. The favorite flower of Napoleon and his first wife, the Empress Josephine, was a European violet, Viola odora, which was especially prized for its lovely, sweet scent. Each year Napoleon would present Josephine with a bouquet of sweet violets on the anniversary of their wedding day. Violets, in fact, became a symbol of the Napoleonic reign. Despite Napoleon and Josephine’s great love, when Josephine failed to produce an heir after 13 years of marriage, Napoleon divorced her and married the young Marie Louise, who quickly bore him a son. However years later, when Napoleon died, his locket was found to contain a lock of Josephine’s hair and some pressed violets—a token of his lasting love for his first wife.
Posted in Around the Garden on May 25 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Behind the scenes at the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden. Now what do you suppose those buoys are for?
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on May 24 2013, by Ann Rafalko
It’s summer! Or is it? Given the unpredictable weather of the past few weeks, I guess it comes as little surprise that several days of hazy, hot, and humid afternoons would end with spring reasserting herself just as we hit the three day, “unofficial start of summer” weekend. But don’t let that put a damper on your long weekend plans! We’ve got plenty of warmth, color, and activities to help you relax going into the new season.
In the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, Wild Medicine: Healing Plants Around the World continues to delight with a one-two punch of geeky knowledge and Renaissance beauty. Enjoy tasting stations featuring delicious and healthy treats made from chocolate, tropical fruits, and soothing tea around the Conservatory Courtyard Pools where the hardy waterlilies are again in bloom. You can also spend time with Philip Haas’ amazing Four Seasons, monumental sculptural renderings of the surreal paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, “rendered in trompe l’oeil vegetables, flowers and other horticulture.”
Outside of the Conservatory, there’s plenty that’s beautiful and in bloom around our 250 acres. Favorite subjects of the Garden’s photography enthusiasts, the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden and the herbaceous peonies are back in bloom, and a plethora of other gardens are also looking fine.
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on May 23 2013, by Matt Newman
On this day in 1988, Ivo Vermeulen made his first appearance in the U.S.—25 years later, he’s still clicking away behind the lens. Appropriately, most of that time has been spent wearing orange pants.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on May 22 2013, by Patricia Gonzalez
Although I have been photographing wildlife at The New York Botanical Garden since 2008, March 17th, 2012 was my last sighting of a Great-horned Owl. Since that time, during my frequent forays into the Thain Family Forest I could clearly hear them hooting, but have had zero luck in spotting them. But then this April, they made their reappearance when it became clear that one of the female owls had hatched two owlets.
Posted in Around the Garden on May 21 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Rosa rugosa is one of the first roses to bloom in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. The species name comes from the Latin for “rough” in reference to the plant’s nearly-pleated leaves. It is also a tough plant, willing to grow in some pretty harsh habitats to the point of becoming a weed in places. And yet it is delicate and beautiful and smells amazing, like the finest of perfumes.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on May 17 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Tomorrow marks the opening day of our summer exhibition, Wild Medicine: Healing Plants Around the World! This very exciting exhibition has several elements spread throughout our 250 acres. Wander through the 11 galleries of the historic Enid A. Haupt Conservatory to explore the story of how plants help keep us healthy, happy, and beautiful. Exhibition elements inside the Conservatory include tasting stations, informative signs, and two entire galleries dedicated to The Italian Renaissance Garden, a reinterpretation of Europe’s first botanical garden, the teaching gardens at the University of Padua established in 1545. Outside in the Conservatory Courtyards, Four Seasons features sculptures by Philip Haas, inspired by the works of Giuseppe Arcimboldo. You will also find additional tasting stations featuring tea and tropical juices alongside the beautiful waterlily pools in the Courtyards.
In the Library Building, the LuEsther T. Mertz Library is hosting The Renaissance Herbal in the Rondina and LoFaro Gallery. Explore rare books and manuscripts known as herbals that demonstrate the evolving role that plants have played in medicine and history since antiquity. Weekends feature a rich repertoire of the music and dance of the Italian Renaissance period. On view in the Ross Gallery, Nature’s Pharmacy features photographs of medicinal and beneficial plants taken by professional and amateur photographers from around the world as part of the prestigious International Garden Photographer of the Year contest. Select weekend home gardening demonstrations will offer gardening instruction on how to cultivate and enjoy healing plants at home.
In addition to Wild Medicine, blooms and blossoms are flowering all over the Garden. What’s beautiful now? Peonies, irises, roses and azaleas, just to mention a few! To plan your visit and see what activities are occurring, check out our day-by-day calendar or consider following us on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, where we post daily updates from our staff and visitors. Need help getting around? Our iPhone app can help out there. It’s free and available in the App Store.