In the midst of winter’s blustery winds and wicked temperatures, it’s a great relief to see the warm yellow flowers of witch-hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia) brightening up the Garden path behind the Home Gardening Center.
This fragrant hybrid shrub is a relative of the North American native H. virginiana, or common witch-hazel, a plant that is certainly a little magical to some. Lore suggests the common name refers to the forked twigs that were sometimes used in earlier times for “water-witching,” or dowsing to locate underground water. These native plants bloom in the fall rather than the winter, but are just as impressive.
Grays and browns are old hat (almost, anyway). If you’re looking for a refresher on what the color of warmth actually looks like, look no further than the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory come March 3. The 10th annual Orchid Show is nearly here.
Epc. Rene Marques x Epi pseudoepidendrum — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Rosarian Ken Molinari offers pointers on proper pruning techniques.
Pruning climbing roses is akin to a good spring cleaning. When things pile up in the home, there is nothing like a quiet winter weekend to dive into the mess and de-clutter. It is precisely what rosarians in the Northeast do with their climbing roses at this time of year.
In order for a magnificent climbing rose to look its best, proper care is necessary. Recently I spent a delightful day with NYBG rosarian Ken Molinari, pruning our climbers and discussing the best techniques and selection of loppers for pruning and sheering of roses in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. We have so many roses here that we like to get out early and start pruning. Find a warm day in February or early March to step outside and go to work on your climbers.
I can’t remember the last time I had a sudden craving for ribbon candy, but there it is. More plants await the big move to exhibitions around the Garden in the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections.
The stars of this year’s Orchid Show are taking their places in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, creating flashes of tropical color on all manner of vertical surfaces. This is the year of the “Vertical Garden,” after all. Take a note–the show starts on March 3!
It almost felt like winter this week. Almost. With a breezy evening of light flurries in the city (I actually had to use my ice scraper for once) the temperatures dropped just enough for us to pretend we weren’t leapfrogging one of the year’s most obvious seasons. And this weekend’s weather report suggests more of the same.
Now going into our third week of the photography contest, the competition is picking up the tempo. The first week’s competitors were joined by several more talented shutterbugs this time around, and all together the group produced a stack of fantastic pictures that had us poring over the results for some time. Turns out that the more brilliant pictures you have to shuffle through, the longer it takes to come to conclusions on who won–it’s worse when the judges can’t seem to entirely agree! It was like Twelve Angry Men in here. But we came up with a fresh batch of eye candy we think will inspire you to try for yourself.
The Nolen Greenhouses are a little like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory when it comes to the fanciful, sans that whole “tunnel of mortifying imagery soundtracked with the mad singing of Gene Wilder” aspect. You can see for yourself whenever we hold the occasional Members Only tour.
In the midst of winter’s blustery winds and wicked temperatures, it’s a great relief to see the warm yellow flowers of witch-hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia) brightening up the Garden path behind the Home Gardening Center.
