Noelle V. Dor is Museum Education Intern in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden.
The holiday season is here, and the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden has cooked up a celebration of sugar, spice, and everything nice with its annual Gingerbread Adventures. While mostly everyone is familiar with the story of the Gingerbread Man and has seen (if not decorated and eaten) gingerbread cookies, many may not know the botanical and historical background of this favorite winter treat. I certainly didn’t.
As an intern in the Children’s Adventure Garden, not only do I get to work behind the scenes of this wildly popular program, I also get to join in on the adventure! Believe it or not, my previous experience with gingerbread was limited to enjoying the follies of Gingy, the gingerbread cookie character in the movie Shrek, and to helping create the “Gingerbread City” scene for a Candyland-themed high school play.
How many times have you seen It’s a Wonderful Life? A Christmas Story? Too many times to count? Rather than watch the holidays from a couch, break out your favorite festive sweater and create memories of your own with friends, relatives, colleagues, or others on a group tour of the Holiday Train Show.
Make a visit to this spectacular exhibition of twinkling lights, model trains, and replicas of New York landmarks made from plant parts a way of reconnecting with the special people in your life during this special time of year. Groups of 15 or more who plan a weekday visit receive a discount off the general admission price.
You may want to gather friends for a seasonal get-together or plan a day away from the office with co-workers or congregate with neighbors—come with any group of 15 or more during the week and everyone saves.
View Holiday Train Show, Ex Libris Exhibition, and More
Before sitting down to turkey and stuffing, come enjoy the bounty of the Garden, which is open on Thanksgiving Day this year, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Garden will have extended hours for the remainder of the weekend for your enjoyment, relaxation, and gift shopping: from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday through Sunday, November 27–29.
250 acres of fall beauty—Catch the end of autumn’s colorful display in the gardens and Native Forest.
Holiday shopping and lunch—Find wonderful gifts for everyone on your list at Shop in the Garden and then grab lunch or a snack at one of our two Cafes.
The New York Botanical Garden is thankful for your patronage and support. Come share the day and the long holiday weekend with us, and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Excitement Builds Waiting to See Show for First Time
Laura Collier is Marketing Associate at The New York Botanical Garden.
Ah, yes. The first month of a new job. So many exciting possibilities, but also so many questions! I just moved to New York City and just started at The New York Botanical Garden, so there certainly is a lot to learn. Since my first day, I’ve been happy to be thrown right into the mix, learning quickly about the Garden, the events, collections, location of the lunchroom—the general “first-week 101.”
It’s an especially busy time here, preparing for the huge Holiday Train Show, which opens this weekend. It’s been interesting to see how much the staff and volunteers look forward to this event. Whenever someone mentions the Holiday Train Show, their voice changes a bit. When they find out that I’ve never been to the show, they immediately drop what they are doing to tell me about how beautiful the Conservatory looks when it’s all decorated and lit up or about their favorite landmark replica, like Yankee Stadium or the Brooklyn Bridge. Maybe they even mention that they secretly like The Little Engine That Could™ Puppet Show and that they are glad to have a 3-year-old nephew to use as an excuse to see it again this year. (Don’t worry; your secret is safe with me.)
Final Year of Incredible Chrysanthemum and Japanese Garden Displays
Kiku in the Japanese Autumn Garden showcases more than 5,000 kiku (chrysanthemums) meticulously displayed in traditional Japanese styles. This last weekend—the exhibition is in its third and final year—step into the brilliant colors of a Japanese garden: kiku in full bloom, Japanese maples a deep red; and the Garden bustling with activities.
Don’t miss these highlights:
The taiko Japanese drum is believed to be entertainment for the gods. You’ll be in good company as you enjoy a thrilling drumming presentation by Taiko Masala on Saturday and Sunday at 1 and 3 p.m.
Japanese Autumn Adventures in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden offers hands-on fun for the whole family. This weekend children can slip on a kimono and enjoy a tea ceremony.
Take part in Home Gardening Center demonstrations of Japanese gardening techniques and docent-led tours of the Kiku exhibition.
Thundering and thrilling, the taiko (Japanese drum) has been called “the voice and spirit of the Japanese people.” From its roots in agriculture and the ancient music of shrines and temples, traditional taiko folk music is believed to entertain the gods, attract good fortune, drive away evil forces and insects, lend strength and courage to warriors, and celebrate life.
Each weekend during Kiku in the Japanese Autumn Garden experience the sounds of both ancient and modern Japan by the group Taiko Masala on the Conservatory Lawn.
Jane Dorfman is Reference Librarian/Exhibitions Coordinator in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
Mertz Library Director Susan Fraser and Curators Stephen Sinon and I had the delightful task of selecting the 63 items that comprise the latest exhibit in the Library’s Rondina and LoFaro Gallery, Ex Libris: Treasures from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library, on through January 10, 2010. This is a show about the Library’s rich and varied collections. Although delightful, it was not an easy task to select from such a treasure trove of material. The LuEsther T. Mertz Library is the largest botanical and horticultural library under one roof, and this show is but a small sampling of the Library’s rich and varied collections of rare books, original botanical art, and manuscripts.
We selected the individual pieces on the basis of our combined knowledge of the collections and on research regarding the unique character of each object and its inherent beauty or distinctiveness, such as the hand-colored and color-printed aquatint engraving shown above, The Blue Egyptian Water-Lily from Temple of Flora, by Robert John Thornton (1768?–1837; London: T. Bensley, 1907), one of the greatest botanical works ever published.
In our selections we also favored those objects that were not shown in our previous exhibits. And we strove to include sumptuous images, so pictures of fruits naturally came to mind. One unusual and beautiful book about fruits (and vegetables) by 19th-century German author Johann Ferdinand Shreiber (fl. 1839), Bilder zum Anschauungs-Unterricht für die Jugend, is actually a children’s book. It was rediscovered by Stephen while he was looking for images to promote the Garden’s summer show, The Edible Garden. He kept the book in mind, and now it’s in the Ex Libris exhibit, displaying luscious grapes and abundant hops.
Japanese Autumn Adventures Offers “Passport” of Fun
Noelle V. Dor is Museum Education Intern in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden.
As the Northern Hemisphere inches away from the sun and life turns inward, The New York Botanical Garden is under way with Kiku in the Japanese Autumn Garden, a celebration of autumn and Japanese culture. While Kiku pays homage to Japan’s annual Festival of Happiness, which honors the fall bloom and seemingly perfect beauty of the chrysanthemum flower, the Everett Children Adventure Garden’s Japanese Autumn Adventures highlights an equally important plant in East Asian cultures: Camellia sinensis, commonly known as tea.
Of course, tea is immensely popular in the United States, too. Many people, however, know very little about tea such as the fact that “herbal teas” are not truly tea at all, or that white, green, black, and oolong teas are all derived from a single plant species.
Delving into the world of tea during my research and preparation for this program has deepened my fascination for the myriad ways in which plants and society intertwine over time. My interest in traditional Japanese culture—inspired and nurtured by various school projects and courses—made me even more excited to have this amazing opportunity to help others explore and enjoy a unique mixture of nature, art, and social customs.
During Japanese Autumn Adventures, in addition to learning all about tea and participating in a simulated tea ceremony, young visitors and their families get to do classic Japanese crafts such as fish printing (gyotaku) and paper-folding (origami) to create maple samaras that really spin!
At the beginning of their adventure, children will make their own field notebook, or “passport,” granting them access to different “cities” (activity stations) and allowing them to keep a record of their experiences as they “travel” through Japan. Before departing, everyone should stop by the wishing shrine and leave an ema (Japanese for “wish”).
My wish is for all hearts to be filled with love and joy. What’s yours?
Jessica Blohm is Interpretive Specialist for Public Education.
A chrysanthemum blossom, which appears to be a single flower, is actually made up of hundreds of tiny flowers.
Chrysanthemums are members of the Asteraceae (aster or daisy) family. All plants in the aster family are composites. They have flower heads made up of many tiny individual flowers. Other composites include asters, sunflowers, black-eyed Susans, dandelions, marigolds, and zinnias.
There are two types of composite flowers, ray and disc. Some composites have both ray and disc flowers; others have only ray or disc flowers.
The National Chrysanthemum Society defines 13 different classes of chrysanthemums with varying flower forms: irregular incurve, reflex, regular incurve, decorative, intermediate incurve, pompon, single and semi-doubles, anemone, spoon, quill, spider, brush and thistle, and unusual. Many of these 13 classes are on display at Kiku in the Japanese Autumn Garden. To see examples of each, click here.
Follow this Step-by-Step Guide by NYBG Adult Education Instructor
John Capobianco, an instructor in the Adult Education Program of The New York Botanical Garden, is a four-time national gold medal winner for chrysanthemum bonsai display. He is president of the Long Island Chrysanthemum Society, a past president of the Bonsai Society of Greater New York, and a board member of the National Chrysanthemum Society.
As Kiku in the Japanese Autumn Garden makes apparent, chrysanthemums are among the most versatile woody perennials around. They lend themselves to being trained into many different forms.
You can try your hand at chrysanthemum bonsai by creating a slab planting—an arrangement done on a relatively flat stone to depict a lone tree on a cliff or a forest on an island or whatever you may imagine.
Unlike other forms of bonsai, slab plantings start with the container, in this case a flat rock or ceramic piece. It should be oblong; one with steps, crags, or an irregular outline makes it more interesting. Stones have movement and a flow to them. Examine the stone and choose the position you wish to highlight and harmonize with the planting.
Decide on the cultivar you want to grow, and get to work making cuttings or placing an order. Plan on growing more than you will need as some will get damaged and be unusable when it comes time to assemble the planting. Expect to reject about 50 percent of what you grow. You’ll want to use an odd number for the planting group, which makes for a more stimulating design.
To grow your chrysanthemum “trees,” put plants in a few different-size containers—2½ , 3, 4, and 6 inches. Much like the myth about goldfish, the mums will only grow to the size of their environment. Those in the small containers will have less water and nutrients and so won’t grow as thick or as tall. This will ensure that your trees will be of different heights and thicknesses in the group planting.
Pinch the plants to encourage branching into a tree form. If the line of a trunk needs to be altered, you may need to wire the plant to the desired form. This takes skill. Be careful not to break branches, and don’t trap leaves under the wire. Practice on your rejects.
The holiday season is here, and the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden has cooked up a celebration of sugar, spice, and everything nice with its annual Gingerbread Adventures. While mostly everyone is familiar with the story of the Gingerbread Man and has seen (if not decorated and eaten) gingerbread cookies, many may not know the botanical and historical background of this favorite winter treat. I certainly didn’t.
Library Director Susan Fraser and Curators Stephen Sinon and I had the delightful task of selecting the 63 items that comprise the latest exhibit in the Library’s Rondina and LoFaro Gallery, 
