Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Photography
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on July 13 2012, by Matt Newman
After I posted the relieving conclusion of the ‘Ray Davies’ saga, commenter Gene mentioned that another pond-dweller, this time a lotus, shared its name with yet another rock star–Scottish singer Maggie Bell. For those who didn’t catch the exchange, I dove in and found what I could of Nelumbo ‘Maggie Bell Slocum’, dubbed not for a rocker, but someone far more horticultural.
‘Maggie Bell Slocum’ was so named for the second wife of prolific water lily and lotus hybridizer Perry D. Slocum, a New Yorker and a long-lived icon in the pond plant world. This one still has stage presence, though, with or without the rock pedigree.

Nelumbo ‘Maggie Belle Slocum’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography, What's Beautiful Now on July 12 2012, by Matt Newman
Montana may lay claim to the phrase “big sky country,” but New York is no slouch when it comes to panoramic vistas. Near a hilltop, or just beyond the boughs of the Forest‘s trees, you can catch the blue expanse above the NYBG without the cityscape that usually frames it. No radio towers, no skyscrapers marking up the periphery–just clouds of every shape and consistency.
It’s good for daydreaming.
On afternoons where the barometer reads high and the sun is clear, you see opal blue in rich or dusky shades. Other days, the sky is a scatter of swoops and ruffles that you’d have to climb pretty high to enjoy elsewhere in the city. But as I remember it, “show, don’t tell” is a rule you pick up in middle school language arts class. I suppose I should follow it, huh?
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography, Wildlife on July 12 2012, by Matt Newman
Peahen sighted! The subdued colors of the female aren’t so easily recognizable as the flamboyant frill of the male peacock, but the slight tinges of blue-green color (not to mention those Dr. Seuss-esque head feathers) should give her away.
What few realize is that these birds really can fly, though they’re often kept in open-air aviaries–it’s just easier to stay put than leave a reliable food source. Another fact, somewhat more hilarious: peacocks are used as “guard dogs” by some, as they have a tendency to let out deafening squawks at the approach of strangers. Just don’t expect them to tackle an intruder with any efficacy.

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on July 11 2012, by Matt Newman
I was visiting the Conservatory while these planters–one after the next–were being filled in with summer flowers. Monet’s Garden continues to grow and change as the months pass, meaning what you see come October will be entirely different from what you find blooming now. It’s a nice change of palette from one week to the next.

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on July 10 2012, by Matt Newman

Quercus rubra — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on July 9 2012, by Matt Newman
Ahem. Just wanted to chime in with a small reminder: this is happening all along Daylily Walk. Right now.

Hemerocallis ‘Red Joy’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on July 8 2012, by Matt Newman

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on July 6 2012, by Matt Newman
Finally Friday. If you couldn’t find the time to get outside on the Fourth, be sure to prepare for this weekend: sunglasses, sunscreen, a few bottles of water. And do they still make parasols? Maybe one of those, too. Not everyone has the benefit of built-in shades, butterflies excluded.

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on July 5 2012, by Matt Newman
If Daylily Walk is our Yellow Brick Road, that would make the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory the Emerald City, right?

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on July 4 2012, by Matt Newman
Happy Fourth, everyone! Not only is the Garden open for regular hours today, but it’s a Wednesday, meaning free grounds admission for any and all visitors. The Greenmarket will also be going until 3 p.m., with a smorgasbord of locally-sourced fruit, vegetables, cheeses, baked goods and other tasty stuff to offer. I should probably chime in with mention of that most American of Independence Day staples, apple pie–there’ll be a bit of that, too.
From all of us here at the NYBG, here’s to a safe, happy, and delicious Independence Day. May your grill-outs be grand and your burgers brilliant. Or your tofu dogs terrific, if that’s more your style!

Rosa ‘Fourth of July’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen