Much of the charm of the Conservatory’s Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden display comes from a glorious assortment of upright annuals. These make tall, statuesque, and often bold additions to any seasonal border. But while we often associate height in both perennial and annual borders with spires that guide your eyes upward—and there are certainly plenty of spires in this Groundbreakers display—what delighted me was the variety of other forms that gave height to the border.
One striking example was the monster-sized umbels of false Queen Anne’s lace, Ammi visnaga ‘Green Mist’. This opulent annual sports large Queen Anne’s lace flowers above ferny foliage. It grows to four feet tall and will create an impressive show whether placed in the middle or back of an annual border. It attracts beneficial insects into your garden and also makes a spectacular cut flower.
With the return of the NYBG Greenmarket, we don’t know what to pick from this summer’s bountiful local produce. Ever wonder what New York’s most talented chefs have to say about what to do with fresh fruits and vegetables? Thanks to NYBG’s good friend Mario Batali, we were able to ask these same questions to some of the people behind Batali’s spectacular restaurants, such as Eataly and Del Posto.
In our Kitchen Tales series, six chefs discuss their favorite vegetables in a number of brief video interviews. Click through to hear their tips and anecdotes.
These colorful buds are commonly known as sneezeweed, but don’t worry! They won’t be especially rough on your allergies. The name comes from this plant’s former use in manufacturing snuff powder.
Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ along Seasonal Walk – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
July is just around the corner, and the grounds continue to impress us each day with new bursts of color. The Groundbreakers exhibit continues to bring visitors on a journey through the history of great American gardens, and now is the perfect time to see the parts of the Garden designed by these extraordinary women.
This Saturday will be the last chance to enjoy one of Debbie Becker’s famous Bird Walks until they resume in September! Our winged friends are enjoying the sunny days even more than we are, and there are a wide variety of species to observe. Enjoy a walk through the grounds and keep an eye out for cardinals, bluejays, robins, or even one of our resident Red-tailed Hawks! That’s just one event in a full weekend of programs. Click through to see what’s happening for all ages at the Garden this weekend!
Kristin Schleiter is the NYBG’s Associate Vice President of Outdoor Gardens and Senior Curator. She oversees the wonderful gardening team that keeps our flowering gardens looking top notch, curates the herbaceous gardens and collections, and manages the curator of woody plants. She lives and gardens in Fairfield, CT.
As spring has turned to summer, so my attention has turned to the Native Plant Garden meadow. It changes daily now, with new plants offering their voices to the swelling chorus. One of my very favorites is Bush’s poppymallow, Callirhoe bushii. Set among fine grasses, golden tickseed, and brilliant white wild quinine, its white-eyed magenta cups demand attention.
Happy in average or dry soil, Bush’s poppymallow loves a sunny site and will flower throughout the summer and sporadically into the early fall. In our meadow, its loosely sprawling stems pop up through its neighbors, creating lovely and spontaneous living bouquets. It has seeded itself around gently, but editing is easy if you wish. All Callirhoe have taproots which makes them very drought tolerant, but also very difficult to move once established.
Okay, they’re not actually tulips per se, but the tulip trees along the Allee are far more than sentinels guarding the path to the Library Building. If you can see that high, you’ll notice the blooms from which they pulled their name, flowering now as we head into summer.
Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
