Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 19 2012, by Matt Newman
I thought, “Guthrie? Like Woody Guthrie?” His first wife went by the name of Mary. But it wasn’t her. I dug a little further into the root of this hoop skirt of a rose and came up with another Mary, a world away, to whom the pink thing owed its name.
It was in 1929 that Alister Clark, renowned Australian rosarian, named this rose after his own Mary Guthrie, though what relationship Clark had with the Guthrie family is proving difficult to uncover. There’s a telling anecdote from a book titled The Rose Gardens of Australia that illustrates just how important the honor was to the namesake, which I’ve included below.
Polyantha rose – Rosa ‘Mary Guthrie’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
“… We had some notable visitors to the garden. From Eve I had got a vivid pink, single bush rose which she had called ‘Ella Guthrie’. One morning a delightful, white-haired, sprightly old lady of well over eighty visited us and, without any preamble, demanded to see the Alister Clark roses. I walked down with her and, as we came through the gate, she gave a cry of delight and started to run across the grass. ‘That’s me!’ she cried. ‘That’s me!’ Then, as she read the label saying ‘Ella Guthrie’ she turned to me in disgust. ‘That’s not ‘Ella,’ she said emphatically. ‘She was my aunt, and a poor, washed-out thing, like her rose. This is me! Mary Guthrie! Alister said it looked like a wild rose, so he called it after me, because I was always the wild one of the family.’ Of course, I changed the label without delay.”
— Susan Irvine
Posted in Monet's Garden on June 18 2012, by Joyce Newman
Joyce H. Newman is the editor of Consumer Reports’ GreenerChoices.org, and has been a Garden Tour Guide with The New York Botanical Garden for the past six years.
Yes, it’s a weed, it’s a biennial, and it’s called mullein (Verbascum bombyciferum). So many visitors asked me about this plant during a recent Conservatory tour of Monet’s Garden that, as soon as I got home, I went straight to the computer to look up more information.
When it comes to weeds, as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” And it seems Monet’s keen eye was quick to see those virtues in mullein, especially when its wooly, whitish leaves were placed near the foliage of poppies.
For our exhibition, Monet’s spring flower garden features lots of poppies in many colors alongside–you guessed it–mullein. Rising over four feet high, the showy yellow flowers really stand out, prompting visitors to ask, “What’s that?”
Read More
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 18 2012, by Matt Newman
I like to think Monet would approve of the Water Lily Pond here, with its artful, circular collections of pads, and the monolithic image of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory over all.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 17 2012, by Matt Newman
Shop in the Garden — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 16 2012, by Matt Newman
Sometimes I’ll come across something that looks like a sorbet, a baked tart, or a platter of colorful petit fours, knowing full well that nature usually does a better job of making things look “good enough to eat” than the local confectioner. Not that the poison control hotline would humor me if I acted on all of these novel compulsions, but, hey, it’s just a thought.
Iris ensata ‘Gusto’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Exhibitions, Monet's Garden, Programs and Events on June 15 2012, by Matt Newman
We’re bringing the City of Lights to the City that Never Sleeps, and it begins this Saturday night with the first of our Monet Evenings.
Once a month from now through September, the NYBG will host elegant cocktail nights flaunting all the romance of the city on the Seine–the pluck and jangle of Gypsy Jazz, the nostalgic swoon of “La Vie en Rose,” the swing of the Zazou movement, or the sanguine strains of Debussy. Because, the way we see it, there’s no need to stop at the rural charm of Monet’s Giverny when so many of his contemporaries found their muse on the Champs-Élysées. Impressionism goes beyond the context of the canvas, after all.
Read More
Posted in Around the Garden on June 15 2012, by Matt Newman
A herd of us, myself included, skipped out on our desks yesterday to spend the morning in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, picking our way through the planted rows and soaking up the spring weather. We’re not truants so much as curious and hungry, really. After a few minutes chatting with the Family Garden’s Assistant Manager, Annie Novak, we can’t think of a better place to let loose with your kids over the weekend.
I’m not just saying that because Annie kindly let us pluck a couple of sugarsnap pea pods to munch on, either. (After much whining and pleading on our part, though totally worth the effort considering how crispy-delightful they were).
More than an oasis of everyday New York staples, this foodie bonanza is also the host of Global Gardens, where five international green thumbs are tending plots that represent the home-grown veggies of their countries’ cuisines: Italian, Irish, Korean, Chinese, and Caribbean. And (perfect timing, I know) this weekend marks their Summer Harvest Celebration!
Read More
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 15 2012, by Matt Newman
A maroon-flecked princess lily may have the irises flush with envy in the Ladies’ Border. Not only does this Californian cultivar boast a name just as warm, sweet, and spirited as its color suggests, but in the right light, a group of them cuts a figure like an angelic brass section.
Alstroemeria ‘The Third Harmonic’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in From the Library, Photography on June 14 2012, by Matt Newman
Happy Flag Day, everyone! Today marks the 235th anniversary of our star-spangled banner’s adoption, recognized each year on the 14th of June with a quiet “hurrah!” before the Fourth of July fireworks. And nearly a century ago, this was a momentous day at the Garden.
Our own flags were first raised on a sunny Saturday in 1917, and while it was during the height of World War I, Bronx residents still took the time to gather in celebration. In the midst of so much grim news from Europe, NYBG staff had pulled together to keep spirits high; the raising of three flag poles gifted to us on June 16 of that year (it’s easier on the weekend) gave the Garden an excuse to party–with parades, poetry, and at least a few swords.
It’s not often that something so simple as a flag raising gets its own marching band treatment these days, but hey, John Philip Sousa was a much bigger deal back then. The gifts–from one Edward D. Adams, NYBG board member–were met with a crowd of several hundred local school children, three separate Boy Scout troops (and their band), then Bronx Borough President Douglas Mathewson, and many more.
Read More
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography, Wildlife on June 14 2012, by Matt Newman
A bee bumbling through a graceless moment, or enjoying the revelation of flower petal as recliner?
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
