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Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

A Rosy Summer Weekend

Posted in Around the Garden on June 8 2012, by Matt Newman

We’re looking at early summer days in the Garden this weekend! Already we’re seeing warmer temperatures, welcome afternoon showers, and the flushed, vivid shade of green that comes with the hotter months. But bring on the sunglasses and short sleeves; they’re all the better for a picnic.

There’s just about two weeks left in the season, officially, meaning you still have time to catch the early color of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden with an expert-led tour. Afterward, jump right into a session with our Gardener for Public Education, Sonia Uyterhoeven, whose top-notch rosarian wisdom will set you on the path to tending New Dawns and Mr. Lincolns of your own. (It’s okay to be the envy of the Home Owner’s Association, suburbanites.)

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Botanical Art Students Speak Out

Posted in Adult Education, Learning Experiences, Testimonials on June 8 2012, by Joyce Newman

Seize your inspiration! Sign up for Summer Intensives to make the most of the season.

For Abbey Liebman, a fashion design artist in New York City, enrolling in the Botanical Art Summer Intensives was a rewarding way to broaden her skills in fashion design and the arts that was “well worth the money.”

“After taking just a few of the NYBG classes, I have already done freelance design work in botanical art for an apothecary company’s labels. I’d like to do more work like that or begin selling my own art,” says Abbey. She plans to get a certificate at NYBG over the period of a few years while she continues to work at her regular job.

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Morning Eye Candy: The Understudies

Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 8 2012, by Matt Newman

The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden may have the most stage presence, but off in the Earth-Kind® Rose Trial beds, understudies are practicing for their shot at the spotlight. These starlets aren’t pampered, either; they’re thriving without the chemical coddling that so many roses are notorious for.

When they’re done with their auditions (I’m really pushing the tasteful limits of this conceit, aren’t I?), those that make the cut could become available as choice breeds for rosarians frustrated with the tending trends of more high-maintenance varieties.

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Fleur-de-Lis

Posted in Gardens and Collections, Monet's Garden on June 7 2012, by Matt Newman

The fleur-de-lis may predate the French monarchy, but it’s forever the nation of the Seine that we associate it with, and in turn the iris that inspired the symbol. It’s timely, then, that the irises are blooming now for Monet’s Garden, just as they are across the Atlantic in the artist’s garden at Giverny, settled in the north of France. Walking through our own display in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, you’ll come upon several breeds of royal purple flower poking proudly from between the delphiniums, poppies, and furry mullein stalks. But outside, the iris is a constant spring resident!

In ancient Greece, Iris was considered the goddess of the rainbow, a messenger between divinity and humanity who carried the word of the pantheon to Earth. Her flowers do their best to make their namesake proud in at least that first regard, sprouting up along borders and plots throughout the Garden in every shade of purple, blue, pink, and often white or yellow. (True red remains the sought after grail of the iris connoisseur, a color that no amount of hybridizing has been able to produce reliably.) Not the full range of the rainbow, but pretty close, to be sure.

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NYBG Scientists Travel the World for New Species

Posted in Science on June 5 2012, by Matt Newman

For all of our scientific advances–our satellite imaging systems and mapped genomes–the realm of botany is still a field explorer’s game. As often as there are microscopes and lab coats, there are more muddied hiking boots, cans of bug spray, and long days spent trekking through unforgiving wilderness in search of that next spirited discovery. But above all, there are discoveries yet to be made in this increasingly small world, and the Garden’s science team is on the hunt.

In the last year, as with every year, NYBG scientists have spent days, weeks, and months wandering the globe in the search for undiscovered plant species, working to bring our understanding of the world around us just a little closer to complete. And they’re getting the job done. The last 12 months brought to light 81 new plant and fungi species described to science by our experts, found from the jungles of Southeast Asia to the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. In addition to these 81, the findings resulted in two new plant orders and four new genera. That’s not exactly pocket change when it comes to science news.

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Great Rosarians of the World 2012

Posted in Adult Education, Around the Garden, Gardens and Collections on June 5 2012, by Sonia Uyterhoeven

Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG’s Gardener for Public Education.

Our discussions of vegetable gardens are going to be temporarily cut short due to the glorious activity in the world of roses. For the past week, the NYBG‘s Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden has been in peak bloom, exuding a luxurious perfume that can be experienced from a distance.

This past Saturday, The New York Botanical Garden joined the Manhattan Rose Society in hosting the 12th annual Great Rosarians of the World symposium. They may sound like an imposing, exclusive collective, yet they are a jovial group that welcomes even the most casual rose grower. The symposium is open to the public and offered as a course in our Continuing Education catalog.

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