Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 23 2012, by Matt Newman
And with that, summer is nothing but a fond memory. It’s not yet October and already the air is brisk and the leaves changing fashions. Thanks goes out to Amy Weiss of the NYBG‘s Steere Herbarium for capturing the change in action.
“First Tinge of Fall” — Photo by Amy Weiss
Posted in Around the Garden on September 19 2012, by Matt Newman
On Saturday, September 22, the autumnal equinox comes along to peg the exact moment when the northern hemisphere tilts its way into the colder months, leaving many northeastern green thumbs with a bittersweet goodbye on their hands; it’s ciao to cucumbers and adios to eggplants until 2013. But just because summer’s warmth is tipping its hat, that doesn’t mean you need to stow your trowels and pack up your gardening gloves! As explained by Toby Adams, manager of the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, fall can be just as bountiful with a little savvy under your belt.
For the cooler seasons, we’re giving a farewell salute to tomatoes, summer squash, and fresh beans, but welcoming an entirely new class of crops to our one-acre vegetable garden; all sorts of hardy vegetables will be taking root, including mustard greens, broccoli, and prolific plots of radishes to be harvested later in fall. And if the fresh start wasn’t reason enough for fanfare, we’re marking the first day of fall with the long-awaited Edible Garden Festival on Sunday, September 23. It’s as proper a send-off to summer as I can imagine, with all-day gardening activities, cooking demonstrations, and a gourmand’s getaway in Mario Batali‘s garden-to-table dinner event.
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 14 2012, by Matt Newman
September 22 may be the first official day of fall, but while most of our collections are abiding by the schedule, the Forest marches to the beat of its own drum. You’re supposed to toast the first color of autumn with apple cider, right?
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on December 3 2011, by Matt Newman
The peak of fall foliage is an explosion of color, but the window of opportunity to catch this sort of beauty is sometimes slim. For some trees it only takes a week or two before the brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows that come with cooler weather have passed; you venture out one day to find every last leaf crunching underfoot, and a latticework of barren branches netting the sky above.
As I walked through the Garden recently, noting the trees which were heavy with leaves just a week or two ago, I found myself hunting out the stragglers. I suppose it’s more accurate to call them survivors–the last of the foliated plants, big and small, still stubbornly holding onto their leaves when many growing around them have already closed up shop for the coming winter. Somehow, the few holding out until the last minute seem that much brighter for their small numbers.
Posted in Photography on November 23 2011, by Ann Rafalko
The Twin Lakes–located at the northernmost point of the Garden–are a great place to enjoy fall’s beautiful light.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Photography on November 22 2011, by Ann Rafalko
Fall announces itself in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden with a flush of foliar color, as the flowers gently fade away.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Photography on November 21 2011, by Ann Rafalko
The Ladies’ Border, nestled on the southern end of the Conservatory, is a fascinating garden. Planted full of beautiful plants, trees, and flowers not normally hardy in this climate, it is a study in boundary-pushing. And beauty.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Gardening Tips on November 8 2011, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
Last week we spoke about the art of growing giant pumpkins. Now, we will take a look at some of the creative things that you can do with your pumpkins once they have been pulled from the vine.
The chef will recommend pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, or a slice of pumpkin bread washed down with a pumpkin latte. The entertainer and the homemaker have another option, though–pumpkins crafted into splendid temporary vases. Every year I do a demonstration on festive seasonal floral arrangements intended to give visitors to The New York Botanical Garden some simple and fun home craft ideas, a few of which I have detailed here.
Posted in Photography on October 27 2011, by Ann Rafalko
Along the Bronx River.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Photography on October 23 2011, by Ann Rafalko
A Touch of Red (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)