The weather’s on the move. You can see it in the cardigans sprinkling sidewalk traffic, and the words “pumpkin spice” galloping across coffee shop windows from here to the city limits. It’s moving in the Garden, too, however small the measures; the air’s crisp and the summer haze is lifting, and in pockets you see the subtle tease of changing leaves. But while the heat may be pulling up stakes, our blockbuster summer exhibition—FRIDA KAHLO: Art, Garden, Life—is anything but finished. I’d say it’s just getting started in the new season.
As we head into fall, keep an eye out for the first signs of Día de los Muertos, the Mexican day of the dead held in honor of passed relatives. We’re already prepping for two incredible weekends held in celebration of the holiday come late October, and we’re not about to miss an opportunity to invite our friend Ray Villafane, pumpkin carver extraordinaire, to join us in the adventure. During Frida al Fresco evenings from now through the end of the exhibition on November 1, expect the fall colors to mingle in kind with new schedules of live music, dance, food, and drink to suit the season.
Now in their eighth year, the Concierge Choice Awards are an opportunity for New York City’s sharpest guides to spotlight the institutions and individuals that make the Big Apple experience what it is. NYBG was recognized as the Best Tourist Attraction in the five boroughs by the New York City Association of Hotel Concierges back in 2013, and this year we were asked back to the stage for an encore performance!
There’s no dearth of options for keeping yourself busy in New York. Whether you live here or you’re in town for an adventure, you’ve got Broadway shows, Museum Mile, countless first-class restaurants, and sprawling green spaces—all vying for your attention. To be counted among the top institutions in this city by the people who know them best is a momentous honor for NYBG, and we’re all so thankful to have been considered.
The next time you’re in the city, or even if you’re a resident and you feel like taking a hotel staycation, make time to stop by the concierge’s desk to get some input on the day’s plans—because nobody knows this metropolis better.
Debbie Becker has been The New York Botanical Garden’s resident bird expert for over 25 years, and continues to lead her popular Bird Walks on Saturday mornings throughout much of the year. She maintains Birding Around NYC, where readers can find photo galleries of recent NYBG bird walks and up-to-date lists of species seen during each outing.
An Osprey makes off with lunch
As the end of summer draws near, deep sighs can be heard from school children and cries of delight from parents. The pleasures of the warmer months are shared by many in different ways. For those of us who are naturalists and birders, we endure the summer months dreaming about the end of August, because it signals the most exciting seasonal change: the great fall bird migration.
Our plants and trees—it is their time to shine—have spent the summer producing berries and seeds to nourish the migrating birds. The fruit of the crabapple, dogwood, and viburnum become ripe with juicy berries for Scarlet Tanagers, Baltimore Orioles, and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, while the sweet gum tree offers nestled seeds—in sticky balls—to American Goldfinch, Pine Siskins, Red-winged Blackbirds and Purple Finch. Cedar Waxwings will also partake in harvesting berries for sustenance. Eastern Kingbirds use the ripe berries as lures to catch insects attracted to the sweet nectar. Birders and photographers fancy themselves capturing these scenes over and over again and flock to NYBG to enjoy the fall bird migration.
We’re almost to that point where we can officially start admiring the long shadows and defined light of winter. The first day of the season is this Sunday, December 21.
While most of the Garden is being put to bed, our Seasonal Walk—designed by Piet Oudolf—is still putting on a notable display as the winter approaches. This is thanks to Oudolf’s naturalistic design which incorporates many plants that senesce well and provide interest even after they’ve passed their seasonal prime.
A week or two ago I was working on the Seasonal Walk, tidying up the border with my colleague, Katie Bronson, and we were admiring some of the sturdier perennials that still looked good even into December. One of the most striking features of the Walk at the onset of the hibernal months is the tall purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea ssp. arundinacea ‘Transparent’). This grass played an important role earlier in the season as it shot up to nearly six feet, towering over many of its neighboring perennial brethren. ‘Transparent’ has airy flowers with an open habit and long-lasting seedheads.
The stems of ‘Transparent’ turn into a vision of glowing embers late in the season, when they take on golden, orange, and raspberry hues. Those of you with a watchful eye may have noticed as you strolled down the border that some of the stems on certain grasses were upright, sturdy, and colorful, while other, similar grasses looked somewhat worse for wear and had only golden yellow stems. Katie told me that along with ‘Transparent’, some tall more grass (Molinia arundinacea ‘Skyracer’) had been planted. Presumably these plants will be removed in the spring and replaced with more ‘Transparent’. It was difficult to distinguish the two during the growing season, but their disparities became apparent in the fall.
Rich with deeper meaning, Frost taught us that “nothing gold can stay,” but I do wish—in the most literal sense—that this eulalia grass would stick it out.
Eulalia grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’) in the Perennial Garden – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
The poetry of Billy Collins has long bridged the gap between the generations with its evocation of all things New York. For those who live here, his verse is a painted representation of daily life in the city, winter trips along the Hudson, and workaday commuter rituals unchanged for decades. At large, he’s a classic American poet, something recognized by virtue of the fact that he’s a former U.S. Poet Laureate. But as timeless as his words are, the effect is all the more potent when you hear them read aloud by Collins himself.
This Saturday, December 13, Billy Collins returns to The New York Botanical Garden for an intimate reading of his works in our Ross Hall. For those of you who’ve enjoyed strolling the Poetry Walk that winds its way through the Perennial Garden—just outside the Holiday Train Show taking place in the Conservatory—this is a chance to hear these poems as they were intended by the writer. Of course, if you haven’t had the opportunity to stroll through Poetry for Every Season, you’ll have the best of both worlds. And it’s not a bad time to check out the Train Show, either.
The weather’s on the move. You can see it in the cardigans sprinkling sidewalk traffic, and the words “pumpkin spice” galloping across coffee shop windows from here to the city limits. It’s moving in the Garden, too, however small the measures; the air’s crisp and the summer haze is lifting, and in pockets you see the subtle tease of changing leaves. But while the heat may be pulling up stakes, our blockbuster summer exhibition—FRIDA KAHLO: Art, Garden, Life—is anything but finished. I’d say it’s just getting started in the new season.
