Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Photography on October 14 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Fall foliage tends toward the hotter colors; reds, oranges, and yellows, while falls flowers tend toward the cooler spectrum of purples, blues, and deep pinks.
Photos by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Photography on October 10 2013, by Ann Rafalko
A cosmos of cosmos.
In the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Posted in Photography on October 1 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on July 28 2013, by Matt Newman
Consider this a fete for hummingbirds. The cardinal flowers are a delicacy to our frazzle-winged friends, and if you’re in the Native Plant Garden while they’re in bloom (i.e. now), you might see a few blurry busybodies zipping to and fro.
Lobelia cardinalis — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 25 2013, by Matt Newman
We’re glad summer waited until its allotted solstice to get here, but wow, did it ever arrive. It’s warm out this week, and the flowers are basking accordingly!
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on May 29 2013, by Carol Gracie
After spending nearly three decades at the NYBG, and working much of that time in South American rainforests with her husband, Scott A. Mori, Carol Gracie has returned to one of her first botanical interests–local wildflowers. She is the author of Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast: A Natural History and coauthor (with Steve Clemants) of Wildflowers in the Field and Forest: A Field Guide to the Northeastern United States.
Although many of our northeastern violets are lovely to look at, there is only one that is intensely fragrant—the tiny, white-flowered Viola blanda, commonly called sweet white violet. The delicate little flowers are well worth kneeling down and placing your nose right next to them to inhale their sweet scent.
While there, take the time to observe the structure of the flower. Like other members of its genus, the flowers have five petals, the lowest of which is modified into an extended spur to hold the flower’s nectar. Rather than aroma, most of our violet species attract pollinators with their pleasing colors of purple, white, or yellow. To reach the nectar in the deep spur requires a long proboscis such as that of butterflies. By patiently observing a patch of violets, you may be lucky enough to witness one of these pollinators visiting the flowers. In the case of the accompanying photograph, a West Virginia White butterfly visited several species of violets, among them this long-spurred violet, Viola rostrata. The same species of butterfly may also be seen depositing its eggs on nearby toothwort plants (Cardamine spp.), which serve as food plants for its larvae.
Sweet-scented violets have played a notable role in history. The favorite flower of Napoleon and his first wife, the Empress Josephine, was a European violet, Viola odora, which was especially prized for its lovely, sweet scent. Each year Napoleon would present Josephine with a bouquet of sweet violets on the anniversary of their wedding day. Violets, in fact, became a symbol of the Napoleonic reign. Despite Napoleon and Josephine’s great love, when Josephine failed to produce an heir after 13 years of marriage, Napoleon divorced her and married the young Marie Louise, who quickly bore him a son. However years later, when Napoleon died, his locket was found to contain a lock of Josephine’s hair and some pressed violets—a token of his lasting love for his first wife.
Posted in Photography on May 29 2013, by Ann Rafalko
If you could name a peony, what would you name it?
Paeonia lactiflora ‘Kevin’ (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Posted in Photography on May 28 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Aesculus hippocastanum ‘Baumannii’ near the Stone Cottage (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Posted in Photography on May 26 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Not to be outdone by Manolo Valdés’ ladies and Philip Haas’ botanical busts, the ornamental alliums strike an artistic pose.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on May 24 2013, by Ann Rafalko
It’s summer! Or is it? Given the unpredictable weather of the past few weeks, I guess it comes as little surprise that several days of hazy, hot, and humid afternoons would end with spring reasserting herself just as we hit the three day, “unofficial start of summer” weekend. But don’t let that put a damper on your long weekend plans! We’ve got plenty of warmth, color, and activities to help you relax going into the new season.
In the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, Wild Medicine: Healing Plants Around the World continues to delight with a one-two punch of geeky knowledge and Renaissance beauty. Enjoy tasting stations featuring delicious and healthy treats made from chocolate, tropical fruits, and soothing tea around the Conservatory Courtyard Pools where the hardy waterlilies are again in bloom. You can also spend time with Philip Haas’ amazing Four Seasons, monumental sculptural renderings of the surreal paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, “rendered in trompe l’oeil vegetables, flowers and other horticulture.”
Outside of the Conservatory, there’s plenty that’s beautiful and in bloom around our 250 acres. Favorite subjects of the Garden’s photography enthusiasts, the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden and the herbaceous peonies are back in bloom, and a plethora of other gardens are also looking fine.