Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Haunted Pumpkin Garden
Posted in Exhibitions on October 14 2014, by Andy Garden
The thrills and chills of the Halloween season are filling The Haunted Pumpkin Garden right now! And more hair-raising fun awaits in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden with the first of four Spooky Nighttime Adventures taking place this weekend. Afraid of the dark? We have plenty of ConEdison flashlights to help you illuminate the Whole Foods Market® Trick-or-Treat Trail while you listen for critters of the night.
There are many opportunities to immerse yourself in the Halloween spirit at NYBG. On October 18, 24, 25, and 31, capture a family photo with larger-than-life skeletons and costumed creatures, delight in the giant pumpkin displays, or even sit in on an eerie ghost story. For those who dare to journey along the meandering Mitsubishi Wild Wetland Trail, keep your eyes peeled for the colossal marsh monster!
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Posted in Programs and Events on September 26 2014, by Lansing Moore
Kick off fall with NYBG this weekend at the Harvest Festival! Two days of music and activities will fill the Garden grounds to benefit the Edible Academy. Come enjoy games on Daffodil Hill, and work up an appetite for our array of specialty samplers and vendors of food, beer, and wine while our exciting lineup of Americana bands fills the air with music. For those who want the full VIP experience, special tickets are available for a live cooking demonstration by Mario Batali and his co-host from ABC’s The Chew, Carla Hall! Those who purchase tickets to Sunday’s Family Garden Picnic may even access a booksigning with Carla Hall or an exclusive reception hosted by Mario Batali—all to support NYBG’s children’s education hub, the Edible Academy.
Your All-Garden Pass grants you access to the Harvest Festival, as well as the recently opened Haunted Pumpkin Garden. Let your kids get into the Halloween spirit with a wide variety of activities in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden—including Creepy Critters of Halloween, an entertaining and educational experience featuring live reptiles. The next two days offer many ways to enjoy fall at NYBG, during this warm and sunny weekend. Click through to check out the full schedule for the Harvest Festival, The Haunted Pumpkin Garden, our special tours, and more!
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on October 31 2013, by Matt Newman
Here’s to a frightful Halloween, a gentle autumn, and the last day of our Haunted Pumpkin Garden! After today, the pumpkins and spooks take their leave to make room for the peak of fall color, the coming winter, and the Holiday Train Show. We’ll see you in the Forest.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Programs and Events on October 29 2013, by Matt Newman
Only two days ’til the spooks and spirits spill out in force for tricking, treating, and spades of ghoulish fun, so it’s not that surprising that we’ll be going all out for the last Greenmarket of October, right? Of course not! The shifting palette of fall foliage mingles with apples, baked goods, and mounds of fresh gourds and pumpkins to make this time of year one of the most beautiful and flavorful harvest periods there is. With the Halloween Harvest Festival hosting Haunted Pumpkin Garden activities for families, donut-eating contests, “Witch’s Brew” samplings and creepy-crawly compost events, it’s nothing you want to miss out on, plus it gives you an excuse to wear that stunning new autumn jacket you just bought.
As a primer for what we’ll likely see on the tables this Wednesday, last week offered a broad spectrum of goodies. From Migliorelli Farm, we saw a Pantone gradient of fresh cauliflower, deep green spinach, all sorts of pumpkins and squash, and fresh tomato juice to remind you that the brunch Bloody Mary never takes a break in New York. Red Jacket Orchards came in on the fruity end of the spectrum, boasting a cadre of pears including Yali, Bosc, and Seckel varieties; apples ranging from Jonamac to Golden Supreme; and enough fruit juice and cider to stock your fridge for a good while. Gajeski Produce brought in the hearty meal fare with fennel, savoy cabbage, Tuscan kale, sweet potatoes and—a personal favorite since I discovered crock pots—fresh collard greens.
But what meal would be complete without at least some kind of dessert, if not an entire bread basket? Meredith’s Bread had that covered with assorted pies and tarts, brownies, cookies, biscotti, and bunches of breads—oatmeal walnut, Anadama corn, and challah varieties among them. Honestly, they’ve always got it covered.
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Posted in Programs and Events on October 23 2013, by Matt Newman
With Halloween looming at the end of this month’s calendar (and on a Thursday of all days—what gives?), we’re not about to pass up any opportunities to celebrate the tricks and treats that come once each fall. So this weekend, on both Friday and Saturday nights, we’re doing the holiday of ghouls, ghosts, and goblins proud with the final two evenings of Spooky Nighttime Adventures. It might be the last chance for your kids to scare up the night without having to worry about rolling out of bed for school the next day!
Seeing as we seldom open the gates after dark for a night of creeping about under the trees, we encourage kids of all ages to break out their costumes and dress for the occasion. They’ll start the Haunted Pumpkin Garden festivities by picking up a treat bag to decorate near our Reflecting Pool while Lucrecia Novoa’s fantastical costumed entertainers keep things lively around the Visitor Center. Afterwards, head out onto the Trick-or-Treat Trail for some well-earned edible rewards, or take part in any number of creepy crawly activities in the Discovery Center and elsewhere: digging for decomposers, dissecting owl pellets, calling for the creatures of the night, decorating gourds to take home, and other hands-on fun.
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Posted in Programs and Events on October 21 2013, by Matt Newman
After spending the day at Grand Central Terminal with Ray Villafane and his cadre of carvers, I had no doubt that his emerging work for this year’s Haunted Pumpkin Garden would be as jaw-dropping as ever. Literally. But I didn’t realize just how massively monstrous Villafane’s plans were! With fangs galore and a squadron of buggy targets for its searching tongue, the finished sculpture came together over the course of our Giant Pumpkin Carving Weekend, landing yet another notch on the team’s belt of pumpkin masterpieces. And, of course, doing the record-breaking pumpkins in attendance proud.
This ravenous plant puts even the most impressive of Venus flytraps to shame, trust me on that one!
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Posted in Around the Garden on October 16 2013, by Matt Newman
“Pumpkin King” isn’t a title tossed around lightly (that’s a long-game pun right there). Come to think of it, Danny Elfman’s probably held the honor longer than anyone. But once each year, right around the time the leaves start wandering off their branches and the Forest takes a sudden lean toward apple reds and lemon yellows, a new monarch arrives at the NYBG to wear the crown a while—and there’s always an entourage tagging along. Big, small, squat and tall, a cadre of gargantuan pumpkins are trundling into the Garden for this year’s Giant Pumpkin Carving Weekend, taking place here this weekend on October 19 and 20!
When your prized produce weighs as much as a standard sedan, no one’s going to call out your efforts for lacking heft. Still, in the hyper-competitive world of mammoth produce, every pound counts—even among the giants, one always stands above the rest, especially when the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth is involved. This year’s record-breaking pumpkin hails from Napa, California, where Tim and Susan Mathison primped and preened a young squash into a 2,032-pound behemoth that easily snatched up the world heavyweight title after a stop on the scale. Joining it at the Garden this year are two pumpkins from Dawn and Bill Northrup of New Brunswick, Canada, at 1,813 and 1,024.5 pounds, respectively; and a pair from Dave and Carol Stelts of Edinburgh, Pennsylvania, clocking in at 1,496 and 1,391.5 pounds. Just to add an extra touch of the big and bizarre, we’ll also have Chris Kent’s record-snapping, 350.5-lb. watermelon flying in from Sevierville, Tennessee; and a long gourd from Fred Ansems of Kentville, Nova Scotia, that clocks in at over 11 feet in length.
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Posted in Programs and Events on October 8 2013, by Ann Rafalko
It’s October, which means it’s time for pumpkin everything, leaf peeping, and spooky good times, and we can promise you all three at NYBG!
Beginning the weekend of October 18, explore the Garden after dark on four special Spooky Nighttime Adventures in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden. Use all your senses to explore what happens in the dark. Listen for creepy critters in the leaf litter, thrill to the entertainers greeting you in the Visitor’s Center, decorate your own Halloween gourd to take home, and so much more!
Kids of all ages are encouraged to come in costume to really get into the spirit of the season! Spooky Nighttime Adventures have timed entrances at 6:30 and 7 p.m. on Friday, October 18; Saturday, October 19; Friday, October 25; and Saturday, October 26. If you’re looking to get the party started early, MasterCard cardholders can access special, early entrance tickets that include treats and an exploration of carnivorous plants. Why carnivorous plants? We thought you’d never ask!
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Posted in Programs and Events on September 27 2013, by Matt Newman
We’re closing out September with a stuffed weekend of on-the-move activities that’ll handily fill your outdoor quota for the week! And because we’re straddling that neutral stretch between the balmy end of summer and the chill of autumn, it’s the perfect time to strike out on a walking tour in one of our inspired collections, brush up on your techniques in the Native Plant Garden, or conquer your phobias with a hands-on introduction to Halloween’s creepiest critters.
But we’ll start you off easy: meet Debbie Becker here at 11 a.m. on Saturday, and bring your binoculars. She’ll be setting out with her weekly group of scrappy birders in search of the avian species that call the NYBG home, as well as those that are just passing through. It’s migratory season for many birds, including some species of warblers, so expect to see some color.
Over in the Clay Family Picnic Pavilions, our friends from local outreach programs will be taking over with the help of spiders, snakes, and at least a few crawly creatures with more legs than could ever seem necessary. But while they may be frightful Halloween symbols to some, most of these insects, reptiles, and amphibians are helpful, industrious, and misunderstood. This is a chance to not only come in contact with these animals from around the globe, but get to know them for the benefits they afford the environment. And that’s only one small part of the ongoing Haunted Pumpkin Garden activities taking place from now through October 31!
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Posted in Programs and Events on September 26 2013, by Matt Newman
I like to think tarantulas, hissing cockroaches, snakes, lizards, and bats are actually the coolest animals in the kingdom, but then again, I was the de facto bug catcher and snake charmer in my neighborhood as a kid; I could be a little biased. Now, for those of you who aren’t entirely keen on making friends with an eight-legged arthropod in an everyday setting, Halloween brings up a handful of opportunities to challenge your fears and jump in on a little creepy-crawly education.
On weekends throughout October, the Clay Family Picnic Pavilions transform into a showcase of legs, wings, and scaly things as experts from local outreach programs introduce the creatures from around the world that, for some, inspire no end of the proverbial willies. The thing is, most of them are not only perfectly friendly, but beyond fascinating. These hands-on animal presentations might even put a dent in the thrill of watching B-movie creature flicks for some of you, especially once you’ve gotten to know the scorpions, giant millipedes, spiders and boa constrictors that you might otherwise run from.
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The thrills and chills of the Halloween season are filling The Haunted Pumpkin Garden right now! And more hair-raising fun awaits in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden with the first of four Spooky Nighttime Adventures taking place this weekend. Afraid of the dark? We have plenty of ConEdison flashlights to help you illuminate the Whole Foods Market® Trick-or-Treat Trail while you listen for critters of the night.
