Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Japanese apricot

Morning Eye Candy: Under Flighty Sun

Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on March 22 2013, by Matt Newman

In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.

— Mark Twain

Snow, sleet, or flighty sun, the plum blossoms seem to be taking spring’s early days in stride. The rest of the Garden, likewise, follows suit. I hope your Friday is as bright.

Prunus mume 'Matsurabara Red'

Prunus mume ‘Matsurabara Red’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Morning Eye Candy: Matsurabara

Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on March 4 2012, by Matt Newman

I post a lot of Japanese apricot photos during Morning Eye Candy, or at least more than amounts to fair and proper representation for all the Garden’s flowers. But just look at this picture:

Prunus mume ‘Matsurabara Red’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

What’s Beautiful Now: A Mild February

Posted in Around the Garden, What's Beautiful Now on February 23 2012, by Matt Newman

HamamelisNearing spring, we find plenty to be excited about as we walk through The New York Botanical Garden’s outdoor collections. Not that there isn’t a faint sense of curiosity, too; as Sonia Uyterhoeven has explained before, the weather patterns this winter have tricked certain plants into breaking dormancy early, resulting in a few blooms that will end up missing their spring date. But regardless, we appreciate the beauty whenever it happens to come around. And many of these flowering plants are proving right on time.

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Morning Eye Candy: Outside Osaka

Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on February 5 2012, by Matt Newman

Many a blossoming tree on Garden grounds originates in Asia, and each–at least to me–carries with it a familiar air of eastern aesthetic. I suppose we owe that to the centuries of botanical imagery recorded in the artistic traditions of places like Korea, China, and Japan. The Japanese apricot (also Chinese plum, or simply “plum blossom”) is something of an archetype.

In this case, beauty isn’t fleeting: there’s a plum blossom tree in China that’s still flowering after 1,600 years.

Prunus mume 'Peggy Clarke'

Prunus mume ‘Peggy Clarke’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen