Morning Eye Candy: Patience
Posted in Photography on November 11 2013, by Ann Rafalko
The leafy trees are currently getting all the acclaim, while the conifers wait in the wings. They know their time to shine is coming!
Inside The New York Botanical Garden
new york city
Morning Eye Candy: Wonderful Wamsler
Posted in Photography on November 10 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Wamsler Rock, a majestic outcropping of rock between the Rock Garden and the Native Plant Garden, is looking exceptional at the moment.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
This Weekend: Fall Forest Fun!
Posted in Around the Garden on November 8 2013, by Ann Rafalko
That awesome crisp fall air is due back this weekend, just on schedule for another Fall Forest Weekend!
Why fete a forest? Because the 50-acre Thain Family Forest isn’t just another woodland. It’s one of the largest remaining tracts of old growth forest in New York City. New York’s five boroughs were once covered by woodlands, but the relentless march of time and commerce denuded our fair islands, until only isolated pockets of forest remained. But the Thain Family Forest is hardly isolated, despite being in the middle of the Bronx. It is connected to woodlands further upstate by the Bronx River and the greenest borough’s extensive network of parks. This makes the Forest a truly unique place, home to native plants, trees, and critters, as well as a cadre of scientists studying it all.
And the Forest’s majestic, sometimes centuries old, trees are currently at peak fall foliage! Perfect timing, right? So come walk our trails, paddle the Bronx River, sample local beers, watch demonstrations of birds of prey, tree climbing, woodworking, and home gardening, enjoy fun-filled family activities in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden (adjacent to the Forest), geek out on the many scientific pursuits being pursued under the Forest’s mighty trees, and so much more!
And while it is the Forest we are celebrating this weekend, the entirety of our 250-acres is looking spectacular! Bid a fond farewell to the gorgeous Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden for the season, enjoy beautiful vistas from the Azalea Garden, sit and read a book in the serene Perennial Garden, and wander amongst the green lushness of the Benenson Ornamental Conifers collection. We hope to see you soon!
Morning Eye Candy: Fall on the River
Posted in Photography on October 27 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
One Week To Garden Photography Greatness
Posted in Photography on October 25 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Our friends at the International Garden Photographer of the Year contest asked us to remind you that there is just one week left for you to enter this prestigious contest, and I thought it was an excellent opportunity to remind you that the Garden is an amazing place to take photographs with which to enter!
I’m sure most people think that spring and summer would be the best times in which to undertake a photographic exploration of our 250 acres, but fall is also an incredibly beautiful time, especially since the reopening of our Native Plant Garden earlier this year. Native plants seem to really shine in fall, they lend so much beautiful texture and color to the landscape. And let’s not forget fall’s amazing light. It lends an incredible luminosity to flowers and leaves, and the long shadows of this season can add incredible drama and contrast to your shots.
This Weekend: Spooks, Blooms, and Trees!
Posted in Around the Garden on October 25 2013, by Ann Rafalko
The weekend starts on Friday evening, right? At NYBG it does! Celebrate the start of the weekend with a Spooky Nighttime Adventure!
Children of all ages are encouraged to come in costume for this after-dark Halloween spook-tacular. Explore the creepy crawlies hiding in the shadows of the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, see Ray Villafane’s amazing giant pumpkin sculpture illuminated and looking cool, and decorate your own gourd to take home. If you can’t make it Friday, don’t panic—there’s another Spooky Nighttime Adventure on Saturday, too.
This weekend is also the final weekend of Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Garden, and we’re celebrating with a weekend focused on two Japanese artforms: bonsai and poetry. Incredible examples of bonsai will be on display in the Conservatory Courtyards, and demonstrations aimed at helping you understand these miniature trees will be held at 12 and 2 p.m. On Sunday join acclaimed poet Jane Hirshfield for an afternoon of poetry celebrating the beauty of fall flowers and foliage and their significance in Japanese culture
And if you’re just looking for a reason to get outside, our 250 acres have you covered! Cooler weather is helping to bring out the fall color in the Thain Family Forest in a real way. If you’re interested in the fine art of photographing trees, a Saturday morning conversation with Larry Lederman, where he will share his technical, creative, and philosophical insights into the art of nature photography, is a must. The Forest’s 50-acres of old growth trees isn’t the only place for leaf peeping within our borders, the entire Garden puts on a show at this time of year. So lace up your sneakers or hiking boots, hop the train, and join us for a weekend full of trees, spooks, and blooms!
Pumpkin Power
Posted in Gardening Tips on October 22 2013, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.
This is the time of year when we celebrate everything autumnal at the Garden. As part of the Haunted Pumpkin Garden, some of the year’s biggest pumpkins have been carved by master carver Ray Villafane and his crew from Villafane Studios into a display with a theme resembling a home garden run amok. I am personally hoping to see Rick Moranis pop out of one of these pumpkins and wow us with his endearing humor, but something tells me that won’t happen. In addition, we have a lot of fun activities going on at the Garden right now, from demonstrations with bats and bugs to the statuesque and enthralling Japanese chrysanthemum exhibition, Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Garden.
In the spirit of the season, I’ll be in the Perennial Garden this weekend giving a demonstration on how to make decorative arrangements with pumpkins and gourds. This demonstration is always a popular one, giving homeowners some fun, easy, and creative ideas on how to dress up their homes for the holidays.
Morning Eye Candy: Constellation Kiku
Posted in Photography on October 20 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Amid all the pumpkin hubub we mustn’t forget about the phenomenal exhibition Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Garden on now through October 27 in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
This Weekend: One Word: Pumpkins!
Posted in Around the Garden on October 18 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Actually, let’s make that four words: Giant Pumpkin Carving Weekend! Have you heard the news? NYBG is playing host to the new world’s heaviest pumpkin, a 2,032-pound giant grown by Tim and Susan Mathison of Napa, California. Heavier than a 2013 Smart FourTwo (by a lot) the Mathison’s phenomenal pumpkin is joined by a retinue of other enormous gourds, a record breaking long gourd, and the new world’s heaviest watermelon.
You might think this all sounds like a recipe for a record-breaking pot of squash soup, followed by the world’s largest fruit salad, but you would be wrong (these fruit are barely edible because of the intense breeding for weight—well, kind of. They will be turned into “food,” food for zombie Venus flytraps!
How to Track Fall In the Bronx From Your Couch
Posted in Around the Garden on October 15 2013, by Ann Rafalko
In some parts of New York State, autumn has already come and gone. But here in the Bronx? The best is yet to come! How will you know when it’s time to pay us a visit to see the Garden’s 250-acres dressed up in the prettiest oranges, reds, and yellows of fall? With our new Fall Foliage Tracker of course!
The Garden has a multitude of places for you to enjoy the beauty of fall, but if I had to pick just one place you must visit for fall foliage enjoyment, it would be the Thain Family Forest. This 50-acre old growth forest is the largest remaining tract of the woodlands that once covered all five boroughs of New York City. The Bronx River, New York City’s only freshwater river, cuts through it in a dramatic gorge complete with a waterfall. Stand above the river on the Hester Bridge for one of the Garden’s great fall foliage vistas.