Peter Kukielski is the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden Curator.
One of the best things about a rose is that it is the longest blooming perennial plant there is. Roses begin blooming in late May and can continue to bloom until the first frost. The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden is a perfect example of this and continues to bloom even today–the second day of November! This is amazing considering this year’s peak bloom occurred in the third week of May. ‘Easter Basket,’ a variety that is planted along the main alley of the rose garden and newly planted at the top of the stairs, hasn’t been out of bloom since late spring.
Fall is a wonderful time to stop and smell the roses. The cooler air seems to intensify their fragrance, allowing it to linger in the air. The main entrance to the garden is flanked on either side by an incredible collection of English Roses, which are famous for their scent. Other varieties such as ‘Julia Child,’ ‘Quietness,’ ‘Bolero,’ ‘The McCartney Rose,’ ‘Eternal Flame,’ ‘Mister Lincoln,’ ‘Double Delight’, ‘Tiffany,’ and ‘Marie Louise Marjan’ are all incredibly fragrant, and ‘Queen Mary 2’ smells slightly of bananas!
Scott Cully, Sara Mussen & Michael Anthony Natiello contemplate pumpkins and Newton
Gravity, it seems, will always win. Whether it’s in the war against wrinkles, when you drop your buttered toast, or when you’re carving the world’s heaviest pumpkin. Here on earth, we’re all a slave to it.
Yep, that’s right ladies and gents. The giant pumpkins are so big, a man can fit inside. Matthew DeBacco from team-pumpkin.org climbed inside Steve Connolly’s 1,674.5 pounder this morning to harvest some seeds. He reported that it was nice and warm, and that if it were on the Lower East Side it would rent for about $1,500 a month!.
What will the pumpkin end up looking like, and will Cully break his own World Record? Only time will tell. But we do love daydreaming here at the Garden. So to get your imagination going about what the great pumpkin might end up looking like, we thought we’d share a few pictures of Cully’s past creations.
Learn more about the giant pumpkins here, here, and here. And to plan your visit for this fascinating Garden experience, click here.
Anyone who thinks Halloween Hoorah—The New York Botanical Garden‘s annual celebration of all things Halloween and pumpkin–is just for kids clearly did not see the look on my fiancé’s face on a recent Saturday. Maybe it was the generous wine samples we had just enjoyed at the Edible Garden’s finale weekend, or maybe it had to do with the fact that she’s been bringing up having children more often, and more insistently. Either way, her expression of delight as we walked through the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden was unreservedly enthusiastic, and, to a man who has been dealing with the daily headaches of having just moved into a fourth-floor walk-up, this change in mood was entirely welcome.
One of the best things about a rose is that it is the longest blooming perennial plant there is. Roses begin blooming in late May and can continue to bloom until the first frost. The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden is a perfect example of this and continues to bloom even today–the second day of November! This is amazing considering this year’s peak bloom occurred in the third week of May. ‘Easter Basket,’ a variety that is planted along the main alley of the rose garden and newly planted at the top of the stairs, hasn’t been out of bloom since late spring.
