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Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Spring

Morning Eye Candy: Proof

Posted in Photography on April 15 2014, by Matt Newman

They’re minute but resolute, those small green things that join together to build the season.

Spring in the South Arboretum

In the South Arboretum – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Morning Eye Candy: Clouds of Aroma

Posted in Photography on April 12 2014, by Matt Newman

If you know its scent, you’ll never forget it. The lemony aroma of a springtime caught red-handed.

Lonicera fragrantissima

Winter honeysuckle by the Watson Building (Lonicera fragrantissima) – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

‘Pink Peignoir’ Awakens the Azalea Garden

Posted in Horticulture on April 11 2014, by Kristin Schleiter

Kristin Schleiter is the NYBG’s Associate Vice President of Outdoor Gardens and Senior Curator. She oversees the wonderful gardening team that keeps our flowering gardens looking topnotch, curates the herbaceous gardens and collections, and manages the curator of woody plants. She lives and gardens in Fairfield, CT.

Rhododendron mucronulatum 'Pink Peignoir'At very long last, spring has well and truly come to the Azalea Garden. I can tell because the Korean rhododendron, Rhododendron mucronulatum, is decorating the ridge at the top of the garden near the overlook with its delicious candy colors. My favorite is the earliest-to-bloom ‘Pink Peignoir’ in a shade of cotton candy pink that sings against our often drizzly grey skies and is cheerily visible from a long distance.

Korean rhododendron make marvelous garden plants. They prefer an acid soil (which is what most soil in the tri-state area is naturally) and at least a half a day of good light. They are hardy down to a chilly zone 4. They are deciduous and lose their leaves with a late and lasting foliage show of simmering orange, gold, and scarlet.

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