Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 12 2013, by Matt Newman
Seldom-seen sunset lighting should lean toward common as we near the winter months. The Seasonal Walk seems all the more dramatic with the sun signing off for the evening.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 11 2013, by Matt Newman
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 10 2013, by Matt Newman
I know it’s hard to wait an entire week between visits to the Greenmarket. Your crisper drawer dips below “stuffed” into “somewhat full” territory and you start wondering what you’ll do for your next vegetable soup, salad, or ratatouille niçoise. Lucky for you, it’s almost Wednesday! We’ll be back tomorrow with our local farmer friends, offering plenty of options for refilling your stock of fresh, late-summer edibles.
This week, expect plenty of apples, pears, plums, melons, tomatoes and peaches, along with some fresh Concord grapes ripe for snacking. On the vegetable front, we expect to see another wave of piquant peppers, including jalapeno, cayenne, and sweet varieties. You should also see corn, tomatillos, herbs, beets, cabbage, and no end of varied baked goods. Something tells me there could be some Mexican-inspired dishes in your future if you know how to mix and match your produce picks, but that might just be my lunch cravings talking.
The NYBG Greenmarket runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Wednesday through November 27, with free short-term parking for Greenmarket shoppers. The market accepts food stamps, EBT, WIC/FMNP, and Senior coupons, in addition to cash and credit or debit cards. Learn how to use EBT, WIC and FMNP at the Greenmarket.
Posted in Gardening Tips on September 10 2013, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.
We all have good intentions. Recently I was perusing well-known quotes on ‘good intentions’ when I came across one that I liked from Jeffery Kluger, a senior writer at Time Magazine. It reads as follows: “There’s a deep-freeze of sorts for all good intentions—a place that you store your plans to make changes in your life when you know you’re not going to make them at all.”
This blog entry is about making good on ‘good intentions’ which may incidentally involve a deep freeze. Every year I plant at least four different types of basil. I do this partially for experimental purposes, though mostly because I love having fresh basil around in the summer. But how often do I actually use it?
That is where good intentions come in. Often basil from my garden or from the store lies around the kitchen before it is all used up. I am ridiculously frivolous and wasteful when it comes to basil. Try as I might, there is something about summer that just does it to me. I swear I will be more vigilant and still it blackens and wilts before my eyes.
What, then, can be done to excess basil to ensure that it is put it to good use throughout the year? When I buy or pick a large bundle of basil, the first thing I generally do is stick the long stems in a glass of water to keep it hydrated. I use it like a vase arrangement and place it on the corner of my kitchen counter at arm’s length from my cutting board.
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 10 2013, by Matt Newman
Short’s Aster (Symphyotrichum shortii) — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 9 2013, by Matt Newman
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 8 2013, by Matt Newman
Sunday is a good day to admire the most delicate constellations.
Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 7 2013, by Matt Newman
I’m thoroughly convinced there aren’t enough confectionery yellows in our Morning Eye Candy series. I’m sure some readers will disagree.
Shrub rose Thrive!® Lemon — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Programs and Events on September 6 2013, by Matt Newman
And with that, we say goodbye. This weekend, The New York Botanical Garden is buttoning up summer’s Wild Medicine exhibition to make room for the arrival of new fall programming (announcements on that to come!) But, as I mentioned yesterday, we’re not about to close out the last few months without a little fanfare.
Taking the stage Saturday at 1 p.m., Wild Medicine curator Dr. Michael Balick presents “Ancient Wisdom and Modern Medicine,” an enlightening presentation on ethnobotany and the global medicinal plant landscape as informed by his many years of plant exploration worldwide. Tickets are limited for this Ross Hall event, so it’s best to make a point of registering yours online before you arrive.
Another special event taking place on Saturday the 7th is our once-only bibliophile treasure hunt! Don’t worry, that’s my own personal title for it. After 12 years away from fiction, Liz Gilbert—author of Eat, Pray, Love—is back with The Signature of All Things, a sweeping tale of botany, exploration, and love in the 19th century. So it’s only fitting that we’d hold this contest at one of the world’s finest botanical institutions. When you’re walking the grounds this Saturday between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., keep an eye out for one of 10 special vouchers hidden throughout. If you happen to see the cover of Liz’ new book on the laminated sheet, snap it up and bring it to our Shop in the Garden for a free advance copy of the novel and a $25 discount on an NYBG Adult Education course of your choice!
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on September 6 2013, by Matt Newman
As I hear it, komorebi is the Japanese word for the way the sunlight filters through the treetops. Now if only I could slip it into the English vernacular, it would be miles easier for me to explain one of my favorite things.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen