Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 27 2012, by Matt Newman
The hydrangeas are emerging as this month’s Best in Show, so to speak. They’re looking almost candy-coated in the Home Gardening Center.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 26 2012, by Matt Newman
A spot of lily color (with a cultivar name I first mistook for ‘Pink Twinkie’) to distract you from the reality of a long week still ahead. This one’s chilling out in the Perennial Garden (also a decent place to escape workday doldrums).
Lilium ‘Pink Twinkle’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 25 2012, by Matt Newman
Care to guess this edible? Er, soon-to-be edible. The species in question is native to China, and directly related to something many countries eat (or the song suggests we eat) during the holidays.
Give up? It’s the Chinese chestnut tree. In the U.S., American chestnuts (Castanea dentata) were devastated by the chestnut blight when it arrived from Asia, but this species evolved alongside the blight to be highly resistant to its effects. Now, scientists are making every effort to breed a deliberate hybrid with the tree size and nut qualities of the American species, and the resistance of the Chinese species.
And that whole thing about roasting chestnuts on an open fire? Mel Tormé wrote “The Christmas Song” in 1944, after finding his music partner’s scribblings of winter scenery on a spiral notebook. It was the middle of a miserably hot summer, and said partner had been trying to cool off by thinking of chilly weather. Might not hurt to try it now.
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on June 24 2012, by Matt Newman
We can’t tell you how grateful we are to have this running through the NYBG. Sometimes, just lazing on the bridge over the Bronx River is a good way to take the edge off the afternoon heat.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on June 22 2012, by Matt Newman
I read in the paper (I’ll give them up the minute subway tunnels offer 4G) that Wednesday’s thermometer topped out at 110 degrees Fahrenheit in Times Square, placing New York City’s temperatures almost on par with those of Dubai. We’re better off at the NYBG, of course; lush grass and acres of shady trees tamp down the heat some. But don’t get me wrong, Manhattanites–it’s not like I’m trying to rub it in or anything. Not really.
There’s an upside to summer in the city beyond fruity cocktails and flip-flops, and it’s none other than “Sweet and Stinky,” launched just this week to celebrate the passing of the solstice. As an amateur chef, albeit one paradoxically awful and ambitious, I feel like this is the kind of hot-weather activity every cook-out fan should get in on. This stuff smells heavenly with some heat behind it.
“If you’re walking around the Garden and you smell sauteed onions, you’ll know it’s us!” said Annie Novak, Assistant Manager of the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden.
Posted in Around the Garden on June 20 2012, by Ann Rafalko
The Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden is a New York City treasure. No hyperbole–just ask anyone who has spent 10 minutes in this verdant acre. The Howell Family Garden has been the backyard garden for generations of New Yorkers. In the mornings it plays host to hundreds of schoolkids on a daily basis, and in the afternoons it is open to everyone. Just drop in, slow down, and enjoy. Pick a pea. Pull a weed. Plant a seed. It’s a bucolic oasis!
So I wanted to let you know about two opportunities available in July that will allow you to more fully enjoy the Family Garden in the height of summer.
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on May 30 2012, by Matt Newman
I have to wonder why we don’t have a spring groundhog popping up to predict six more weeks of chilly mornings and refreshing afternoons. Anyone who spent the Memorial Day afternoon in the boroughs will commiserate (at one point I felt compelled to fashion my jeans into capris–only the lack of scissors stopped me). But there’s relief beyond the swamp that is your conveniently central air-free apartment!
Get to the NYBG, find a patch of shade (there’s plenty), and note that an easy Forest breeze beats that rickety floor fan in your bedroom any day.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Photography on December 28 2011, by Ann Rafalko
July at the Garden was hot. Very hot. And the animals that call NYBG home suffered–and coped–right alongside us humans and the plants we care for. Some had an easier time of it than others, like these cheery muskrats!
Posted in Photography on September 6 2011, by Ann Rafalko
Sweet smell of phlox drifting across the lawn—
an early warning of the end of summer.
August is fading fast, and by September
the little purple flowers will all be gone.
The End of Summer ~ Rachel Hadas
Seasonal Walk (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Posted in Photography on August 17 2011, by Ann Rafalko
There are so many good spots to sit and soak-in the sun at the Garden.
A Sunny Bench (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
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