Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Winter
Posted in Around the Garden on January 2 2014, by Matt Newman
Winter in the Garden is far from a sleepy season. With the deciduous trees stripped of their leaves and the branches reaching over and across one other, the grounds adopt a new face—one defined by stark lines and contrasts sparked with small bunches of colorful berries. Groups of birds lunch in and around the trees, and if you’re lucky, you’ll catch sight of a hunting raptor, a Red-tailed Hawk or a Great-horned Owl on a diurnal run. In the conifers you’ll see the classic hunter greens of snow-dusted pine needles arching above the first blooming snowdrops.
Once you’ve admired the New York miniatures of the Holiday Train Show with all its twinkling lights, and stopped to sing along with your kids during a performance of All Aboard with Thomas & Friends, be sure to save some daylight for a walk in the 50-acre Forest. It’s about as close as you can get to seclusion in NYC, and well worth the time spent aimlessly wandering the winding trails. And I do mean aimlessly—it’s pretty gratifying to find yourself strolling along a path you’ve never seen before, more so with a little snow blanketing the branches above.
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Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on January 2 2014, by Matt Newman
First snowdrops of the season seen in the Azalea Garden! Or at least the first we could get pictures of. Horticulture tells us these little guys had been briefly popping their heads up throughout December thanks to the oscillating temperatures, but they should be a more steady presence around the grounds going forward.
Galanthus – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on December 31 2013, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG’s Gardener for Public Education.
While many of us are spending the last day of 2013 furiously editing our list of New Year’s resolutions into something manageable, The New York Botanical Garden is still running full steam ahead with holiday cheer. There are no signs of diets, abandoned gym memberships, or disorganized files to be found—quite the opposite, in fact! The Holiday Train Show is running through January 12 with some marvelous new attractions sure to capture the imaginations of first-time and frequent visitors alike. And for those of you looking to entertain small children, All Aboard with Thomas and Friends returns this Wednesday, January 1, for nearly a month of mini performance adventures featuring sing-alongs and photo opportunities with the famed locomotive.
Meanwhile, it’s a beautiful time of the year to bundle up and take a leisurely walk around the Garden grounds. The Benenson Ornamental Conifer Collection is looking its boreal best with its extensive collection of unusual evergreens suited to both sunny and shady locations.
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Posted in Holiday Train Show on December 31 2013, by Ann Rafalko
What’s better than the Holiday Train Show? How about when we combine the Holiday Train Show with All Aboard with Thomas & Friends! That’s right, starting on New Year’s Day your train-crazy little ones can get a double dose of all things train in one single day (and if you take Metro-North Rail Road to Botanical Garden Station, that’s a triple dose of all things train!).
Running through January 26, your kids can join Thomas and Driver Sam on a new fun-filled, sing-along, mini performance adventure by helping them decorate the station in time for the big Sodor surprise party before the guest of honor arrives! At the end, be sure to have your camera ready for an exciting photo op with the stars of the show!
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Posted in Photography on December 28 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Someone forgot to tell the trees in the Benenson Ornamental Conifers collection that Christmas is over!
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Unknown specimen
Benenson Ornamental Conifers
Posted in Photography on December 25 2013, by Ann Rafalko
We’re closed today for Christmas, but that doesn’t mean we cannot wish you and yours the very best at this festive time of year! Merry Christmas! We’ll see you tomorrow at the Holiday Train Show!
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Gardening Tips on December 24 2013, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
During the holiday season, to put me in a festive mood, I rely on amaryllis, or wreaths decorated with berried juniper, variegated ivy, and incense cedar. But the other day, while I was walking through the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory for a glimpse at the Holiday Train Show, I found a plant in the aquatic plants gallery that already looks like it is decked out for Christmas.
The sealing wax palm, Cyrtostachys renda, is frightfully festive, decked out in jewel tones of red and green! Indigenous to Malaysia and Sumatra, this palm grows in swampy habitats. It is a slow growing palm that reaches about 30 feet tall in nature, but only to about 10 to 15 feet under glass.
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Posted in Photography on December 24 2013, by Ann Rafalko
You know the rest ….
Ilex verticillata (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Posted in Photography on December 21 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Wishing you brightness and light in the year to come, on this, the shortest day of the year!
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on December 20 2013, by Ann Rafalko
It’s time for family and friends! Bring them all to the Garden this weekend, and then give them the gift that keeps giving, Garden Membership! Garden Membership grants free admission, Shop in the Garden discounts, Adult Education course discounts, and allows you to support this vital institution and our local, national, and international education and research initiatives! It’s a gift that does good and brings untold happiness. I would call that a surefire win!
This weekend is chock full of holiday cheer, featuring spirited singalongs, holiday film screenings, architectural tours, and of course, the Holiday Train Show and our very last Bar Car Nights. The weather is set to be anything but frightful (and in fact quite delightful) so strap on your boots and celebrate the Winter Solstice with a stroll through our stunning grounds!
And should you need to do a wee bit more Christmas shopping, Shop in the Garden is having a fabulous ornament sale. Combine a year’s Membership with one of our exclusive Enid A. Haupt Conservatory ornaments as a perfect gift for your very favorite Garden connoisseur.
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Winter in the Garden is far from a sleepy season. With the deciduous trees stripped of their leaves and the branches reaching over and across one other, the grounds adopt a new face—one defined by stark lines and contrasts sparked with small bunches of colorful berries. Groups of birds lunch in and around the trees, and if you’re lucky, you’ll catch sight of a hunting raptor, a Red-tailed Hawk or a Great-horned Owl on a diurnal run. In the conifers you’ll see the classic hunter greens of snow-dusted pine needles arching above the first blooming snowdrops.
