Happy holidays, everyone—it may not feel much like winter out there today, but the trees are still dressed for the season. From our Instagram feed Wednesday morning, the sketched silhouettes of trees in a drift of fog. Don’t forget to follow us there, where you’ll see highlights small and large from throughout the Garden and our exhibitions!
Heads up that we’re closed today, but we’ll reopen tomorrow for a three-day weekend (that includes Monday) of Holiday Train Show fun. Enjoy your day off!
While the Garden will be closed for Christmas on Friday, December 25, NYBG reopens this Saturday for a three-day weekend chock full of Holiday Train Show activities ranging from a cappella singers to holiday film screenings and more. Once the feasting is done with, and the presents are put away, you deserve a little fresh air—and NYBG is just the place.
Because of the warm weather we’ve been having, you’ll find the Garden an interesting mix of fall and winter, with the trees already dressed for the season and the lawns still boasting the emerald green of late summer. Take advantage of the comfortable temperatures with several of our outdoor tours, including Winter Wonderland Trees and the weekly Saturday bird walk.
It’s going to be a fun and relaxing weekend here at the Garden—I hope you’ll join us!
Redesigned last year, look for the glowing new rendition of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory in….well, the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. It’s a bit meta, but there’s no doubt that it’s one of the most beautiful and beloved landmarks in the Holiday Train Show!
The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory in the Holiday Train Show — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Happy winter solstice! Or what passes for one, anyway. While it’s supposedly the first day of winter—the shortest day of the year and the longest night, in fact—you’ll still find green lawns and the occasional early fall sky to look forward to when you visit NYBG. We anxiously await the first snowfall!
The Library Building & Tulip Tree Allée – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
The Holiday Train Show in 2015 is the biggest and best its ever been, and because the holiday season doesn’t end with December, we’re keeping it going well into January—the 18th, in fact! But that’s not the only thing going on as the new year breaks on NYBG. You’ll want to stick around for the arrival of a familiar tank engine to our Ross Hall.
All Aboard with Thomas & Friends™ returns January 2–24 for what is easily one of our most beloved annual traditions. Kids and their families are invited to join us in Ross Hall for sing-along mini-performances with Thomas and his friend Driver Sam, helping them decorate the station in time for the big Sodor surprise party before the guest of honor arrives. It’s a fun and inclusive event that welcomes participation, and it’s sure to make your little one’s day. After the show, make sure to have a professional photo taken with Thomas to capture the moment!
Tickets to these special performances are timed, and we recommend registering online in advance to ensure you get your preferred spot. But there are plenty of opportunities to meet Thomas and celebrate the season!
The grounds may be growing cooler as we near the start of winter, but that can only mean the art and music of the Garden are all the more present. Throughout the Holiday Train Show, NYBG plays host not only to a much-loved poetry walk and reading, but a series of classical concerts that define the sounds of the season.
The verse of Billy Collins, former U.S. Poet Laureate and a fixture in the lyric history of New York, returns to the Garden this year during our Holiday Train Show, filling the Perennial Garden and its surroundings with the poetry of our city, our landscapes, and the singular experience of living in the five boroughs. You can find his poetry boards on display throughout December and January. But if you’re looking for a more intimate experience, be sure to get seats for Collins’ live reading—here at NYBG’s Ross Hall—on Saturday, December 12.
Debbie Becker has been The New York Botanical Garden’s resident bird expert for over 25 years, and continues to lead her popular Bird Walks on Saturday mornings throughout much of the year. She maintains Birding Around NYC, where readers can find photo galleries of recent NYBG bird walks and up-to-date lists of species seen during each outing.
An Osprey makes off with lunch
As the end of summer draws near, deep sighs can be heard from school children and cries of delight from parents. The pleasures of the warmer months are shared by many in different ways. For those of us who are naturalists and birders, we endure the summer months dreaming about the end of August, because it signals the most exciting seasonal change: the great fall bird migration.
Our plants and trees—it is their time to shine—have spent the summer producing berries and seeds to nourish the migrating birds. The fruit of the crabapple, dogwood, and viburnum become ripe with juicy berries for Scarlet Tanagers, Baltimore Orioles, and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, while the sweet gum tree offers nestled seeds—in sticky balls—to American Goldfinch, Pine Siskins, Red-winged Blackbirds and Purple Finch. Cedar Waxwings will also partake in harvesting berries for sustenance. Eastern Kingbirds use the ripe berries as lures to catch insects attracted to the sweet nectar. Birders and photographers fancy themselves capturing these scenes over and over again and flock to NYBG to enjoy the fall bird migration.
You’ll often see the Orchid Rotunda of the Library Building listed on our maps and handouts at the Garden, but seldom does it see the spotlight on Plant Talk—until now, anyway! Pat Gonzalez happened by and decided to snap a photo of the glass enclosure for which the Rotunda is eponymously named. This column of living orchids displays some of the most dazzling varieties year after year.
We’re at the tail end of one of the coldest Februaries on record, the snow pack on our lawns is thick enough to keep the plants nicely insulated, and you can visit the equator by setting foot in our Haupt Conservatory. One of those things is not like the other—I know. But this Saturday marks the public opening of The Orchid Show for 2015, and it could not be more tropical in there. It’s plenty warm, the humidity’s up (especially compared to what you’re dealing with in your city apartment, I imagine), and everyone is welcome to join us for some much-needed color and life.
There’ll be plenty of additional events and activities open to you when you stop by, too, including tours, orchid care demonstrations for greenthumbs new and old, dance lessons, and fun for kids. Head below for our full weekend schedule, but before you do, check out our first “making of” video of 2015 for The Orchid Show, where Anna Toledano explains the motivations behind this year’s aerially-inspired flower theme.
Sorry about the misleading title, but I could think of nothing but spring-colored peppermints when I saw these orchids waiting for their moment in the spotlight during The Orchid Show. See them for yourself beginning February 28.
