Earth Month Celebration 2026

Before New York Exhibition

Opening April 25
Ross Gallery

Before New York, there was nature. After New York, there will also be nature. Nature was, is, and forever will be a co-creator of the city we call home. Before New York, a historical photo and multimedia exhibition, reconstructs the lives of the inhabitants of New York as it existed in 1609. See the city like you’ve never seen it before and learn how we can look to history to shape the nature of our home in the future. Be sure to join us for the opening lecture, Before New York: The Bronx, on April 28 with Dr. Eric W. Sanderson on how he and his colleagues spent 25 years reconstructing the features, plants, and landscape of the Bronx as it existed 400 years ago.

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Meet the Orchid Experts

Select dates in April

On select weekend dates during The Orchid Show: Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle, we invite you to learn about NYBG’s orchid collection from the stewards themselves: the NYBG Horticulture Staff.

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Recent News and Publications

Read about NYBG scientists’ latest work in the field:

• Annals of The New York Academy of Sciences: Blue Zones: Identifying Adaptation Opportunities Using Past, Present, and Future Flooding in New York City | Featuring Lucinda Royte, Dr. Eric Sanderson
• Dr. Aleca Borsuk Awarded Major Grant from the Human Frontier Science Program
• The Bronx River Assembly Reconvenes at NYBG to Protect the Watershed
• Bioscience: From Knowledge to Action: Next Steps for the Natural Science Collections Community | Featuring Dr. Emily Sessa
• Frontiers: Exploring Colombian medicinal flora used in indigenous and campesino health systems for neuropsychiatric disorders and neuropharmacological potential: an ethnopharmacological review | Featuring Dr. Mauricio Diazgranados
• Restoration Ecology: Coastal restoration entails carbon-biodiversity trade-offs where upslope invasive plants harm mangrove trees but benefit their seedlings | Featuring Dr. Brad Oberle
• New Phytologist Foundation: A pipeline to compile expert-verified datasets of digitised herbarium specimens for automated plant identification to accelerate taxonomy | Featuring Dr. Damon Little

Plant People Podcast

Plant People brings together scientists, gardeners, authors, activists, and experts in a wide variety of subjects to share the ways plants impact our lives. Get closer to the natural world with us and learn how we rely on plants to thrive as people—and what we can do in ways big and small to return the favor. Listen to our top environmental episodes:

• The American Chestnut
• Mangroves: Earth’s Coastal Caretakers
• Moving Past Peat
• Better Lawns
• Fighting Fire with Fire
• What Do Plants Have to Do with Flooding
• Native Plants