Member Programs
Gallery Talks and Curator-Led Tours are a great way to learn behind-the-scenes details about the Garden from curators, managers, and scientists. To ensure all Members get a chance to participate, Members are permitted to attend one tour per month. Curator-led tours will be announced a month prior of tour date. Reservations are required.
Native Plant Garden – Reservation list filled
Michael Hagen, Curator of the Rock Garden and Native Plant Garden
September 27, 11 a.m.
This 3.5-acre garden celebrates the beauty of plants to northeastern North America. Nearly 100,000 native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, ferns, and grasses planted in a carefully planned contemporary design that harmonizes with the natural landscape. Michael Hagen, Curator of the Native Plant Garden will give you a guided tour through the lush meadows to learn more about the plant life, garden design, and stunning water features.
Home Gardening Center
Claire Lyman, Assistant Curator, Outdoor Gardens
October 4; 11 a.m.
The Home Gardening Center offers something for everyone in a series of model gardens and display areas designed to demonstrate how to create a beautiful oasis in your own backyard. Learn about vegetable gardening, check out a wide variety of hydrangeas, brush up on the basics of composting, or come to appreciate how fragrance, texture, and even sound can add multi-dimensionality to your garden.
LuEsther T. Mertz Library
October 11, March 20, & May 23; 11 a.m.
Stephen Sinon, William B. O’Connor Curator of Special Collections, Research and Archives will guide you through the LuEsther T. Mertz. The Library, one of the world’s largest and most important botanical and horticultural research libraries, with over one million accessioned items and over 6,800 feet of archival materials. This tour covers its historical significance and provides an in-depth look within the rare books collection.
Maple Collection
Deanna Curtis, Curator of Woody Plants and Landscape Project Manager
October 18; 11 a.m.
NYBG’s historic collection of maples from around the world expand with the addition of many rare and unusual plants, including cultivars of Japanese maples. The new Judy and Michael Steinhardt Maple Collection showcases the majestic beauty of distinguished mature trees and the delicate beauty of younger specimens.
Fall Azalea Garden
Adam Dooling, Curator of Outdoor Gardens and Herbaceous Collections
October 25; 11 a.m.
Enjoy a curator-led tour of the Azalea Garden. Get an insider’s view of the stunning landscape design and plantings of its 11-acre site. This tour will take place during the garden’s beautiful fall season. Fall blooming azaleas are joined by the Rhododendron Encore series, developed by Robert E. “Buddy” Lee, which develop new shoots and buds after their spring bloom for midsummer to fall flowering.
Exclusive for Supporting, Contributing, and Sustaining Members
Behind-the-Scenes of the Edible Academy
Edible Academy Staff
September 20; 11 a.m.
Explore the new Edible Academy, which includes many exceptional features, focusing on energy conservation, sustainability, and first-class education facilities. Edible Academy Staff will lead the tour state-of the-art campus, sharing information on the sustainable building practices incorporated into the facilities and the innovative programming offered.
Georgia O’Keeffe Art Gallery Tour
Victoria Lewis, Manager of Interpretive Content
September 28; 9:30–10:30 a.m.
Enjoy a private tour of the Georgia O’Keeffe works currently on view in the Mertz Library Art Gallery before opening hours. The paintings and sketch on display were created in 1939 during and after O’Keeffe’s journey through the Hawaiian Islands. They include Pineapple Bud and Heliconia, Crab’s Claw Ginger, which were used in magazine advertisements for the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, and other floral compositions as well as exotic Hawaiian landscapes. This rarely seen body of work has been reunited in New York for the first time since the paintings’ debut in 1940.