Long Weekend at the Garden
Posted in Around the Garden, What's Beautiful Now on August 31 2011, by Ann Rafalko
The New York Botanical Garden is stunningly beautiful right now. With verdant green vistas, intimate gardens, and primordial forests, there’s no better place to enjoy nature in the city over this three-day weekend than at the Garden. Take a hike in the Forest, stop to smell the roses in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, experience the sublime beauty of the waterlilies and lotuses in the Conservatory Courtyard pools, search for migrating birds, and get a few tips to take home and put into practice in your own garden. Soothe your storm-frazzled nerves by relaxing along the babbling Bronx River, bask in the sun on one of the Garden’s many benches around the grounds or in the beautiful Perennial Garden, join harvest activities in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, and take a tour of the historic Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. The three-day weekend is full of beauty and fun for the whole family.
[Not a valid template]Saturday, September 3
Bird Walk – 11 a.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center
Search for the birds that use the Botanical Garden in various seasons. Bring your binoculars and walk the Garden grounds with our bird expert, Debbie Becker, looking for the species that live here year-round as well as those just migrating through: owls, hawks, songbirds, and more. Learn about the bird-friendly plants and habitats that provide food, shelter, and nesting sites.
Forest Tour – 1 p.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center
Experience the beauty of the Garden’s 50-acre Forest on this one-hour walking tour with an expertly trained Garden Tour Guide. You’ll learn facts about the trees, history, geology, and ecology of this original, uncut woodland.
Home Gardening Demonstration: Naturalistic Garden Design – 2 p.m.
In the Home Gardening Center
Seasonal Walk reflects the naturalistic approach of its Dutch designers, Piet Oudolf and Jacqueline van der Kloet. Examine the border and get ideas to implement in your own garden.
Sunday, September 4
Garden Highlights Tour – 12:30 p.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center.
The sights and scents of the season flourish across the 250 acres of the Botanical Garden. Join a Garden Tour Guide for a walking tour featuring highlights of the gardens and plant collections.
Home Gardening Demonstration: Naturalistic Garden Design – 2 p.m.
In the Home Gardening Center
Seasonal Walk reflects the naturalistic approach of its Dutch designers, Piet Oudolf and Jacqueline van der Kloet. Examine the border and get ideas to implement in your own garden.
Monday, September 5
Conservatory Tour–1 p.m.
Meets at the Conservatory entrance
Explore the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, an acre of plants under glass, with one of the Garden’s Tour Guides. Take an eco-tour around the world through 11 distinct habitats, including two types of rain forest, deserts of the Americas and of Africa, and aquatic and carnivorous plant displays. Admission included with an All-Garden Pass.
Home Gardening Demonstration: Naturalistic Garden Design – 2 p.m.
In the Home Gardening Center
Seasonal Walk reflects the naturalistic approach of its Dutch designers, Piet Oudolf and Jacqueline van der Kloet. Examine the border and get ideas to implement in your own garden.
Ongoing Children’s Programs
Dig, Plant, Grow!
Tuesdays–Saturdays, 1:30–5:30 p.m. in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden
Children and families learn about plants and the natural world through hands-on gardening at this one-and-a-half acre site. Each afternoon children—with help from their parents, volunteers, and staff—are encouraged to dig, weed, compost, plant, tend, and harvest in garden plots. These ongoing gardening activities are complemented by a changing roster of programs that encourage children to explore seasonal garden-related themes. The Family Garden offers whimsical topiaries, a pond teeming with life, a flourishing meadow, rows of planting beds, two open-air pavilions for relief from sun and rain, and lively display gardens featuring an array of plants, including heirloom varieties of tomatoes, aromatic herbs, and colorful vegetables.
Mario Batali’s Edible Garden
August 27- September 25
Explore the three Mario Batali gardening plots featured in the Howell Family Garden this year, all showcasing Chef Mario’s favorite vegetables and fruits. Strawberries and raspberries delight in the “Batali’s Berry Patch;” savory veggies surround a table for two at the “Babbo Beets, Beans, Garlic and Greens Garden;” and the ingredients in the “Otto Pizza Garden” are scrumptious. Read and learn while exploring with your own recipe booklet in hand. Regular cooking demonstrations highlight easy, classic recipes created by Mario for you to try at dinnertime!
