Patrick Blanc‘s travels and expertise have taught him that no one plant can convey the true beauty of a vertical wall–the living art, as Francisca Coelho, our VP for Glasshouses and Exhibitions explains, can’t realize its full potential on the shoulders of an individual flower. That’s why this year’s Orchid Show is not only about spotlighting these captivating tropical blooms, but about complementing their place in one of our most complex and beautiful presentations of the last decade!
Daffodils are delightful and plum blossoms relaxing (who said I was alliterating here?), but I’m awarding spring to the magnolias. Yes, that’s right: I have bestowed an entire season.
The 10th annual Orchid Show may be the most alluring exhibition in the northeast, but the vivid, climbing blooms under the glass of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory are surely complemented by the stunning landscape just beyond the doors. Arriving weeks earlier than expected, a new season is sweeping across The New York Botanical Garden, waking the sublime flowers and foliage that make spring in the Bronx the most memorable time to visit!
Join NYBG President Gregory Long as he tours the grounds, stopping in to see the jewel-like miniature orchids and tropical jade vines of the Conservatory before setting out across a Garden in colorful transformation. You won’t believe how quickly our outdoor collections have burst into life with the first hints of warm weather. From the soft white petals of the Kobus magnolia to the delightful fragrances of the Rock Garden‘s petite blossoms, The New York Botanical Garden’s season of renewal is already well underway.
The Garden’s many diverse landscapes will only grow more dazzling as we move further into this early spring. If you haven’t already picked up your tickets for the Orchid Show, be sure to reserve them soon. And when the day comes, feel free to explore! The beauty of New York City is here.
To the chagrin of my more tropically-inclined colleagues, I have been resisting the temptation to sing the praise of dendrobiums for years. “Give me an oncidium any day,” I used to exclaim. “They are easier to grow and I will not kill them!”
Initially, it was true… I had issues with dendrobiums. If the vegetative growth (foliage and pseudobulbs) in many orchids is fairly unattractive when they are out of bloom, the cane dendrobiums are positively ugly.
I do not like them in bloom; I do not like them out of bloom; I do not like them Sam-I-am with green eggs and ham! I was adamant. They looked like mutant orchids, outcasts in an otherwise pulchritudinous family–the Orchidaceae.
After a long and curious winter, the Rock Garden reopens its gates today, March 20, inviting visitors to experience a rolling landscape of miniature flowers and towering conifers. This Alpine sanctuary of lush woodland plants has been inspiring the admiration of millions of guests over its nearly 80-year history, and remains one of the most bountiful and beautiful public rock gardens in the world.
As luck would have it, when I first arrived at The New York Botanical Garden late last fall the Rock Garden was just locking its gates for the winter. My colleagues had told me, with varying degrees of wistful encouragement, that I should see its threads of gravel paths and high-reaching evergreens when I had the opportunity. There was no place quite so perfect for decompressing, they said. Nowhere better to reflect.
More from the Rock Garden this morning–patient baby blues anticipating visitors. Myriad hues are coloring our 250 acres from border to border; they’re waking up one after the next, so quickly we can hardly keep track of what’s blooming. (Not at all complaining.)
Gardening isn’t always a cakewalk. For New Yorkers, it can be the supreme struggle. Back yard vegetable plots are replaced with cramped fire escape terra cotta, and a window sill planter sits in for the shady garden tree. In light of the trouble with greening a studio apartment the size of your childhood closet, it’s no shock that the terrarium is coming back into vogue. And with Little Landscapes, the valedictorians of terrarium design are bringing the craze to The New York Botanical Garden.
Recognize the Rock Garden? For the past several months it’s been closed for the winter. But come April, we’ll fling open the gates to this 80-year-old sanctuary of all things eye-catching. (The spot is worthy of flinging, or any other momentous verb–it’s just that dramatic and unique.)
Patrick Blanc‘s travels and expertise have taught him that no one plant can convey the true beauty of a vertical wall–the living art, as Francisca Coelho, our VP for Glasshouses and Exhibitions explains, can’t realize its full potential on the shoulders of an individual flower. That’s why this year’s Orchid Show is not only about spotlighting these captivating tropical blooms, but about complementing their place in one of our most complex and beautiful presentations of the last decade!
