Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Photography on March 7 2012, by Ann Rafalko
Boy, you guys were really saving up your most tropical shots for the last week, weren’t you? There was so much color and drama in this week’s entries, it was really difficult to pick. But pick we did. So without further ado; the last weekly winners in the Caribbean Garden Photography Contest!
Sense of Place Winner, Week Six
Posted in Around the Garden, People, Photography on March 7 2012, by Matt Newman
The blog staff first happened upon Joel Kroin crouched at the entrance to the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, a coffee pot in hand, cutting a peculiar figure as he went about his work so intently. Not only an NYBG Member but a horticulturist and artist, Joel’s interests carry him often between the greenhouse and the studio. He recently reconnected with us to share some of his latest photography.
His coffee pot (actually a makeshift pinhole camera) has since been replaced with a purpose-built wooden model, one that resembles an old-fashioned camera well enough to avoid any suspicion. “Certainly, the Garden staff have been less curious about what I am doing!” Joel says.
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on March 7 2012, by Matt Newman
Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Gardening Tips, The Orchid Show on March 6 2012, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG’s Gardener for Public Education.
Last week we were discussing vertical gardens, or “living walls,” a specialty of French botanist Dr. Patrick Blanc. Since we are now in the midst of our spring Orchid Show, today we will explore why orchids are such good candidates for vertical gardening. With somewhere in the area of 70% of all orchids being epiphytic, members of the Orchidaceae family were destined to climb.
Orchids that dangle in the air–sometimes known colloquially as air plants–are classified as epiphytes. Epi- means “on top” and -phyte means “plant”–essentially growing on top of another plant. The relation the epiphyte has with the host is not parasitic (where it is harming the host), nor is it symbiotic/mutualistic (where both parties benefit), but rather commensalistic (where one benefits and the other is neutral). The term commensalism is derived from the Latin meaning “sharing a table.”
Posted in Bill Buck, From the Field, Science on March 6 2012, by William R. Buck
February 6, 2012; Isla Londonderry, Bahía Isabel, approximately 54º59’S, 70º52’W
The engines started early this morning, and shortly afterward we hit rough seas. Those who had stayed up late had been warned. I was not amongst them, but fortunately, I found it a pleasant surprise. When we came out onto the deck we were in a secluded harbor, surrounded by snow-covered peaks. In short order the sleet started up again, and in no time at all, it was accumulating on the deck. I guess it is a bit colder than usual, but I haven’t noticed that.
Posted in Adult Education, Around the Garden, Gardening Tips, Learning Experiences on March 6 2012, by Joyce Newman
Meet Thomas Christopher, an expert on sustainable gardening practices, who will speak about “The Backyard Revolution” Thursday, March 15, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Thomas Christopher has been covering sustainable gardening practices as a writer and editor for more than 25 years, with articles in nationally-read publications including The New York Times and Martha Stewart Living. He is also a hands-on gardener who has started his own sustainable lawn consulting business, Greener Grasses/Sustainable Lawns, near Middletown, CT.
“I was staggered to learn the area of turf in the United States is as big as Virginia, Connecticut and two-thirds of Rhode Island. Grass is our largest irrigated crop, more than corn,” said Christopher in a recent Chicago Tribune article. “Grasses are a resource-soaking nightmare, but they don’t have to be.”
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography, The Orchid Show on March 6 2012, by Matt Newman
Outside, the chill factor is dawdling somewhere around “I can still see my breath.” Step into the Conservatory, however, and you’ll find yourself closer to the equator. The Orchid Show is our little slice of summer in the tropics.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Photography on March 5 2012, by Matt Newman
As we get down to brass tacks in the Caribbean Garden photography contest, our partners across the pond are already stumping for their next round of entries. And with the caliber of winning participants recently unveiled, those looking to become the next International Garden Photographer of the Year find themselves up against stiff and startlingly talented competition.
2011’s IGPOTY proceedings pulled skillful nature photographers out of the woodwork. Be it through painstaking preparation or the luck of being in the right place at just the right moment, many of the images captured by the multinational list of participants are almost unconscionable in their beauty. Gritty, ethereal, preternaturally real–the winning selections call up these descriptors among others. It’s a smorgasbord of aesthetic eye candy reaching toward the peak of the artform.
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on March 5 2012, by Matt Newman
The paper bush’s common name belies its spring colors.
Edgeworthia chrysantha — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden, Photography on March 4 2012, by Matt Newman
I post a lot of Japanese apricot photos during Morning Eye Candy, or at least more than amounts to fair and proper representation for all the Garden’s flowers. But just look at this picture:
Prunus mume ‘Matsurabara Red’ — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen