This Weekend: Embark on an Adventure of Discovery
Posted in Programs and Events on May 30 2014, by Lansing Moore
For all the picnics, festivals, and fun activities, it can be easy to forget that the Garden is also a place of rigorous research and scholarship. What, after all, does the “B” stand for in “NYBG”? Come find out this weekend at our Annual Science Open House! The Garden’s top science staff will be leading expert tours that go behind the scenes of one of the country’s premier plant research entities.
Enjoy a guided tour of the Steere Herbarium, the largest herbarium in the Western Hemisphere—and among the four largest in the world—with 7.3 million preserved plant specimens! Begin a collection of your own with our hands-on collecting demos, including fungi and plant collecting demonstrations from the inimitable Roy Halling and Donald McClelland, respectively. Meet the scientists studying DNA and genomes in a tour of the state-of-the-art Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory. You’ll look at the Garden grounds and all of nature in a new light! Bring the family and encourage a love of science in your little ones.
Read on for a comprehensive run-down of our Science Open House programming, as well as the schedule of our regular Groundbreakers activities.
Saturday, May 31
Science Open House Programs
Hands-on Plant Collecting Demonstrations – 10:30–4 p.m.
At the Conservatory Plaza
See critical components of a scientist’s tool kit used on expeditions around the world and learn how biodiversity is expertly documented in the field and preserved as museum collections for later study.
Science Tours in the Haupt Conservatory – 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.
Meet in the Conservatory Palms of the World Gallery
Tour A World of Plants with Garden scientists, hear first-hand about their scientific field research, and learn how plants?through evolution?have adapted to the vastly different ecosystems on Earth.
(Space on tours is limited and requires an All-Garden Pass ticket; first-come, first-serve)
Guided Tours of the Steere Herbarium – 12 & 3 p.m.
Meet in the Ross Gallery
Go inside the largest herbarium in the Western Hemisphere?and among the four largest in the world— and meet some of the curators responsible for its 7.3 million preserved plant specimens in this centerpiece of the Garden’s scientific research program.
Guided Tours of the Plant Research Laboratory – 12:30 & 3:30 p.m.
Meet in the Pfizer Lab lobby
Walk through the Garden’s world-renowned, state-of-the-art, laboratory research facility and meet some of the scientists who lead teams studying DNA and genomes in order to understand plants, fungi, and algae at their most essential levels.
Bird Walk – 11 a.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center.
The diverse habitats of the Botanical Garden offer visitors a chance to see dozens of species of birds throughout the year. Bring your binoculars and walk the Garden grounds with an expert to learn about bird-friendly habitats, migrating species, and birds that make a permanent home at the Garden.
Azalea Garden Tour – 12:30 p.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center
Join us for a guided tour of the 11-acre site that offers an encyclopedic collection of the world’s azaleas planted along a broad hillside punctuated by rock outcrops and shaded by mature native trees.
From Ragtime to Jazz: The Roots of Pop – 1 & 3:30 p.m.
In the Ross Hall
Music from the period of Groundbreakers—ragtime, jazz, Broadway, and beyond to Hollywood—had a great impact on American culture. Enjoy a variety of styles in live performances by a trio of artists, including musical producer, pianist, and historian Terry Waldo, featuring the works of Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, Irving Berlin, and Tin Pan Alley composers such as George Gershwin, George M. Cohan, and Dorothy Fields.
About the Artist
Terry Waldo is a virtuoso ragtime, stride, and blues pianist, as well as a vocalist and composer. The protégé of the legendary Eubie Blake, he has produced over 50 albums while performing throughout the world, and is currently teaching courses on early jazz and ragtime piano for Jazz at Lincoln Center. His book, This is Ragtime, is now available with a new introduction by Wynton Marsalis. He regularly performs in New York at several prestigious venues.
Film Screening: Yours for a Song: The Women of Tin Pan Alley – 2 p.m.
In the Ross Hall
Many popular music standards of the Tin Pan Alley era (1920–49) were written by women, including Dorothy Fields, Kay Swift, Dana Suesse, and Ann Ronell, who were among the most influential songwriters of the time. This PBS documentary includes archival footage, motion picture clips, and rarely seen photographs, as well as performance clips of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Perry Como.
Native Plant Garden Tour – 2:30 p.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center
Join a tour guide for an insider’s view of the newly designed Native Plant Garden. Enjoy a mosaic of nearly 100,000 native trees, wildflowers, ferns and grasses designed to flourish in every season.
Sunday, June 1
Science Open House Programs
Hands-on Plant Collecting Demonstrations – 10:30–4 p.m.
At the Conservatory Plaza
See critical components of a scientist’s tool kit used on expeditions around the world and learn how biodiversity is expertly documented in the field and preserved as museum collections for later study.
Science Tours in the Haupt Conservatory – 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.
Meet in the Conservatory Palms of the World Gallery
Tour A World of Plants with Garden scientists, hear first-hand about their scientific field research, and learn how plants?through evolution?have adapted to the vastly different ecosystems on Earth.
(Space on tours is limited and requires an All-Garden Pass ticket; first-come, first-serve)
Guided Tours of the Steere Herbarium – 12 & 3 p.m.
Meet in the Ross Gallery
Go inside the largest herbarium in the Western Hemisphere?and among the four largest in the world— and meet some of the curators responsible for its 7.3 million preserved plant specimens in this centerpiece of the Garden’s scientific research program.
Guided Tours of the Plant Research Laboratory – 12:30 & 3:30 p.m.
Meet in the Pfizer Lab lobby
Walk through the Garden’s world-renowned, state-of-the-art, laboratory research facility and meet some of the scientists who lead teams studying DNA and genomes in order to understand plants, fungi, and algae at their most essential levels.
Rose Garden Tour – 12:30 p.m.
Meet at the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden.
Immerse yourself in the fragrance, color, and beauty of the award-winning Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden on a tour with a Garden Tour Guide. Learn the differences between Heritage and Modern roses and between floribundas and hybrid teas as well as facts about rose history, cultivation, and folklore.
From Ragtime to Jazz: The Roots of Pop – 1 & 3:30 p.m.
In the Ross Hall
Music from the period of Groundbreakers—ragtime, jazz, Broadway, and beyond to Hollywood—had a great impact on American culture. Enjoy a variety of styles in live performances by a trio of artists, including musical producer, pianist, and historian Terry Waldo, featuring the works of Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, Irving Berlin, and Tin Pan Alley composers such as George Gershwin, George M. Cohan, and Dorothy Fields.
About the Artist
Terry Waldo is a virtuoso ragtime, stride, and blues pianist, as well as a vocalist and composer. The protégé of the legendary Eubie Blake, he has produced over 50 albums while performing throughout the world, and is currently teaching courses on early jazz and ragtime piano for Jazz at Lincoln Center. His book, This is Ragtime, is now available with a new introduction by Wynton Marsalis. He regularly performs in New York at several prestigious venues.
Film Screening: Yours for a Song: The Women of Tin Pan Alley – 2 p.m.
In the Ross Hall
Many popular music standards of the Tin Pan Alley era (1920–49) were written by women, including Dorothy Fields, Kay Swift, Dana Suesse, and Ann Ronell, who were among the most influential songwriters of the time. This PBS documentary includes archival footage, motion picture clips, and rarely seen photographs, as well as performance clips of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Perry Como.
Native Plant Garden Tour – 2:30 p.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center
Join a tour guide for an insider’s view of the newly designed Native Plant Garden. Enjoy a mosaic of nearly 100,000 native trees, wildflowers, ferns and grasses designed to flourish in every season.
Ongoing Children’s Programs
Family Adventures: Focusing on Nature 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
In the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden
Children will explore the art of garden photography and will even have the opportunity to become garden photographers themselves. Through a series of stops within the Garden, they will see the world through a new lens as they learn how observations in science and nature have been recorded throughout time. They will also receive tips about perspective, scale, and framing when taking photographs.
Dig, Plant, Grow: Salad Days — 1:30–5:30 p.m.
In the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden
The ”salad days” of the Garden year are here! The finale of spring is a bonanza of ripe roots, succulent stems, glorious greens, and a kaleidoscope of colorful—and edible—flowers. Use real plants and flowers to decorate a salad bowl collage. Learn tips on how to combine this array of plant parts into an assortment of salads and prepare a healthy dressing to take home.
Mario Batali’s Kitchen Gardens – 1:30 – 6 p.m.
Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden
Kids can explore with Mario’s Menu Mystery game, featuring favorite vegetables and herbs from nine of his restaurants’ kitchens, including Otto and Del Posto.
