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Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Ann Rafalko

This Weekend: Fall Perfection

Posted in Around the Garden on October 4 2013, by Ann Rafalko

The NYBG WeekendThe weather forecast for this weekend looks equally as wonderful as our slate of weekend activities. Blue skies and golden sunshine pair perfectly with Japanese chrysanthemums, pumpkin carving demonstrations, bird walks, and garden tours. It just doesn’t get better than early October in New York City! So get outside and soak up this perfect weather in the Garden!

Children of all ages can join a bird walk (Saturday only), get pumpkin carving tips, thrill to the sounds of Japanese taiko drumming, and learn about the bugs and creepy creatures of Halloween. Adults hunting for horticultural knowledge will love our Bulb Basics demonstration in the Home Gardening Center, ikebana demonstrations in the Conservatory Courtyard, in-depth tours of Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Garden in the Conservatory, and an expert-led tour of the Native Plant Garden.

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Morning Eye Candy: A New Hue

Posted in Photography on October 4 2013, by Ann Rafalko

Even the tropical waterlily pool begins to take on the subdued hues–umbers, ochres, and moss greens–of fall, though with the occasional punctuation of opalescent blooms.

tropical-pool-october

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

 

 

Kiku in the Conservatory, Pumpkins in the Garden

Posted in Around the Garden, Exhibitions on October 3 2013, by Ann Rafalko

kiku3You probably know (or at least think you know) all about bonsai, the Japanese art of growing, tending, and shaping miniature trees in trays. But do you know about kiku? Where bonsai is small, kiku is large. Where bonsai is about long life, kiku is about ephemerality. Where bonsai is about a minimal aesthetic, kiku is about color, pattern, and profusion.

Or at least that is how we interpret this tradition of shaping and tending chrysanthemums in Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Garden, opening Saturday in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Many of these huge chrysanthemum “sculptures” begin as one single stem, despite looking like brilliant tapestries of many flowering plants woven together. They are tended for months on end to bloom for just a few weeks. There is no way for us to extend kiku beyond their natural lifespan, so to see them in their full glory, you have got to act fast!

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This Week at the Greenmarket: Big Apples in the Big Apple

Posted in Programs and Events on October 1 2013, by Ann Rafalko

appleIt’s apple time in the Big Apple, and if my field research is to be believed, 2013 is shaping up to be an epic apple season! The apples I have sampled from the Hudson Valley have been huge, crisp, and packed with flavor. I haven’t even bothered to do anything with them other than eat them out of hand. Sometimes it just doesn’t pay to mess with perfection!

Apples will be in abundance at tomorrow’s free Greenmarket along Tulip Tree Allee from Migliorelli Farm and Red Jacket Orchard. They’ll have other fruits too, including late season plums, pears, juices, and ciders. If vegetables are what you’re after Gajeski Produce and Migliorelli will both be stocked with squash, beans, brassicas, the last of summer’s tomatoes, kale, fennel, herbs, onions, garlic, collard greens, eggplant, and so much more. If you’re craving seasonal baked goods but you’re just too busy—or your tiny apartment kitchen is still just too stuffy—to bake, Meredith’s Bread will help satiate your cravings with pies, tarts, cookies, breads, and jams.

The Greenmarket is always free to visit from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and short term parking is available for those who drive. The market accepts food stamps, EBT, WIC/FMNP, and Senior coupons, in addition to cash and credit or debit cards. Learn how to use EBT, WIC and FMNP at the Greenmarket.

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