Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Photography on May 30 2013, by Ann Rafalko
I was in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden yesterday, and it’s looking really good. So let’s take a look at some of the Rose Garden’s heritage roses for the rest of the week!
China rose ‘Archduke Charles’ Hybridized by Duborg around 1825 (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Posted in Photography on May 29 2013, by Ann Rafalko
If you could name a peony, what would you name it?
Paeonia lactiflora ‘Kevin’ (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Posted in Photography on May 28 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Aesculus hippocastanum ‘Baumannii’ near the Stone Cottage (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Posted in Photography on May 27 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Peony ‘America’ wishes to thank the men and women of the United States Armed Forces for the sacrifices they have made in service to our country.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Photography on May 26 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Not to be outdone by Manolo Valdés’ ladies and Philip Haas’ botanical busts, the ornamental alliums strike an artistic pose.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on May 25 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Behind the scenes at the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden. Now what do you suppose those buoys are for?
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on May 24 2013, by Ann Rafalko
It’s summer! Or is it? Given the unpredictable weather of the past few weeks, I guess it comes as little surprise that several days of hazy, hot, and humid afternoons would end with spring reasserting herself just as we hit the three day, “unofficial start of summer” weekend. But don’t let that put a damper on your long weekend plans! We’ve got plenty of warmth, color, and activities to help you relax going into the new season.
In the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, Wild Medicine: Healing Plants Around the World continues to delight with a one-two punch of geeky knowledge and Renaissance beauty. Enjoy tasting stations featuring delicious and healthy treats made from chocolate, tropical fruits, and soothing tea around the Conservatory Courtyard Pools where the hardy waterlilies are again in bloom. You can also spend time with Philip Haas’ amazing Four Seasons, monumental sculptural renderings of the surreal paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, “rendered in trompe l’oeil vegetables, flowers and other horticulture.”
Outside of the Conservatory, there’s plenty that’s beautiful and in bloom around our 250 acres. Favorite subjects of the Garden’s photography enthusiasts, the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden and the herbaceous peonies are back in bloom, and a plethora of other gardens are also looking fine.
Posted in Photography on May 24 2013, by Ann Rafalko
I know that when you work at a botanical garden, you’re not supposed to play favorites, but I just can’t help it. Of all the late spring flowers, irises are unquestionably my favorite! It’s their soda pop fragrance combined with their rococo frilliness. If you had to pick one garden flower to love forever, which one would it be?
Irises in the Italian Renaissance Garden (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)
Posted in Photography on May 22 2013, by Ann Rafalko
It’s radish season again in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden! And as we all know, they really do taste best straight from the ground, after a little rinse of course.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Programs and Events on May 21 2013, by Ann Rafalko
Since ancient times, all cultures have used plants as a source of medicine, from a European willow tree that produces the active ingredient in aspirin to the Pacific yew, the source of the cancer fighting drug Taxol. Many of these plants straddle a fine line between helpful and harmful.
A few years ago it was discovered that flowers in the genus Narcissus, also known as the cheery yellow common daffodil, contain a compound that may help combat dementia. But, as anyone who has ever battled garden pests will tell you, one of the reasons that daffodils are common and beloved by gardeners is because they contain a toxic compound that keeps critters at bay, so you certainly do not want to walk out to your backyard, dig up a bulb and take a bite out of it in order to gird your brain against future memory loss.
That’s the thing about medicinal plants: they can both save and kill. They can be used for spiritual healing as well as physical healing. This healing dichotomy is the focus of an exciting upcoming event being produced in cooperation with the Guggenheim Museum and the New York City Ballet. “Garden of Good and Evil: Harmful and Healing Properties of Plants” is an interdisciplinary presentation that combines performing arts and science.