Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Photography on November 3 2010, by Plant Talk
Since our Monday morning eye candy was met with such enthusiastic approval, we figured, “Well, why not give the people what they’re so obviously craving?” So, here it is: Your new, daily dose of Garden beauty. Enjoy.
Morning on the Bronx River near the Stone Mill (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen).
Posted in NYBG in the News on November 2 2010, by Plant Talk
| Ann Rafalko is Director of Online Content. |
We wanted to share this great interview that Weekend Edition host Scott Simon did with master pumpkin carver Scott Cully.
In the interview, Scott divulges how he became a giant pumpkin carver, and one deep, dark secret. It’s not to be missed.
You can read the transcript, listen to it, or download it as a podcast.
Posted in Programs and Events on November 1 2010, by Plant Talk
| Ann Rafalko is Director of Online Content. |
 |
Gravity, it seems, will always win. Whether it’s in the war against wrinkles, when you drop your buttered toast, or when you’re carving the world’s heaviest pumpkin. Here on earth, we’re all a slave to it.
And while Chris Stevens’ 1,810.5 pound world record-holder did succumb to Newton’s most famous force, the other two fabulous pumpkins are still on view here at The New York Botanical Garden, and should be around through Friday.
|
|
|
|
And here’s hoping Scott Cully‘s heroic effort will be considered great by another book: The Guinness Book.
Posted in Gardens and Collections on November 1 2010, by Plant Talk
 |
The Botanical Garden’s living collections is among the greatest in the world and contains more than 1 million plants. Jon Peter, Plant Records Manager, periodically shines the spotlight on a particular species that can be found within our 250 acres. |
Botanical Name: Sassafras albidum
Common Name: Sassafras
Family Name: Lauraceae (Laurel family)
Native Range: USA—Maine to Florida, west to Michigan and Texas
Canada—southern Ontario
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 through 9A
Locations within NYBG: Forest, Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, Native Plant Garden
Site Requirements: Sun to partial shade; well-drained, moist soil
Interesting Note: This species has been used for centuries in a variety of ways. The root bark was used to flavor root beer, the leaves and bark used to make tea, and the oils used in soaps. It was known in folk medicine as a tonic and a purifier of the blood and still has a reputation as a stimulant, and as a treatment for syphilis, rheumatism, and skin disease. Most of these uses ended in the early 1960s when it was found that the active ingredient safrole is carcinogenic.
In the native habitats of North America it has exceptional valuable as a food source for insects, birds, and mammals. The sassafras has many great ornamental qualities as well: from its gorgeous furrowed bark and three forms of leaves to its fragrant twigs and beautiful autumn color. Sassafras is under utilized in the North American landscape.
Posted in Gardens and Collections on November 1 2010, by Plant Talk
| Ann Rafalko is Director of Online Content. |
Mondays are rough. We understand. So to help you ease into your week, some eye candy of the Garden in fall.
Learn more about spending a day in the country, without ever leaving the city, here.
Posted in Programs and Events on October 29 2010, by Plant Talk
 |
Rustin Dwyer is Visual Media Production Specialist at The New York Botanical Garden. |
Scott Cully has held the Guinness World Record for largest jack-o’-lantern multiple times. In fact, there have been ten record breaking pumpkins in the last 11 years. Eight of those record-breakers were turned into jack-o-lanters, five of which were carved by Scott! Not a bad career, huh?
His last record was set on Sunday, October 31, 2005 and here we are –exactly five-years later– where he will try to break his own record by carving the current World Record-holding pumpkin, a 1,810.5-pound behemoth grown by Chris Stevens of New Richmond, Wisconsin.
He won’t be alone, though — botanical artists Michael Anthony Natiello (the artist behind the 500 carved pumpkins currently decorating the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden) and Sara Mussen are on had this weekend to decorate the two other prize winning giant pumpkins on display next to the record holder. Here’s a short video with Scott talking about the process (hint, wine is involved).
Posted in Programs and Events on October 29 2010, by Plant Talk
| Ann Rafalko is Director of Online Content. |
Scott Cully was out at the reflecting pool in front of the Leon Levy Visitor Center bright and early this morning to begin carving Chris Stevens’ World Record-breaking giant pumpkin.
Here’s some shots (and a short video!) from our early morning rendezvous.
Posted in Programs and Events on October 29 2010, by Plant Talk
| Ann Rafalko is Director of Online Content. |
Yep, that’s right ladies and gents. The giant pumpkins are so big, a man can fit inside. Matthew DeBacco from team-pumpkin.org climbed inside Steve Connolly’s 1,674.5 pounder this morning to harvest some seeds. He reported that it was nice and warm, and that if it were on the Lower East Side it would rent for about $1,500 a month!.
Check it out!
Posted in Programs and Events on October 28 2010, by Plant Talk
When life hands you three giant pumpkins, you might as well carve them into jack-o’lanterns! Really, really big jack-o’-lanterns.
This Friday and Saturday, World Record-holder Scott Cully (who will be carving the current World’s Heaviest Pumpkin) will be joined by Michael Anthony Natiello, the carver behind the 500 pumpkins decorating The New York Botanical Garden‘s Halloween Hoorah and creator of the Great Jack O’ Lantern Blaze at the historic Van Cortlandt Manor. Michael will be carving the 1,725 pound runner-up pumpkin.
Natiello’s collaborator Sara Mussen will be on hand on Friday to carve the third pumpkin, a 1,674.5 pounder grown by Steve Connolly.
Posted in Science on October 28 2010, by Plant Talk
How Do Insects Feed on this Plant with Sticky White Latex?
 |
Amy Berkov is an Honorary Research Associate with The New York Botanical Garden’s Institute of Systematic Botany; she studies interactions between wood-boring beetles and trees in the Brazil nut family. Photo of Amy Berkov by Chris Roddick. |
When I was in graduate school I decided to turn my East Village community garden plot over to the insects. I was an NYBG/CUNY Ph.D. candidate hoping to study plant-animal interactions. By happy accident I ended up in an entomology course at the American Museum of Natural History. The revelation that plants produce a huge variety of chemicals capable of manipulating insect behavior captured my imagination, so I planted six native species: three milkweeds (Asclepias) and three goldenrods (Solidago) to attract specific beetles.
Fifteen years later, one goldenrod species is still hanging on, but common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) is clearly the winner—and it’s now making furtive advances into neighboring plots (the original plant probably spread by underground rhizomes). My observations have convinced me that the common milkweed is anything but common!
Plants in the genus Asclepias are called milkweeds because of the sticky white latex that pours out of wounded tissues. Asclepias latex is rich in toxic cardiac glycosides, and the scientific genus name comes from Asklepios, the ancient Greek physician.
Some milkweed-feeders actually sequester the toxins to defend themselves from predators, but how do they avoid getting their mouthparts hopelessly gummed up? Some slice right through leaf midribs, which diverts the latex flow and enables the “trencher” to feed downstream of the cut. For a video clip of the best-known trencher, the monarch caterpillar, click here.
