Kate Murphy, a junior at Fordham University, is an intern working in the Communications Department this summer.
When I think of summer, I think of two things: heat and sun. And while I like a summer day just as much as the next person, I prefer summer nights. You get all of the beauty of summer without the humidity and sun in your eyes. So when I heard about the August concert series Evenings at the Garden, I knew I would have to check it out. The first concert, held August 7, featured classical guitarist Mattias Jacobsson and violinist Kristin Lee.
Mattias Jacobsson is classically trained. He studied at both the Malmö Academy of Music, in his home country of Sweden, and the Julliard School, here in New York City. His co-performer, Kristin Lee, also has Julliard experience: She has been there for over a decade, beginning with pre-college programs, and will continue studying the violin in its Masters program this fall. The two met at a birthday party where they both were performing; their concert at the Garden marked the first occasion in which they have performed together.
In addition to the concert, attendees were free to roam the Garden Grounds until 8 p.m.—a rare opportunity to experience everything the Garden has to offer, from the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory to Shop in the Garden, at night!
It’s not too late to experience Evenings at the Garden. There are two more concerts scheduled: The Trinity Singers led by Owen Burdick will perform this evening, August 14, and next week, August 21, jazz with the David Grossman Ensemble is featured. Both concerts begin at 7 p.m.
Nick Leshi is Associate Director of Public Relations and Electronic Media.
Over 40 years ago, Andy Warhol famously turned a can of tomato soup into a pop culture icon. Now photographer Victor Schrager has turned his camera lens on the tomato itself, elevating it to a high art. The September 2008 issue of Veranda magazine features two articles written by Tom Woodham, gloriously illustrated by Schrager’s stunning images of tomatoes from the gardens of Amy Goldman, a member of The New York Botanical Garden’s Board of Managers.
The pictures give justification for one of the magazine’s headlines, “Tomatoes: The Most Beautiful Fruit.” If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I imagine anyone viewing such a variety of shapes and colors would agree that this bountiful produce captured on film is beautiful indeed.
Jessica Blohm is Interpretive Specialist for Public Education.
Clearly the theme of the week is color!
Obviously there are tons of flowers in bloom at the Garden with magnificent color!
Look for red roses, orange zinnias, yellow daylilies, green ferns, blue hydrangeas, and purple salvia.
OMG, you have got to get down to the garden to see all this beautifulness.
Really, you wrote an acrostic about color?
Not only are there plenty of colors to see at the Garden, but there are also exhibitions and workshops involving color. For instance, this weekend Sonia Uyterhoeven will explore the color wheel during her Home Gardening Demonstration, Celebrating Color and Form in the Garden, which will help gardeners find effective color combinations for their own gardens. Also, the exhibit Shapes of Nature in the Summer Garden, in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, features many varieties and colors of coleus and caladium, providing inspiration to gardeners looking to add color to those shady garden spots.
And clearly, the many fabulous Henry Moore programs that are going on at the Garden should not be forgotten; as Kate Murphy, our Communications intern says, “There is always more Moore.”
For a full schedule of this weekend’s programming, click on the links below. And for a totally fun look at color in a different way, see Disney cartoon character Ludwig Von Drake talk about the topic these YouTube videos: “The Wonderful World Of Color” and “The Spectrum Song.”
Written by Kate Murphy, a junior at Fordham University, with additional reporting by Genna Federico, a senior at St. John’s University; both are interns working in the Communications Department this summer.
The 2008 Olympic Games open tomorrow in Beijing. And though China’s capital and second largest city seems a world away, you might be surprised to learn you can find a little bit of China right here at The New York Botanical Garden.
The Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden features a collection of Global Gardens—gardens planted and tended by volunteers in the spirit of different cultures and countries. Shirley Cheung, along with her husband, Frank, and her mother, Mrs. Miu, has maintained the Chinese Garden for over 15 years. As a schoolteacher, Shirley gets the summers off and likes to tend the Chinese Garden every day. She and her husband try to come in the early morning, usually before seven, to beat the heat.
The Chinese Garden contains plants both for show and for cooking, but Shirley prefers the latter, using almost everything she grows in her own kitchen. She likes to grow new things every year: This year they’re harvesting kohlrabi, a cultivar of cabbage, which she explains is popular in China and grows easily here. The leaves of kohlrabi, which cannot be found in food markets because they are discarded before being sold, are good for digestion. She suggests growing your own kohlrabi and steeping the leaves to make a tea for this purpose.
Another plant you’ll have to grow at home if you want to enjoy Shirley’s recommendation is garlic. While most everyone can find garlic at a local supermarket, the green tops are harder to find. Shirley insists that this is the best part and tastes great on chicken or fish.
The Chinese Garden also contains three different kinds of beans, tomatoes weighing in at over two pounds, and bitter melon, a fruit that in China is said to “cure 100 diseases.” Another highlight is the pumpkin flower, which can be picked, dipped in egg batter, fried, and enjoyed as a delicious treat.
Shirley calls the Chinese Garden her “paradise,” and her doctor told her to continue, because it’s keeping her young.
“It’s a lot of work, but a lot of fun,” Shirley says. “It’s the best life you can have!”
Genna Federico, a senior at St. John’s University, is an intern working in the Communications Department this summer.
It’s hard to avoid social networking sites on the Internet lately. These sites are ways to rekindle old friendships, consider new ones, find people with common interests, or even discover new business opportunities.
Now you can also add The New York Botanical Garden to the online discussion.
We recently expanded our profiles on Facebook and MySpace to let a broader public stay informed of what’s happening at the Garden. Check out the pages, watch the videos, share your thoughts, spread the word, and maybe decide to become our new BFF!
And for those of you who want to share your photos, don’t forget our Flickr group. It’s already jam-packed with some really stunning shots; will your masterpiece be the next addition?
Jessica Blohm is Interpretive Specialist for Public Education.
This week, while planning the upcoming fall Kiku (Japanese chrysanthemum) exhibit, I came across the lotus flowers that are blooming in the aquatic gardens of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Courtyard pools. Thinking about the role that kiku plays in Japanese culture got me thinking about the meaning of the lotus in other cultures.
After doing a bit of research I discovered that throughout history people all over the world have valued the lotus for a variety of reasons. For instance, the lotus flower signifies purity and peace to the people of India, who consider the lotus to be sacred. In China the lotus flower represents a kind person who keeps pure and clean. To Buddhists the lotus flower symbolizes enlightenment, and in Egypt the seeds of the lotus flower are used to make bread.
I am fascinated by the techniques used to care for and maintain lotus plants. If you want to learn to grow and nurture these and other aquatic plants, you should attend this weekend’s Home Gardening Demonstration, “The Incomparable Lotus and Waterlily,” presented by Sonia Uyterhoeven, Gardener for Public Education. Who knows? You, too, may discover the meaning of the lotus!
There are lots of other activities taking place at the Garden this weekend as well: a plethora of popular Henry Moore activities such as walking tours, film screenings, and children’s tours (P.S. It was Henry Moore’s 110th birthday this past Wednesday.) If you are looking for an event that will entertain the entire family, visit the Global Gardens in the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, where you can participate in cultural crafts and activities and sample special regional foods—homegrown produce and native recipes.
Genna Federico, a senior at St. John’s University, is an intern working in the Communications Department this summer.
Before the Waterlilies and Lotus Aquatic Exhibitionin the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Courtyard pools opened, I wanted to find out how these flowers floating in water are kept bright and perky. To get to the bottom of this, so to speak, I watched one day as Foreman of Gardeners Gary Bendykowski gave the tropical pool (one of two pools in the courtyard) a cleaning. It was quite a sight to see. Donning brown waders Gary entered the pool with great enthusiasm, saying “It’s the best; you get to be in the water and away from the crowd.”
The weekly cleaning is generally done for aesthetic purposes, to remove leaves that are discolored or have been torn. It also serves to get rid of the abundance of elodea, aquatic weeds that are not needed in these hot summer months, although in colder months they help provide oxygen.
See the video below and read about the rest of Genna’s day at the pool after the jump.
Dachell McSween, Publicity Coordinator, spent a morning with School of Professional Horticulture student Songsuk Kim to find out what it’s like to attend “plant school” at NYBG.
Songsuk Kim took a break from grooming, watering, and inventorying plants to talk about her experience as a student at the Botanical Garden and now as an intern in the Garden’s Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. She assists staff with maintaining a variety of plant displays and preparing major blockbuster exhibits such as The Orchid Show and Caribbean Gardens.
“It makes me feel good to see the public enjoying our exhibits. As a student, it is a great accomplishment.”
Two years ago, Songsuk Kim (pictured at left), then 26, was working at a teacher in Korean but wanted to enhance her horticulture skills, so she enrolled in NYBG’s School of Professional Horticulture (SOPH). Although Songsuk, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in landscape architecture from her native country, South Korea, she wanted to increase her knowledge about botany and soil sciences. She felt that SOPH was the best place to study because she would be able to use NYBG’s 250-acre landmark site as a classroom and be trained by leading experts in the horticultural field, including SOPH alumni.
“As a student in the program, I have learned so much about horticulture. I enjoy all of the hands-on experience that I receive at NYBG,” she says.
Each day brings a new set of opportunities to learn from Garden staff. Recently, she began working with NYBG Gardener Yukie Kurashina on Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Chrysanthemum exhibit, which entails painstaking propagation techniques. During lunch hour you’ll find Songsuk viewing the “colorful plant combinations” in the Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden. She loves native plants as well and enjoys perusing the Native Plant Garden.
When Songsuk graduates from the School of Professional Horticulture next year she plans to use her new skills to design public gardens. But she says she will miss NYBG staff, fellow classmates (who “feel like a family”), and wandering around the Garden.
“The School of Professional Horticulture has an international reputation, known throughout the horticultural community, and this, together with my hard work, will help me to continue to develop my horticultural skills.”
SOPH is now accepting applications (due August 15) for the class of 2011.
When I think of summer, I think of two things: heat and sun. And while I like a summer day just as much as the next person, I prefer summer nights. You get all of the beauty of summer without the humidity and sun in your eyes. So when I heard about the August concert series Evenings at the Garden, I knew I would have to check it out. The first concert, held August 7, featured classical guitarist Mattias Jacobsson and violinist Kristin Lee.
