Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Holiday Train Show

Hayden’s Planetarium: 20 Days of the Holiday Train Show

Posted in Holiday Train Show on December 1 2011, by Matt Newman

Hayden Planetarium“This was a very exciting day for Hayden–he thought they made it for him!”

From now until December 17, our visitors will be sharing their fondest memories from 20 years of the Holiday Train Show–some of them touching, some comical, and every one of them cherished. Come back to Plant Talk each day for a new story, which you can see after the jump along with a feature on one of the many replica New York City landmarks on display in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory–the Guggenheim Museum, Yankee Stadium, the Empire State Building and more.

As a bonus, read on to find out how you can win a Family Four-Pack of Holiday Train Show tickets for yourself!

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Toy Soldier: 20 Days of the Holiday Train Show

Posted in Holiday Train Show on November 30 2011, by Matt Newman

Holiday Train Show Locomotive“I kept seeing the soldier ride around and around the show, but was afraid that if I tried to get him off the train I might make it jump the tracks.”

From now until December 17, our visitors will be sharing their fondest memories from 20 years of the Holiday Train Show–some of them touching, some comical, and every one of them cherished. Come back to Plant Talk each day for a new story, which you can see after the jump along with a feature on one of the many replica New York City landmarks on display in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory–the Guggenheim Museum, Yankee Stadium, the Empire State Building and more.

As a bonus, read on to find out how you can win a Family Four-Pack of Holiday Train Show tickets for yourself!

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Shopping and Champagne: Simplifying the Holidays

Posted in Holiday Train Show on November 30 2011, by Matt Newman

NYBG Enid A. Haupt ConservatoryWhat else flutters the heart like opening that first bottle of champagne? The percussive pop of the cork brings everyone close, and it doesn’t matter how much you spill. Sometimes that’s the point–champagne is a cheer to the evening with or without occasion.

At The New York Botanical Garden, we’re toasting holiday nights with an event just glitzy enough to make for the perfect outing in the city, boasting bottles of your favorite bubbly beverage and a chance to check off the names on your gift list in one easy sweep. No hemming and hawing over what to buy for that colleague you hardly know, or catering to your neighbor’s gardening habit without a clue as to what she needs. It’s just you, a glass of champagne, and a walk through the Holiday Train Show’s miniature marvels; 140 landmark replicas, a quarter-mile of tracks, and memories made every moment. And after relaxing in the starry glow of the seasonal lights, stroll over to our Shop in the Garden to put our gift experts to work. Oh, and it’s not a hard place to find–just head for the sparkling display of holiday conifers.

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Cross-Country Trek: 20 Days of the Holiday Train Show

Posted in Holiday Train Show on November 29 2011, by Matt Newman

Holiday Train Show carolers“My husband and I live in Iowa, but we have visited NYC three times in the last ten years, always between Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

From now until December 17, our visitors will be sharing their fondest memories from 20 years of the Holiday Train Show–some of them touching, some comical, and every one of them cherished. Come back to Plant Talk each day for a new story, which you can see after the jump along with a feature on one of the many replica New York City landmarks on display in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory–the Guggenheim Museum, Yankee Stadium, the Empire State Building and more.

As a bonus, read on to find out how you can win a Family Four-Pack of Holiday Train Show tickets for yourself!

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Video: Setting Up the Holiday Train Show

Posted in Holiday Train Show, Video on November 29 2011, by Ann Rafalko

One of the most frequent requests we get at the Garden is, “Can you make a time lapse video of what it takes to set-up the Holiday Train Show?” And finally, we can say, yes, yes we can!

If you would like an even more in-depth look at how the Train Show is put together, you can visit the Artist’s Studio in the Conservatory courtyard, where you will see one model dwelling in various phases of completion, and perhaps glean some inspiration for making your own plant-based model at home. Should you prefer houses of a more edible nature, be sure to stop by Gingerbread Adventures in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden where a miniature neighborhood of fantastical gingerbread houses from a cadre of creative bakers are sure to elicit “ooohs” and “aaahs” from children of all ages.

Morning Eye Candy: Home Sweet Home

Posted in Holiday Train Show, Photography on November 29 2011, by Matt Newman

It’s not often our Morning Eye Candy posts are quite this literal, eh? The Gingerbread Adventures exhibition is up and running at the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, so feel free to bring the kids for cookie decorating (and eating!) They might even learn a thing or two about making their own gingerbread houses–everyone’s a potential architect.

Gingerbread Adventures

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

The Engagement: 20 Days of the Holiday Train Show

Posted in Holiday Train Show on November 28 2011, by Matt Newman

NYBG Tree Proposal“I look forward to bringing our kids someday, and telling them the story of how their daddy proposed to their mommy.”

From now until December 17, our visitors will be sharing their fondest memories from 20 years of the Holiday Train Show–some of them touching, some comical, and every one of them cherished. Come back to Plant Talk each day for a new story, which you can see after the jump along with a feature on one of the many replica New York City landmarks on display in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory–the Guggenheim Museum, Yankee Stadium, the Empire State Building and more.

As a bonus, read on to find out how you can win a Family Four-Pack of Holiday Train Show tickets for yourself!

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Trains, Treats, and Jimmy Stewart

Posted in Holiday Train Show on November 23 2011, by Matt Newman

Holiday Train Show Gingerbread AdventuresFor many around the country, the upcoming weekend is a vacation in itself. The schedule usually involves such winning events as stuffing yourself silly for Thanksgiving; living off gourmet leftovers for the better part of a week; and forgetting about workaday hassles for a rare four-day weekend. (To everyone having to work on Black Friday, you have every ounce of sympathy we can muster.) The Thanksgiving Day Parade is what really brings home the nostalgia for some, and others the Sunday football. But as for me, it has to be the post-feast nap–that tryptophan is serious business.

Still, not everyone loves the idea of spending the entire holiday weekend cooped up in the house, playing host to a family that just wants to get out and do something. And that makes the coming days the perfect time to visit the Holiday Train Show, fresh off its grand opening on November 19 and picking up steam as we head into the winter months.

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Holiday Floral Decorations with Madeline Yanni

Posted in Adult Education, Holiday Train Show, Learning Experiences on November 23 2011, by Joyce Newman

For the first time in the Holiday Train Show’s 20-year history, you too can learn how to create architectural replicas from natural materials, just like the landmarks featured in our Conservatory displays.

Join Madeline Yanni, The New York Botanical Garden’s expert floral and crafts designer on December 17 for a special, hands-on class. Madeline will help you explore various architectural styles and crafting techniques, after which you can choose from an assortment of dried botanicals, like seed pods, bark, and branches, to make your own model. You’ll need to bring lunch, as well as a box large enough to put your models in.

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The Holiday Train Show Opens This Weekend!

Posted in Around the Garden, Holiday Train Show on November 18 2011, by Matt Newman

Holiday Train ShowWe know you’ve been anxious for the Holiday Train Show to open its doors–we’re right there with you! And truth be told, ever since preparation began in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory two weeks ago, it’s been a struggle for those of us at Plant Talk to keep our excitement in check (and why would we even want to, at that?) Watching the bridges and tracks being put in place, seeing this year’s layout take shape under the careful attentions of Paul Busse and his Applied Imagination team–it’s left us daydreaming over how spectacular everything will look under the lights this weekend.

But there’s more to the Train Show than locomotives and landmarks. This weekend also marks the start of our holiday celebrations at large, with grand opening ceremonies, music, and all sorts of entertainment outside the glassy walls of the Conservatory.

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