That’s sound logic, right? If you go by the decorations at the mall, its been the holidays for moths, so who even knows? In any case, we don’t want to overwhelm you before we’ve bought our turkeys yet either, but the arrival of a few truckloads of giant evergreens is always an occasion.
Earlier this week, The Garden received a special delivery of nine Abies fraseri all the way from NW North Carolina. Better known as the Frasier fir, these trees are popular choices during the holidays for their ability to retain needles long after being cut. The largest, which has been placed in the fountain by the visitor’s center measures a whopping 25 feet high. The eight other trees, which are all about 10-15 feet each, will surround the fountain as well.
Now that the trees have been placed, the next step is decorate them with approximately 400 strands of lights (that’s 20,000 bulbs!) in time for our annual tree lighting ceremony. (stay tuned for more details on that!)
Chrysanthemums. You see them everywhere this time of year; their cheery little faces in a rainbow of hues (all except blue!) brightening up front stoops, fire escapes, tree guards, and otherwise bedraggled gardens all over the city. But trust us, you’ve never seen chrysanthemums like this!
On display now for a limited time–just until Sunday, November 21–at the Bourke-Sullivan display house is a wonderland of Japanese chrysanthemums. These mums are far more than the plastic pots you can jump in your car and buy at your local gardening center. These mums are coddled and cultivated and trained and coaxed into a kaleidoscopic array of shapes–dizzying spirals, sprawling umbrellas, cascading waves–each form composed entirely of just one plant. That’s right. One plant.
Rustin Dwyer is Visual Media Production Specialist at The New York Botanical Garden.
What makes a good olive oil? What’s the deal with whole wheat pasta? How much should I pay?
The “Master of Molto Gusto” paid us a visit last weekend and took time to answer all these questions and more. Here are some amazing images from last weekend’s event, so check it out if you missed it . . .
The first of three giant pumpkins that will call The New York Botanical Garden home through Halloween (as part of Halloween Hoorah) arrived today. And what an arrival it was! The 1,725 pound beauty was grown by farmer Ken Sweet in Michigan–40 miles north of Detroit on the border of the towns of Romeo and Armada–and was driven here by his two buddies Don van Houtte and Mark Mikula. The two men set out yesterday, stopped in Pennsylvania for a rest and arrived behind the Conservatory around 11 a.m. They were greeted by a small fleet of golf carts bringing smiling Garden employees, and one very large forklift.
After a few photo ops with the employees, the giant pumpkin was lifted gently from its truck by the forklift, and carried in a caravan of golf carts to its resting spot by the reflecting pool in front of the Leon Levy Visitors Center where it will shortly be joined by two pumpkin buddies, including the new world record holder, a behemoth weighing in at 1,800 pounds!
All the old favorites will be here: the original Yankee Stadium, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Belvedere Castle, Pennsylvania Station. But there always has to be something new under the glittering dome of the Conservatory!
So this year the Botanical Garden and the workshop of Applied Imagination are adding some planes to our trains with the iconic Eero Saarinen-designed Trans World Airlines Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport. The modernist masterpiece (now known as JetBlue’s Terminal 5) comes complete with tarmac, runway, and several airplanes including the Concorde.
Just before thrilling the audience with his amazing food, anecdotes, tips, and tricks, we got a few minutes to ask Mario what he likes about the Botanical Garden.
Turns out: He likes the Garden quite a bit. We’re blushing!
Mario loves us! He really loves us!
Stay tuned for more from Mario’s demo. We’ll be posting another video soon, and recipes, too.
After a stellar summer full of produce, cooking demos, and celebrity chefs, The Edible Garden is nearing its end, but not without one final, jam packed weekend.
On Saturday catch a cooking demo with Mario Batali at 12 p.m., Michael Psilakis at 2 p.m. and Marc Forgione at 4 p.m.
Nan K. Chase is the author of Eat Your Yard! She will be at the Garden for a booksigning on October 16 at 3 p.m. during the final weekend ofThe Edible Garden.
I’m three years into a new garden, a tiny bungalow yard near downtown Asheville, N.C., that I have crammed full of dwarf fruit trees, berry bushes, fruiting vines, roses (for edible petals and nutritious “hips”), yuccas and sunflowers, short and tall herbs, and even a few vegetables.
It’s shocking how much produce the family has had this year despite searing temperatures and a shortfall of rain. Now that I have written a garden book about edible landscape design and how to preserve the harvest, readers I meet are pushing me to try more, learn more, and share more information. So now I’m moving into wines.
Garden wines are nothing new. People in ancient times made wine or the honey-rich fermentation called mead out of everything they grew: grapes, of course, but also pears, peaches, quince, plums, crab apples, berries, numerous herbs and flowers, vegetables and root crops, tender new leaves, and even grains and onions.
Only people who leave a comment on both pages by 1 p.m. Friday, October, 15 will be entered into a drawing from which one winner will be chosen at random. We’ll announce the winner on Friday afternoon on Facebook.
What’s the prize you ask? If you’re in New York City, we’ll reserve two front-row seats at Batali’s cooking demonstration just for you and a guest, plus you’ll receive a special gift from Mario. Not in New York? Never fear! You’ll still get the gift from Mario Batali, plus a little something from us!
So remember: Don’t leave a comment here, leave it on each of the two Facebook pages. Buona fortuna!
Mario Batali loves food. I know. I once, quite by mistake, was fortunate enough to follow him and his wife around the Union Square Greenmarket here in New York City. My husband and I were shopping for dinner and were quite focused on the task at hand, but we kept bumping into the chef and his wife. His love of the market, the farmers and the community surrounding it was obvious. Here was a man who truly loves food.
I see this same love, dare I say gusto, in Mario’s selections for his raised garden bed in the Home Gardening Center here at The New York Botanical Garden. The inevitable waning of the growing season has naturally dwindled the selection remaining in the garden, but everything that is still in there is beautiful, fragrant, delicious and just begging to be cooked. When I go to visit the Home Gardening Center (it’s quite near the Cafe, and a lovely place to stroll around for a few minutes after lunch) I love playing a game with the Celebrity Chef gardens planted in conjunction with the Edible Garden: If so-and-so were to come to my house tonight to cook me dinner, what out of this garden would I ask them to cook?
After a stellar summer full of produce, cooking demos, and celebrity chefs, 
