"Medicinal Herbs," by Carol Sharp -- IGPOTY Finalist, Bountiful Earth
Whether it’s the latest telephoto lens, a top-of-the-line camera body, a spacious new gear bag, or to see your photographs on display in a public exhibition, there’s a wishlist in every photographer’s back pocket. But, really, how long has it been since you crossed something off of yours?
Beginning May 2013, selected photographs from the prestigious International Garden Photographer of the Year competition will go on display at The New York Botanical Garden as a part of our summer exhibition, Wellness: The Power of Plants. The NYBG is the exclusive U.S. partner of this worldwide photographic competition that showcases the very best professional and amateur garden photographers from around the globe, and this year we are upping the ante by offering a cash prize to the winners in a category sponsored by us: Wellness.
In addition to the more than $18,000 in prize money offered to the winners in the annual International Garden Photographer of the Year competition, the winning photographs in the Wellness category will hang in the Ross Gallery at the Garden and we will award an additional total purse of $1000. With $500 for the first-place photograph in the Wellness category, $250 for second, $100 for third, and $50 going to each of three runners up, there’s ample opportunity to earn the recognition and reward your art deserves.
An NYBG graduate, John Gembecki now heads his own landscape company.
John Gembecki was going through some very tough times. Downsized after working 28 years for a major corporation, he knew he had to reinvent himself.
“How do I begin?” he kept asking himself. Then one night at a seminar offered by his local Yorktown Heights conservation board, he met Lauretta Jones, a teacher at The New York Botanical Garden, and everything fell into place.
“I took the landscape design five-week summer intensive program and it was an experience I’ll never forget,” John recounted. “It had been a long time since I had been in school and the ‘intense’ part of the program was hard to handle. But my children reminded me of all the things I told them when they wanted to give up because something was hard.”
If you’re looking to experience Monet’s famed garden at Giverny this weekend, you’re weighing two options. You can either book a flight for Saturday morning–over a thousand dollars out of pocket on short notice, and an eight-hour flight to Charles De Gaulle airport–or you can throw a few bucks on your MetroCard and hop the subway to the Bronx.
I’m personally not much of a jet setter; lighting off for Europe on a whim doesn’t stir the pot of my daily routine that often, and the occasional craving for a fresh baguette seldom boils over. Maybe the local option is a better bet. The father of Impressionism is here in New York, after all!
Marielle Anzelone is an urban conservation biologist, the former Plant Ecologist for the NYC Department of Parks’ Natural Resources Group, and a contributor to The New York Times. As the founder of NYC Wildflower Week, she and her colleagues work to protect New York’s natural heritage by inspiring the city’s residents.
Most New Yorkers don’t realize that there is bona fide nature to be found throughout the five boroughs. Believe it or not, New York City has more open space than any other city in North America, including towering forests, vibrant marshes, and grassy meadows. That adds up to over 53,000 acres of natural landscape!
NYC Wildflower Week is an opportunity to celebrate and appreciate the native flora that calls The Big Apple home, bringing together thousands of New Yorkers to experience an extraordinary range of activities. Here at The New York Botanical Garden we are proud to host a far-reaching tour of native flora on Friday, May 18. Aside from being free with the price of admission to the Garden (and led by three of our most brilliant botanical minds), the tour will also give you a sneak peek at our as-yet-unopened Native Plant Garden.
For their fifth year, NYCWW is expanding to include all of NYC nature, including salamanders, birds, and mushrooms–and it’s all happening between now and Sunday, May 20. Free events include guided nature walks, garden tours, and children’s interactive fairs. For more information visit the NYC Wildflower Week’s website, and get to know the nature near you!
As the founder and director of the Growing Chefs field-to-fork education program, co-founder of the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, and the Assistant Manager of the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden, Annie Novak knows her way around a vegetable plot. Join her on May 17 for The Art of Cooking in the French Garden, bringing the taste and sophistication of this world-renowned cuisine to the NYBG.
Coq au vin, Quiche Lorraine, and vichyssoise—nowhere in the world have culinary artists developed such a reputation for precision, passion and talent as in the French kitchen. From perfectly crusty baguettes to finely flavored vinaigrettes, the art of French cooking seems at first glance like an unachievable alchemy of herbs, creams, and knife skills. But as a green thumb enamored with the precise and beautiful public parks throughout Paris (and a compulsive Googler of Versailles’ vegetable gardens), I became obsessed with the idea that French food could be done well, yet with ease.
We’re entering the weekend of our Spring Gardening Open House, leading a seasonal tour de force through the explosive color of the Azalea Garden, the awakening Rose Garden, and of course, the Rock Garden! It’s a perfect cocktail of the mesmerizing and the serene (though the afternoon wine tastings can’t hurt, either). And more than an opportunity to revel in the spring landscape, it’s a chance to brush up on your gardening techniques.
Meet with expert Garden Tour Guides for a tour through our iconic landscapes, then stop in with our talented gardeners for casual demonstrations on the care of azaleas and Alpine plants. The Rock Garden in particular is the home of New York’s most revered Alpine collection, as well as an integral piece of Nature’s Showplace, so make a point of spending some time there. If anything, it will help you to experience the very thing we’re trying to restore!
Suppose you really can’t draw, but always wished you could…especially when it comes to drawing those gorgeous blooms in your backyard. Well now’s your chance to make your wish come true: Botanical Drawing I is just one of the new summer intensive classes offered by NYBG starting in July. Think of it as a summer camp experience designed for grown-ups.
With the botanical drawing class, in just one week you’ll learn specific techniques for drawing accurately, including professional standards of form, measuring, foreshortening, and perspective. The classes are offered in July (9 through 13) or August (6 through 10), at NYBG and the Midtown Manhattan Center, respectively.
How often do your kids get a free pass to play in the dirt? It’s probably not a daily event. But beginning Wednesday, May 2, the NYBG kicks off children’s gardening programs at the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden that won’t leave you scrubbing muddy footprints off the kitchen floor.
Garden Sprouts introduces three- to five-year-olds and their accompanying parent to garden exploration, from digging for earthworms to planting seeds. Sprouts enjoy seasonal gardening tasks, the opportunity to sample garden-fresh produce grown in their own plots, and activities especially crafted for the young green thumb. It’s a fun and productive way to get them out of the house.
After months of preparation, we’re not only proud, but ecstatic to announce our participation in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Partners in Preservation competition! Beginning today, the NYBG launches its campaign alongside 40 fellow historical places of New York in a race to win the vote.
We like to think of The New York Botanical Garden as more than a cultural institution. It’s a community–of horticulturists, of members, of contributors and fans. It’s thanks to the continued generosity of people like these (and you!) that our gates remain open today, over a century after these 250 acres were unveiled as one of the finest botanical gardens in the world. And if the thrumming excitement winging its way around the office today suggests anything, it’s that we aim to keep that title.
This year is the 20th Anniversary of our Antique Garden Furniture Show. In honor of its celebration, I will review some of the basics for maintaining antique garden ornaments, but my best suggestion is that you stop by the show from April 26 through 28 and talk to the experts. We will have over 30 antique dealers who specialize in garden ornaments, catering to a wide range of tastes and budgets.
In anticipation of the show, I have been perusing the library’s collection of books, finding inspiration not only in the traditional tomes filled with marble nymphs and cast iron urns, but from modern design books that suggest repurposing local material.
I have started to construct my dream garden piece by piece. One item that is at the top of my wish list is a 19th century terra cotta oil jar from Italy. It was traditionally used to hold vats of olive oil, but in its modern rendition would make a wonderful focal point in an herbaceous border.
