Thomas C. Andres is an Honorary Research Associate at the Garden.
I am especially excited that three record-breaking pumpkins are on display this month at The New York Botanical Garden. The heaviest one is not only the heaviest fruit ever grown, but also the heaviest fruit in the plant kingdom! The scientific name of the species, Cucurbita maxima, says it all. How did this all come about?
First, I should explain my relationship with these plants. I work here at the Botanical Garden with Michael Nee on the taxonomy of the genus Cucurbita. This group of a little over a dozen species includes the squashes, pumpkins, and certain kinds of gourds. They all originally grew wild in the tropical and subtropical Americas. Five of the species were domesticated and represent some of our oldest New World crop plants. This means that Italy not only didn’t have tomatoes before Columbus, but no zucchini!
Wild Cucurbita fruit are like a baseball in size, shape, and even almost in hardness. This is quite large for a wild fruit, although nothing to write to the Guinness Book of World Records about. So how could a fruit that is so hard and so big travel around enough to form new populations? Wild Curcurbita do often grow in flood plains, and float during floods, but they would then only float in one direction: downstream.
Anyone who thinks Halloween Hoorah—The New York Botanical Garden‘s annual celebration of all things Halloween and pumpkin–is just for kids clearly did not see the look on my fiancé’s face on a recent Saturday. Maybe it was the generous wine samples we had just enjoyed at the Edible Garden’s finale weekend, or maybe it had to do with the fact that she’s been bringing up having children more often, and more insistently. Either way, her expression of delight as we walked through the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden was unreservedly enthusiastic, and, to a man who has been dealing with the daily headaches of having just moved into a fourth-floor walk-up, this change in mood was entirely welcome.
The pumpkin, grown by Chris Stevens in New Richmond, Wisconsin weighs 1,810 1/2 pounds. It will be on display at The New York Botanical Garden through Halloween along with two other giant pumpkins. The second weightiest of the group (shown at right) clocks in at 1,725 pounds and was grown by Ken Sweet in Washington, Michigan. The third gourd in the giant pumpkin trio was grown by Steve Connolly in Sharon, Massachusetts and weighs 1,674 1/2 pounds.
Pictures cannot convey how impressive these amazing, sustainably-grown ‘Atlantic Giants’ are. So come see them for yourself! The pumpkins will be on display around the reflecting pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center through Sunday, October 31.
On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, October 29, 30, and 31 renowned pumpkin carver Steve Cully will be at the Botanical Garden to carve the record-setting gourd. Cully will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the Largest Jack ‘O Lantern which he already holds!
To plan your visit and learn more about the pumpkins and the Garden, click here. And for eleven fun facts we learned about giant pumpkins from the growers themselves, click here.
Here are some fun facts I learned about giant pumpkins from the farmers that grow them.
– During peak growth, the pumpkins can add as much as 50 pounds of weight per day.
– The pale color of the pumpkins has been genetically selected for because the farmers think it looks nice. The pale salmon color also contains tinge of blue that highlights the genetic heritage of the Blue Hubbard squash.
There may be two rides; a leisurely 25-mile ride for all ages and skill levels, and a more athletic ride that clocks in at 40 miles, but both end at the Botanical Garden.
Fall is in the air, and The Edible Garden’s season of celebrity chef cooking demonstrations is fired up! The star-studded Columbus Day Weekend (Saturday through Monday, October 9–11) lineup at the Conservatory Kitchen includes television chef and acclaimed cookbook author Lidia Bastianich, restaurateur and school lunch reform advocate Bill Telepan, and Wholesome Wave CEO and Dressing Room chef and owner Michel Nischan. All of the chefs will be cooking with pumpkins, squash, or gourds, and their children or grandchildren will join them on stage to share in the culinary excitement.
There will be plenty of delicious samples of sustainably produced food on the Tasting Terrace, booksignings by chefs and gardeners at the Cookbook Collective, guided tours of the four kitchen gardens, and musical performances to round out your visit!
An added bonus is the kickoff of Halloween Hoorah —a frightfully fun journey with creepy crawlies, pumpkin patches, spooky scarecrows, and more in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, on through October 31. New this year, artist Michael Anthony Natiello has carved and sculpted more than 500 pumpkins into a ghoulish menagerie—scarecrows, snakes, and spiders, oh my! All day all weekend, get hands-on with applesauce making, seed sorting, and apple stamping, and stop off for a play break in the pumpkin playhouse. Plus, there’s even more fun scheduled each day, including cider pressing, the family favorite Pumpkin Parades, and performances by the Alice Farley Dance Theater.
Even Shop in the Garden is dressed for the season, with new items such as Katchkie Farm Thunder Pickles, Acorn Windbells, and the NYBG in Flower 2011 Calendar. Save 20% off anything in the fall category when you shop online and use the promo code SHOPFALL through October 31.
The Edible Garden Cooking Demos, Ballet Among the Blooms, and More!
Be among the first to take an inside look at the newly restored Lillian and Amy Goldman Stone Mill, a New York City Landmark and National Historic Landmark built in 1840. In collaboration with The New York Landmarks Conservancy, the Garden is offering guided tours of the restored Stone Mill and surrounding landscape. Take a Tram tour of gardens and collections in the 100-acre Stone Mill Precinct, walk along the Bronx River with guides from the Bronx River Alliance, and visit the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden in fall bloom. Enjoy live music on the terrace above the picturesque Bronx River gorge. Don’t miss this first of two weekend opportunities to view the beautifully restored space.
Stone Mill Ongoing Tours
Saturday, September 11, & Sunday, September 12
10 a.m.–3 p.m.
Lillian and Amy Goldman Stone Mill
This weekend visitors also can delight in cooking demos from chefs Peter Hoffman and Gillian Duffy, dance with New York City Ballet educators, and discover new fall classes for adults. Here are the details of some of the exciting events taking place:
Cooking Demos
Conservatory Kitchen Tent
Saturday, September 11, 1 & 3 p.m. Gillian Duffy
Culinary editor, New York Magazine
Sunday, September 12, 1 & 3 p.m. Peter Hoffman
Chef and owner of Manhattan’s Savoy and Back Forty restaurants
Ballet Among the Blooms
Sunday, September 12, 12, 2–5 p.m.
Everett Children’s Adventure Garden
Children learn ballet jumps and turns from New York City Ballet educators, watch School of American Ballet Dancers, and create wearable works of art inspired by the surrounding nature in an afternoon of fun and exploration.
Adult Education Free Open House
Saturday, September 11, 10:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
Watson Building Come be a student for the day and find out what’s new for fall in Gardening, Floral Design, Landscape Design, and more!
Lillian and Amy Goldman Stone Mill Opens after $11 Million Restoration
After two years of meticulous restoration, the Stone Mill, one of New York City’s most picturesque extant pre-Civil War industrial buildings, reopens with a dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony. Built in 1840, the Stone Mill was designated a New York City Landmark in 1966 and a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
The landscape around the Mill was also restored, including an intricate design that treats stormwater runoff into the Bronx River and utilizes native species in the extensive plantings. The Stone Mill precinct is one of the largest, most varied historic landscapes in New York City and the Lower Hudson Valley. Comprising 100 acres, it includes three mid-19th-century buildings; a camel-back bridge; eight gardens and collections, several from the first half of the 20th century; the ancient Native Forest; and the Bronx River and gorge, all set within the Garden’s 250-acre National Historic Landmark site.
The Stone Mill is available for community meetings, conferences, and social gatherings, and it provides much-needed office space for Horticulture curators. It was restored with the generous support of The Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust and The Amy P. Goldman Foundation. Major support was also received from The City of New York, Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor; Kate D. Levin, Commissioner, Department of Cultural Affairs. Additional funding was received from Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Nolen; New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation; New York State, Office of the Attorney General and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Bronx River Watershed Initiative; and The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Guided tours give visitors an added boost of knowledge beyond exploring the Garden on one’s own. Each time I’ve embarked on one of our tours, I’ve learned bountiful gardening tips and scientific and historical facts.
That’s why I am especially excited and honored that Peter Kukielski, Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden Curator, has agreed to take groups on a tour of the award-winning, world-renowned Rose Garden during its spectacular fall bloom.
Peter’s passion for roses is inspirational. Over the past two years he and staff have replaced hundreds of roses with disease-resistant varieties, transforming the Rose Garden into one of the most sustainable public rose gardens in the world. Today 3,659 rose plants in 607 varieties thrive there. Earlier this year the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden was inducted into the Great Rosarians of the World™ Rose Garden Hall of Fame.
Peter will be available to lead one-hour tours of the Rose Garden on September 16, October 7, or October 14. Tours include a private tram ride to and from the Rose Garden. You don’t have to come with a group, as we are signing up individuals to form groups of at least 15. For more information or to sign up, call Group Tours at 718-817-TOUR (8687) or e-mail grouptours@nybg.org.
New York state’s largest free bicycle tour, 
The landscape around the Mill was also restored, including an intricate design that treats stormwater runoff into the Bronx River and utilizes native species in the extensive plantings. The Stone Mill precinct is one of the largest, most varied historic landscapes in New York City and the Lower Hudson Valley. Comprising 100 acres, it includes three mid-19th-century buildings; a camel-back bridge; eight gardens and collections, several from the first half of the 20th century; the ancient Native Forest; and the Bronx River and gorge, all set within the Garden’s 250-acre National Historic Landmark site.
