Beautiful Blooms, Old Havana, Cuban Countryside Featured
Laura Collier is Marketing Associate at The New York Botanical Garden.
Garden staff have been working in overdrive for weeks, filling the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory with thousands of brilliant orchids and tropical plants in preparation for the 8th annual Orchid Show.
I’ve been craning my neck during every visit to the Conservatory to get a glimpse of the show being set up. Fortunately, Rustin Dwyer, our expert staff videographer, has been behind the scenes catching all the action. He’s been working with Karen Daubmann, Director of Exhibitions, to document the details that go into the making of The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower.
Check out the most up-to-date installment as well as all the videos building up to the opening in the box below. The show starts tomorrow, Saturday, February 27. I’ll be stopping in to see all the beautiful blooms, which are displayed this year in vignettes from Old Havana and the Cuban countryside.
Thundering and thrilling, the taiko (Japanese drum) has been called “the voice and spirit of the Japanese people.” From its roots in agriculture and the ancient music of shrines and temples, traditional taiko folk music is believed to entertain the gods, attract good fortune, drive away evil forces and insects, lend strength and courage to warriors, and celebrate life.
Each weekend during Kiku in the Japanese Autumn Garden experience the sounds of both ancient and modern Japan by the group Taiko Masala on the Conservatory Lawn.
The Latin word for “cultivate,” colere, means both “to till” and “to cherish.” This dual meaning is particularly apt when talking about The New York Botanical Garden and its magnificent and varied gardens and plant collections. The care and devotion expended to these areas by staff and volunteers illustrate “cultivation” in all its layers of meaning.
As a visitor to NYBG, you can cultivate your powers of observation and by so doing, learn to cherish nature and its processes. I discovered this fact decades ago, as a young landscape architecture student at the University of Hawaii. I was given an unusual assignment that required me to spend 24 hours in an outdoor spot of my choosing. Within that period of time, I had to note all the changes I observed. This included noting the weather, vegetation, rocks, animals, sounds, and anything else that caught my eye or ear. I could not leave the general location for any extended period of time.
This exceptional task strengthened my “observation muscle” immensely. It also expanded my understanding of our interconnectedness with nature, and I learned to cherish it all the more.
The next time you visit The New York Botanical Garden, consider cultivating your awareness by watching the network of life that surrounds you. The birds, trees, flowers, animals, and even lowly earthworms each fill an essential niche within a harmonious whole. By noting the synchronous events that occur within the tapestry of nature, you, too, can develop the singular clarity that Alan Watts, the Buddhist writer, called “vivid awareness.” This lovely approach embraces an appreciation of the natural world’s miraculous unity, and you will never again take Mother Nature’s everyday workings for granted.
Carol Capobianco is Editorial Content Manager at The New York Botanical Garden.
The Bronx River runs through The New York Botanical Garden on its way from Westchester County to the East River and is a primary reason the Garden was sited at this location in 1895. Over the years, the Garden’s 250-acre lush landscape has protected a segment of this urban river, while other sections have been negatively impacted by development and heavy land use.
But the Bronx River as a whole has been on the mend in recent times, thanks to the efforts of many organizations and government agencies. People in canoes and beavers and other wildlife have returned. On Thursday, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo visited the Garden, along with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., and others, to award funding to NYBG and six other entities for pollution-control projects.
The Garden, which received $349,599, will use the funding for a “green infrastructure” demonstration project designed to reduce and treat storm water discharge to the Bronx River. The Garden will install permeable pavement, a tree well that captures storm water, and a pipe outflow with cascading pools. It will also stabilize the shoreline and restore it with the planting of native trees, shrubs, and groundcovers.
In his address, Cuomo particularly congratulated Botanical Garden President and CEO Gregory Long for his work. “He has done such a fantastic job,” Cuomo said. “The Garden is a real beautiful gem and treasure for the Bronx and for the entire state.”
Garden staff have been working in overdrive for weeks, filling the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory with thousands of brilliant orchids and tropical plants in preparation for the 8th annual Orchid Show.
