Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in What's Beautiful Now on March 29 2019, by Matt Newman
The approach of full-fledged, kaleidoscopic spring color is undeniable now. All around the Garden’s 250 acres you’ll catch hints of the crowds of blooms to come, from the earliest Korean rhododendrons to the magnolia buds bursting at the seams. See just a few of those hints here, as we explore what’s beautiful now.
[Not a valid template]Posted in From the Library on March 29 2019, by Esther Jackson
Esther Jackson is the Public Services Librarian at NYBG’s LuEsther T. Mertz Library where she manages Reference and Circulation services and oversees the Plant Information Office. She spends much of her time assisting researchers, providing instruction related to library resources, and collaborating with NYBG staff on various projects related to Garden initiatives and events.
The Private Gardens of SMI Landscape Architecture (2018), edited by Jorge Sánchez, features 15 gardens in Palm Beach, Florida, designed or redesigned by the firm. Sánchez, the author of 2017’s The Making of Three Gardens, is a principle partner of SMI Landscape Architecture, a firm that works mostly in Florida and the Bahamas. The book features lush color photos and general design plans for the gardens’ features. For the most part, the plants featured in the landscapes play backup for the hardscaping. Most useful for those in Florida or the Bahamas looking for a landscape design company, this book is nonetheless beautiful and interesting for readers who are curious about gardens of all kinds, and who are delighted to see 15 new examples. Not quite as charming as The Making of Three Gardens, it still offers new views and new landscapes to entice the reader.
Posted in People on March 28 2019, by Matt Newman
As part of #plantlove at NYBG, we’re talking with people from all over the Garden about what inspires their passion for plants. Today, meet Heather Lorusso, a student in the School of Professional Horticulture Class of 2021.
I’ve been interested in plants and nature since I was a child, but growing up in South Florida, I spent most of my time in the water and not in the garden. It wasn’t until I had the chance to move to the United Kingdom in 2014 that I was able to explore my love of plants. I took one course with the Royal Horticultural Society and was besotted! I spent the next four years working in gardens and nurseries and visiting some of the most famous gardens in the world. Soon I realized that the more you learn about plants, the more you want to know! This is one of the reasons I decided to continue my horticulture education at NYBG, where I’m continually astonished with the amount of knowledge and resources it holds.
In addition to the beauty and sense of fascination that plants give me, I’ve found that they tend to bring the best of the world together—they’re able to unite people of all different ages and backgrounds under the umbrella of #plantlove. And using binomial nomenclature, we are also able to speak the same language!
Posted in From the Library on March 21 2019, by Esther Jackson
Esther Jackson is the Public Services Librarian at NYBG’s LuEsther T. Mertz Library where she manages Reference and Circulation services and oversees the Plant Information Office. She spends much of her time assisting researchers, providing instruction related to library resources, and collaborating with NYBG staff on various projects related to Garden initiatives and events.
Pruning Simplified: A Step-by-Step Guide to 50 Popular Trees and Shrubs (2018) is a helpful new book from Steven Bradley for Timber Press. Bradley is a freelance garden writer and broadcaster who has over 20 years of experience teaching horticulture in colleges in England. Pruning Simplified, in addition to including some general introductory information, suggested equipment, and techniques, is primarily organized as a directory of plants. For the most part, the directory is organized by genus, with granularity provided when there are deciduous or evergreens species in the genus, different forms within the genus (climbers versus ramblers, for example), and different flowering times within the genus.
Each plant group includes a general note about why the group might be planted, (for example, “Magnolia flowers are among the most beautiful of all blooms, and a tree laden with the spectacular flowers is an unforgettable sight”), information about why to prune, tips for pruning, when to prune, which species within the genus (or group) are pruned in the recommended manner, and which tools to use. In addition to these pointers, there is greater information about formative pruning, routine pruning, and remedial pruning.
Posted in What's Beautiful Now on March 20 2019, by Garrett Barziloski
Happy Spring Equinox! Join us and explore the first signs of our most colorful season of the year, from the earliest crocuses to the vibrant buds of rhododendrons and Japanese apricot trees. For something a bit more out of the ordinary, look for visually striking Chrysosplenium macrophyllum in the Azalea Garden.
[Not a valid template]Posted in People on March 18 2019, by Plant Talk
As part of #plantlove at NYBG, we’re talking with people from all over the Garden about what inspires their passion for plants. Today, meet Cecilia Zumajo, Ph.D. student at the Garden.
My Name is Cecilia Zumajo, and I am a Ph.D. student here at the Garden. I’m studying plant evolution and development, specifically seed ovules and seed development in gymnosperms. I grew up in Colombia, and growing up in a neo-tropical country exposed me to the enormous diversity of flowers and fruits, in terms of shapes, colors, textures—everything! So I started looking at fruits specifically, and all of the genetics underlying the diversity of fruits.
When I came here, the landscape was so very different. Mostly gymnosperms, such as pine trees, ginkgo, all of those. I started looking at them differently because in Colombia I didn’t like gymnosperms at all. For me, they were an invasive thing—we actually have a lot of zamias and cycads originally from Colombia, which are great, but we also cultivate a lot of pine trees for wood. I only knew the pine forest, which impacted the soil by making it more acidic. After the pines, nothing else would grow in that spot.
Posted in Programs and Events on March 15 2019, by Ursula Chanse
Ursula Chanse is the Director of Bronx Green-Up and Community Horticulture at The New York Botanical Garden.
NYBG’s Bronx Green-Up is excited to be part of a new collaboration called The Bronx Canasta, an innovative food production and empowerment program in the Bronx. The Bronx Canasta aims to build self-reliance of Bronx communities to grow their own food and create, market, and distribute value-added products. To support these efforts, The Bronx Canasta secured four years of funding through a USDA Community Food Projects Competitive Grant and is now seeking input on the first value-added product—a Bronx salad dressing and marinade recipe!
Posted in From the Library on March 15 2019, by Esther Jackson
Esther Jackson is the Public Services Librarian at NYBG’s LuEsther T. Mertz Library where she manages Reference and Circulation services and oversees the Plant Information Office. She spends much of her time assisting researchers, providing instruction related to library resources, and collaborating with NYBG staff on various projects related to Garden initiatives and events.
Creating Sanctuary: Sacred Garden Spaces, Plant-Based Medicine, and Daily Practices to Achieve Happiness and Well-Being by Jessi Bloom, with photographs by Shawn Linehan, is a well-designed book meant to teach readers the ways of self-care through the growing and use of plants. Bloom, the owner of N.W. Bloom EcoLogical Services, is based in the Pacific Northwest. She is an author and a landscape designer focusing on permaculture and sustainable landscape and garden design solutions.
First, the good. There is no doubt that this book is beautiful. For readers wondering how to incorporate more plants into their lives, or even readers looking for ideas for Instagrammable tableaus, the book is worth a look. Book sections include Creating Sacred Spaces, Botanical Alchemy, and Nurturing Self: Healthy Body, Mind, and Soul.
Posted in Gardens and Collections on March 14 2019, by Lloyd Jones
Lloyd Jones is an Assistant Gardener in NYBG’s Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.
In the heart of the Bronx remains hidden an unlikely treasure, an oasis of lush vegetation untouched by the city. The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory houses one of the world’s most diverse living collections of plants. As one of the gardeners who cares for this green paradise, I’d like to invite you to stroll through the Lowland Rain Forest, home to many plants with extraordinary characteristics.
One of the world’s rarest plants is Osa pulchra. Sadly, only 30 known specimens exist in the wild in Costa Rica and Panama. However, it is cultivated in several botanical gardens, including NYBG. The Garden’s specimens have been growing here since 2006 when we received them in an exchange with The Huntington Botanical Garden in San Marino, California. The delicate trumpet-shaped flowers, similar to those of Brugmansia, are quite a sight to enjoy, and I’ll share with you an insider tip: the best time to experience the flowers is when the sun passes overhead and you can see the flowers from underneath. You will find Osa pulchra blooming in the lowland rain forest, midway down the path on the courtyard side of the building.
Posted in What's Beautiful Now on March 8 2019, by Matt Newman
The late winter snows of the past few weeks have given us one last glimpse of the snowy white vistas of the Garden ahead of the burst of color to come.
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