Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Photography on May 11 2014, by Matt Newman
Mom deserves this sort of beauty year-round, but if you’re looking for a proper commemoration of all that she’s done for you—this year and in years past—our Mother’s Day Weekend Garden Party runs through 5 p.m. today. We’ll see you outside.
In the Cherry Tree Collection – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Photography on May 10 2014, by Matt Newman
Iris cristata ‘Powder Blue Giant’ in the Azalea Garden – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Programs and Events on May 9 2014, by Lansing Moore
This Sunday is the day we honor moms across the country, so come enjoy a spring afternoon with your family at the Mother’s Day Weekend Garden Party! All over the grounds are activities, arts and crafts, and ways to explore the grounds and appreciate the beauty of spring. Our Mother’s Day Brunch is now sold out, but there are plenty of other opportunities for food throughout the weekend. Read on for the full list of delicious food trucks and vendors, as well as the band who will treat guests to live jazz on Daffodil Hill all weekend!
You can expect more vintage-style outdoor fun after the May 17 opening of our forthcoming exhibit, Groundbreakers; Great American Gardens and the Women Who Designed Them. Until then, if you give your mother flowers, you might as well give her the whole Garden.
Posted in Photography on May 9 2014, by Matt Newman
They certainly light the space as well as their name suggests.
Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis ‘Little Lanterns’) in the Native Plant Garden – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Exhibitions on May 8 2014, by Karen Daubmann
Karen Daubmann is NYBG’s AVP for Exhibitions. She has researched, planned, and installed over 50 exhibitions in her seven years at the Garden.
The Free Dictionary defines “evocation” as the creation anew through the power of the memory or imagination. In the exhibitions department at The New York Botanical Garden we craft exhibitions years in advance with the intent of bringing to life distant lands, famous people, interesting plants, rarely seen gardens, and fantastical landscapes. Creating evocations is our job, and one that we take great pride in doing.
Not only do we bring the visual (garden composition) to the visitor, we also bring content to enrich their experience—including catalogs, signage, audio tours, plant tours, iPhone apps, related poetry tours, and programming. Our goals are to transport you, to immerse you, to educate you, and maybe, just for a moment, to help you forget about your life outside the Garden gates. Using our upcoming exhibition as an example, Groundbreakers: Great American Gardens and The Women Who Designed Them, I’d like to show you some of the behind the scenes of how we put together the exhibitions.
Starting with an exhibition idea, we begin to plot the idea on our calendar and determine which exhibitions will come before and after it. Initial themes are developed and concepts for the designs are discussed. Early in the process, a scouting mission is planned, so that any physical locations relating to the topic can be photographed and documented. Later, visits to libraries and archives are planned so that assets for the galleries and related collateral can be gathered.
Posted in Photography on May 8 2014, by Lansing Moore
The party is in the Seasonal Walk these days, with all these ‘Mai Tai’ blossoms chatting amongst themselves!
Geum ‘Mai Tai’ (avens) in the Seasonal Walk – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Around the Garden on May 7 2014, by Joyce Newman
Joyce H. Newman holds a Certificate in Horticulture from The New York Botanical Garden and has been a Tour Guide for over seven years. She is a blogger for Garden Variety News and the former editor of Consumer Reports GreenerChoices.org.
The spring trout lily (Erythronium americanum) is one of several native perennial wildflowers blooming now in the Native Plant Garden. Its flowers appear in sunny patches in the forest woodland area. At the base of each plant are its telltale leaves—speckled, elongated, and looking like brown brook trout.
The flowers come up quickly in the early spring, then produce fruit and create new leaves, all before the tall, deciduous trees leaf out and block much of the sunlight. In the heat of summer, the flowers and foliage disappear, which is why they are called ephemerals.
Some other examples of native ephemerals are blood root (Sanguinaria canadensis), liver’s leaf or hepatica (Hepatica nobilis), and Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria). But the trout lily is by far my favorite for there are so many stories about it.
Posted in Photography on May 7 2014, by Matt Newman
Tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera) along the Allée – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Gardening Tips on May 6 2014, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG’s Gardener for Public Education.
If you would like to introduce some razzle-dazzle into your container displays this summer, I would suggest hunting down an unusual South African member of the mint family called Hemizygia ‘Candy Kisses’ (zone 9-11).
In the wild, Hemizygia (syn. Syncolostemon) needs to contend with drought and fire. It does this by producing a woody swollen root crown called a lignotuber. This tuberous crown holds starches to get the plant through times of deprivation and fire while keeping dormant buds intact and ready to grow.
You would never know that this lovely sagebush (Hemizygia) was so embattled by looking at it. It grows to 2 feet tall in this area; has fleshy, variegated foliage with a creamy edge; gaudy dark purple stems; and tall, upright, pinkish-purple blooms.
In flower, ‘Candy Kisses’ is not shy. For the earlier part of the summer you will be enjoying the variegated foliage and it will look akin to a variegated mint. The flowers will appear in late summer. If you grow it in a container, take it inside once the weather cools and it will continue to grow through the winter.
Posted in Photography on May 6 2014, by Matt Newman
Feel free to use that title as often as you’d like, in as many scenarios as you can fit it. The portmanteau will only get you dirty looks some of the time.
Magnolia cultivar in the Magnolia Collection – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen