Morning Eye Candy: All in White
Posted in Photography on March 24 2014, by Matt Newman
In the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Plant Talk
Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Morning Eye Candy: Just a Peek
Posted in Photography on March 23 2014, by Matt Newman
The Viburnum is giving us a peek at future spring color in the Ladies’ Border, joining the crocuses, Adonis, and other early season go-getters as a reminder that the new season really has kicked off.
Viburnum × bodnantense ‘Dawn’ in the Ladies’ Border – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Morning Eye Candy: Breakaway Brilliance
Posted in Photography on March 22 2014, by Matt Newman
In the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
This Weekend: Ring in Spring with Key West
Posted in Programs and Events on March 21 2014, by Lansing Moore
Spring has sprung, and this weekend we are debuting new tours dedicated to exploring early spring at the Garden! More and more green shoots are sprouting each day and we have a beautiful, sunny weekend in store with plenty of programs to take advantage of it.
In the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, The Orchid Show: Key West Contemporary continues to provide tropical adventure with an Orchid Evening as well as Escape to Paradise: The Music of Key West this weekend. Check out our list of orchid-related activities, or click through for the full list of what’s happening at the Garden this weekend, the first weekend of spring!
Under the Blooms of the Traveler’s Palm
Posted in Horticulture on March 21 2014, by Francisca Coelho
Francisca Coelho is the NYBG’s Vice President for Glasshouses and Exhibitions. She designs and installs the major flower exhibitions in the Conservatory with a creative, hardworking team of managers and gardeners who also produce the plants for display and maintain the invaluable collections of tropical, sub-tropical and desert plants.
Each morning, I am greeted by the majestic presence of the traveler’s palm (Ravenala madagascariensis) in the Palm Dome of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. I planted it myself back in 1996, when the stem was just five feet tall, and I have been watching it mature into this fine specimen ever since—growing taller and stronger daily for the past 18 years. It seems to me that its main goal is to see how quickly its 10-foot-long leaves can touch the glass of the lower dome 60 feet above.
Despite its name, the traveler’s palm is not a palm at all, but instead closely related to the bird of paradise and the banana. Its native home is in the forests of Madagascar, but it can now be found growing in gardens all over the Tropics. It takes the form of an enormous green fan on a tall, robust, grey stem, with its north- and south-pointing leaves providing a makeshift compass for weary travelers. In desperate situations, it also provides much-needed water—not always palatable—that collects in the stem sheaths for those thirsty souls who might happen upon it.
Morning Eye Candy: Galanthophile’s Daydream
Posted in Photography on March 21 2014, by Matt Newman
What would the opposite of a Galanthophile be? Oh, a Galanthophobe, obviously. Or is it a Galanthrope? In any case, apologies to those with a seething dislike for these coy beauties—I can’t get enough snowdrops. And did I mention it’s now the second day of spring? Let’s all hope in unison for the return of the warmth, and soon.
Galanthus in front of the Library Building – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Little Landscapes: Build-a-Biome in the Adventure Garden
Posted in Programs and Events on March 20 2014, by Matt Newman
While our Orchid Show, taking place under the glass of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, is something of a giant floral terrarium in itself, the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden is currently home to a much more bite-sized variety thanks to Little Landscapes. This sibling program to our yearly orchid extravaganza offers your little ones a chance to get out of the March chill, settle into some activities in our Discovery Center, and come away with miniature terrariums of their own to take home and care for.
Anyway, how often do they get to create their own biomes? (And a messy room capable of supporting a thriving fungal diversity doesn’t count.)
Morning Eye Candy: A Garden Wake-Up Call
Posted in Photography on March 20 2014, by Lansing Moore
Good morning, Mourning Dove! The call of these songbirds is unmistakable to New Yorkers. How many of you have been woken up by this little guy perched outside your window? Beats a beeping alarm clock, I suppose.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
In the Company of Orchids
Posted in The Orchid Show on March 19 2014, by Matt Newman
Realizing that you don’t have to get up early on Sunday morning is a singular sort of joy, I think. It means you’re free to do whatever you feel like on Saturday night! And because we have as much of a soft spot for drinks and music as anyone, we’re once again opening our gates to the party scene this weekend. If you’re up for cocktails and chill rhythms under the lights and color of the Conservatory, our latest Orchid Evening is your destination.
Tickets are still available for the event kicking off this Saturday night, March 22, and this time around we’re pairing the flamboyant Key West color of 2014’s Orchid Show with the equally effervescent flavors of orange, prosecco, and pomegranate. Think of the Pomegranate Sparkler as a drink for people who want all the flavor and none of the tedious peeling. Better yet, if you’ve got a MasterCard, you can make an even bigger night of it by attending our Priceless NY pre-party in the NYBG’s Shop in the Garden with champagne and special discounts on a wide selection of live orchids.
Morning Eye Candy: Paper Flowers
Posted in Photography on March 19 2014, by Matt Newman
The Ladies’ Border shows immeasurable spring promise right now, what with these fuzzy wonders just beginning their bloom. It’s often referred to as oriental paperbush, though I personally prefer the alternate: “Mitsumata.” It’s one of the plant species used in the making of the Japanese tissue paper of the same name.
Edgeworthia chrysantha in the Ladies’ Border – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen