Inside The New York Botanical Garden
Posted in Programs and Events on March 7 2014, by Lansing Moore
Tomorrow is our inaugural Orchid Evening! This special event series, now back for another season, gives guests the chance to admire The Orchid Show: Key West Contemporary in the romantic softness of evening light. There is still time to get tickets so you can spend tomorrow evening admiring dozens of rare varieties of orchids, while enjoying music and finely crafted cocktails with a botanical twist.
The very next afternoon is a special lecture on the history and lore of the orchid by Marc Hachadourian, Curator of the Orchid Collection at The New York Botanical Garden. From medicines to aphrodisiacs, generations from around the world have been captivated by these magical and mysterious flowers.
The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory is a much-loved part of the Garden because of how many environments it can encompass—desert on the right, rainforest on the left, you name it. This year we turned the dial to full-on Florida for The Orchid Show, and stepping into the languid humidity and fresh fragrances of the tropical South is as close as we New Yorkers can get to the Florida Keys right now—without any mosquitoes, either! Click through for this weekend’s full roster of exciting orchid programs.
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Posted in Photography on March 7 2014, by Matt Newman
The palms in our palm dome are putting on their own little show independent of the orchids. They won’t be outdone!
Attalea amygdalina in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Photography on March 6 2014, by Matt Newman
In the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Wildlife on March 5 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 more than 8 years. She is the former editor of Consumer Reports GreenerChoices.org.
As we wait for the weather to warm and some of our most stunning visitors to return to our outdoor collections, we are reminded of the increasing importance of conservation as a consideration in garden planning. Case in point: A new report finds the number of monarch butterflies wintering in the mountains of central Mexico much lower than ever recorded, largely due to the destruction of their habitat, extreme weather, and loss of food supply, the milkweed plant, up north.
These findings mean that cultivating and conserving the monarchs’ sole source of food in our area is more important to their survival than ever. In the Native Plant Garden, there are several species of milkweed, all of which attract monarchs, one of the most highly visible and numerous insects to see throughout the summer months.
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Posted in Photography on March 5 2014, by Matt Newman
The first of this year’s Orchid Evenings is only a few days away. We’re expecting much milder temperatures for our night under the lights and blooms of the Conservatory, but even if we weren’t, the tropical warmth and cocktail bar would certainly do the trick on their own! Don’t miss out on tickets.
Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Gardening Tips on March 4 2014, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
For the beauty queen in all of us, there was Color Me Beautiful, a guide that helped you develop your own color personality, providing tips that range from makeup to clothes to camouflaging your figure. In the garden, however, Color Me Tomatoes are the up and coming trend.
I’m still trawling this year’s catalogs in search of delightful new tomatoes hitting the market. In the New York area, I generally plant tomatoes outside one to two weeks after the last frost, which ranges from April 21 to May 7 depending on whom you ask. This means your tomatoes will be planted outside during either the second or third week of May if you are conservative, or the end of April and into the first week of May if you are bold.
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Posted in Photography on March 4 2014, by Matt Newman
Your time is nearly up, winter. Hope your bags are packed!
Adonis amurensis in the Ladies’ Border – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
Posted in Photography on March 3 2014, by Lansing Moore
Here we are, at the end of our Tropical Paradise Photo Contest’s last round of finals. As we welcomed the colorful debut of The Orchid Show: Key West Contemporary this past weekend, we also had to say goodbye to Tropical Paradise for another year. Today we announce the last finalists who managed to capture the magic of that exhibition through their lenses.
While the Oscars may be over, we still have our own prize to give out for “Best Picture”—a seat in the NYBG Adult Education Photography class of the winner’s choice. We will now deliberate over the past six rounds of weekly winners, and announce the Grand Prize Winners next Tuesday. So without further ado, we announce the winners of Best Photo in the Macro Category, and Best Photo in the Sense-of-Place Category. The envelope please…
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Posted in Photography on March 3 2014, by Matt Newman
Nymphaea in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory’s Aquatic House – Photo by Amy Weiss
Posted in Photography on March 2 2014, by Matt Newman
In the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen
