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Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Give an Entire Rain Forest of Blooms

Posted in Programs and Events on February 6 2014, by Taylor Viens

This Valentine’s Day, skip the usual dinner-and-roses routine and immerse yourself in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, a sultry escape from the winter chill if ever there was one! Inside, you’ll find Tropical Paradise in full swing with complimentary champagne and delectable chocolates setting the mood for the perfect night out.

Whether you come to stroll hand-in-hand with a loved one, learn about our permanent tropical collections, try some equatorial aphrodisiacs, or simply escape the frigid February weather, there’s a little something for everyone on these loveliest of evenings. Valentine’s Day Dates this February 14 and 15 at the Garden are sure to be a welcome change from your annual norm!

And for your little ones, our pals at Priceless NY present the MasterCard Budding Masters Chocolate workshop on Saturday, February 15. During this interactive experience, kids have a chance to learn all about the life of chocolate and vanilla—from cocoa seeds and beautiful orchids all the way up to their favorite treats. As amateur botanists for the day, they’ll study living cacao trees, put together a field notebook to record their discoveries, and (of course) sample some Mayan-inspired hot chocolate of their own.

This year, think about leaving the cut flowers at the bodega and opt for an entire rain forest of blooms instead. Tickets to our Valentine’s Day Dates are beginning to disappear, so register while you can!

Winter Paints Our 250 Acres

Posted in Around the Garden on February 5 2014, by Lansing Moore

Another day, another blizzard. All this snowfall has been inconvenient for a lot of people, and it’s easy to forget winter’s beautiful side. The Garden is certainly dazzling today, so why not enjoy a brief tour by Kristin Schleiter, Associate Vice President for Outdoor Spaces and Senior Curator, of what makes winter at the Garden so special?

Even while the flowers are slumbering, waiting for spring, Kristin reminds us that there is much to admire, especially in the Native Plant Garden. After all, native plants are used to this climate, and winter reveals just another aspect of their beauty. Kristin points out the intricate structures of mountain mint as just one of the lovely details visitors can observe this time of year.

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TPPC 2014: Week Two Winners!

Posted in Photography on February 4 2014, by Matt Newman

The tallies are in for week two of the Tropical Paradise Photo Contest! With so many great photographs in the submission queue this time around, it was like pulling teeth trying to find a consensus on the winners, but we rallied and came to some good conclusions.

We’re now into week three of the contest as far as submission windows go, and the number of people contributing is still climbing—which we love. Frankly, the more the merrier. The judges and I thrive on a good challenge. But while we’re on the topic, I must remind all newcomers to our contest that the only way to ensure we see your entries is to tag each photo with “#tropicalparadise” when you upload it to our Flickr group. No variations on that, please! Even if we do happen to see a photo with “Tropical Paradise” in the title, we can’t be sure that you intended to submit it officially, and you know what they say about assumptions.

Otherwise, everything has been going swimmingly (aside from our weekly winner announcements, which are a day late as per usual). Keep the photos coming! And without further ado, here are your winners for week two of TPPC 2014.

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Gardening Trends: Part I

Posted in Learning Experiences on February 4 2014, by Sonia Uyterhoeven

Sonia Uyterhoeven is the NYBG‘s Gardener for Public Education.

Phalaenopsis

Winter is a wonderful time not only to peruse catalogs and feast our eyes on new introductions, but to spend the quieter moments searching out our favorite venues for congregating with like-minded people.

I have several conference and lecture series that I attend to liven up my mind and shake off the winter cold. Of them, one local favorite is the Metro Hort Group’s Plant-O-Rama, which takes place every year on the last Tuesday in January. Metro Hort is an association of horticultural professionals in the New York City tri-state area, and this annual conference is hosted every year in Brooklyn and made available to everyone at an affordable price.

This year the main speaker was David Culp, author and Vice President of Sales at the well-known Sunny Border Nursery in Kensington, Connecticut. Culp spoke on new directions being taken in horticulture, looking both backwards and forwards along the timeline of plantsmanship with an eye toward gardening trends. I came away with some new insights intro drivers and dynamics behind those trends. What struck me most is that there’s a two-way process between the consumer and the supplier; consumers are critical in driving demands and creating trends, but the industry—the producers—often has the upper hand, and uses it to effect its own ends.

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Morning Eye Candy: Let Me Count the Days

Posted in Photography on February 2 2014, by Matt Newman

Less than a month now ’til The Orchid Show: Key West Contemporary sashays its way into the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. I can certainly count the ways that I love this exhibition, but counting the days might be a better pastime.

Oncidium maculatum var. album

Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Oncidium maculatum var. album, in the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections

If you love taking photographs of scenes like this, don’t forget to enter our Tropical Paradise Photography Contest!