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Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

The Holiday Train Show Returns!

Posted in Holiday Train Show on November 8 2013, by Matt Newman

Holiday Train ShowIf you can imagine the distant jangle of a steam engine rounding the bend right now, you know just what time of year it is. And no, I don’t mean to suggest that the MTA is bringing back a line dedicated exclusively to old-timey trains. But for the next two months, we are. With fall well underway and the snows of winter likely headed in our direction soon, it’s once again time for that beloved yearly tradition of lights, locomotives, and masterful miniature architecture. Starting November 16, the Holiday Train Show® returns to the Garden!

Not that it’s a cakewalk assembling one of the largest train displays in the country. Far from it, in fact. Even now, our horticulturists and visiting model makers are scurrying about the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, preening plant beds, erecting familiar bridges, and making sure that every last one of our trains has enough track to make its all-important rounds. With this year’s exhibition featuring more trains than ever before, it’s worth double- and triple-checking the more than quarter mile of railway we’ll be using to accommodate all that traffic.

Among the new trains joining us this year, we’ve even got a G-scale Metro-North model soon to be zipping its way around a collection of Hudson River Valley mansions in the Conservatory’s Palm Dome pool.

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This Weekend: Fall Forest Fun!

Posted in Around the Garden on November 8 2013, by Ann Rafalko

weekender117-4That awesome crisp fall air is due back this weekend, just on schedule for another Fall Forest Weekend!

Why fete a forest? Because the 50-acre Thain Family Forest isn’t just another woodland. It’s one of the largest remaining tracts of old growth forest in New York City. New York’s five boroughs were once covered by woodlands, but the relentless march of time and commerce denuded our fair islands, until only isolated pockets of forest remained. But the Thain Family Forest is hardly isolated, despite being in the middle of the Bronx. It is connected to woodlands further upstate by the Bronx River and the greenest borough’s extensive network of parks. This makes the Forest a truly unique place, home to native plants, trees, and critters, as well as a cadre of scientists studying it all.

And the Forest’s majestic, sometimes centuries old, trees are currently at peak fall foliage! Perfect timing, right? So come walk our trails, paddle the Bronx River, sample local beers, watch demonstrations of birds of prey, tree climbing, woodworking, and home gardening, enjoy fun-filled family activities in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden (adjacent to the Forest), geek out on the many scientific pursuits being pursued under the Forest’s mighty trees, and so much more!

And while it is the Forest we are celebrating this weekend, the entirety of our 250-acres is looking spectacular! Bid a fond farewell to the gorgeous Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden for the season, enjoy beautiful vistas from the Azalea Garden, sit and read a book in the serene Perennial Garden, and wander amongst the green lushness of the Benenson Ornamental Conifers collection. We hope to see you soon!

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Delicate Longevity

Posted in Gardens and Collections on November 6 2013, by Matt Newman

Peggy Rockefeller Rose GardenWith the leaves on the trees peaking in a flurry of color, and the mums in the Home Gardening Center boasting their heartiest hues against dipping temperatures, autumn earns its reputation as a time for brief and fervent garden fireworks. But where most of the flowers and foliage drawing our attention are known as hardy hold-outs against the coming frost, it seldom pays to overlook the delicate beauty now closing out its season in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden.

The rose varieties in our collection, many of them bred for coddle-free survival in spite of the rose’s needy reputation, have put on a gripping show this year. So, to celebrate that longevity, I’ve put together a little gallery of the latest stars among the shrubs, some of the blooms bringing up the rear before the cold season sets in to close up shop until spring. It being hump day, I figured it couldn’t hurt to liven up your autumn afternoon with some reds and yellows in a different medium.

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Morning Eye Candy: An Apt Name

Posted in Photography on November 6 2013, by Ann Rafalko

This is one of those plants that we get questions about all the time, and for good reason. I mean, when was the last time you saw this color in nature?

beauty-berry

Callicarpa japonica Beauty Berry (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)

This Week at the Greenmarket: The Root of the Matter

Posted in Around the Garden on November 5 2013, by Ann Rafalko

greenmarket1While it has warmed up a bit, those two days of chilly weather were a good reminder that winter is on its way. Some areas of the city are yet to record their first hard frost, but the areas that provide New Yorkers with fresh produce at our myriad weekly greenmarkets certainly have seen glittering mornings and wilted leaves.

Many of the greenmarket farmers use frost-protective measures to extend the growing season, but they can’t evade mother nature forever, so it’s best to get ready for the season of root cellar crops–cabbages, potatoes, squash, beets, turnips, carrots, apples and pears, onions and garlic, and more. I would expect that you might still find a few farmers selling the last of the season’s tomatoes and other tender vegetables, but you better grab them while you can! And if you’re so inclined, you’re welcome to can them for wintery days ahead. Or, you can just embrace the season and start indulging in hearty soups, stews, pies, tarts, quiches, and mashes.

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