Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

This Week at the Greenmarket: Soup Season is Here!

Posted in Programs and Events on October 15 2013, by Ann Rafalko

greenmarketWarm days, cool nights. This weather screams for soup! And the Garden’s free, weekly Wednesday Greenmarket has everything you need to cobble together a quick soup for dinner or for a long-simmered stock this weekend.

You can find everything you need to make the best soup ever at the Greenmarket. Produce aplenty is available from Gajeski Produce and Migliorelli Farm. Red Jacket Orchards has apples, pears, and ciders that are an exciting addition to your dinner table. And Meredith’s Bread has rolls for serving alongside your soup, and dessert, too.

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How to Track Fall In the Bronx From Your Couch

Posted in Around the Garden on October 15 2013, by Ann Rafalko

fall1In some parts of New York State, autumn has already come and gone. But here in the Bronx? The best is yet to come! How will you know when it’s time to pay us a visit to see the Garden’s 250-acres dressed up in the prettiest oranges, reds, and yellows of fall? With our new Fall Foliage Tracker of course!

The Garden has a multitude of places for you to enjoy the beauty of fall, but if I had to pick just one place you must visit for fall foliage enjoyment, it would be the Thain Family Forest. This 50-acre old growth forest is the largest remaining tract of the woodlands that once covered all five boroughs of New York City. The Bronx River, New York City’s only freshwater river, cuts through it in a dramatic gorge complete with a waterfall. Stand above the river on the Hester Bridge for one of the Garden’s great fall foliage vistas.

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The Giant Pumpkins’ Giant Friends

Posted in Around the Garden on October 14 2013, by Ann Rafalko

longgourdThey’re getting closer. All across the United States farmers are loading up moving vans and flatbed farm trucks with hulking pumpkins and heading for the Bronx and the Haunted Pumpkin Garden. And this year, the pumpkins are bringing friends.

For the first time, the Garden is excited to play host to the new world record-setting watermelon and the new world record-setting long gourd, too! Who names these world records? Our partners in giant pumpkin fun, the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, of course.

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Morning Eye Color: Fall’s Cool Hue

Posted in Photography on October 14 2013, by Ann Rafalko

Fall foliage tends toward the hotter colors; reds, oranges, and yellows, while falls flowers tend toward the cooler spectrum of purples, blues, and deep pinks.

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Photos by Ivo M. Vermeulen

This Weekend: Bonus Fall Fun!

Posted in Around the Garden on October 11 2013, by Ann Rafalko

weekend4For many, this weekend is a three-day weekend and we’ll be open on Monday to help you pass the extra day in one of New York City’s most beautiful natural spaces. That means an extra day of fall fun for everyone!

Fill your weekend with spooky fun in the Haunted Pumpkin Garden and the cultural immersion of Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Garden. Our two fall exhibitions come with a plethora of fun activities including pumpkin carving demonstrations, taiko drumming, wildlife encounters, and tours. And don’t miss the opening of Close: The Photography of Allan Pollok-Morris, going live in the Ross Gallery this weekend.

Start your Columbus Day weekend off right by joining our free Saturday bird walk around the grounds. It’s migration time, so you never know who you’ll spot in addition to our regular flock of raptors, turkeys, little brown jobbers, and colorful characters.

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Three Weeks and Counting

Posted in Programs and Events on October 10 2013, by Matt Newman

Gillian Plummer — Shady Painted Lady
Gillian Plummer — “Shady Painted Lady”

Our “Nature’s Pharmacy” photo exhibition may have taken its leave from the Ross Gallery just as summer’s Wild Medicine bowed out, but it was only one small aspect of the International Garden Photographer of the Year competition. Meanwhile, the annual, worldwide quest to uncover the best of the best among nature photographers muscles onward, and 2013’s window for entry is swiftly closing. It only takes one pristine picture to gain recognition in the contest, of course, so don’t let the schedule pressure you out of the race!

With only three weeks left until the October 31 deadline, the heat is on for the globe’s up and coming shutterbugs to flaunt their mettle, whether that’s photographing a rustic onion harvest in an idyllic home garden or braving a cavernous woodland for a shot at a family of pallid mushrooms. With over $20,000 in cash and prizes on the line for participants, this challenge isn’t one you should brush off lightly. And whatever your nature photography draws you to, chances are good that there’s an IGPOTY category to accommodate it, including those below.

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