As we get down to brass tacks in the Caribbean Garden photography contest, our partners across the pond are already stumping for their next round of entries. And with the caliber of winning participants recently unveiled, those looking to become the next International Garden Photographer of the Year find themselves up against stiff and startlingly talented competition.
2011’s IGPOTY proceedings pulled skillful nature photographers out of the woodwork. Be it through painstaking preparation or the luck of being in the right place at just the right moment, many of the images captured by the multinational list of participants are almost unconscionable in their beauty. Gritty, ethereal, preternaturally real–the winning selections call up these descriptors among others. It’s a smorgasbord of aesthetic eye candy reaching toward the peak of the artform.
Last weekend’s predictions for snowfall missed the mark by a mile, so we’re spending today confident that the last white of winter is well behind us. Or that’s what we’re telling ourselves. Because without the snow, it makes spending a day at the NYBG a piece of cake, and the trains (usually) tend to run on time. With the Caribbean Garden winding down in preparation for the opening of this year’s Orchid Show, there’s also more motivation to come pay us a visit!
If you’re one of the lucky New Yorkers to have a full three-day weekend to enjoy, we’re even going to open the gates on Monday to make the most of it. We don’t exactly do that every week. And with the kids out of school, you might consider this an example of opportunity knocking–how often do you get to spend a day with them while out and about, anyway?
Elizabeth Figueroa is Associate Vice President for Community Relations at The New York Botanical Garden.
Left to right: Aaron Bouska, VP for Government and Community Relations; Benny Poy, Special Assistant to Senator Biaggi; Dianne Renwick, NYBG Board Member; Carrie Rebora Barratt, CEO & President of NYBG; NYS Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez; Elizabeth Figueroa, AVP for Community Relations; Ischia Bravo, District Manager, Community Board 7; NYC Councilmember Andrew Cohen
On Thursday, September 26, we were thrilled to host our ninth annual Fiesta de Flores, The New York Botanical Garden’s festival in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month and the people of Latin America and the Caribbean.
We took part in fascinating guided tours of Brazilian Modern: The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx in its final week, danced to the music of the Carlos Jimenez Mambo Quintet, and enjoyed amazing tamales, empanadas, alcapurrias, and so much more from some of the Bronx’s finest restaurants—all thanks to the continued support of Councilmembers Andy Cohen, Mark Gjonaj, Fernando Cabrera, and Ritchie Torres, and the NYC Council’s A Greener NYC initiative.
As part of #plantlove at NYBG, we’re talking with people from all over the Garden about what inspires their passion for plants. Today, meet Livia Martinez, Undergraduate Science Intern in the NYBG Plant Research Laboratory.
Where did you grow up, and did that have an impact on your decision to devote your life to plants?
I grew up in South Florida, which I would say had a pretty big impact on my interest in plants. The flora of Florida and the Caribbean are truly unparalleled, and growing up around mangrove forests and cycads and palm trees created a subconscious love for plants that I did not grow to appreciate until I got to high school.
On Wednesday, September 19, 2018, we celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with Fiesta de Flores, a festival at the Botanical Garden commemorating the people of Latin America and the Caribbean. The event took place at the Stone Mill from 5:30–8:30pm.
The program entailed Rose Garden Tours, food and beverage tasting, live art, floral painting workshop, artisans, musical entertainment and a Bomba dance ensemble.
Aaron Bouska, Vice President of Government and Community Relations provided the welcoming remarks and Elizabeth Figueroa, Associate Vice President of Community Relations presented Havana Café and Port Morris Distillery with the Hispanic Heritage Month Award for their outstanding community service in the Bronx and for their annual contribution to the Garden’s Fiesta de Flores event.
On Wednesday, September 20, 2017, we celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with Fiesta de Flores, a festival at the Botanical Garden’s Stone Mill commemorating the people of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The program entailed Rose Garden Tours, food and beverage tasting, live art, artisans, musical entertainment, and a Bomba dance ensemble.
One of the highlights of the evening was a presentation by Aaron Bouska, Vice President of Government and Community Relations, of the Public Service Award to New York City Councilmember Annabel Palma. The moment recognized and commemorated her dedicated service to the people and institutions of the Bronx and her leadership of the Bronx Delegation of the New York City Council.
Participants of the workshop “Biodiversity and its Histories” gather in the Humanities Institute, Mertz Library, NYBG.
Over the course of the last three months, The New York Botanical Garden’s Humanities Institute and the Center for Science & Society at Columbia University have opened the front in a collaborative campaign for renewed dialogue about conservation, climate change, and the numerous other challenges that face the protection of biodiversity and the environment in the 21st Century.
The Rose Garden Celebration kicks off tomorrow! And without a moment to spare—the roses are already at 60% of peak color as of today. Don’t miss the blooms or the entertainment. Click through for full details on performances, tours, food and drink vendors, and expert-led Q&A sessions. You can even make your own watercolor painting! Please note that there will be no film screenings or performances in Ross Hall this weekend. You’ll find the entertainment outdoors! Book a special festival ticket now for a fun-filled weekend in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden.
This weekend only is also Dig! Plant! Grow!: Global Gardens Spring Harvest Celebration. Bring your kids on a culinary journey around the world!
Beginning tomorrow, we throw open the gates to America’s grand estates in Groundbreakers: Great American Gardens and the Women Who Designed Them. This show examines early 20th-century America’s boom in garden culture, with groundbreaking women leading the charge in the fields of landscape architecture, design, and photography.
The centerpiece of this exciting exhibit—a must for aficionados of historic homes and gardens—is Mrs. Rockefeller’s Garden in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. This interpretation of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden in Maine evokes one of the most stunning properties designed by Beatrix Farrand, one of the Groundbreakers examined in the show. Farrand, along with Marian Coffin and Ellen Shipman, represents a pivotal moment in history, from the end of the Gilded Age to the height of the Jazz Age. Their lives, times, and careers will be the subject of exhibition components throughout the Garden grounds.
For a taste of what’s in store, check out Edward Rothstein’s latest write-up of our brand new summer exhibition in The New York Times. Read on for the full list of this weekend’s programs surrounding Groundbreakers, including all-new children’s activities and plenty of musical interludes!
Our annual Orchid Show begins this weekend, carrying us off to the warmth and greenery of Key West. I myself have eaten hearts of palm in Key West, toured Ernest Hemingway’s home, and gone swimming and sunbathing, but I never took the time to stop and admire the island’s orchids. On the key, the Audubon House and Tropical Gardens combine history and nature for the avid naturalist, showcasing a one-acre garden full of native and exotic orchids.
Florida boasts a large and diverse population of orchids owing to its climate, which ranges from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south. These variations support temperate and tropical orchids, respectively. Many epiphytic orchids that colonize the southern portion of the state, including Key West, are indigenous to the Caribbean and southern tropical regions.
As we get down to brass tacks in the Caribbean Garden photography contest, our partners across the pond are already stumping for their next round of entries. And with the caliber of winning participants recently unveiled, those looking to become the next International Garden Photographer of the Year find themselves up against stiff and startlingly talented competition.
