Plant Talk

Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Morning Eye Candy: Ozukuri

Posted in Photography on November 19 2015, by Matt Newman

While the Holiday Train Show is the hot ticket for this weekend, opening Saturday, November 21, don’t forget that Kiku: Spotlight on Tradition is still blooming away in the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections through November 29. If anything, these chrysanthemums are bigger and brighter than ever, and the ozukuri, or “thousand-bloom” design, makes for an incredible centerpiece.

Ozukuri kiku

Ozukuri (“thousand-bloom”) kiku in the Bourke-Sullivan Display House – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

This Weekend: Colors of the Forest

Posted in Programs and Events on November 13 2015, by Matt Newman

Fall Forest WeekendsThis Saturday and Sunday mark the last of our Fall Forest Weekends, because while it’s still technically fall, we’ve got the Holiday Train Show on the horizon—and all the twinkling winter settings that come with it.

In the meantime, we’re still enjoying the fireworks of autumn, especially in the Forest. Stop in this weekend to join us for terrarium building demos, woodcarving with Ivan Braun, canoe trips on the Bronx River (the only freshwater river in New York City!) and all of the incredible color you’ve come to expect from this urban oasis.

Next weekend’s long-awaited Holiday Train Show grand opening will bring along all sorts of activities, whether you’re looking to explore with the whole family during the day or spend an evening at the Garden during Bar Car Nights. Tickets to the exhibition and the special events that come with it are available now, so don’t miss out on your preferred date!

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Morning Eye Candy: Setting Up

Posted in Photography on November 13 2015, by Matt Newman

There’s a flurry of activity in the Haupt Conservatory right now as we set up shop for the 24th annual Holiday Train Show, our biggest ever! Working day in, day out, our horticulturists and the artistic geniuses from Paul Busse’s Applied Imagination are creating an incredible landscape in miniature for the exhibition’s grand opening on November 21.

Holiday Train Show

The Astro-View Towers of the World’s Fair, 1964–1965, in the Haupt Conservatory — Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Weekly Wildlife at the Garden: Birds of a Feather

Posted in Wildlife on November 11 2015, by Patricia Gonzalez

Patricia Gonzalez is an NYBG Visitor Services Attendant and avid wildlife photographer.


Red-tailed HawkNot only does The New York Botanical Garden serve as a home for lots of wildlife, but this past Sunday, I got to get up close and personal with live birds of prey (as part of the Garden’s Fall Forest Weekend Programming) from the Volunteers for Wildlife Hospital and Education Center. They are non-profit wildlife hospital and education center based in Locust Valley. I got to meet a Screech Owl, Kestrel, Great-horned Owl, and Red-tailed Hawk.

See a slideshow of photos and a brief video from the event below, and don’t miss our second Fall Forest Weekend—complete with live birds of prey in attendance—this Saturday and Sunday, November 14 and 15!

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Morning Eye Candy: Juxtaposed

Posted in Photography on November 11 2015, by Matt Newman

With the unseasonably warm fall we’ve been having, the Japanese chrysanthemums on display in the Bourke-Sullivan Display House of the Nolen Greenhouses are content to stretch out their bloom schedule. Naturally, we’re all for it—Kiku: Spotlight on Tradition has been extended through November 29!

Kiku

Cascade-style kiku in the Bourke-Sullivan Display House – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

From the Garden of Eden to the Megalopolis: Mexico City Before and After Kahlo

Posted in From the Library, Humanities Institute on November 10 2015, by Vanessa Sellers

The Lake at Chapultepec Park, Mexico City. Photo ca. 1920.
The Lake at Chapultepec Park, Mexico City. Photo ca. 1920.

On June 26, 2015, The Humanities Institute conducted its fourth seasonal interdisciplinary colloquium, in the Readers Room-Auditorium of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library. With these more informal round table conversations the Humanities Institute has been able to start the process of reconnecting the various disciplines within the arts and sciences that form part of the environmental humanities: the complex relationship between nature, culture, cities, and society.

This Summer Colloquium’s topic, From the Garden of Eden to the Megalopolis: Mexico City Before and After Kahlo, was inspired by the Garden-wide Frida Kahlo exhibits and focused on the architectural and ecological historical development of Mexico City. The capacity crowd included a diverse mix of university faculty members and graduate fellows, art and architectural historians, as well as architects and urban planners, botanical and horticultural experts.

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Morning Eye Candy: Spotlight on Tradition

Posted in Photography on November 9 2015, by Matt Newman

This year’s Japanese chrysanthemum exhibition takes place in the Bourke-Sullivan Display House of our famed Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections. And after so many months of effort on the part of our horticulturists to bring this incredible display to life, it’s worth visiting!

Kiku: Spotlight on Tradition

Kiku: Spotlight on Tradition in the Bourke-Sullivan Display House – Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen