Marlon Co is the Photographer & Digital Media Manager for The New York Botanical Garden.

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Presently at NYBG is a weekly showcase of our favorite images highlighting our appreciation and connection to plants and the natural world.

What happens when we look at everything as if for the first time? For the better part of the last decade, observing the rhymes and rhythms of the Garden has been my primary task, and I’ve become pretty good at knowing what’s worth checking out in the landscape at any point in time. Even still, the main lesson I’ve learned in my wanderings is to simply be open to the discovery that is assuredly around every corner.

Presently is all about appreciating the present moment at NYBG, and there is always a cause for surprise or something to admire. By releasing our expectations, we open ourselves to a broader range of experiences and doing so at the Garden is no different. The Orchid Show may be gone until next year, but there are orchids blooming in the wetlands of the Native Plant Garden. The once vibrant Azalea Garden hillside—now reverted back to a welcoming summer green—allows lower understory plants like astilbe to take the stage. Along the Ladies’ Border, an ever-changing array of subtleties beckons a closer look with plants like kashmir-mallow bursting from the beds. And just when we think we might not see a flowering tree again until next spring, the inflorescences of a golden rain tree or the blossoms of a Japanese stewartia can stop you in your tracks.

After all this time seeing and photographing the Garden, it’s still exciting to simply stumble upon an unforeseen moment of beauty, and on your next visit I encourage you to be open to that same surprise and see what wonders you find.

Check back next week to continue the journey of discovery around NYBG.