Johanna Westerdijk (1883-1961) (by Smithsonian Institution)
It looks like we hold a copy of Westerdijk’s thesis and dissertation from the University of Zurich in the collections of the Mertz Library. She was a botanist and plant pathologist and “was one of the first women appointed as a professor in a Dutch university; she taught at the University of Utrecht from 1917 until 1952.”
I had never heard of Untermyer Gardens before this article in the New York Times. Or had I? I have certainly seen the Greystone train stop before, and often wondered what necessitated such an evocative name. And the more I thought about it, the more I was sure I had heard of him before. So I queried the Mertz Library’s digital collections. Given Greystone’s proximity to the Garden, I was hoping for tales of institutional cooperation , stories highlighting Samuel’s horticultural prowess. And while I found those, there are only hints at the magnificence of Mr. Untermyer’s palatial gardens. Here’s what I found.
According to Garden publications, Samuel Untermyer was an Annual Member of the NYBG from at least 1919 up until his death in 1940. Other entries in the Garden’s Journal document his ongoing horticultural efforts by way of his many donations of plants and seeds to NYBG, including a Strobilanthus dyerianus in 1919 and three Rex begonias in 1922. And there is one brief mention of his garden in the context of an article about a very special tree, just down the road from him. It left me feeling a little unsatisfied. I guess the only thing for it is a field trip to Greystone Station. Perhaps the ghosts (if there are any) will have more details! ~AR
(via Untermyer Gardens in Yonkers Is Being Tended Once Again - NYTimes.com)
Why do old books smell? The science behind that sweet pungency.
Books are made from trees. The Garden has a Library. Organic chemistry is cool. That’s all the justification I need in order to reblog this fascinating little video. ~AR
(Source: abebooks.com, via housingworksbookstore)
Apparently I was not the only person inside the Garden who was as taken with the video of an LP player making music from a tree cookie. Mia D’Avanza, Reference Librarian/Exhibitions Coordinator for the LuEsther T. Mertz Library was curious enough to call in the scientific big guns, in this case, James P. Ascher, Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and “techy smartypants,” who provided the following explanation:
light sensor (Arduino or otherwise) + Max/MSP (or equivalent, Ld or cSound would work too) + the hardware setup you see + clever programming to translate the light and dark of the wood into interesting MIDI signals + a nice MIDI synthesizer to produce the piano sounds = what you see; that’s why it’s in the dark!
What does “Arduino + light sensor” mean? Mr. Ascher was kind enough to include this video clip with his answer.
Some days I love my job so much. Thank you Mia and James! ~ AR
Here is Nathaniel Lord Britton, the first Director-in-Chief of The New York Botanical Garden, in a photograph taken in February 1905, in the Bahamas.
Britton was accompanied on this expedition by his wife Elizabeth Britton and Marshall Howe. They returned with about ten thousand specimens, as reported in the Notes, News and Comment section of the Journal of the New York Botanical Garden, March 1905, page 52.
Charles Millspaugh, Britton’s co-author on The Bahama Flora (1920), was also on the trip.
Source: The New York Botanical Garden’s historical photographs, in the collections of The LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
There were far fewer trains in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory 71 years ago!
Photograph taken on December 23, 1940.
Source: The New York Botanical Garden’s historical photographs, in the collections of The LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
November 8, 1912: The pergola while still under construction.
November 8, 2011: A lot has changed.
Source: The New York Botanical Garden’s historical photographs, in the collections of The LuEsther T. Mertz Library; Paul Silverman.
A note on the back of this photo reads: “Economic Botany Museum at the New York Botanical Garden 1905. (H.H. Rusby, Honorary Curator, Economic Botany)”.
Source: The New York Botanical Garden’s historical photographs, in the collections of The LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
This is a baby on a water lily (Victoria amazonica), but there is no other information—names, year?—in the archives about this photograph.
Any suggestions?
Source: The New York Botanical Garden’s historical photographs, in the collections of The LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
Interior of the main Herbarium room in what was then known as the Museum Building, circa 1908.
Source: The New York Botanical Garden’s historical photographs, in the collections of The LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
Unknown dates.
Source: The New York Botanical Garden’s historical photographs, in the collections of The LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
From an early-20th-century photograph, a view of the Garden from atop the Library Building with neighboring Fordham University in the distance.
(Source: The New York Botanical Garden’s historical photographs, in the collections of The LuEsther T. Mertz Library.)
The New York Botanical Garden, July 1916.
(Source: The Garden’s historical photographs, in the collections of The LuEsther T. Mertz Library.)
These orchid shirts, with a design pulled from the amazing collection of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library, are fast becoming a favorite of NYBG staffers. It’s a great design, and the shirts are whisper soft. If you can’t make it to Shop in the Garden to pick one up for yourself, they’re available Online, too.
Artist Philip Haas installation of the Four Seasons in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Courtyard at the NYBG (New York Botanical Garden)....
Imagined conversations from bygone times
What do we want?
A robust variety of naturally-occurring flora in bloom for campus beauty and...
Botanical Gardens, Bronx, NY.
People just accept that I love the New York Botanical Garden and look at the pictures of the pretty things.
BTW NYBG I love the new Native Plants...
Rosemary (in NYBG pot) and friend
Love you, Mom <3
Happy National Public Gardens Day! A female carpenter bee visiting the pea vines yesterday. She’s California’s largest bee.
