June 16, 2013
I am certainly biased, but I really do think a day spent wandering around our grounds combined with a trip to Arthur Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood is pretty much the best way to spend a day in New York City. I’m pretty enamored with Borgatti’s ravioli and the wares at Casa della Mozzarella, and it seems about time to try out the Bronx Beer Hall. What’s your favorite food destination in Belmont? ~AR
(via Belmont in the Bronx Is New York’s Best Food Neighborhood - Where to Eat in the Bronx - Esquire)

I am certainly biased, but I really do think a day spent wandering around our grounds combined with a trip to Arthur Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood is pretty much the best way to spend a day in New York City. I’m pretty enamored with Borgatti’s ravioli and the wares at Casa della Mozzarella, and it seems about time to try out the Bronx Beer Hall. What’s your favorite food destination in Belmont? ~AR

(via Belmont in the Bronx Is New York’s Best Food Neighborhood - Where to Eat in the Bronx - Esquire)

June 3, 2013
flowersforthebrain:

#nofilter (at New York Botanical Garden)

The filter needed for the waterlily pools is in the pool. ~AR

flowersforthebrain:

#nofilter (at New York Botanical Garden)

The filter needed for the waterlily pools is in the pool. ~AR

June 2, 2013

cindykrikawa:

Wild Medicine in the Italian Garden at the New York Botanical Garden, NYC.

So beautiful! If you would like to make a photographic diary of the plants you would have in your own imaginary physic garden, come visit the Italian Renaissance Garden now!~AR

May 27, 2013

vegansaurus:

Produce: for growing, eating, and portraiture! Giuseppe Arcimboldo painted these crazy portraits/still lifes/reversible portraits that were simultaneously still lifes in 16th century Italy, including a series of the four seasons. Those four paintings were later turned into massive sculptures by Philip Haas, and they are now on display through October 27 at the New York Botanical Garden. Just look at Summer!

Amazing, right? Apparently some of the vegetables—like the eggplant and the corn, and is that an artichoke?—were brand-new to Europe at the time. Get more details at The Salt blog, and let’s go visit them and appreciate their massive scale for ourselves. When the rain lets up, of course.

[Photo courtesy New York Botanical Garden via NPR]

May 25, 2013
Plants and pixels are beautiful together, but fronds and film are even more beautiful. ~AR

Plants and pixels are beautiful together, but fronds and film are even more beautiful. ~AR

(Source: jhudakphoto)

May 23, 2013

The roses are back! The peonies are back! The waterlilies are back! What’s beautiful now? Summer’s garden superstars, that’s who!

It’s been a steamy, sweltering week and the flowers that love this weather have welcomed it back with open petals. This is also prime time for ornamental alliums and the beginning of the poppies (my personal favorite) in the Perennial Garden, and foxgloves along the Seasonal Walk.

But the real stars of this week have nothing to do with flowers: This week is all about leaves, and shade. Step into the 50-acre Thain Family Forest and the ambient temperature drops by several degrees. The sounds of the city fall away. Head for the Canoe Portage (marked by signs) and pull up a rock to sit alongside New York City’s only freshwater river for a spot. I guarantee you’ll feel more relaxed, and decidedly cooler, after about 10 minutes.

If you’re comparing this week to last week’s report, the Rock Garden remains a favorite sunning spot for NYBG staffers and tiny lizards, the Native Plant Garden has taken on a completely new aspect, and the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden gets more lush by the day. Unfortunately, the heat has dealt a blow to two of last week’s stars, the Azalea Garden has taken on a more muted hue, and the lilacs are fading into a gently scented memory.

Wild Medicine: Healing Plants Around the World in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory continues to delight visitors with a one-two punch of geeky knowledge and Renaissance beauty. So if you’re not heading away for the three-day weekend come visit us in the Bronx!

For day-to-day updates on what we’re seeing around grounds, be sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter where we post daily updates from our staff and visitors. Also, need help getting around? Our iPhone app can help out there. It’s free and available in the App Store. ~AR

May 21, 2013

The peonies are looking spectacular right now and want you to visit them!

May 19, 2013
marisacarroll:

Rosemary (in NYBG pot) and friend

Pro tip: Rosemary grows best when it has a friend (and a very sunny window). ~AR

marisacarroll:

Rosemary (in NYBG pot) and friend

Pro tip: Rosemary grows best when it has a friend (and a very sunny window). ~AR

May 18, 2013
bpod-mrc:

15 May 2013
Brighter Brains
The nodding yellow flowers of the humble daffodil are a welcome sight after the dreary days of winter. Dementia sufferers have a very different reason for enjoying this springtime display. Daffodils are a natural source of the drug galanthamine, one of the few treatments proven to improve the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Galanthamine slows the breakdown of neurotransmitters – chemicals that carry signals between neurons – leading to improved brain function. Unfortunately, galanthamine is expensive. The best natural sources contain just 0.2% galanthamine and it’s difficult to produce synthetically. Daffodils are thought to produce this chemical as a response to environmental stress, so researchers and farmers in Wales are experimenting with growing the bulbs at high altitude. They hope that creating stressful conditions for the plants will lead to higher drug yields and a brighter outlook for patients.
Written by Sarah McLusky
—

Originally published under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0)


Narcissus isn’t featured in our new exhibition, Wild Medicine: Healing Plants Around the World. I’m going to chalk it up to the research being so new and cutting edge. But if this topic interests you, there’s plenty on offer in this exciting exhibition spread out throughout the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. ~AR

bpod-mrc:

15 May 2013

Brighter Brains

The nodding yellow flowers of the humble daffodil are a welcome sight after the dreary days of winter. Dementia sufferers have a very different reason for enjoying this springtime display. Daffodils are a natural source of the drug galanthamine, one of the few treatments proven to improve the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Galanthamine slows the breakdown of neurotransmitters – chemicals that carry signals between neurons – leading to improved brain function. Unfortunately, galanthamine is expensive. The best natural sources contain just 0.2% galanthamine and it’s difficult to produce synthetically. Daffodils are thought to produce this chemical as a response to environmental stress, so researchers and farmers in Wales are experimenting with growing the bulbs at high altitude. They hope that creating stressful conditions for the plants will lead to higher drug yields and a brighter outlook for patients.

Written by Sarah McLusky

Narcissus isn’t featured in our new exhibition, Wild Medicine: Healing Plants Around the World. I’m going to chalk it up to the research being so new and cutting edge. But if this topic interests you, there’s plenty on offer in this exciting exhibition spread out throughout the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. ~AR

May 16, 2013

We’re mostly moving away from specific plants this week, in terms of what’s beautiful now, in favor of landscapes. Bright, pulsating, incredibly dramatic, gorgeous, stunningly beautiful landscapes, to be specific.

That said, there are a few standout flowers that you should look for, including that peachy peony and her friends, lily of the valley, and ‘Hinomayo,’ one of the most outstanding shrubs on our grounds.

So what about those landscapes? First there’s our new exhibition, Wild Medicine: Healing Plants Around the World, Featuring The Italian Renaissance Garden in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Nearby in the Conservatory Courtyards (also home to The Four Seasons) you’ll find the hardy waterlilies bursting open in these first warm days of spring.

In the Perennial Garden tulips are making way for charming garden plants like bleeding heart and irises. Walk up the path for the charmingly idyllic Rock Garden, then walk around the bend for the wild beauty of the new Native Plant Garden, and then just a little further to the bombastic pinks and reds of the Azalea Garden.

Everywhere you turn there’s a sight to behold and a perfume on the breeze (just watch out for the Davidia). The lilacs are holding strong, the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden is slowly coming along, and the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden looks like a patchwork quilt of greens and earthtones.

Things are definitely settling into a pattern here in terms of what’s beautiful. If you check last week’s report, and even the report from two weeks ago, many of the same gardens are holding strong. What can we say? It’s been an extraordinary spring!

So come visit us in the Bronx! You can plan your visit here. For day-to-day updates on what we’re seeing around grounds, be sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter where we post daily updates from our staff and visitors. Also, need help getting around? Our iPhone app can help out there. It’s free and available in the App Store. ~AR

May 15, 2013

The Four Seasons by Philip Haas, monumental sculptures inspired by the paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo go on display at NYBG this weekend as part of Wild Medicine: Healing Plants Around the World!

May 9, 2013
condenasttraveler:

New York’s Outstanding Urban Gardens | New York Botanical Garden

So pleased to be included in this list along with fellow Bronx institutions Wave Hill and the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum!

condenasttraveler:

New York’s Outstanding Urban Gardens | New York Botanical Garden

So pleased to be included in this list along with fellow Bronx institutions Wave Hill and the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum!

May 8, 2013
It was a terribly kept secret, if it was ever a secret at all; the Garden is a fantastic place to go for a run. Our 250-acres are full of hilly paths, paved roads, and soft woodland trails that just scream to be jogged upon, and jogged upon they are; by staff, by Fordham students, by Members, by people from the community, and, apparently, by New York Times reporters. Brian Fidelman recently laced up his sneakers and came for a run here and declared it, “the most scenic and tranquil run in the city.”
What Fidelman does reveal is a secret we haven’t been trying to keep, but that seems to keep itself: You can enter the Garden as early as 6 a.m. with a special pass or level of membership!
So strap on your sneakers and come run with us! Mornings and evenings are, in my humble opinion, the best times. There are fewer Trams to negotiate, fewer people, too. And after 5 p.m., you’re likely to run into me and my colleagues huffing and puffing up the hills. Wave hi! ~AR
(via The Roving Runner: The New York Botanical Garden - NYTimes.com)

It was a terribly kept secret, if it was ever a secret at all; the Garden is a fantastic place to go for a run. Our 250-acres are full of hilly paths, paved roads, and soft woodland trails that just scream to be jogged upon, and jogged upon they are; by staff, by Fordham students, by Members, by people from the community, and, apparently, by New York Times reporters. Brian Fidelman recently laced up his sneakers and came for a run here and declared it, “the most scenic and tranquil run in the city.”

What Fidelman does reveal is a secret we haven’t been trying to keep, but that seems to keep itself: You can enter the Garden as early as 6 a.m. with a special pass or level of membership!

So strap on your sneakers and come run with us! Mornings and evenings are, in my humble opinion, the best times. There are fewer Trams to negotiate, fewer people, too. And after 5 p.m., you’re likely to run into me and my colleagues huffing and puffing up the hills. Wave hi! ~AR

(via The Roving Runner: The New York Botanical Garden - NYTimes.com)

May 7, 2013
3 Tips to Get a Better Workout When You’re Walking - Health News and Views - Health.com

Lots of people use our 250 acres as a good excuse to go for a walk, myself included. The varied terrain and well-paved paths, not to mention the gorgeous surroundings, make it easy to clock a mile or two without even trying. Here are three great tips from New Balance for maximizing your next jaunt around the Garden. ~AR

May 3, 2013

ceceliaisgray:

The Zoo for Plants

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