The New York Botanical Garden is a museum of plants, an educational institution, and a scientific research organization. Founded in 1891 & now a National Historic Landmark, it is one of the greatest botanical gardens in the world. http://www.nybg.org/
- Having spent four wonderful years at Rosedale…it was my last day today :(
- Saturdays in general
Photo: One of my favorite spots ever in the Botans, New York Botanical Garden, May 2013
Reblogging this because: 1) The Azalea Garden hit its fluorescent peak a week or two ago, meaning it’s winding down into its lush summer greenery from here (don’t miss the spring display!) 2) We love our nickname. Seriously. Thanks, Fordham students, and best of luck to the class of 2013! We’ll miss you guys over the summer. —MN
Our Library’s display cases are now kitted out for The Renaissance Herbal, showcasing a collection of rare medieval and Renaissance manuscripts highlighting the complex history of botanical science and medicine. The books in attendance may not be literal flower tomes, as seen here, but the classical illustrations (one of our older books was produced on blue paper, with gold and silver ink—c’mon) are striking enough on their own.
This is just one the many facets of Wild Medicine, open as of May 18 and running throughout the summer. —MN
Our family membership to the New York Botanical Garden wins best purchase of the year!
Not humblebragging or anything. Just, y’know, keeping pretty pictures around for the gap between the close of this cherry bloom and the start of the next. Definitely just that. —MN
Joel Kroin is many things—a horticulturist and NYBG Member among them. But his passion, or at least the one passion that we see most often, lands behind a lens. And, sure, these pictures of the Rock Garden might look like any batch of film photographs at a casual glance. But the reality is far more interesting.
Not (at least in these moments) a DSLR man, or as often a fan of 35mm, Kroin prefers the quirks of anachronism. Staffers sometimes find him crouched for minutes at a time in spots around the Garden; often he’s working an old coffee pot, other times, a wooden box with an aperture.
But strange as the process looks to the idle observer, Kroin’s photography is maybe the most well-established format there is—at least if we’re going by seniority. And while the practice of pinhole photography may take an age compared to digital, there’s an antique satisfaction to the art that you probably won’t find in a modern camera. Click through for more on one of our favorite visitors. —MN
yentinghuang asked: Does cherry bloom already? what's their stage currently? Do you have cherry-watch page the same as Brooklyn Botanical Garden??
The cherries are in bloom and then some! We don’t have a watch page, as our cherries are simply too spread out across our 250 acres (and too many in variety) to track on such a minute level, but I did some reconnaissance and found that the trees are playing round robin depending on where you go.
The Okame cherries near the Library Building were some of the first to open up, and have since passed their peak. Meanwhile, the Higan and Yoshino cherries are at or near peak around Mosholu Gate, the Ross Conifer Arboretum, the Visitor Center, and elsewhere throughout the Garden. These bright, mostly cloud-white blossoms are practically shouting for attention—hard to miss, in other words.
Over in Cherry Valley, near the Rose Garden, the Sato-Zakura group cherries are still looking sleepy, and the weeping cherries are varying at between 30% and 50% bloom as of this morning. But there’s such a kaleidoscope of other flowering tree species to see in between that it makes visiting each of these spots well worth it. The magnolias in particular are—and I can say this as a witness—literally stopping people in their tracks.
“As a classical botanical garden, we have our roots in the botanical gardens of the Italian Renaissance, which were established to be medical schools, really to teach the physicians of the time about the plants they’d prescribe and maybe as importantly to help them distinguish between plants that have healing effects and plants that are either impotent or, even worse, poisonous.”
That would be Todd Forrest, our VP for Horticulture and Living Collections, laying out some of the history behind, well, all botanical gardens, really. And when our next major exhibition starts up in May, diving back into that very same past, we’re making sure we have the best talent on hand to recreate it.
As a renowned landscape designer, this isn’t Jorge Sanchez’ first NYBG show—he did put his talents and training behind 2010’s fantastic, Caribbean-inspired Orchid Show, as seen above. But he faces all new challenges going into Wild Medicine, an exhibition that not only tackles the history of botanical remedies, but seeks to honor the oldest botanical garden in the world—that of Padua, Italy.
Is he up for the challenge? We’re not at all worried.
“My interest is in architecture and plants and history. And this combines all of them,” said Sanchez. Click through for more. —MN
Say it with me now: Spring. So perfect, so monosyllabic—it rolls off the tongue. ~Spring~
We’ve had fun this winter; honestly, too much. The Holiday Train Show was dazzling, Tropical Paradise left us looking all-too-happily for daiquiri ingredients, and, of course, there was the snow. Seeing Tulip Tree Allée dusted with white is like taking a daytrip to Narnia. But it’s high time we get back to the green, eh? Or purple, white, blue, et cetera.
Be still my wintry heart, spring is a thing again! (We know, the equinox isn’t until March 20th—but let’s not waste celebration time on formalities, hm?) —MN
(Photos by our lovely resident shutterbug, Ivo M. Vermeulen, who’s been out documenting [gallivanting around in] spring’s new Garden growth)
We’re having a Winter Tree Tour beginning at 12:30 this Sunday, February 24. So this Heptacodium seems pertinent! (Even if it’s often considered a shrub.) —MN
Ever wondered how beavers got the reputation for being busy, well, beavers? After checking out the nearly 200 images captured by one of our Forest critter cams of this busy, busy beaver, I think I finally understand. The Garden and the Bronx River are the proud residence of the first two beavers —José and Justin—to call New York City home in more than 200 years. Beavers were once common in our fair boroughs, but their luxurious pelts were their doom, and they were hunted and trapped to extinction in our area while simultaneously making Gotham a world capital of commerce and trade (they’re even featured on the official seal of the city).
Whether this beaver is José or Justin is almost impossible to tell, but it’s not the first time we have caught our resident critters on film. Over the summer, during an impressive heat wave, our critter cam also caught a curious fox, racoon, and one very exasperated looking great-horned owl. We’re sure there are more critter cam surprises to come, so stay tuned and keep an eye peeled when you’re visiting the Garden, you just never know who you’ll meet along the way! ~AR
ps - The awesome gifs were created by Matt Newman, aka MN.
Thaaat’s the shot I’ve been looking for. The trees will still be twinkling through Sunday, January 13, as we play out the last few days of our Holiday Train Show. And while I’ll certainly miss the hum of the toy tracks, I can safely say this has been one of the best years yet. Here’s to the next. —MN
