May 2, 2013

May is here, and the list of What’s Beautiful Now is longer than ever.

It is thrilling how the early flowers continue to persist thanks to this wonderful, gradual spring that has been free of those pretty normal, intense hot days that are so common in New York City in April (and last year in March).

Daffodils are still around in some spots, and there are a few magnolias still holding on, but mostly we’re beginning to see the flowers that signify the heart of spring: lilacs, azaleas, dogwoods, crab apples, tree peonies, and, the very earliest roses!

This weekend marks the grand opening of our newest garden, the Native Plant Garden! Native wildflowers tend to be a little smaller, a little less showy than their cultivated brethren, so we have been making time to introduce you to some of them on our blog Plant Talk.

There’s really not a bum spot in the Garden right now. Every place you turn, it’s beautiful! And the weather is supposed to be spectacular this weekend, so come hang out with us and enjoy the amazing plants across our 250-acres.

What’s still beautiful? Last week’s tulips, for sure, though most of the flowering cherries of two weeks ago are now just a memory. I should point out, however, that there are many different kinds of flowering cherries, and the most classic, robust ones are in full bloom right now (for proof, check out the photo up top that looks like a fluffy pink Tribble).

Ready to plan your journey to the Bronx? Here’s everything you need to know. 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

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Filed under: Flowering Cherries Cherry Blossoms New York City Lilacs Tuilps Daffodils Spring Azaleas The New York Botanical Garden Tree Peonies Dogwoods Crab Apples Roses Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden Native Plant Garden Native Wildflowers Flowers 
February 20, 2013
Soon there will be roses. Profusions of them! ichompthebox: My job all covered in snow.

Soon there will be roses. Profusions of them!

ichompthebox:

My job all covered in snow.

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(Notes: 31)
  
Filed under: Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden The New York Botancial Garden New York City Roses Snow 
February 14, 2013
Roses Raise Environment Concerns: Scientific American Podcast

Concerned about the carbon footprint of the dozen roses you were planning to give your sweetie this Valentine’s Day? Here’s a thought: Why not give him or her an NYBG Membership instead! That way, when June comes around and the stunning, sustainable Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden is in full bloom, you’ll get to celebrate your love all over again! Nothing says “I love you forever baby!” quite like giving the entire Garden, not just a paltry bouquet (plus, you can totally do it last minute, say in case you forgot it’s Valentine’s Day or something …). ~AR

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Filed under: Valentine's Day Roses Flowers Last-Minute Gifts The New York Botanical Garden 
January 16, 2013
Rose days will be here again before we know it. Right? ~AR caught-still: white cottage rose by dd.mollie on Flickr.

Rose days will be here again before we know it. Right? ~AR

caught-still:

white cottage rose by dd.mollie on Flickr.

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(Notes: 87)
  
Filed under: Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden Roses The New York Botanical Garden Visitor-Generated Content Polaroid Flowers 
September 20, 2012
Even roses are getting in on the ombré trend! ‘Molineaux’ in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden.

Even roses are getting in on the ombré trend! ‘Molineaux’ in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden.

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Filed under: roses ombre Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden fashion trends the new tork botanical garden new york city 
September 18, 2012

lwd:

The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden 

The rose garden at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is incredible. I visited the garden a couple weekends ago in the middle of August, and almost the entire garden was in bloom. And, robust. Roses were spilling over pathways with lush foliage and a profusion of blooms. The fragrance alone was intoxicating, reaching me before I even entered through the arbor. I used to hate rose gardens. I thought they were boring and ugly. But, the display at the NYBG made me a believer.

There are over 600 varieties and 4,000 plants on display, blooming for six months out of the year. The garden was originally designed by Beatrix Farrand in 1916 and recently renovated in 2006-2007. It’s been voted one of the most beautiful rose gardens in the country and also one of the world’s most environmentally friendly gardens. 

The garden’s push towards sustainability involves selecting roses for disease resistance, evaluating them constantly, and using organic sprays before synthetic sprays are needed. The gardeners use an in depth evaluation system to determine which roses can remain in the garden, and which get replaced, which they conduct each month.

There’s so much more to read about the subject, and the next post (NYBG Rose Garden Wins Award for Sustainability) picks up where this leaves off. Also, if you happen to subscribe, The American Gardener published a great article about the garden renovation and move towards sustainability in their March/April 2011 issue. 

Wow, I have absolutely nothing to add to this other than that the Rose Garden is still in abundant and profuse bloom, and should stay that way for a few more weeks. ~AR

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Filed under: Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden New York City The New York Botanical Garden Roses Visitor-Generated Content 
July 30, 2012

nolagrrlnyc:

Stop and smell the roses this weekend.

Have we mentioned we really like nolagrrlnyc? Her stream is like a critic’s choice of NYBG highlights. And we’re totally cool with that. —MN

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Filed under: roses plants garden 
June 21, 2012
P. Allen Smith Promised Me a Rose Garden “I always thought roses were the sort of flowers that only ‘rosarians’–-people with a sophisticated knowledge of rose cultivation–-could successfully grow … But then one day I woke up and smelled the roses.” This is something of a wake-up call for rose-shy gardeners too petrified to take on the “notoriously difficult” world of the thorn and bloom. The author does a nice job of celebrating the qualities that make the ‘Knock Out’ cultivars such rewarding starter roses, and with good reason: they’ll survive almost anything. This hardiness is the driving ethos behind the Earth-Kind® Rose Trials, of which the NYBG is such a proud participant. And ‘Knock Out’ features pretty heavily in our test beds. If you’ve been hiding in the closet over the thought of making the leap, fear of failure doesn’t have to be the great decider in growing roses anymore. —MN

P. Allen Smith Promised Me a Rose Garden

“I always thought roses were the sort of flowers that only ‘rosarians’–-people with a sophisticated knowledge of rose cultivation–-could successfully grow … But then one day I woke up and smelled the roses.”

This is something of a wake-up call for rose-shy gardeners too petrified to take on the “notoriously difficult” world of the thorn and bloom. The author does a nice job of celebrating the qualities that make the ‘Knock Out’ cultivars such rewarding starter roses, and with good reason: they’ll survive almost anything.

This hardiness is the driving ethos behind the Earth-Kind® Rose Trials, of which the NYBG is such a proud participant. And ‘Knock Out’ features pretty heavily in our test beds. If you’ve been hiding in the closet over the thought of making the leap, fear of failure doesn’t have to be the great decider in growing roses anymore. —MN

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(Notes: 17)
  
Filed under: roses rose rosarian Earth-Kind Knock Out gardening 
June 2, 2012
Best Climbing Roses for the Gardener Climbers and ramblers are the sculptures of the rosarian’s world, amenable to all the yanking, twisting, bending and tying that an ambitious gardener can throw at them. They make for some of the most eye-catching trellis coverings your landscape will ever know. But what varieties to train across your picket fence, or wrangle through the lattice of your quaintest backyard pergola? Here, gardening veteran Adrian Higgins tackles some of the trade’s brightest bloomers—size, shape, fragrance and malleability included. Along the way, he also gets some cultivar input from the NYBG’s own Peter Kukielski, erudite (and lovable) curator of our early-blooming Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. —MN

Best Climbing Roses for the Gardener

Climbers and ramblers are the sculptures of the rosarian’s world, amenable to all the yanking, twisting, bending and tying that an ambitious gardener can throw at them. They make for some of the most eye-catching trellis coverings your landscape will ever know.

But what varieties to train across your picket fence, or wrangle through the lattice of your quaintest backyard pergola? Here, gardening veteran Adrian Higgins tackles some of the trade’s brightest bloomers—size, shape, fragrance and malleability included. Along the way, he also gets some cultivar input from the NYBG’s own Peter Kukielski, erudite (and lovable) curator of our early-blooming Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. —MN

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(Notes: 49)
  
Filed under: roses climbers gardening garden ramblers 
May 1, 2012

vintagekelly:

already planning my next trip

By the time you come back, the Rose Garden should be in full bloom! Can’t wait to see what beautiful images you could make with that!

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Filed under: Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden Roses Photography New York City Nature 
February 27, 2012
shrimpheads: Rose by Badrul Hisham Ismail from Kajang, Malaysia Another stunning rose photo from the Garden.

shrimpheads:

Rose by Badrul Hisham Ismail from Kajang, Malaysia

Another stunning rose photo from the Garden.

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Filed under: Roses Flower Portraits Flowers The New York Botanical Garden 
January 7, 2012
Honestly, I just love reading The Medieval Garden Enclosed, the blog of the Cloisters Museum and Gardens (part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art); they do such an amazing job of tying modern plants to the past, and their recent post on the rose in heraldry is no exception. If the Garden had a crest, I would imagine that at least one of the beautiful roses from the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden would make it into the design. What plant would be in your crest? ~AR

Honestly, I just love reading The Medieval Garden Enclosed, the blog of the Cloisters Museum and Gardens (part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art); they do such an amazing job of tying modern plants to the past, and their recent post on the rose in heraldry is no exception. If the Garden had a crest, I would imagine that at least one of the beautiful roses from the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden would make it into the design. What plant would be in your crest? ~AR

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Filed under: Cloisters The Metropolitan Museum of Art the medieval garden Roses Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden 
October 8, 2011
The roses at this time of year are just so incredible. And, oh the smell! nicolekirstiesmith: Gorgeous roses in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden (Taken with Instagram at New York Botanical Garden)

The roses at this time of year are just so incredible. And, oh the smell!

nicolekirstiesmith:

Gorgeous roses in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden (Taken with Instagram at New York Botanical Garden)

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Filed under: Roses NYBG Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden 
October 5, 2011
Thing we just learned: Liv Tyler has a rose named after her. Other roses named for famous people that you can see right now in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden include Julia Child, Dick Clark, and Desmond Tu Tu. Awesome.

Thing we just learned: Liv Tyler has a rose named after her.

Other roses named for famous people that you can see right now in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden include Julia Child, Dick Clark, and Desmond Tu Tu. Awesome.

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(Notes: 25)
  
Filed under: Roses Celebrities Liv Tyler Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden Plant Names The New York Botanical Garden Flowers 
October 5, 2011
Grow the Rose, the Queen of Flowers, Chemical-Free

Many of the beautiful roses in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden come from Texas, so why not take a look at curator Peter Kukielski’s methods through a Texan’s lens?

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(Notes: 2)
  
Filed under: Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden Peter Kukielski Roses The New York Botanical Garden 
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