Join me for a Private Tour of the New York Botanical Garden!
Last Thursday, following my book signing at Costco in Norwalk, Connecticut, I traveled back to New York City to tour the New York Botanical Garden, (NYBG) located in the Bronx. Upon arrival, my group and I were met by Todd Forrest – Vice-president for Horticulture and Living Collections and Kristin Schleiter – Manager of Outdoor Gardens and Herbaceous Plants. Our first stop was the spectacular Enid A. Haupt Conservatory to see “Emily Dickinson’s Garden: The Poetry of Flowers.” A native of Amherst, Massachusetts, Emily Dickenson was as much an avid horticulturist as she was a poet. NYBG has in interest in 19th-century figures whose gardens were important to their thinking. After leaving the conservatory and this very colorful exhibit, there was much more to see. Please enjoy this little tour of NYBG, one of my favorite places in New York City.
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- Platycodon grandiflorus – balloon flower
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- More hydrangea and delphinium
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- More conifers – I loved this structure.
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- My friend, Memrie Lewis posing with Kristin Schleiter – Manager of Outdoor Gardens and Herbaceous Plants
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- I will definitely be back in June to see the splendor of the rose garden.
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- Lisa Wagner – SVP Supervising Editorial Producer of TV and Andrea Mason – Gardening Expert of TV
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- The vegetable garden
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- Fancy-leaf geranium – Pelargonium – ‘Mr. Henry Cox’ – geraniaceae
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- While we were at the azalea garden, we were visited by a majestic red-tailed hawk.
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- Another look at these amazingly soft needles
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- A close up
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- We were off to tour The New York Botanical Garden.
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- Gorgeous pure white tulips
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- You may remember the Martha Stewart’s Culinary Herb Garden – we redesigned the Botanical Garden’s historic Nancy Bryan Luce Herb Garden. It’s looking great!
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- Tower of Jewels – Echium wildpretii – Boraginaceae – Canary Islands
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- Auricula Primroses – This is an Auricula Theater, designed by The Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury. It is a simple showcase for displaying auricula primroses while protecting their delicate flowers from wind and rain.
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- This is the magnificent Enid A. Haupt Conservatory where the Emily Dickinson garden is on display.
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- I really loved this French hydrangea.
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- Just beautiful!
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- These pretty blue flowers are Forget-me-Not – Myosotis – ‘Mon Amie Blue’ – Boraginaceae
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- Zinnias are so much fun. Zinnia elegans – ‘Cactus Flowered Mix’ – Asteraceae
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- One of my favorites – Delphinium elatum
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- Such a pure shade of blue
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- Todd Forest brought together varieties of plants that were popular during Dickinson’s lifetime and particularly, plants mentioned in her poetry.
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- Here I am standing in front of a reproduction of Emily Dickinson’s home.
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- Emily Dickinson’s bedroom
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- Dickinson wrote most of her poems perched at a cherry table under a window in her corner bedroom.
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- More of her garden
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- In Dickinson’s day, a red poppy – Papaver – signified consolation and a white poppy signified fraught with good or ill.
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- This fun plant is pocketbook flower, slipper flower – Calceolaria – ‘Cinderella Mix’ – Scrophulariaceae
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- More of the garden – Dickinson’s poetry is displayed on plaques throughout the exhibit.
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- Another reproduction of the facade of the home
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- Incredible formations!
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- Leaving the Emily Dickinson garden, I took great interest in the textures of palm tree trunks.
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- Off to see the azalea garden
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- So pretty
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- Jessica walked us through this magnificent garden.
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- The blooms were superb.
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- When complete, this viewing area will be wonderful.
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- This is Jessica Arcate Schuler – Manager of the Forest. She has been busy with the azalea renovation.
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- Scores of different azaleas and rhododendrons bloom in succession throughout the garden.
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- The azalea garden in in the process of renovation.
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- This amazing building is the Stone Mill, a New York City landmark and a national historic landmark. It is being restored with support from The Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust and The Amy P. Goldman Foundation. It sits on the Bronx River, the only fresh water river in New York City.
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- The New York Botanical Garden has some really incredible stone formations.
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- This tree is thriving on top of this rock.
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- The newly restored Benenson Ornamental Conifers feature 400 beautiful and exotic conifer specimens, including this remarkable snakebranch spruce.
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- There are so many surprising shapes and colors here.
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- This is a Golden-Larch – Pseudolarix amabilis – Pinaceae from eastern China.
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- Its soft foliage is one of Todd’s favorites.
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- This unusual conifer is Norway spruce – Picea abies – ‘Acrocona’ – pinaceae.
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- The late Dr. Sidney Waxman, a well-known horticulturist, introduced this Pinus densiflora – ‘Low Glow’ – pinaceae.
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- Some of the growing houses
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- A grove of stately dawn redwood
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- Approaching the Dolores DeFina Hope Tree Peony Collection
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- Tree peony – Paeonia – ‘Gauguin’ – paeoniaceae
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- Andrea was crazy about this gigantic bloom.
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- No one could believe how many blossoms were on this plant! It’s called Paeonia suffruticosa – ‘Lotus that Shines in the Sun.’
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- Tree peony – Paeonia suffruticosa – ‘Merry Charm’ – paeoniaceae
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- Tree peony – Paeonia suffruticosa – ‘Multi-colored Butterfly’ – paeoniaceae
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- This is the award-winning Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. Newly renovated, this stunning garden now displays more than 3,000 rose plants.
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- Tree peony – Paeonia suffruticosa – ‘Gosling Yellow’ – paeoniaceae
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- Memrie Lewis, me, Andrea Mason, and Todd Forrest
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- The T.A. Havemeyer Lilac Collection boasts 90 different kinds of lilacs in colors from white and pale blue to lavender and deepest purple.
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- Another growing area
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- Unbelievable colors!
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- Next, Todd led us into the Rock Garden.
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- this pristine flower-rimmed pond.
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- An unusual euphorbia
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- The Rock Garden is a dramatic three-acre oasis filled with thousands of jewel-like alpine flowers.
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- And all sorts of unusual cacti
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- Thomas H. Everett was the creator of this Rock Garden.
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- Tulipa saxatilis (Bakeri Group) ‘Lilac Wonder’ – liliaceae
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- This sparkling waterfall and stream flows into…..
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