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.
1 Memrie Lewis, me, Andrea Mason, and Todd Forrest
2 We were off to tour The New York Botanical Garden.
3 This is the magnificent Enid A. Haupt Conservatory where the Emily Dickinson garden is on display.
4 Todd Forest brought together varieties of plants that were popular during Dickinson's lifetime and particularly, plants mentioned in her poetry.
5 Here I am standing in front of a reproduction of Emily Dickinson's home.
6 Dickinson wrote most of her poems perched at a cherry table under a window in her corner bedroom.
7 Emily Dickinson's bedroom
8 I really loved this French hydrangea.
9 Just beautiful!
10 These pretty blue flowers are Forget-me-Not - Myosotis - 'Mon Amie Blue' - Boraginaceae
11 Zinnias are so much fun. Zinnia elegans - 'Cactus Flowered Mix' - Asteraceae
12 One of my favorites - Delphinium elatum
13 Such a pure shade of blue
14 More hydrangea and delphinium
15 More of her garden
16 In Dickinson's day, a red poppy - Papaver - signified consolation and a white poppy signified fraught with good or ill.
17 This fun plant is pocketbook flower, slipper flower - Calceolaria - 'Cinderella Mix' - Scrophulariaceae
18 Tulipa saxatilis (Bakeri Group) 'Lilac Wonder' - liliaceae
19 Fancy-leaf geranium - Pelargonium - 'Mr. Henry Cox' - geraniaceae
20 More of the garden - Dickinson's poetry is displayed on plaques throughout the exhibit.
21 Platycodon grandiflorus - balloon flower
22 The vegetable garden
23 Another reproduction of the facade of the home
24 Leaving the Emily Dickinson garden, I took great interest in the textures of palm tree trunks.
25 Incredible formations!
26 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!
27 Gorgeous pure white tulips
28 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.
29 Tower of Jewels - Echium wildpretii - Boraginaceae - Canary Islands
30 Off to see the azalea garden
31 The azalea garden in in the process of renovation.
32 Scores of different azaleas and rhododendrons bloom in succession throughout the garden.
33 This is Jessica Arcate Schuler - Manager of the Forest. She has been busy with the azalea renovation.
34 Jessica walked us through this magnificent garden.
35 The blooms were superb.
36 While we were at the azalea garden, we were visited by a majestic red-tailed hawk.
37 When complete, this viewing area will be wonderful.
38 So pretty
39 Unbelievable colors!
40 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.
41 The New York Botanical Garden has some really incredible stone formations.
42 This tree is thriving on top of this rock.
43 The newly restored Benenson Ornamental Conifers feature 400 beautiful and exotic conifer specimens, including this remarkable snakebranch spruce.
44 There are so many surprising shapes and colors here.
45 More conifers - I loved this structure.
46 This is a Golden-Larch - Pseudolarix amabilis - Pinaceae from eastern China.
47 Its soft foliage is one of Todd's favorites.
48 Another look at these amazingly soft needles
49 This unusual conifer is Norway spruce - Picea abies - 'Acrocona' - pinaceae.
50 The late Dr. Sidney Waxman, a well-known horticulturist, introduced this Pinus densiflora - 'Low Glow' - pinaceae.
51 Some of the growing houses
52 A grove of stately dawn redwood
53 Approaching the Dolores DeFina Hope Tree Peony Collection
54 Tree peony - Paeonia - 'Gauguin' - paeoniaceae
55 Andrea was crazy about this gigantic bloom.
56 No one could believe how many blossoms were on this plant! It's called Paeonia suffruticosa - 'Lotus that Shines in the Sun.'
57 Tree peony - Paeonia suffruticosa - 'Merry Charm' - paeoniaceae
58 Tree peony - Paeonia suffruticosa - 'Multi-colored Butterfly' - paeoniaceae
59 Tree peony - Paeonia suffruticosa - 'Gosling Yellow' - paeoniaceae
60 My friend, Memrie Lewis posing with Kristin Schleiter - Manager of Outdoor Gardens and Herbaceous Plants
61 Lisa Wagner - SVP Supervising Editorial Producer of TV and Andrea Mason - Gardening Expert of TV
62 The T.A. Havemeyer Lilac Collection boasts 90 different kinds of lilacs in colors from white and pale blue to lavender and deepest purple.
63 This is the award-winning Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. Newly renovated, this stunning garden now displays more than 3,000 rose plants.
64 I will definitely be back in June to see the splendor of the rose garden.
65 Another growing area
66 Next, Todd led us into the Rock Garden.
67 This sparkling waterfall and stream flows into.....
68 this pristine flower-rimmed pond.
69 An unusual euphorbia
70 A close up
71 The Rock Garden is a dramatic three-acre oasis filled with thousands of jewel-like alpine flowers.
72 And all sorts of unusual cacti
73 Thomas H. Everett was the creator of this Rock Garden.
Thoroughly enjoyed the tour! Thanks!!
Posted by: Frances Usher Jackson | May 4th, 2010 at 2:09 am
I think that everyone should get out and enjoy nature, more often than they do! Pictures and surroundings like this, are excellent for the soul. Surrounded by living, breathing extraordinary thing!
http://www.meandmartha.net
Dan Viger
Hollis center Maine
Posted by: Daniel Viger | May 4th, 2010 at 6:41 am
What beautiful pictures. We hope to get there someday. David was the horticulturist for Boothe Memorial Park in Stratford, Connecticut for 32 Years. He planted and cared for the 32 acre park that has many gardens and also a beautiful rose garden.
He is retired now but we can appreciate all the hard work that goes into maintaining a keeping gardens so beautiful.
What a wonderful job and rewarding when all the community can enjoy it too.
We both love flowers and what a wonderful job you all are doing too.
Thank You
Posted by: David M. Brown and Barbara A. Brown | May 4th, 2010 at 8:09 am
Big fan of Emily, I kind of consider my garden blog my "letter to the world that..." after her line of poetry. Wish I could get to the BBG for the display.
Also big fan of Picea abies 'Acrocona', must find a place for one in my garden. It's a Hansel and Gretel tree.
Posted by: Rhonda Fleming Hayes | May 4th, 2010 at 8:57 am
Thank you for the Botanical Garden tour! Very colorful photos and it was fun seeing the photo of you taking the photo of the French hydrangea.
Quick change of topic:
I'm so glad that you and all other New Yorkers and visitors are very safe from the attempted car bomb! It was only a matter of minutes that a tradgedy was prevented. And excellent police work on catching the alleged bomber! BRAVO!!
Posted by: Gloria Brown, Winterport, ME | May 4th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Greetings,
I wanted to let Martha know about Chase Rivers who is from Nashville and is also a facebook friend of mine and Martha's. He is a songwriter,singer,master chef and floral designer all in one. His dream is to be on The Martha Stewart Show and someday have his own. He has given attention to our mission and I wanted to do the same for him. Please take a look and I hope that he will catch the interest of Martha and Co.
Thank you and have a wonderful season.
Posted by: Teresa Monares | May 4th, 2010 at 10:14 am
NYBG looks wonderful as shown here. Seems that some TV shows are not much as HOW DID YOU GET SO RICH and that other one that Martha was on about how to win an arguement with spouse. Know that I am getting old and grumpy but still love Emily Dickinson. Will Joan London some day have admiration of many?
Posted by: ann | May 4th, 2010 at 11:04 am
I am envious of how green everything is! Here in Aspen, everything is still white and brown. Thank you for sharing such wonderful photos. My favorites are of the Stone Mill and the amazing rock formations.
Posted by: JJ | May 4th, 2010 at 11:22 am
Beautiful garden, and how nice of you to share your exclusive peek!
I might have to get a tree peony for mom as a gift for this Sunday. Will have to research further.
Back to seed-starting....
Posted by: Mistress Gardener | May 4th, 2010 at 11:39 am
What a beautiful place to spend a day! How cool that the hawk got so close!
Posted by: Alyzabeth | May 4th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
I was in New York last week. I wish I had known about these gardens !!!
Incredible flowers, and then Emily Dickinson, one of my favourite poets...the former Literature teacher speaking!
"Luck is not chance, it's toil; fortune's expensive smile is earned".
Thanks for the tour...Maybe next time!
Posted by: Cristina, from Buenos Aires to Paris | May 4th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
It seems so early for those peonies to be blooming. It's also like late summer inside the Emily Dickinson exhibit! It's COLD and rainy here and though the spring flowers are blooming, no one gets to enjoy them because of the weather. We want spring!
Posted by: Clayvessel from Pie in the Sky | May 4th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Pic #3 looks very much like Allen Gardens Conservatory in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Thank you Martha for this NYC garden tour as I've never visited NYC and wondered about her gardens. Thanks.
Posted by: http://twitter.com/Geotravel | May 4th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Loved the private Tour of NY Botanical Gardens! Have always wanted to see them. Someday, I'll get to NYC and spend a chunk of time at the gardens and in the greenhouses.
Enjoyed watching you & Joan Rivers crafting. The new Rowenta iron looks quite futuristic. I'll have to get one so I can make those Tea Towels.
Posted by: Jayne Chandler | May 4th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Hi Martha,
Thanks for taking these fab pictures for us to enjoy! The plants are of course very beautiful and I really liked seeing the Stone Mill. What a great building that is! Good grief, you sure do put in a long day and rarely do I see you looking tired! Amazing! Thanks again. Trish
Posted by: Trish | May 4th, 2010 at 4:19 pm
I am always stunned by your vast knowledge on every topic Martha! You're still taking us all to the very best places! Thank you!
Posted by: Donna | May 4th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
I love these image as always... what and amazing tour... I can see why this is the one of your favorite places in NY...
Posted by: Punctuation Mark | May 4th, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Dear Martha,
Lovely photos. It inspired me a lot to make a garden right now.
Posted by: Mity | May 5th, 2010 at 11:43 am
oh martha i would have loved, loved, loved to have joined that tour.
Catharine Howard
Posted by: Catharine Howard | May 5th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Hi Martha, Thanks so very much for this delightful tour of the New York Botanical Garden. It seems to get more beautiful as time goes by. Are you going to be adding more to it this year again? I love seeing all of the beautiful things you do in special places like that. All of your photos are wonderful. I appreciate everything you for all of us to enjoy. Love, Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | May 5th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Hi Martha, I just want to say thank you to you for always allowing us into your life and giving us a chance to see things we may not get the opportunity to see. The gardens were very nice. Thanks for all the beautiful photos.
Posted by: Susan VanFleteren | May 7th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
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Have you been to Arnold Arboretum in Boston or Lexington and Concord to the homes of some of our great American writers?
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Posted by: andrea and the weimaraners | May 10th, 2010 at 1:18 pm