Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Tags: Exhibitions, Morning Eye Candy, Renaissance Garen, University of Padua, Wild Medicine

This entry was posted
on Friday, May 17th, 2013 at 6:00 am and is filed under Exhibitions.
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Article source: http://www.nybg.org/plant-talk/2013/05/exhibit-news/morning-eye-candy-on-a-grid/

In the Library Building, the LuEsther T. Mertz Library is hosting The Renaissance Herbal in the Rondina and LoFaro Gallery. Explore rare books and manuscripts known as herbals that demonstrate the evolving role that plants have played in medicine and history since antiquity. Weekends feature a rich repertoire of the music and dance of the Italian Renaissance period. On view in the Ross Gallery, Nature’s Pharmacy features photographs of medicinal and beneficial plants taken by professional and amateur photographers from around the world as part of the prestigious International Garden Photographer of the Year contest. Select weekend home gardening demonstrations will offer gardening instruction on how to cultivate and enjoy healing plants at home.

In addition to Wild Medicine, blooms and blossoms are flowering all over the Garden.  What’s beautiful now? Peonies, irises, roses and azaleas, just to mention a few! To plan your visit and see what activities are occurring, check out our day-by-day calendar or consider following us on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, where we post daily updates from our staff and visitors. Need help getting around? Our iPhone app can help out there. It’s free and available in the App Store.

Saturday, May 18

Tour Wild Medicine in the Conservatory – regularly, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
In the Conservatory

Guides throughout the exhibition help bring the stories of Wild Medicine to life and guide your experience. Learn about featured medicinal plants and their cultural significance, the origin of medicinal gardens, and more.

Bird Walk – 11 a.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center

The diverse habitats of the Botanical Garden offer visitors a chance to see dozens of species of birds–both native and migratory–throughout the year. Bring your binoculars!

Film Screening: Wild Medicine – 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
In the Ross Hall

This 15–minute introductory film narrated by Sigourney Weaver helps set the tone for your visit, celebrating the beauty of the real Garden of Padua while highlighting the importance of healing plants and the work of Garden scientists.

Native Plant Garden Tour with ASL Interpreter – 12:30 p.m.
Meet at the Reflecting Pool at the Leon Levy Visitor Center

Join a tour guide for an insider’s view of the newly designed Native Plant Garden.

SOLD OUT: Opening Weekend Lecture and Award Presentation:  Andrew Weil, M.D. – 1-2:30 p.m.
In the Ross Hall

Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to hear Andrew Weil, M.D., a world-renowned leader in the field of integrative medicine, share fascinating experiences and offer unique perspectives on the power of plants to maximize well-being and quality of life. The recipient of the Garden’s first H.H. Rusby Award, Dr. Weil, a Harvard-trained physician, botanist, and Founder and Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, is being recognized for his distinguished contributions to the fields of ethnobotany and integrative medicine, and for advancing our understanding of the importance of plants in clinical care. After his remarks, meet Dr. Weil, who will sign copies of his recent books, True Food: Seasonal, Sustainable, Simple, Pure and Spontaneous Happiness: A New Path to Emotional Well-Being.

Music and Dance of the Italian Renaissance – 3 p.m.
In the Ross Hall

Enjoy a rich repertoire of music and dance of the Italian Renaissance period presented by artists from Early Music New York and The New York Historical Dance Company.  Performers wear costumes and play historic instruments to recreate the sights and sounds of this period music, explaining the progression from classic to modern.

Sunday, May 19

Tour Wild Medicine in the Conservatory – regularly, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
In the Conservatory

Guides throughout the exhibition help bring the stories of Wild Medicine to life and guide your experience. Learn about featured medicinal plants and their cultural significance, the origin of medicinal gardens, and more.

Film Screening: Wild Medicine – 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
In the Ross Hall

This 15–minute introductory film narrated by Sigourney Weaver helps set the tone for your visit, celebrating the beauty of the real Garden of Padua while highlighting the importance of healing plants and the work of Garden scientists.

Music and Dance of the Italian Renaissance – 3 p.m.
In the Ross Hall

Enjoy a rich repertoire of music and dance of the Italian Renaissance period presented by artists from Early Music New York and The New York Historical Dance Company. Performers wear costumes and play historic instruments to recreate the sights and sounds of this period music, explaining the progression from classic to modern.

Home Gardening Demonstration: Herbal Healing Gardens – 2 p.m.
In the Perennial Garden

Gardens are sanctuaries.  They not only provide us with a retreat from the world but they also supply us with many soothing remedies.  Join us to learn how to design your own little haven as well as grow healing herbs and fragrant plants that will calm your nerves.

Ongoing Children’s Programs

Hands-On Gardening Activities for Families: Salad Days
In the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden
Through June 7, 2013; 1:30 – 5:30 p.m. daily

The ”salad days” of the Garden year are here! The finale of spring is a bonanza of ripe roots, succulent stems, glorious greens, and a kaleidoscope of colorful–and edible–flowers. Use real plants and flowers to decorate a salad bowl collage. Learn tips on how to combine this array of plant parts into an assortment of salads and prepare a healthy dressing to take home. Plants and imaginations grow at the Howell Family Garden, where kids are allowed–no, encouraged!–to play in the dirt. Display gardens such as the Global Gardens and the Breakfast Bowl, and daily activities delight and inspire. Cooking demonstrations at the Whole Foods Market® Family Garden Kitchen run through October 11. Learn to cook flavorful new recipes using garden-fresh ingredients, twice a day on Wednesdays and weekends.

Mario Batali’s Kitchen Gardens
In the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden
Through October 11, 2013; 1:30 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Kids can explore with Mario’s Menu Mystery game, featuring favorite vegetables and herbs from nine of his restaurants’ kitchens, including Otto and Del Posto.

Outdoor Nature Exploration: Naturally Curious
In the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden
Through September 8; 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

In the Adventure Garden adventure abounds for kids of all ages with art and science activities such as mixing paints and creating science notebooks. Explore nature and plant science, themed galleries, and hands-on activities in the William and Lynda Steere Discovery Center as well as through outdoor exploration of the 12-acre Adventure Garden.

Tags: exhibition, Italian Renaissance Garden, medicinal plants, Wild Medicine

This entry was posted
on Friday, May 17th, 2013 at 2:03 pm and is filed under Around the Garden.
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Article source: http://www.nybg.org/plant-talk/2013/05/around-the-garden/this-weekend-get-wild/

 Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Tags: Azalea Garden, Morning Eye Candy, Rhododendrons

This entry was posted
on Saturday, May 18th, 2013 at 6:00 am and is filed under Photography.
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Article source: http://www.nybg.org/plant-talk/2013/05/photography/morning-eye-candy-anonymous-star/

On Friday, Wildflower Week participants are invited to a very special tour of the Native Plant Garden, Thain Family Forest, and Azalea Garden. The tour, Native Flowers, Forest Azaleas of NYBG, will be conducted by Jody Payne, Director of the Native Plant Garden; Jessica Arcate-Schuler, Director of the Thain Family Forest; Deanna Curtis, Curator of Woody Plants; and Kristin Schleiter, Director of Outdoor Gardens. The tour–offered rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on May 17–is free with paid admission and participants should meet at the Leon Levy Visitor Center Reflecting Pool.

The tour starts in the Native Plant Garden where you’ll get an exciting look at a garden that the New York Times called “a shifting, transforming web of interactions: Nature, shaped, nudged, guided and cultivated, by its human servants.” The Native Plant Garden flows seamlessly into the Forest, the largest remaining swath of the woods that once covered all five boroughs. The Forest isn’t just a collection of trees, it is also a living, breathing outdoor laboratory for scientists, ecologists, and horticulturists studying urban ecosystems. Exit the Forest and enter the Azalea Garden which is in absolute peak bloom. Featuring the highest elevation of the Garden’s 250-acres and an absolute riot of color, be dazzled and delighted by the native shrubs and wildflowers of this spectacular garden.

If you can’t make it to the Bronx there are plenty of other Wildflower Week events. See the full schedule here.

Tags: Azalea Garden, Native Plant Garden, native plants, NYC Wildflower Week, Thain Family Forest, Wildflowers

This entry was posted
on Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Programs and Events.
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Article source: http://www.nybg.org/plant-talk/2013/05/garden-programming/wildflower-week-in-new-york-city/

Rhododendron ‘Hinomayo’ (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)

Tags: Azalea Garden, Hinomayo, Kurume Hybrid Azalea, Morning Eye Candy, Schiaparelli Pink

This entry was posted
on Thursday, May 16th, 2013 at 6:00 am and is filed under Photography.
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Article source: http://www.nybg.org/plant-talk/2013/05/photography/morning-eye-candy-elsa-would-approve/

We had someone ask us on Tumblr the other day if they’d already missed out on this year’s lilac bloom, so I puzzled together a few shots of the collection taken over the past week to put anxious hearts at ease. That said, no, these white and purple puffs are still very much en vogue and smelling delicious.

That long winter we just came out of means we might see the lilacs blooming past their usual mid-May finish. Still, I wouldn’t drop all my pocket change on that bet. The weather’s been too perfect—bafflingly so—to pass up an earlier visit anyway.

When you stop in for the opening of Wild Medicine this weekend, make the walk or hop a Garden Tram over to the Rose Garden. Even if the roses are still playing coy, the lilacs more than fill the fragrance quota.

Tags: Lilacs, rose garden, Roses

This entry was posted
on Thursday, May 16th, 2013 at 11:00 am and is filed under Around the Garden.
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Article source: http://www.nybg.org/plant-talk/2013/05/around-the-garden/lilacs-aplenty/

Aimee, 6, applies organic fertilizer made of natural ingredients to our lawn in Rhode Island.

PERHAPS DUE TO HER FATHER’S vocation, or her mother’s natural flair with flowers and other plants, my daughter Aimee has always been fascinated with growing things. At 4, she knew the so-called weeds from what was actually supposed to be growing in the perennial garden. By age 5, she began frustratedly calling out the neighbors in our cul-de-sac who grew “chemical lawns,” and couldn’t understand why everyone didn’t love the dandelions and other flowers that we allow to grow somewhat unabatedly in our yard.

The Safer Brand sent us this fertilizer to try from its organic 4-Step program.

This spring, all of age 6, she breathlessly ran outside to ask if she could help when I began dabbling with my spring lawn care experiments. While we don’t have the most weed-free lawn by design, we do most often have the greenest and drought tolerant by far due to all the natural fertilizers, soil amendments and anti-dessicants that companies send me to trial.

So while some of our neighbors still hire companies that post the Keep Off the Grass signs for 72 hours when they’re done, Aimee is now officially in charge of the lawn care (mowing aside) at our house. She can do it in her bare feet, with her bare hands, and then roll around on the grass with her sister as soon as she’s done.

The label lists ingredients derived from safe, sustainable sources.

Her favorite task of all is applying the compost tea when all the granular fertilizer is on the ground. I have her do it because the microscopic organisms in the tea help activate the organic fertilizer — which gives the grass a quicker green-up. Aimee, however, mostly likes to spray the tea at me . . . and occasionally her sister.

Applying the compost tea helps bring the soil to life and puts a smile on Aimee’s face.

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Article source: http://www.safelawns.org/blog/2013/05/lawn-care-should-be-this-safe-and-simple/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lawn-care-should-be-this-safe-and-simple

Foxgloves being installed in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory as part of Wild Medicine: Healing Plants Around the World (photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen)

Tags: Exhibitions, foxglove, medicinal plants, Morning Eye Candy, Wild Medicine

This entry was posted
on Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 at 6:00 am and is filed under Photography.
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Article source: http://www.nybg.org/plant-talk/2013/05/photography/morning-eye-candy-can-you-put-a-glove-on-a-fox/

The Nancy Bryan Luce Herb Garden features a formal boxwood parterre

Imagine a landscape without boxwood. Some people—who see the shrub as an overused landscape crutch—would welcome it. But what about the home gardener on the hunt for a sturdy, reliable, trusty, deer-resistant shrub to provide their landscape with some backbone? Sure, there are alternatives, but boxwood really can fit the bill in the right design and place. Plus, if you’re a fan of the formal English garden, a world without boxwood is almost unimaginable.

But in the United Kingdom, it’s a real possibility. Home to such famous gardens featuring boxwood as Great Dixter, Sissinghurst, and Helmingham Hall, the gardens across the pond may soon lose one of their most famous plants. Boxwood blight is caused by a fungus known as Cylindrocladium buxicola in the U.K. where it was first found, but is also known as Cylindrocladium pseudonaviculatum or Calonectria pseudonaviculata. The disease was first described in the U.K. in the 1990s, and confirmed in the United States in 2011. It has now been seen in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia.

Boxwood blight seems to affect different cultivars to varying degrees, with the most severe infections occurring in the classic English boxwood, Buxus sempervirens ‘Suffruticosa.’ The blight severely disfigures infected plants, first causing dark circles on the leaves and cankers on stems, ultimately leading to leaf drop. In potted box the blight will often only affect the lower branches causing the plant to become misshapen and top-heavy. Large swaths of boxwood, like hedges and topiary, may be affected only on the shadiest or most humid side.

Because of the manner in which boxwood is commonly propagated, young plants are especially vulnerable to boxwood blight. Despite possible total defoliation, the root systems of infected plants remain uninfected. Boxwood blight is not generally the source of plant death. Generally a secondary infection enters the weakened plant and kills it.

Boxwood blight is spread most commonly by transported plants, so much like many state forestry services (including New York’s) will ask you not to transport firewood from place to place in fear of spreading invasive insects like the Emerald Ash Borer, Hemlock wooly Adelgid, and Asian longhorned beetle, it is wise not to transport boxwood. The spores of the fungus can also be spread on tools and clothing, so it is important to maintain all tools and gardening clothing if they have come into contact with infected plants. In addition, should your plants become infected, do not compost them. Take them to your local solid waste depot, bury them, or burn them (though check with local authorities first to ensure there isn’t a burn ban in effect; New York’s lifts tomorrow).

In New York State, if you suspect you have boxwood blight, you can contact the Cornell University Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic, the Rutgers Plant Diagnostic Laboratory in New Jersey, and the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in Connecticut. And, of course, the Master Gardeners available to the public through the state Cooperative Extension Services are a fantastic resource.

It’s a tough season for gardeners who love both boxwood and impatiens, but a little smart thinking can keep your garden healthy and beautiful. Buy your plants from reputable nurseries, choose the correct plants for your unique gardening conditions, keep your tools clean, maintain vigilance, and keep yourself informed—do all of this, and your garden should remain beautiful well into the fall.

Tags: Boxwood, Boxwood Blight, Deer-Reistant Shrubs, gardening, Impatiens Downy Mildew, Landscapes, Plant Diseases, Shurbs

This entry was posted
on Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 at 11:00 am and is filed under Gardening Tips.
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Article source: http://www.nybg.org/plant-talk/2013/05/tip-of-the-week/boxwood-blight-a-new-menace-to-the-american-landscape/

 Photo by Ivo M. Vermeulen

Tags: duck, Morning Eye Candy, Spring, Suspicious Mallard, Wildlife

This entry was posted
on Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 at 6:00 am and is filed under Around the Garden, Photography.
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Related Posts:

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Article source: http://www.nybg.org/plant-talk/2013/05/photography/morning-eye-candy-suspicious-mallard-strikes-back/