New York Botanic Garden

This past Wednesday again started early with a bus trip from Scotch Plains, NJ in to New York City (1 hour or so). I can't imagine anyone driving a car daily in to NYC as there is just not the room for parking, let alone driving around. I walked the couple blocks to Grand Central Station after wandering thru Times Square a bit first. It was still relatively dark so Times Square was still lit up with ads and digital billboards. It is quite a sight to see but also made me feel like I was on another planet. The hustle and bustle was substantial and joining the herd tested my "personal space bubble issues" many times over. I quickly learned to follow the "Walk" and "Don't Walk" signs with a cautious double check as the sheer number of people and vehicles creates a congested mass where the slightest error can be fatal. Example: Don't blindly walk across the street because the people next to you are doing so! I almost became a memory after a close call with a darting cab around a corner. No exageration there. Anyhow, I purchased a ticket to take the train up to the New York Botanic Garden (NYBG) in the Bronx which has its own stop. Taking the train was no different than experiences in the past and I found myself at NYBG at 9 am, which was one hour before they open. I talked to the security guard and told him why I was there. He graciously let me in and I had the place to myself for an hour although the grounds workers eyed me suspiciously on occasion. My first impression was "WOW!, This is going to be cool." And that impression held for the next seven hours as I explored almost every nook and cranny. They didn't get any of the damaging hail that Brooklyn Botanic received and things were still looking pretty good although it was definitely fall at the garden. I went thru their trialing and demonstration garden (Home Gardening Center) first and took lots of pictures. The lighting was perfect. I should mention that the extended forecast for my entire week included a chance of rain every day. I had nothing but sunshine for my five day visit with rain only overnight and as I went to the airport for my departure. I noted a huge tent set up for outdoor cooking demonstrations which I imagine are quite popular. It looked like there were some demonstrations in that tent later in the day. Near the tent, I ran in to Martha Stewart's Culinary Garden (see below). I didn't see Martha any of the times I went thru that garden but I did get some nice herb shots. The gardens (250 acres) were started in 1891 as a public/private partnership between the City and supporters that included Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt and J.P. Morgan. Their mission is to be an advocate for the plant kingdom and the NYBG is known for research, education and a vast herbarium and reference library. After concluding my visit, I would rank this garden as one of the top 10 that I've seen domestically. Their attention to detail is second to none with well maintained areas, nice signage and thoughtful consideration of visitor needs. There were also some mammoth tree specimens there and a nice blend of formal areas and natural spaces. Unless you were on the edges of the garden, you truly didn't feel like you were in the middle of an urban environment. I probably walked over 10 miles that day and wished I had another day to see every square inch of the place. I big reason for my visit (as outlined in my Chanticleer scholarship) was to visit the Everett Children's Adventure Garden (12 acres) nestled in the heart of the garden near a small pond. I had read and heard about this garden and was suitably impressed with what this garden was attempting to accomplish. I saw school groups in action in this natural space and took time to examine their interpretation, displays, exhibits and layout. This was a super neat space and I did get plenty of ideas. I've been to other children's gardens that are more manicured, neat and tidy. That indicates a lack of use in my mind. This Adventure Garden was definitely in daily use by scheduled groups, homeschoolers and visitors alike. I spent many afternoon hours meandering after a nice lunch in their cafe'. I also enjoyed their rock garden, rose garden, Discovery Garden, conifer garden and many other spaces.

My last garden space to explore was the conifer garden and I was impressed with the extent and selection in this large space. I saw some large specimens of some species/varieties that we have at RBG and saw some nice dwarf specimens as well. I was smitten with the variegated Himalayan pine (Pinus wallichiana 'Zebrina') seen further below. The specimen had the lighter tone from a distance and I suspected what it was as I approached. The variegation is quite pronounced and I'm committed to finding this and growing it at RBG. We have the green leaved version but not this specific variety (yet). The building shown at the bottom was one of their administrative buildings that also houses the Mertz Library, one of the most significant horticultural libraries in the world. The visiting public couldn't just wander thru the building but it was architecturally impressive nonetheless.

I left the gardens around 4 pm and headed back to Grand Central Station on the train. I hit the human "rush hour" perfectly and wandered again thru Times Square. I'll blog more about these experiences later but I did take lots of pictures of streetside containers, planters and features in Central Park. My next destination was to get to Cheryl and Jeff''s apartment on the upper west side. I again underestimated the size of Central Park as I wandered for a couple miles north thru the park (pretty cool) but became distracted by the lack of restrooms (if you catch my drift). Anyway, I made it to Cheryl's right at our meeting time of 6 pm after being let in by her door man. We joked later about the fact that when we were both 16 year old friends in high school, we would have laughed if we knew she would have a doorman and I would be a plant nerd. Cheryl is one of my closest friends and it didn't take long to catch up after I met her delightful sons (age 5 and 7). Cheryl is a pediatric nurse practitioner and also does style articles and fashion/style/trends blogs for her NYC neighborhood. Jeff works on Wall Street and all three of us were at the University of Illinois at the same time. She showed me their terrace (8th floor) that they'll be landscaping soon which I thought will be a cool endeavor. It is a different beast there selecting plants for not only the urban environment but for durability in high winds, reflective heat and of course there are weight issues on these terraces as well. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. After the baby-sitter came, we met her husband Jeff out at a bar and went to a great vegan restaurant (Blossom) and had a nice evening (see below). I crashed at their apartment and Cheryl and I embarked on more adventures the following day...