Monday, May 18, 2015 at 8:51AM 
There's a taco truck parked outside of the back door of my office at NYBG. Probably part of the new Frida Kahlo exhibit. New addition to the somewhat pedestrian back-door environment of the Harding Lab. [NOTE: Wonder how many other tropical ecologists have a taco truck parked outside of their office]?
Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 9:48AM Friday, May 17, 2013 at 9:53AM 
The tropical montane forest and desert houses in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at The New York Botanical Garden are connected by an underground tunnel. The Garden has recently installed large light panels presenting the work of six scientists in this space. My work is displayed in one of these (shown rather obliquely above). [NOTE: That's Dr. Michael J. Balick, Vice President of Botanical Science and Director of the Institute of Economic Botany (where I work) taking a picture].
Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, NYBG in Other, Science | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 11:29AM 
It's that time of the year again (see Orchids, Orchids, and More Orchids and Walls of Orchids). The New York Botanical Garden has just opened it's 11th annual orchid show. This year the show was designed by Fran Coelho, NYBG Vice President for Glasshouses and Exhibitions, and it shows. The designer clearly knows the space and her plants.
Of the thousands of species of orchids on display, my favorite has to be the Paphiopedilum, or lady slipper orchid, shown below. The pink signage that accompanies the specimen explains: "The shoe-shaped lip of Paphiopedilum earned this orchid its name, derived from the Greek Paphos, an Aegean island with a temple dedicated to Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, and pedilon (sandal). Legend has it that one day Aphrodite lost her golden slipper. When a mortal found it, the slipper was transformed into an exquisite orchid". This is a wonderful show and well worth a visit to NYBG.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at 10:25AM 
The trucks and cranes and workers and cables are all here - in the drizzling rain - to start setting up the Manolo Valdés sculptures (see Recent Arrivals) at NYBG. This is going to be great. [NOTE: The image above greeted me as I walked to my office this morning].
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 10:39AM 
Seven towering sculptures by Manolo Valdés were recently deposited in the Watson parking lot at The New York Botanical Garden. Part of a show that opens on September 22. The pieces were designed in the artist's studio in Manhattan, made in a Madrid foundry, shipped to Baltimore, and then carried by truck to the Bronx. Nice to have sculpture back in the Garden (see Moore at the Garden), and I am very much looking forward to spending some time with these pieces. [NOTE: Go here for more about the artist and the upcoming show at NYBG].
Tuesday, April 3, 2012 at 9:17AM 
Went to the Conservatory before it opened last Saturday and had a delightful walk through the 2012 Orchid Show at NYBG. This year, the show features the vertical gardens or "walls" of French botanist and artist, Patrick Blanc. Vertical surfaces covered with a proliferation of orchids, ferns, epiphytes; splashes of color amidst a carpet of green; thousands and thousands of some of the most beautiful, evocative, and evolutionarily-advanced flowers you can imagine. Really gorgeous.
That said, the subtlety and wonder afforded by the careful study of single orchid is somehow lost for me when these amazing flowers are presented in such large numbers. I mean, really, check out the incomparable reproductive structure shown below. How much more sensual could a pollinator-attracting device get? [NOTE: The Orchid Show continues at The New York Botanical Garden until April 22].
Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at 9:45AM 
My office at The New York Botanical Garden looks out on the back of the Garden Cafe. I noticed the image above yesterday and thought, "Hey, that's what I do - Botanical Action". But then I realized that it was just the Cafe dumpster, labelled "Botanical" for the site and serviced by the Action waste management company. Perception decidedly more interesting than the reality.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 9:24AM 
Fall happens - even in a Botanical Garden. Especially beautiful with a dense blanket of fog. Shown below is the magical landscape that greeted me this morning. Like walking in a dream.
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 9:49AM 
An exquisite collection of chrysanthemum art is on display in the NYBG Conservatory as part of the Fall Flowers of Japan show. Many beautiful examples of ozukuri, or thousand bloom plants, a single individual containing hundreds of carefully positioned blossoms (like the white one shown in the background of the image). Show closes on October 30.