Photography by Larry Lederman, courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden.
On the 125th anniversary of its creation by the state legislature in 1891, the New York Botanical Garden has issued a handsome volume displaying its many horticultural wonders.
It also tells the fascinating story of NYBG’s history as well as describing its impressive achievements in education and scientific research.
Modern photographs by Larry Lederman illustrate its loveliness in all the seasons.
Beautiful this garden certainly is. But what is perhaps not so obvious to the garden’s many visitors is its stature as a repository of botanical knowledge and artifacts and as a leader in the cutting edge study of global biodiversity and climate change.
The photographs and descriptions of NYBG’s display gardens, such as the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, are uniquely enhanced in the book by historic photos and paintings, botanic illustrations, and herbarium specimens from its own vast collections.
Let this book be your guide on a virtual tour of the garden’s many distinctive areas and plant collections: the recently completed native plant garden, the discreetly placed rock garden, the conifer arboretum.
If you are in need of some inspiration in your own garden, turn to the chapter “A Flowery Tapestry: Gardens and Borders” and read how renowned designer Lynden B. Miller creates rooms in the Perennial Garden that feature bold color combinations.
While many parts of NYBG are the creations of landscape designers it is also home to the largest remaining tract of native Northeastern forest left in New York City.
Unlike Central Park, which owes its varied topography to radical earth moving techniques, the New York Botanical Garden was created using the natural configurations of its site.
Historic image courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden.
As the book makes clear, architecture is an important feature of the garden and not just because of its iconic 1902 Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.
Other historic structures include the massive 1901 Beaux-Arts Library as well as several stone bridges constructed across the Bronx River in the early 1900’s.
At 250 acres the New York Botanical Garden is way too big to thoroughly explore in one or even several visits.
NYBG, a visual feast all year round, is on fire now.
The New York Botanical Garden is $55 on Amazon.com.