Study the crucial role birds, insects, and bats play in local ecosystems, in this three session online New York Botanical Garden class August 6 – 20 from 9:30 – 11:30. Using gorgeous photographs taken over years of field study, expert naturalist Alan Wells discusses the many different types of pollination, as well as how the roles played by a plant’s flower structure, nectar production, and fragrance. $145 for NYBG members, $159 for nonmembers. Sign up HERE.
“Put up” your peaches using time-honored canning techniques for three preparations that will extend the bounty of your favorite stone fruits long after summer is gone. Learn the steps to create a compote to top your summer desserts and a syrup to bring sunshine to your winter days. We’ll also discuss the basics of canning and food safety. This New York Botanical Garden online class will take place August 1 from 11 – 1, and is taught by Stephen Nocera. $79 for NYBG members, $85 for nonmembers. Register here.
Please note, participants are not expected to cook along with the demonstration.
Urban flora can be found growing in unlikely places, from city sidewalks and highway medians to lawns, and other man-made structures. Most of these plants are introduced and many are considered weeds. In this three part online New York Botanical Garden class to be held on Tuesdays, August 4 – 18, from 10 – 12, we will hear more about their origins, life cycles, and benefits to the urban landscape while learning how to identify them in the field. Nancy Slowik leads, and the course is $125 for NYBG members, $139 for nonmembers. Register at www.nybg.org.
Get a solid grounding in the basic plant body, from the cell to the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits. We will discuss the base-level chemistry required for understanding the world of plants. Labs will be modified for at-home completion. The New York Botanical Garden online series taught by Jamie Boyer, Ph.D. will take place on 7 Mondays, 8/3-9/21 (no class 9/7), & 1 Tuesday, 9/8. $559 for NYBG members, $615 for nonmembers. Register at www.nybg.org.
Required Text:
Raven PH, Evert RF, & Eichhorn SE. Biology of Plants, 8th edition. W.H. Freeman, 2013.
Find out how mushrooms can benefit your body and the planet in this online New York Botanical Garden course on July 28 from 10 – 11:30 am. Emerging research suggests that mushrooms maybe beneficial for brain and nerve health. Discover the properties of different species and learn where medicinal mushrooms occur locally. We’ll also discuss how fungi have been used to clean up toxins in the environment by filtering water and removing heavy metals from soil. Catskill Fungi owner and mycology expert John Michelotti will demo how to make a mushroom extract that you can use to make your own tinctures. NYBG members $65, nonmembers $69. Register at www.nybg.org
Explore the basic principles underlying successful, environmentally friendly gardening, including the structure and physiological processes of plants and their relationships to the settings in which they grow. Students learn not only what to do, but why. Topics include soils and their improvement, seed sowing, vegetative propagation, planting, pruning, watering, weeding, mulching, and disease and pest control. This New York Botanical Garden online class takes place Saturdays, July 25 – August 29, 10 – noon, and is $325 ($295 for NYBG members). Register at https://www.enrole.com/nybg/jsp/session.jsp?sessionId=211GAR301GO&courseId=204GAR301O&categoryId=8AEA8481
Recommended Texts:
The New Gardener’s Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Grow a Beautiful and Bountiful Garden, Daryl Beyers
ISBN-13: 978-1604698749
ISBN-10: 1604698748
Botany for Gardeners, Brian Capon
ISBN-13: 978-1604690958
ISBN-10: 160469095X
Start with the Soil, Grace Gershuny
ISBN-13: 978-0875966977
ISBN-10: 0875966977
Plant Propagator’s Bible, Miranda Smith
ISBN-13: 978-1594864483
ISBN-10: 1594864489
Cass Turnbull’s Guide to Pruning, Cass Turnbull
ISBN-13: 978-1570617515
ISBN-10: 1570617511
Paris gardens were originally inspired by the classical and romantic styles found in Italy and England. Over the past two hundred years, designers have created a uniquely Parisian look to the gardens, as they have become a cultural way of life. Today, Paris boasts of more than 400 private and public gardens, each one appreciated for its distinct place in the fabric of the city.
The Ecological Landscape Association online tour will begin with such well-known parks as Luxembourg, Tuileries and Bagatelle, smaller gardens such as Monceau, Rodin, and Carnavalet, and also a few surprises such as Promenade du Plantee, Hotel du Sully and Mosque du Paris. In Paris, a park is almost never a mere plot of grass reserved for leisure, and a garden is rarely a random selection of flowers and plants. Parisians pride themselves in making their city’s parks and gardens places of elegance, artistic detail, and symmetry– even the romantic gardens have been carefully planned to imitate nature.
CeCe Haydock graduated from Princeton University (BA English) and received a master’s degree in landscape architecture from the SUNY School of Environmental Science and Forestry. After working for the New York City Parks Department, she joined the firm, Innocenti and Webel in Locust Valley, NY, before starting her private practice. In 2007, she did research as a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome on Edith Wharton and Italian villas. She has lectured and written on historic Italian, French, and American gardens for Old Westbury Gardens, Maryland’s Ladew Topiary Gardens, Princeton University, and numerous garden and horticultural clubs. A trustee of Planting Fields Arboretum and a member of the International Council of The Preservation Society of Newport County and a visiting lecturer at the New York Botanic Garden. CeCe is currently expanding her private practice to include landscape sustainability.
The free online tour will take place June 3 at noon Eastern time, and you may register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-let-them-eat-flowers-the-gardens-of-paris/
Join Marc Wolf on May 27 from 12 – 1 Eastern Time for an inspiring visit to the Mountain Top Arboretum forest. The forest provided the timber for the construction of the Arboretum’s new timber frame Education Center. This unique building demonstrates the beauty of 21 different tree species and the talent of local artisans, including the noted timber frame architect Jack Sobon.
The landscape phase of the project, designed by landscape architect Jamie Purinton, uses plants native to the Catskill Mountains and a system of six separate Rain Gardens that catch and filter water runoff. Marc will discuss the different plant communities represented and individual favorite trees, shrubs and perennials chosen.
The goal is that these beautiful plantings will inspire and educate visitors about native plants as well as water and land stewardship, important tenets of the Arboretum’s mission.
A short documentary on the building of the Education Center captures the essence of the project.
Marc Wolf joined Mountain Top Arboretum in 2016 as Director of Horticulture and became Executive Director in 2017. He received his BA from Williams College, is a graduate of New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture and interned at Chanticleer Garden. Marc studied with the noted landscape architect Darrel Morrison and worked as his field assistant on projects at New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden and for private clients. As a writer and performer working in theater, film and television, Marc received OBIE and National Endowment for the Arts Awards, among others. Marc enjoys hiking, skiing, fishing and exploring the native plant communities of the Catskills. Marc agrees with the late, great poet Mary Oliver that “the song you heard singing in the leaf when you / were a child / is singing still.”
The webinar is free. Register at https://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/webinar-mountain-top-arboretum-timber-frame-education-center-from-catskill-native-trees/
This New York Botanical Garden online workshop on May 23 from 10 – 3:30 will impart the instructor’s method of using dry brush watercolor to replicate the colors, form, and texture of luscious red grapes. The demonstration will include color mixing, working light to dark, layering colors, adding fine detail, using dry brush, and glazing.
You will need to have all required materials listed in the link here, in addition to a print out of the line drawing the instructor, Carrie Di Costanzo, will email to you.
NYBG membrs $95, nonmembers $105. Register at www.nybg.org.
Urban flora can be found growing in unlikely places, from city sidewalks and highway medians to lawns, and other man-made structures. Most of these plants are introduced and many are considered weeds. Registrants of this two part New York Botanical Garden online course on May 20 and 27 from 10 – 1 Eastern time will hear more about their origins, life cycles, and benefits to the urban landscape while learning how to identify them in the field. The instructor is Nancy Slowik, and the cost is $125 for NYBG members, $125 for nonmembers. If the class is filled, you may register free for a place on the waitlist, or for any additional sections which may be scheduled. Visit https://www.enrole.com/nybg/jsp/index.jsp?startDate=yes
