The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is a
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
at
Bronx Park
Bronx Park is a public park along the Bronx River, in the Bronx, New York City. The park is bounded by Southern Boulevard to the southwest, Webster Avenue to the northwest, Gun Hill Road to the north, Bronx Park East to the east, and East 180 ...
in
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Established in 1891, it is located on a site that contains a landscape with over one million living plants; the
Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, a
greenhouse containing several habitats; and the
LuEsther T. Mertz Library, which contains one of the world's largest collections of botany-related texts. , over a million people visit the New York Botanical Garden annually.
NYBG is also a major educational institution, teaching visitors about plant science, ecology, and healthful eating through NYBG's interactive programming. Nearly 90,000 of the annual visitors are children from underserved neighboring communities. An additional 3,000 are teachers from New York City's public school system participating in professional development programs that train them to teach science courses at all grade levels. NYBG operates one of the world's largest plant research and conservation programs.
NYBG was established in 1891 and the first structures on the grounds opened at the end of that decade. Since 1967, the garden has been listed as a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
, and several buildings have been designated as official
New York City landmarks
These are lists of New York City landmarks designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission:
* New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan:
** List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street
** List o ...
.
Mission statement
History
Context
As early as 1877, ideas had been circulating in New York City to create a botanical garden; funding could not be obtained at the time, although the efforts led to parkland being set aside for future use.
By 1888, the
Torrey Botanical Society
Torrey Botanical Society (formerly Torrey Botanical Club) was started in the 1860s by colleagues of John Torrey. It is the oldest botanical society in the Americas. The Society promotes the exploration and study of plant life, with particular ...
was promoting the construction of a large
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
in New York City. The Garden's creation followed a fund-raising campaign led by the Torrey Botanical Society and
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
botanist
Nathaniel Lord Britton
Nathaniel Lord Britton (January 15, 1859 – June 25, 1934) was an American botanist and taxonomist who co-founded the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, New York.
Early life
Britton was born in New Dorp in Staten Island, New York to Jasp ...
and his wife
Elizabeth Gertrude Britton
Elizabeth Gertrude Britton (née Knight) (January 9, 1858 – February 25, 1934) was an American botanist, bryologist, and educator. She and her husband, Nathaniel Lord Britton played a significant role in the fundraising and creation of the New ...
, who were inspired to emulate the
Royal Botanic Gardens in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
In 1889, the Torrey Botanical Society's members decided to build the botanical garden at
Bronx Park
Bronx Park is a public park along the Bronx River, in the Bronx, New York City. The park is bounded by Southern Boulevard to the southwest, Webster Avenue to the northwest, Gun Hill Road to the north, Bronx Park East to the east, and East 180 ...
in the center of
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
, New York City's northernmost borough.
The Lorillard family owned most of the land at that location.
The city had already been given authorization to acquire the land as part of the 1884
New Parks Act
The New Parks Act is a New York state law passed in 1884. It provided for the creation of parks in the New York City borough of the Bronx, which at the time was largely undeveloped. Three parkways and six parks were established as part of the New ...
, which was intended to preserve lands that would soon become part of New York City.
Some of land surrounding the Lorillard estate was acquired by the City of New York as part of Bronx Park in 1888–1889.
Establishment
By act of the
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...
, the New York Botanical Garden was established on April 28, 1891.
The garden occupied part of the grounds of the Lorillard estate and a parcel that was formerly the easternmost portion of the campus of St. John's College (now
Fordham University);
the latter included three graves of the
Fordham University Cemetery
Fordham University Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery on the campus of Fordham University in the Bronx. Established in 1847, it was moved to its current location in 1890. The last burial occurred in 1909. The cemetery holds 138 graves, 124 of which ...
, which were then relocated. The stated purpose of the act was:
As per the acts of incorporation, a board of directors would manage the NYBG. The board of directors included
Columbia College's president and professors of biology, chemistry, and geology; the presidents of the Torrey Society,
New York City Board of Education, and the
Department of Public Parks' board of commissioners; the
Mayor of New York City; and nine other members elected to the board.
The legislation would provide within Bronx Park to the NYBG, and enable the board of directors to construct a library and conservatory, if at least $250,000 was raised within five years. If this condition were reached, the city would then issue $0.5 million in
bonds.
The principal officers of the new corporation set up for the garden were
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...
,
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
and
J.P. Morgan, with Nathaniel Lord Britton as the new secretary.
Prominent civic leaders and financiers, including Vanderbilt, Carnegie, and Morgan, agreed to match the City's commitment to finance the buildings and improvements.
By May 1895, the $250,000 in bonds had been raised but the plans had not been fully confirmed. The Board of Directors then asked landscape architect
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape designer, best known as the co-designer, along with his protégé and junior partner Frederick Law Olmsted, of what would become New York Ci ...
and his partner, Parks Superintendent
Samuel Parsons Jr., to consult on site selection. The north end of Bronx Park was decided as the best location for the NYBG. By August 1895, the architects had started a survey on the site. Because the
Bronx River
The Bronx River (), approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States and drains an area of . It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. Besides the Hutchinson River, the Bronx River is the only fresh water river in ...
and various small tributaries ran through the park, drainage was a major consideration. Though Vaux's preliminary layout was approved in October 1895, he died the following month.
The topographical survey was completed in March 1896. The master plan was created by a team that included Britton & Parsons, as well as landscape engineer John R. Brinley, landscape gardener Samuel Henshaw, botanist
Lucien Marcus Underwood, and architects
Robert W. Gibson
Robert W. Gibson, AIA, (1854 in England – 1927 in New York City) was an English-born American ecclesiastical architect active in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century New York state. He designed several large Manhattan churches and a ...
and Lincoln Pierson (the latter from the firm
Lord & Burnham
Lord & Burnham was a noted American boiler and greenhouse manufacturer, and builders of major public conservatories in the United States.
History
The company began in 1849 when Frederick A. Lord, a carpenter, started building wood and glass gree ...
).
The
LuEsther T. Mertz Library and
Enid A. Haupt Conservatory were among the first structures at the NYBG to open. The Library was built between 1897 and 1900,
and the Conservatory was built around the same time, being completed in 1902.
Later operations
For over a century after its opening, the NYBG refused to charge admission.
Because of this, as well as insufficient government and private funding, its budget deficit started to increase in the 1950s.
After the city cut the NYBG's budget in 1970, the garden was forced to remain closed for 3 to 4 days a week, and officials worried that this could eventually lead to permanent closure. In 1974, for the first time in the botanical garden's history, officials had to annually petition
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an officia ...
for funds. That year, the NYBG announced a major renovation to the conservatory and the addition of a building dedicated to displaying plants in different habitats.
The next year, budget cuts related to the
1975 New York City fiscal crisis resulted in the NYBG being closed on weekdays for the first time in its history.
In 1988, the NYBG announced a renovation of its museum building, including the addition of a new annex, which was supposed to open in 1991. By the early 1990s, the NYBG facilities were neglected. The garden did not have enough space in its parking lots to accommodate all its visitors, turning away potential guests. Many areas were neglected, except for the surrounding the conservatory, and a wetland had even been created unintentionally due to a broken sewer.
A controversy arose in 1994 when the adjacent
Fordham University proposed building a radio tower for its radio station
WFUV
WFUV (90.7 FM) is a non–commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York. The station is owned by Fordham University, with studios on its Bronx campus and its antenna atop nearby Montefiore Medical Center. WFUV first went on the air i ...
directly across from the Haupt Conservatory. The dispute continued until 2002, after several years of failed resolutions, when
Montefiore Medical Center offered to move WFUV's antenna to its own facilities.
By the mid-1990s, additions to the NYBG were being undertaken to reverse years of neglect.
In 1994 the formerly free garden started charging an admission fee to fund these improvements as well as the continued maintenance of existing facilities.
The Everett Children's Garden opened in mid-1998. By 2000, the NYBG had requested $300 million for renovations, including a new gift shop and renovation of the greenhouses and roads. A new visitor center and gift shop were announced the following year, which would replace temporary facilities built in 1990. The new main entrance, with a gift shop, bookstore, plaza, restrooms, cafe, and information kiosks, was completed in 2004 at a cost of $21 million. Meanwhile, the addition of the library annex was delayed to 1994, then to 2000. Construction on the annex started in 1998 and it opened in 2002 as the International Plant Science Center.
Through the next two decades, a number of projects were completed and programs were implemented. In 2004, the Leon Levy Visitor Center opened as the Botanical Garden's main entrance. It included the NYBG Shop and the Pine Tree Café. The following year, the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections opened with its publicly accessible Bourke-Sullivan Display House. Off-site, the institution opened The New York Botanical Garden Midtown Education Center in Manhattan in 2010. NYBG added a parking garage, the Peter J. Sharp Building, nearby in 2012, along with a Bedford Gate entrance to the Garden. NYBG restored its Lorillard Snuff Mill in 2010 and it was named the Lillian and Amy Goldman Stone Mill. NYBG's Humanities Research Institute, supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, was created in 2014 to stimulate public discourse about humankind's relationship with nature and the environment. NYBG opened an on-site restaurant, the Hudson Garden Grill, in 2015. It redesigned and reopened its East Gate entrance in 2017. The Edible Academy, an educational facility for teaching children, families, educators, and the general public about vegetable gardening, nutrition awareness, and environmental stewardship, opened in 2018. In February 2020, NYBG announced that it was partnering with Douglaston Development to create affordable apartments on the northwest edge of the garden.
Grounds
The different spaces
![The New York Botanical Garden Stone Mill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/The_New_York_Botanical_Garden_Stone_Mill.jpg)
The Garden contains 50 different gardens and plant collections. There is a serene cascade waterfall, as well as wetlands and a tract of original, never-logged, old-growth New York forest.
Garden highlights include the 1890s-vintage
Haupt Conservatory, designed by
Lord & Burnham
Lord & Burnham was a noted American boiler and greenhouse manufacturer, and builders of major public conservatories in the United States.
History
The company began in 1849 when Frederick A. Lord, a carpenter, started building wood and glass gree ...
; the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, originally laid out by
Beatrix Jones Farrand
Beatrix Cadwalader Farrand (née Jones; June 19, 1872 – February 28, 1959) was an American landscape gardener and landscape architect. Her career included commissions to design about 110 gardens for private residences, estates and country ho ...
in 1916; an alpine rock garden, designed and installed by
Thomas H. Everett in the 1930s; an Herb Garden, designed by
Penelope Hobhouse
Penelope Hobhouse MBE (born 20 November 1929), née Chichester-Clark, is a British garden writer, designer, lecturer and television presenter.
Early life
Born into an Anglo-Irish family in Moyola Park, Castledawson, she is the daughter of Jame ...
; and a
conifer collection. The NYBG's extensive research facilities include a propagation center,
550,000-volume research library,
and an
herbarium of 7.2 to 7.8 million botanical specimens dating back more than three centuries, among the largest in the world.
At the heart of the Garden is the
Thain Family Forest, an
old-growth forest. It is the largest existing remnant of the original forest which covered all of New York City before the arrival of European settlers in the 17th century. The forest, which was never logged, contains oaks,
American beeches,
cherry,
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains ...
,
tulip
Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...
and
white ash trees, some more than two centuries old.
The forest itself is split by the
Bronx River
The Bronx River (), approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States and drains an area of . It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. Besides the Hutchinson River, the Bronx River is the only fresh water river in ...
, the only freshwater river in New York City, and this stretch of the river includes a riverine canyon and rapids.
Along the shores sits the Stone Mill, previously known as the
Lorillard Snuff Mill
The Lorillard Snuff Mill now known as the Lillian and Amy Goldman Stone Mill, is the oldest existing tobacco manufacturing building in the United States. It was built around 1840 next to the Bronx River to supplement an earlier building of the s ...
, built in 1840.
Sculptor
Charles Tefft
Charles (or Carl) Eugene Tefft (September 22, 1874 – September 20, 1951) was an American sculptor born in Brewer, Maine. His statue of Hannibal Hamlin is one of Maine's two statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection located in the ...
created the ''
Fountain of Life
The Fountain of Life, or in its earlier form the Fountain of Living Waters, is a Christian iconography symbol associated with baptism and/or eucharist, first appearing in the 5th century in illuminated manuscripts and later in other art forms such ...
'' on the grounds in 1905.
The Ladies' Border, originally commissioned by the Women's Auxiliary Committee in the 1920s, was designed by
Ellen Shipman and installed between 1931 and 1933. In 2000, designer
Lynden B. Miller created a new plan for the Ladies' Border. The Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden was designed in the 1970s by
Dan Kiley
Daniel Urban Kiley (2 September 1912 – 21 February 2004) was an American landscape architect, who worked in the style of modern architecture. Kiley designed over one-thousand landscape projects including Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis ...
and redefined by Miller in the 1980s and again in 2003.
In addition to restoring or redesigning existing gardens and collections, such as the Ladies' Border (2002), the Benenson Ornamental Conifers (2004), the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden (2007), the Thain Family Forest (2011),
and the Marjorie G. Rosen Seasonal Walk by Piet Oudolf (2014), The New York Botanical Garden added new gardens and collections to its grounds: the Home Gardening Center (2005), the Maureen K. Chilton Azalea Garden (2011) by landscape architect Shavaun Towers of Towers, Golde LLC, and Native Plant Garden (2013), by landscape architect Sheila Brady of Oehme, van Sweden.
Research laboratories
![Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden NYBG jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Peggy_Rockefeller_Rose_Garden_NYBG_jeh.jpg)
The Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory, built with funding from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
, New York State and New York City, and named for its largest private donor, is a major new research institution at the Garden that opened in 2006. The laboratory is a pure research institution, with projects more diverse than research in universities and pharmaceutical companies.
The laboratory's research emphasis is on plant genomics, the study of how genes function in plant development. One question scientists hope to answer is Darwin's "abominable mystery"; when, where, and why flowering plants emerged. The laboratory's research also furthers the discipline of
molecular systematics
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
, the study of DNA as evidence that can reveal the evolutionary history and relationships of plant species. Staff scientists also study plant use in immigrant communities in New York City and the genetic mechanisms by which neurotoxins are produced in some plants, work that may be related to nerve disease in humans.
A staff of 200 trains 42 doctoral students at a time. Since the 1890s, scientists from the NYBG have mounted about 2,000 exploratory missions worldwide to collect plants in the wild.
At the Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory, genomic DNA from many different species of plants is extracted to create a library of the DNA of the world's plants. This collection is stored in a DNA storage room with 20 freezers housing millions of specimens, including rare, endangered or extinct species. To protect the collection during winter power outages, there is a backup 300-kilowatt electric generator.
The
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has granted the NYBG $572,000 to begin a project called TreeBOL, the Tree
Barcode of Life
The Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) was an international initiative dedicated to supporting the development of DNA barcoding as a global standard for species identification. CBOL's Secretariat Office is hosted by the National Museum of ...
. By sampling the DNA from all 100,000 different species of trees from around the world, TreeBOL will document the diversity of plant life, and advance the process of plant
DNA barcoding
DNA barcoding is a method of species identification using a short section of DNA from a specific gene or genes. The premise of DNA barcoding is that by comparison with a reference library of such DNA sections (also called " sequences"), an indi ...
.
LuEsther T. Mertz Library
![New York Botanical Garden April 2015 010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/New_York_Botanical_Garden_April_2015_010.jpg)
Founded in 1899 and named after supporter
LuEsther Mertz LuEsther Turner Mertz (December 30, 1905, Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Oh ...
,
the LuEsther T. Mertz Library is located in the northern section of NYBG.
A 2002 ''New York Times'' article mentioned that the library had 775,000 items and 6.5 million plant specimens in its collection.
However, a book published in 2014 by the NYBG mentioned that the library had "550,000 physical volumes and 1,800 journal titles".
the Mertz Library still contained one of the world's largest collections of botany-related texts. Stephen Sinon, who leads the NYBG's special collections, research and archives, called its collection "the largest of its kind in the world under one roof".
The library is housed in what was formerly known as the NYBG's Museum Building or Administration Building. Construction started in 1897 and it was completed in 1900. The structure was designed by
Robert W. Gibson
Robert W. Gibson, AIA, (1854 in England – 1927 in New York City) was an English-born American ecclesiastical architect active in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century New York state. He designed several large Manhattan churches and a ...
in the
Renaissance Revival
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
style.
Enid A. Haupt Conservatory
![Enid A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Enid_A._Haupt_Conservatory.jpg)
The Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, named after
Enid A. Haupt
Enid Haupt ( Annenberg, formerly Bensinger; May 13, 1906 – October 25, 2005) was an American publisher and philanthropist whose gifts supported horticulture, the arts, architectural and historic preservation, and cancer research. She has been de ...
, is a
greenhouse near the western end of the NYBG.
The conservatory was designed by the major greenhouse company of the late 1890s,
Lord and Burnham
Lord & Burnham was a noted American boiler and greenhouse manufacturer, and builders of major public conservatories in the United States.
History
The company began in 1849 when Frederick A. Lord, a carpenter, started building wood and glass gree ...
Co. The design was modeled after the
Palm House at the Royal Botanic Garden and
Joseph Paxton's
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
in Italian Renaissance style.
Groundbreaking took place on January 3, 1899, and the conservatory was completed in 1902 at a cost of $177,000.
The building was constructed by John R. Sheehan under contract for the
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...
. Since the original construction, major renovations took place in 1935, 1950, 1978, and 1993.
The conservatory houses numerous tropical plants and flowers, cacti and other desert plants, and rainforest vegetation. In summer months, the two pools adjacent to the conservatory display many varieties of lotuses and water lilies.
William & Lynda Steere Herbarium
The William & Lynda Steere Herbarium, in the International Plant Science Center behind the library,
is one of the largest herbaria in the world, with approximately 7.2 million
to 7.8 million specimens.
after the
French National Museum of Natural History in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. Founded in 1891, the herbarium quickly became a repository for many important collections. In 1895 the garden incorporated the herbarium of
Columbia College, an acquisition of approximately 600,000 specimens, including the private herbaria of
John Torrey and
C. F. Meisner. In 1945 the garden incorporated the herbaria of the Columbia College of Pharmacy and
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
. The herbarium is named after William Steere (son of
William C. Steere) and his wife Lynda, who endowed the herbarium in 2002.
The ''
Index Herbariorum'' code assigned to this botanic garden is NY and it is used when citing housed specimens.
School of Professional Horticulture
In 1932,
Thomas H. Everett expanded an existing training program into a robust curriculum for developing professional horticulturists. Patterned after diploma programs at the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...
and the
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...
, the School for Gardeners combined academic studies with hands-on practical experience in a two-year, full-time program. With the exception of a hiatus during and after the Second World War, the School has trained students since then. Now called the School of Professional Horticulture, this fully-accredited program continues to develop horticulturists of the highest caliber for positions in both public and private gardens. After successfully completing the program, students receive The New York Botanical Garden's Diploma in Horticulture.
Exhibitions
The New York Botanical Garden has mounted public exhibitions throughout its history. In 1992, NYBG began presenting what would eventually be called the Holiday Train Show, an annual exhibition of model trains running through a display of New York landmarks made of natural materials.
In 2002, it introduced The Orchid Show, an annual exhibition of orchid displays and designed installations with changing themes.
Beginning in 2007, the Garden added an annual fall exhibition of kiku, Japanese chrysanthemums trained to grow in modern and ancient forms.
The New York Botanical Garden has also presented large-scale, stand-alone exhibitions, including: Sculpture from the Museum of Modern Art at The New York Botanical Garden (2002),
Chihuly at The New York Botanical Garden (2006),
Darwin's Garden: An Evolutionary Adventure (2008),
Moore in America: Monumental Sculpture at The New York Botanical Garden (2008–2009),
Emily Dickinson's Garden: The Poetry of Flowers (2010),
Spanish Paradise: Gardens of the Alhambra (2011),
Monet's Garden (2012),
Manolo Valdés: Monumental Sculpture (2012),
Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life (2015),
Impressionism: American Gardens on Canvas (2016),
CHIHULY (2017),
Georgia O'Keeffe: Visions of Hawai'i (2018),
Brazilian Modern: The Living Art of Roberto Burle Marx (2019),
and KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature (2021).
Executive leadership
*
Dr. Nathaniel Lord Britton (1891–1929)
*
Elmer D. Merrill (1930–1935)
*
Dr. Marshall A. Howe (1935–1936)
*
Dr. Henry A. Gleason (acting, 1937–1938)
*
Dr. William J. Robbins (1938–1958)
*
Dr. William C. Steere (1958–1972)
*
Dr. Howard S. Irwin (1973–1979)
*
James M. Hester (1980–1989)
*
Gregory Long (1989–2018)
*
Dr. Carrie Rebora Barratt (2018–2020)
* Jennifer Bernstein (2021–Present)
Publications
The NYBG published ''The Garden Journal'' () from 1977 to 1990 and from 1931 has produced the scientific journal, ''
Brittonia
''Brittonia'' is a quarterly, peer-reviewed botanical journal, publishing articles on plants, fungi, algae, and lichens. Published since 1931, it is named after the botanist Nathaniel Lord Britton. Since 2007, the journal has been published by Spr ...
''.
Landmark status
The New York Botanical Garden was declared a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1967.
In addition, three structures are designated as individual
New York City landmarks
These are lists of New York City landmarks designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission:
* New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan:
** List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street
** List o ...
: the
Enid A. Haupt Conservatory (designated in 1973),
the
LuEsther T. Mertz Library (2009),
and the
Lorillard Snuff Mill
The Lorillard Snuff Mill now known as the Lillian and Amy Goldman Stone Mill, is the oldest existing tobacco manufacturing building in the United States. It was built around 1840 next to the Bronx River to supplement an earlier building of the s ...
(1966,
also separately on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
).
See also
*
Education in New York City
Education in New York City is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. New York City has the largest educational system of any city in the world. The city’s educational infrastructure spans primary education, secondary edu ...
*
List of herbaria in North America
*
List of botanical gardens and arboretums in New York
This list of botanical gardens and arboretums in New York is intended to include all significant botanical gardens and arboretums in the United States, U.S. state of New York (state), New York.List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City
New York City is home to hundreds of cultural institutions and historic sites, many of which are internationally known. This list contains the most famous or well-regarded organizations, based on their mission.
Museums
Also included are non-prof ...
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List of National Historic Landmarks in New York City
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* Other botanical gardens in New York City
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Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. It was founded in 1910 using land from Mount Prospect Park in central Brooklyn, adjacent to Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Museum. The garden holds ...
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Queens Botanical Garden
Queens Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 43-50 Main Street in Flushing, Queens, New York City. The site features rose, bee, herb, wedding, and perennial gardens; an arboretum; an art gallery; and a LEED-certified Visitor & Adm ...
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Staten Island Botanical Garden
References
External links
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Plant Talk: Inside The New York Botanical Gardenblog
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Brittoniaat
HathiTrust Digital Library
Brittoniaat
SCImago Journal Rank
Brittoniaat Botanical Scientific Journals
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1891 establishments in New York (state)
Agricultural buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
Agricultural buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places
Botanical research institutes
Bronx Park
Education in New York City
Education in the Bronx
Environmental organizations based in New York City
Fordham, Bronx
Greenhouses in New York (state)
Herbaria in the United States
Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of Museums
Japanese gardens in the United States
Museums in the Bronx
National Historic Landmarks in New York City
National Register of Historic Places in the Bronx
Natural history museums in New York (state)
Parks in the Bronx
Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City
Protected areas of the Bronx
Science museums in New York City
Tourist attractions in the Bronx
Urban forests in the United States