The New York Botanical Garden
Healing Plants Around the World
Featuring the Italian Renaissance Garden
May 18 - September 8
Discover how cultures around the world rely on plants for everything from medicine to cosmetics. Embark on a journey of the senses through a stunning re-creation of an Italian Renaissance garden and interactive stations highlighting the rejuvenating and healing powers of tea, cacao, and tropical juices. Explore a fascinating presentation of rare books and manuscripts known as herbals and enjoy a poetry walk, weekend Renaissance music & dance performances, hands-on science adventures for kids, and more!
Programs
Wild Medicine Encounters: Tea, Chocolate, and Tropical Juices
In the Haupt Conservatory daily
See, smell, and taste the rejuvenating and healing powers of tea, cacao, and tropical juices through interactive demonstrations and samplings. These showcases will provide insights to the historical and cultural importance of these plants throughout the world.
Wild Medicine Film Screening
May 18 - June 7 Weekends and Monday Holidays, 11:30 a.m., 12, 2, & 4 p.m. Ross Hall *Exceptions occur on May 18, June 1, 9, 16, and September 7 Weekdays, Ross Hall, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. June 8 - September 8 Ongoing on Weekdays and Weekends, Orchid Rotunda
This 15-minute introductory film narrated by Sigourney Weaver helps set the tone for your visit, celebrating the beauty of the real Garden of Padua while highlighting the importance of healing plants and the work of Garden scientists.
Tour Wild Medicine in the Haupt Conservatory
Weekends & Monday holidays, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Weekdays, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Guides throughout the exhibition help bring the stories of Wild Medicine to life and guide your experience. Learn about featured medicinal plants and their cultural significance, the origin of medicinal gardens, and more.
Family Adventures
Naturally Curious
Weekdays, 1:30 - 5:30 p.m.; Weekends plus Holiday Mondays, 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
In the Everett Children's Adventure Garden, adventure abounds for kids of all ages with art and science activities such as mixing paints and creating science notebooks. Kids will discover their inner scientists and ask questions about the world. Each child will practice problem-solving skills before setting off on an adventure to find medicinal plants. In the tradition of the Renaissance, students will also use an album amicorum, or "book of memories," to record any plant observations or descriptions that they make during their visit.
Commedia Dell' Arte for Children
Memorial Day Weekend: May 25 - 27; Independence Day Weekend: July 4 - 7; Labor Day Weekend: August 31 - September 2 from 12 - 4 p.m.
Families can experience life in the Renaissance through these fun and festive commedia dell'arte performances, presented by The New York Baroque Dance Company. Arlequino, Mezzetino and a court Lady and Cavalier will delight the audience with musical pantomime. The dancers will speak briefly about the commedia style and the musician will talk about Renaissance instruments. Children can learn a Renaissance branle, very popular in its day, known as "The Washerwoman."
Music & Dance of the Italian Renaissance
Saturdays and Sundays, 1 & 3 p.m., in the Ross Hall *Exceptions occur on May 18, June 16, & September 7 - performances at 3 p.m. only; performance location will vary on June 1 and 9; select performances to include poetry readings
Enjoy a rich repertoire of the music and dance of the Italian Renaissance period as presented by members of Early Music New York-Frederick Renz, Director with members of the New York Historical Dance Company. Performers wear costumes and play historical instruments to reproduce the sights and sounds of this period. Learn about the music and instruments compared to their modern counterparts. On select performance days, immerse yourself in the arts as acclaimed poets read translations of 16th-century romantic and botanically inspired works, arranged in collaboration with the Poetry Society of America.
Poetry of the Italian Renaissance
Select Saturdays in the Ross Hall
Poetry comes to life during these dramatic readings, presented in conjunction with the Music & Dance of the Italian Renaissance performances. Immerse yourself in the arts as acclaimed poets read translations of 16th-century romantic and botanically inspired works, arranged in collaboration with the Poetry Society of America.
- June 22: 1 p.m. - poet TBD & 3 p.m. with Elizabeth Alexander, presidential inaugural poet
- July 27: 1 p.m. - poet TBD & 3 p.m. with Rafael Campo, physician-poet and author of The Healing Art, A Doctor's Black Bag of Poetry
- September 7: 30 p.m. only with Linda Gregerson, Renaissance scholar, author of The Woman Who and classically trained actor
Home Gardening Demonstrations
2 p.m.
Throughout the summer, select weekend demonstrations will offer gardening instruction on topics that touch on the exhibition's themes.
Herbal Healing Gardens
May 18 & 19 in the Perennial Garden June 29 & 30 in the Home Gardening Center
Gardens are sanctuaries. They not only provide us with a retreat from the world but they also supply us with many soothing remedies. Join Gardener for Public Education, Sonia Uyterhoeven, as she discusses how to design your own little haven and how to grow healing herbs and fragrant plants that will calm your tired nerves.
Herbal Delights
July 6 & 7 in the Home Gardening Center
There are versatile arrays of herbs that you can grow in your garden to spice up your life. Join Gardener for Public Education, Sonia Uyterhoeven, as she explores how these tantalizing herbs can be used to make herbal butters, pesto, tasty vinegars, and soothing teas.
Herbal Vinegars & Teas
August 31, September 1 & 2 in the Perennial Garden
There are versatile arrays of herbs that you can grow in your garden to add flavor to your flair. Join Gardener for Public Education, Sonia Uyterhoeven, as she explores how herbs can be used to make tasty vinegars and soothing teas.
Annual Science Open House
Behind-the-Scenes Tours
Saturday, June 1 & Sunday, June 2
William and Lynda Steere Herbarium
Self-guided tours begin at 11 a.m.; last entry at 2 p.m. Meet at the Ross Gallery
Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory
Guided tours at 11, 11:30 a.m., 12, 12:30, 1, 1:30, 2, 2:30, 3 p.m. (space is limited; first-come, first-served) Meet at the Pfizer Lab entrance
Tour the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, the largest herbarium in the Western Hemisphere, and speak with the professional staff who curate, study, and care for the priceless biological heritage it contains. See a sampling of the 7.3 million herbarium specimens, dating from the 18th century to the present, which document fungal and plant diversity from all over Earth. Tour the world-renowned Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory, home of the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Program for Molecular Systematics, and discuss with Garden scientists their roles in discovering and understanding the diversity of plants we see around us, including some with application for human health. Laboratory research - along with DNA collections, liquid-preserved collections, and other materials - allow for the study of plants at their most essential levels.
Healing Through Plant Medicines and Foods: What We Can Learn from Different Cultures
Saturday, June 1, 1 p.m.
Dr. Ina Vandebroek, Ethnomedical Research Specialist at NYBG, will trace the importance of medicinal plants among indigenous peoples and immigrant communities from the Bolivian Amazon to New York City.
Cocktail Evenings & Summer Concerts
Thursdays, June 27, July 18, and August 15, 6 - 9 p.m.; concert 7 - 8 p.m.
Sip a botanically inspired cocktail and enjoy an evening viewing of Wild Medicine. Then enjoy a concert featuring festive music.
Adults: Non-Member $30/Member $20 (includes one complimentary specialty cocktail or non-alcoholic beverage for adults 21 and over) Advance tickets recommended.
Start the evening off with a champagne pre-party at Shop in the Garden each night from 5 to 6 p.m. Learn more at nybg.org/priceless.
Generous support for the Summer Concert Series is provided by Vivian and Edward Merrin.
Poetry Walk
Ongoing during regular Garden hours
Stroll the Jane Watson Irwin Perennial Garden and explore poems extolling the virtues of healing plants. Co-presented with the Poetry Society of America
International Garden Photographer of the Year Exhibit
In the Ross Gallery
May 18 - September 8
The New York Botanical Garden is the exclusive U.S. partner of this worldwide photographic competition that showcases the very best professional and amateur garden photographers from around the globe. This exclusive exhibit, Nature's Pharmacy, will feature the finest images embodying the themes of healing and wellness.
Exhibitions in the Arthur and Janet Ross Gallery are made possible by support from the Arthur and Janet Ross Fund.
Classes
Herbs: Historic Impact and Contemporary Uses
Wednesdays, August 7 & 14; 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Investigate the physical properties of herbs and their roles within traditional cultures, from their ceremonial uses to their practical applications as medicinals, aromatics, dyes, and detergents. Non-Member $280/Member $252.
Nature's Pharmacy
Saturday, September 21, 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Learn about plants historically used for first aid, asthma, insomnia, sinusitis, bronchitis, revitalizing the immune system, preventing colds and flu, and much more. Non-Member $96/Member $86
Browse more classes and register at nybg.org/AdultEd