The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden in the New York Botanical Garden

After visiting the beautiful waterlily and lotus pools in the New York Botanical Garden, which you can see in my prior post (click here), my husband and I decided to walk across the garden to see The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, which is open May through October in the garden. The NY Botanical Garden has a tram tour that will carry visitors around the 250 acres of the garden, but as we like to walk for exercise, we decided to stroll through the lovely grounds and woods of the garden instead, to get to our destination.

We passed some interesting examples of bedrock, part of the billion-year-old Bronx borough's "Fordham Gneiss."  Bedrock is what has allowed the borough of Manhattan to build such tall skyscrapers as their foundations can be solidly anchored to support their weight.

We walked over a footbridge over the Bronx River and saw this bucolic scene in the distance.

It was the The Lillian and Amy Goldman Stone Mill, one of New York City's most picturesque pre-Civil War industrial buildings, restored with leadership funding from The Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust and the Amy P. Goldman Foundation.   The Stone Mill was built in 1840 by the Lorillard family and designated a New York City Landmark in 1966 and a National Historic Landmark in 1976. You can watch a Youtube video about the restoration of the mill at this link.

You can enlarge this photo, and all other photos in this post, by right clicking on them once and then again for an even larger image when they reopen. Use your "back" function to return to the post. This placard describes the origins of The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. Originally designed in 1916, completed in 1988, and beautifully renovated in 2006-2007, this stunning garden now displays more than 4,000 rose plants and over 600 varieties, with roses blooming for six months out of the year.

It has been a hot and humid month of August, so I did not expect to see too many roses in bloom during our visit last weekend, but I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the garden as we walked down the steps towards it.

The NY Botanical Garden web site calls it: "One of the world’s most environmentally-friendly rose gardens. Overcoming the rose's reputation of being among the most chemically dependent flowers, we celebrate the addition of more than 1,700 new, hardy varieties. Hybridization efforts from all over the world are on display."

It was certainly beautiful and very well maintained!

 

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a wedding ceremony here and then a reception held in the Stone Mill? I am a little sorry I did not know about this wonderful venue until now, but my daughter's wedding plans for next spring are already booked in another pretty NYC place which you will have to stay tuned to see next year.

I enjoyed strolling through the paths in the garden reading all the informational placards that were scattered through out the rose bushes. Remember you can click on each photo to enlarge it.

Beginning in 2009, hundreds of the newest disease resistant roses have been planted in this garden. You can enlarge this placard to read a list of them. If you have not been successful growing roses in the past perhaps these varieties will give you success?

While the roses were not at their peak, I still found many beautiful varieties of roses to photograph as you can see in the collage above. I'm sure when the weather turns slightly cooler there will be a last gorgeous bloom of new buds. Roses are certainly flowers that keep on giving all summer long!

After leaving the rose garden we decided to take a different path back on our walk to the main gate of the garden, and we entered the 50-acre native Forest.  It is the largest remaining expanse of the majestic woodland that once covered almost all of New York City.

With rustic paths that wind beneath magnificent American trees—some more than 200 years old—and past the Bronx River and its rushing waterfall, the forest is another magical place to see.

Walking along Native American hunting trails, under the cool and quiet canopy of the forest trees, was an extraordinary way to end our visit to the New York Botanical Garden, a place we hope to visit and explore many more times in the future!

I'm linking this post to "Outdoor Wednesday" on Susan's blog A Southern Daydreamer and to "Pink Saturday" on Beverly's blog How Sweet the Sound. Please visit these wonderful blogs to see all the wonderful enteries.

Waterlilies and Lotuses in the New York Botanical Garden

My husband and I took a ride to the New York City borough of the Bronx this weekend to visit the New York Botanical Garden.  Like the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the New York Botanic Garden has beautiful aquatic waterlilies and lotuses. The Waterlily and Lotuses Pool in the courtyard of the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory is a serene and magical place in summer. The colors and lingering aromas of these wonderful exotic flowers are a feast for the senses.

The lilies and lotuses were at their peak.

Their colors and shapes were exquisite!

As I walked around the lily pond pool I had a wonderful time photographing all the beautiful flowers.

They were all delightful....

...and a wonderful array of colors.

Dominating the tropical pool is the Victoria amazonica, the world's largest waterlily, whose leaves can span seven feet across!

.

The tropical pond also had a large array of the lotus, Nelumbo nucifera, which symbolize eternal life in Buddhism, and are called "sacred lotus" for that reason.

They shimmered in the sunlight.....

....and their buds and pods were so exotic to see.

Both of the botanical gardens in New York City are gems waiting to be discovered and enjoyed. Come back next post and I will show you the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. 

May I ask a favor? Flowers have been on my mind quite a bit lately, as I'm in the middle of planning my daughter's spring time wedding, and I have also been visiting local florists to look at table centerpieces and floral decorations.  My daughter loves the color purple and wants it to be the predominate color of her arrangements.  If you have some suggestions for beautiful purple flowers, websites that have floral arrangements, or even general wedding websites, I'd be thrilled if you place them in your comments. Thanks!

I'm linking to "Mosaic Monday" with Mary of The Little Red House blog, and My World Tuesday with Klaus and all the My World contributors. Please visit their blogs and enjoy their special blog events!

Pink Orchids and Pastries for Pink Saturday

For Beverly's "Pink Saturday" event on her blog How Sweet The Sound I thought it would be fun to show a collage of some of the beautiful pink orchids I saw last weekend at the New York Botanical Garden's Orchid Show. Click here my full to see my full post about the orchid show and to see more of the outstanding displays of over 5,000 live orchids!  (All photos will enlarge if clicked on once and then again when they re-open)

Some more of my photos from the show..

In close proximity to the New York Botanical Gardens is Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, which is a wonderful area full of many old world Italian shops and restaurants. I did a few posts showing some of the delicious ethnic Italian specialties you can find there on which you can read on this link and this link. We stopped to make another visit after going to the gardens but because it was a Sunday not many establishments were open except for bread and pastry stores and restaurants. 

We decided to go into this pastry shop in the area with the pink awning for a special reason.

Cafe Egidio located at E. 187th Street between Arthur Avenue and Hughes Avenue, in the Bronx, and established almost a hundred years ago, is well known for their authentic cookies and pastries. We wanted to buy special St. Joseph's pastries for the St. Joseph's Feast Day which has just passed on March 19, but the sign in the lower portion of the window for "Sanguinaccio" really caught my husband's eye with delight!

Here it is!

I will leave it up to your imagination as to what sanguinaccio is, as it is not something everyone would find appetizing unless you grew up eating it. My husband's mother used to make this special sweet treat once a year, and he declared that Egidio's sanguinaccio was as good as his Mom's! A wonderful compliment to them.

We did purchase a couple of the special St. Joseph's pastries to take home to enjoy later.  On the left are Zeppole di San Giuseppe, which are fried dough, layered with a vanilla egg custard, then topped with a candied cherry on top, and on the right are Sfingi di San Giuseppe, which are reminiscent of a cream puff, and are filled with cannoli cream, chocolate chips and topped with a candied orange peel. I think it would be safe to say almost everyone would enjoy eating them...they are so good!

Pink orchids and pastries ...who could ask for a better treat to welcome Spring?

Thanks,  Beverly for another wonderful Pink Satuday weekend!

The New York Botanical Garden Orchid Show

I went to The New York Botanical Garden ninth annual orchid show this weekend.  This year's show theme "The Orchid Show: On Broadway," was designed by Tony award-winning set designer Scott Pask and image-maker Drew Hodges, and takes place in the dramatic galleries of the landmark Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.

The "Orchid Show: On Broadway" showcases 5,000 dazzling specimens of orchids from one of the most distinguished orchid collections in the world.

Over 300 types of orchids are displayed in dramatic curtains, arcades, and chandeliers, all under the domes of America's largest glass greenhouse.

The orchid displays were spectacular!

One was more exquisite than the next.

This giant orchid chandelier was inspired by the original that hung in the Eltinge Theater on 42 Street in Manhattan, once a famous venue for the comedy team Abbott and Costello.

\

There were so many wondrous orchids that making a photo collage of them seemed the best way to show almost all of them to you.  Click on all photos once, and then again when they reopen, to see more details.

Some macro close ups of the orchids.

Click to enlarge to read this informational placard about orchids.

Broadway tunes were playing in some of the greenhouse's galleries which added to the festivity of the exhibit.

 It was a magical feeling to be surrounded by such exotic and fragrant orchids as far as the eye could see!

“The Orchid Show: On Broadway” remains on display through April 25, 2011.  The New York Botanical Garden is located at 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York.

PS: We are still waiting for news of our newest grandson.  His brother was born nine days after his due date, so it seems the younger brother wants to do the same! My daughter-in-law is more than ready to go, but it seems babies don't read calendars.  Thank you all for your wonderful comments and support! I'll be back with the good news as soon as we hear!

Adding this post to Mary's Mosaic Monday on her blog Little Red House! Thanks, Mary!  Be sure to look at Mary's beautiful mosaic and all the links on her page to participating blogs.